Class Notes
'63 BA Maria Teresa (Nena) Sanchez-Cavazos received the Texas Southmost College Distinguished Alumnus Award.
'65 BA Josephine Roos Routhier has retired from San Diego County Library after 20 years as a branch librarian. Her 39-year career has involved time at five libraries, both college and public. She would like to thank Sr. Collette Ross for encouraging her to be a librarian and Sr. Rosa Maria for encouraging her in Spanish.
'66 BA, '70 MA Cheryl McMullan ('62 IWHS) is listed in Scene in SA magazine as one of the outstanding lawyers of San Antonio as selected by her peers.
'70 BA Georgie (Coleman) McAteer played "Aunt Eller" in a local community theater production of Oklahoma! Since graduating, she has performed in Germany, Italy, Mississippi, and Texas in over 25 shows. Her two daughters "grew up" in the theater: one is in Austin, hoping for a career in film; the other is married with an eight-year-old son, Liam. McAteer's day job is director of the Fort Hood Battle Command Training Branch where about 200 contractors and civilians train soldiers on the new automated battle command systems.
'70 BA, '76 MA Sister Conchessa Johnston, CCVI ('57 IWHS) is the director of mission integration for Incarnate Word High School and St. Anthony's Catholic High School.
'71 BSN, '88 MPH Barbara Evans Hickok has been appointed chief nurse for the New Mexico Department of Health.
'71 BA Carol Darling returns as an arts instructor to the Kerr Arts and Cultural Center in Kerrville, TX. Since her graduation, Darling has been a professional fine artist and an arts instructor. She has created programs and curriculum for numerous schools and universities. She is also a graduate of the Ringling School of Art and Design and a member of the Society of Animal Artists, International. Currently, Darling is creating oil paintings of her favorite wildlife species for gallery sales in New York and the western U.S.
'73 BA Delma Cisneros Wheeler came out of retirement from teaching in 2005 to teach computers at Incarnate Word High School where daughter Sarah is a student.
'74 Vangie Garza, former student, just finished her first novel and is looking for a literary agent. She is close to completing a motivational book for women:"10 Steps to a Successful Woman." She has also started a series of poetry books on family and friends and another love story in poetry and prose, and is just a few chapters away from completing Erin's book: "Life of an Angel, a True Story." Her other daughter, Michelle, will be getting married next fall. Her middle daughter Nicole is an engineer-architect and has been working on the design of the new Toyota plant in San Antonio. Nicole will attend graduate school at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX.
'74 BA Virginia Myzk Sekula of Villarreal Elementary School is an H-E-B 2006 Finalist for Excellence in Education.
'76 BA Gilda G. Garcia is the diversity officer for Texas State University in San Marcos.
'81 BSN Louanne Elizabeth (Lamb Torres) Hausmann and her husband John C. Hausmann, Jr., are proud to announce the engagement of daughter Christina Lynn to Shawn Clark of Denver, CO.
George Gaytan '81 and Gov. Rick Perry
'81 BA George Gaytan performed at a private reception for Texas Governor Rick Perry. George is currently on the music faculty of Saint Mary's Hall in San Antonio. He released a CD of lullabies in January. You can visit his web site at georgegaytan.tripod.com.
'82 BA Laura Shaw is busy with her Library Foundation work. In April, the foundation hosted author, Alexander McCall Smith for a gala event in Gainesville, FL. She was chair of both the gala and foundation development. Shaw also gave a presentation, “Lessons Learned from Past Experience… Creating Opportunities for Future Success,” for the Florida Library Association in Orlando. Shaw was formerly interim vice president for institutional advancement.
'84 BA Josie Garza-Brigham recently received her master’s degree in social work from Florida Gulf Coast University.
Laura Shaw '82 and grandson
'85 BSN Marsha Blount (Biver) completed her Master of Science in nursing in pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center in 1992. She just successfully completed her board exam for pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) certification. Blount is currently a practicing PNP in aerodigestive and pulmonary medicine at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.
'86 BS Tami Ann Piemonte was promoted to Lt. Colonel in the United States Air Force Reserves in fall 2004. She and her husband recently moved from the Dallas, TX, area to Florida.
'87 BS Joseph Penn presented to a scientific panel at a conference in Paris, France. His family joined him, and they were fortunate to be there during the Tour de France. Penn's conference topic was "Surviving the Challenges of Juvenile Corrections: Suicide Prevention Strategies" for the symposium on Juvenile Justice and Mental Health by International Congress on Law and Mental Health.
'90 BBA Cathy Baisley opened her own fabric and quilt store called “Cats Meow Quilt Shop” located at 5890 De Zavala Rd. in San Antonio.
'90 BA Celia Hathaway and her husband, Dustin, live in Canyon, TX, with their son, Auden. Currently, she is an admissions advisor at West Texas A&M University.
'92 BA Anne Ohlrich completed a tour at the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, as the deputy chief of the NIV Section and recently returned to San Antonio. She is currently teaching in the graduate studies International Relations program at St. Mary's University. Her daughter, Margaret, age 10, is enjoying sixth grade.
'92 BA Jose Ruben de Leon has appeared on stage performing in “Simplemente Lara” in San Antonio.
Amy Ritthaler Gilmour '93
'93 BA Amy Ritthaler Gilmour is in the Ph.D. program for rhetoric and American literature at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Her dissertation, entitled “Somewhere West of Eden: Gardens, Women, and American Nature Writing,” is an analysis of womanhood, space, and identity in the gardens of female-authored American literature. Gilmour received a scholarship to attend the Cornell University School of Criticism and Theory last summer, studying spatial philosophy with Harvard professor Tom Conley. She and her husband Doug are the devoted parents of eight-year-old Sophia, the fastest punster in the West, and Noble, a very ticklish four-year-old and budding gourmand.
'93 BA Marlene Loyez Poehlmann moved to Temple, TX, in April. She is home schooling her two daughters: Emma, age seven, and Isabel, age four. She teaches a ballet class and has resumed ballet dancing with the Newcomb School of Ballet. On weekends, she teaches Religious Education for first-graders at her church. Poehlmann also teaches art appreciation classes and techniques in drawing, painting, ceramics and sculpture to home-schooled students.
'94 BA Kenyon Anderson is senior editor for U.S. Central's communications department in Lenexa, KS. She also works as a commercial actor for clients including Hallmark, Acura, Sprint and Helzberg. Anderson's children: son Taege, age 10, and daughters Keile, age seven, and Blane, age two, also perform in commercials. As a volunteer, she performs for the Heartland Theatre Team and serves as her daughter's Girl Scout Brownie leader.
'94 MSN Deborah James (IWHS '71) was among 20 nurses honored at a gala event in Houston that paid tribute to "Twenty Outstanding Houston Nurses" of the Texas Nurses Association District 9. The nurses were nominated by their peers and colleagues as demonstrating outstanding achievements and contributions in nursing professions.
'94 BSN Michael Rosado has now earned his Master of Science in nursing, specializing as an adult nurse practitioner. His emphasis is in emergency medicine and cardiology.
'95 BA Fr. Gilbert A. Pansza recently wrote a manuscript on the Eighth Sacrament. It describes the cultural event and how it was celebrated in his three parishes in Jack and Wise Counties of Texas. The editor of "The Priest" magazine recently told Fr. Gil that his manuscript will be a feature article in an upcoming edition of the magazine. He is currently working on another manuscript, "God's Love for Me Tastes Like Refried Beans: A Latino Soul Encounters its Creator."
'95 BA Gypsy Pantoja recently took over the X-celerated Theatre Arts Program, which sends one actor from the Magik Theatre to work with students at the Cyndi Taylor Krier Juvenile Correctional Treatment Center in San Antonio.
'96 BS Ana Maria Rojas recently completed her pediatric residency training at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock and is pursuing a fellowship in neonatal-perinatal medicine at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. She also just welcomed her first born, Matthew Dawson Montanez, on Aug. 22, 2005.
'96 BSN, '04 MSN Captain David L. Taylor, III, wrote an article for the April 2006 issue of AORN Journal, titled “Bloodborne Pathogen Exposure in the OR - What Research has Taught Us and Where We Need to Go.”
'97 BA Maria Esperanza Orosco was elected secretary on the board of directors of Community Action, Inc., a community-based organization offering services in the areas of health, education, and social services across 10 counties in Central Texas. She also serves as the membership coordinator of the Hays Education Association, the North Hays County affiliate of the Texas State Teachers Association.
'97 MA Cindy Wallace has been named the first certified communications professional in the United States under the Matrix's Foundation's certification program (www.matrixfoundation.us/). Wallace has been with Southwest Research Institute for the past 23 years and she frequently contributes feature stories to the San Antonio Express News. She is on the national board of directors for the Association for Women In Communications and is active in the San Antonio chapter.
'97 BA Dominic Savedra, '97 BM Jennifer M. Whitney, and '99 BM Ken Williams recently returned to San Antonio for their spring break vacation and a post-graduation visit to UIW.
'98 BA Edward A. Benavides has worked for the City of San Antonio for nearly three years. In October 2004, he was promoted to management assistant within the city manager's office. In June 2005, he was promoted to management assistant to city manager J. Rolando Bono.
'98 BS Dennis Bryan is a physical education teacher in the San Antonio Independent School District.
'99 BSN Juanita A. Hatchett received her Master of Science in nursing with a family nurse practitioner concentration from Clarkson College in Omaha, NE, in December 2005. She is now employed in her chosen field.
'00 BA Athena Y. Baca-Chieza received her doctorate in clinical psychology and is now in San Antonio completing her predoctoral internship at Brook Army Medical Center in their health psychology program. She recently married her college sweetheart, Chido Chieza.
'00 BA Daniel Leija (ADCaP) teaches at Esparza Elementary School in San Antonio’s Northside Independent School District and was awarded the American Star of Teaching Award. He was in the first class of teachers who completed their studies in the ADCaP.
'00 BA Elizabeth Craft (ADCaP) was featured on ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” on April 9. Craft, her husband, and their four children left their home in Hondo, TX, and were sent on a vacation to California while their home was being built.
'00 BA Jaime L. Mergele has accepted a job in the Washington, DC, area working for a government agency after working at BRG out of Dallas as a CAD/CAFM project manager.
'00 BS Tara Tovar just passed her written and oral qualifying exams and is now a doctoral candidate in the Ph.D. program at UT Health Science Center. In the summer of 2000, Tovar worked with her mentor, Dr. Paul Foglesong, on her research project: “DNA Topoisomerases in Breast Cancer.”
'01 BA Monica Velasquez McIlwain obtained her Master of Arts in organizational management from the University of Phoenix in 2004. She has been hired as an insurance sales agent and has passed the health, life and accidental state exam and quickly obtained her insurance license; she is now licensed in more than 12 states. McIlwain just celebrated her 10th wedding anniversary with her husband, Randy. They have three children: Justin, age 17; Jackie, age 15; and Steve, age 9.
'01 BBA Jose H. Luevano started his own business importing pottery and other items from Guadalajara, Mexico.
'02 Andrea Salinas is employed at Bromley Communications in the Production Department as a producer. She manages accounts such as Burger King, Astrazeneca, Nestle Waters - and UIW. She gets to travel all over the world to produce commercials for both television and radio. She also handles all the negotiations and financials of the commercials and aspires to become a senior producer. Salinas also recently had another child; now she has two boys, ages 9 years and 20 months.
'02 BA David Michael McManus is working for Valero Energy Corporation as a retail systems supervisor since graduation. He has also married (to Beatrice), received a Master of Science from Our Lady of The Lake University and has made plans to pursue another graduate degree in the near future.
'02 BA Diana Meneses is preparing to take her comprehensive exams for her doctoral degree in history at Arizona State University. After her exams, she will attend a conference in Helsinki, Finland, return to San Antonio for a couple of weeks, and then fly to the Amazonian region of Ecuador for two months.
'02 BA Jennifer Uriegas received her Master of Arts in educational leadership in the fall semester of 2005.
'03 BA Yvette Reyes handled media promotions at the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center. Now, two years later, she has begun a career at the FOX29/WB 35 television station as the director of sales promotions and host of their weekend movies.
Bill Conner '03
'03 MA Bill Conner of the Texas Air National Guard was sent to New Orleans in September as a part of the task force from San Antonio to provide general support in the hurricane Katrina cleanup efforts.
'04 BA Burgundy Rodriguez is working in Los Angeles, CA, for EMI Music, the company that owns Capitol Records and Virgin Records as well as other smaller music labels.
'04 BA, BS Enjoli Benitez will be graduating this spring from the University of Houston with a master’s degree in public health. He has also been accepted into the University of Houston Medical School program beginning in August 2006.
'04 BAAS Maria Guadalupe "Lupita" Ovalle (ADCaP) hardly spoke English when she came to America, but she went back to school and received her degree; now she is giving back to her community.
'05 BA Lee N. Coffee (ADCaP) is a public speaker, writer, actor, researcher, historian, storyteller, playwright, poet, nurse, marathoner, and professional soldier. Coffee uses theatrical mannerisms to teach social studies, language arts, cultural diversity and self esteem. He delivers a strong anti-gang, anti-drug, stay-educated message to school children of all ages. His program has been well received in Texas and Oklahoma schools, churches, museums, Boy Scout troops, historical societies, symposiums and events.