Stephan Achs EMP-42 and his wife Joanie take a break during Harley Davidson's 100th anniversary celebration.

EMP-42

Stephan Achs and his wife Joanie really enjoyed the Harley Davidson 100th anniversary last Labor Day weekend. The couple rode more than 900 miles together in and around southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, seeing the sights and enjoying countless festivities. The Harley dealerships, Harley owners, fans, police, sheriff, neighbors, the City of Milwaukee, and of course, Harley Davidson, made the long weekend (they participated for four days) an absolute blast!

Joe Depinto EMP-42 and his sons, Joey and Nick, during a recent family ski trip to Vail

Joe Depinto checked in with a report about what he’s been up to since graduation. Joe met Peter Hatchell in Green Bay for a Bears/Packers game a few years back. Let it be known that Pete knows how to throw a tailgate! It’s a good thing because it was a very cold day and the Bears got beat up bad. So for Joe, a Chicago native, the pain wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Joe also hears from his dad occasionally about Gopal Lalmalani, as Gopal is his doctor. We all knew what a great guy Gopal was while at Kellogg, and as a doctor he gets only the highest marks from Joe’s dad. Things are also going well for Joe’s family. He and his wife were blessed with their fourth child (Daniel Peter) in 2000. Daniel has been a great compliment to his three older brothers. The four boys keep Joe and his wife busy ─ something is always breaking in their home! That same year, Joe was promoted to chief operating officer at Thornton Oil. In 2002, he and the family left Louisville and relocated to Dallas to work for 7-Eleven Inc. Joe’s wife is originally from Texas, so this was a very welcome move. He has been with 7-Eleven for two years now and is currently heading up operations across 5,800 stores in the United States and Canada. By the way, Joe wants to inform all former Slurpee drinkers to come back, as they now offer Diet Pepsi and Crystal Light Slurpees! Dallas is a great city and Joe and his family are enjoying living there. He wanted all his EMP-42 classmates to be sure to give him a call if they will be in the Dallas area.

Donna Freiberger-Griffin was promoted to senior director, North American retail operations for CNH Capital, located in Racine, Wis.

Earl Furfine and Peter Hatchell, both EMP-42, contemplating life while walking the Whistling Straits golf course in Kohler, Wis. The guitar? That's another story!

On a business trip last summer, Earl Furfine was able to hook up with classmate Peter Hatchell for lunch at Whistling Straits golf course in Kohler, Wis. They shared many laughs and caught up on what is happening in each of their lives.

Kris Zimmer made a recent career change. He is now senior vice president and CFO of SSM Health Care. SSM is a not-for-profit system with 21 hospitals and various other health activities in Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin and Oklahoma. With revenues of $2.5 billion, assets of $3.5 billion, and more than 23,000 employees, there are plenty of opportunities for Kris to apply that fine Kellogg education! SSM was the first health-care winner of the Malcolm Baldridge Award last year, has a deep commitment to mission and continuous improvement, and is one of the leaders in efforts to improve how health care works in our country. (David Messick would be pleased!) Kris’ office is located in St. Louis, Mo., and he can be reached via email at kris_zimmer@ssmhc.com.