Footnotes: News
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1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s
1961
G. ROGER SCHOENHALS spent much of 2012 “in a publishing frenzy.” The former director of the Seattle Pacific Foundation has published nine e-books that include a number of meditations on the Lord’s Prayer, meditations on the Psalms, and life-lesson books, such as Dogs, Camping, and Other Candid Tales and Hikes, Flights, and Lookout Stories. Each life lesson ends with an inspirational truth. Roger is an ordained minister, Bible teacher, and former editor of Light and Life magazine. He is the founder of Planned Giving Today, a provider of books and periodicals for charitable gift planners in the U.S. and Canada. He and his wife, SANDRA QUANTRELL SCHOENHALS ’67, live off the utility grid in Icicle Canyon outside Leavenworth, Washington.
1964
DANIEL “DAN” BICE and his wife, Betty, retired last year after 45 years of employed ministry to international students attending universities in the U.S. Dan is a graduate of Asbury Theological
Seminary and has worked with The Navigators for the last 21 years. The Bices live in Toledo, Ohio.
ROWANE LEMMON CC is a retired missionary with Hope for the Hungry in Japan. She says of mission work, “I am so anxious to jump into this end-time harvest … with full strength and energy.” Rowane is challenged by a chronic lung condition. Her home base is Cerritos, California.
1970
BRADLEY HENNING, a former youth pastor, says he has spoken to more than two million teenagers in 35 years of teaching about healthy relationships. The motivational speaker heads Life Resources, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping young people maximize their lives. He lives in Puyallup, Washington.
1971
ROGER BUSH has spent 20 years in public office, four consecutive terms of two years each in the Washington Legislature, and the past eight years as a Pierce County Councilman. He left office at the end of December because of term limits. During his council tenure, he saw transportation improved and 1,400 acres of parkland added. He also helped to improve Pierce County’s credit rating and public safety — and cut the size and cost of government. Roger, who holds a master of divinity degree, met his wife, CHERYL STEUERNAGEL BUSH, while both were students at SPU. Cheryl notes, “Whenever you see a credit card receipt without your full credit card numbers listed, you can thank Roger. His original legislation from Olympia has since become nationwide.” They reside in Tacoma, Washington.
1977
GREGORY EIDE is athletic director of Scio High School in Scio, Oregon. In the last !ve years, he has coached girls golf and both boys and girls basketball. In high school, he was a quadruple sports threat in those sports plus baseball and football. Also a businessman, Greg worked as an accountant and started the firm of Harris and Eide, certified public accountants, which had a 15-year run. He and his wife, Debbie, runner, coach, and physical education teacher, have been married 35 years. The Eides live in Salem, Oregon.
LORIE THOMPSON OVERLAND is a counselor for kids with learning disabilities. A former nurse with Providence Everett Medical Center, she earned a master’s degree in neurocognitive counseling/psychology and is now in private practice. She resides in Bothell, Washington.
Side-by-Side Service
Medallion Winners Are Committed to Helping City Kids
John Emra ’75 and Sheryl Erickson Emra ’76 lived in Portland, Oregon, as a young married couple. They had their first of two children, and John was working as a baker — a skill he honed baking at Seattle Pacific University’s Gwinn Commons, where the young couple
first met during a lunch shift.
But they sensed another call. “We realized that we wanted to work together. It was why we got married. We knew we had to find a way and that ministry would likely be part of our choice,” says John.
In the 1980s they began to serve with World Gospel Mission in Honduras and “loved it,” says Sheryl. Eventually their mission agency asked if they would consider moving to Los Angeles to work with at-risk youth.
It started simple with a single basketball and a bag of candy. The ministry grew into an after-school program in East Los Angeles that was serving more than 1,000 kids a year. John and Sheryl began to see a common theme: Kids had trouble making good choices, and when they did make choices, many didn’t like the consequences of the choices they made. So the Emras developed a comprehensive program that deals with this cultural phenomenon, calling it “Life Is Full of Choices.”
Three books and 27 years later, John and Sheryl consider themselves soul mates. “Life has never been boring,” says Sheryl. They are currently working with more than 20 churches in LA and beyond to help kids and parents make good choices.
They are grateful for their time together at SPU, where the couple grew and served together. Sheryl recalls Seattle Pacific as a place where she was “used by God in a powerful, powerful way.”
John and Sheryl are winners of the 2013 Medallion Award for exemplary alumni.
Alison Estep
1982
JEFFREY BULLOCK has been president of the University of Dubuque since 1998 and is now an ex-officio member of the Iowa Economic Development Authority Board. The former dean of the seminary at UD, he holds the faculty position of professor of hermeneutics and homiletics. Jeffrey earned a master of divinity degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and his doctorate in speech communication from the University of Washington. As a Presbyterian minister, he served congregations in Pittsburgh and Seattle. He lives in Dubuque, Iowa.
1983
ANN EBRIGHT BOE MS ’90 is an assistant professor of physical education at Illinois’ Rockford College. She teaches exercise physiology, anatomy and physiology, and prevention of athletic injuries, among other subjects. She and her husband, Dave, have two children and live in Byron, Illinois.
1984
DOUGLAS “DOUG” BACKOUS, director of Seattle’s Swedish Center for Hearing and Skull Base Surgery, is a member of the SPU Board of Trustees. Last August, the Boy Scout troop leader and his son, Jonathan, completed an 80-mile hike on the Philmont Scout Ranch in the New Mexico wilderness. The 12-day hike included a dozen Seattle-area Scouts and their leaders, who started training four months before the hike. The group encountered heavy rain, flashfloods, and thunder and lightning along the Philmont route. The hikers also got to throw tomahawks, fire blackpowder rifles, and scale telephone poles using spiked shoes. Doug, who lives in Bellevue, Washington, says the challenging hike is considered one of the “pinnacles of Scouting.”
DAVID WELLS has 30 years of experience in !nance, operations, and administration, and has joined the board of directors for golf club manufacturer Feel Golf Co. Inc. David is also president and chief !nancial officer of Sionix Corporation, a water management and treatment firm, and founder of the business and financial service company, StoryCorp Consulting, which specializes in services to small publicly traded companies. He and his wife, Suzanne, and their daughter Violet, live in Santa Monica, California.
1987
ELIZABETH “BITSY” WARFEL SCOTT was selected to Washington state’s 39th legislative district in November. A freshman Republican, she serves on the Early Learning and Human Services, Capital Budget, and Higher Education committees. She taught English as a Second Language for 10 years, and she also farmed 80 acres of her family’s farm. The Scotts live in Monroe, Washington.
1989
THOMAS CHURCHILL is superintendent of the Meridian School District in Whatcom County, Washington. A teacher and principal, he has also served as superintendent for two other Washington school districts. He lives in Lynden, Washington.
The Language of Life
Medallion Honorees Make a Global Impact
Most young men wouldn’t write an original story to get a girl’s
attention, but Larry Wall ’76,
a chemistry and music major, wasn’t ordinary. “He wrote a fairy tale for me — a really long
one. That did it,” says Gloria Biggar Wall ’79, who earned her degree in medieval and renaissance studies, a self-designed major.
Larry and Gloria later married and raised four children, two girls and two boys, all close in age. (Their daughter, Heidi Wall Myers ’04, graduated from Seattle Pacific University.) The original plan to become translators for Wycliffe was scuttled when Larry developed serious food allergies.
Gloria became a devoted volunteer for Bible quizzing competitions. She has taught Sunday school for decades, and also runs a Bible lectionary website. Larry’s fame originates with Perl, a computer programming language he pioneered in 1987 that today enables global online shopping and has been called “the duct tape that holds the Internet together.” Committed to sharing his Christian faith to “geek culture” everywhere, he is at work developing Perl 6.
Perl is the reason Larry and Gloria travel around the world. Next up is Ukraine, where Larry will speak to computer-user groups. They never charge a penny beyond travel expenses.
Winners of the 2013 Medallion Award for outstanding alumni, Larry and Gloria are deeply involved in their Cupertino, California, church, working to help integrate a Spanish-speaking fellowship into their English-, Mandarin-, and Cantonese-speaking congregation. Larry says “the multinational mission field has come to us.”
Alison Estep
1991
KARL ERICKSON and KIMBERLY COLLIER ERICKSON ’89 have published a second children’s book. Toupee Mice joins Tristan’s Travels (both Rafka Press), written by Karl and illustrated by Kimberly. The couple lives in Salem, Oregon.
MICHELE R. WESLANDER QUAID is the chief technology officer (federal) and “Innovation Evangelist” for Google. Throughout her career, Michele has taken on the challenge of creating startups and transforming existing businesses in both industry and government. For 20 years prior to Google, Michele worked in the national security community, !rst in industry and then as a senior executive in the U.S. government. Some of her executive positions include: deputy technical executive for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, intelligence community deputy chief information officer for the Director of National Intelligence, and chief technology officer for the National Reconnaissance Office. Michele has been awarded a National Intelligence Meritorius Unit Citation and a Meritorious Civilian Service Medal. Michele is active in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and leadership outreach for K–12 and university students.
1992
DAUNTE GOUGE, one of the original Orangemen, is a King’s High School physical education teacher, head track coach, and football coach. He cheered right along with everyone else when the King’s Knights defeated the Cedarcrest Red Wolves in an October 5 football contest. His team remained undefeated at game’s end, but Daunte had a little extra something to smile about that night. At half time, he married Kathryn Wissler in front of the combined fans of both teams. The ceremony was officiated by King’s High School Bible teacher GARY STUECKLE ’75. The newlyweds live in Edmonds, Washington.
1993
ERIC LARSEN is vice president of business intelligence at the advisory firm ATREG Inc., which specializes in semiconductor and related advanced technology industries. He has worked with Sony, IBM, and other global clients. Prior to joining ATREG in 2003, Eric was a vice president with the commercial real estate services firm Colliers International. His wife, JOLEEN LENNON LARSEN ’97, has worked as a registered nurse at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, Washington, for 16 years. The Larsens reside in Sammamish,Washington, with their four children.
1999
LISA STRANGE LENTZ teaches sixth grade language arts and social studies at Lake Stevens Middle School. She lives in Lake Stevens, Washington.
2000
KEELEY CAVENDER DROTZ, a registered dietitian, has released her first book, The Poisoning of Our Children — Fighting the Obesity Epidemic in America (TGBG Nutrition, 2012). Keeley lives in McKinney, Texas, with her husband and two daughters.
SARAH RICHARDS HANAVI is manager of the KeyBank branch in Bothell, Washington. Prior to joining KeyBank in 2011, she worked in the restaurant industry, then began her banking career with Washington Mutual in 2005. Sarah lives in Seattle.
Welcoming the Stranger
Alumna Advocates for Refugees
For refugees fleeing war and poverty in their home country, survival isn’t as simple as basic food and shelter. Language and cultural barriers are everywhere. How do you ride the bus? How do you buy groceries? How do you use an electric stove?
The human toll of natural or manmade disasters weighs daily on the shoulders of Erin Walrath ’08. A recent graduate of the master’s program in international disaster psychology at the University of Denver, she’s worked on behalf of those with cancer, providing alternative education for children with special needs, and helping Ethiopian refugees resettle through case management and employment assistance. She’s currently working on a one-year project as a crisis counselor with Colorado fire victims, and she will return to working with refugees soon.
“I helped refugees in Denver with a great deal of aid paperwork and taught them how to do some of the basics Americans take for granted,” says Erin. “One family understood turning off the lights when you leave the room to save money, but they grew anxious not knowing if the light in the fridge turned off when the door closed.”
Erin believes the key factors in fostering success in the children of disaster are education and a nurturing community.
“I have experienced a great depth of pain along this path,” she says, “but I have also seen miraculous change. This career path was designed for me.”
Clint Kelly
2003
ERIK EVENSON and his associate David Yake run a Tony’s Coffee Bar, the long-time institution in Bellingham, Washington, that last year expanded to a second store in Seattle. Eschewing anything so trendy as lattes, the Seattle shop offers strictly drip coffee, Americanos, and espresso shots. Every Saturday the business hosts public coffee cuppings, a smelling and tasting showcase of various javas, a process that a professional like Erik performs most days as part of doing business. Cuppings demonstrate what makes good coffee and the nuances of each special blend. Erik is the former head roaster and coffee buyer for Seattle’s Zoka Coffee. He lives in Seattle.
SETH MCBEE is an investment portfolio manager and president of McBee Advisors Inc. He is also a preaching elder with Soma Communities in Renton, Washington, and a member of the executive team at the Gospel Community Mission Collective. He resides with his wife,Stacy, and three children in Maple Valley, Washington.
2004
WILLIAM O’BRIEN is associate director of career services at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota. He and his wife, KIRSTEN BENGTSON O’BRIEN ’05, live in St. Paul, Minnesota.
MARY ALICE HEUSCHEL EDD, former superintendent of the Renton School District and 2011 Washington State Superintendent of the Year, was named chief of staff for Washington governor Jay Inslee. She was singled out for being a change agent and for the statewide impact of her initiatives for education, including improving graduation rates in her school district. Mary Alice has a network of contacts in strategic areas, including education and health care.
2008
DEVON POER is editor-in-chief of The Stylist Handbook, an online magazine dedicated to fashion and wardrobe styling. Soon after graduation from SPU, with a degree in clothing and textiles and an emphasis in fashion merchandising, she moved to Los Angeles and quickly established ties in the fashion and design community. She and partners formed the agency Fashion and Beauty Media Inc., a creative services firm for designers, actors, and musicians. She lives in Los Angeles and Austin, Texas.
AMANDA HEAP is in business development and sales support for Copiers Northwest in Kennewick, Washington. The accounting graduate lives in Kennewick.
2010
ZEEK EARL is a videographer and owner of Shep Films. His company’s short sci-film “In the Pines” premiered this year at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, and drew additional praise at film festivals in Palm Springs, Hollywood, Halifax, and Tacoma. Zeek and eight other SPU graduates are producing and filming “Prospect,” an even more ambitious sci-fi short film. Costume space suits for “Prospect” are provided by OLIVIA LENZ ’11, who has spent several summers conducting research with NASA. Both film projects were shot in the otherworldly atmosphere of Washington’s Hoh Rainforest. Zeek resides in Seattle.
JOSEPH SEBAST is a software developer for Wadeware LLC in Kirkland, Washington. His wife, EMILY MILLER ’11, is a long-term youth crisis case manager. The couple lives in Kirkland, Washington, with their recently adopted puppy.
2011
ZACHARIAH “ZACH” BRYAN is the lead reporter and web editor for the Ballard News Tribune. A recently minted English graduate, Zach was assistant news editor for The Falcon and a student worker in the office of Seattle’s mayor. He copyedits Northwest Asian Weekly and was an editorial intern and freelance writer for Crosscut. He lives in Seattle.