Who got married, had a baby, or got a new job? Catch up on what your classmates are doing!
Keep your Alumni Association informed about developments in your life and we'll post your Class Notes as well! Tell us whenever you get married, have a baby, start a new job, get a promotion, receive an award or recognition. We are proud of our alumni!
John Feldman ’59, Ft. Washington, MD, attended SOO Tech, a branch of Michigan College of Mining and Technology (now Michigan Technological University – MTU) in 1957-1959. He graduated from Sault Saint Marie High School and received a Soo High scholarship to Soo Tech. Read More
Jerome Wojack ’59, Central Point, OR, attended the Soo Branch of the Michigan College of Mining & Technology in 1957-1958. Continued on at MCMT and graduated in 1962 with a BS in Forest Management. After graduation, he moved straight out to Tiller, Oregon and worked for the US Forest Service. He married his wife and adopted her son in 1964. Moved to Springfield, and, had 2 daughters. Then transferred to Darrington, WA. Here he lost our youngest Daughter and transferred to John Day, OR. Finally in 1979 transferred to Central Point. Retired from the Rogue River NF in 1994. Currently he has 3 grandkids, and 2 great grandkids.
Frank Farkas ’69, Sault Ste Marie , Ont, retired after 47 years teaching with the Algoma District School Board.
Philip De Voir ’79, Austin, TX, started working as a Technical Recruiter for Mythic-AI in May.
Margaret Dinkel ’78, Cadillac, Husband and I retired, sold the house, and are living full-time in our RV traveling the country.
Timothy Lawrence ’88, Avondale, AZ, was promoted to Advanced Quality Manager at Inalfa Roof Systems Group in January.
Eugene Groesbeck ’82, Shelby Township, his son was married on June 5th. His Lake State classmates, Victoria Campbell, Debra Caudill and John Staber attended and another classmate, Shelli Martin, met them the next day while she traveling home to Florida. They had a great
time together!
Scott Tolentino’ 87, Garden City, UT, was being selected by his peers and colleagues from the American Fisheries Society was a great honor. He stills has a little over a year left, but it’s been a remarkable run for him.
Brian Blomstrom ’98, Sheridan, was awarded Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award from Montcalm Community College.
John Boerger ’93, Georgetown, KY, is working as a Senior Supplier at Quality Technologist.
Amy Crisp ’96, Lansing, has been awarded a grant by Jonas Philanthropies, a leading national philanthropic funder of graduate nursing education. The scholarship will help her earn a PhD with a research focus on Caring Science through an online hybrid program at the University of Colorado College of Nursing. Crisp earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Lake Superior State University. That’s where she met Professor Carole Connaughton, PhD, “Who helped me see nursing as more than a set of tasks to be accomplished. Dr. Connaughton was able to challenge me to succeed while nurturing my growth as a student nurse. Her knowledge and passion for nursing inspired me to pursue graduate education while I was still an undergraduate student and is one of the reasons I wanted to teach nursing.”
Jennifer France ’95, Sault Ste. Marie, Ms. France opened THE FRANCE FIRM P.C. in January 2021. Her office handles criminal defense, appeals and tribal court matters.
Carol K Irving ’99, Escanaba, retired in March of 2019 from many years as an accountant and manager at DSTECH in Escanaba, MI. She is enjoying retirement in her new home on Lake Michigan. Carol is devoting her free time to her passion of weaving and fiber arts. Her work is being accepted to many juried exhibits locally and nationally. Plans are in works to open her studio to visitors and students very soon. You can see her work here.
David Jahn’90, Sault Ste Marie, President and CEO of War Memorial Hospital is one of four healthcare champions receiving highest achievement award by the Michigan Hospital Association in June 2021. David was also the Commencement Speaker for the LSSU Classes of 2020 and 2021 this year. Jahn serves on the LSSU Foundation Board and is the voice of Laker Basketball.
Stephen Komjathy ’96, Deerfield Beach, FL, was promoted to Corporate Trainer at Sprinklermatic Fire Protection Systems Inc. in March.
Steve LaCanne ’92, Menominee, started working at Fincantieri Marinette Marine as Senior Engineer in February.
Scott MacLeod ’98, Manville, AB, was promoted to Director of Business Development at Barrier Group in January.
Timothy McCloud ’99, Sausalito, CA, started working for Ankr as Vice President, Marketing and Analytics in June.
Zach Myers ’99, Lubbock, TX, started a with a new company, AccentCare Inc. in March of 2020 as an Account Executive. He was promoted to Market Development Manager and elevated once again in November of 2020 to Strategic Account Manager.
Dennis Niles ’90, Grass Lake, was hired to serve as the Principal of Tecumseh High School, Tecumseh, Michigan in November 2020. He has over 25 years of educational leadership service and is in his 11th year of service with THS.
Charles Pare ’93, Cary, IL, is a Senior Field Service Analyst for Global Experience Specialists.
Roger Shelley ’97, Gwinn, secured a position with the State of Michigan in 1998. As an accountant, he worked in trusts until his retirement in 2013. Roger was forced to retire because of an injury he received while in the military in 1972. He feels that the best decision he ever made was to return to finish his accounting degree while in his forties. He wishes he could have completed it sooner, but along came a little blessing and put an end to college at that time. That little girl has now graduated from college herself and is a nurse at Marquette General Hospital. “I thank you Lake Superior for your good instructors and good curriculum. I will be a Laker always, but my daughter will be whatever they call themselves over at Northern Michigan University. Go Big Anchor.”
Spencer Streeter ’96, Mattawan, was promoted to Talent Attraction Manager on the Global Talent Acquisition for Charles River Laboratories.
Jennie Sweet-Cushman ’98, Pittsburgh, PA, won two awards in academic year 2020-2021 as an associate professor of political science at Chatham University in Pittsburgh. The first is a disciplinary subfield teaching award, the Gender and Political Psychology Teaching Innovation Award. The other is a university-wide award, the Jane Burger Advisor of the Year award.
Sgt. Mark Szymankiewicz ’95 , Brownstown Twp, retired from Woodhaven Police Department after more than two decades of service.
Nate Wilke ’97, Estes Park, CO, Nate and Valerie Wilke, and their daughters Veronika and Billie moved from Houston TX to Estes Park CO in early 2020.
Michael Baitinger ’04, Detroit, started working at The Probate Pro as Human Resources Director in April.
Patrick Bell ’04, Cheboygan, started working for AAA- Auto club group as an Agent in training in January.
Tracy Blake ’09, Madison, WI, was promoted to Associate Group Leader at PPD in May.
Nick Chaffin, Ithaca, program compliance manager, worked as a Data Officer for CAMW! and managed Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act programs for Clinton Task Force on Employment from 2004 to 2019.
Stacia Chick ’03, Holt, joined Lakeshore Regional Entity in Norton Shores, MI in May of 2021 as the Chief Financial Officer.
David Goodpaster ’05, Monroe, Owner and Lead Designer of Hated Reality. He and his wife Christine celebrated 30th wedding Anniversary this year.
Emily Gunville’09, Vulcan, has been admitted as an attorney to the State Bar of Michigan.
Matt Hedges ’05, Montague, started working for Mobex Global as Operations Manager in May.
Julie Janiskee ’01, was promoted to Office Administrator of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Health Department in Petoskey, MI.
Laura Moening ’06, Sault Ste Marie, is now the Assistant to the CEO, David Jahn and Quality Management at War Memorial Hospital after working for
LSSU since 2000. Still a proud Laker!
Corin Nolan ’07, Sault Ste. Marie, started working for Amazon as Area Manager II in May.
Luke Otten ’05, Traverse City, became the Chief Information Security Officer at Munson Healthcare in Traverse City.
Rob Trembinski ’04, Sault Ste. Marie, was recognized for achieving the EXIT Realty Corp International Top 100 for listings taken and ends sold in 2020.
Matt VanEffen ’05, De Pere, WI, started working for Advocates for Health Transitional Living as Child Advocate- Education Specialist in March.
Jamie Westfall ’06, Cheboygan, started working at Headlands International Dark Sky Park and McGulpin Point Lighthouse as Park Manager in May.
Matt Witkowski ’07, joined the Manistee Fire Department as a new firefighter/paramedic.
Sharmay Wood ’07, Sault Ste. Marie, has been appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to the Board of Professional Surveyors.
Benjamin Zoppa ’09, Sault Ste. Marie, MI, started working as an office manager for Burton Excavating in June.
Julia Astromovich ’18, Fort Worth, TX, recently graduated from The University of Texas at El Paso and received her Master’s Degree in Geophysics. She was chosen to be the Graduate Student Marshal of the College of Science, an award only give out to one student annually.
Lance Boehmer’11, Arvada, CO, earned a Private Pilot Certificate. This was lifelong goal and making him a fourth-generation pilot.
Danielle Branz ’13, Lansing, recently moved back to Washington, DC and accepted a position as a Legislative Assistant for newly elected Congresswoman, Lisa McClain.
Andrew Briggs ’10, Columbus, received the 2021 St. Clair-Detroit River Sturgeon for Tomorrow Directors Award for his work to support Lake Sturgeon conservation, education, and management in the St. Clair-Detroit River System. Andrew is currently a fisheries research biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources out of the Lake St. Clair Fisheries Research Station where he has worked since 2017. He has been working with Lake Sturgeon since 2013.
Benjamin Charbonneau ’13, North York, Ontario, started working for CMC markets APAC & Canada as Senior Products Manager in June.
Bailee Day ’18, Gaylord, was promoted to Marketing Specialist – Canada and Western Europe at Tripp Lite in January.
Megan Deeter ’18, International Falls, MN, moved to Minnesota in 2019 and has been working for Customs and Border Protection as an officer.
Tyler Fontana ’17, Fenton, is currently working with Leoni Engineering Products
and Services as a Vision Application Engineer. He visits customer sites to design,
program, and debug programs that utilize machine vision.
Jody Gillespie ’11, Coleman, WI, started working for Patz Corporation as Mechanical Engineer in February.
Noel Granger ’13, Belleville, started working for Quantum Metric as a Senior UX Researcher in March.
Christopher Gravatt ’14, Waltham, MA, started working at AstraZeneca as a Postdoctoral Researcher in January.
Dr. Allissa Haney ’14, Buckfield, ME, earned a Doctorate from Indiana University Bloomington in Philosophy-PhD, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2020.
Thomas Kovas ’17, Phoenix, AZ, received his DMD from Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine and fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming a dentist!
Emily Jensen ’11, Brighton, in April, joined GAINSystems as the Vice President of Revenue Operations. GAINSystems is an innovative supply chain planning Software Company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Lacey Johnson ’15, Glenview, IL, works as a program coordinator at a federally qualified health center in Chicago, IL. In her role, Lacey works with the social determinants of health programs and has helped patients navigate community resources and social support programs throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Madison Marsh ’19, Jensen Beach, FL, works for Ecological Associates, Inc.
performing night and morning surveys of sea turtles and serving as a turtle walk guide in Jensen Beach, Florida. She renovated an 1986 airstream and lives in it full- time on Hutchinson Island.
Megan McKim ’11, was promoted to Chief Nursing Informatics Officer for U.S. Navy in January.
Monse Navarro ’19 ,was hired to join Detroit City Football Club (DCFC) as their Project Coordinator.
Cameron Penny ’14, Kalkaska, started working for Britten Inc, as Project Manager in February.
Kyle Pobur ’12, Wheat Ridge, CO, started working for Blend360 as Data Strategist in May.
Daniel Radke ’14, Sault Ste Marie, started working at SAP as Associate Developer in May.
Emma Roque ’17, Ada, started working for Wedge as Vice President of Customer Success in March.
Rachael Southgate ’19, Essexville, after performing her first year of nursing on night shift on a gen-med/tele floor, she switched to working for Hema-Tec inpatient dialysis. She was signed off her orientation 4 weeks early and is enjoying her work. Her June 2020 wedding plans were delayed until February 2021 due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
Jonathan Studer ’15, Pine Valley, CA, started working at Eagle Village, Inc. as Youth Specialist in January.
Oshane Thomas ’17, Newark, NJ, completed his Master’s in Pharmaceutical Biochemistry at Montclair State University, after which, he started working as a Scientist II. He currently works as a Clinical Research Scientist at AstraZeneca, developing purification processes in the late stage of clinical drug development. Furthermore, he is working on multiple projects, which includes the infamous AstraZeneca vaccine.
Zach Trotman ’12, Fenton, has retired from the Pittsburgh Penguins after a long and successful pro hockey career.
Kory VanHorn ’10, Bonney Lake, WA, completed their 3rd year as the Controller –Operations for Muckleshoot Indian Casinos in the greater Seattle, Washington area.
Kaitlyn Vaughn ’16, Mayville, was promoted to Nurse Practitioner at Grace Hospice in March.
Khalid Wells ’13, Detroit, started working at Warner Bros. Entertainment as Customer Relationship Management Specialist in June.
Taylor Worsham ’19, Sault Ste. Marie. MI, aafter a few months of freelance work began her position as a full time News Reporter for the Sault Evening News, Sault Ste. Marie, MI in February 2020. Since then she has written hundreds of articles and covers an array of topics that affect Chippewa, Luce and Mackinac counties.
Aidan Wright ’18, Sault Ste Maire, Ontario, Ontario was recognized with a group of firefighters for their lifesaving efforts during a recent blaze in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
Erik Finley ’21, Eugene, OR, has been hired as a mechanical engineer at the Pre-Tec Division of the Willamette Valley Company in Eugene, Oregon. At Pre-Tec, he works alongside fellow LSSU alums Kevin Danhof, Levi Marchetti, and Jeff Johnston.
Sophie McConkey ’21, Pickford, has been hired as an Industrial Hygienist-Intern at the U.S. Corps of Engineers’ Soo Area Office before heading to medical school this fall.
