News

ROSE MARIE BAILEY KOFFKEY lives at Warm Beach Senior Community in Stanwood, Washington. She is the mother of four children.

ERNIE LEACH is retired chief deputy chancellor of California Community Colleges. He is also past president of Fresno (California) City College, and a former academic administrator in Illinois, Maryland, and Washington. His wife, ROMAYNE RENBERG LEACH ’59, is a retired teacher. The couple lives in Mineral Bluff, Georgia.

ROBERT MAGEE, M.S.Ed. ’61, served as an educational missionary in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) at Lundi Mission, and as a staff member with Bible Study Fellowship (BSF). He directed the establishment of BSF in Africa and the Middle East. Robert is married to KITTY UPTON MAGEE ’53. The couple lives in Sherwood, Oregon, and has two children, including SHARON MAGEE ’77.

GENE ORCUTT, along with his wife, Lillian, helped found a school for the deaf in Puerto Rico. They retired from Biblical Ministries Worldwide in 1993. Lillian died in March 2007, and Gene lives in Sequim, Washington.

FRANCES HICKS PERSON traveled to the Philippines in 2006 to teach
seventh and eighth graders at Joy Christian Academy in Cebu City. During 2007–08, she will homeschool two children, a second grader and a seventh grader, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Home base for Frances is Vancouver, Washington.

ROBERT REED taught at the elementary level for 27 years in the Issaquah, Washington, School District before his retirement 20 years ago. He and his wife, GRACE BURLEY REED ’56, live in Bellevue, Washington.

EVOGENE ATKINSON STEPHENS retired after teaching elementary school for 32 years. Since her husband’s death in 2005, she has continued leading a community Bible study and working with “The Bridge,” a homeless recovery ministry. Evogene lives in Phoenix, Arizona.

GORDON TORSTENBO retired as managing owner of Gordon G.T. and Associates Inc. He and his wife, Pat, live in Washougal, Washington. They have three children and eight grandchildren.

BARBARA KNIPE WHITMARSH, former missionary to Thailand, attends Shoreline Covenant Church and is married to PHILIP WHITMARSH ’69.
The couple has three children and two granddaughters, and lives in Shoreline, Washington.

Alumna Aviator Tells Students “There’s a Testimony in Everything You Do”

The first time CAROLYN EMMONS CARPP ’58 flew, she was 6 years old. “My dad took me to an air show and we went up in this old barnstormer,” she recalls. “I felt like I could see the whole world from up there.”

Thirty-six years later, Carpp took to the skies a second time — in preparation for her own pilot license. “There was a big gap in there,” she laughs. “But I never forgot my first flight. Eventually you go to the things that interest you.”

In between her first and second flights, Carpp kept herself busy. An elementary school teacher by day, the former SPC voice major spent her evenings and weekends singing with Seattle Opera while raising two children. Then, in
1977, she decided it was time for a change.

“Another teacher in my school got her license,” Carpp says. “And
I thought, ‘I can do that.’ I wanted to prove something to myself.”

Carpp became hooked following a life-changing experience flying solo through the North Cascade mountain range, where she says she “touched the face of God.” Since that time, she has been active in The Ninety-Nines, an international women’s flying organization co-founded by Amelia Earhart. She has also given 300 elementary students their first flights through a young aviators club she founded, and become a judge for collegiate flying competitions.

It’s this final role that gives the now-retired teacher the most satisfaction. “I love seeing outstanding students, especially Christians, go into aviation careers,” says Carpp, who plans to join her Seattle Pacific classmates for their 50-year reunion in June. “I always tell students, ‘Pursue what you like. There’s a testimony in everything you do.’”

ROBERT BARTLETT retired from law enforcement to enjoy family, travel, and work with refugees resettling in the Seattle area. He lives in Covington, Washington.

RUTH JULIA CHAMBERLIN published her novel The Dancing Finn in July 2006. A former photo-journalist for World Vision Magazine, she met Mother Teresa and circled the globe with the first four of her eight adopted children. Ruth spent a year in Finland as a Fulbright scholar and holds a doctoral degree in American studies from Emory University. Her husband of 49 years, educator BURT CHAMBERLIN ’60, developed food and education projects in Cambodia and several African nations. The Chamberlins live in Ariel, Washington.

E. Dean Cook, a retired U.S. Navy chaplain with 33 years of service, wrote his autobiography, Salt of the Sea: A Navy Chaplain’s Experience Ashore and at Sea. The book, published by Xulon Press, recounts Dean’s time on active duty, from which he retired with the rank of captain. After leaving the Navy, he earned a doctorate and taught in the Religion Department at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, New York. Four years later, he became senior pastor of Wilmore Free Methodist Church (WFMC) in Wilmore, Kentucky. In 2004, Dean retired again, and he and his wife, RUTH SMILEY COOK, built a log home in Wilmore. The couple has four adult sons.

JON “SKIP” FRUYTIER teaches Spanish by television to three high schools and is youth director at Bad Axe Free Methodist Church in Bad Axe, Michigan. He is also studying for the ministry and involved in drama work. Jon and his wife, Linda, have three teenage daughters and reside in Harbor Beach, Michigan.

GARRY LAINE retired at age 71 after 40 years in the metals business. He now lives in Bellingham, Washington, after residing for 43 years in Oregon.

KATHERINE DINGUS MATCHETTE has retired from editing Adult Friend, the adult Sunday school curriculum of the Evangelical Friends. She is writing a juvenile science fiction novel from her home in Christmas Valley, Oregon.

GERALD NORTH is the executive presbyter of the Presbytery of San Fernando, Presbyterian Church-USA, near Los Angeles. He resides in Panorama City, California.

CAROL KING SCHAPER retired after 32 years of teaching public elementary school in districts in Quincy, Michigan, and Renton and Seattle, Washington. She and her husband, ROBERT SCHAPER ’86, have two daughters and live in Seattle.

MARGARET THAYIL and ERNEST THAYIL ’62 celebrated 50 years of marriage in 2006. Both are active in a small church that he pastors. The Thayils, who have four children and six grandchildren, live in New Market, Maryland.

SARAH PETTY THOMPSON is a busy substitute teacher during the school year, and spends her summers working the family farm in Lenore, Idaho, with her husband, Joe. They raise cattle and grow hay and grain crops. Sarah also teaches Sunday school at the community church. The
Thompsons have five children.

DEL WISDOM is CEO of Judel Marketing International Inc., and vice president of Maya Pack Inc., a Nicaraguan company. He retired from active farming in 2004 and is a member of the board of Agros International, a nonprofit organization that helps the poor in Mexico and Central America through land acquisition. He and his wife, Judy, live in Basin City, Washington.

GAIL ARNOTT is an adjunct faculty member at Dallas (Texas) Baptist
University. He serves on the executive boards of Weskota Manor and the Wessington Springs Area Development Corporation, both in South Dakota, and on the executive board of Central Christian College in McPherson, Kansas. He and his wife, Susan, live in Wessington Springs, South Dakota, and have three sons, all SPU graduates: DAVID ARNOTT ’98, STEPHEN ARNOTT ’01, and ANDREW ARNOTT ’06.

RALPH CARLSON is a professor of English at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California. As a board member of Evangelize China Fellowship International, he attended the agency’s 60th anniversary meetings in Beijing and Shanghai, China, during the spring of 2007. He went on from there to scout prospective aid projects in Vietnam. He and his wife, RUTH NYLUND CARLSON ’67, live in Glendora, California.

GEORGENE “GIGI” SPENCER DISTAD teaches piano. She and her husband, BILL DISTAD ’69, sing in the church choir and have four adult children. The Distads live in Salem, Oregon.

EUGENE GRASS, at the age of 61, rode his unicycle and juggled in four parades during the summer of 2007. For 29 years, he has been the pastor of New Vision Fellowship in Beaverton, Oregon. That town is home for Eugene and his wife, Carol, who have three children, including PAUL GRASS ’98 and PEGGY GRASS WILKINSON ’00.

ELAINE KAUFFMAN is pastor of the First Mennonite Church in Mountain Lake, Minnesota, where she also makes her home.

DAVID LOGAN has retired after teaching 32 years in the elementary schools of Port Angeles, Washington. The passion he now pursues is
photography. He and his wife, Marcia, have four children and reside in
Port Angeles.

DAVID MURDOCH and his wife, Signy, have ministered in Romania since 1991 and also established a Christian mission work in northern Norway. They now live in Tacoma, Washington, where the couple was instrumental in forming the Chinese Reconciliation Foundation.

SHARON SHIELDS PETERSON is retired from a 25-year career in the practice of law. She lives in San Diego, California, and delivers meals for Mama’s Kitchen, serving the HIV/AIDS population. As well, she is a walk-in legal clinic volunteer for the homeless and a patient volunteer at San Diego Hospice. Her plans include completing the Spiritual Direction Certificate Program at the University of San Diego.

JOYCE SPENCER is a public health nurse for homeless and other disadvantaged children. She lives in Pasadena, California, and writes that she is “proud to be an SPU alumna.”

LAEL WINCH THOMPSON and her husband, George, are partners in T-C Lumber Company. They have six children and 13 grandchildren, and enjoy the country life with cows, horses, chickens, turkeys, and assorted dogs and cats. They live in Port Angeles, Washington.

CAROLYN ROSSER WATSON retired after 28 year of teaching Spanish, the last 20 years at Seattle Christian School in SeaTac, Washington. She also developed the school’s short-term missions program and led many of its teams. In retirement, she continues to lead missions teams engaged in dental and vision clinics. Her husband, LARRY WATSON, retired after 30 years of teaching math in Seattle Public Schools. He enjoys working with Bible Study Fellowship. The Watsons, who have three children and seven grandchildren, reside in Seattle.

GAIL ANDERSON has worked five years for the State of Nevada. She was recently appointed deputy director of the Department of Business and Industry. She also serves as chairman of Trinity Education Foundation, which supports Christian school education for Trinity Schools in Las Vegas, where she lives.

DONNA GREENLEE CARSTENSEN has taught high school English for nearly 30 years, and she has been married to her husband, Larry, the same length of time. She currently teaches at Emerald Ridge High School in Puyallup, Washington. The Carstensens have two adult daughters and live in Puyallup.

CAROL JOHNSON COCHRAN was named Oregon’s 2007 School Nurse of the Year by the Oregon School Nurses Association. She is a school nurse consultant for the Willamette Education Service District and serves as an in-house nurse for two school districts and a nurse consultant for three others. In all, she travels to 26 schools. Carol says, “Seattle Pacific did a wonderful job preparing me to make a difference.” She lives with her husband, Tom, and their youngest son in Albany, Oregon. The couple has five children.

JONATHAN DAWN spent 20 years in Kenya, East Africa, in mission service. He is now teaching at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia, Canada, where his son and daughter attend. His wife, Margaret, teaches high school French. The Dawns live in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.

JOYCE HATFIELD GLEASON has been the library/media specialist and site technology coordinator at Salem Heights Elementary School in Salem, Oregon, for 10 years. Because the school includes deaf and hard-of-hearing students, she learned American Sign Language. Two of her three children are SPU graduates: JOHN GLEASON ’03 and KELSEY GLEASON ’06. Both Joyce and Kelsey ran on the Falcon track team for Coach DORIS BROWN HERITAGE ’64. Joyce lives in Salem, Oregon.

FRANCES PAMPEYAN works part time as a registered nurse and pursues her love of painting in oils and watercolors. She lives in Duarte, California.

KATHERINE HEGGE PATRICK, M.Ed. ’74, taught school for eight years, then took on the homeschooling of her five children. Daughter Juliana Patrick is a sophomore at SPU. Katherine’s husband, John, died of a brain tumor in 2001. She lives in Woodinville, Washington, and is active in Northwest Presbyterian Church, also in Woodinville.

WILLIAM SAFSTROM, M.Ed. ’75, is high school principal at Bellevue Christian School in Bellevue, Washington. His wife, JANET PAMPEYAN SAFSTROM ’71, M.ED. ’80, teaches first grade in the Snohomish School District. The Safstroms have three children, including JULIANNA SAFSTROM ’06, and live in Woodinville, Washington.

NOLAN SCHMIDT moved to New York state, where he was promoted to vice president and deputy general manager of Platform Solutions, a division of BAE Systems, which provides products and support to the defense and aerospace industries. Nolan lives in Vestal, New York.

JEANIE KIMBLE SMITH lives in Northern Idaho but commutes to Seattle one week each month to work in labor and delivery at Highline Medical Center. Her husband, KENNETH SMITH ’71, is the pastor of First Baptist Church of Sandpoint, Idaho. The Smiths have three children, including KATRINA SMITH JOHNSON ’01 and RYAN SMITH ’06, who is an assistant editor for World Vision Magazine and was on assignment in Mongolia and Peru in 2007. Jeanie and Kenneth have three grandsons and live in Sagle, Idaho.

VICTORIA SPRADLEY makes her home in Seattle. She has been selling eyeglasses for the last 15 years.

JOHN VOIGT is a portfolio administrator and registered investment advisor with Personal Investment Management in Bellevue, Washington. His wife, Janalyn, is a published author. The Voigts live in Snohomish, Washington.

DIANE BEALS is an associate professor of education at the University of Tulsa, where she teaches and conducts research on child development. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

MARK BLETSCHER is a claim representative for State Farm Insurance, and his wife, Kathy, is an executive assistant to the senior pastor at Salem Alliance Church in Salem, Oregon, where the Bletschers live. They are “empty-nesters” since son Jonathan Bletscher started his freshman year at SPU during the fall of 2007.

DUANE BREDIN is in management with Goodwill Industries of Seattle. His wife, JUNE MITTON BREDIN ’79, is a physician at Rainier School in Buckley, Washington, which is part of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services–Division of Developmental Disabilities. The Bredins have two sons and live in Edmonds, Washington.

JEFFREY CASE, a building contractor, spent Christmas 2006 in Tanzania, East Africa, with his wife, Teresa, and son and daughter-in-law, Joshua and Nicole. They assisted a missionary couple in setting up a children’s camp. Jeffrey and Teresa live in Westminster, California.

EMERY GRANTIER and CONNIE RANDALL GRANTIER have raised and home-schooled their three children — including CHRISTALYN GRANTIER ’06 — in Bend, Oregon. Emery works in information technology for Deschutes County while Connie does frequent volunteer work. They attend New Hope Evangelical Church and enjoy life in the high desert country of Bend.

KAREN COOK HOGGARTH completed a master’s degree in natural resources at Ohio State University and is married to environmental scientist MICHAEL HOGGARTH ’75. They have two sons and live in Westerville, Ohio.

MARK HUNTER, known as “The Sales Hunter,” is a sales and marketing consultant for large and small corporations around the world. He is a motivational sales training speaker and shares sales strategies on BusinessWeek magazine’s website. He and his wife, ANNE MARIE WARREN HUNTER ’79, have two children and live in Omaha, Nebraska.

DEBRA FRANKLIN JESKE serves as office manager for Trinity Lutheran Church in Lynnwood, Washington. She treasures time with her husband, Joe, and their adult children. Quilting and cooking are additional sources
of joy. The Jeskes live in Lynnwood.

JOANNE LABAW works for the Environmental Protection Agency in its hazardous sites programs. She and her husband, Frantisek Pupava,
have two teenage daughters and live in Seattle.

JAN SMITH LELAND assists the high school special education program in math and reading for the Salem-Keizer School District in Oregon. She also does part-time freelance copy-editing. Jan enjoys travel, especially around the Pacific Northwest, and she hikes with a Salem recreation club. She is active in her local Christian and Missionary Alliance congregation. Jan has two adult children and lives in Salem, Oregon.

JULIE SMITH LYONS works for Rabobank, a global leader in sustainability-oriented banking. Her husband, Dan, pastors a church. They have two children attending college and live in Reedley, California.

SUSAN SCHIERLING OLSON and her husband, ROGER OLSON ’79, have completed 24 years as missionaries to Japan with Lutheran Brethren World Mission. They are back in Seattle leading a Japanese ministries outreach. The Olsons have three children and live in Shoreline, Washington.

SHIRLEY HETLAND PARROTT is a learning specialist for grades K–6 in the North Kitsap (Washington) School District. Her husband, Jon, is a home designer. They have three children, including JULIE PARROTT ROSE ’06, who majored in environmental science. The Parrotts live in Poulsbo, Washington.

KARLA TODD PHILLIPS is a reading coach at Brewster Elementary School in Brewster, Washington. Her husband, RANDY PHILLIPS ’77, retired in 2007 after 30 years in education. The Olsons have two sons and live in Brewster.

CHERYL ROBINSON is a school nurse in the Edmonds (Washington) School District and serves on the board of the Edmonds Education Association. She and her husband, Tom Beavers, live in the Greenwood district of Seattle. Cheryl writes that they frequent their neighborhood non- profit coffee shop, The Green Bean, and attend church next door at the Sanctuary.

DWAYNE SMITH is completing 20 years as an enrollment consultant at the National Research Center for College and University Admissions. He and his wife, Suzanne, have two sons and live in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

LINDA VANDLAC SMITH is a member of the speech faculty, chair of the Arts and Communication Division, and coordinator of the Center for Learning and Teaching at Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon, Washington. She and her two sons live in Burlington, Washington.

For SPU Alumna, Touring With the Seattle Children’s Chorus Is a Testimony to the World

MARCIE OCHSNER FOSSE ’78 still exchanges Christmas letters with former members of the Seattle Pacific University Concert Choir. She sang with them during her four years at SPU, and memories of the musicianship, the camaraderie, and the excitement of touring remain with her still.

Today, as executive director of the 200-member Seattle Children’s Chorus (SCC), she is the master of logistics for four choirs made up of 7- to 18-year-olds who share the joy of singing for national and international audiences. Her favorite part of the job? “Planning tours!”

“We tour regionally, nationally, and internationally,” says Marcie. “I love being with these great kids, and I love seeing the world and experiencing new cultures. We’ve been to Brazil, England, Central Europe, Scandinavia, and three Canadian provinces. It’s up to me to obtain all the right paperwork for as many as 72 kids at a time to cross international borders.”

Though she’s never lost a chorister, there was that trip to Niagara Falls when she and choir founder and artistic director KRIS KNOWLES MASON ’78 were left on a street corner as two buses filled with choir members rumbled off without them. They were soon discovered missing, however, and successfully retrieved.

SCC, says Marcie, mirrors her faith to the world. “Our commitment is to preserve sacred music for young voices, and to do so in a Christian atmosphere,” she explains. “We want to help each child explore his or her God-given talent for choral music.”

Her work benefits Seattle Pacific as well. This year, there are eight SCC alumni studying and singing at Marcie’s alma mater. Marcie attended the Alumni Choir Reunion at Homecoming and encourages her fellow graduates to let God “mold and shape your life at each step. I’ve found my niche, and I’m loving it!”

PHILIP ANDERSON has been hired as a police officer for the town of Battle Ground, Washington. Prior to his new position, Philip worked as a custody officer, patrol deputy, and reserve officer for the Clark County (Washington) Sheriff’s Office. He and his wife, Dori, live in Vancouver, Washington, with their five children.

TRACY VANDERBUR BALZER is director of Christian formation at John Brown University (JBU) in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, and author of Thin Places: An Evangelical Journey Into Celtic Christianity. Tracy is married to
CARY BALZER, director of the master’s degree in ministry program and a member of the biblical studies faculty at JBU. He is editing a new book, The Devotional Wesley. The Balzers have two daughters and live in Siloam Springs.

RICHARD BECKER teaches nursing at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Indiana, and is a part-time oncology nurse in Elkhart, Indiana. He has completed a master’s degree in theology at Franciscan University and is working on a second master’s degree in nursing at Ball State University. He and his wife, Nancy, have seven children and live in South Bend, Indiana.

BRADLEY BERGFALK moved from Lakewood, New York, in September 2007 to be the new senior pastor of Newport Covenant Church in Bellevue, Washington. He and his wife, Roxanna, have three children and live in Bellevue.

JOHN BUECHNER is completing his final year at Denver Seminary. He and his wife, LORI IVESTER BUECHNER, are exploring ministry focused primarily on orphaned children. They have three children of their own and live in Westminster, Colorado.

ROBIN CALDWELL is a physician at Lynden (Washington) Family Medicine. His wife, YUKI KITA CALDWELL, is a part-time employee for the Whatcom County Library System and is a worship leader at Lynden Church of the Nazarene. Their son Chris Caldwell is a junior at SPU majoring in English literature, and their son Daniel is a high school senior. The Caldwells live in Lynden.

SUE RISS DALEY is a dispatcher for the Seattle Police Department. Her husband, Jeff, has managed the grounds at SPU for the past 16 years. The Daleys have three sons and live in Seattle.

DEBORAH PERSON DOWNS and her husband, Craig, have five children, one of whom is deceased. Craig is assistant superintendent of Woodland (Washington) School District. The family lives in Kelso, Washington.

KRISTI SHEPHERD DRAKE is co-owner of Le Panier, a French bakery in
Seattle’s Pike Place Market. She is married to KENNETH DRAKE ’82. They have three daughters and live in Shoreline, Washington.

JANET JOHNSON was ordained by the Assemblies of God in 2004. She
is a Bible teacher at Westminster Community Church in Mountlake Terrace, Washington, but has retired from the position of Christian education minister. She resides in Mountlake Terrace.

JEFF KEENAN is supply chain strategic initiatives manager for Adobe Systems in Seattle. He’s also actively involved in global poverty issues
and recently co-authored Our Day to End Poverty (Berrett-Koehler, 2007). He and his wife, Deborah, have six children and attend Shoreline Covenant Church. They live in Seattle.

CONNIE WOLFF KRAGT is the women’s ministry director at Bear Creek Community Church in Woodinville, Washington. She and her husband, Wayne, have two sons in college and live in Redmond, Washington.

RENE REED MASON completed her master of divinity degree and with her husband, Joel, is co-pastor of West Valley Community Church in Hillsboro, Oregon. They have two sons and live in Aloha, Oregon.

KAY SWANSON SMITH is the literacy coach at Selah (Washington) Intermediate School. She enjoys family life with her husband, Derek, and their two children. The family lives in Yakima, Washington.

DIANE TILLMAN has focused her career on children’s ministry. She has been a teacher, a Christian education director, and a missionary. She lives in Marysville, Washington.

LYNETTE DEJMAL ANDERSEN leads a busy life on and off the family cattle ranch. She works two days a week as a registered nurse on the medical/surgical/pediatric floor of a rural hospital. She and her husband, Dan, have three boys and live in Ontario, Oregon.

CAMERON BISHOP spent four years in Japan studying martial and healing arts. After receiving a degree in oriental medicine from the Northwest Institute of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, he opened what has become a thriving practice: Palm Beach Acupuncture in Lake Worth, Florida.

KEITH COOPER is in his fifth year as men’s basketball head coach at Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, Washington. He and his wife, LINDA JOHNSON COOPER ’89, have one child and live in Olympia, Washington.

CHARLES “CHAD” HOVDE is the CEO of Queen Anne Windows and Doors, a thriving business that has grown more than eightfold in the last three years. His customers are primarily contractors doing a full range of commercial and residential construction from Alaska to Oregon. He lives in Seattle.

TODD LUNDBERG is pastor of Redwood Family Church in Redmond, Washington. His wife, LAURIE SCHISLER LUNDBERG, is the church worship leader and an elementary school secretary in Woodinville, Washington. The Lundbergs have three children and reside in Woodinville.

patrick mcburney jr. was elected chair of the Benton County (Washington) Republican Party and is a candidate for the Richland (Washington) School Board. He resides in Richland.

ELIZABETH MCCALLUM is a senior planner with the City of Troutdale in Oregon. She continues to play the viola, attends First Baptist Church, and is active in the Gresham (Oregon) Neighborhood Associations. Elizabeth resides in Gresham.

PAUL WILLIAMS, a physician at Washington Park Medical Center in Centralia, Washington, has opened a walk-in medical clinic in Chehalis, Washington. He says his Quick Clinic is part of a national trend toward small retail clinics inside large chain stores. Paul’s business is inside a fitness center and promises patients with acute symptoms little-to-no waiting, quick exams, and prescription pickup. He and his wife, Theresa, live in Centralia. The couple has three sons.

MECHELLE MCCOY WONG enjoys homeschooling her daughters, 12 and 6 years old; teaching piano lessons and music classes at their homeschool co-op; and playing the piano and helping lead worship at church. She and her husband, JEFFREY WONG ’87, reside in Auburn, Washington.

Researcher Seeks Ways to Prevent and Respond to Disasters Such as Virginia Tech

Jeannette Sutton

For JEANNETTE REED SUTTON ’93, the tragedy of last year’s Virginia Tech (VT) shooting was also a study in peer-to-peer communications during times of disaster. As the research coordinator for the national Natural Hazards Center (NHC) at the University of Colorado at Boulder (UCB), she and her team looked at the ways students monitored the status and well-being of their VT peers as the drama unfolded, using social networking technologies such as Facebook.

“Students also used these methods to problem-solve,” says Jeannette, who coordinated victim services following the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School. “They were able to identify all of the names of the deceased before public officials even released the information. It was amazing to watch and could potentially be incorporated into sociological and technical solutions for future events.”

Hoping her research will help society’s most vulnerable, Jeannette was compelled to work in the victim support field because “this is where Jesus wants us to be.” “It was my start at Seattle Pacific that put me on the trajectory to get here,” she says. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Christian education with a minor in sociology at SPU, followed by a master’s degree and doctorate in sociology from UCB. Her dissertation focused on the work of community and faith-based organizations that served victims of the World Trade Center disaster. She also holds a master of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary.

The only center of its type in the country, the NHC receives federal grants from agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the Department of Homeland Security to advance and communicate knowledge on hazards mitigation and disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. Jeannette’s responsibilities include managing those grants, conducting field research, and supervising undergraduate and graduate student workers.

She and husband DAVID SUTTON ’91, a realtor and a minister of worship and discipleship at the Presbyterian Church of Broomfield, have a son and live in Louisville, Colorado.

beth kierulff armstrong was ordained an elder in the Free Methodist Church. Along with her husband, Jason Armstrong ’94, she has served at Anchorage (Alaska) First Free Methodist Church since August 2000. The Armstrongs have two sons and live in Anchorage.

JOHN PAT BOURASSA, M.S., a teacher at Sammamish High School in Bellevue, Washington, was inducted into the Washington State Swim Coaches Hall of Fame. During a 28-year interscholastic coaching career, his swimmers set one national record, captured two state championships, earned multiple top-five team finishes, and won a total of 63 national All-America titles. Recipient of a slew of league, district, and state coaching honors, John has served on numerous swim boards and for 38 years as a Division I NCAA National Championship Official. He and his wife, Barbara, who works in sales for Nordstrom, reside in Kirkland, Washington.

RUTH RAUB ENGELTHALER married her husband, Thomas, in 2002. She completed a master’s degree in creative writing and playwriting from Arizona State University. The Engelthalers have two sons and live in Glendale, Arizona.

heather mccahan larue works part time as an outpatient orthopedic physical therapist for Multicare Health System in Spanaway, Washington. Her husband, SCOTT LARUE ’88, teaches sixth grade at Shaw Road Elementary School in Puyallup, Washington. The couple lives in Spanaway with their four children.

APRIL MCGINNIS MESSINETTI is a stay-at-home mom to two children. Her husband, Steve, is the director of Portland (Oregon) Habitat for Humanity. They live in Portland.

KIM HARNDEN MOORE not only teaches kindergarten for North Thurston Public Schools, but she also teaches Sunday school and leads music at AWANA. Her husband, Joel, is a computer network systems supervisor for Mason County Public Utility District #3. They have two daughters and live in Olympia, Washington.

SARAH KELLOGG MURPHY is an encounters analyst at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle. She and her husband, Matt, have two children and live in Kenmore, Washington.

NANCY OBERHOLTZER is a professional stone sculptor with studios in Seattle and Toronto. She creates commissioned large-scale sculptures for cities, and her art may be found in municipalities in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington. Her husband, Stephen, is a remodeling contractor with a focus on residential buildings. They have three children and reside in Seattle.

JENNIFER VALE OLSON works part time at Bellevue (Washington) Christian School and enjoys homeschooling, scrapbooking, Bible study, reading, and spending time with family and friends. She and her husband, MICHAEL OLSON ’94, have three children and live in Bellevue.

SARAH TIMMONS PATE is a school psychologist and teaches at California Baptist University in Riverside, California. In 2006, she and her husband, John, adopted three siblings — ages 15, 11, 9 — from Colombia. The Pate family lives in Riverside.

JENNI EDGBERT READ is a stay-at-home mom to four children and serves as women’s ministry director at church. She and her husband, Jonathan, support Mason City (Iowa) High School athletics and other activities. They live in Mason City.

GINA SYRE SHORT is marketing manager for Starbucks Coffee Company. She enjoys spending time with her husband, Patrick, and their son. The Shorts reside in Mill Creek, Washington.

GRETCHEN WILEY STEHR is in her fourth year teaching history at Granite Falls (Washington) Middle School. Her husband, Vaughn, attends seminary. The Stehrs have two children and live in Marysville, Washington.

BRANDI PROBSTFIELD ALVINE and her husband, Steve, adopted their daughter, Stephanie, from the Philippines in 2006. The family lives in Lynnwood, Washington.

SHANNON LITTY ATHERTON cares for two small sons and runs a home-based business on the side. Her husband, Eric, is a youth and college pastor. They live in Lake- wood, California.

KRISTI LEKSEN GALVIN is an adoption specialist for Children’s Home Society and works as a therapist in her own private practice. Her husband, Brad, is a chemical dependency counselor for Civigenics. They reside in Seattle, Washington.

AMY KELLY HOLOWATY graduated from the Paul Mitchell Skin Academy and is a licensed esthetician. She received the Legacy Scholarship from the International Dermal Institute, owns Sweet Face Skin Care, and is pursuing post-graduate education in skin therapy. Her husband, Chris, is an audio engineer for Rockwell Collins, a leading aerospace and defense company. They live in Brier, Washington.

MICHELLE QUINN HUGHES teaches math at Kentridge High School in Kent, Washington. Her husband, Rich, works for Boeing. The Hughes live in Kent.

EUGENIA MERCER has been employed by Alaska Airlines for nine years. She lives in Bellevue, Washington.

KAREN NEISWENDER earned a master of public health degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She works with Food for the Hungry, a Christian relief and development organization, and lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

BRONWEN O’NEILL works at Providence Everett Medical Center in Washington and as an expert legal nurse consultant. She has also done summer camp nursing in Kent, Connecticut, and has worked for Medical Staffing Network. She lives with her three children in Everett, Washington.

LAURA PARMENTER has spent seven years teaching grades K–2 at a Christian school. Short-term mission trips have taken her to Australia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Turkey. Laura lives in Renton, Washington.

MATTHEW REID is a certified public accountant working for a firm in Tigard, Oregon. He also leads a Truth in Training group in the AWANA program at church. His wife, BRANDY JOHNSON REID, has enjoyed a leave of absence from a job as a flight attendant for Alaska Air to care for the couple’s three daughters. She is a team member of Team in Training, part of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The Reids reside in Portland, Oregon.

carrie rode teaches fourth grade at Halecrest School in Chula Vista, California. She lives in San Diego, California.

ADAM ROHLER performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City in December 2006 as a member of the 200-voice choral group the Ontario Society of New York. The choir sang Handel’s Messiah before a sold-out crowd of 3,000. The presentation by the Society is an annual tradition spanning more than a century. Adam, a tenor, was a vocal performance major at SPU. Today he is co-pastor with his wife, AMY ROBERTS ROHLER ’97, of New York’s Bethesda Covenant Church. The Rohlers live in New York City.

SUSAN DURIS ROSE practices obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center in Salt Lake City. Her husband, Richard, practices internal medicine at Salt Lake City’s Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The Roses have one daughter.

RYAN SMITH is a marketing manager with Rubbermaid Home Products. He and his wife, Kimberly, have a daughter and are expecting a second child in the spring. They live in Huntersville, North Carolina.

JEFF VAN ETTEN sings in the church choir and works for Northrop Grumman, a military defense company, as a senior software engineer. His wife, Kathy, teaches 35 piano students. Jeff and Kathy have four children, and in August 2007 they decided to increase the total to six by adopting twin 9-year-old boys from Haiti. The family lives in Parker, Colorado.

NATE WETZEL works for Fluke Corporation in Everett, Washington. He and his wife, SARA ROBERTS WETZEL ’99, have two children and live in Seattle.

ROD YOUNG provides family preservation services as an in-home child and family therapist in Snohomish County, Washington. He enjoys hiking and lives in Mountlake Terrace, Washington.

Graduate Works in Oman Government

Ibrahim Alhosni

Seattle Pacific University is worlds away from the Sultanate of Oman. And yet SPU was the perfect place for IBRAHIM ALHOSNI ’98 to earn a degree in accounting. His elder Omani cousins were already there and helped him adapt to the new environment.

And adapt he did. When he graduated, he returned to Oman and spent the next five years working for the “Big Five” accounting firms of Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young. He is now the country’s head of financial investment in the Ministry of Finance.

“I’m proud to represent my country’s interests,” says Ibrahim, “and to meet with people from many different nationalities, cultures, and religious backgrounds.” Oman enjoys a strategic trade location with access to the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf, and cultivates strong ties with the United States.

The challenges for Ibrahim are many, not the least of which is to deal with diverse areas of investment, including tourism, oil, gas, transportation, banking, public utilities, and agriculture. To say that he is a “quick study” is an oversimplification. His department oversees 135 national and international companies and organizations, while he personally manages eight staff members and five financial and economic advisors. He is a member of the committee responsible for set-up of the new government accounting system to move Oman from a cash basis to an accrual basis.

He daily reviews and analyzes the work of staff and experts to ensure all subjects were thoroughly studied and proper recommendations made. He must attend investor negotiations on behalf of the government, project expected dividends from invested funds, and revise budgets accordingly.

Though distance and schedule made attending his 10th reunion difficult, the father of two daughters sends his greetings: “I congratulate my fellow SPU graduates and wish them the best in their future endeavors.”

Elizabeth Hyatt Barany teaches kindergarten at Chestnut Hill Academy in Bellevue, Washington. Her husband, Mark Barany ’01, is SPU’s library microsystems coordinator. In 2003–04, the couple taught English in Japan. They have been married six years and met in Tiffany Hall, where Elizabeth’s grandmother, Bernice Linger Hudlow ’38, once lived as a student. The Baranys live in Seattle.

AARON BEKKERUS is a project manager at The Boeing Company. In 2006, he completed a master’s degree in software development and management through Carnegie Mellon University. Aaron and his wife, Genevieve, reside in Des Moines, Washington.

BARBARA DECKER, M.S., is a software implementation project manager for Bearing Point Inc., and works on systems implementation projects for the State of Montana, the State of Texas, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Barbara resides in Gilbert, Arizona.

HILARY KAGELER HARGIS graduated with a master’s degree in theology and religious studies from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in library and information science at Drexel University in Philadelphia. She works as assistant cataloger in the library of the Chemical Heritage Foundation. She and her husband, Jonathan, live in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.

LINDSEY BRUUN KASPAR has worked with Operation Mobilization (OM) since 2004 in the Middle East and U.S. offices. OM is a nonprofit Christian mission organization that does relief and development, evangelization, discipleship, church planting, and literature distribution. Lindsey married OM colleague Michael Kaspar, and the couple lives in Tyrone, Georgia.

JESSE KREUN is in his fifth year of teaching choir at Meeker Middle School in the Kent (Washington) School District. He and his wife, MAREN ROCKSTAD KREUN, live in Puyallup, Washington.

ROBERT LEVY earned his master’s degree in justice, law, and society from American University in Washington, D.C. He works for the federal government and lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.

BECKA LEWIS MARSTON is a full-time nanny married to MIKE MARSTON ’99, a mortgage broker with Hometown Lending. Both are former employees of SPU in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. They attend Quest Church and live in Seattle.

DAVID MCKELLAR, M.Ed., is principal of Quil Ceda Elementary School on the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Marysville, Washington. A former police officer and air traffic controller in the U.S. Air Force, he was also at one time a church pastor. For the last few years, David has been a middle school teacher and vice principal. He led the committee that formulated the Safe and Civil Schools policy, an approach that has reduced suspensions at Marysville Middle School by 64 percent. David resides in Arlington, Washington.

MICHAEL PARDINI was named 2007 Coach of the Year for leading the Pasco (Washington) High School Bulldogs to their second 4A state soccer championship. The first time, in 1999, he was the Bulldogs’ star forward. The former Falcon defender and his wife, Katie, make their home in Pasco.

tiana pierce works as a senior training coordinator for State Com- pensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) in Glendale, California. SCIF provides compensation insurance for approximately 25 percent of California’s employers. Tiana and her fiance plan to marry in July 2008.

JENNIFER ADAMS PITMON is a first grade teacher. She and her husband, Cory, live in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

CORDELIA SINCLAIR graduated from the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C., in 2007 with a master’s degree in statecraft and national security, and a specialization in intelligence. She lives in Washington, D.C.

marta marchant volz and her husband, dentist jonathan volz ’91, manage a dental practice in Grandview, Washington. They make their home in Grandview and are expecting their first child in March 2008.