Alumni News—Class Notes
class notes
FROM THE SITES
Battle Creek
1996
Mayor of Kala-
mazoo Bobby
Hopewell re-
cently was hon-
ored in a couple
of different ways.
In October 2018
he was honored
for his leadership and support of the
Boy Scouts of America during the
annual “Legacy of Honor” dinner.
He earned his Eagle Scout badge in
1982. In April 2019, new Michigan
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appointed
Hopewell to the Michigan Economic
Development Corporation Executive
Committee. Hopewell is currently
serving his sixth term as mayor and
is the President and CEO of Mobile
Health Resources, a Lansing-based
ambulance billing agency.
2004
Michael Olson was reappointed
to the State of Michigan’s Unman-
ned Aircraft Systems Task Force by
Gov. Rick Snyder in December 2018.
Olson is the public safety director
for Emmett Charter Township and
previously served in the roles of
public safety director for the City
of Marshall, as the director of train-
ing operations for Homeland Secu-
rity Corporation and with the Michi-
gan Department of State Police.
Members will serve four-year terms
that expire in 2022.
2008
Sara Leson was hired as the busi-
ness manager of Union City (Mich.)
Community Schools in June 2019.
She previously worked at the Kellogg
Company and for the Nottawaseppi
Huron Band of the Potawatomi
Gaming Commission.
Benton Harbor
1999
Anna Murphy ‘03MA received the
Pat Moody Award during the Corner-
stone Chamber of Commerce and
Cornerstone Alliance 2019 Business
36 | Reflections Summer ’19
Recognition Breakfast Feb. 14,
2019 in Benton Harbor, Mich.
Murphy has been president of the
United Way of Southwest Michigan
and has been with the organization
for more than 20 years. She is a
2015 graduate of the United Way’s
Worldwide Executive Leadership
Development Program and was
named to the 100 Women Strong’s
Leader of Distinction list in 2014.
She is currently an executive member
of Michigan’s Great Southwest
Leadership Council and has been
on the Michigan Association for
United Way’s Board, recently step-
ping into the role of board chair.
2003
John Gratzle, a senior health
physicist and laser safety officer at
the University of California Irvine
Medical Center, is a mentor for
Project Search, an internship pro-
gram in which the medical center
and Goodwill of Orange County
partner to help adults with autism
learn career skills. His efforts were
featured in the “Unsung Heroes”
section of the Jan. 3, 2019 edition
of the Los Angeles Times. He has
worked for UCI since 2006.
From the Centennial Archives: 1975—Students hang out near Trinity Gardens.
Monroe
1995
Debbie Szajna,
CPA, was pro-
moted to partner
by Weber Clark
Ltd. She has
been a member
of the firm for 23
years and brings
extensive experience to the team
by providing quality assurance and
performing technical reviews of the
firm’s client financial statements and
other reports. She will continue to
advise the firm on quality and tech-
nical matters along with providing
support in the areas of operations
and technology. She is a certified
public accountant and began her
career at Weber Clark as a staff ac-
countant. Szajna is a member of the
American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants, Michigan Association
of CPAs and The Ohio Society of
Certified Public Accountants.
2013
Kim Wise was hired as the director
of Human Resources for the city of
South Haven, Mich., in June 2019.
She previously worked for Bronson
Healthcare Group in Kalamazoo. Eric Langton was named an assis-
tant prosecutor with the Monroe
County (Mich.) Prosecutor’s Office
in September 2018. Langton is
responsible for the review and
authorization of misdemeanor cases
as well as a regular docket in First
District Court. He previously was
employed as a law clerk at Whiting
Law in Southfield.
Jackson
2002 Online
2009
2007
Caleb Allen recently celebrated
his 13th anniversary with The Craft
Agency in the Lansing area. He
is employed as the personal lines
manager and executive and is a
Certified Insurance Counselor.
Lansing
2006
Suzanne Wade ’08MA was the
recipient of the Governor's Team-
work Award for Good Government
in the State of Michigan. She is
employed as a departmental spe-
cialist for the Talent and Economic
Development Agency.
Amy Francoeur said as director of
Patient Care at Hospice of Lenawee,
“I am able to share my experience
and education with my team and
with our community. The flexibility of
Siena's Online Program allowed me
to complete my Bachelor's degree
while working full-time and raising
my family. I feel privileged to live
and work in Lenawee County and
support patients and their families
at end of life.”
2017
Timothy Furtaw is the director
of Facilities for the Saginaw Public
School District in Saginaw, Mich.
He was recently elected to the
Board of Directors for Positive Re-
sults Downtown Saginaw and serves
on the Friday Night Live Committee.
The organization volunteers to help
provide a positive impact in an ur-
ban downtown environment. He is
also an active assistant Scoutmaster
for Scouts BSA Troop 345.
2018
David Mayne received a Champion
Award by Michigan Rehabilitation
Services in October 2018. The award
is presented annually to individuals,
businesses and organizations to
show the value of hiring employees
who have disabilities. Mayne, who
was disabled from injuries sustained
in a car crash as well as having com-
plications from diabetes, is working
as a cybersecurity analyst with
Novacoast Inc. in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Southfield
1988
Francine Parker will retire at
the end of 2019 after a decade as
the executive director of the UAW
Retiree Medical Benefits Trust. She
previously served as CEO of Health
Alliance Plan of Michigan. She also
currently serves on the SHU Board
of Trustees.
2017
Jason Hendrian recently completed
the Staff and Command training
program at Eastern Michigan Uni-
versity. EMU's School of Fire Staff
and Command requires 360 hours
of classroom instruction over nine
months. He is a lieutenant with
the Northville (Mich.) Township Fire
Department and has served as a
mentor for probationary firefighters
and is an original member of the
Western Wayne County Urban
Search and Rescue Team. He is also
a medical specialist with Michigan
Task Force 1, an urban search and
rescue team that recently assisted
in rescue and relief efforts in North
Carolina in the aftermath of Hur-
ricane Florence. He is also chair-
man of the fire department's health
and safety committee.
MAIN CAMPUS
1955
Sister Therese (Thomas Frances)
DeCanio, OP, celebrated her 70th
Jubilee as an Adrian Dominican
Sister in November 2018. She was
an elementary school teacher for
many years in Detroit, Cincinnati,
Chicago and in the Upper Peninsula
of Michigan.
1958
Sister Helen Hankerd, OP, cele-
brated her 70th Jubilee as an Adrian
Dominican Sister in November 2018.
She served as a teacher for many
years in the Detroit and Cincinnati
(Ohio) areas.
1963
Christine (Wilhelm) Clark is re-
tired since 2005 from clinical labo-
ratory science and family caregiving.
She is now a community activist, a
member of the Democrat Party, as
well as the League of Women Voters
and the Retired Public Employees
of Washington State. She resides
in Deer Park, Wash.
1974
Charles Fort re-
cently received a
Yaddo Fellowship.
He said his plan
is to write villa-
nelles for his
manuscript-in-
progress: “One
Had Lived in a Room and Loved
Nothing, 220 Villanelles,” and to
lengthen its sections on Bergman
films, Dante's Inferno, and his ances-
tors’ journey from Savannah, Ga.
to Liberia on May 14, 1868, after
the Civil War. He said, “At Yaddo,
I shall walk under the parasol of
Plath, Langston Hughes, Ted Hughes,
Baldwin, Jacob Lawrence, Virgil
Thomson, Bernstein, Capote, Cope-
land, Porter, others.” He will also
write prose poems to complete his
tetralogy-in-progress: “Brother Can
You Spare Me a Time Machine?” He
said, “As a student at Siena Heights
(College), the English Department
awarded me summer scholarships
three times to attend the Cranbrook
Writers Conference on the grounds