TAKING NOTEabirths | announcements | weddings’89Anthony Mrozik is the new chieffinancial officer for CommunityServices for the DevelopmentallyDisabled. Previously, he servedas the comptroller, chief financialofficer and vice president for financeat other non-profit agencies in theBuffalo area. Community Servicesfor the Developmentally Disabled,Inc. is a local nonprofit agencythat serves over 1,500 WesternNew Yorkers with developmentaldisabilities. The agency providesa variety of programs for peoplewith developmental disabilitiesincluding service coordination,habilitation and respite services,and housing and shelter services.’99Ann Makuch Gross, a PTgraduate, announced, “Next monthI will be opening a gym, ‘CrunchFitness’ in my hometown ofAmherst, NY.” Good Luck Ann!’05(standing l to r) Rosemary O’Connor Lawley, Barb Chmielewski, Brenda Vahey Horanburg, Mary E.Kirwan, and Pat Matthews Hemmer, (seated l to r) Sister Mary Finnick, gnsh and Bea Maulucci Quinn allenjoy a dinner together in honor of fellow 1960 classmate and 2012 Ann Lum Distinguished Alumna, SisterMary Finnick.Congratulations to StephenConstantine ’03, ’05 on hispromotion within the AllianceAdvisory Group, Inc. Steve isnow the director of training anddevelopment for the financialservices firm. As director, heis responsible for leading andcoordinating all trainings relatedto Guardian’s proprietary sales30
platform, The Living BalanceSheet®, along with providingweekly one-on-one coachingopportunities to all new hiresthroughout the firm’s four-cityimprint. Additionally, he willcollaborate with members ofleadership to identify internal andexternal subject area experts whowould provide value, perspectiveand technical training to newlyhired and experienced advisorswithin the Alliance AdvisoryGroup.Ryan and Nicole Miller ’11expanded their family with thebirth of their first child, Mason.Congratulations to Ryan andNicole!Congratulations to the family ofAdam Patrick Morris ’05 on thebirth of their daughter MelaynaL. Morris. The Morris familywelcomed Melayna on Nov. 10,2012. She weighed 5lbs., 1oz. andwas 17 inches long. Mother anddaughter are happily and healthilyhome in Lockport, N.Y.’07Sarah Nagro ’05, ’07 was recentlyspotted by a local educator atthe Teacher Education DivisionConference of the Council forExceptional Children. It wasreported to us that she was veryactive at this conference and freelytalking about her alma mater.Sarah is currently studying for herdoctoral degree at Johns Hopkins.Good luck with your studies, Sarah,and keep up the great promotionalwork for DYC!’08O’Dane Brady wrote, “Rightnow I am still living in Ocala,Fla., and I work as an independentresearch consultant. Unfortunatelythe new PhD program I wishedto commence experienced sometrouble and will not be ready toaccept students for some timenow. However, I have acceptedan extended volunteer positionwith an organization called WorldSpine Care (worldspinecare.com)and will be leaving for Mahalapye,Botswana in early March.”Carla Bisceglia Demler andhusband Jon, and daughter Maggie,welcomed son/brother Dominic.’09In addition to keeping busy withher work at Strong MemorialHospital, Mary Lynn Arlotta isalso busy planning for her weddingin September of this year. Bestwishes to Mary Lynn and Jeff.Sarah Hanaburgh Raymondand husband Reggie welcomeddaughter Addie Mae: Addie isthe granddaughter of alum TerriHanaburgh ’82, niece of alumRichard Hanaburgh ’11’10Congratulations to Joe Amico ’07,’10 and to Kari Childs ’11 ontheir engagement and impendingwedding. We wish them all thebest.NURSE HELPS THOSE IN NEEDBY LITERALLY GIVING OFHERSELFA reporter, Michael Tsai, with the Honolulu Star Advertiser recentlypublished an article about a D’Youville nursing student from theclass of 1977.Over the last 35 years, Susie Lee has honed her nursing skills inpediatrics, recovery room and home health care. Years earlier shehad undergone hours-long procedures to donate lifesaving whiteblood cells to a young Filipino boy and an older Japa nese lady.In a profession in which the call to give is as constant as an IV drip,it’s not unheard of for dedicated healthcare workers to dig deepwithin and find nothing left to offer.Not so for career nurse Susie Lee, who on duty and off has devotedmore than mere blood, sweat and tears to better the lives of thosearound her. “I tell people not to be afraid to give to other people ifit will help to improve their life,” says Lee, a native of Buffalo, N.Y.Caring for people is second nature to Lee, who says she inheritedthe trait from her father, a medic during the storming of Normandyin World War II.“Once, when I was about 10, I had an accident at home and had a badcut,” Lee recalls. “My father took me into the bathroom and taped itup. It always stayed with me how calm he was.” Lee also got a lessonin the uncertainty of life two years later when her father asphyxiatedon fumes and died while trying to clean paint off a stairwell at home.The family survived the tragedy, and Lee went on to attendD’Youville <strong>College</strong>, earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1977.An aunt and uncle lived in Hawaii and had invited Lee to join themafter graduation. And so, with $280 and three suitcases, Lee took thefirst airplane ride of her life all the way to the aloha state.Over the last 35 years, Lee has honed her nursing skills in pediatrics,recovery room and home health care. She now holds dual assignmentsas a wound-care specialist and employee health nurse for HawaiiHealth Systems Corp. She also serves as an after-hours call nurse forSt. Francis Home Health Care Services.Lee is married to HHSC Oahu CEO Vincent Lee and has twodaughters, Melissa and Nicole, from a previous marriage.Last year Lee learned that her husband’s cousin Larry was startingdialysis. She also learned that she and Larry were the same bloodtype. Gears turned.“I decided to get tested to see if I was a match,” Lee says. “I figuredI probably wasn’t, but it would make me feel better and it would letLarry know that someone cared.”As it turned out, Lee was a match. And in June 2011 she donated oneof her kidneys to Larry.To anyone who knew Lee well, the decision wasn’t a total surprise.Years earlier she had undergone hours-long procedures to donatelifesaving white blood cells to a young Filipino boy and an olderJapa nese lady.Six months after the transplant, Larry died of unrelated causes. Leesays she doesn’t regret her decision.“You can’t make decisions out of fear of the what-ifs,” Lee says.“Being a living donor is something that is doable, something that canyou can do to improve another person’s life.”alumni.dyouville.edu 31