Notables:

Teammates and former Siena Heights football All-Americans Kyle Connors ’15 and Donovan Campbell ’15 were part of the West Michigan Ironmen football team that reached the championship game of the American Indoor Football league in June 2016. Campbell, a tight end, caught three TD passes in the title game, a 74-32 loss to the Columbus Lions. Connors played offensive and defensive line for the Ironmen.

Lenzey Stidham ’13 was crowned Miss Cutler Bay USA 2017 in May 2016. She represented Cutler Bay at the Miss Florida USA state competition in July. Stidham will serve as the town’s good-will ambassador for the year and threw out the first pitch at a Miami Marlins baseball game. She is also the founder and CEO of 2BC Agency, a boutique modeling agency. She is a former national cham-pion for the Saints in the pole vault.

Jason Blickensdorf ’07, an officer with the Canton Town-ship (Mich.) Police Department, was named the Officer of the Year by the Police Officers Association of Michigan in May 2016. He was honored at a special ceremony at the Amway Grand Hotel in Grand Rapids, Mich (below). The award recognizes officers who have exhibited bravery, integrity and served with dignity in the line of duty.

From The Sites:

Benton Harbor

1995
Debra Hartline Bauschke Romaneschi was named the finance director/treasurer for the City of Benton Harbor, Mich., on June 6, 2016. She moved back to the area after living in Washington state.

2002
Yvonne Dean was named vice president of United Investment Planning at the United Federal Credit Union in St. Joseph, Mich. She is accountable for the growth and profitability of the UFCU investment portfolio among others. She has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry.

2014
Melanie Owen is the co-owner of the Lazy Ballerina Winery, which opened in June 2016 in St. Joseph, Mich. Owen and her business partner help start the business partly because of a crowd-funding effort she learned while a business student at Siena Heights.

Jackson

2011
Lesslie Keeling was named the coordinator of volunteers for Hospice of Hillsdale County in August 2016.

2013
Kyle Leighton was named midwest regional sales manager by NAME Energy Group. He will be presenting distributors with LED lighting products, overseeing sales representatives and facilitating new and innovative products.

Lansing

2006
Brian Davis was named fire chief for the Lake Havasu City (Ariz.) Fire Department in May 2016. The former U.S. Marine and Gulf War veteran has a long career in law enforcement and firefighting, and most recently was the deputy fire chief for the Grand Ledge (Mich.) Fire Department.

2010
Ruth Sternaman ’12/MA is employed as a counselor at the Women’s Center of Greater Lansing since 2010. She was profiled in the July 2016 issue of Capital Area Women’s LifeStyle Magazine for her work with domestic abuse and sexual assault victims.

Monroe

1998
Mark Durivage is the managing principal consultant at Quality Systems Compliance LLC and author of several quality-related books. He also is a Certified Tissue Bank Specialist has a certification in Global Regulatory Affairs. He resides in Lambertville, Mich.

2010
Aaron Kinzel is working with the University of Michigan’s Prison Creative Arts Project. According to a recent story in the Michigan Daily, the PCAP brings visual, written and theatrical art into the lives of inmates from prisons in southeast Michigan, and accepts artistic submissions from all 33 prisons statewide. He also leads PCAP’s Linkage Project that helps former prisoners come back into the community to lead workshops. Kinzel is a faculty member in UM’s criminology and criminal justice departments.

Online

2012
John Kosanke was named public safety director for the city of Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich., in August 2016. Kosanke has been a public safety officer, traffic enforcement officer, corporal, sergeant and lieutenant for the GPW Department of Public Safety, and also previously served as deputy fire chief for the New Baltimore (Mich.) Fire Department.

Southfield

2013
Johnny Menifee was appointed as chief of the Southfield (Mich.) Fire Department in July 2016. Menifee has served with the department since 1993 in various roles, including battalion chief, captain, lieutenant, EMT/paramedic and the training and safety officer.

Main Campus

1964
Angie Bidlack completed her last bicycle race in July, the Keystone Country (Ky.) MS 150 with her grandson, John. She is retired and said she hopes to volunteer in other ways.

1975
Donald Herip, MD, recently transferred to a new position at the Banner University Medical Group in Tucson, Ariz.

1984
Tanya Whitley is an artist who is working and living in Charlevoix, Mich. She has created more than 100 beer labels for Short’s Brewing Co., Founders Brewing Co. and Woodchuck Cider.

1990
John Quinn was named vice president of world-wide channels by Attivo Networks, a cyber security threat detection company. Quinn has more than 20 years of experience in sales, and most recently at FireEye.

1993
Amelia Harlukowicz Proctor transferred as a manager from the Biology Unit of the Michigan State Police Lansing Forensic Laboratory to a new supervisory position in the CODIS Section of the Biometrics & Identification Division of the Michigan State Police in October 2015. The full-time working single mom has a son who is active in baseball and basketball.

Therese Schaub Larson has created the unique Girls on the Run of Northwest Michigan program to help girls and young women with self-esteem. The after-school program currently serves 1,500 girls and 57 schools in eight northern Michigan counties. Coaches teach about self-esteem, teamwork and how to be part of the community. After 12 weeks, participants get together for the Girls on the Run 5K. Her story, part of the Powerful Women Series, was detailed in the June 2016 edition of Grand Traverse Woman Magazine.

1994
Robert Puckett retired in June 2016 as a lieutenant after 21 years with the Wayne (Mich.) Police Department.

1996
Jessica Johnson was named the girls varsity basketball coach at Niles (Mich.) High School in October 2016. She also serves as the dean of students at NHS.

Karyn Konkel is employed at the Flint Institute of Arts. Her pottery artwork was recently on dis-play at the Ugly Dog’s Farm arts and fine crafts show in Richfield Township, Mich.

1997
Julie Bell ’99/MA was named the Chief Human Resources officer for the Advanced Group in Chicago, Ill., in September 2016. She has more than 20 years of HR leadership within healthcare organizations and large corporations. Most recently she served as VP of Human Capital Manage-
ment & Transformation at Presence Health, where she was responsible for the design and deployment of systems, processes, and technology for 22,000 employees and nearly 200 facilities. Prior to joining Presence Health, Bell held several leadership positions in HR, including senior officer of Talent Management at Cleveland Clinic and director of Talent Management at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. The Advanced Group provides expertise in talent acquisition and management, consulting, out-sourcing, and professional services.

1999
Kristin Baty Watts/MA was recently named the director of St. Anne’s Day School in Atlanta, Ga.

2003
Matt Keller was a source for a Politico.com article on federal cyber security measures. The story ran on Oct. 11, 2016. Keller is the vice president of federal services at GuidePoint and a former computer forensics specialist with the Defense Department.

Andrew Staton starred in the horror movie “ClownTown,” which was released in September 2016 on DVD.

2005
Rachelle Barr was named an assistant professor of mathematics at Northwood University in Midland, Mich. She previously was an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Rock County.

Kalen Larson is the general manager of the Hall Associates Flying Effects, which specializes in flying performers through the air for theatrical productions. He returned to Adrian in June 2016 to help with the Croswell Opera House production of “Billy Elliot.”

2006
Jessica Nietrzeba is the assistant director of Alumni Relations at Eastern Michigan University.

2007
Curtis Parsons ’09/MA was recently appointed to the state of Michigan’s Public Safety Communications Interoperability Board. This board oversees the state’s public safety radio system and telecommunications network and is also responsible for advising the governor on current and future technology to ensure preparedness in the event of an emergency. Parsons currently serves as the Lenawee County Homeland Security Management coordinator.

2008
Michele Wood Contreras is employed as tax manager for LafargeHolcim in Ann Arbor, Mich.

2013
Kelci Schock was hired in August 2016 as a physician’s assistant at Health Specialists of Lenawee in Tecumseh, Mich. She is a Tecumseh High School graduate.

Joanna Steffel interned at Arrupe College of Loyola University of Chicago. The college strives to make education affordable and accessible for students who come from low-income families.

Andy Switzer was hired as an English and social studies teacher at Pettisville (Ohio) High School. He is a Pettisville High School graduate.

2015
Steven Robinson Jr. was hired as a police officer for the Elkhart (Ind.) Police Department. He started his new position in July 2006.

Charlotte Squires was one of 120 first-year teachers hired by Onslow County (N.C.) Schools. Squires is teaching fourth- and fifth-graders in the exceptional children’s program at Queens Creek Elementary School in Swansboro, N.C.

2016
DeShawn Gilbert was named an assistant football coach in August 2016 with Malone (Ohio) University.

Deaths

Alumni

• Elie Wiesel ’83/HD
• Sister Maura Phillips, OP ’39—Siena Heights music faculty member from 1963-73.
• Sister Helen Duggan, OP ’41—She was a former Siena Heights science faculty member from 1956-63 and again from 1975- 90. She taught part-time from 1990-92 and volunteered as archivist from 1993-2003.
• Sister Virginia Conway, OP ’48
• Sister Mary Jane Schallert, OP ’50
• Sister Rosemary Conlon, OP ’51
• Sister Patricia Dillon, OP ’53
• Sister Ann Plourde, OP ’54
• Sister Janet Hudspeth, OP ’57
• Sister Renee Richie, OP ’60, ’70/MA
• Sister Mary Waldron, OP ’61
• Sister Joan Dwyer, OP ’64
• Sister Sharon McGuire, OP ’68—First full-time nursing faculty member at Siena Heights.
• Jeffrey Hinkle ’78/MA
• William Heffernan ’94
• Dr. Scott Brown ’03
• Michelle Hartley ’06