R Connections

I got married on November 23, 2019 to Joseph Novak in Kirtland Ohio. Maggie Hall ’08 and Kali Jankovich ’07 were in attendance. Joe and I were then sealed in the Columbus Temple of the Church of Latter Day Saints on December 21, 2019. We are living in University Heights, Ohio. I am currently working as a Branch Services Assistant with the Cuyahoga County Public Library. Joe works as a Processing Engineer with Tect Power in Euclid Ohio.

Submitted by: Amy Piccirillo Novak

This January, Entropy Magazine published another essay by Eric Atkisson ’94. Titled Point of Origin, it revolves around the French explorer Jean Nicolet, Eric’s father, and Eric’s nautical childhood in Green Bay and Door County, Wisconsin. It was the second of his essays to appear in print and the first since he completed a MFA in Creative Writing at George Mason University in May 2019. Eric has also had about a dozen magazine articles and short stories published since 2007. He currently works as a communications and marketing supervisor at the Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Virginia.

Submitted by: Eric Atkisson

Jolene Rueden Schatzinger ’07 of Ripon, Wisconsin is the Associate Director of Engagement and Donor Relations at Ripon College as of January 2020. She also joined the Board of Directors of Freeland USA, a frontline organization working for a world that is free of wildlife trafficking and human slavery, which organizes an annual film festival in Green Lake, Wisconsin.

Submitted by: Jolene Schatzinger

Dave Read ’70, Gary Lederer ’72, Jean Kirkpatrick Lederer ’73, Kay Ingerski Kempner ’70, and Dennis Kempner ’70 meet up for a 50 year mini-reunion in Punta Gorda, Florida!

Submitted by: DevStudent

Verne B. Churchill Jr., an influential marketing executive and generous, larger-than-life family man of many talents, died peacefully Thursday at North Shore Evanston Hospital after various illnesses. He was 87. Born in Chicago and a 60-year resident of Northbrook, Churchill was best known in his career as President, CEO, and later Board Chairman of Market Facts, Inc., an Arlington Heights-based marketing, research and information firm.

Submitted by: DevStudent

Submitted by: DevStudent

It feels like after 30 years, my Ripon education and experiences and friendships, and subsequent life have come together in a really wonderful way. 

I feel that Ripon, along with my family,  was my foundation and springboard for a rich life, one measured by experiences and relationships. My work as a physical therapist in private practice (yaharatherapy.com) feels like a culmination of these experiences and people. I get to help people get better, but I also get to focus on prevention, wellness, and trying to be part of a reimagined system of health care. 

Dance Company was at the core of my Ripon experience; affecting every realm of my life (physical, organizational, emotional, social, environmental). After a winding journey, I finally landed on a certification in massage therapy and then a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree in my 40s. Along the way, one of the experiences I had was as a ballroom dance instructor. Non-profit work (Whitman-Walker Health in metro DC) gave me crucial experience with administration, fund-raising, support-group facilitation, and coordinating volunteer programs. 

One of my projects, Ballroom Basics for Balance(TM) [ballroombasicsforbalance.org], started as a whim and has grown. It’s a class that helps improve balance and prevent falls in a fun way, using dance. We collaborate with students, educational institutions, government and private agencies, community members, and more.  Recently, UW-Madison created a video about it. Please enjoy and share! https://news.wisc.edu/ballroom-balance/

This video feels like a representation of my good fortune to have a loving and valuable community, which includes Ripon College. What I get to do every day is not work, but a culmination and continuation of the education and experiences and people. I want to share with my classmates and alma mater and future grads as a proud one, myself!

My life includes a happy home in Madison, WI with my wife and many critters. 

Submitted by: DevStudent

See the message below from Joseph Mazza ’51:

Carl M. “Sarge” Patterson, Jr.  in later years known as “Bud,” died December 31, 2019 in Evanston, IL, age 91. He was my roommate in the class of 1951, a member of Omega Fraternity and  Student Body President his last year at Ripon.  A sergeant when he graduated from Howe Military Academy, it earned him the nickname “Sarge” at college, where he majored in Economics. The military shaped his character, which was one of straight-arrow integrity, loyalty, discipline and service. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War as a 2nd Lt.  Married to the late Marilyn Kordick, he is survived by three sons.

Submitted by: DevStudent

Edward L. “Ned” Clapp ’63 died peacefully on August 24, 2019 at home in Cockeysville, MD, which is near Baltimore.  He graduated from Ripon college with a history major in 1963.  While in college he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and served as an officer in that organization.  He went on to teach history at Gilman School in MD, from which he himself had graduated in 1959.  He was there for almost 40 years and in addition to teaching he served as the assistant middle school head and the Dean of Students at various times during his career.  He was beloved at the school and was known for his quirky sense of humor and his numerous puns.  He was preceded in death by his wife (Jeanne) of 39 years.

Submitted by: DevStudent

Attorney Richard T. Elrod Appointed to Advisory Committee for Fox Valley Technical College

Submitted by: DevStudent

GREEN BAY – It’s Skylar Liebzeit’s turn now.

Green Bay West announced Tuesday that it has hired Liebzeit as its new football coach. He replaces John Saharsky, who stepped down in December after two seasons.

Liebzeit, 27, has spent the past two years as an offensive assistant and wide receivers coach at Lawrence University, an NCAA Division III school in Appleton.

He also had stints as the athletic director and football coach at Manawa and roles as an assistant coach at Kettle Moraine and Reedsburg.

Liebzeit was a three-sport athlete in football, wrestling and baseball at Wisconsin Dells and played football at Ripon College from 2011 to 2014.

He converted from quarterback to running back his senior season at Ripon, rushing for 219 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 4.2 yards per carry.

Football has been a big part of his life. He now hopes to have an impact with the Wildcats.

“Wherever I’ve been, it’s kind of an uphill battle to start,” Liebzeit said. “Even when I went to Kettle Moraine to coach with Coach Justin Gumm down there, they hadn’t been to the playoffs for a while and we were able to get them into the playoffs for the first time (in nine years).

“Same thing with Manawa. We were able to really turn things around. Anybody can go take over a good program and, hopefully, keep it afloat. The hardest thing is to really climb that uphill battle and create your own identity.”

Submitted by: DevStudent

Submitted by: DevStudent

Meredith Valentine Johnson of St. Louis Park, Minnesota visited with recent Eden Prairie arrival, retired Reverend Paul Nancarrow, serving as a substitute priest at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Minneapolis with her and her sister-in-law Judy Smoot Johnson ’80.

Submitted by: Gregg Petersen

Submitted by: DevStudent

Kylie Ainslie ’11, research associate in influenza dynamics at Imperial College London, was among a group interviewed for “The Agenda: COVID-19 special” on China Global Television Network. The international media organization brings a Chinese perspective to global news.

They talk vaccines, international co-operation and misinformation, and where the epidemic is headed. Ainslie graduated from Ripon with majors in biology and mathematics and a minor in chemistry. Watch here.

Her father, William Ainslie ’79 is also a Ripon graduate, who majored in biology.

Submitted by: DevStudent

Ned Lufrano ’54 visited with Art Wong ’53 in Chicago.

Submitted by: DevStudent

Michael William Farrell, 69, passed away on March 14, 2020, at Loyola – Maywood (IL) Medical Center, just ten weeks after being diagnosed with cancer, eventually determined to be an aggressive form of non – Hodgkin lymphoma.

Mike was born in Winona, Minnesota, on September 27, 1950, the son of Mary Ellen Wilson Farrell and Francis M. Farrell. He was educated in Winona’s public schools and received his bachelor’s degree in History from Ripon
(WI) College in 1972. After two years of master’s degree studies in journalism at the University of South Carolina, Mike joined the staff of the Morris (IL) Daily Herald where he worked for the next 36 years as a reporter and editor until his retirement in 2010. Mike’s diligent and accurate reporting on local politics and government kept the citizens of the area well – informed for decades and won him several awards for his reportage and writing.

In 1982 he married Charlotte M. Bohner, an educator, and IT specialist, and together they formed an indissoluble partnership that flourished for 37 years, until her death in 2019. Active contributors to many facets of the Morris community, both before and after retirement, Mike and Charlotte also traveled widely both in the United States and the world, including Russia, China, Europe, Central and South America, and a photographic safari in Africa. Avid students of history, Mike and Charlotte included every extant Presidential library in their travels within the U.S. Mike’s hobbies included sports, especially following the Twins, Vikings and Ripon College teams, as well as gardening and reading history. He was preceded in death by his parents and wife and is survived by his brother Martin Farrell of Ripon, Wisconsin. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts to the First United Methodist Church of Morris or Ripon College are requested.

Submitted by: DevStudent

It is with great sadness that we learned yesterday of the death of Honorary Life Trustee Sam Pickard ’55, who passed away on Wednesday, February 19, 2020, in Springfield, Oregon.

Elected to the Board of Trustees in 1983, Sam followed in the footsteps of his parents, who were also lifelong supporters of the College. Sam served as the board’s chair from 1997 to 2003 and was named an Honorary Life Trustee in 2007. In 1994, he received the College’s Medal of Merit, the highest honor awarded to an alumnus.

In addition to the Pickard Commons, the Pickard Scholarship that also bears his family’s name is one of the largest endowed funds at Ripon and continues to benefit students.

Sam grew up in Wisconsin, attending elementary and middle school in Neenah and high school at Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam. He went on to receive an Economics degree from Ripon College in 1955. Sam served as 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army at Fort Harrison, Indiana from 1955-1957. He moved to California in 1957 and earned his MBA from Stanford University in 1959. Sam remained in the San Francisco Bay Area to pursue a 30 year banking career and raise his family.

Sam was a devoted husband, father and grandfather, known by many for his generosity, sense of humor, kindness, and sincerity. Giving back to his community was important to Sam. He donated countless hours and money to organizations such as the Visiting Nurses Association, Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church, YMCA, Wayland Academy, Stanford University, Kiwanis, Rotary, and United Way, to name a few. Sam was especially committed to his alma mater, Ripon College.

Good natured and humble, Sam was content with life’s simple pleasures whether watching the sunrise, working in the yard, listening to his wife play the piano, going for walks, enjoying a ballgame, or taking road trips. He kept a low profile even as an athlete, but knew his way around a golf course and the dance floor.

Sam is survived by his children Ann Pickard, Sam Pickard Jr., and Kathi (Steve) Bean, grandchildren Cameron and Dana Bean; brothers/sisters-in-law, David and Judy Kent, Mitzi Pickard, John Shaw,19 nieces and nephews and many wonderful friends.

He is preceded in death by his beloved wife of 45 years, Carmen, his parents, brothers Jim (Ripon Class of ’49) and Tom, and twin sisters Judy and Julie.

His family would like to thank the staff at Elder Health & Living in Springfield for their loving care of Sam during the past 2 1/2 years. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.

A private burial will be held in Neenah, Wisconsin at a later date.

Submitted by: DevStudent

FOND DU LAC – World War II hero and Fond du Lac son, James “Maggie” Megellas, died just weeks after celebrating his 103rd birthday.

The 82nd Airborne Division announced on Megellas passed away Thursday.

“This loss will be felt by us all. Remember, Paratroopers never die they, just slip away,” the division said in a Facebook post, Friday morning.

Born on March 11, 1917, in Fond du Lac, Megellas became the most decorated officer of the 82nd Airborne Division during his service in World War II. Graduating from Ripon College in 1942, Megellas became a second lieutenant with the United States Army Infantry, according to the Dallas Morning News.

During Operation Market Garden, he parachuted into the Netherlands, saw combat in Italy, crossed the Waal River as Germans fired, and fought in the Battle of the Bulge, according to the division.

When in a firefight in Herresbach, Belgium, he disabled a German Mark V tank by throwing a grenade at it, and then mounted it, and threw another into the crew compartment. Not a single person was lost in his platoon that day, according to Fond du Lac Reporter Archives.

He was discharged from the Army as a captain, continued as a citizen-solider, and retired as a lieutenant colonel, according to the foundation.

He earned two Bronze Stars, two Silver Stars, two Purple Hearts and the Distinguished Service Cross. In 1945, he was the first American to receive the “Military Order of Willhelm Orange Lanyard” from the Dutch Minister of War in Berlin, the foundation said.

Fond du Lac was proud to call Megellas one of its own. The American Legion Trier-Puddy Post #75 is named the James “Maggie” Megellas Fond du Lac County Veterans Memorial Building. In 2016, the post office was renamed the Lieutenant Colonel James ‘Maggie’ Megellas Post Office. In 2019, the city opened a new park near the Meadowlands Subdivision. Read more here.

Submitted by: DevStudent