Class Notes

1960s

Lillian Dickinson ’62 BA has been retired for five years and is now serving as the President of the Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabilitation Center.  She will celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary in June.

Mary Cay Murray ’68 BS serves as regional vice president for the Ladies of Charity of the USA, Southern Region.  She recently attended the International Assembly in Madrid Spain, with representation from 22 nations across the globe.  LOC is the oldest Catholic women’s organization in the world, whose mission is to serve the poor with charity, humility and simplicity.

Janice M. Marak ’68 BA retired from Austin Independent School District and now volunteers for Austin Hospice.

Linda Milam ’69 BA has worked as the director of religious education at Sacred Heart Church in Uvalde for 28 years.  This October she will have served in catechetics for 50 years.

1970s

Carol Darling ’71 BA recently completed five years of teaching drawing fundamentals and beginning painting at the Kerr Arts and Cultural Center in Kerrville.  She plans to continue painting wildlife for gallery representation. Her website is www.cdarlinganimalart.com  Darling is a signature member of the Society of Animal Artists, Int.  She has also worked as a professional photographer, graphic designer and arts educator.

Peter and Nancy Stichler Reininger ’74 BS ’92 MEd will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary on August 25.

Cynthia Mozisek Callins ’75 BA published a novel in March by Tate Publishing Company entitled “Under the Windmills.”  It is a modern western fiction, with suspense and romance.  More information can be found at www.CindyMCallins.com.

Justice Phylis J. Speedlin ’75 BSN was recently honored for her work in co-founding the San Antonio Bar Association Community Justice Program which provides free legal services to needy residents and veterans in Bexar County.  Speedlin has been selected by the State Bar of Texas to be the first recipient of the 2012 Judge Merrill Hartman Pro Bono Judge Award recognizing a judge who has provided exemplary pro bono service, including outreach to attorneys to increase the quantity and quality of pro bono representation.

Mirella Garza Kennedy ’76 BA currently serves as the principal of St. Thomas More Catholic School and continues to be an adjunct professor for the UIW ADCaP program.

1980s

Deborah Benavides ’83 BA serves as the senior academic advisor for the College of Architecture at UTSA. In October, she will present “Hitting the High Notes for Success: A Working Guide to Help Students with Asperger’s Syndrome” at the National Academic Advising Conference in Nashville, Tenn.

Nancy M. Cano-Reyes ’87 BSN works at Methodist Hospital as a nurse director. She cheerfully welcomes UIW nursing students every semester.

Sharon Struckhoff Kotzur ’87 BA is completing her 25th year as a secondary art teacher at Pleasanton ISD.  She lives in Floresville, Texas with her 15-year-old son, Jared and her husband Dennis.

1990s

Elise Lopez ’98 BA played the mother of Henry Higgins in San Pedro Theater’s production of “My Fair Lady” and has been chosen to play the starring role in the summer production of “Hello, Dolly.”

Larry G. Appel ’91 BBA recently celebrated his one year wedding anniversary with wife Lucy.  He also began a sales job as senior fire alarm sales representative at MCS Fire & Security.

Joni Luna ’93 BS serves as a women’s athletic coordinator at San Diego High School located in San Diego, Texas.  She has also started South Texas Elite Sports Academy offering camps and clinics.

Muriel Rhoder ’97 MBA serves as the auditing manager for the San Antonio Housing Authority.

Nancy Glass West ’94 MA has a new novel coming out this summer, “Dang Near Dead.” More information on her three novels can be found at www.nancygwest.com

Retired Capt. Gordon Livingston ’95 MBA retired from the U.S. Navy Reserve in June 2011 after 30 years of combined active and reserve service.

Asia Ciaravino ’98 BA co-founder and executive director of Classic Theatre was named as the president and CEO of San Pedro Playhouse. San Pedro Playhouse begins its 100th anniversary season this fall.

Heather Bonnette Perez ’97 BSN will start her family nurse practitioner master’s degree at Prairie View A&M University in the fall of 2012.

Dr. Noel Archambeault ’96 BM was the featured soprano singer at Gore Recital Hall of the Roselle Center for the Arts on the University of Delaware (UD) campus in Newark.  She teaches applied voice, vocal pedagogy and lyric diction at UD.

Amalia Ortiz ’96 BA was accepted to the creative writing graduate program at The University of Texas-Pan American. She will begin pursuing a master’s degree in creative writing this fall.  She was recently chosen as one of 10 winners of VIA’s 2012 Poetry on the Move contest and was also invited to perform at the Havana International Poetry Festival in Cuba.

2000s

Byrdie Franco-Rocha ’01 BBA recently relocated to San Antonio from Dallas and is serving as the marketing director for LATISM’s 2012 national conference to be held in Houston this October. LATISM or Latinos in Social Media, is the largest, most influential Latino organization engaged in the new multicultural web.  Franco-Rocha also serves as the director of community outreach for Sanford Brown College San Antonio/Austin markets.

Dr. Jacob K. Tingle ’02 MAA was promoted to assistant professor of the practice, business administration.  Additionally, he serves as the director of the sport management program at Trinity University.

Kuei-Yuan Wang ’03 Ph.D. won Taiwan’s National Foreign Affairs Commendation issued by the Foreign Ministry.

Barbara Michelle de Guzman ’05 MSN RN had her research accepted for presentation at the 23rd International Nursing Research Congress in Brisbane Australia.

Salvador Salazar ’05 BAAS received his master’s degree in political science from American Military University in February.

Meghan Oswald ’06 BA is currently serving as vice president of development and communications for Haven for Hope.

Ray Lopez ’07 BBA has joined Omnitrans as the new director of safety and regulatory compliance and will oversee their security, safety and loss prevention operations.

John E. Boyd ’08 BBA opened his State Farm Insurance Agency in New Braunfels in June.

John Gardiner ’08 MAT Rio San Antonio Cruises boat driver became Champion of Rio Rodeo, unseating the previous five-time champion.

2010s

Wanita Mercer ’06 BA ’12 MAA started work in the San Antonio Independent School District as a GEAR UP college readiness coach and was accepted into the UIW Doctor of Education program with an emphasis in organizational leadership.

Gabriela Canavati ’10 BA won the prestigious Charles B. Rangel Graduate Fellowship in International Affairs. The Fellowship provides for two years of graduate school with generous stipend, followed by appointment as a Foreign Service Officer of the United States. Canavati is one of only 20 individuals in the U.S. to win the fellowship in 2012.

Antonia Saldana ’10 MAA began working as director of human resources at Gold Spur Trucking LLC.

Sabrina Koll ’11 MBA began her new job as federal bank supervision officer at the Federal Bank of Germany.

Phillip James ’11 BA serves as director of photography & digital effects for a new Mixed Martial Arts reality series, “MMA Cage Quest,” airing weekly on regional station KCWX (Seguin).

George Ybarra ’12 BA serves as the assistant vice president for service delivery for Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio.