1986

Thanks to all of you who sent me a holiday greeting. I did not receive as many checks as I thought I would and I did receive way too many fruitcakes, but life goes on and we all need doorstops. Let’s get to the updates!

Ada Koch was invited to exhibit two paintings at the fourth Biennale Internazionale in Florence, Italy. The United Nations and Kofi Annan sponsored this exhibit, featuring almost 900 artists from around the world. Participation in the Biennale is by nomination only. The nominating International Scientific Committee is composed of 42 members from 18 countries. The jury includes 10 American art critics and art historians. And I thought she was just a broomball and softball player! Ada and Kevin also visited Venice and Pisa, and the entire family visited France over spring break last year and was in France on the day that the United States started the war in Iraq. They also visited Jamaica in August. Ada’s son R.J. is active in the Boy Scouts, camping, swimming, clarinet and soccer. Megan is still involved with Irish dance and the violin. (The family is still accepting contributions to buy the violin Megan really wants.) Gwen has become a great singer and has performed with her school and the Kansas City Lyric Opera. She also competes in Irish dance. Kevin continues to save lives (humans and Corvettes).

Mary ‘85 and Mark Schwartz sold their home and are renting space at the Minneapolis airport to save commuting time. That is a slight exaggeration. But in all seriousness, their travel has included stops in Breckenridge, Beaver Creek, Vail, Aspen, Steamboat, Banff, Sparta, Milwaukee (What? No phone call?), South Bend, East Brunswick, North Collins and Phoenix. The family also survived building an addition to their home. As in all home addition or remodeling projects, the actual timeline ends up being three times longer than the original timeline. Alexandria is one of the best baton twirlers in the Midwest and was disappointed to learn that the Miss America pageant is considering eliminating the talent portion of the competition. Kyle is staying busy with karate, BMX biking, gymnastics, swimming, skiing, snowboarding and piano playing. In his spare time, he is studying entomology and anything mechanical. Both children do occasional modeling jobs. Mary is still holding Northwest Airlines together. Mark is a year older.

From Miami, Willy Kotas is still teaching and doing consulting work, some for pay and some to better society. He is also running the local Kellogg and NU alumni clubs. He has been in touch with Craig Brennan, who is still in Peru, maybe.

John Timms recently celebrated his 14th wedding anniversary in New Zealand. John works for Alberto Culver, and reports that 2003 was a good year for the company and the Timms family. Nicholas is 10 and developing typical preteen attitudes. Jessica is 8 and turning into a preteenage fashion queen. The kids are great, but do keep John and Caroline very busy.

Martin Suter and family are staying very busy in Geneva, Switzerland. Katty is running the admissions and placement for IMEDE University MBA program. She even managed to host the global career-services managers’ conference this summer, and they met Roxanne Hori from KGSM (a warm hello from them to Roxanne). Martin still has two kids and three cats. Some of them enjoy skiing in the Alps and others enjoy sleeping in the sun. Martin has changed roles at Dell ─ instead of managing a lively call center, with lots of people and their related issues, he is now running some strategic planning work for Italy and Spain. He misses the daily hustle and bustle of people management, but at least now he can spend time “thinking deep thoughts.” The sign on his door says, “I’m thinking, not sleeping!”

Marsha Joseph checked in with the following report from Chicago: “First, just a note to say Todd, great column. You have such a great wit! I don’t know if I have ever submitted an update and I thought it was about time. I am currently at Storck USA as director of marketing. Storck is a candy company that makes Werther’s and Riesen, among other brands, and I’m having lots of fun. It’s great to work downtown after many years of commuting. Before Storck, I spent time working in the toy industry ─ guess I’m just a kid at heart. For fun, I love international travel. I visited Belize this year, where I ran into some international alums.”

Jeff Swain is living the dream in Grand Rapids, Mich. After sucking all of the knowledge he could from corporations like Kraft, Sara Lee and Daymon Associates, Jeff has become a business owner and is reaping the benefits of Boris Parl’s class. He and his wife Sue have become the proud owners of Homewatch Caregivers ñ West Michigan. Jeff used “sophisticated” marketing techniques to determine that we are all getting older and many of us will need help around the house. His company provides companionship, housekeeping and minor medical assistance. He will not be washing out bedpans. That is Sue’s job. They will hire up to 40 part-time caregivers. I plan on shipping my parents to western Michigan very soon.

Shaun Holliday is now the president of Pepsi Bottling Group Business Operations in Somers, N.Y. A quick recap of Shaun's résumé includes Imperial Chemical Industries, Booz Allen Hamilton, Frito-Lay, Guinness Ltd., Living.com and eMac Digital. Wife Chris '87 and the kids are still in Chicago until the school year ends. It is very doubtful that she has unpacked from the last move.

Nikki Pope will also be moving east. She has accepted a job with the Department of Justice in the antitrust division, Washington, D.C. It’s a way to keep in touch with classmates. Nikki could use advice on where to live in the D.C. area and how to live without having a mini mall at the end of the block.

David Jaffray has started a new position with Kroll Ontrack as a client service manager. Dave will lead a group of project managers responsible for structuring, closing and managing computer forensics projects for external clients. You can contact Dave directly to get a full explanation of his job. Dave is staying in the Twin Cities because he just can’t get enough snow and cold.

Heinz Felder '86 with wife Gudrun and children Julie and Nikolaus

Heinz Felder and his family moved to France three years ago and are adjusting to the different customs ─ such as Christmas cards sent out after Christmas. The children are bilingual and are picking up French slang in order to confuse their parents. Heinz is managing the French operations of Stora Enso, the biggest paper and board producer in the world. A few months ago, he met Karen Pelham in London, which is less than two hours away by train since the Chunnel opened. Karen has been with Goldman Sachs since graduation.

Tony Mann and his wife Sally (the one who does all of the work) are pleased to announce that Georgia Caryn Mann was born Oct. 15 at 3:26 p.m., weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces. Mother and child are healthy and happy. Georgia will follow her brother Mississippi and sister Alabama to Kellogg in the class of 2028. Tony, please send me another picture of the whole gang for the next issue.

Marc Kravitz has launched a video publishing company that produces and sells original DVDs and VHS videos targeted to girls ages 6 to 12. Their first release is called “Best Ever Sleepover” and Marc reports it is a big hit with the preteen set. He also caught up with David Gitow, the direct marketing genius, and learned that he and his wife Jamie had a baby girl last spring named Camille.

Patrick McNamara is excited that after 13 years, he now has a job title for what he does. Patrick is a “social entrepreneur.” He is the co-founder of the Gay Spirit Culture Project ─ a movement to strengthen authentic, caring gay communities by supporting inner transformation. He is also a co-convenor of the Spiritual Caucus at the United Nations. In his spare time, he is a partner at Appreciative Inquiry Consulting, and is a single parent with a daughter who is 16 and driving. Patrick reports that his Volvo has more than 265,000 miles and is going strong. That means my car, Rusty, should be good for another 10 years.

	Fred O'Connor '86 and his son John Thomas

Fred O’Connor is growing his executive search business. The early years are tough, but he is enjoying being his own boss. He and Jill are very proud of their three sons. Fred has started wearing cardigans and smoking a pipe. I hope an old Navy cook does not replace Jill. Fred also reported that he ran into Bill Collins and that Bill and his wife have recently adopted a baby and still live in Dallas.

Ron Leaf is still in mourning over the total collapse of the Vikings. Charlie Baker is preparing mentally to finish behind the Yankees again.

A few of you reported that you had no real news, but that you are still alive. That was great news from Bill and Leslie Barker, who look the same as the day they graduated. It has something to do with being a vampire. Eugene Von Kamarasy and Willy Kotas are developing a new television show to compete with the “Crocodile Hunter.” Their show is called “Alligator Bait.” Call Eugene, Lefty and Willy, Captain Hook.

As for myself, I am still teaching and consulting. Laurie and I had a nice dinner with Lauren Schreiner and her husband Jim last month. Lauren is consulting and enjoying the fun of being a chauffeur for two pre-high school children. I am planning on skiing with Kevin Damon this season. Other hobbies include sending email to the Tony Kornheiser radio show and getting mentioned on the air a few times. Also, due to pressure and guilt from my wife, parents, sister and a few former close friends, I have decided to try to lower my weight from obese to fat this year. Next year, I hope to reach overweight. The Brewers will finish fourth in their division this year and you can take that to the bank. I plan on spending the summer watching baseball and playing bad golf. Thanks to all of you for keeping in touch.