Class Notes
’50s
Manoucher Parvin (Eng ’59) published his fifth novel, Out of the Gray: A Concerto for Neurons and Synapses. The Akron-area educator and social commentator chose as his theme the romance between a neuroscientist and a social scientist in the early stages of dementia.
’70s
Rufus E. Wallace (Ed ’73), Millbury, Ohio, retired in July from the U.S. Postal Service after 31 years, 21 of them as postmaster of Clay Center. He and his wife Ann celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in September; their daughter Deborah is a Miami University grad.
’80s
Anne Sample (MBA ’87), Orono, Minn., was named senior vice president and chief human relations officer for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a financial services membership organization headquartered in Minneapolis. Active in the Orono Alliance for Education and in Lighthouse Ministries International, she and her husband Mike have two sons.
Kevin Aller (Eng ’88) is employed as public service director with the City of Sylvania. He and his wife Lisa and their two children Devin and Kiley live in Holland.
Doug Lance (Eng ’89) was elected vice president, operations for Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc. in Cleveland.
’00s
Angela Messmer-Blust PhD (A/S ’03, PhD ’09) is doing a research fellowship with the CardioVascular Institute of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard University. Her husband, Zach Blust (A/S ’05), is a field vascular interventional specialist with BIOTRONIK, a global biomedical technology company.
Luvada (Stovall) Wilson (Law ’04), law clerk for Judge Tygh Tone, was appointed interim clerk of courts for Erie County, Ohio, by the Erie County Commission.
| Michael L. Lagger (MBA ’05), Sylvania, was promoted to vice president, middle market relationship manager in the Commercial Banking Division of Fifth Third Bank, where he has worked since 2005. |  |
Prachi Kene PhD (MA ’07, PhD ’10) accepted a position as assistant professor in the Counseling, Educational Leadership and School Psychology Department of Rhode Island College in Providence.
Maj. Ildiko Szentkiralyi (Law ’07) of the U.S. Army is serving as a contract and fiscal law attorney in Kabul, Afghanistan, as part of a one-year tour of duty that began in June. Working in the adjutant general’s office, she’s part of a team that provides legal reviews for all expenditures of the military action.
Marriages & unions
Abigail N. Zimmerman (Ed ’09) & Aaron D. Knapke (Bus ’10). She’s an intervention specialist at Ottawa Hills Elementary School while working on her master’s degree at UT; he’s an accountant with Gilmore, Jaison and Mahler.
Extended Class Notes
| You might say that Jocelyn Cruz (A/S ’11) already experienced serious face time before WUPW chose her to represent FOX Toledo on air and online as the new Face of FOX Toledo. After all, 2009 saw her crowned UT’s first Latina Homecoming Queen. And in 2011 she served an internship with Black Entertainment Television, working on 106 & Park, BET’s number-one video countdown show. After successfully competing with the many other Face of FOX hopefuls who sent in video auditions, Cruz told officials that she was honored and excited. “I will not only represent a great television station, but the youth who have big dreams, just like I do,” she said. |  |
When Toledo Alumni Magazine last caught up with the peripatetic Elin Suleymanov (MPA ’94), it was 1999 and he was sharing perspectives on the plight of displaced millions his native Azerbaijan, having just finished a stint working for the United Nations High Commission on Refugees in Baku. In spite of the appalling conditions he’d witnessed in the country’s refugee camps, he was optimistic about the future of the former USSR satellite nation. “There is no question for me that independence of my country and all of the former Soviet countries is most important,” he said at the time. “Our country’s major task is to sustain and develop this independence. For me personally, to be able to work to build our new and independent country is both an unimaginable honor and great responsibility.”
In October 2011, that work entered a new phase when President Ilham Aliyev appointed Suleymanov ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Azerbaijan Republic to the United States. The diplomat had been serving as the first consul general of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles, representing the nation in 13 western states.
The 2011 Devilbiss High School Hall of Fame included quite a few UT alumni when honorees were celebrated in October. Specifically, they are Walter A. Churchill Jr. (Bus ’66) for Outstanding Athlete/Distinguished Achievement in Career and Community Service, Mary-Ella Holst (A/S ’59) for Distinguished Achievement in Career and Community Service, Judith Daso Herb (Ed ’61, MEd ’64) for Distinguished Achievement in Career and Community Service, and Sheronda Boyd (Ed ’95) as Outstanding Athlete. Congratulations to all.
Death Notices
’30s
Burton J. Gibbons (Eng ’39), Manteca, Calif., November at 94.
’40s
Harriet (Hayes) Fisher (A/S ’40), Fort Collins, Colo., Nov. 9 at 92.
*Heinz “Hank” Scheller (Eng ’40), Toledo, Nov. 14 at 94.
Elaine B. (Hening) Flaum (BusA ’46), Sylvania, Oct. 28 at 85.
Paul E. Richard, Toledo, att. 1942 and 1946-1947, Nov. 26 at 86. Lettered in baseball in 1946 and 1947.
**Ralph W. Moore (Eng ’48), Thornton, Colo., Feb. 11 at 87.
**Suzanne (Preece) Poll (Ed ’48), Perrysburg, Oct. 28 at 85. Pi Beta Phi member.
’50s
Richard F. Harman (Bus ’51), Toledo, Nov. 22 at 86.
*James L. Rush MD (A/S ’52), Grafton, Ohio, Nov. 18 at 83.
Philip P. Szymanski (Bus ’54), Holland, Nov. 6 at 80.
Georgia (Voudouris) Burgess (Ed ’55), Williston, Vt., Feb. 16 at 77.
**Arthur D. Lanier (A/S ’56), Houston, Oct. 22 at 86. Kappa Alpha Psi member.
Elmer V. Scallish (MEd ’56), Oregon, Nov. 16 at 83.
Roger A. Bowman (Ed ’58, MEd ’65), Toledo, Nov. 24 at 76.
**Samuel Ciralsky (Bus ’59), Toledo, Nov. 10 at 75.
’60s
Frank P. Wilcox, Montpelier, Ohio, att. 1960s and 1970s, Nov. 4 at 63.
Donald E. Bearden Sr. (UTCTC ’61), Richardson, Texas, Oct. 30 at 78.
David L. Culler (MEd ’61), Redford Twp., Mich., Oct. 11 at 74.
Donald J. Swiergosz (A/S ’62, MS ’67, Pharm ’75), Bay Village, Ohio, Nov. 5 at 71.
Geraldine (Teipel) Ashley (A/S ’64), Leland, Mich., Nov. 5 at 86.
Marie A. (Taylor) Sahloff (MA ’65), Swanton, Nov. 5 at 71.
Robert J. Schumm (MBA ’68), Fremont, Nov. 25 at 85.
’70s
S. Mozelle (Morris) Mathewson (Ed ’70, MEd ’76), Toledo, Nov. 10 at 83. Kappa Delta Pi member, past president.
Richard E. Rohloff (A/S ’72), Toledo, Nov. 8 at 61.
James D. Bowling PhD (PhD ’75), Blue Ash, Ohio, Nov. 14 at 76.
Melvin R. Weigel (Ed ’77), Archbold, Nov. 5 at 86.
Gary Berkowitz (MBA ’79), Riverview, Mich., Nov. 22 at 61. Former MCO employee.
Paul R. Shuldiner (Law ’79), Evanston, Ill., Feb. 28 at 57.
’80s
Michael J. Adams (UTCTC ’80), Columbus, Oct. 28 at 55.
Douglas W. Myers (UTCTC ’81, Univ Coll ’96), Maumee, Nov. 6 at 52.
Keith Watkins (Law ’81), Sylvania Twp., Nov. 21 at 58.
Todd C. Engle (Eng ’84), Rossford, Nov. 7 at 60.
*Mary Ann “Mitch” (Mitchell) Renda (Ed ’84), Sylvania, Nov. 21 at 81.
’90s
Michael J. Leslie MD (HS ’96, MED ’96), Sandusky, Oct. 20 at 43.
Robert C. Hunt II, Cincinnati, att. 1990s and 2000s, Nov. 9 at 31. Alpha Sigma Phi member.
’00s
James A. Kunz (AHHS ’00, HS ’02), Lambertville, Mich., Nov. 25 at 34.
’10s
Joseph Bialecki, Toledo, a junior in the College of Engineering, Nov. 13 at 30.
Faculty, staff and friends
**James H. Anderson (Pharm ’55), Sylvania, Nov. 19 at 80. He worked as a pharmacist at MCO from 1981 until his 1991 retirement.
*Dennis C. Darling (A/S ’73), Toledo, Oct. 28 at 63. A medical technologist for 40 years, he was toxicology supervisor at UTMC when he retired in 2007, and had earned the designation of toxicological chemist with the National Registry of Certified Chemists.
Kalman Gold MD (Law ’72), Bonita Springs, Fla., Oct. 27 at 78. He was a clinical instructor in the MCO Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology from 1972 to 1990.
Alfonso J. Grande, Perrysburg, longtime UT adviser, Nov. 23 at 82. He joined UT in 1962 as a teaching fellow, becoming an undergraduate adviser for the College of Arts in Sciences two years later. He held that title until 1975, when he became as academic adviser. In 1987 he was named Outstanding Adviser, and the following year he received a certificate of merit from the National Conference on Academic Advising, sponsored by American College Testing. A faculty member in the Department of English, he retired in 1990 as professor emeritus of English and advising.
Yun-Su Kim, Toledo, who was a visiting professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics from 2007 to 2010 and subsequently a part-time instructor, Nov. 26 at 41.
Margaret R. (Ramusack) Mandula, St. Petersburg, Fla., secretary in UT Student Records from 1977 until her 1989 retirement, Nov. 9 at 85.
Virginia “Jinni” Nilsson, Waterville, who worked in the nursing profession for more than four decades, Oct. 22 at 82. She was a nurse at the Toledo Mental Health Center and head nurse at Maumee Valley Hospital before joining MCO, where she worked 25 years until her retirement in 1991. As associate director of nursing services, Nilsson helped establish the nursing assistant program for UT and BGSU students to train in a hospital setting.
Edward D. O’Donnell PhD, Toledo, associate professor emeritus in the MCO Department of Pathology, Nov. 11 at 70. He was a faculty member from 1970 until his 2000 retirement.
**John T. Schauefele MD (MED ’86, Res ’89), Toledo, clinical professor in the Department of Pediatrics since 1989, Oct. 19 at 57. He was one of six students inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honorary society and was appointed chief pediatric resident. He became director of the Pediatric Student Program, received the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence in 1997, and was appointed the first endowed chair of pediatrics in 1998.
Alice Skeens PhD (PhD ’72), whose career at UT spanned nearly five decades, most recently as dean of the College of Language, Literature and Social Sciences, Nov. 12 at 75. She joined the former UTCTC as an instructor in 1963, later moving to the College of Arts and Sciences as an assistant professor and undergraduate adviser. Skeens served as assistant dean and associate dean for student affairs in the College of Arts and Sciences. In 1982, she was promoted to associate professor and later served as assistant to the president from 1987 to 1997. At the beginning of 1997, she returned to full-time teaching as associate professor of psychology, but later served as interim associate dean of Arts and Sciences from 2008 to 2009, and was named associate dean in 2010. When the college was divided into several later that year, she was tapped as a founding dean. Active in Faculty Senate, she became its first woman chair in 1982, and was elected to a second term in 2003. As well, she served on the organization’s board. Her participation in the University Women’s Commission stretched back to UWC’s early days at UT in the 1970s, when she also was faculty adviser for the UT chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta, a national scholastic honor society for freshmen women. Her extensive service at UT — she once noted that she may have served on every standing committee at the University — also included Graduate Council, the President’s Commission on Student-Centeredness, and the NCAA Self-Study Steering Committee. The Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women named Skeens its Woman of the Year in 1994; in 2005 she received the UT Outstanding Adviser Award. Presidents Club and Alumni Association member.
Donna J. Theiss, Rossford, an account clerk 2 at MCO when she retired in 2003, died Oct. 22 at age 69.
Ricky T. Walker, Sylvania, who held positions in UT’s affirmative action from 1994 to 2007, first as assistant to the president and later as senior director, Oct. 30 at 62.
