Keeping Track - Northern Magazine

Thomas Schwalback '60 BS celebrated his 90th birthday in August 2023 at the Lombardi Club in Rockford, Illinois, with a crowd of 65 family, friends, and former football players. He coached 33 years in Munising, Rockford West High School and Rockford Guilford High School. He retired in 1993 and stays active with golf, YMCA and flipping houses. He spent many great years with Kay and family enjoying summers at their cottage in St. Ignace and winters at Ft. Myers, Florida, and traveling to 40 countries and 46 states.

Jane Kopecky '66 BS, '80 MAE was a presenter at the International Peace History Conference at Gwynedd Mercy University in Pennsylvania. She was one of three panelists discussing conscription, consciousness objection and draft resistance in American history. Her award-winning book, WWII Conscientious Objectors, Germfask, MI the Alcatraz Camp documents the only history of a conscientious camp in the U.S. It was a special camp established in cooperation between the Selective Service System and the Michigan Department of Mental Hygiene to study objectors.

Lloyd Carr '68 BS, '70 MAE is the 2024 American Heart Association's Paul "Bear" Bryant Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. The honor is given to college football's finest coaches, recognizing the outstanding achievements and extraordinary contributions made throughout their careers.

James Donnelly '71 BS was NMU’s first NCAA All American swimmer in 1969 and 1970. In 2002 he was inducted into NMU’s Sports Hall of Fame. He was the president of Donnelly’s Printing from 1974-2009. He sold the business and now works at Costco Sarasota. The CEO of Costco gave him the President’s Award for saving a member’s life in 2022.

Linda Fitzgerald '73 BA was lured downstate by a fellowship at the University of Michigan after graduation. Following brief stints as a junior magazine editor, newspaper reporter and script writer, she found her professional home as senior copywriter in an ad agency, and from there, went on to launch her own one-woman firm. Thirty years and thousands of client projects later, she decided to revive a longtime, long-postponed personal goal: writing and publishing a mystery novel. In April of 2024, that goal was realized with the publication of her book Death at the Doorstep (Level Best Books), featuring Ann Arbor resident and U.P. transplant Karin Niemi. Her second mystery in the series, A Superior Way to Die, which is set in the Munising-Marquette area, will be released in December of this year.

Holly Burdick '77 BS opened a private practice in 2017, Autism Solutions Group, coaching young adults on the autism spectrum.

Gwen Kowalski '79 MA has retired from 41 years as a speech and language pathologist. She has presented at the local, state, and national levels on related topics. Currently, she is the owner of Gwen’s Community Garden Service, a small Orlando business that works with the indoor and outdoor greenery of other local small businesses. She has three grandchildren and loves traveling with her husband of 38 years, as well as family and friends.

Sally Davis '81 MAE was elected mayor of Marquette, Michigan.

John Pickard '81 BS, '05 BSW past 5th zone commander of the Michigan Detachment of the Sons of the American Legion and past commander of Squadron #71 in Gladstone, has recently been honored with the Blue Brigade award and jacket presentation by current state commander, John Beeman, for recruiting thirty total new members for the past year, 2022-2023.

Paul Williams '81 BS has been the chief of police in Springfield, Missouri since 2010 and was the recipient of the Missouri Chief of the Year in 2015 and 2016. He retired from the Tulsa PD, as a major, after 30 years of service.

David Duncanson '82 BS retired as a director of program management from Hitachi Automotive Systems in 2019 after 38 years in the automotive industry. He has traveled 44 of the 50 states by motorcycle and is enjoying his first grandchild, Cecily Ann Balsamo. Life is good as a retired Wildcat!

Timothy Haesler '83 BS  recently retired from Henkel.

Timothy LeRoy '84 BS is an electrical engineering faculty instructor at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College.

Joseph Palmer '88 BSW is currently the supervisor of Off Ice Officials at Arizona State University hockey. Previously, he won an ACHA national championship in 2014 while serving as an assistant general manager. He has been with ASU hockey since 2012.

Christopher Kennedy '89 BS joined the faculty of Francis Marion University in 2006 as an assistant professor of history. In 2012, he became chair of the History Department. He served as associate provost for academic affairs, and director of graduate programs from 2016-2019 when he was then appointed vice president for student life. He has been appointed as the new director of Francis Marion University’s Honors Program. Dr. Kennedy received his Bachelor of Arts from Northern Michigan University, Master of Arts from Providence College, and the Ph.D. from University College Cork, National University of Ireland. He met his wife, Brigid Kennedy (Heatley) at NMU where she was also a student and an RA in West Hall.

David Kronberg '90 BFA, '95 MS was appointed by Gov. Whitmer to the Michigan Arts and Culture Council.

Scott Stephens '91 BA after majoring in German, worked a traditional job before moving full-time to Bavaria in 2012. He operates cultural immersion trips focusing on the history, culture, food and drink in Bavaria, the largest of the German states. If any NMU alumni are in Munich, he'd love to meet up with you!

David Goodwin '92 BS is the new chief of the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Police Department.

Walter Biddick '95 BS has a new publication, The Way I Learned: Academic Strategies for Regular and Special Education, from Newman Springs Publishing.

John Milewski '95 BS was elected mayor of Ionia, Michigan. 

Jeanette Zalba '95 BS received her PhD in Educational Leadership from Eastern Michigan University in December 2023. 

John Kramer '96 BS has accepted a position at the Arlington Heights Park District as the director of parks and planning, after seven years as the director of operations of the Fox Valley Park District in Aurora, Illinois.

Tanya Rule '00 BS joined the Drinking Water and Environmental Health Division of EGLE as the Environmental Manager for the newly created Onsite Wastewater Management Unit in January. She has more than 23 years of experience specific to onsite wastewater program management, four years with Public Health Delta and Menominee and 20 years with the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department. She served on the Board of Directors for the Michigan Association of Local Environmental Health Administrators and as the Environmental Health Expert for the Michigan Public Health Advisory Council, as convened by the Office of the Governor. She has numerous credentials and awards, including the Michigan Environmental Health Association Distinguished Service Award in 2017 and MEHA Sanitarian of the Year award in 2020.

Brad Fuerst '03 BS has accepted a position as an assistant area management biologist with the Kodiak Salmon and Herring Management office of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, helping to manage commercial subsistence fisheries in the Kodiak Management Area. His wife, Nicole (Nowak) Fuerst ‘01 BA, is a teacher for the Kodiak Island Borough School District and coordinator of the Kodiak Virtual Learning Academy (KVLA), an online education tool for independent study courses. She is also a governing board member of the Alaska Distance Learning Consortium, a State of Alaska Department of Education initiative to provide training for teachers on distance instruction methods.

Mike Oswald '03 BS is the new CEO at Hill & Wilkinson.

Michael Brown '05 BS was recently appointed to the HigherEdMilitary Advisory Council.

Jenna Nelson '06 BS is the first woman to serve as prosecuting attorney in the history of Marquette County.  

Allie Bowles '07 BA co-launched Take Care, Friend, a custom therapist-curated subscription box to remember your loved ones during life’s hard moments. www.takecarefriend.com.  

Roberto Gonzalez '08 BA has been the regional medical director for New York City for Small Door Veterinary, a membership based veterinary practice, for the past year.

Clem Larson '09 BS completed a project at the Northwest Regional Planning Commision that received an Aliceann Wohlbruck Impact Award from the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) for recognition of innovative approaches to regional economic and community development. The award was presented at the NADO annual conference, in Cleveland, Ohio. The project was a GIS based road/stream crossing inventory and vulnerability analysis, funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration.

Aaron Griffin '10 BS, '14 MS, '16 MPA was awarded the Michigan State Police Trooper of the Year Award for 2024.

Oliver Ryan '10 BS has been a foot and ankle surgeon for the past eight years. He is the head of trauma and reconstruction at a surgical residency training program and is a volunteer surgeon at a surgical mission in Africa.

Adam Huss '13 BS was promoted to principal ranks at Doeren Mayhew, a nationally recognized CPA and advisory firm.

Molly LeBlanc '13 BS was selected as a 2023 Women MAKE Award Honoree presented by the Manufacturing Institute. 

Colin Campbell '14 AT is the executive chef at Alpino, which was named Detroit’s best restaurant of 2023 and is the current James Beard Award semi finalist for best new restaurant. 

Keegan Taylor '14 AS was recognized for saving the life of a five year old on Thanksgiving.

Abigale Roche '15 BS earned her PhD in communication studies from the University of Maine in May 2024. Her doctoral research focuses on participatory science processes involving community-research institution collaborations to address environmental risks within Maine communities. 

Christopher Salgot '15 BS has accepted a new position as the Buick GMC assistant manager for EV Go-To-Market Readiness. He will be relocating back to the metro-Detroit area. 

Morgan Waller '16 BS, '18 MPA is the recipient of the 2024 Women of Excellence award by the Chicago Defender.

Cassidy Hinshaw '17 BS began working for Service Titan, based in Los Angeles, California, as an associate copywriter in May 2023 after a short stint at Morning Brew as a growth marketing associate in 2022 and other employment experiences. She is currently working remotely in this position while making her home in Negaunee, Michigan, with her fiancé, Trevor, and their two dogs. 

Michelle Perttunen '17 AAS, '18 BS is currently living in Madison, Wisconsin, and working as an assistant project manager for Mortenson Construction. She was a recent honoree as a Rising Young Professional by the Milwaukee Business Journal. She got engaged in November and is planning a wedding for June 2025.

Alexis (Maahs) Hayes '18 AAA, '19 BFA recently moved to Minnesota and married a Michigan Tech husky grad who she met while attending NMU. She is now working towards a certification to become a veterinary technician.  

Derek Estes '18 AT, '19 BS was awarded the distinguished 2022 Culinarian of the Year through the American Culinary Federation, UP Chapter.

Al Gray '18 BS, '23 MSW was appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to the first statewide LGBTQ+ commission. 

Kyle Motyka '18 AS, '19 BS since graduating and commissioning from NMU and its ROTC program, has been afforded the amazing opportunity of moving out west to Washington state, deploying to Guam, and visiting many states in the process. Currently he serves as the company commander at McDonald Army Health Center in Virginia and says it has been such an honor to be able to serve this country and be capped as an NMU alumnus.

Ian Altobello '19 BS is the owner of The Boreal Collective, which was nominated for a MarTech Award for the “Most Innovative Creative Marketing Company 2024 - Michigan” by Innovation In Business. 

Kristen Hiser '19 AAA, '21 BS graduated with an MBA from the University of Phoenix in January 2024.

Ryan Watling '19 BS visited the countries of Chile, Argentina and Uruguay this summer. He then flew back home to spend a few days with his former NMU roommates in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota. After three years of working for an education nonprofit called CollegeReady, he returned to school for a graduate degree, under a Coverdell Fellowship that is associated with his time in the Peace Corps Dominican Republic. He is working on a master's of science in global technology and development at Arizona State University. He is a graduate teaching assistant and a data analysis intern with SolarSPELL, a solar-powered electronic learning library that provides wireless library access to communities around the world that don't have accessible electricity or internet. In his free time he likes to hang with other fellow Wildcats in the Phoenix area and explore the natural and cultural diversity of Arizona by foot, bike tire, paddle and food.

Savannah Barthelemy '20 BSN will be graduating in August 2024 from Vanderbilt University School of Nursing’s MSN Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner program, which was recently ranked the #1 PNP program in the U.S. 

Gabrielle Hamilton '20 BS graduated with a degree in criminal justice in 2020 and joined the Oakland Police Department in 2021. She says NMU has provided a great addition to her knowledge and skills within her career in law enforcement.

Drew Harbrecht '20 BS worked in insurance after graduating from NMU, which allowed him to make connections, continue his experience in construction and find his path of being a contractor, a career that he sees himself being in for a long time.

Leah Kirchhoff '20 AA, '22 BS has completed her master’s degree. She wants to express her deep gratitude to the NMU History Department for their unwavering belief in her potential and their exceptional support throughout her time at NMU. The instructors went above and beyond to assist her in achieving success, and their encouragement has fueled her determination to pursue a path toward becoming a history professor. She is sincerely thankful to each of them for their guidance and inspiration.

Rachael Loman '20 BS recently earned her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Concordia University, Saint Paul. She will marry her fiancé, another NMU alumnus, in September. 

Cody Mayer '20 BS  is the community and tribal engagement liaison at Talon Metals.

Courtney Buhler '21 BS and her husband got married in 2022. They have been on the road in their motorhome since. She teaches remotely, and he works from home as well. No human kid, but they do love their dog and three cats!

Golden Pettit Curtis '21 AA has a new business venture, still in the planning stages for now, that may be a boost to the city of Marquette: The Northern Think Tank (@TheNorthernOnX). More details to come.

Logan Hartz '21 BS was selected by his law school as one of this year’s recipients of the Oklahoma Access to Justice Foundation’s annual Outstanding Law Student Pro Bono Award. This award was created to recognize Oklahoma law students who have dedicated their time and energy in law school to serving the community and those in need, setting an example for others. 

Chad Kuopus '21 BS was promoted to pro sales representative within Sherwin-Williams in Tampa, Florida.

Jacob Laitinen '21 BS recently graduated with a Master of Letter in Shakespeare & Performance from Mary Baldwin University and will soon be receiving his Master of Fine Arts in the same program. 

Kylee Lietzke '21 AA recently marked her one year anniversary with TLC Community Credit Union. She says that TLC has helped her to flourish in her role as senior human resources specialist and has taught her more than she ever thought possible, helping her to apply the skills acquired during her time at NMU. 

David McCarthy '21 BS met his future wife and career in the Forest Service while at Northern, and couldn’t ask for more.

Samanta Metcalf '21 BS was working weekends to a full-time career. She first moved to Corvallis, Oregon, working with an environmental research non-profit, but longing for snow again, she worked weekends as a ski instructor at the closest mountain, which was two hours away. It was there that she began following Oregon Adaptive Sports, her current employer, as she admired their work on the hill. She now has access to two mountains as part of her job.

Vanessa Nassi '21 BS is on track to finish her doctor of pharmacy degree! 

Emily Sult '21 BS got married on October 21, 2023 to her college sweetheart, who unfortunately, is a Michigan Tech grad, but some of her best friends from NMU attended and were even in her wedding. 

Jesse Carroll '22 BS started as an administrative assistant at Gogebic Community College, which has now turned into a career as the TRiO coordinator there. 

Mya Curth '22 BS recently graduate from the University of Michigan with her master's of science and is working as a supply chain consultant at Anthesis Group, a sustainability consulting firm. 

Emily Formolo-Carriere '22 BS is on track to get her master's in school counseling from Liberty University. 

Bazile Panek '22 BS recently started his own consulting firm called Good Sky Guidance, where guide agencies and organizations are in respectful engagement with tribal communities to find balance between traditional ecological knowledge and western science.

Nevaeh Bertrand '23 BFA got married on July 8, 2023, started a photography business and now attends art fairs. 

Caden Bissland '23 BS is employed at the Mayo Clinic as associate information security engineer. He has also completed the CISSP exam and is an associate of ISC(2).

Sarah Johnson '23 BS works at Plante Moran in both audit and tax. She also passed the BEC part of the CPA exam. 

Jaqueline Kogut '23 BS is a fish hatchery biologist with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Alayna Marcus '23 BS started as the social media intern for Deployed Capital one week after graduation and was promoted to full time social media and marketing producer shortly after. She now spends her time commuting to Munising and managing the marketing content for all ten Deployed Capital entities and the Deployed Technologies tech company.

Samuel McCracken '23 BS never thought he would be in the coal mining industry. He always thought he would work in a small shop somewhere in a big city! Working with the coal mines in southern Illinois has shown him how much we rely on it in this area and how the mines produce many jobs for miners and contractors.

Madoline Plattenberg '23 BS recently joined the Agrace Foundation team as a donor relations specialist.

Anthony Schreiber '23 BS started a role as an embedded software engineer working in the automotive industry. He is currently enjoying the offerings of the west Michigan area.