 unknown beginnings. Within two days there were 16 doctors and specialists working with them to determine a plan of action. As we sat bedside, numb, tired, and full of questions, we couldn’t help but be thankful that at least we were in one of the best medical communities in the world. I kept thinking, “What if it were me? Where would we have gone to receive care such as this?”
The pediatric oncologist who told us the news, who shared with us the best plan of action, who encouraged my sister and her husband, was a peaceful man whom we grew to trust immediately. He explained new cutting-edge therapies, and spent countless hours explaining in detail everything that he knew. I kept thinking to myself, “How lucky we are to have him... how lucky we are to be in this place...how can you ever repay someone in whose hands you have placed the life of a child?”
The pediatric oncologist who is still caring for my niece is Dr. Bruce Bostrom, who happens to be Bruce Bostrom from the Gustavus graduating class of 1974! When he and I sat bedside on the second day, discussing Gustavus, it was like a surge I have never felt before! I love Gustavus, which is pretty obvious to most people. I enjoyed my studies, my research, the choir, and working there as staff after graduate school. I have always made financial contributions to the school because of my fondness for the place and people. I think I was a pretty “average” Gustie, and mostly I think of Gustavus students as nice kids with good heads who want to do well.
Then that day in September at Minneapolis Children’s Hospital it hit me that this particular Gustie grad was saving my niece’s life! That the money I send to my alma mater every year is used to train some of the world’s brightest minds, to purchase some of the most cutting-edge research equipment, to hire some of the best professors in their fields. It was a wake-up call to me that Gustavus isn’t just a great school that I love...the reality of how important financial contributions are hit home.
I am asking you to consider this reality. Every Christmastime, I watch the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital specials on TV, usually with tears in my eyes. It is difficult to fathom how families endure those situations. How does it happen? And then it happened to us. And suddenly you don’t feel so cocooned anymore.
The staff called my niece the “Miracle Child” at the Ronald McDonald House, where my sister and her family stayed during my niece’s six weeks of radiation. The surgeon miraculously removed the entire tumor during the surgery, which is nearly impossible because it started at the very center of the brain. There are no tumors on her spine, and there were no cancer cells even found in her spinal fluid! And Dr. Bostrom is still using new therapies to try to regenerate the optic nerves so that she may regain some eyesight. She is now five, cancer free, enrolled in preschool, and learning Braille. She is full of joy and laughter, and a wonder to us all.
So I will end before the class news, by asking you to send a donation to Gustavus, or to increase it if you are a regular donor. Drop the change in the donation box the next time you go to McDonald’s. Say yes with a pledge the next time someone asks you to sponsor him or her for a fundraiser. You have no idea how your life will change if you ever meet a Dr. Bruce Bostrom. I hope you never have to meet someone like him, but believe me when I tell you that Gustavus is educating our future miracle-makers!
Class News
(Note: I have LOTS of old news here, but it’s all I have so I hope it is still accurate. If there have been any changes, divorces, deaths etc., please accept my apologies for not knowing...I hope at least old news is better than no news!)
Jenni Ryberg Wiebold is working for Merrill Corporation.
Phil Olson has opened a private music studio, Oslo Studios, where he gives private guitar lessons. In addition, he is a guitar instructor at the Minnesota Valley Music Academy in Burnsville.
David Flaten is an assistant professor of history and political science at Tompkins Cortland Community College.
Sheila Hermes Hoernemann is a P.E./DAPE teacher at James Knoll Elementary in Ortonville and head girl’s basketball coach.
Bill Bodin is now a district manager with Schering Plough Pharmaceuticals covering Minnesota and South Dakota.
Karen Greig Bodin is a nurse case manager for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota in Eagan.
Stephen Klick lives in Madison, Wisconsin, and is a graduate student in mechanical engineering at UW/Madison.
Deborah McNeil Okon lives in Los Lunas, New Mexico, and was published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders: “Family Interactions Predict Intra Individual Symptom Variation for Adolescents with Bulimia.”
Steve Mann lives in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and is the national sales manager for 21st Century Toys.
Beth Gustafson Sudduth is an HIV/AIDS surveillance program manager and epidemiologist for Pinevillas County Health Department in St. Petersburg, Florida. She and her husband, Rich, welcomed Christian John Paul, in June 2005! (Hi Beth!)
Brian Pickering is a DBA/systems engineer for Microsoft in Redmond, Washington.
Becky Anderson Fahrenz is a homemaker, and lives with Lee Fahrenz in Aurora, Illinois. Lee is the new vice president of Private Business, Inc.
Mary Frey is a WCHA women’s hockey official, and works as a consultant managing IT projects.
Todd Zabel owns Technology Advisory Group, which specializes in helping clients with their accounting and accounting systems. Todd has three daughters who play soccer and hockey! Todd also coaches both hockey and soccer in White Bear Lake.
Kristi Multhaup lives in Davidson, North Carolina, and married Mark Faust in July of 2003.
Paul Halgren works for GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare as a national account manager.
Mary Hopkins Weber had a baby boy (Jack) in July 2004, which makes him not so much a baby anymore!
Elena Hilding is now Elena Asibu, and has been for 3-1/2 years!
Tim ’85 and Roz (Johnson) Peterson live in Lakeville and own three drug stores in Lakeville, Cannon Falls, Northfield, and D & T Property.
Tim Rask is employed by the Government Solutions Division of NCS Pearson. He also published a book titled, Baseball at Davenport’s John O’Donnell Stadium, and was elected “Umpire-in-Chief” of the Field of Dreams (Iowa) chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).
Greg Luhman is a professional firefighter/EMT with Sheridan Fire-Rescue (Wyoming). He was appointed Health Fitness Coordinator for the department.
Mary Goodman-Theurer had a baby boy on March 10, 2004, John Thomas Augustas!
Jeff Heggedahl is executive vice president for John H. Harland Company in Atlanta, Georgia; where he is responsible for sales, call center, marketing and business development. GO JEFF!
Kay Johnson is registrar for Price Tower Arts Center in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Michael Harris expanded his family with Jonathan Ryan in April 2004.
Kristin Kruger lives in Tallahassee, Florida where she is an animal aid veterinarian.
Susan Roepke Gorka is a teacher for Cambridge-Isanti schools. Her husband, Scott, is a correctional officer for Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department.
Christine Gustafson Fattore is senior manager, Clinical Supply at MedImmune, Inc. She lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Gail Haan Brown lives in Candler, North Carolina, and had a baby girl in November 2004, Alice Elizabeth.
Peter Hendrickson is a bilingual/ ESL teacher in Milford, MA. He and his wife, Mila, adopted a baby from Guatemala in September 2004.
Steve ’88 and Wendy Lewis Butler live in St. James, Minnesota, and adopted a girl, Lorena, from Bogotá, Colombia in 2003. Lorena joins big brother, Isaiah, age 12. Steve continues to teach middle school science in New Ulm, and Wendy teaches 7, 10, 11, 12th grade science at St. Mary’s in Sleepy Eye.
Steve Anderson and his wife, Carol, welcomed their third child, Ethan John, in April of 2004. Steve is an ophthalmologist for Northwest Eye Clinic. They live in Excelsior.
Paul Sandbaken, Maple Grove, MN was recently promoted to managing director of St. Paul Travelers’ National Accounts Casualty Division in St. Paul. He and his wife, Danielle, have a daughter, Shanon, age seven.
Mary Jo Laue Ploumen, Shakopee, MN is a special education teacher in Shakopee ISD 720.
Mary Overgaard Pauley, Osceola, WI is a 4th grade teacher at Lakeside Elementary.
Brian Bowers is president/partner of Financial Recovery Services, Inc. Brian and his wife, Teresa, are expecting their first child in July 2006.
Kian Dwyer published a book Living Your Chosen Eulogy, which may be found