westwind, spring 2006

Better than EverThe Marine Station Five Years Later

Logic, Proofs, Puzzles, and Brilliant Minds

WWC: A Priceless Experience at a Cost You Can AffordReflections on being the mother of a college-bound son

Westwindwww.wwc.edu/westwind

The Journal of Walla Walla CollegeSpring 2006

2 Westwind Spring 2006

GOOD TO SEE YOUJust a short note to tell you I am so pleased with the story that appeared in Westwind.

Since my picture and com-ments were published (“Crafting the Years Ahead,” Summer 2005), I have received calls and letters from several long-lost friends. It is always so good to get news from my good old college.

Irene Lottman ’35 Yountville, Calif.

MORE HIGHLIGHTS IN ADVENTIST SPORTS HISTORYMay I comment on the article about the basketball team and its laudable accomplishments (“Wolves Basketball Team Makes Adventist Sports History,” Summer 2005)?

In 1949 a group of six stu-dents from the College of Medical Evangelists (now the School of Medicine of Loma Linda University) participated in the first National Collegiate Volleyball Tournament in Los Angeles. They did not do well, as they had never been exposed to the proper way to play the game. Embarrassed by the results, they were stimulated

to learn to play the game well. They practiced hard, and in 1950 went to Knoxville, Tenn., where teams from all across the U.S. as-sembled for the YMCA National Volleyball Championship tour-nament (the National Collegiate Athletic Association had yet to recognize volleyball as a varsity sport.) In the collegiate bracket several teams from the U.S. and a team from Mexico University were entered. CME went through the winner’s bracket, but lost out to the University of Southern California in the finals. Back home in Los Angeles, CME had won against USC, but the long nonstop drive from California took its toll. I, a WWC student from 1940 to 1943, was one of the members of that team. Others included Edward L. Esteb ’46 and Merle Peterson ’43.

In 1955 another and more tal-ented group of volleyball players qualified for the national tourna-ment being held at the University of Oklahoma in Enid, Okla., and came within two points of win-ning, losing in a double final to the University of Florida in one of the best matches in the entire tourna-ment. This match attracted na-tional attention and was reported in the local newspapers and also by

the Los Angeles Times. One of the members of that CME team was Kenneth Spady, a ’51 alumnus, who along with two teammates was named to the All American team for the Collegiate Division. The Adventist Sabbath received significant mention in those stories.

It might also be of interest to know that in 1942, the Oregon State Softball tournament was rescheduled so that the cham-pionship game would be played on Friday, as the five top pitch-ers in the state were Seventh-day Adventist. Two of the five were WWC students Harvey Griffin and Merle King. The latter was later famous as the pitcher for the King and His Court, a barnstorm-ing softball team.

One final thought. Shouldn’t we refer to these students as ath-letic students rather than student athletes? It has always been my thought that the first consider-ation in our schools should be our Seventh-day Adventist persuasion; the second, an education; and the third, athletics. If we alter this sequence, I fear we are losing our focus as denominational institu-tions of higher learning.

Although I did not receive a degree from WWC, my student years there, 1940 to 1943, re-main as the most influential years of my life, and my love for the school has not diminished.

Herbert I. Harder att. Glendale, Calif.

Kenneth Spady, top row and second from right, and fellow medical students of the College of Medical Evangelists competed in a 1955 national volleyball tournament. Herbert Harder, bottom row and far right, coached the team.

Welcome to the New WestwindNew contents. Fresh design. More color. In brief, that is the new Westwind.

We’re opening and closing each issue with two new addi-tions, additions you can be a part of. First, as you see on this page, we’re adding letters to the editor. Second, we are introducing “From My Point of View,” a new column for alumni writers. We welcome essay submissions, and if yours is printed, we will pay you for your work. Go to Westwind Online for more information.

In the Alumnotes section, look for profiles of alumni who exem-plify Walla Walla College’s mission of service.

With more pages, we’re also including more feature stories; so if you have a story idea, send it our way.

No matter what changes we make to Westwind, the most in-triguing challenge continues to be finding the right mix of con-tent for readers who range from ages 20 to 100. Despite our dif-ferences, we share the Christian college experience, and I hope that each issue of Westwind connects you to that experience.

Rosa Jimenez Westwind Editor

Letters to the Editor

Spring 2006 Westwind 3

Contents

Westwind Spring 2006, Volume 26, Number 1

Editor Rosa Jimenez Production Manager and Copy Editor Amy Wilkinson Campus Current Editor Kristi Spurgeon Alumni Gazette Editor Corina Car Alumnotes Writer Lindsay Krueger Contributing Writers Annie Lambeth, Jenny WattersDesign Robert Car Graphics Cover Photo kpstudios

Westwind is published three times a year for alumni and friends of Walla Walla College, a Seventh-day Adventist university. It is produced by the Office of College Relations. This issue was printed in May

2006. Third-class postage is paid at College Place, Wash. © 2006 by Walla Walla College.

Address: Westwind/OCR 204 S. College Ave. College Place, WA 99324 Telephone: 509-527-2513 Toll-free: 800-377-2586 E-mail: [email protected] Online: www.wwc.edu/westwind

About the cover Twilight descends on the Rosario Marine Station.

2 Letters to the Editor

4 Campus Current

9 Bits and Pieces

14 Logic, Proofs, Puzzles, and Brilliant Minds Five students, hundreds of hours of studying, and 12 tough problems are the equation for a mind-bending math test.

18 WWC: A Priceless Experience at a Cost You Can Afford Reflections on being the mother of a college-bound son

20 Interview

22 Alumnotes

28 In Memory

31 From My Point of View

32 College Avenue Crossings

10Better than EverThe Marine Station Five Years Later After a much-needed facelift, the Marine Station is becoming a popular destination for homeschoolers, weddings, field trips, and more.

C olorful costumes and dramatic lighting brought India’s Bollywood to Walla Walla

College for the performance of Shakespeare’s Othello. As the audience sat around the simple set, they could feel the emotions emanating from the characters. This 2005 production received six awards from The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Three actors, Richard Wallace as Othello’s Iago, Melissa MacPhee as Emilia, and Katie Woolever as Bianca, also competed in the KCACTF regional festival held in Pasco in February.

Directed by Marilynn Loveless, assistant professor of communications, this version of Othello included the collaboration of five colleges and universities: Walla Walla College, Walla Walla Community College, Whitman College, Western Michigan University, and Western Washington University. n

A Shakespearean Twist at WWC


Campus Current

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Dybdahl Retires Distinguished Faculty Lecture People Notes


S ervice, both to the mis-sion field and to the college students he cares about so

deeply, has always come first for Jon Dybdahl. He’s given 40 years of his life to serving the Seventh-day Adventist Church, not count-ing his childhood as the son of missionary parents or his time spent in Adventist schools and seminary. Now the Walla Walla College president is ready to re-

turn to a quieter life of service. Dybdahl has announced plans

to retire effective August 2006. “My wife, Kathy, and I have de-cided it is time to refocus our en-ergies on family, scholarship, and other interests,” says Dybdahl. “I have enjoyed this time immensely and consider myself and my fami-ly to be richly blessed. Walla Walla College has a very special place in our hearts.” Dybdahl served at WWC for 17 years, as a theology professor and then, beginning in

2002, as the college’s 22nd president.

During his tenure at WWC, Dybdahl has overseen im-provements in fac-ulty salaries, the completion of an $18 million capital campaign, and in-creases in student enrollment. He has

also championed WWC as “a life-changing experience” and strived to build a stronger sense of community among the stu-dents, faculty, and staff. One of his priorities was establishing the weekly chapel service as a time for faculty, staff, and students to build community.

“Jon Dybdahl is the president Walla Walla College needed dur-ing these past four years. The college is a better place because of his vision for the future of the college, his consistent focus on a hard-working master plan, and his ability to keep us moving forward toward realizing the goals of that plan,” says Ginger Ketting-Weller, vice president for academic ad-ministration. Ketting-Weller also served as acting president for part of a year while Dybdahl un-derwent cancer treatments. “He cares deeply about the college, its employees, and students. We will miss this godly leader who has provided a listening ear and prayerful heart.”

Dybdahl holds a degree in the-ology from Pacific Union College, a master’s degree in systematic theology and a master of divinity degree from Andrews University, and a doctorate in Old Testament from Fuller Theological Seminary.

The Dybdahls will continue to reside in College Place, where Dybdahl will spend time re-searching, writing, speaking, and teaching. He will also serve part-time at the Seventh-day Adventist Seminary. n

Presidential Farewell

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Jon Dybdahl to Retire in August

“We will miss

this godly

leader who

has provided

a listening

ear and

prayerful

heart.”

John McVay to Become 23rd PresidentJohn McVay has accepted the in-vitation of the Walla Walla College Board of Trustees to become presi-dent of the college following Jon Dybdahl’s retirement.

McVay, dean of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University for the past six years, will take office in September.

“We are delighted to accept the invitation to join the Walla Walla College family,” says McVay. “Walla Walla College has a proud heritage and we are honored to join its great story. We look forward to minister-ing among friends, old and new.”

McVay, 47, is a 1980 graduate of Southern Adventist University. He

holds a master’s degree in divin-ity from Andrews University and a doctorate from the University of Sheffield in England.

Prior to his experience at Andrews University, McVay taught at Pacific Union College. He also was a pastor in Iowa and Georgia. In addition, McVay is active in scholarly research, presentation, and publication. He and his wife, Pam, have a son, Marshall, 18, and a daughter, Macy, 14.

“We are pleased that John McVay has accepted our invita-tion to become the 23rd president of Walla Walla College,” says WWC board chair Jere Patzer. “He is rec-ognized around the world as a scholar, theologian, administrator, and committed Adventist Christian. I am confident that he will con-tinue to build on the legacy of excellence that Jon Dybdahl has nurtured so masterfully.”

Campus Current


Townsend’s voice, and those of other early Seventh-day Adventist women, came

to life for Beverly Beem, associate professor of English at Walla Walla College, as she thumbed through early issues of the Review and Herald. The women spoke of lone-liness, commitment, joy, and most of all, their calling to spread the Third Angel’s Message to the world.

Those voices also came to life for the rest of the WWC campus during the 2005 Distinguished Faculty Lecture. Beem, and co-scholar Ginger Hanks Harwood, associate professor of religious and theological studies at La Sierra University, have been studying early Adventist women for nearly a decade. Their studies focus on the role women played in the ear-ly Advent movement as recorded in the Review between the years of 1850 and 1881. Beem described some of their findings in a pre-sentation entitled “‘My Soul Is on the Wing for Glory’: Voices of Early Adventist Women.”

The role of women in the early Adventist church was counter-cultural at the time, yet distinc-tive to the Advent movement. “The Review gave a voice to those who had none. Letters from men and women appeared side by side on the page, allowing women to speak freely and equally with men,” says Beem. “We wanted to understand the context in which they spoke. The more we under-stand our heritage, the richer our own experience becomes.”

Beem’s research has also be-come richer through her work with Hanks Harwood, with each woman bringing a unique view-point. Hanks Harwood specializes in theology and church history, while Beem adds an emphasis in literary analysis.

Beem has been at WWC since 1976, serving as professor of English, college writing coordi-nator, and chair of the English Department. She has taught and published in the areas of biblical literature, classical literature, me-dieval literature, and the literature of spirituality, among other topics.

The Distinguished Faculty Lecture began at WWC in 1993 and has continued each year, with faculty members nominating one of their peers. n

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Women of God

Contrary to the social expectations of the era, women leaders were prominent voices of the early Adventist church, says Beverly Beem.

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I am as it were almost alone here in reference to keeping the seventh-day Sabbath; … I have never had the privilege of hearing one of our faith preach. O, that some might be directed this way …. I pray daily for the prosperity of Zion, that the little flock may hold out faithful to the end. —Sister M. A. E. Townsend, 1853

Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Awakens the Voices of Early Adventist Women

Campus Current

WESTWIND ONLINEwwc.edu/westwind

Read a transcript of Beverly Beem’s

Distinguished Faculty Lecture.


S tudents who enjoy put-ting what they know into practice in the real world

will never turn down a chance to get out of the classroom. Five students recently made a big tran-sition when they were chosen to serve as full-time legislative in-terns for the Washington State government.

These students spent three

months at the state capitol in Olympia, working on tasks such as research, bill tracking, and con-stituent correspondence, as well as attending committee hearings and meetings. In addition to their of-fice work, the interns participated in seminars, classes, mock hear-ings, and floor debates.

Every WWC student who ap-plied was accepted into the pro-

gram. This rare honor was even greater due to the exceptionally large pool of 162 applicants and fewer open positions, according to internship program coordina-tor Judi Best. WWC applicants were told their experience-filled resumes jumped out from the rest.

Pictured from left: Deputy Secretary of Senate Brad Hendrickson; CJ Anderson, se-

nior mass communications major; Heidi Laursen, senior humanities major; Jen Drake, senior history major; Sophia Hamilton, senior mass communications major; and Secretary of Senate Thomas Hoemann. Not pictured: Caitlin Hasenhauer, senior international business major. n

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A CAPITOL EXPERIENCE Five Students Serve as Legislative Interns for State Senate

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Campus Current

lPamela Cress, Barbara Hernandez, Janet Ockerman, Susan Smith, and Heather Vonderfecht from the School of Social Work, and Darold Bigger from the School of Theology were recently awarded a $23,765 grant from the Center for Spiritual Life and Wholeness at Loma Linda University. The grant will be used to fund research on forgiveness and its effect on families.

lPedrito Maynard-Reid, vice president for spiritual life and mis-sion, was honored for his outstand-ing service to the community by the Walla Walla Valley Chamber of Commerce at an annual ban-quet where he received the WWC Community Service Award.

lJon Dybdahl, president, has completed his latest book entitled A Strange Place for Grace. The book demonstrates the gracious-ness of God in the Old Testament

through the example of the sanc-tuary, people’s lives, and stories. A Strange Place for Grace, published by Pacific Press, is available at Adventist Book Centers.

lKaren Tetz, professor of nurs-ing, recently returned from Thailand where she gave a pre-sentation based on her ongo-ing postdoctoral research study. The presentation was entitled “Affection, Attentiveness and Skill: Evaluating Family Caregiver Roles.” Tetz has also been invited to speak at an international con-ference on chronic illness.

lSenior class officers for 2006 include president Michelle Santana, business administra-tion major; social vice president Shavonne Parris, business ad-ministration major; spiritual vice president Caleb Henry, theol-ogy major; secretary Shanda Vandehey, elementary education major; treasurer Wes Smith, ac-counting major; and public re-lations representative Tiffany Richardson, mass communica-tion major. Portland campus offi-cers include co-presidents Janelle Parish and Jaime Crandall.

People Notes


CJ Anderson was a public relations

intern for the Senate Republican

Caucus. Read the chronicles of

his adventures (and misadven-

tures) in his online journal.


When hurricanes pound-ed the Gulf Coast last summer most

Americans sympathized with the victims and their communities. Thousands reached into their wallets, watched news reports, and wished they could do more. Several members of the Walla Walla College family took action.

Social work graduate student Bonnie Grovom was watching media coverage of the hurricane wondering why people weren’t getting help. “I thought, ‘I’m go-ing to do something,’” she said, “‘so I showed up at the Red Cross office in Walla Walla.”

As a registered counselor, Grovom spent one week train-ing with the American Red Cross and then two weeks as a mental health worker in various locations in Louisiana, including Baton Rouge, where she provided men-tal health services for staff at the Hurricane Katrina relief head-

quarters. She also worked at sever-al mega-centers, where 10,000 to 14,000 people received Red Cross services each day, and at other smaller centers. “Most clients had no money and no transportation to leave. Many reported never leaving their state, or for that matter, their parish. They didn’t have anywhere to go before the

hurricanes, even if they could find a way to get there.”

Ron Cate, a 1979 bio-medical electronic technology graduate who now works in Walla Walla, was plan-ning a mission trip to Peru when the hurricanes hit, but felt he should also do something to help people in his own country. A month later he found himself in Montgomery, Ala., and Woodville and Centreville, Miss., for two weeks with the American Red Cross. Cate was part of a medical group who tried to connect hur-ricane victims to needed services and, like many volunteers, spent most of his time providing a lis-tening ear. The situation was over-whelming, yet many people had no one else to talk with, so those affected often came to the service centers simply to tell the story of their loss.

Susan Smith, associate profes-sor of social work and sociology, spent a week in Biloxi, Miss., with the Alzheimer’s Association of Mississippi, helping the people acquire services and supplies. She worked in a multi-agency relief center located in a high school stadium. “I heard one heart-wrenching story after another,” she says, “but in all the stories there was something deeper—their faith and hope. That was one thing they had that couldn’t be blown away.” n

Campus Current

As a class project, students in Tamara Randolph’s Philosophy of Education class decided to make a quilt for someone affected by Hurricane Katrina. Each student filled a 6-by-6 inch square with his or her own design.

Randolph, assistant professor of education, and Marlene Baerg, assistant professor of engineering, designed and sewed the rest of the quilt, includ-ing handstitching the words “God is love” along the left and right sides.

Although the quilt was soon complete, there was one problem: They didn’t know who to give it to since no one had personal contact with anyone displaced by Katrina. As a class, they prayed that God would lead them to the right person.

“The next day,” Randolph says, “I went to a state reading seminar in Seattle and met a professor from the University of New Orleans who had lost everything except her dog and five of her seven cats. She was also still mourning the loss of her great-grandmother’s 150-year-old quilt!”

Hope Amidst Heartache

Professor Susan Smith (left), seen here with a FEMA worker, heard heart-wrenching stories during her work with the elderly in Mississippi.

WARMING THE BODY AND HEART

Student, Professor, and Graduate Witness Faith in the Hurricane Region


Read Susan Smith’s account of

her experience in Mississippi.


The New Hollywood

Q: Why would a South Korean group from a city

of 10 million people travel more than 5,400 miles to a town of only 9,000 people to record the song “The Wheels on the Bus”?

A : Those enticing Hollywood accents.

Instructors from the Seventh-day Adventist Language Institute in Seoul, South Korea, spent a week at the Positive Life Radio stu-

dio, recording WWC and Rogers Adventist School students singing songs and telling stories that will be used to teach children English. Textbook writer InHe Shim said songs spice up the lessons, and “the Hollywood accent” found on the West Coast is the perfect sound for language tapes.

Student Missionaries Go ForthGo anywhere in the world and there is a good chance you’ll run into someone affiliated with WWC. That’s especially true considering the 90 student missionaries and 19 task force workers sent out this year. The students are stationed in 29 countries, including Pohnpei, Thailand, Denmark, Nigeria, and the Czech Republic. Student missionaries perform many tasks, often serving as teachers, orphanage workers, and deans. Keep up with their struggles and successes on the Student Missions gallery at www.wwc.edu/campus-life/spiritual-life/.

Bits & Pieces

Volleyball Team Makes Waves at NationalsThe women’s volleyball team had an exceptional season.

The Wolves became the first Adventist collegiate volleyball

team to participate in a national championship when they

made it all the way to the United States Collegiate Athletic

Association national tournament. By choosing not to play on

Saturday, the team wasn’t able to finish the tournament; how-

ever, other participants were so impressed with the team’s

attitude that they voted to hold the USCAA championship at

WWC next fall.

Mountain Ash KudosThe 2005 Mountain Ash has been named a Crown Award

Finalist by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. The

Crown Awards are among the nation’s highest awards for the

collegiate press and reflect the overall excellence of the pub-

lication in the areas of design, photography, concept, cover-

age, and writing. Mountain Ash staff included Dennis Huynh,

editor; Brandon Witzel, photography editor; Dallas Reedy,

head layout designer; Liz Schultz, layout designer; Adam

Farnsworth, DVD editor and designer; Amanda Clanton,

advertising manager; Janelle Michaelis, story editor; and

Summer Dietrich, Portland liaison.

This summer five WWC alumni will undertake The Endless Ride I (TERI) to raise money for the Teri Lynn Kuhlman Cancer Foundation. Those riders, Curtis Kuhlman, David Green, Kraig Scott, Marvin Denney, and Rodd Strobel, will spend 28 days and

1,816.5 miles on their bikes in honor of Teri, a beloved member of the Health and Physical Education Department before her death from melanoma in 2004. Find out how you can help with The Endless Ride I at tlkcancerfoundation.org.

The Endless Ride I


Take one beach resort built in the 1920s, add more than 70 years of wear and tear, and what do you get? A marine

station suitable only for summer use and in dire need of a facelift and more.

That was the state of the Walla Walla College Marine Station campus by the

1990s. A dilapidated dining hall and dete-riorating cabins no longer accommodated the number of students and visitors who frequented the campus.

No one was probably more famil-iar with the campus’s problems than former Marine Station Director Larry McCloskey. Among his grimmer recol-lections he includes, “sitting on toilets,

Better than Ever By Amy Wilkinson

Three new cabins house summer students along with researchers and guests who visit the campus.

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The Marine Station Five Years Later


trying not to put one’s full weight on them for fear of crashing the whole thing into those crawlspaces … and jacking up old buildings so doors would open and close.” In short, the Marine Station need-ed help and it needed it fast.

Fortunately, the campus found its salvation in 1996 when the college em-barked on its biggest capital campaign ever—Faith in the Vision: The Campaign for Walla Walla College. Of the $18 mil-lion given by alumni and friends, $2.5 million went toward renewing the Marine Station, which included constructing

three new cabins, updating the infrastruc-ture, and building Lindgren Hall—a new dining and assembly hall.

Now, five years after the dedication of Lindgren Hall, the Marine Station is not only looking better than ever, it is more alive than ever before.

“Before the improvements, the campus was basically empty November through March,” says Marine Station Manager Dave Habenicht. “The campus improve-ments have made our facility much more usable and comfortable, especially for winter use.”

What used to be a campus suitable only for summer use is now a year-round educational and recreational facility. And people are taking notice. From com-munity members to alumni, the Marine Station is being used in new and unex-pected ways.

A Home for HomeschoolersAsk 4-year-old Rachel Smith what her favorite thing to do is and she’ll most likely answer, “paint.” Ask what her fa-vorite class is and she’ll most likely tell you “art.” Once a week, this budding Picasso gets the chance to hone her art skills at the Marine Station through the Anacortes Home Education Partnership, a K-12 school dedicated to the needs of home schooling families. Although not quite old enough for the program, Rachel tags along twice a week with her six older siblings and even attends art and world cultures classes on Thursdays.

“When I sit in the classrooms and look out at the beautiful water, I can’t believe what a gift the Rosario campus has been to the program,” says Rachel’s mom, Julie Smith.

The Marine Station campus was a gift that couldn’t have come at a better time.

“We were located in three little, old portable classrooms,” says AHEP Program Coordinator Kim Stamper. “So we were needing more space and an updated facil-ity, and it worked out perfectly that [the Marine Station] was available when ours was about to end.”

More than 110 students attend class-es Monday through Thursday on the Rosario campus. Over the course of two semesters, 163 classes will be taught through AHEP.

Classes range from the commonplace—

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Vital Statistics

>> LOCATION On the

shores of Rosario Strait

in Anacortes, Wash.

>> ACREAGE 45

>> THE VIEW Vancouver

Island, the Straits of Juan de

Fuca, the Olympic Mountains,

and The San Juan Islands.

>> NUMBER OF SUMMER

SESSION STUDENTS 50; 30

from WWC and 20 from affiliated

colleges and universities

>> COURSES General Biology,

Phytoplankton, Human Anatomy,

Marine Invertebrates, Behavior

of Marine Organisms, Ornithology

>> BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR

killer whales, bald eagles,

harbor seals, barnacles, crabs,

anemones, and sea stars

>> PUT DOWN THE BOOKS

and play “Rosario Volleyball,”

participate in the Fourth

of July games, go SCUBA

diving, take a hike, have a

snowball fight on Mt. Baker

>> NEAREST TACO BELL

15 minutes


science and foreign languages—to the unusual—life after high school, equine studies, pioneer crafts, and survival skills, which uses the campus’s wilderness surroundings.

“It’s so peaceful and beautiful, and it offers so much,” says Stamper of the cam-pus. “We’re absolutely thrilled.”

A Ceremony by the SeaAlthough it was drizzling outside, the mood couldn’t have been brighter inside Lindgren Hall. Accompanied by a roaring blaze in the fireplace and more than 150 of their friends and family, Cheri (Klam) Oellrich, a 1999 graduate, and James Oellrich, a former student, exchanged vows January 23, 2005.

The wedding’s rustic locale was an ob-vious choice for the couple. In addition to its beautiful scenery, both have fond memories of the campus. As a boy grow-ing up in Sumner, Wash., James and his family visited the Marine Station often. Cheri’s memories date back to the sum-mer she spent at the Marine Station as an undergraduate biology student at WWC.

Their fondness for the campus even found its way into their wedding décor.

“Cheri and James had picked rocks from the beach for the centerpieces and used them with floating flowers and candles,” says Cheri’s mom, Marlene. “I was concerned it wouldn’t be very large or effective on the tables, but it actually turned out really nice. And then they put the rocks back on the beach,” she was quick to add with a chuckle.

Between the ceremony and the re-ception, guests had time to wander the beach or get a warm beverage from the espresso stand set up in the library for the occasion.

The drizzle outside couldn’t keep the day from ending as wonderfully as it had begun.

“In the evening after the wedding was over, the sunset was one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen,” says Marlene. “It was sort of like the ending to a per-fect day.”

Four-year-old Rachel Smith paints a masterpiece in her weekly art class.

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Learn more about alumnus Andrew

Rice’s Academic Adventures and how

you can host your own adventures

at Rosario during the off-season.


A Budding BusinessYou might call the Marine Station a sec-ond home for Andrew Rice, a 1995 and 1998 graduate.

As a biology undergraduate and gradu-ate student, Rice spent four summers studying and teaching at the campus. He now uses the facility as home base for his business, Academic Adventures, an in-quiry-focused coastal ecology and marine biology field school.

Rice started Academic Adventures in 2000 in the hopes of being a good stew-ard of the Marine Station’s resources.

“I was familiar with the campus and thought it could be a great opportunity to bring groups to the marine station to increase usage during the academic year,” says Rice.

The campus’s proximity to Deception Pass State Park was an added benefit.

“It is a living-learning lab right off of the property,” says Rice. “It’s an easy tran-sition from indoor to outdoor activities.”

Rice hosts groups of all ages, from grade school to adults, although the ma-jority of his students are fifth and sixth graders. Lessons are geared toward each grade level’s specific needs, and Rice uti-lizes interesting materials such as a retired World War II battle tug to enliven his lectures. Classes vary in length from daily field trips to three-to four-day sessions, taking advantage of the lodging facilities available on campus.

About 10 to 12 groups attend Rice’s program each year. Since its inception, more than 300 students have passed through the program. Responses from students and teachers have been over-whelmingly positive.

“At first I didn’t want to go to ‘outdoor ed,’” says Joey, a Forest Park Adventist School student, “but after, I wanted to go again. I wish school was as fun as ‘outdoor ed.’”

Who knows? Maybe Joey will return to the Marine Station some day—as a WWC student pursuing a career in biology. n

Amy Wilkinson is a 2004 business graduate and Westwind’s production manager and copy editor.

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Researcher Ponders Gull MysteryWest Coast scientists are hoping they won’t see a repeat of 2005. Last spring, tens of thousands of dead seabirds washed onto sea-shores, and in the summer, the seabirds failed to breed at normal levels.

What was behind these natural events? Scientists are theorizing that last year’s unusual weather patterns altered the marine eco-system to cause these and a string of other unusual occurrences from Alaska to northern California.

Whether or not the year was just an aberration is something that Joe Galusha, a biologist and long-time Walla Walla College professor, will be watching closely this summer.

For the past 25 years, Galusha has conducted research on the glaucous-winged gull at the Rosario Marine station. From its inception, the station has provided a superb natural setting to conduct scientif-ic research that may help answer questions of the natural world. One of the longest-running projects is Galusha’s gull research.

Protection Island, a 50-minute boat ride south of the marine sta-tion, is the nesting site of the larg-est glaucous-winged gull colony in Washington state. Last summer, although 8,000 pairs of birds estab-lished nests and laid eggs, only 88 chicks were fledged. The blame may lie with the growing population of bald eagles, whose constant attacks may have forced the birds to aban-don their nests. Galusha theorizes eagles are increasingly turning to Protection Island to feed, perhaps a result of changes in the eagles’ nor-mal food supply.

Galusha was part of a January 2006 meeting in Seattle organized for oceanographers, atmospheric scientists, marine mammal experts, and seabird biologists who are studying these changes.

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James and Cheri Oellrich make a new Rosario memory—their wedding.


Friday afternoons on campus often echo with joyful sighs as students and faculty welcome the weekend and the chance to rest from routine. But fall quarter, while offices closed and parking lots emptied, a small group of students met in the physics lecture hall on Fridays afternoons to solve math problems—for fun. Well, that and to prepare for the 65th Annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition.

Logic, Proofs, Puzzles, and Brilliant Minds By Annie Lambeth

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notes first-time competitor Melissa Magee, sophomore mechanical engineering and math student. Indeed, for even the most brilliant mathematical mind, these problems can send the head spinning. But these students tackled the challenge with no fear; in fact, they enjoy math so much that they looked forward to the study sessions.

“I asked them ‘Do you want to meet the Friday before Thanksgiving break?’ and they all agreed. I asked them again another time: ‘Are you sure you want to meet on Friday before Thanksgiving break?’ I had one student come up and say, ‘Look, I scheduled my plane tickets with these [sessions] in mind!’” laughs Kenneth Wiggins, chair of the Mathematics Department and Putnam Competition sponsor.

Begun in 1938, the competition unites colleges and universities of the United States and Canada for one day in December as more than 2,000 stu-dents have six hours to give their very best to solve 12 math problems.

“[For winners] it’s an immediate four years paid at Harvard Graduate School. Unsolicited offers of scholarship money from grad schools across the country [will come your way] if you score in the upper 10 percent; everybody wants you,” says Thomas Thompson, professor of mathemat-ics and physics. Thompson started the college’s involvement in the competition in 1979 with one student, Cheng Ng from Malaysia, who scored at the 83rd percentile and later received a doctoral degree in computer science from the University of California, Irvine. Aside from a hiatus from 1987 to 1989, the college has been taking part in the competition ever since.

WWC has had as many as seven students participate and this year there were five. Joining Magee and other first-year competitor Ross Magi, a junior math major, were second-year participants Graham Vixie, a senior math and physics major; Jason Damazo, a senior math and mechanical engineering student; and third-year participant John Foster, a senior math major.

“Students are not allowed to sign up for [the competition] except by permission from the Math Department,” says Wiggins. Straight A’s do not mean a student is automatically suited for the test.

Jason Damazo learned about the competition from his brother, who was also a math major. Realizing that he had a “knack for math,” Jason became a math major at his professors’ encouragement. He enjoys the problem-solving that engineering has to offer but finds the “exact answer” outcome of mathematics to be very rewarding. After skipping the review sessions last year, Damazo chose to take them for credit this year. For the first time, the Mathematics Department offered one credit for the students who chose it, thus making it an official math class. “It made a huge differ-ence by going to the sessions this year,” says Damazo.

If being the only woman on the team was intimidating, Magee does not show it. Magee was one of three who joined just for fun. “I took the Putnam classes more out of interest than anything, I guess. I wasn’t taking it for credit, but on a Friday after-noon, it’s not too hard to find time for more math!” Initially a mechanical engineering student because of her interest in the space program, Magee chose to double in math at the urging of Wiggins. Magee admits hesitancy at first but says, “I soon realized that I did not have a good reason for not [adding the math major], especially when I found that I loved calculus and wanted to learn, well, everything!”

“It’s a test that could scare Einstein,”

In the course of seven weeks, professors Ken Wiggins and Thomas Thompson will spend quality time with their five Put-nam test-takers, from Friday afternoon practice sessions to a full Sabbath day right before the test.

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Learn more about the Annual

William Lowell Putnam

Mathematical Competition.


Magee’s enthusiasm echoes in the other students. Wiggins proudly describes the energy of the afternoon sessions, which started the last Friday of September and ran every Friday up to the December 3 test. “The students come in and look at the problems on the board, and one will rush up to a problem and start working on it,” he says. If one is having trouble another will jump up ea-gerly to help figure out the problem.

“I always looked forward to the classes because I knew that Jason, Ross, John, or Graham would be proving something or other, and I would get to witness the proof step-by-step. They are all very bright,” says Magee.

“Dr. Wiggins has done a good job of selecting [problems] from previous math tests that are manageable to solve,” adds John Foster. Also participating for fun this year, Foster returned for his third experience with the logical reasoning test. Students may only participate for four years. When asked what brought him back, Foster said simply, “It’s a fun thing to do every year; it’s like a club with other math students.”

Adding to the fun and dedication comes the impressive fact that while many of their peers be-gin the exam in the morning and finish before dusk, WWC students start after sundown and work, with a one-hour break, until midnight. Yes, midnight. The test this year took place on December 3, a Saturday, as it always falls on the first Saturday in December. Does this make it difficult for a Seventh-day Adventist school to enter such a competition? Not exactly. With permission and ap-proval of the director, students who have religious reasons against taking the test during Sabbath hours may test after sundown. The added challenge, therefore, is that on the day of the exam, stu-dents must be under constant supervision of their math professors. Wiggins and Thompson must also sign statements that these students haven’t been in communication with anyone who has al-ready taken the test.

“At first I thought they were joking,” says Magee, of the supervision. Foster, having gone through it before, says that it’s “kind of a special occasion and more of a

tradition, something to look forward to.” Damazo agrees that the group had “good camaraderie,” but adds that it is awfully hard to ex-

plain such a day to outsiders, or non-math people. “We had a super nerdy math lunch,” he says. “The table cloth had fractions on it.”

Each year the special day begins at 8 a.m. when the students, minus cell phones, are picked up by Wiggins and Thompson, taken to breakfast together, then church, and then to one of their

homes for lunch. “We have a sundown worship and then take

the test. They get to spend the whole day with their favorite teachers!” laughs Wiggins.

“These folks have given up their entire day and evening to take this test,” adds Thompson. “That requires a lot of determination.”

And a lot of stamina. Foster, a morning per-son used to plenty of sleep, admits that the time period of the test is tough for him. “Last year I was working at my best for the first hour and a half [but] noticed a decrease in my performance [as the night continued].” He explained that working on one problem could take, at the least, half an hour to complete.

Damazo says “it’s a really hard test to study for—it could be [about] anything.” He reviewed his freshman calculus book and

PutnamPUZZLERA game starts with four heaps of jelly beans, containing 3, 4, 5, and 6 jelly beans. The two players move alternately, and a move consists of taking either

(a) one bean from a heap, provided at least two jelly beans are left behind in that heap, or

(b) a complete heap of two or three jelly beans.

The player who takes the last heap wins. To win the game, do you want to move first or second? Give a winning strategy.


looked through a math dictionary, but admitted that on the day of the test the suspense in the hours before was tiresome.

The format of the test is such that team and individual scores mat-ter. “All students work individually and then scores are pooled as a team,” says Wiggins. The 12 questions are 10 points each. “To be in the upper half two years ago required two out of 120 [points]. That means half of the group scored two or less,” Thompson explains. Wiggins adds that “the test favors creativity.” Showing all work and showing it clearly and cleverly can get a student points even if the answer given is not correct.

“It’s a weird feeling taking this test,” Damazo tries to describe. “One out of 120 [could be] a good score. When you tell people that, it sounds crazy.”

Scoring the test will take three months, after the long process of many people scruti-nizing handwriting and carefully examining logic.

Even without knowing the test results, Damazo announces he will “most definitely” compete again, citing that the whole experience is “a lot of fun—the most fun I’ve ever had doing math. The math professors put a ton of work into this and I’m really thankful to them.”

In March, when the results came in, the scores were impressive. The team came in 83rd out of 395 teams, WWC’s best performance ever.

“Our three team members each scored 10/120 on this difficult test, which compares our best students with those of other colleges and universities in the United States and Canada,” says Wiggins. More than 500 colleges and universi-ties participate.

Wiggins could not be more proud of the students he has guided through the Putnam competition and the math program in general. He can hardly con-tain his pride as he talks about two students who took the Major Field Achievement Test (MFAT) last spring. Students who took this test last year, scored, as a group, in the top 5 percent, the highest position in the scale.

One of those students, 2005 graduate Andrea Hawkins, now stud-ies at the University of Texas at Austin where she recently received the merit-based CAM fellowship for $30,000. A student in the doctoral degree program in applied mathematics and biology, Hawkins’s fellow-ship is renewable for the next three years and her tuition expenses are also covered. n

Annie Lambeth is a 2004 English graduate and lives in Baker City, Ore.

“In March, when the results came in, the scores were impressive. The team came in 83rd out of 395 teams, WWC’s best performance ever.”

In the Sabbath hours before the test, math students and professors have dinner together, complete with a math-themed brownie dessert. At a sundown worship, President Jon Dybdahl encourages the students before they begin the test that will last until midnight.


It was a question I was almost afraid to ask.But as our son solidified his plans to attend Walla Walla College, it became apparent that the time had come to talk with the school about finances.

Like many parents, I wondered just how much the next four years were going to cost us. How much had tuition gone up since I had walked these hallowed halls? Were the rumors true—that more and more families simply couldn’t afford it anymore?

I’d grown up in a family where a Christian education was something you simply found a way to afford, regardless of the cost, and we’d al-ways made it a priority. Still, I felt a growing sense of concern as to just what this experience would require from us, knowing that at some point soon we’d have two sons in college. I wondered just how we’d navigate the years ahead.

With academy graduation looming on the horizon, we decided now was the time to find out.

WWC could cost you less than academy.I was pleased—and even surprised—to find out that despite the initial sticker shock, once a financial aid package is put together, the price of col-lege shouldn’t keep anyone out who ought to be here. Consider these facts:

The average family contributed about the price of a high definition TV—or about $4,500—to send their student to Walla Walla College last year. To be precise, the average family contribution to student ex-penses here was $4,006 last year, compared to an estimated $11,250 contribution required for an out-of-state public university or college.

WWC gave out $32.5 million in financial aid last year, with the average award being $17,448, compared to $10,300, the average package for a major state university.

Between 80 and 90 percent of parents pay less for their students to go to WWC than to go to an Adventist academy.

WWC can actually cost less than a public college (including com-munity college) when the financial aid package is factored in.

WWC is one of two colleges with the lowest room-and-board costs in the state of Washington.

A new scholarship program offers help above and beyond need-based aid.

Families who don’t qualify for aid based on need will be pleased to know about a new scholarship program launched this year.

Although WWC has awarded scholarships for high grades, high ACT and SAT scores, and academy leadership positions in the past, this year they’ve announced that they’ll extend these awards for four years—pro-

vided the student keeps up his or her grades. This can amount to as much as $22,000 over four years. (To see how much free money your child could get through this program, fill in the scholarship calculator shown.)

Financial aid makes WWC possible for many who think it’s out of reach.Including scholarships, the college has around $37 million in aid to award for 2006-2007. To get some of that, you’ll need to take two im-portant steps:

Fill out the financial aid application at sfs.wwc.edu/application Fill out the federal government’s aid application at fafsa.ed.gov

Cassie Ragenovich, director of Student Financial Services, encourages parents to do this even if they think they won’t qualify for aid. “We’ve seen a lot of families pleasantly surprised,” she says. “But it is important to do it soon, since some funds do run out.”

WWC wants you here.I was deeply touched by the spirit I felt in the Student Financial Services department when I visited. The staff clearly feel that if it’s God’s will for you to be at WWC, they can find a way to help you get here. And they’re not just talking smoke and mirrors. Their stories of students who were able to attend WWC through miraculous means are inspiring.

“We want to see that any student God is leading here is able to at-tend,” says Ragenovich. “And we’re committed to doing everything we can to help them get here. If money is a problem, we’ll find a solution. We’ll guide them through the financial aid application process and put together an award package tailored to their family’s needs.”

Anything’s possible.Though the price tag isn’t small, I left the office realizing that a WWC education is not only possible for us, I believe it’s possible for anyone who has a will to make it a reality. With parents, students, and the col-lege working together, a WWC Christian education can be within reach.

For our family, it’s meant committing weekends to helping our son identify and apply for scholarships. It will mean making college our financial priority in the years ahead. Our son, too, will need to do his part—both by working at a job and keeping his grades up.

A Priceless Experience at a Cost You Can Afford

Reflections on being the mother of a college-bound sonBy DeLona Lang Bell

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But having done this myself once, I’ve no doubt that it will be worth the effort. Having spent time on a secular campus, my husband and I know that there’s no price tag we can put on the experience of studying in a faith-based environment.

We’re certain that it’s one of the most important investments we can make in our children’s future. And it’s our goal to do what we can to not only see that our children have the opportunity to attend WWC, but to encourage others who should be there to attend as well.

How alumni can help.There are so many ways you can help your college. Your gifts, your prayers, your words of support. But perhaps most importantly, ask yourself if you know of a young person who should be here. If you do, see that they get a call. From the college or from you. There are people on campus who can help them make WWC a reality for them—if they know they’re out there. Contact either:

Cassie Ragenovich Student Financial Services800-656-2815 or 509-527-2815 [email protected]

Victor Brown Office of Enrollment 800-541-8900 or [email protected]

DeLona Lang Bell is a grateful graduate of WWC, the mother of a WWC-bound son, and president of CMBell Company, a marketing and communication firm (cmbell.com).

Scholarship Calculator Freshman Four High School GPA Award year year 3.75-4.00 $3,000 __________ 3.50-3.74 $2,500 __________ 3.25-3.49 $1,500 __________ 3.00-3.24 $1,000 __________ ACT /SAT Scores Award 31+/2070+ $3,000 __________ 29-30/1950-2069 $2,500 __________ 27-28/1830-1949 $1,750 __________ 25-26/1710-1829 $1,500 __________ A. Enter the larger: (the GPA or the ACT/SAT Award) __________ __________ B. Bonus Award: If you qualify for both GPA and

ACT/SAT awards above, add an __________ __________ extra $1,500.

Leadership Award SA President $2,500 __________ SA Spiritual VP $1,750 __________ SA Exec VP $1,750 __________ Sr Class President $2,000 __________ Sr Class Spiritual VP $1,750 __________ Sr Class Exec VP $1,750 __________ Jr Class President $1,750 __________ Jr Class Exec VP $1,500 __________ OtherJrorSrOffice* $500 __________ Yearbook Editor $2,000 __________ Newspaper Editor $2,000 __________ Assistant Editor $1,250 __________ Co-editor $1,500 __________ Head Resident Asst. $1,300 __________ Resident Assistant $1,250 __________ Team Captain $750 __________ *Some restrictions apply C. Total Leadership AwardEnter your total or $4,000, __________ __________ whichever is less. Total Add Add Freshman 4-Year Column Column A+B+C A+B+C

___________ ___________ Freshman 4-Year Award Year Award with 3.5 GPA

If you don’t apply for financial aid, here’s what it will cost:

Tuition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $19,725Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,472Cafeteria (minimum) . . . $1,521

Books (average) . . . . . . . . . $924SA Fee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $192

Total $24,834

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Interview

You are a water quality specialist. What does that mean?I am responsible for planning and conducting field studies for surface and ground water on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. I use special equipment to collect water quality information or collect samples that are sent to an offsite laboratory. Then, I organize and analyze that data by preparing reports, maps, and graphs.

What types of water issues do you face on the reservation?The Umatilla Reservation is located on 172,882 acres east of Pendleton, Ore. Pendleton, and the area that I work in, is similar to Walla Walla, with a semi-arid climate influenced by the Pacific Ocean and the Blue Mountains. Winters are cool and wet, and summers are hot and dry.

When the winters and spring are wet, the rivers have higher flows and the water quality conditions are usually clean and cold, providing an adequate aquatic habitat. During the summer and fall, when there is less precipitation, stream flows decline and water quality conditions and

aquatic habitats are more of a concern. Flow conditions and water temperature are the main concerns for the preservation of aquatic biota during lower flow conditions.

What are you hoping to accomplish through your work?By researching past and current conditions, the Tribes is striving to rehabilitate areas that will restore clean, cold, healthy waters to the streams on the reservation year-round. The Tribes’ primary focus is increasing the salmon population, but the habitat rehabilitation will provide a variety of environmental improvements. Reintroduction of native flora and fauna allows for increased traditional opportunities such as root gathering and elk hunting.

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Many Waters Run DeepCollect, organize, analyze. It’s all in a day’s work for Shanna Bailey Olson. The 2000 environmental science graduate is a water quality specialist on the Umatilla Indian Reservation where she has worked to improve water in the area for the past three years.

By Kristi Spurgeon

Shanna Bailey Olson tests water samples for temper-ature, dissolved oxygen, and other qualities.


Interview

Are there any special challenges or rewards involved working with the Tribes?Working with the Tribes has its own challenges as with any government agency or political body. I feel as if there is an underlying understanding that it does not matter how long it

takes to reach a goal, as long as the information that is collected is understood and collected with the best available science. For example, when I started this position there were a variety of detailed studies of the conditions of the river, yet no consistent long-term water quality testing had been done. The Tribes has sent me to specialized trainings for additional instruction on how to write and plan a long-term surface water quality-monitoring project. With this project in place, I’ve been able to focus my attention on the basic river water quality testing on the reservation. Because of my knowledge and interest I have expanded my water testing beyond basic river samples to include river sediments, lake water, and groundwater sampling across the reservation.

What does a typical day look like for you?I have two types of days. One is an office day and the other is a field day.

A normal office day might consist of coordinating field monitoring with other biologists, hydrologists, or natural resource

personnel. I also spend a lot of time creating reports for grants or projects. Many of the reports describe current conditions, historical data, and potential impacts, and predict long-term conditions of a specific project to the waters on the reservation. I usually work with data collected in the field, using a mapping program to visually display and explain that data.

A normal field day consists of visiting stream sampling sites, which I do each season throughout the reservation. At each site I use equipment that records instantaneous water quality conditions, including

temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, and turbidity. I also collect river water, which is sent to a laboratory for further analysis.

Your job sounds very precise and detail-oriented. What type of people would enjoy the work you do?People who are in my position often have specialized training in hydrology, geology, or, as I had, an environmental science major. If you are interested in a similar position you should enjoy fieldwork, including using field equipment and being able to track the information that is collected. I have found that understanding technology has also helped me in my jobs after college.

How did you become involved with this career? Did you start out as an environmental science major?During my junior year at WWC I was randomly flipping through the bulletin and found the section on independent studies where environmental science caught my eye. I felt that this was exactly what I had been looking for, since I was always the one with the nature t-shirts who used recycled paper. After I spoke with Jon Cole [director for environmental sciences at WWC] about the major and the options available, I knew that it was something that I would enjoy. Being involved in science yet having the option to go outside for work sounded great.

I laugh as I remember the first two years at WWC. I took a red marker and X-ed out all the engineering courses in the class schedule. Who would have thought that I would need, and even enjoy, many of those courses for my eventual degree? n

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Through her work, Shanna is helping revive environmental habitats for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

Enjoy catching up with fellow alumni through Westwind’s Interviews? Visit Alumni Central (alumni .wwc.edu) to check out archives of these interviews and peruse addi-tional web-exclusive interviews.


Alumnotes

1940s Donald Peterson ’45 is living in Loma

Linda, Calif. He has recently written a

book about how to prevent headaches

without the use of drugs. He has also

written a book critiquing the legal sys-

tem. This book draws upon his years of

experiences as a neurologist and expert

witness.

1950s Marlene (Nelson) Ferguson ’54 and her

husband, Robert att., reside in Beach, N.D.

Before owning and operating their farm,

she worked with her husband driving an

18-wheeler for 10 years, operating a Terex

twin-engine dirt mover for eight years,

and also building dams for the Bureau of

Land Management. Both worked with el-

derly people in their personal care home

for six years. Marlene and Robert have

four children, Charles att., Bruce att., Don att., and Dianna att.; eight grandchildren;

and five great-grandchildren. Marlene en-

joys cooking, gardening, growing flowers

in her yard, but mostly playing with her

“wonderful great-grandbabies.”

Willard Kaufmann ’55 and his wife, Pat,

are living in Decator, Tenn. They have

three children, Bruce, Delee Panasuk, and

Beth Watson. In his spare time Willard

loves to garden.

Kendall Noah ’55 and his wife, Mary (Cleveland) ’58, are living in Spokane,

Wash. Since 1993 Ken has worked as

a Senior Volunteer Coordinator and

manager of the Better Living Center in

Spokane. Ken and his volunteers have ex-

panded the services of the BLC to include

household appliances. He writes, “there

are an incredible amount of people that

are helping each week and Matthew

25:40 sums up the mission of the BLC, ‘In

as much as you have done it unto one

of the least of these brethren you have

done it unto me.’ ”

Stanley “Floyd” Sargeant ’55 and ’58

and his wife, Emma, are retired and

living in Poulsbo, Wash. Before retiring

in 1974, Floyd was serving the U.S. Army

Medical Service as a nurse, attaining the

rank of Lt. Colonel. He has served as a

nurse anesthetist in various Army hospi-

tals in the United States, Germany, and

Vietnam. Upon retirement he worked as

the director of the Wasau Hospital School

of Nurse Anesthesiology and at the Mid-

dle Tennessee School of Anesthesiology.

Floyd and Emma have one son, Thom-as ’82; and one granddaughter, Heidi Sargeant curr. att.

Ruth (Whatley) Weatherby ’55 is living

in Prince George, British Columbia, Cana-

da. Ruth has been a nurse for the last 50

years in 26 various capacities in Canada.

Serving as a maternity ward staff nurse

for more than 10 years, she retired in

1991 from Prince George Regional Hos-

pital. In January 2005 her husband, Jim,

passed away. She writes, “I have lived a

very ordinary life, but God has been good

to me.” Ruth and Jim have two children,

Sandra Boutilier, and Clarence; and two

grandchildren, Alina and Andrea Boutilier.

Merton Allen ’56 and his wife, Margie (Parish) att., make their home in Portland,

Ore. In their spare time they love to travel.

Merton and Margie have four children,

Therese, Darilynne ’83, Terrill, and Tisa Stiltz ’86.

Victor Boyce ’56 and his wife, Arlene (Birchell) att., reside in Colbert, Wash.

Victor is a retired physician, working for

33 years in Lancaster, Calif. He has served

every Seventh-day Adventist church job

in his local church. They have retired to

Arlene’s childhood home and farm, which

has a private airport from which Victor

flew his airplane until 2001. They have

two children, Tab, and Beverly Doerler;

and four grandchildren, Aria, Autumn,

Vanessa, and Rochel.

Donald Lang ’56 and his wife, Joyce (Fry) att., make their home in Loma

Linda, Calif. Donald has been very in-

volved in his community, doing medi-

cal-ministerial evangelism for nine years,

and volunteering at prison ministries for

three years. He keeps fit by running mara-

thons, which he has been doing for the

last 11 years. He is working as a physi-

cian, conducting California evaluations

on patients. Donald and Joyce have four

children, Lorinda, Kevin, Lisa Neish, and

Kathy Cornelius ’89; and two grandchil-

dren. Donald has many memories from

WWC, especially from one summer ses-

sion spent at the Marine Station doing

biological statistics.

Dale Minner ’56 is a retired physician

living in Creston, Iowa. Dale is enjoying

retirement after 42 years of practicing

emergency and occupational medicine.

He enjoyed his time working as associ-

ate medical director for Western Electric.

Before retirement, Dale served as an oc-

cupational physician at the Idaho Na-

tional Engineering Laboratory. Dale has

four children, son Allen, and daughters

Denise Dale Minner att., LaDeane Du-

ree, and Jenni; and four grandchildren.

From his WWC experience he remembers

“Dr. Brown disappearing behind a ball of

flames after forgetting to light a bunsen

burner for too long.”

Joan (Rader) Shultz ’56 and her

husband, Wes ’56, are retired and

living in Berrien Springs, Mich. Joan stays

active by walking four to five miles a

week and volunteering eight to 12 hours

a week at Neighbor-to-Neighbor Com-

munity Center. Since Wes’s retirement in

2003 he, “enjoys gardening and catch-

ing up on the news.” Joan and Wes have

three daughters, Kari, Debra, and Julie

Duncan. Joan’s favorite college memory

is “Sunday morning breakfast at the foun-

tain at the College Store.”

Dorothy (Curtis) Takscal ’56, makes her

home in Wheeler, Ore. Before retiring she

worked in a local hospital as a surgeon’s

assistant. She also worked for a physician

in internal medicine for five years. Doro-

thy is now a volunteer at Care Center in

Wheeler. She has four children, Wayne,

James, Betty, and Julie; ten grandchildren;

and two greatgrandchildren. Dorothy’s

favorite WWC experience “was going to

the mountains on holidays and playing

in the snow.”

Jeanette Weaver-Sullivan ’56 and hus-

band, Carl, live in College Place. After


Alumnotes

retiring from WWC in 2000 and getting

remarried in 2002, she has volunteered in

the chaplain’s office at Walla Walla Gen-

eral Hospital and also at Gospel Outreach.

Jeanette likes to bird-watch, garden and

sing duets with her husband. She also

enjoys spending time with friends. She

has four children, Jerry ‘86, Joel, Jill Harg-

reaves, and Jennifer Aichele.

Verne Wehtje ’56 and his wife, LaDon-na (Zuercher) att., make their home in

Angwin, Calif. Before retiring Verne was a

professor of English for 22 years at several

Adventist colleges. He also served as vice

president of public relations for WWC and

as associate academic dean for five years.

After moving to Angwin, he spent six

years being professor and chair of English

at Pacific Union College. Verne and La-

Donna have two sons, Gary and Rodney;

and five granddaughters.

Joanne Foss ’59 and her husband, Ed-ward ’60, are retired and living in Winter-

haven, Calif. Living in a small community,

they started a Seventh-day Adventist

church five years ago and have seen

wonderful evidences of God’s power.

She writes, “we also have witnessed

many people who have given their

hearts and lives to the Lord. It has been

a great experience.” They started a hobby

farm a few years ago, Medjool Dates,

through which they sell dates and trees

throughout the Southwest. They have

three children, Timothy, Sheryl Gauigan,

and Steven ’94.

1960s Perry Parks ’60 and his wife, Gloria, are

retired and living in Medford Ore. Perry

spent 13 years as a missionary in Africa.

He spent 20 years as a local conference

president for Maritime Conference, Can-

ada; South Lakefield, Africa; Montana

Conference, and North Pacific Union Con-

ference. He served 12 years on the WWC

board. In 2000 he retired from 40 years of

service, but then returned to be pastor of

Ashland Adventist Church. Perry and Glo-

ria have three children, Daniel att., Donita

Jensen, and Darlene Perkins att.; and 11

grandchildren.

Ruth (Deming) Roberts ’60 and her

husband, Raymond, reside in Berrien

Springs, Mich. Retiring in 2004 from

Andrews University, Ruth is currently

helping her husband with his job as a

certified personal accountant. She enjoys

working in her yard and garden. Ruth and

Raymond have one son, Philip.

Ginger “Lillian” (Reel) Snarr ’60 and

her husband, Dudley, are living in Sur-

prise, Ariz. Ginger and Dudley have been

involved in many mission projects. They

have done extensive humanitarian work

in the former Soviet Union and recently

went on a mission trip to Cuba doing

global evangelism. Ginger worked as a

nurse for several years and is now retired.

They have two children, Brian ’94 and

Brent; and three grandchildren, Kendra,

Caleb and Alexia. From her WWC experi-

ence she remembers “all the happy mem-

ories, especially making many wonderful

lifelong friends.”

Barbara (Rouse) Opp Walda ’60 and her

husband, Mel, are living in Palmer, Alaska.

Currently she is a land law examiner for

the Bureau of Land Management. In her

spare time she loves to ride her four-

wheeler—in her words, “gently”—and

likes to make greeting cards and photo

albums. Barbara and Mel have five chil-

dren, Krystal Opp Tavasci, Diane Opp,

Randon “Randy,” Shane and Shaun; and

one granddaughter, Heather Tavasci.

Kenneth Carr ’61 and his wife, Ellamae (Kurtz) ’57, are retired and make their

home in Auhoru, Ore. Both enjoy work-

ing with Maranatha volunteers, building

churches and schools. They try to do four

projects a year. They helped with build-

ing San Diego Academy in 2004-2005.

For several weeks each year they work

with mission church builders. Kenneth

and Ellamae have seven children, Dan,

Don, Jenny, Heather, Shaun, Ryan, and

Stephanie.

Rose Jacobus ’61 and her husband, Le-

Roy, make their home in Battleground,

Wash. Rose retired in 2004 after 45 years

at Adventist Medical Center in Portland.

She is now taking classes at the local com-

munity college in horticulture. She started

a nursery and hopes to create a business

in container gardening. Both love to travel

and have been to several countries. They

have two children, Sharon Dietrich ’87,

and Michael att.; and five grandchildren.

John Dawes ’61 and his wife, Lovella (Koorenny) ’55, reside in Lebanon, Ore.

They recently celebrated their 50th wed-

ding anniversary. He writes, “I enjoy gar-

dening, although it seems the deer do

as much harvesting as we do.” Both like

living on their five acres of woods and

pastures. John and Lovella have four chil-

dren, Gary, Larry, Terri ’88, and Barry.

David Claridge ’64 and his wife, Joanne,

reside in College Station, Texas. David is

a professor at Texas A&M in the depart-

ment of mechanical engineering, where

he does analysis techniques for building

energy date and heat transfer in build-

ings, with more than 280 publications in

these areas. David is also associate direc-

tor of the Energy Systems Laboratory in

the Texas Engineering Experiment Sta-

tion. He worked for the Solar Energy Re-

search Institute in Golden, Colo., and for

the U.S. Congressional Office of Technolo-

gy Assessment. After college, he went to

Stanford University to attain his doctoral

degree. Joanne and David have two chil-

dren, Shelley and Jonathan.

Marlow Dawes ’64, and his wife, Carol (Otter) att., live in College Place. After

teaching for 25 years, he decided to be-

come a phlebotomist and now works

at Walla Walla General Hospital. Carol

is a nurse working as wellness director

for Pioneer House Assisted Living. They

have two children; Karen and Kevin; and

three grandchildren. Marlow enjoys rock

polishing, star watching, coin collecting,

and both he and his wife enjoy camping.

Marlow’s favorite college memory is “dat-

ing Carol, my wife-to-be.”

Robert Crombie ’65 and his wife, Edna (Smith) ’66 and ’67, reside in Salmon

Arm, British Columbia, Canada. Robert

owns his own sawmill and is still work-

ing hard almost every day. Robert and

Edna have two children, Crista Leiske

and Kevin.

Sidney Kettner ’65 and his wife, Carol

Rae, make their home in Creston, Brit-

ish Columbia, Canada. After college, he

graduated from Loma Linda School of

Medicine. After practicing medical ser-

vices he did oversea services in China,

Hong Kong, Czech Republic, Ukraine,

Greece, Argentina, and Bolivia. Hans

Diehl of Loma Linda and Sidney

launched the first Coronary Health Im-

provement Project in 1988 in Creston.

It has now spread to the United States,

India, Switzerland, Norway, Germany, and


Australia, with more than 250 programs.

It is held annually with more than 35,000

graduates. Sidney and Carol have four

children, Todd ’93, Gregory ’96, Shawna Northup att., and Jane Rutherford. In

his spare time he enjoys photography,

sailing, running marathons, restoring

old Mustangs, and trekking to Mount

Everest. One of his favorite memories is

Evensong at Sabbath sunset with Loren

Dickinson and Melvin West.

LeRoy Rieley ’65 and his wife, Ethel (Syme) ’58, make their home in Port-

land, Ore. Both retired in 2002, after

LeRoy completed 35 years of service,

including one year at WWC, five years

in the Washington Conference, and 28

years with the North Pacific Union Con-

ference. Prior to entering denomination-

al employment, he worked in insurance

and public accounting. In June of 1969

he received his certified public account-

ing license and in August 1986 he re-

ceived his trust service certificate from

the North American Division of Sev-

enth-day Adventist Trust Services. While

retired they continue to assist in church

duties and enjoy birding, camping, and

visiting their two children, Della Dunbar att, and Karen att.

Shirley (Witherspoon) Schoepflin ‘65

and her husband, Gerald ’66, are living

in Portland, Ore. Shirley is very active in

her church, leading children’s ministries

and making flower arrangements for

29 years. She also enjoys singing in the

church choir. Aside from that, she loves

to cook, hike, snowshoe, bird watch, gar-

den, and grow flowers. The couple has

two children, Todd ’97, and Shelley Sand-ers ’98. Her favorite WWC memory, she

writes, “I loved every Friday evening ves-

pers, also church services were so special

with Mel West at the organ.”

Marolyn (Eiseman) Wagner ‘65 and her

husband, Donald ’66, reside in Hemet,

Calif. They love their jobs as managers at

The Camelot—a 138-apartment retire-

ment facility. Before moving to Hemet,

they lived in Scottsdale, Ariz., for 14 years,

but moved to be closer to their daughter

and husband. They have two children,

Donald, and Mindy Rae Sue Williams; and

one grandchild, Caroline. Marolyn loved

her experience here at WWC and loved

living in the dorm. She writes, “They were

wonderful memories I cherish! Wonderful

times with lifelong friends.” What makes

WWC even more special is it is where she

met her husband, Don.

Eugene Amey ’66 and his wife, Doro-thea (Renschler) ’65, make their home in

Moorpark, Calif. Eugene has spent much

of his life being a missionary overseas.

For 17 years he was a pastor in the Upper

Columbia, Oregon, and Michigan confer-

ences. Currently he is working as trust

officer for the Michigan Conference and

Adventist Media Center. Eugene and Dor-

othea have two sons, Mark and Michael;

and one granddaughter.

Robert Brath ’66 lives in Lahaina, Ha-

waii. He owns his own dental practices

on both the island of Maui and Molo-

kai. Robert is active in the local Filipino

community. He loves traveling to see

his children and spending time with his

grandchildren. Robert has seven chil-

dren, Jon, Eyke Brath-Hurdman, Shade

Hurdman, Madeline, Malik Hurdman,

Blaise, and Ensen Hurdman.

Sharon Bredall ’66 makes her home in

Hillsboro, Ore. She keeps herself busy

by reading, sewing, and decorating, but

her family has really been her life. She

worked at Portland Adventist Hospital for

several years after graduation. After stay-

ing home with her children, she went

back to work keeping the books for her

husband Norman’s construction busi-

ness. She also worked in a dental office

part time and in a fabric store. In 2002

her husband was diagnosed with co-

lon cancer. He semi-retired in 2003 and

soon after, passed away in January 2004.

Now Sharon is retired and working on a

large remodeling project. Sharon has four

children, Douglas ’94, Laura Paddock,

Debra Christensen ’97, and Michael; and

one grandchild. Her favorite WWC mem-

ory she says is, “when the College Dairy

served the best peanut butter milkshakes

I’ve ever tasted for only 25 cents each.”

Bonnie (Emmerson) Fields ’66 and her

husband, Bill ’66, live and work at Leoni

Meadows Camp in Grizzly Flats, Calif.

Bonnie discovered after working a num-

ber of years in hospital food service that

working at a conference camp would

be more exciting since the staff adds

dimension each year. Bonnie works as

the food service director and the office

manager of the camp. Currently Bonnie’s

mother, Naida (Johnson) Emmerson ’35,

adds a happy, loving spirit to their home.

Bonnie and Bill have two children, Tina

Field-Melzer, and Tonya Levos att.

Lila (Stewart) Fry ’65 and ’69 is retired

and living Enumclaw, Wash. Lila taught

school for 31 years and now loves mak-

ing quilts. She has two daughters, Gwen Smith ’64 and Joan Shumway att.; three

grandchildren, including Todd Smith ’96;

and three great-grandchildren.

Gordon Johnson ’66 and his wife, Pa-

tricia, reside in Pullman, Wash. Gordon

works as director of the undergraduate

physics labs at Washington State Uni-

versity. The couple keeps busy with vol-

unteer projects for the National Forest

Service and also sponsoring the Adven-

tist Christian Fellowship at WSU. Gordon

and Patricia have three children, Wendy, Darrin, and Aimee Saddler. When they

find time they love to backpack and be

outdoors.

Edwin “Ed” Karlow ’66 and his wife,

Marilyn (Cross) att., are living in River-

side, Calif. Ed and Marilyn celebrated their

41st wedding anniversary by making the

trip to Yellowstone and attending their

niece’s wedding while there. For the past

27 years Ed has been teaching physics,

electronics, and acoustics at La Sierra Uni-

versity. Marilyn has been a records analyst

and student advisor for 16 years at LSU.

They have two children, Marvin and Nor-

man. Ed’s favorite memory of WWC is

“Evensong with Mel West playing the or-

gan and Loren Dickinson as reader.”

1970s Becky (Shabo) Brown ’71 and her hus-

band, Earl, live in Fillmore, Calif. Becky

works at Adventist Media Center as the

director of trust services. Because of her

job she frequently visits trustees at WWC.

She also frequently visits the Pacific

Northwest because she has family in the

area. They have three children, Wendy Well att., Chip Owens att., and Nicolas

Owens. Something that Becky remem-

bers about WWC is the old Ad Building,

but she says, “I look forward to seeing the

new structure in place.”

Pamela (Hitchman) Bullock ’71 and her

husband, Larry, make their home in Fair-

view, Ore. She is currently the academic

physician for Providence Portland Inter-

nal Medicine Residence. They have one

daughter, Amy Bellinghausen, who is cur-

rently attending Pacific Union College.

Rodney Janssen ’71 and his wife, Wanda (Chrowl) ’73, live in Salem, Ore. Rodney

is enjoying his own practice as a dentist.

They have two children, Jeremy att., and

Janelle curr. att.

Janice (Ginter) Wiggins ’71 lives in

Farmington, Wash. She is a nurse and

has worked in clinical and private set-

tings, including working at the Wash-

ington State Penitentiary. For two years

she was school nurse and girl’s dean at

Alumnotes


Country Haven Academy, but has since

returned to Farmington to do lifestyle

educating—her favorite kind of nurs-

ing. Janice has four children, Katrina Harness att., Corrina att., Hans att., and

Hendrik att. She enjoyed every aspect

of WWC. One thing that stands out in

her memory is giving her roommate a

new hairdo which she says was great.

She enjoyed having great roommates

and friends.

Angie “Angelyn” (Sanborn) Austin ’75

is living in Vancouver, Wash. After work-

ing at Glendale Adventist Hospital for

three years she moved to Portland, Ore.,

and worked at the old Portland Adven-

tist Hospital and at Walla Walla General

Hospital. Currently she works as a private

duty nurse for an agency. She has two

daughters; Tamalyn, and Shauna; and

three grandchildren; Elric, Jaeger, and

Lucien, who she says are, “the highlight

in my life.”

Mary (Ruiz) Campbell ’75 lives in Van-

couver, Wash. Currently she is working

as a nurse doing perioperative assess-

ment services where she talks to pa-

tients and takes all their medical history,

and also talks to them about upcoming

surgery. Although she keeps busy work-

ing, she still finds time for her passion—

gardening. She has two children, Justin

and Jared, of which she says, “I’m very

proud of both my boys. We are still miss-

ing Doug [her husband] after his death

almost 20 years ago.” Her most fond

memory of WWC is the great friends

that she made while she was here, and

continues to stay in touch with over the

last 30 years.

Rick Henderson ’75 and his wife, Karen

“Kay,” are living in Yreka, Calif. Rick and

Kay consider Yreka, to be their “stateside”

mission field. They have helped to build

a Seventh-day Adventist junior academy

and a new community-based hospi-

tal, Fairchild Medical Center, where Rick

works as a orthopedic surgeon. They feel

blessed to be living in a country home

with 20 acres and a beautiful view of Mt.

Shasta out their breakfast nook window.

Rick writes, “We have found joy and ser-

vice to others by helping to treat disease

and relieve pain and suffering.” He states

one of his real joys of life is his children,

Matthew curr. att., and daughter Kris-

ten. Rick was a pre-professional biology

major so he says he benefited from the

guidance and teaching of the Biology

Department.

Dan Erickson ’76 and his wife, Raydene (Rodonets) ’75, live in Abbotsford, Brit-

ish Columbia, Canada. Dan keeps himself

busy by being a self-employed chiroprac-

tor. They have two children, Danaya Mac-

Donald and Jaydene Freund.

Dawn (Zelka) Hainey ’76 and her hus-

band, Herb, reside in Arlington, Wash.

With both children gone to college they

consider themselves empty-nesters.

Dawn loves her job at Cascade Valley

Senior Living as an activities assistant.

Both of them are Pathfinder area coor-

dinators in the Washington Conference.

Dawn is also the church’s health coordina-

tor, which she has done for 20 years. For a

relaxing afternoon, they love riding their

tandem bike. They have two children,

Lisa curr. att., and Brian curr. att. One of

Dawn’s favorite memories from WWC was

singing at Friday night afterglow.

Edward Harris ’76 and his wife, Sarah,

live in Poulsbo, Wash. Edward is a police

officer and is currently assigned to the

traffic squad in Seattle, Wash. He is the

lead instructor for the State Drug Recog-

nition Expert Program. He was recently

named Washington State’s Drug Recog-

nition Instructor of the Year. Edward and

Sarah have four children, Brian, Michael,

Lindsey Manion, and Megan Buckman;

and one granddaughter Taylor Buckman.

As a resident counselor under Dean

Loewen he remembers having daily eve-

ning meetings. He also enjoyed Friday

afternoon tennis matches with his room-

mate, Larry Unterseher.

Alumnotes

When Fedeke Gemechu ’66 returned to the Ethiopian village of

his childhood he was struck by how it had stayed the same: the same poverty, the lack of educa-tion and medical care, the devas-tation from civil unrest. It was as if no progress had been made in more than 40 years.

Communist rule had closed Ethiopia’s borders until the early 1990s, when Fedeke was finally allowed to visit his country. His travels sparked a dream to start a primary school in the rural village he had often visited as a child.

After retiring from his medical practice in Loma Linda, Calif., Fedeke formed a nonprofit or-ganization, the International Medical Aid Association. Through IMAA, he returned to Ethiopia and founded the Learning Village. After hiring teachers in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, who were anxious for employment, the school was set to open for 50 students in 1998. The first day, however, some 300 students lined

up to attend classes. “We had no choice but to quickly add more classrooms,” he says.

Most students are 15 or older and need practical, income-earning skills, along with skills in reading and writing. A component of the Learning Village is the micro- industry training. As students learn and work, income they generate from gardening, woodworking, beekeeping, the dairy, or the bak-ery helps to support the school.

Currently, the Learning Village offers grades one through six plus vocational training to nearly 500 students. The goal is to add grades each year up to grade 10 and to expand the micro-industries. A first aid clinic serves the students and community. Fedeke plans to build a girls’ dormitory to help them stay in school and he also hopes to build a church.

When he isn’t working on the Learning Village, Fedeke is nego-tiating with the Ethiopian govern-ment to reestablish the Adventist hospital in Addis Ababa. Before communism in Ethiopia, the hos-

pital was renowned for its medi-cal care. Now the government is interested in joining with Fedeke and his Adventist colleagues in establishing a hospital and medi-cal training facility.

With the practical education the school offers and an open in-vitation to Sabbath worship, the Learning Village is becoming an integral part of the community. Fedeke’s dream is to “help the people improve their lives—and then they have the freedom to choose.” n

Bringing Progress to Ethiopia


Wes Kandoll ’76 and his wife, Maretta (Haynes) ’74, live in Vancouver, Wash.

Wes is an electrical inspector for the City

of Vancouver. The couple has two daugh-

ters, Crystal curr. att., and KaraLeigh.

Diana (Canty) Pierce ’76 and her hus-

band, John Pierce ’78, recently moved

to Osburn, Idaho. John is now a full-

time pastor. Diana says of their church,

it was “a church that was considering

closing its doors and now has the high-

est attendance in 130 years, Praise the

Lord.” John and Diane have two chil-

dren, Matthew ’89 and Stacy ’94, and

four grandchildren. Diane’s favorite

WWC memory is Evensong with Dr.

Dickinson and Dr. West.

Deborah (Hutton) Wiggins ’76 and her

husband, David, make their home in

Claremont, Calif. Deborah has a dental

practice in Upland, Calif. She says, “We

just hired our third dentist, another wom-

an of course!” Deborah and David have

one son, Paul. Deborah’s favorite WWC

memories are Evensong (which she still

misses today) and studying in the sixth

floor parlor of Foreman Hall. She is still

apologizing to the women whose peace

they disrupted. Overall “I will be forever

grateful for the learning, the growth, and

the friendship I had at WWC.”

1980s Scott Gibson ’80 and his wife, Melody,

are living in McMinnville, Ore. Scott works

as a physician and also finds time for

photography. He publishes his own work

by making calendars. Scott and Melody

have three children, Mandy, Cameron,

and Stephanie.

Dorita (Perry) Tessier ’80 and her hus-

band, Mark ’81, live in College Place.

Dorita is currently working at WWC as

the director of capital campaigns. Her

husband has his own real estate busi-

ness, Mark V. Realty. They have two

daughters Melissa ‘05, and Michelle curr. att. Dorita’s hobbies include traveling,

scrapbooking, spending time with family

and friends, and providing a home away

from home for college students. Her fa-

vorite WWC memories include working

for Dr. Eichner in public relations and co-

ordinating music tours around the Pacific

Northwest.

Jo (Keri) Baim ’81 resides in Seattle,

Wash. Jo enjoys being the assistant or-

ganist at Trinity Parish Episcopal Church.

She spends time with her German shep-

herd, Henry Cecil, a nursing home ther-

apy dog. She is also the oblate of the

Benedictine Monastery of St. Gertrude in

Cottonwood, Idaho.

Sandra (Nelson) Berg ’81 and her

husband, Greg, are living in Marquette,

Mich. Recently married in 2003, she

became a full-time homemaker. She

writes, “Greg is a partner in a benefits

firm, and made me an instant mother

and grandmother. I thoroughly en-

joy spending time with our ‘kids’ and

also our two dogs.” Much of their time

is spent on working in various capaci-

ties in their church and also volunteer-

ing at their local hospital. She has two

stepchildren, Taylor and Tiffany; and one

step granddaughter. Her favorite WWC

memory is “being on the ‘dating game’

and choosing our pastor, Darold Bigger,

as my date!”

Hoi Young Calvin Chan ’81 is living in

West Linn, Ore. He is a medical physicist

and assistant professor for Oregon Heath

and Sciences University. He has one

daughter, Rachel Chan.

Lori Ciccarelli ’81 lives in Mammoth

Lakes, Calif. After completing her degree

in mass communications media she

continued her education, earning her

teaching credential. Moving to Mam-

moth Lakes in 1990, she managed a

world-renowned fly-fishing resort for 10

years, then taught elementary school for

11 years. She has been the community

relations director for Mammoth Hospital

since 1998, overseeing public relations,

marketing, volunteer services, Hispanic

outreach, interpretive services, and fund

development and fundraising. Lori is

very active in her community, serving as

the school’s PTA president, volunteering

on the search and rescue team, and vol-

unteering for animal-assisted therapy.

She visits hospitals and classrooms for

the disabled with her certified therapy

dog, Ike. Something that has changed

Lori’s life is giving birth to an autistic

child who has taught her tolerance of

differences and patience and compas-

sion for others. Lori’s hobbies include

Pilates, traveling, ice skating, hiking, gar-

dening, snow shoeing, cross country ski-

ing, scrapbooking, and fly fishing. Lori’s

favorite WWC memory is singing as the

“Andrews Sisters” with Helen Kiefer and

Ronda Sackett and winning first place in

1980’s annual OPS Amateur Hour.

Wafia Farag ’81 and her husband, Jeff ’80, make their home in Spokane, Wash.

Wafia teaches piano at Upper Columbia

Academy, Whitworth College, and at her

home studio. She is very active in her

church as a musician and teaches Sab-

bath school for juniors. Jeff and Wafia

have three children, Evan curr. att., No-

lan, and daughter Elise.

Jack Sample ’81 and his wife, Elana Bartlett ’81, reside in Talmage, Neb. From

1994 to 1997 Jack and his wife served as

missionaries to Papua New Guinea to cre-

ate a vision of service for the entire family.

Their family’s corporation is named after

the group of people they served, “Namia,”

and its mission statement is to reach the

underprivileged in Papua New Guinea

through aviation, communication, and

health services. They have two children,

Ray and Corrie, currently attending Union

College. Jack’s favorite memory of WWC

is “meeting my wife in 1980.”

Basim Sawwan ’81 started college in

1976 after he graduated from high school

in Lebanon. After completing his civil

engineering studies, he practiced as a

civilian engineer in southern California

for the United States Navy (USN) for five

years. Later, Basim moved to Washington

D.C. to also work for the USN as a pro-

curement engineer. He lived in the U.S.

capital for eight years before he and his

office moved to southern Maryland in

1997. “While I was in high school I always

wondered if I’d make it to college. After I

started college, I discovered that I love to

study. Engineering was the type of pro-

fession that I decided to enter during my

latter years in high school,” he writes. “It is

amazing how much an engineer learns

just from the laws of nature created by

the almighty God and he does not stop

learning new things. It is like an endless

treasure of knowledge and a kind gift of

a loving type. While in college, I made

a lot of friends when studying together

and during college activities. I know

that we all appreciated each other. I run

into some of my WWC friends by luck at

various worksites. Kudos to WWC who

helped me learn how to deal with the

real world.”

Kelvin Johnson ’85 and his wife,

Terry (Danielson) ’81, are working in

McMinnville, Ore. Kelvin was employed

by Evergreen International Airlines for 10

years and then transferred to the Ever-

green Aviation Museum. He writes, “I mar-

ried Terry after her husband passed away

in 2001. She had three teenagers, Cherry,

Heidi, and Jonathan, and in 2003, we had

Kyle. They keep very busy with the ranch,

church, school, jobs, friends, and family.

From his time at WWC he recalls his early

morning Business Law class and how it

prepared him for his early weekly man-

agement meetings at Evergreen.

Mons Jensen ’86 and his wife, Julie (Zachrison) ’88, are living in Angwin, Ca-

lif. Mons is working for Adventist Health

as IT director, and his wife Julie is teach-

ing at Pacific Union College Elementary

School. They have two children, An-

nika and Zachri. Mons has many special

memories from WWC. One of his favorite

memories was creating the first comput-

Alumnotes


er network and having to crawl through

steam tunnels to install network cables.

He also remembers connecting the

100th PC to the network in Manford

Simcock’s office.

1990s Melani “Nani” (Tanaka) Shones ’96

and her husband, Bill, reside in Hemet,

Calif. Working at San Jacinto Family and

Urgent Call as a physician assistant keeps

her busy. She loves to garden, cook, bake,

and spend time with her husband. From

her time at WWC she remembers going

to Saturday night hockey games.

Deborah Silva ’96 and her husband,

David, make their home in College Place.

Deborah is assistant professor of speech

communication at WWC. David is a social

worker, working at the local veteran’s hos-

pital as an addiction therapist. Deborah

loves riding on her Harley Davidson and

also enjoys camping, gardening, remodel-

ing their 100-year-old Craftsman home;

and tending to three dogs, three cats, and

two birds. They have four children, Judy,

David “Ashley” att., Samantha curr. att., and Devin att. n

In her quieter moments, Rita (Smith) Barrett ’81 is be-mused. How did she, a social

work and Spanish graduate in-tent on changing the world, find herself inspiring laughter instead?

The story begins 21 years ago when Rita and husband Mike ’83 had their first child. Even when baby Josiah’s parents were told the baby was born with mi-crocephaly (severe brain damage) Rita believed she could still pur-sue her social work career. By the time Josiah was 18 months old Rita accepted the reality. Josiah, whose condition left him at the developmental stage of a six-month-old, required her constant care. A year later a second son, Nate, was born.

Josiah’s medical needs required frequent hospital stays as the years went by. In spite of the de-mands of caring for Josiah and being a stay-at-home mom, Rita kept up with her language skills as a volunteer Spanish teach-er at Scappoose Adventist School.

Five years ago, in her and her husband’s quest to find a family activ-ity that 14-year-old Nate would enjoy, Rita had an epiphany. “We had exhausted all our ideas and were frustrated. Mike sug-

gested that we should pray about it, so I left it at that,” she says. “A couple nights later, I found I couldn’t sleep and the word ‘clowning’ suddenly popped into my head. It wasn’t an audible voice and I hadn’t been think-ing about my son, but I knew immediately that God had just given me the word for Nate’s hobby.” To her own sur-prise, her son thought it sounded like fun.

Nate wasn’t the only one hav-ing fun: Rita and Mike also completed the clown course of-fered by

the local “alley” (clown club). Today, Rita visits hospital pa-tients twice a month as Mensa the Clown. “I have a lot of fun with my bilingual clown name. English speakers often say ‘Wow—a smart clown.’ Spanish speakers just laugh. Mensa International may be a club for the brilliant, but ‘mensa’ is

Spanish for stupid.”

Sometimes Rita will play uku-lele for the children, a skill she might not have if it hadn’t been for college roommate Kathy Skeels ’81. “Her teaching me to play the guitar means so much to me now, not only because I can play for the kids in the hospital, but because guitar music is near-ly the only comforting mecha-nism we have for Josiah’s chronic pain,” she says.

Rita says being a clown is what she was born to do. “For just a

few moments, if I can take a child to another place,

where he doesn’t have to think about pain, shots, or being away

from home, that’s the only world I need to

change,” she says. n

Alumnotes

Changing the World


In Memory

Adam—Elaine (Brown) ’73 was born

Nov. 14, 1949, in Red Lodge, Mont., and

died Nov. 26, 2005, in Berrien Springs,

Mich. Surviving: husband Larry ’72 of

Berrien Springs; son Benjamin ’99 of

Twenty-Nine Palms, Calif.; daughter Shon-

nah Adams of Kalamazoo, Mich.; broth-

ers Gene Brown of Cleburne, Texas, Leslie

Brown of Walla Walla, and Jimmy Brown ’84 of Bridger, Mont.; sisters Susan Dahl-

man of Lincoln, Neb., Lois Ferguson of

Wibaux, Mont., and Becky Brown ’86 of

Laurel, Mont.

Alderson—Margaret (Vantress) att.,

was born May 3, 1913 in Union, Ore., and

died Aug. 30, 2005 in Loma Linda, Calif.

Surviving: daughters, Barbara Heisler ’56

of Highland, Calif., Beryl Johnson ’64, and

Betty Woodland ’63 of Berrien Springs,

Mich.; and sister Lorraine Brown ’37 of

Dayton, Wash.

Alkire—Esther (Finsand) ’41 was born

June 28, 1917, in Saskatchewan, Cana-

da, and died Sept. 22, 2002, in Richland,

Wash. Surviving: husband George ’42 of

Olympia, Wash.; sons Thomas of Portland,

Ore., William of Olympia, and Richard of

Maple Valley, Wash.

Anderson—Arnold att., was born Nov.

30, 1912, in McNeil Island, Gertrude,

Wash., and died Sept. 26, 2005, in Ta-

coma, Wash. Surviving: wife Marguerite

of Tacoma; sons Thomas ’77 of Issaquah,

Wash., and Daniel ’79 of Fairbanks, Alas-

ka; and daughter Karen Weismiller att., of Orting, Wash.

Anderson—Kae (Yarbrough) ’70 was

born Sept. 29, 1948, in Wenatchee, Wash.,

and died Nov. 11, 2005, in Walla Walla,

Wash. Surviving: sons Richard att. and

Ted att. of College Place; mother Vae

Yarbrough Harnack of East Wenatchee,

Wash.; brothers Lynn and Dan Yarbrough

of East Wenatchee; and sister Sally Smith

of Wenatchee.

Anderson—Lee ’60 was born Oct. 25,

1936, in Detroit, Mich., and died Feb. 29,

2004, in Clackamas, Ore. Surviving: wife

Beverly ’59 of Boring, Ore.; daughters Lau-rie Berning att., of Sandy, Ore., and Julie Wahlin att., of Welches, Ore.; and sister

Sandy Spencer of Hendersonville, N.C.

Baerg—Ida May (Wentworth) att., was

born Dec. 11, 1922, in Stites, Iowa and

died Dec. 22, 2004, in Berrien Springs,

Mich. Surviving: son Willard of College-

dale, Tenn.; and daughter Coral Brenneise

of Berrien Springs.

Bell—Margaret “Peggy” ’80 was born

Aug. 7, 1930, in Esperanza, Mexico, and

died July 4, 2005, in Angwin, Calif. Surviv-

ing: husband Charles (faculty 1960-62, 1972-84) of Angwin; sons Michael ’80 of

Walla Walla, Carey ’90 of Riverside, Calif.,

and David ’87 of Suisun City, Calif.; sisters

Virginia Jenson of Vista, Calif., and Bonnie

Helen Johnson of Calimesa, Calif.

Bigger—Forrest ’40 and ’42 was born

March 23, 1921, in Roseburg, Ore., and

died Nov. 19, 2005, in Walla Walla. Surviv-

ing: wife Garnet att., of College Place;

sons Darold ’65 of Walla Walla, and Rick att. of Corvallis, Ore.; daughters Carolyn Evans ’69 of Laurel, Mont., and Sandra Carlson att., of Everett, Wash.

Binder—Alma (Kruger) att., was born

Nov. 3, 1904, in McCluskey, N.D., and died

Dec. 19, 2004, in College Place. Surviving:

sister Elynor Mehling ’46 of Portland, Ore.

Bischoff—Mary (Allen) ’36 was born

Feb. 11, 1914, in Caldwell, Idaho, and died

July 9, 2005, in Apple Valley, Calif. Surviv-

ing: son Larry of Riverside, Calif.; daugh-

ters Bonnie Gruesbeck of Nampa, Idaho,

Suezy Tucker of Auburn, Calif., and Joanie

Jones of Apple Valley, Calif.; and sister

Louise Keefes.

Calvert—Patricia (Trent) ’61 was born

April 28, 1940, in Richmond, Ore., and

died June 17, 2005, in Redmond, Ore.

Surviving: husband Lyle of Redmond; and

daughter Lyla Keithley.

Carr—Dalles ’56 and ’62 was born Feb.

1, 1933, in College Place, and died Jan.

7, 2005, in Portland, Ore. Surviving: wife

Aileen (Chaney) att., of Hood River, Ore.;

sons Douglas and Duane of Mobile, Ala.;

daughters Jeanne Humbert of Rainier,

Ore., and Joyce Beldin of Minneapolis,

Minn.; and brother Dwight att., of Moses

Lake, Wash.

Cate—Laverne att., was born Sept.14,

1926, in Aberdeen, S.D., and died April 1,

2004, in Eugene, Ore. Surviving: wife Es-ther att., of Eugene; sons Larry of Eugene,

and Ronald of Walla Walla, daughter Cher-

yl Reinehe of Portland, Ore.; and brothers

Maynard of Apple Valley, Calif., Daryl of

Gaston, Ore., and Wyman of Gaston.

Coleman—Lois (Smith) att., was born

April 10, 1920. Surviving: husband Paul Coleman ’47 of Troutdale, Ore.; and sons

Don att., of Hagatna, Ga., Ron att., of Wal-

la Walla, and Lewis att., of Boring, Ore.

Creitz—Nondus ’46 was born Nov. 12,

1915, in Okanogan, Wash., and died July

26, 2005, in Portland, Ore. Surviving: sons

Thaine ’62 of Vail, Ariz., Lynn ’63 of San-

dy, Ore., and Doug of Vancouver, Wash.;

daughters Diane Strube ’66 of Deer Is-

land, Ore., and Bonnie Creitz ’70 of Port-

land, Ore.

Dawes—Anna ’48 was born Nov. 13,

1914, in Nepal, Wash., and died May 7,

2004, in Walla Walla. Surviving: son Allen

of Walla Walla; and daughter Donna Fink-biner ’74 of Jacksonville, Ore.

Diamond—Lloyd ’47 was born June 26,

1918, in Hood River, Ore., and died April

3, 2003, in Portland, Ore. Surviving: wife

Helen ’39 of Portland; daughter Ann Carl;

and brother Dale att.

Diede—Doris (Nast) ’49 was born March

30, 1923, and died April 14, 2005. Surviv-

ing: husband Elmer of Ceres, Calif.; son

Barry of Moberly, Mo.; daughter Cynthia Lemos att., of Waterford, Calif.; and sister

Vivian Richardson of Santa Rosa, Calif.

Dunton—Robert ’46 was born Jan.

25, 1915, in Los Angeles, Calif., and died

March 22, 2005, in San Diego, Calif. Sur-

viving: wife Virginia of Murphys, Calif.;

sons Kenneth ’61 of Murphys, and Brian

of Las Vegas, Nev.; and daughter Carol

Bradley of Grants Pass, Ore.

Eby—Robert ’66 was born April 17, 1946,

in Portland, Ore., and died Nov. 19, 2005

in Redding, Calif. Surviving: wife Sheri of

Redding; sons Robert att., of Arlington,

Wash., and Michael of Redding; daughter

Kimberly; father Wilder ’39 of Pasco, Wash.;

brothers William ’63 of Canton, Ill., and

Ben ’66 of Phelan, Calif.; and sister Carol Hiort-Lorenzen ’57 of Fairfield, Calif.

Engeberg—William ’48 was born Jan.

20, 1926 in Walla Walla, and died April 14,

2005, in Inglewood, Calif. Surviving: wife

Nellie of Los Angeles, Calif.; and son Gor-

don of Redondo Beach, Calif.

Erice—Monica att., was born May 20,

1969, in Pendleton, Ore., and died Aug.

26, 2005, in Pilot Rock, Ore. Surviving:

father Juan of Pilot Rock; mother Carolyn att., of Pilot Rock; and brother Juan Jose

of Pendleton.

Fellows—James ’59 was born July 8,

1928, in Stoneham, Mass., and died Dec.

18, 2005, in College Place. Surviving: wife

Marjorie (Leinbaum) ’72 and ’77 of Col-

lege Place; and sister Martha Smith of

Walla Walla.


In Memory

Fujii—Harold ’42 was born March 14,

1918, in Honolulu, Hawaii, and died May

30, 2005, in San Pedro, Calif. Surviving:

wife Pauline of San Pedro; son Timothy

Quinata of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii; daugh-

ters Jennifer Michaelsen of Long Beach,

Calif., and Terri McCandless of Santa Rosa,

Calif.; brother Robert of Honolulu; and

sister Mary Anahu of Honolulu.

Gerling—Fred att., was born May 21,

1922, in Java, Indonesia, and died June

19, 2004, in Hendersonville, N.C. Surviv-

ing: wife Winifred (Peggy) ’47 of Hender-

sonville; son William of Hendersonville;

daughter Patricia McCune of Petoskey,

Miss.; and sisters Evelyn Vannix att., of

Glendale, Calif., and Dorothy Blodgett ’57 of Salem, Ore.

Glendrange—Theodore “Ted” ’51 was

born April 20, 1929, in Norway, and died

Sept. 10, 2004, in Shingletown, Calif. Sur-

viving: wife Judi of Redding, Calif.; sons

Ray of Riverside, Calif., Mark of Torrance,

Calif., Barry of Redlands, Calif., and Philip

of Redding; and daughters Julie Glen-

drange and Kari Glendrange of Redding.

Groves—Ella-Belle (Sargeant) ’34 was

born July 26, 1912, in Yakima, Wash., and

died March 9, 2005, in Loma Linda, Calif.

Surviving: son Gary att., of Laguna Beach,

Calif.; daughter Gayle Smith att., of Whit-

tier, Calif.; brother Don Sargeant ’35 of

Gladstone, Ore.; and sisters Rose Jutzy att., of Loma Linda, Calif., and Doris Davis att., of Burleson, Texas.

Haluschak—Michael att., was born July

8, 1935, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada,

and died July 21, 2004, in New Westmin-

ster, British Columbia, Canada. Surviving:

wife Marjorie of White Rock, British Co-

lumbia, Canada; sons Steven ’86 of Seat-

tle, Wash., and John ’83 of Dayton, Ohio;

and brother Paul of Abbotsford, British

Columbia, Canada.

Harris—Vernon att., was born Dec. 7,

1926, in Pocatello, Idaho, and died Feb.

10, 2005, in Columbus, Ohio. Surviving:

wife Betty of Worthington, Ohio; son Dale

of Quincy, Calif.; daughters Carol Johnson

of Cincinnati, Ohio, Sharon Strong of Bat-

avia, N.Y., and Ellen Beldin of Hawaii; and

sister Allegra Jennings of Boise, Idaho.

Hartley—Kenneth ’36 was born March

18, 1914, in Eagle, Idaho, and died Dec. 17,

2005, in Kennewick, Wash. Surviving: wife

Althera of Kennewick; and son Ronald.

Haun—Ellen (Meliah) ’71 was born June

11, 1934, in Walla Walla, and died June

29, 2005, in Spokane, Wash. Surviving:

daughters Michelle Haun-Hood of Port-

land, Ore., Connie Lommer of Walla Walla,

Denise Haun of Spokane, Shannon Miller

of Spokane, and Peggy Haun-McEwen of

Spokane; brothers Ed Meliah and Larry

Meliah; and sister Kay Ray.

Hisey—Gertrude (Trudie) att., was

born April 10, 1918, in Molson, Wash., and

died July 27, 2005, in Walla Walla. Surviv-

ing: sons Craig ’69 of Zillah, Wash., and

John att., of Wenatchee, Wash.

Hooper—John (Jack) ’53 and ’67 was

born July 21, 1921, in Castle Rock, Wash.,

and died March 18, 2005, in College

Place. Surviving: wife Irmgard (Siemsen) Hooper ’44 and ’67 of College Place; and

daughter Jeanie Reed of Albany, Ore.

James-Veitch—Elden ’54 was born Feb.

26, 1929, in Lachute, Quebec, Canada,

and died Sept. 26, 2005, in Kelowna, Brit-

ish Columbia, Canada. Surviving: wife

Wendy of Kelowna; and daughter Robin

Peters; mother May James-Veitch; and

brother Quentin James of Florida.

Jepson Martin—Marie (Christensen)

’68 was born Dec. 21, 1911, in Werner,

N.D., and died Feb. 26, 2005, in Fairfax, Va.

Surviving: son Lyle Jepson att., of East

Stroudsburg, Pa.; daughters Phyllis Stan-yer att., of Spokane, Wash., and Beverly Wilson ’68 of Vienna, Va.

Kaiser—Vernon ’59 was born Nov. 10,

1932, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and

died Sept. 9, 2005, in Battleground, Wash.

Surviving: wife Doreen of Battleground;

son Rancy of Burleson, Texas; daughters

Debra Lester of Vancouver, Wash., Karen

Schall of Angwin, Calif., Lynne McClure of

Vancouver, and Candy Anderson of Am-

boy, Wash.; brother Roy of Calgary; and

sister Viola Mabley of Calgary.

Lutts—Donald ’56 and ’60 was born

March 2, 1929, in Norwalk, Ohio, and died

April 30, 2005, in Portland, Ore. Surviv-

ing: wife Darla att., of Portland; daughters

Suzanne Lutts ’84 of Vancouver, Wash.,

Cheryl Royce att., of Portland, and Vicky

Hitt of Portland; brothers Ted of Spokane,

Wash., Maynard of Groveland, Calif., and

Paul of Fairbanks, Alaska.

MacGregor—Doris (Matterand) att.,

was born Feb. 1, 1920 in Stanwood,

Wash., and died Aug. 20, 2005, in Stan-

wood. Surviving: daughters Kathie

Johnson of Stanwood, and Laurilee Mac-

Gregor of Lynnwood, Wash.; and sisters

Eleanor Clayton att., of Stockton, Calif.,

and Mildred Jensen ’39 of Seattle, Wash.

McAlvin—Marjorie (Stiffler) ’39 was

born Dec. 30, 1914, in Salem, Ore., and

died Sept. 7, 2005, in Milton-Freewater,

Ore. Surviving: son James of Mableton,

Ga.; and daughter LoAnn MacDougall of

Milton-Freewater.

McCants—Edward ’63 was born Feb. 12,

1927, in Charleston, S.C., and died April 7,

2005, in Fletcher, N.C. Surviving: daugh-

ters Catherine Porter of Orange Park, Fla.,

and Colleen McCants-Dyke of Notting-

ham, England; and sister Virginia Muncy

of Bakersville, N.C.

Mitchell—Robert ’55 was born July 6,

1931, in Salem, Ore., and died Feb. 12,

2004, in Myrtle Creek, Ore. Surviving:

wife Letha of Myrtle Creek; son William

of Klamath Falls, Ore.; and sister Evelyn Wagner att., of Rogue River, Ore.

As a nursing graduate of the Class of 1955, Eileen

(Wettstein) Whatley was a mem-ber of Basic G, the name given to her freshman class. Eileen’s

loyalty to her classmates was un-wavering. In 2000, for Basic G’s 45th reunion, Eileen organized a weekend reunion at the School of Nursing, Portland campus, drawing 24 of her 26 classmates. Eileen and her husband, Reynold att., who died in 1989, raised three daughters in College Place. Daughter Brenda Clifton ’82 now lives in College Place, daughter Barbara Whatley resides in Walla Walla, and daughter Belinda Schlund att. lives in Laton, Calif. Eileen had six grandchil-dren, Sammy and Andy Clifton, and Heather, Joel, Jeff and Clay Schlund. Eileen was born Feb.1, 1931, in Stettler, Alberta, Canada, and died July 26, 2005, in College Place.

A Cherished and Loyal Friend


Mittleider—Elmer ’51 was born Aug. 30,

1924, in Twin Falls, Idaho, and died Nov.

30, 2005, in Lodi, Calif. Surviving: wife

Mildred (Miller) Oberg att., of Lodi; sons

Lynden of Springfield, Ore., and Rusty ’78

of Medford, Ore.; daughter Cathy Turner

of Canton, Texas; brothers Henry att., of

Bellingham, Wash., Jacob of Loma Linda,

Calif., and Kenneth ’51 of Ardisville, Ga.;

sisters Anna Dunn att., of Georgetown,

Tenn., and Ida Mittleider att., of New

Plymouth, Idaho.

Nelson—Reuben ’25 was born Oct. 4,

1901, in Great Falls, Mont., and died Sept

17, 2004, in Loma Linda, Calif. Surviving:

wife Ellen ’31 of Loma Linda; son Robert att., of Corona del Mar, Calif.; daughter

Marilyn Martin att., of Sonora, Calif.; and

sister Vivian Cushman of Bennet, Neb.

Noel—Kenneth ’50 was born Aug. 8,

1921, in Clarkston, Wash., and died June,

8, 2005, in Madison, Ala. Surviving: wife

Betty of Madison; sons Paul of Harvest,

Ala., Kenneth ’63 of Indiana, Pa., Richard ’67 of Harrisonburg, Va., Theodore, and

William; and daughter Roberta.

O’Neil—Belle ’48 was born Aug. 19,

1920, in Oroville, Wash., and died June 23,

2005, in Portland, Ore. Surviving: brother

Morris O’Neil of Omak, Wash.; and sister

Rose Crooker ’47 of Portland.

Perrigoue—Rowena (Stuart) att., was

born Nov. 14, 1917, in Missoula, Mont.,

and died Dec. 27, 2003, in Kent, Wash.

Surviving: husband Lawrence of Everett,

Wash.; sons Steven of Everett, Doug of

Renton, Wash., and Kevin of Kent.

Piper—Athol ’51 was born Feb. 23,

1918, in Perth, Australia, and died Oct.

27, 2005, in Victoria, British Columbia,

Canada. Surviving: wife Kathleen of Victo-

ria; sons Haydn ’73 of College Place, and

Lawrence ’76 of Salem, Ore.; and daugh-

ter Frances DeVries att., of Weimar, Calif.

Reiswig—Albert ’26 was born Feb. 2,

1902, in Harvey, N.D., and died Aug. 8,

1999, in Fullerton, Calif. Surviving: wife

Dorothy of Fullerton, Calif.; sons Oran of

Chico, Calif., Jon of Juneau, Alaska, and

Robert of Chehalis, Wash.; and daughter

Judith Cassel of Fullerton, Calif.

Reynolds—Robert “Bob” ’49 was born

May 18, 1925, in Seattle, Wash., and died

Aug. 21, 2005, in Angwin, Calif. Surviving:

wife Patricia ’49 of Angwin; son R. Monti

of Colfax, Calif.; daughters Shelley Reyn-

olds of Napa, Calif., and Sandra Mathis ’73 of Oregon City, Ore.; and brothers

George Lord of Punta Gorda, Fla., and

Warren Tack of Roseburg, Ore.

Schimke—Albert att., was born Aug.

28, 1912, in Frobes, N.D., and died May

16, 2005, in Port Charlotte, Fla. Surviving:

wife Alice of Port Charlotte; sons Dallas

of St. Petersburg, Fla., and Clyde of Port

Charlotte; and daughter Sharon Walsh of

Port Charlotte.

Sherwood—Donald att., was born Dec.

4. 1907, in Bad Axe, Mich., and died Sept.

17, 2005. Surviving: daughters Guinevere

Cook of Aumsville, Ore., Carolyn Ham-

mond of Franktown, Colo., and Donna

Gibb of Bakersfield, Calif.

Teal—Eugene att., was born Oct. 20,

1936, in Dallas, Ore., and died May 20,

2005, in Florence, Ore. Surviving: wife

Donna att., of Florence; sons Derrick ’78

of Portland, Ore., and Ty att., of Eugene,

Ore.; and sister Arleta Baker ’49 of Au-

burn, Wash.

Thrasher—Lucielle (Daniel) att., was

born July 13, 1923, in Palouse, Wash., and

died Jan. 9, 2003, in Lynnwood, Wash.

Surviving: husband Neil att., of Bothell,

Wash.; sons Rhett att., of Webster, Mass.,

and Kurtis att., of San Diego, Calif.; and

daughters Sylvia Thrasher att., Pam Tait ’69 of Bothwell, and Andrea Ellyn Thrash-

er of McLean, Va.

Tooley—Melba (Downs) ’67 was born

June 21, 1934, in Klamath Falls, Ore., and

died Feb. 21, 2005, in Hagerstown, Md.

Surviving: husband Paul ’57 of Rohrers-

ville, Md.; sons Richard of Hagerstown,

and Paul of Booneboro, Md.; daughters

Rosalie Gamblin of Smithsburg, Md., and

Catherine Jackson of Rohrersville.; and

perents John and Catherine Downs of

Vancouver, Wash.

Wiggins—Arlene (Reiswig) ’56 was

born Jan. 1, 1937, in Everett, Wash., and

died Dec. 10, 2004, in Omar, Wash. Sur-

viving: husband Al ’66 and ’75 of Omak,

Wash.; son Brent of Milton-Freewater,

Ore.; daughters Cindy Stanphill of Win-

ston, Ore., Donna Stafford att., of Eureka,

Mont.; and Elaine of Slingerlands, N.Y.;

brother Ken Reiswig of Bend, Ore., and

sister Bernita Burton of Shallotte, N.C.

Willey—Warren ’64 was born June 7,

1942, in Minot, N.D., and died Dec. 11,

2005, in Hendersonville, N.C. Surviving:

wife Deveena; son Philip; daughters Jen-

nifer and Heather Port; and sister Georgia Hodgkin ’61 of Loma Linda, Calif.

Wilson—Evelyn ’37 was born Mar. 21,

1913, in College Place, and died July 22,

2005 in College Place.

Young—Wiley att., was born June 9,

1916, in Falls City, Ore., and died May 25,

2005, in Portland, Ore. Surviving: wife

Vera (Wolcott) ’53 of West Linn, Ore.; and

son G. Vance of Mazatlan, Mexico.

Considered a mother figure to many engineering students,

Elizabeth “Betty” (Walker) Klein att. was known to comfort home-sick students or offer them shrewd

advice on how to improve their social lives. Betty was office man-ager of the School of Engineering from 1973 to 2002. Betty loved people and prized life itself. She and her husband, Lawrence, who died in 2001, had two children. Son Larry att. lives in Highlands, Calif. Daughter Jeanette Rowe att.lives in College Place, and Lana Franklin, who was like a daughter to Betty, lives in West Richland, Wash. Betty had two grandchil-dren, Tyler and Kayla Armijo. Betty was born March 19, 1933, in Portland, Ore., and died Feb. 12, 2005, in Walla Walla.

Am

y W

ilkin

son

In Memory

A Listening Ear

Send information for In Memory to Westwind, College Relations, Walla Walla College, 204 S. College Ave., College Place, WA 99324; or e-mail [email protected]. Please include a contact phone number or e-mail address.


N ormally, I’m against the concept of membership. I was never a Scout, Young

Republican or Pathfinder1. I’ve never joined a labor union or the Neil Diamond Fan Club. I don’t lunch with Rotarians or run with Elks. I didn’t sign up for the Book of the Month. I won’t even eat a club sandwich, for fear there’s a joining fee.

Perhaps I’m just shy. Perhaps it’s the dress code. Perhaps, along with Groucho Marx and Alvy Singer2, I’m not interested in belonging to any group that would tolerate me as a member. Whatever the reason, I avoid them, with one prominent excep-tion: my charter membership in the largest, most powerful club in America—the Baby Boomers.

It was founded in 1946, when an extra half million or so Americans came into the world3. That sudden increase in the birth rate has been attributed to the elation of World War II victory, the large numbers of returning military males, and allowing men and women to sit together in Columbia Auditorium.

Whatever the reason, the next

18 fertile years produced about 78 motley million of us. Michael Jordan, Bill Gates and Madonna are certified club members. Al Gore thinks he invented Boomers. The Donald hopes to replace the word Baby with Trump and sell the rights. O.J. Simpson is search-ing for the real Boomers. Our President is a Boomer, though there’s no evidence he ever showed up for Boomer training. And let’s not forget the most important Boomer of all—Oprah.

But it’s not just who we are that makes us so special. It’s the things we’ve seen, the deeds we’ve done. Most of us witnessed the tragic deaths of two Kennedys and Dr. Martin Luther King. We advo-cated racial and gender equality, suffered through Vietnam and Watergate, and introduced the world to blue jeans, rock music and irony. But our most impor-tant contribution to the planet was us. At every life stage we’ve defied categorization, and we’re still turning the eyes of marketing weasels into dollar signs.

For those of you who aren’t Boomers, it’s natural to be envi-ous. After all, we’ve experienced so much, and have led such rich lives. With us around, you prob-ably feel like the youngest child in a very large family. You don’t get any attention. It’s “Boomer did this,” and “Boomer did that.” No one cares about your achieve-ments, your challenges.

It can’t help that we seem to be the last peer group to be given an actual name. Previous generations

were called Lost, Silent or Greatest. After us, they’re just using letters—like Generation X or Y. Clearly, whoever labels these things stopped try-ing after we came along. I feel bad for my daughter. She and her peers will probably be reduced to a punctuation mark. Gen &, or perhaps just ^.

Admit it. You’re jeal-ous. And the truth is, we Boomers don’t make it easy for you. We like ourselves. We like talking about ourselves and read-ing about ourselves. Sometimes we like to write about how we like to talk and read about ourselves. It has to be annoying. You’ve no-ticed, too, that we’re not bound by the laws of nature, or by the actuarial tables that have ham-pered other generations. We have no plans to actually age or die, so you’re going to have us around for a long, long time.

And that’s exactly what my fel-low Boomers and I are worried about. As we enter our time of non-retirement and anti-aging, we’re going to lay waste to the land like a cloud of locusts. Unless you do something, fast, we’ll be breaking the bank on Social Security and Medicare. We’ll be expecting miracle health care pro-cedures and expensive potions, and spurning nursing homes for private home care. We’ll be loudly demanding the personal services we’ve earned and think we de-serve, but that you Xs, Ys and ^s don’t seem to yet have the will, money or numbers to provide.

Do you want that to happen? Of course you don’t. Do you really want 78 million of us run-

ning around acting all grumpy and entitled? We didn’t think so. That’s why we’re glad we had this talk, because it’s good to commu-nicate honestly and openly about these things, to share clear out-come expectations.

Oh, and sorry you can’t be in our club. Really we are, but rules are rules. On the bright side, by 2010 there will be plenty of service positions available, so we’ll get to see each other a lot. You’ll take care of us, won’t you? Won’t you? n

1Though I do have my Wild Edible Plants honor.2The mousy hypochondriac in Annie Hall.3Newsweek, November 14, 2005.

Gary Tetz ’84 lives in College Place. He looks and feels absolutely fan-tastic, and has a rare gift for denial.

That Booming Sound

Am

y W

ilkin

son

From My Point of View

Do You Have Something to Say? Our new column, “From My Point of View,” will feature essays written by alumni. If you are interested in sub-mitting an essay for consideration, visit westwind.wwc.edu for more information.

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I t’s 11:55 p.m. and the fun is just beginning for Jason Friedrich, senior

mechanical engineering student. Jason was one of 60 village students who filled the alleys of Bowla-way Lanes on a Saturday night—or was it Sunday morning—for Village Stu-dent Midnight Bowling.

A special “cosmic bowl-ing” round allowed bowl-ers to play under the glare of multi-colored lights and a disco ball.

The event was spon-sored by the Village Student Life and Rental Properties office, whose mission is to “build a bridge between the village students and the main campus.”

This mission is realized through numerous social events, the village singles and village married clubs, and real-world workshops. Recent workshop topics have included how to buy a car and how to plan a wedding on a budget. More than 640 students live in the village. n

westwind, spring 2006

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