Brief Bios
Contact
Macalester Reunion1600 Grand Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55105 651-696-6295
alumnioffice@macalester.edu
Class of 1967 Bios
Learn more about your fellow classmates and what they have been doing, where they are in life and plans for the future!
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Lorin W. Anderson
After graduating from Macalester, I taught junior and senior high math for four years. Failing miserably as a teacher, I went to graduate school at the University of Chicago, earning my PhD. in 1973. I was on the faculty of the University of South Carolina for 33 years and have been an educational consultant for the past decade or so. However, I have come to the realization that I was born for retirement.Bucket List
I have been truly blessed. I cannot think of anything I crave at this point in time.
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Rudy Brynolfson
With my major in history, I had no idea what I could or wanted to do for a career. After serving in the army and dropping out of law school, I took a job as a computer programmer trainee. This led me to a series of jobs using computers in commercial and government operations, and eventually into the area of finance and administration. Career high points were working for the Minnesota Energy Agency in its formative years as the state addressed the 1970s energy crisis, helping in the 1980s and early 1990s to start St. Paul’s district heating and cooling systems, and in the late 1990s and early 2000s, modernizing support systems at the St. Paul Rehabilitation Center, now Lifetrack-Minnesota winner of the 2004 Minnesota Nonprofit Excellence Award. I’m now semi-retired and doing consulting for nonprofits, mainly involving use of spreadsheet and accounting software that didn’t exist until years after our graduation from Mac.Bucket List
One was to get involved in doing chamber music after having played my cello only sporadically over the decades. I started this last year and am enjoying it. Another is to do more traveling — seeing more of the U.S., including historic sites and presidential libraries.
Beyond that, we’ll see.
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John R. Buzza
The road of ministry that I expected during Mac days has had some unexpected twist and turns. After two years in a congregation in Salt Lake City, I spent six years as a counselor/chaplain at a Presbyterian boarding school in Utah, then 21 years at Hope Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Ill. That was followed by nine years of community organizing around affordable housing here in the Twin Cities. Through all of the changes, the two important constants have been the sense of God’s presence and my loving marriage to Kay Dodge Buzza!Bucket List
- Observe and participate in our three grandchildrens’ journeys to adulthood.
- Travel to my ancestral roots in Southern England and the Isle of Man.
- Visit all of the State Parks and Historical Sites in Minnesota.
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
360,759 other shareholders and I own the Green Bay Packers. No…l do not get dividends, tickets or autographs. I do get to attend and vote at the annual meeting (yes, I have been to two of them) and I get bragging rights…Go Pack!
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Kay Dodge Buzza
Earning a degree in Elementary Education from Mac helped me attain my childhood goal of teaching children. I have been a teacher for 31 years, with 21 of them teaching first graders. I have taught in New Jersey, Illinois and Minnesota. Being a stay at home mom for 10 years was very important to me when our two sons were small. Family life was a priority for my husband John and me, and we made fun memories as we camped together each summer . John has been a wonderful husband and father! Now I am retired and continue to teach children as a volunteer.Bucket List
- Continuing to love and have fun with our two sons and their families, including three grandchildren, who live fairly close to us.
- Exploring and camping in National Parks with our new Scamp trailer.
- Returning to Sweden to visit cousins.
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
When I was participating in a “belching contest” with John and our two teenage sons …I was the winner!! 🙂
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Roger Chesser
I remember making myself promise that I’d attend the 50 year class reunion at Macalester. Since my home is in Kentucky, I figured I wouldn’t have much contact with my college friends in all those years. I didn’t even consider that I might not be around in 2017. But here I am; 72 years old and planning to make the reunion.After Macalester, I spent four years in the Air Force — three of those in Honolulu, Hawaii! I married a girl I’ve known so long that I can’t even remember meeting her. We first met when I was 5 or 6. While at Macalester, I spent a lot of time at KMCL, the campus radio station. For years I’d wanted to be in radio, so after the Air Force I began a broadcasting career at a small Indiana station. One thing led to another and I came to realize being a radio dj was really boring work. You play the same 40 records over and over for a week! So I got into television, behind the scenes, then doing on-camera work as a news reporter. I moved to the University of Kentucky’s NPR-member station, winding up as General Manager for 15 years. I retired a few years ago, but still produce a jazz program for another local station.
I had one child, a son, born three months premature. We lived with his multiple disabilities for 46 years. Jim died this past September and we are still dealing with his passing. My wife, Nancy, and I love to travel; we’ve been to Central and South America many times and to Europe a couple times. But, except for changing planes, my wife has never been to Minnesota, or met any of my classmates. I’m sure she’s looking forward to meeting some of you and seeing where I spent most of four years. See you in June.
Bucket List
I have done many of those things. I’ve been to Machu Picchu and several other Maya sites, seen the great Egyptian pyramids, and have been inside Tutankhamen’s tomb. I’d like to see the southern tip of South America, some Norwegian Fjords, and some of African wildlife.
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
For a while I wore women’s makeup! No, not to cover scars, or because I’m a cross-dresser (not that there’s anything wrong with that!), but because I was, for a while, the weekend anchorman for Lexington’s NBC TV station. My favorite makeup was Merle Norman.
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Gordon Cochrane
I have been retired since 2007. I was a practicing attorney in the south suburbs of Chicago for 33 years. I attended the University of Iowa Law School after graduation from Mac. I graduated from the University of Iowa in 1970 and married Christine Nadler in 1970; we have now been married 46 years. How is that possible, I’m not old enough to have been married that long! We have two daughters, Erin, who lives the state of Washington and is a hospitalist, and Courtney, who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. and is a police officer for the NYPD. Each have two children, so we have four wonderful grandchildren — I’m not biased. We have A&P children, Atlantic and Pacific.
Currently, I am coaching basketball at the local high school in Canada. I was born in Toronto and my parents had a summer cottage on Haliburton Lake, about 175 miles north of Toronto. In 2003, my wife and I built a year-round home on Haliburton Lake and spent about six months a year up here after retirement in 2007. Now I spend close to 10 months a year here because I am coaching basketball; this year, I’m the head coach of the 9th and 10th grade team. More importantly, I am still playing basketball once a week. My orthopedic surgeon (I think I have paid for the college education of his children) said I should only play once a week, so I follow his advice. We also still have a home in the south suburbs of Chicago. I am looking forward to seeing all of you at our reunion next June. Stay alive until then 🙂
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Dwight Colby
Nancy (Cowles) and I married the summer after graduation. After Mac, we moved to Lansing, Mich., where I earned an MS in Math at MSU and Nancy taught. In order to avoid the Vietnam War, I dropped my PhD program and returned to Minnesota for a job deferment. I never regretted that decision. We have three wonderful children and seven grandchildren to enrich our lives.At Honeywell, I leveraged my math background to forge a career in computer science, software development, and management. I was awarded seven US patents related to the development of digital fuel gauges used in many of the most popular commercial airplanes.
After 25 years, I shifted gears to work for a startup computer security company. There, I experienced the initial excitement of an IPO, ongoing risk that the new company would fail, struggles to acquire and assimilate smaller companies, a buyout by a bigger security company (McAfee), and its acquisition by an even larger company (Intel). It was fun!
I especially enjoy spending time at our cabin in Wisconsin, lap-swimming, and fly fishing for trout.
Bucket List
Finish our “ten-year-old grandchild trips”. We decided that we would take each of our grandchildren on a special vacation to a place of mutual interest the year they turned ten. The first two trips (Glacier National Park and Canada’s Prince Edward Island) were quite successful. By popular demand, we have to finish the next five. The San Juan Islands off the state of Washington and Alaska are next on the agenda.
More foreign (and domestic) travel for Nancy and me. A European river cruise sounds very inviting.
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
We have lived in the same house for the last 48 years in Roseville. It is about 15 minutes from my childhood home in St. Paul and 25 minutes from Macalester. We sent all three of our children to Mac and each played four years of tennis at Mac (as I did). We all pursued quite different fields during our times at Macalester.
If you’ve flown during the last 40 years, it is quite likely that your trip depended upon avionics that I helped to design at Honeywell.
Mostly as a result of computer security work, I have been able to experience some very interesting people and places around the world. I have ridden a camel in the Canary Islands, eaten fresh seafood from female divers on the Korean island of Jeju, traveled above the Arctic Circle in Norway, viewed the Olympic torch being carried in Brighton (UK), and wandered through archeology digs in Turkey. I have worked face to face with people from Canada, the UK, France, and Germany. In most cases, Nancy and I were able to add some vacation time and enjoy these experiences together.
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Nancy Cowles Colby
Dwight Colby and I were married in August after graduation and we started down the path, not always straight, which we still follow. I had a short teaching career and then was privileged to be home with our three children until the youngest began school. As a family, we participated extensively in church and school life and traveled to many different parts of the United States with the aid and comfort of our small popup trailer. As empty nesters, we have traveled to Europe several times, experiencing places I’d only dreamed of seeing.I began my second career in education, surprising myself and my family by becoming the technology coordinator at an elementary school for the last ten years of it. My Macalester studies in English and education were useful in teaching adults how to use computers, as well as developing and managing the school’s website. Sometimes it helps to know how to construct complete sentences!
We now have seven grandchildren who are the lights of our lives. We have completed two “ten-year-old trips” and have plans for two more this summer. Also this summer, after we observe our 50th class reunion, Dwight and I will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary! Who knows where the path will lead from here?
Bucket List
- Figure out what to do with the large trove of very old family artifacts I have in my basement.
- Stay relevant to my grandchildren!
- Resist, persist, and survive the current era.
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
For the last three years, I’ve gone to French camp at Concordia Language Villages near Bemidji, Minn. I’m more comfortable putting myself out there and willing to try something without a lot of expertise, unlike the intense, perfectionist, risk-averse student you may remember. For the most part however, I’ve lived a fairly predictable life, in spite of the fact that we’ve all lived through times during which “they were-a-changin’.
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Sue Cole DeJong
After graduation I worked at Prudential Insurance Company in Minneapolis — offering $5 more per month, after all, than the other two offers! My tenure there in Group Accounting and Human Resources ended with my husband’s job transfer to Massachusetts, north of Boston. Two years after my son was born, I went back to work as the Office Manager for a group of psychotherapists.Another spousal job change took us to Stamford, Conn. I landed a Market Research job, first in quantitative research conducting surveys among consumers and then in qualitative research being in charge of focus group recruitment in markets all over the U.S.
Having foolishly forgotten about “real winters”, my son and I moved back to Minneapolis (Bloomington) in 1989. Through networking I connected with Doug Smith (’67) and secured a position at D.C.A., an employee benefit provider and consulting company. I wrote the plan documents and conducted meetings for clients to explain to and enroll their employees in Flexible Spending Account plans. Later I was part of a team that conducted salary surveys and consulted on many aspects of employee compensation and benefits. Finally, I sold residential real estate for about five years!
Along the way I canoed, backpacked, camped (in a tent), skied (downhill), aerobic danced, sailed, and played tennis. More recently I’ve been a golfer wannabe and began playing pickle ball.
My son, Nat, daughter-in-law, Katie, and two grandchildren, Addison (6) and Lucas (3), live locally and I cherish time spent with them.
Bucket List
To continue to grow and learn — mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
To see the U.S., particularly the national parks and the beautiful scenery in this great country.
To continue to give back and provide inspiration to others.
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
Living on the east coast for 16 years (Boston area and Stamford, Conn.), I sailed the waters of Cape Ann, Mass Bay, Cape Cod and the islands, and Long Island Sound. My role was to keep the boat on course through a myriad of conditions, some quite dangerous and even life threatening. Unlike our classmate Vicki Glenn, I had to LEARN not to panic!
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Pat Whitney Erskine
Following graduation from Macalester, I became a teacher at Mounds View High School. I married my wonderful husband, Terry Erskine in 1969. We lived in Edina for 22 years where we raised our two daughters, Amy and Julie. I was fortunate to be a stay-at-home mom when the girls were young with many volunteer opportunities at church, in the community and schools, and in youth sports, Both girls became attorneys and both married attorneys. Each family has two children so we are blessed with four grandchildren. Teaching aerobics, pre-school gymnastics, and youth tennis fulfilled my enjoyment of sharing the benefits of exercise with others.In 1994, Terry left Northwest Airlines to join Delta Airlines, so we moved South to Atlanta, Ga. We do travel to Minnesota frequently and always hope for little or no snow and no sub-zero temperatures during our winter visits!! I hope to see many Macalester classmates at our upcoming reunion and look forward to renewing “old” friendships.
Bucket List
Enjoy healthy retirement with my husband — traveling and playing golf and tennis.
Spend as much time as possible with our terrific grandkids.
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Mary Anne Wandersleben Evans-Justin
When I entered Mac, I told my advisor I wanted to be a pastor — finally got around to doing that at age 50! Retired at 65. Now I’m a “Retired Rent-a-Rev,” serving where needed when called upon, mostly within reach of mid-Michigan. Was honored to receive our county’s Athena Award last spring. My two sons thought it was hysterical that their radical pacifist mother was given an award named for the goddess of war! I wonder how many other Macites are Athenas? I’ll bet Mac produced a fair number of alums who are fierce advocates for justice!Bucket List
- Have my grandchildren each spend a week at our house.
- Reconnect with childhood chums.
- Sit with a quilt and read instead of running to meetings of volunteer organizations!
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
I haven’t gotten any taller and I don’t remember any Greek!
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David Foster
At Mac, I once imagined a government career involving world travel. But after four years in the USAF as an Intelligence Analyst, I realized that I really had no interest in traveling the world, so I got a job with the City of Minneapolis working in the inner city in a Great Society program. Through no fault of my own, several years later I found myself in City Hall as a Budget Analyst looking for waste and mismanagement in a City rife with waste and mismanagement. In the 90’s, I was the Budget Director for the City, a horrible No Win job that I exited at first opportunity. In control of a billion dollar budget, I swear I heard the late Lloyd Buckwell rolling over in his grave. It was he who suggested it would be better for both of us if I dropped his Accounting Class, which I gladly did. I retired in 2001, built a house in rural Wisconsin, and remarried. I have two kids, Jon 34 and Betsy 11, and a wonderful wife Karen.Bucket List
Nothing. I have all I need.
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
Two true facts. Which of these two facts is more unbelievable?
- I have an 11-year-old daughter, Betsy, who keeps me going 24/7.
- For three years, I was Treasurer of the First Presbyterian Church of Red Wing, MN.
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Vicki Glenn
Practically none of these past 50 years were predictable. Event planning at Daytons, then two years’ traveling worldwide to sell artifacts from iconic ocean liners like the Queen Mary. Landing in Washington D.C., I reconnected with Mac roommate Gerri DeZonna, joined a National Park Service environmental education program aboard a recommissioned lightship, and started grad school in aquatic ecology. Married Tom McFadden, 18 years my senior, who brought along 4 kids, the oldest being a year+ younger than I. Eventually they quit referring to me as their motherfaker. Tom’s 16 years as superintendent of Catoctin Mountain Park, which surrounds that Camp David, brought many wonderful hours of skiing, jogging, and hiking with Jimmy and Roselyn Carter — and long commutes to my other life. I taught communication at American University, ran a small PR firm, and completed a master’s degree in education with Lee Kallsen Knefelkamp. When Tom retired in 1991, for some insane reason, we decided to buy property and build a house way out in the woods. Since then I’ve learned a whole lot about house and road construction and, as a technical editor for the Federal Highway Administration, way too much about asphalt mixes, bridge construction practices, traffic operations, and transportation security. A great satisfaction in recent years is my work as a founding member of the annual Easels in Frederick, a well-regarded national juried plein air art event.Bucket List
- To live in a house that’s all finished (How silly! It will never happen).
- Continue to enjoy treasured friendships of a wonderful group of women and professional colleagues, a magical place to live, and have interesting things to do.
- Life is already good.
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
Tom grew up running fishing boats on Chesapeake Bay and we’ve sailed it extensively. I turned out to be an excellent first mate and discovered, several times, that I do not panic easily.
I live in a hand-made post-and-beam house. Tom has carved charming animals and spirit symbols on window frames and trim, and there’s a huge carved tortoise on the cover panel of our guest Murphy bed. A couple of wonderful 6-ft Navajo rugs hang from purlins above the Everything room.
For my 50th, I received my very own set of tools and my own carpenter’s apron in which to tote them — a much loved and used present.
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Doris Heroff
Rather than matriculating with my Macalester cohort, I married Lloyd A. Heroff, Class of ’65 shortly before he served in the U.S. Navy, beginning in Vietnam as a French linguist in January of 1967. Upon completing his term of service in Vietnam and Rota, Spain, we worked together at Forest Hospital in Des Plaines, IL until we returned to Macalester. He completed his teaching certificate, while I completed two more courses. After teaching in Brooklyn Center, he entered Luther Seminary and was ordained in 1976. We served until 2010 in a variety of rural and urban churches, ending in Mt. Prospect, IL. Lloyd died in January of 2015 in Pelican Rapids, MN after 49 years of marriage, which was not enough for me.
I became a grant writer out of a desire to help solve some intractable community problems in Northwestern Minnesota and North Dakota. I initially founded the Thief River Falls, MN shelter with other members of a local National Organization for Women Chapter, which I founded with nine other stalwart volunteers. Since then, through a variety of nonprofit jobs in both volunteer and paid staff positions, I have worked to end discrimination and bring about social and environmental justice. I joined the Grant Professionals Association (GPA) in 2004 in 2004 and was awarded the Grant Professional Certificate (GPC) in 2007. Our Chicago chapter was founded in 2006, and I served as president of its first board for two terms. When I returned to Minnesota in 2010, I helped to establish a chapter and also served as president of it for two terms.
During my years in Chicago, I was responsible for a growing department at CJE SeniorLife and attracted grants funding a full spectrum of services for seniors and their caregivers. Earlier at Family Focus, developing government and foundation grants for five parent and child education programs was my role. I evaluated proposals and awarded grants on behalf of the Kraft Foundation to parent groups in the Chicago public schools. Eventually, I taught grant development and management, organizing and administrative skills in workshops and educational institutions. I continue to advocate for domestic violence prevention programs and the welcoming of all persons as citizens of my community in Pelican Rapids, MN and Deer Park, WI. I recently accepted a Regional Representative position for my professional association, GPA, in the five-state region encompassing IL, IN, KY, MI, & OH.
My husband and I did significant volunteer work including many political campaigns on behalf of progressive women, advocacy for women’s and children’s rights and services, and successful campaigns on hate crimes and transitional housing in Chicago. Of all the work we did, I would never have expected to succeed in our lifetime in changing the policies of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to permit full rights and benefits to GLBTQ partnered clergy. That took only forty years!
Our only child, John M. Heroff lives in Chicago, working for Ward 10 Alderman Susan Sadlowski Garza in the areas of Public Policy and Legislative Affairs.
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John Hunsinger
Upon graduation Uncle Sam requested my employment. I spent three years as an officer in the Army, including one year in Vietnam. The next forty years was spent in the insurance industry. I am now retired and living life to the fullest.Bucket List
I have traveled to 31 countries on six continents… I have more to go.
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
I’m bald.
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Leslie Hunter
When men graduated in 1967, Uncle Sam was waiting. I failed the physical. Life loomed.Following advice given during an interim internship with the Minnesota Welfare Department, I started working for Ramsey County Welfare as a social worker and met Beth Burgh (St. Olaf ’67) there. We were married in 1968 and I have been a lucky man ever since.
After getting an MPA at the University of Arizona, I worked for the City of Tucson as an administrator with Model Cities, the Finance Department, and Community Services. Over the years I have served on the PimaCare Health Maintenance Organization Board, the Primavera Foundation Board, the Salvation Army Advisory Board, and the Pima Council on Aging Board.
Our greatest joy has been raising two children — Amanda (St. Olaf ’94) and Leslie Lars (Macalester ’01). Amanda is now a wife, mom, and art conservator (SFMOMA); Lars is married and a playwright and Assistant Professor at Baldwin-Wallace University in Ohio.
Bucket List
- To paraphrase John Wesley, “To do all the good I can, in all the ways I can, to all the people I can, for as long as I can.”
- To take off some time and travel this year — before we get any creakier.
- Retirement years are like “a victory lap”; this is the time to spend with family and friends, and work toward getting progressive candidates elected.
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
Hey, I turned out relatively normal.
We didn’t miss anything while the children grew up; Girl Scouts, soccer, science fairs, Little League, Boy Scouts, PTA…we were there.
We enjoyed our children so much that we have sponsored and hosted many students and refugees; from a Vietnamese family of eleven in the 1970s to African and Central American refugees today, we have been blessed to assist new citizens and travelers. Our family and connections have grown.
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Tim James
After a Speech and Theatre degree from Mac, I was surprised and pleased to teach middle school math for most of my forty years plus professional career. Luckily I spent most of it at a Quaker school that needed me to fill several roles. I designed and mounted over 50 main stage productions in a fine facility; I created and developed a canoe camping program which has become a signature program in the middle school; and I coached — high school and middle school, soccer, volleyball, wrestling, basketball, and track and field.
More importantly, after my marriage to Ruan England dissolved (serving 33 months as a conscientious objector to military service in a youth detention center took its toll on both of us), I met and married Terri Kennedy, a fellow teacher in Cleveland, Ohio. We have raised two wonderful sons and now have three grandchildren — one in S.C. and two in Cambridge, Mass.
Terri and I have retired and spend April-November working on house projects, visiting family, and enjoying the Adirondack mountains. Three to four months of the year, we move south (to Florida most of the time) in our travel trailer and volunteer with a service group, NOMADS. We enjoy traveling internationally and always make time to be outside in the natural world, canoeing when we can. We are blessed with good health and the energy to meet each day with a smile.
Bucket List
- Trip to the Galapagos Islands
- Canoe Camping in Europe
- Finish remodeling my house (a process started by my father in 1952)
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
I started at Mac as a naive 17-year-old and would have benefited from a gap year. I struggled to focus on my academic work and am embarrassed about the kind of lackadaisical student I was. After passing Comps with distinction, I eased toward our May graduation and was blindsided when Doug Hatfield (totally appropriately) blocked my graduation by giving me a failing grade in my directing class (I had blown off most of the required journal writing). I left Mac and returned three years later, a wiser, more mature student, and retook my “senior year” with a radically different approach to college (and a 4.0 grade point).
That, and my failure to make my marriage to Ruan last, have significantly changed who I am and left me with an awareness of self that has stood me in good stead in my second marriage and in my career as a teacher.
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Steve Johnson
In 1968, after a year of grad school at Wayne State in Detroit, I got nabbed by the draft (long story) and spent two years on active duty with the U.S. Army in several scenic locales. After leaving the service in 1970, I worked briefly for the City of New York and then went to law school at Temple University in Philadelphia. Post-graduation, I stayed in Philadelphia — mostly from inertia — and practiced civil litigation in the state and federal courts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania until my retirement at the end of 2012. For the bulk of my career, I had the good fortune to be a partner in a small firm composed of empathetic and intelligent attorneys who managed to squeeze good humor and professionalism out of our otherwise often dreary profession. In retirement, I have, among other things, been taking classes to reacquaint with Spanish, an elegant language spoken by 570 million people.In 1993, I married Cheryl Bowden, another Philadelphia lawyer, and got a bonus in the form of her very welcoming family. We have no kids but attachments to OPKs (Other Peoples’ Kids) and mentoring programs (Cheryl) that are fulfilling for us. We live in an older house in the city where Cheryl’s gardening skills have created an oasis of rhododendrons and camellias. Although Cheryl is still working, we have in the last few years managed short vacations in France, England, Spain and Florida ( Phillies spring training).
Hoping/planning to see you at the Reunion!
Bucket List
- Getting my wife to retire.
- Taking a tour of MLB ballparks.
- Being more graceful about getting old.
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
…that I represented (but never met) Bob Dylan in a copyright case.
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Toby Keeler
Started in Premed, partied hard, finished in Art. Drafted three days later. Officer school, Army Engineers. Vietnam. Married Ricci, an artist from Hamline, raised two boys, Seth and Jake ’99. Worked in all aspects of manufacturing companies. Picked up a masters in Business Systems and ended my career as a CIO (Chief Information Officer) and business/IT consultant. Spend my retired time with the grandkids, reading, fishing in Minnesota and the Florida Keys, playing pickleball, and lovin’ life. Wouldn’t change a thing.Bucket List
- Catch a Muskie on a fly rod.
- Catch a Trapon on a fly rod.
- Shoot a wild turkey (maybe this spring after 13 years of trying).
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
I quit partying 31 years ago.
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Peg Keeney
After two years in Peace Corps in Sabah, East Malaysia, a few years teaching in Iowa, and some working with teenage student exchange programs headquartered in Michigan, I worked for John Deere for ten years. Then back overseas for 26 years teaching at international schools around the globe (Europe, South America, Middle East, Africa, Asia) until retirement in 2011. Now am perfectly content to be “at home” in the Iowa town where life started.
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Lee Kallsen Knefelkamp
Macalester told us to make diversity where we were. I’ve tried to do that in my work in higher education, in curricular change and in calling for serious organizational changes to take seriously our responsibility to change the one.
Bucket List
- Not die of dementia
- Still remain relevent
- Return to Costa Rica
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
I have absolutely no idea because I can’t imagine anyone would remember me.
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Harriet Lansing
Allan Klein and I were married in 1973 and are moving toward our 44th anniversary. Our older son Alex was born in 1984 and died in 2012 from birth-related health issues. Our son Stuart was born in 1989 and is 27 years old. I consider myself very lucky to be part of this warm and loving family.I am currently a senior judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals and for the last two years I have been the President of the Uniform Law Commission, a national law reform organization established in 1892.
I graduated from law school in 1970 and have had a fairly wide spectrum of jobs in my legal career, working as a private practitioner in a small firm, a prosecutor in the state courts, public defender in the federal courts, appellate attorney, administrative law judge, the St. Paul City Attorney, an Administrative Law Judge, trial court judge in Ramsey County, and appellate judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals
My early life experiences provided me with a deep appreciation for the importance of community, the transformational power of words and literature, the liberation of work, and the fundamental value of fairness. I would add to that the love of tall trees, fresh air, and a good pair of hiking boots.My primary work in the law has been the more than 28 years that I served on the Minnesota Court of Appeals. As judges creating the foundation for a new court we had a unique opportunity to shape the procedures, structure, and ultimately the success of that court. I have always liked creative pioneering so I found the work interesting and rewarding.
The sense of satisfaction that I derived from my work in the law comes from my interest in problem solving. People bring their deepest and most troubling problems to the court. It is our duty as judges to resolve those problems honestly, fairly, and deliberately and to work to insure access, due process, predictable outcomes, and solid precedent.
Because I believe that law is one of the best ways we have to increase fairness across a wide range of human endeavors, it is worth the effort, and I am grateful for the opportunity that I have had and continue to have to participate fully in this process.
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
This category brought to mind a conversation with Dr. Mitau in which he expressed concern that my limited early education in a one-room country school in rural Wisconsin might impose some insurmountable restraints on my later education and career. We were talking about my interest in international law. I think that he would be at least a little surprised that I have been active in international law and was honored to be the keynote speaker for the opening ceremony of the European Law Institute’s 2015 General Assembly in Vienna, Austria, and am continuing work as a Fellow of the ELI. I was also recognized in 2015 by the International Women’s Forum as a Woman Who Has Made a Difference and am a member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on the Enforcement of Conciliated and Mediated Agreements. Of course, I am deeply grateful for Dr. Mitau’s encouragement and support through the Macalester years and beyond (despite his skepticism)!
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Edgar Laube
Last 20 years: Partner in start-ups that take advantage of the internet and technology to publish really inexpensive college textbooks.1984-96: Various positions in college textbook publishing.
1972-1984: Five years in grad school in Chinese language and history, three years of language work in Taiwan, wrote a book entitled “The Chinese Catalog”.
1967 – 1972: Admissions counselor working for Mac, a year backpacking in Europe, executive ski bum.
Bucket List
Number one is to support and appreciate my daughters well into their adulthood (all three are in college now.)
Numbers two and three are not coming to mind at the moment.
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
“Amazed” is asking too much. I’ll settle for “mildly interested” … to know that I have been a single parent for 17 years; it’s been a remarkable learning experience.
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Marty Batchelor Leistikow
I began teaching English at Edina High School in the fall of 1967, and retired from that same position in 2001. It was a challenging, exhilarating career with exceptional colleagues and students. Many of my former students look me up on Facebook, and I get together with former colleagues regularly. When I moved “up north” in 2001, I taught for one year at Park Rapids High School, and then worked for Bemidji State from 2002-2011 as a student teacher supervisor.While coaching debate for Edina, I met a fascinating debate coach from Bloomington named Norm Leistikow. I married him in 1969, and we now have two sons and five granddaughters, and are still happily married. We still operate the small resort we bought in 1973. It was great fun for our summers, and now we’ve made our permanent home here. We also have a hobby farm where we’ve raised Highland cattle for 18 years. We grow and sell vegetables too. I’ve served as chair for the lifelong learning group in Park Rapids since 2004, and have been active in DFL politics as a campaign manager.
Bucket List
- Stay healthy, active, and productive for as long as I can.
- Re-connect with many old friends, including those from Mac.
- Be part of my granddaughters’ lives as they grow up.
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
This was the hardest question for me, because I think that much of who I am today would not really be surprising to those who knew me “back when.” I talked a lot then; I still do. I used to get lost and have trouble reading a map; it’s great that we have GPS now, but I can get turned around inside a building, so that hasn’t changed. I’ve always liked to read, to listen to knowledgeable people share ideas, and to spend time outdoors. I’m also still optimistic about the future.
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Kristen Acker Lund
In September of 1967, I married my husband, Kristofer, whom I met at a “mixer” between Turck Hall and the U of M. He finished medical school; I pursued my MSW at the University’s School of Social Work. We lived one year in beautiful Seattle and might have settled there, but he was summoned to serve in Vietnam. I moved back to Minnesota, with toddler Joshua, to finish the master’s degree. Eventually we moved to an ideal location for raising boys — a hidden, partially undeveloped neighborhood on the banks of the Mississippi in Cottage Grove, Minn. For a few years, I concentrated on raising Josh (1969) and Peter (1972).In 1979, I was hired to work for the Presbyterian Hunger Program in our Synod — a territory of six states. The assignment was to educate people on the “root causes” of hunger (in developing countries AND the Reagan-era USA.) How I wished I’d taken a macro-economics class at Mac! I learned a lot on that job. Wearying of the travel and its toll on the family, I brushed up my social work resume with some graduate classes on public policy and aging. That became my professional life. I worked for two private agencies, doing program planning, granting writing, and management in aging services. I started one of the first volunteer respite programs in our state, training volunteers to provide much needed breaks to family caregivers of elderly spouses or parents. Very fulfilling work, but ironic to look back on from the vantage point of age 72, aware of sons gently moving into their eventual caregiver roles.
I retired in 2003 to become more involved with our twin grandsons. Kristofer retired recently, on his 74th birthday. We are looking forrward to more road trips and visiting more national parks. In 1993, we left our house on the river and moved into the “lap of alma mater” — two blocks from Macalester. We love our neighborhood, our old house, and the proximity of interesting goings-on at dear old Mac, not to mention the enduring Ace Hardware (for that one screw we need) and the Grandview Theatre, one of only two movie theaters remaining in St. Paul. Life in the slow lane is good.
Bucket List
I still find myself to be a work in progress. These are the values and skills I continue work on. Serendipity is much more fun than a check list.
- Pay attention.
- Listen with an open heart.
- Speak my truth with courage.
- Laugh more.
- Be grateful.
- Live and love abundantly.
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
I’m hopelessly predictable. No surprises here. I sing in the 150-voice Twin Cities Women’s Choir, which helps keep me young at heart. And perhaps it would be surprising to know I had the opportunity to travel to Cuba in 1984, through my work with the Presbyterians. Raul Castro showed us around the Cuban national dairy farm!
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Judy High Maher
I’ve outlived two careers (teaching high school English and selling residential real estate), and now I’m fully engaged in simply living. Like most of you, I eat well, exercise a lot, and keep looking for ways to stay awake to the world and the people I hold close. Thank goodness for grandchildren (who knew how much fun they could be?) and poetry, which turns out to be my eyes, my ears, and my voice. If I live long enough, maybe there’ll be a book.Bucket List
1, 2, and 3: To go wherever I have to go — and keep my eyes and mind open all the way.
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
To quote our Nobel laureate: “I was so much older then. I’m younger than that now.”
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Tom Olander
I was a mess as a freshman. My original objective was premed, but I quickly jettisoned that idea when i found myself mystified in Fred Stocker’s advanced freshman chemistry class — through no fault of his. The fact that I frequently go into shock when giving blood (I always forewarn the Red Cross) might just have been a minor impediment, too.
Because I had a fascination with the stock market, I ended up in Econ and Business Administration. I have fond memories of my advisor, Lloyd Buckwell, but not of his ever present pipe. By graduation, I was several credits short, so the only thing I got from Harvey at baccalaureate was a handshake. I completed my degree requirements at the University of Minnesota night school.
Following graduation, I worked for St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company for a year and a half before joining Paine, Webber, Jackson and Curtis as a stockbroker trainee in November 1968. I’ve been in the securities business ever since. This is somewhat anomalous since the stock market is obsessed with economic growth and I’ve been concerned about the sustainability of our system since 1970. I countered that professionally with an emphasis on municipal, corporate, and government bonds for most of the last 48 years. Although I continue working because I enjoy my clients and the action, the end is near. The advent of discount brokers, index funds, artificial intelligence, and computerized algorithms does not bode well for my profession.
I’ve learned a few things over the years:
- Far better to forgive than hold a grudge. The other party will be greatly relieved and you just may save yourself a coronary.
- If you screw up, ‘fess up and the sooner the better. This is not a new idea but let’s face it, it’s easier to make an excuse than admit a mistake.
- Hooray for the person who came up with the idea of random acts of kindness — it’s one way to make a difference in a world where so many people are struggling. One example: because customer service workers are so frequently abused by callers, I make a point of asking to speak directly to their supervisor to compliment the rep for their courtesy and professionalism.
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
Despite my profession, volunteer activities and alumni involvement at Mac, I am somewhat of an introvert. Although I usually thrive in public spaces, I much prefer quiet time at home. My wife, PJ, and daughter, Sarah ’15, travel extensively, but I stay home, work, and take care of Knightley, our miniature black poodle. We got him from a rescue shelter and I won’t leave him in a kennel or alone for more than a few hours if I can help it.
In fact, my mantra has become “live simply so others may simply live,” first observed on a bumper sticker 30 years ago. Before then it was “everything in moderation…except sex and golf” — which explains how I became the first goy (not gay) president of a Jewish country club in the history of the world. But that’s a story for another time. This philosophy contravenes with the material aspects of my business. I have little interest in possessions except for original art. Although I am more than a little vain, I find excessive displays of wealth, ala our current U.S. president, abhorrent. The fact that many of the ultra-rich give little to charity and would deny a waitress a decent tip is unconscionable. Money has three utilities: living comfortably, saving for investment and a sense of security, and philanthropy. I wear shoes until the rubber soles disintegrate and shirts until they’re threadbare. I can’t stand to waste and seldom leave a restaurant without a doggie bag. Unfortunately, if everyone lived this way, our consumer-based economy would collapse.
Fairness is an obsession with me, from giving credit and compensation where due to adequately paying service providers. Just as I will object if overcharged, I’ll tell a waiter he failed to bill me for an item consumed. I have told vendors as diverse as drapery hangers and attorneys that they didn’t charge enough and insisted on paying them more.
I discount client commissions dramatically and frequently charge little or nothing when taking losses or small profits. With few exceptions, if clients own a security, I own it. It’s called skin in the game.
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Carol Harris Perry
Have been a “Reading Warrior” all of my professional life, fighting to get kids to fall madly in love with books so they’d want to learn to read and, hopefully, continue to do so when I was no longer part of their lives in school. Taught reading and literacy skills for 39.5 years to all levels K-12, from very advantaged private school kids in San Diego to extremely disadvantaged public school kids in Kalamazoo. They all needed someone to fight for them!
Wrote grants to gift newborns in local hospitals with board books and a huge grant to cover Reading Recovery training, certification, and salaries for five teachers, myself included (Reading Recovery is the miraculously successful New Zealand 1-on-1 intervention for struggling first grade readers). Loved it all! My husband and I are now renting a “city cottage” near Lake Harriet in Minneapolis and spending lots of time in the Twin Cities; adventures with both of our daughters and their families living nearby are not to be missed!
Bucket List
I’d like to experience:
- The Blue Lagoon in Iceland
- The Red Rocks in Utah
- The green West coast of Ireland
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
I’ve always wanted cousins! At age 62, with no older living relatives to turn to for information, I finally discovered cousins online and went to a “blind date” family reunion with these total strangers in British Columbia. Have since met with them four times in beautiful Kaslo, BC, the home of our mutual ancestors. Love my cousins and BC! And, although I’m a certified member of the Professional Organization of English Majors (POEM — Garrison Keillor joked about it), my current guilty pleasure is reading cowboy novels. At age five, I wanted to be a cowgirl and still have my Hopalong Cassidy cowboy hat.
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Roger S. Peterson
Ten years in college textbook publishing, ending as Education Editor at Wadsworth Publishing. Thirty years in marketing/communications (marcom) management for two computer firms and as a consultant. Coauthored a book on marcom and coauthored three other books. Now acting as a developmental editor or ghostwriter on business books. Don’t want to retire; ghostwriting is too much fun.Married 35 years. Two children. Son getting his PhD in microbiology from UC/Berkeley. Have three grandkids who wear me out.
Bucket List
- Getting published in The New Yorker
- Go to Europe for pleasure and not a biz trip
- Curing my arthritis
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
I was a fervent DFL liberal in the 60s. No more. I am a flaming middle of the roader and tired of Tea Partiers, environmental nags, left wing nut jobs, and liberal nannies constantly telling me to do this and do that.
I founded the Macalester Alumni of Moderation over my grave concern that Mac students are not getting a liberal arts education if they refuse to listen to other points of view. Liberal arts colleges are hurt by these snowflakes who scream at micro-aggressions and need, simply, to grow the hell up and stop being nags before their first job.
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Robert Reynolds
Some classmates have been surprised to learn that I became a Presbyterian minister. For them, I did not fit a traditional 1967 pastoral mold. But, I shaped up and had a long challenging vocation spanning forty-five years, including seven relocations. I graduated from seminary in 1970 and entered ordained ministry, first as a pastor and later as a regional church administrator. Along the way, I earned a second theological degree. For the last twenty-five years, I served as the lead denominational executive for Metro St. Louis and then for Metro Chicago. In addition to supporting Anglo and African American congregations, I worked with Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations of Native, African, Korean, Filipino, Taiwanese, Japanese, Middle Eastern, and Hispanic ancestry. During those years I also engaged in ecumenical and interreligous partnerships, urban faith based community organizing, domestic and global disaster assistance, and American foreign policy networking. I visited fourteen countries for education and mission.Vicki and I were married, each for the second time, in 1998. Between us, we have five children, three and a half daughters-in-law (one is a long engagement), and five grandchildren. Nothing is more important to us now than their health and well-being.
At retirement in 2015, I felt like a scarred listing battleship inching its way into port. Then, after a period of rest and recovery, I began to remember freedoms long submerged. We have re-launched with new found buoyancy and a recalibrated true north. With loosened ropes cast aside and anchor lifted, we left the career harbor and are following new horizons.
Bucket List
- Dedicate disproportionate time and energy to our families.
- Support scientific responses to climate change.
- Enjoy outdoor and wilderness recreation
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
On our 1998 wedding day I was inducted, in absentia, into the Macalester Athletic Hall of Fame. This was a national champion swimming team “group induction,” which had little to do with my modest individual performances as a diver. I could not have made it on my own.
During an interfaith celebration in 1999, I met Pope John Paul II while on his Papal Visit to St. Louis.
In 2005, as part of a greater Middle East fact-finding trip, I engaged in dialogue with Hezbollah leaders in Southern Lebanon. Inadvertently, I became the subject of local, national, and international news. As a result, upon returning to Chicago, I was summarily condemned by several regional religious bodies and government officials, but publicly praised by others.
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Nancy Schmalzbauer Schneider
Right after graduation, I participated in Macalester’s six-week cross country drive with Ambassadors for Friendship, Mac’s program for non-US college students to see America up close; it was a great awakening experience for all. Our eyes were opened when one of the four foreign students in our car had to leave the trip early to return to Israel to fulfill her army duties in the ’67 war.
My first paying job centered on testing experimental refrigerated dough products for a large Twin Cities flour company. During a bad week, I sent a batch of biscuits to Birmingham for a taste test. Unfortunately, the batch went to Boston where, of course, there was no refrigerated truck waiting at the airport and the biscuits exploded in the summer heat on the runway at Logan.
After a pause, I turned to special education. In 1970, while I was completing my master’s degree in Sepcial Ed for the Blind in California, I married Dan at the Macalester Chapel. The degree gave me skills to teach cane travel to the Blind, first in Minneapolis and Los Angeles, and then later in Salem, Ore., New York City, and Washington, D.C. Marriage led to the great joy in my life as a mother — the birth of our two boys in Arlington, Va.; Mark now lives in Portland, Ore. and Ted lives in New York City.
When federal funding for social services withered in the 1980s, I went to night law school and, in 1990, passed the Illinois Bar Exam on my first try. For a few years, I worked in a large bank and a small law firm in Chicago. Now I am a realtor in the western suburbs of Chicago.
From time to time, I sing in music groups, travel, read, knit, and garden.
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Kay Weirick Wahlund
I arrived at Mac feeling adult, liberated, and eager to succeed socially and academically — in that order! My new BFFs and roomies soon taught me how sheltered I had been and how naive I was! Reflecting back, our shared four years’ experience at Mac far exceeded my expectations. Upon graduation, my “boot camp” career was teaching 8th grade English for seven years, which I loved. Two years passed, and …yada, yada, yada… I then applied my educational skills in corporate America by leading management and employee development functions for the next 20+ years. Seeking liberation once again in 2000, I became an independent realtor. Now as I contemplate retirement, I am enjoying my volunteer work with the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery and the Animal Humane Society.Bucket List
My husband and I have never subscribed to a bucket list, per se. We delight in our blended family of four children and seven PERFECT granddaughters (what are the odds??). Every day we strive to be consciously thankful for our good health and forever love. In our twilight years we are enjoying traveling, golf, and more quality time with all of our family.
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
Tough question, because I have always been a “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” kind of gal. Perhaps you’d be surprised to learn that I don’t “do” Facebook. Several years ago, I inadvertently allowed my son to create an account for me, but I have never returned to my own page (or anyone else’s!). When I retire, perhaps I will have time to dabble on FB. For now, my apologies to anyone who may have tried to contact me there. Please use phone, email, or text!
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Mary Rondeau Westra
Five days before graduation, I had my first date with Mark Westra ’68. When he returned from SWAP at the end of the summer we dated for five more days, then I went to teach French in San Diego. We were married just after he graduated. After five years in the Bay Area, where I taught basic Spanish and French while Mark was in the Navy and attended law school, we moved back to White Bear Lake, Minn. Our world was turned upside-down by the death of our 24-year-old son Peter in 2001. I subsequently published a memoir, After the Murder of My Son. Besides teaching for eight years, I worked in development for several area arts organizations, chaired a capital campaign for our church, and most recently volunteered as a Docent for The Minneapolis Institute of Art. We like to bike, hike, fly fish, and watch birds, and we travel tons to do all those activities. We have two fabulous daughters, Ann (41) and Carolyn (35) and three precious grandchildren, Sylvie (6), Miles (4) and Gus (1). We took Sylvie to Paris for her 5th birthdayBucket List
It sounds trite but here goes: Be outside as much as possible. Be honest. Be helpful.
If you haven’t seen me in 50 years, you would probably be amazed to know…
I completed five marathons between my 45th and 50th birthdays.
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Allan H. Wimer
Retired at 41, had hoped to retire at 40!Bucket List
List completed.