Summer 2001 - Wayne State College

Felecia L. (Hankerson) Buelt, hasbeen promoted to training specialistat Hallmark Cards, Inc. Felecia andher husband John reside in Omaha,along with their two children,Mariah and John II.Kent Peters, Blair, uses a cameraand computer to capture the moodsand wildlife at DeSoto NationalWildlife Refuge. His work, imagesthat resemble watercolors, is shownat the Fremont Art AssociationGallery in Fremont. Kent is aninternal medicine physician’sassistant in Blair.Sharon (Kander) Wandrey, andhusband, Phil, Omaha, announce thebirth of their first child, KirstenJean, on March 22. Sharon isemployed assenior projectcoordinator atTMS DesignServices and Philis an accountmanager atCompaq.1991Keith A. Stapleton, Norfolk, isemployed as a distribution clerk forthe United States Postal System atthe Norfolk office. Keith is theproud parent of a three-year-olddaughter, Katie Anne.Jill T. (Tyne) Ullmann,Merrillville, Ind., is the coordinatorof instructional design/technologyin the School of Nursing, at PurdueUniversity, Calumet Campus,Hammond, Ind.Kevin and Wendy (Woster) ’87Waugh, Chadron, are the parents ofKaci (two and a half years) andKellie (five months). Kevin is aninvestigator for the Nebraska StatePatrol andWendy isan assistantprofessorof MISat ChadronState.Joseph T. Fulcher, Omaha, hasjoined Marcotte Insurance as anaccount executive handling personaland commercial business.Darrin D. Barner, Watauga, Tex.,organized the 2001 Pepsi Challenge,an exhibition of women’s and men’srugby games held at Wayne, inhopes of getting rugby teams startedat Wayne State. Darrin, a formerWayne State football player, playsmajor league rugby for the FortWorth Stampede. He is organizingthe 2002 Challenge, which willalso be held in Wayne.Ken and Kelli (Woolery) Fiscus,Albert Lea, Minn., are proudparents of their second child,Meridian Lei Duan, born on Jan. 8,2000 in Bangkok, Thailand; shecame home March 3, 2001. Ken isan earth/space science teacher atAlbert Lea High School, AlbertLea, Minn., and Kelli lists heroccupation as ‘Mom.’Mike Slagle, Overland Park, Kan.,has been named the director ofschool administration for the BlueValley School Dist. in OverlandPark, where he, his wife Jenny, andsons Luke and Micah reside.1993Megan (Dolesh) and CoreyPospisil ’96, Pierce, announce thebirth of their second son, RileyShane, on May 14, 2000. Megan isa clerk for the U.S. Postal Service inPierce and Corey is the trainingcoordinator for Affiliated FoodMidwest, Norfolk. Riley iswelcomed home by brother Devin,age seven.James Wendland, Norfolk, waspresented a plaque by the Board ofNorfolk Public Schools for his 25years of continuous service to thedistrict. He teaches eighth-gradecivics and Nebraska studies.1994Holly (Scheffler) Bickley andhusband Bart, Brandon S.D.,announce the birth of their seconddaughter, Krista Jae, on Feb. 21.ALUMNI MINI-FEATUREPaul Thomas, BA ‘86, MA ‘88Although his Cal Poly Pomona women’sbasketball team won the national title thisspring, head coach Paul Thomas gives credit toothers. “We have a great staff here and greatplayers,” he said. “And we had a lot of greatplayers make plays in the championship gameagainst the University of North Dakota (in theNCAA Division II championship game inMarch, which Cal Poly Pomona won 87-80 inovertime). Everybody contributed. That’s whatmakes it so special.”Thomas, who received a bachelor’s degreein 1986 and a master’s in 1988 from WayneHolly is a first grade teacher in theSioux FallsSchool Dist.,Sioux Falls, S.D.and Bart is ahog procurementmanager forJohn Morrell.Laurie L. Brabec, Kansas City,Mo., has celebrated her 11-yearanniversary in the Army Reserves.She was selected as “Instructor ofthe Year” at three different levels:battalion, brigade and division.Laurie is employed as seniorgraphic production specialist forH&R Block of Kansas City.Gordon McGee and his wifeCarin, Elkhorn, announce the birthof their first child, Macie Ann, onMay 9. Gordon is senior productmanager for Ameritrade HoldingPaul and Sue Ellen Thomas withtheir children, Michaela and Jacob.State, said much of the credit for his success goes to the people he worked with at WSC. “I don’tbelieve I could have accomplished what I have without my experience at Wayne,” he said.He was head coach of the women’s basketball team at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn.before arriving at Cal Poly as an assistant to Darlene May, at the time the winningest Division IIcoach, in 1990. He became head coach seven years ago.“It is truly the people you’re associated with who make the difference. I was an assistant toLenny Klaver, the WSC head women’s basketball coach from 1985 to 1988, who taught me somuch. Ralph Barclay was my graduate adviser, and I remember Dr. LeRoy Simpson along withmany others. Everyone was so helpful. I would never trade the experiences I had at Wayne Statefor anything.”Thomas also credits his wife, Sue Ellen, with making his success possible. “She’sphenomenal,” he said. “I couldn’t have done it without her.” Sue Ellen, who played professionalbasketball before the couple married, offers support and encouragement, he said. The couple havetwo children: Jacob, who will be four in October, and Michaela, who just turned two. “They’llkeep us young!” Thomas said.Thomas brought his family back home to Creighton (Nebr.) High School in June for histwenty-year class reunion. “We try to make the trip from Pomona to Creighton in two days,”Thomas said. “The kids are great travelers. They go everywhere with us--even to Rochester,Minn. for the national championship tournament this spring!”22WSC Magazine Summer 012210/2/01, 2:49 PM