SHU Family Legacies

With a 100th Anniversary theme of “Legacy,” a Siena Heights education has been a family affair for many over its distinguished history. Reflections Magazine asked alumni to submit their family legacy stories, and the response was fantastic! Over the following pages, learn about how “The Siena Effect” impacted the lives of these families in so many ways.

Jacob Chi, Maurice Chi, Margaret Chi and Jane Chi.

Chi Family

Legacy names: Margaret Chi ’82 (aunt); Jane Chi ’82 (aunt); Maurice Chi ’84 (nephew); Jacob Chi ’85 (nephew).

Our Siena Heights legacy: from Maurice Chi—The Chi legacy started with my Aunt Margaret Chi, who received a full scholarship from Siena Heights College in 1948. It was her dream! But because of the civil war in China at the time, she was not able to obtain the passport. Soon after when the country changed its political system and shut off from the world, so did her dream. It was not until 1978, thirty years later, did she finally have the courage to write to Siena Heights College. The sitting president, Dr. Louis Vaccaro, welcomed her not only with her scholarship reinstated, but also granted her sister, my other aunt Jane, a full scholarship. Together they came, and both pursued their Master’s degree in education. They graduated in 1982. Then in 1981 my brother Jacob and I also attended SHC. I completed a double major in math and CIS with the Outstanding Male Student Award in 1984. Jacob received his B.A. in music a year later. Without the generous financial support from the college, none of these would be possible. We built successful careers thereafter: Jacob held the baton for the Pueblo Symphony and led other orchestras across the continent, and I became an IT professional in corporate Americas like IBM and Thomson Reuters. We are forever grateful to the college for the knowledge, the friend-
ships, the fulfillment, the value of being, the faith to God, and the love from the Dominican Sisters who enlighten us all.

Class Notes—Fall 2018

Notables:

Two Siena Heights graduates celebrated their 100th birthdays over the past year:

Sister Ann Seraphim Schenk, O.P. ’47, ’70/MA celebrated her 100th birthday on Oct. 25, 2017, with a Mass in St. Catherine Chapel on the campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters. Sister Ann received tributes and congratulations from around the country, including Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and a papal blessing from Pope Francis. She was also presented with the City of Adrian’s Mayor’s Community Service Award. She entered the Adrian Dominican congregation in 1936 and was an elementary school teacher in Michigan, Illinois and Arizona. She retired in 1991 and has lived at the Dominican Life Center since 2004. She passed away June 24, 2018.

Sister Cecelia Vandeberg ’41 turned 100 years old on June 26, 2018. According to a recent article in the Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune, Sister Cecelia is currently living in a retirement home in Davenport, Iowa, and is a member of the Congregation of the Humility of Mary. After earning her degree in music from Siena Heights, she taught music and directed choirs in Illinois and Montana and was a columnist and a music and book reviewer for “Modern Liturgy” and “Worship Times.” She also volunteered at hospitals, health care centers and literacy centers, according to the article.

From The Sites:

Battle Creek

1998
Tim Bourgeios retired as the chief of the Kalamazoo Township (Mich.) Police Department on Dec. 31, 2017, after nearly 15 years. He accepted a position as executive director of the Michigan Commission of Law Enforcement Standards. MCOLES sets professional standards in education, selection, employment, licensing, license revocation and funding in law enforcement and criminal justice in the public and private sectors.

Diane Thompson has been serving as president and CEO of the Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek, Mich., since 2012.

Class Notes—Summer 2017

Notables:

Sister Nadine Foley, OP (left) passed away May 13. She served on Siena’s Board of Trustees in the 1970s and ’80s and served as Siena Heights’ interim President during the winter and spring of 1994. Sister Nadine began her relationship with Siena Heights as a first-year student in 1941, and was a faithful alumna, attending Homecoming dinners and football games in recent years. She also taught philosophy and religious studies as an adjunct faculty member. In 1992, Siena Heights recognized her scholarship and leadership in the Church among women religious by awarding her the Siena Medal. Sister Nadine also served the Adrian Dominican Sisters Congregation as a member of the General Council from 1974-78; as the Vicaress from 1978-82; and as Prioress of the Congregation from 1986-92. She also was president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious from 1988-89 and a U.S. delegate to the International Union of Superiors General from 1989-92. In 1994, she became the Congregation Historian, a position she held until 2016. Sister Nadine published numerous papers and articles, including two volumes of the history of the Adrian Dominican Congregation: “Seeds Scattered and Grown” in 2006, and “To Fields Near and Far” in 2015.

The Siena community mourned the deaths of a current student and a recent graduate. Dont’e Fox passed away Jan. 5 after a brief hospital stay. Fox was a member of the Saints football team, a communications major and a student leader who was scheduled to graduate this May. Members of his family were present on May 7 to receive his bachelor’s degree. Mikayla Ferer, who gradu-
ated in May 2016, was killed in a car accident on Feb. 13. She was a former women’s soccer player who received her degree in nutrition. Members of the Siena community participated in a memorial run to fund a scholarship in her name.