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Medical ServiceMedical ServiceUNION’S PA PROGRAMGRADUATES TENTH CLASSAlso . . .� Alumnus treats wounded soldiers� Students recount trips to Haiti� Student turns blog into a book

N e w s f r o m U n i o n C o l l e g e f a l l 2 0 1 0

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can take time...Growth

ForeSightForeSight...but a little

Todd MekelburgDirector of Leadership Giving402.486.2503tomekelb@ucollege.edu

Union College3800 South 48th StreetLincoln, NE 68506 ForeSight

It takes

goes along way.

they made—the

loyal alumnus, the sacrificial staff member, the faithful

board member. They took the important step of in-

cluding Union College in their estate plans. Because

of their foresight, today students receive scholarships,

classrooms are built and learning takes place.

You can make a difference by including Union

College in your estate plan. Explore your options at

www.ucollege.edu.

What a difference

CORDmagazine staff:

LuAnn Wolfe Davis ’82Vice President for Advancement/Publisher

Ryan Teller ’98Director of Public Relations/Editor

Steve Nazario Director of Visual Communications/Designer

Scott Cushman ’03Assistant Director of Public Relations/Assistant Editor

Tiffany Doss ’11Michelle Current ’11Michael Rohm ’14Kelly Phipps ’12News Writers

Articles and photos as credited.

p Indicates more information is available onUnion’s Web site or read CORDmagazine online:www.ucollege.edu/cordmagazine.

Union College Alumni AssociationOfficers and Board Members:

David Nowack ’76 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . President

Ardis Dick Stenbakken ’62 . . . . . .. . . . . . .President-elect

Darrel Huenergardt ’65 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Past President

Gale ’72 and Sheryl Rivinius ’73 Page . . . . . . . . . . . . Board members at large

Bill Hanson ’61 . . . . . . . . . . Golden Club Co-President

Scott and Breanna Johnson Gal ’05. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GOLD Rep ’99-’09

Dan Klein ’90 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Class Rep ’78-’98

Karen Affolter Johnson ’72. . . . . . . . .Class Rep ’57-’77

Darold ’57 and Shirley (’59) Goetz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Class Rep up to ’57

Janya Nordgren Mekelburg ’86. . . . . . . . . . . . .Alumni Activities Director

LuAnn Wolfe Davis ’82 . . . . . . . . . . .Vice President for Advancement

About the cover: Brooke Henderson graduated with a master’s inphysician assistant studies in May 2010.

Photo: Erik Stenbakken/stenbakken.com

© 2010 Union College all rights reserved. No material may be reproduced without permission. CORDmagazine is published as aservice to Union College alumni and friends.We encourage readers to submit letters and article ideas. Please send inquiries, submissions and address changes to:

CORDmagazine Union College 3800 South 48th Street Lincoln, NE 68506 or alumni@ucollege.edu.

Editorial/4 Campus News/5

Vol. 75, No. 1 Fall 2010

Union students respondto Haiti earthquake/14When an earthquake struck Haitiin January, four teams of Unionstudents and employees traveled tothe devastated country to help.

A Union student walks to school ... from Oregon /7

Student author turns mission blog into book /6

Class-ifieds/22 In Memory/25

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Trauma surgeon treatswounded U.S. soldiers/20

Lincoln trauma surgeon, Dr. RegBurton, made two trips to treat

wounded U.S. soldiers in Germany.

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PA program graduatestenth class/10

Union’s physician assistant program celebrates a commitment

to training students for service.

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CORDmagazine 3

CORDmagazine

4 FALL 2010

eenagers get all the bad jobs—theones nobody else wants. For my firstjob as a teenager, I worked for a hos-pital in dining and janitor services. Iserved food to the patients, washeddirty dishes, cleaned the hospital,helped hospital employees move anddid whatever my very creative bossesthought up for me. It was often diffi-cult, and at first, unrewarding work.

I dusted phones in administra-tor’s offices; dusted light fixturespoised precariously above the headsof helpless patients lying in theirbeds; donned mask, gloves andgown to scrub isolation units;cleaned the morgue; burned wastesent down from medical surgicalfloors; swept stairways; andwashed hallway walls.

I often questioned the purposeand the value of my work assign-ments. Over time, however, Ilearned that no matter the job, Ihelped the hospital accomplish itsmission—to help people in need.Through a thank you from a pa-tient or visitor, a commendationfrom a boss, and the joy I saw in the people I served, Ilearned that even the most menial job can make a difference insomeone’s life. In essence, I gained a glimpse into the joy of serv-

ice, which launched a lifelong process ofdiscovering fulfillment in ministering topeople facing physical, psychological andspiritual challenges.

In this issue of CORDmagazine, youwill read about medical providers, trainedat Union College, who have also discov-ered the joy of service. In the name of Godand under His guidance, these health careprofessionals are making a very importantdifference in the lives of people whoseoverwhelming circumstances have forcedthem to be dependent on others.

I am proud of the students and alumni ofUnion College who provide medical care tothose in need. They are wonderful ambassa-dors for Jesus, the Master Physician, who notonly healed so many people during His timeon earth, but whose healing power still re-stores and gives hope to the sick.

At Union, we hope to introduce every stu-dent to the joy of service and enable them todevelop a habit of helping others, whether it istaking care of the feet of Lincoln’s poor, check-ing IVs in an overcrowded Haitian hospital orjust taking time to pray with someone.

I trust that your appreciation for Union Col-lege students and alumni will grow as you readabout their experiences. If you know someone

considering a career in the medical field who hopes to make theircareer a ministry, encourage them to give Union a call.C

EDITORIAL FINDING JOY IN SERVICE_______________________________________________________________________________

by David Smith, Union College President

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David Smith, Union’s president, learnedthe value of service in his first job as ateenager. Now he helps instill that samemindset in students at Union.

n October 2009, Union College receivedanother 10-year accreditation from boththe Higher Learning Commission (HLC)and the Adventist Academic Association(AAA).

A decade is the maximum accreditationterm granted by HLC, one of two commis-sion members of the North Central Associ-ation of Colleges and Schools, whichaccredits degree-granting post-secondaryeducational institutions in the north centralregion of the United States. “Accreditationshows the quality of a school,” said Mal-colm Russell, Union College’s vice presi-dent for academic administration, “Withoutit, our students couldn’t receive federalloans or grants and our nursing, physicianassistant and education graduates wouldn’tbe certified or able to teach.”

The HLC accreditation process began

with Union preparing a self-assessment re-port outlining how the college upholds itsmission and values, student outcomes andprogress made since the last accreditationvisit. An HLC team then visited campus tointerview students and employees andevaluate the self study. The AAA team,made up of Seventh-day Adventist admin-istrators and educators, arrived shortly afterthe HLC team. “Adventist Academic Associ-ation approval means that we’ve met edu-cational standards and expectations inregards to the Adventist church’s objec-tives,” Russell explained.

Both teams commended Union for itsstrong sense of community, dedicated em-ployees and compliance with federal regu-lations. Like in any evaluation, Union alsoreceived several suggestions to make thecollege stronger. The HLC team recom-

mended updating campus computers andintegrating more technology in the class-room, having more faculty with terminaldegrees and developing a stronger enroll-ment plan. “Many of the suggestions HLCpresented were things we were alreadyworking on before their visit,” said Russell.“We recognize those are areas we need towork on and are already taking action tostrengthen them.”

Russell believes this accreditation af-firms Union’s academic strength and is aseal of quality. “However, this school willnot sit idly for the next nine years waitingfor the next accreditation,” he said. “Wewill continue our trend of making activeimprovements on campus.” This mindsethas proven effective for Union, allowingthe school to receive the maximum accred-itation time since 1961.

Union receives accreditation for another 10 yearsII

by Tiffany Doss

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he 2010-11 school year marks thetwenty-fifth anniversary of varsity athleticsat Union College. Homecoming 2011,April 8 – 11, will feature a special reunionevent for Union College Warriors.

All alumni of Union College’s varsityathletic program are invited to this WarriorReunion, celebrating Union’s varsitysports: women’s volleyball, men’s golf,and men’s and women’s basketball. “TheWarriors Reunion is an opportunity for for-mer players to reconnect with friends, re-member the ‘good old days’ and createnew memories,” said Ric Spaulding, UnionCollege’s athletic director.

Since its formation in 1986, the War-

riors athletic program has been designedto complement the quality education of-fered at Union. “Our coaches have alwayssought to help student athletes developsportsmanship and academic excellence,”said Spaulding. “Through many opportu-nities both on and off the court, playerslearn to be leaders while cultivating aspirit of teamwork and service.”

The weekend will feature a Warriorgolf tournament and volleyball games onFriday afternoon, followed by men’s andwomen’s basketball games on Saturdaynight. For more information or to registerfor the Warrior Reunion, visit www.ucol-lege.edu/advancement/homecoming

Homecoming 2011 to feature Warriors ReunionTT

by Michael Rohm

CAMPUS NEWS_____________________________

AA picture may be worth a thousandwords, but Union College has found a visitmay be worth ten thousand more. Al-though all indicators pointed to a thirdstraight year of declining enrollment,Union saw an expanded campus visit pro-gram play a significant role in increasingthe fall 2010 enrollment head count to 901with a full-time equivalency of 818—uptwo percent over the previous year.

“This increase points to a bright futurefor Union College,” said David Smith, col-lege president. “God has blessed and wepraise Him for what He has done. We lookforward to a great school year and manygood school years to follow.”

After peaking at 1,015 (909 FTE) in fall2007, Union’s enrollment had been on asteady decline, dropping to 883 (802 FTE)last fall. “Five year predictions indicated acontinued decrease in enrollment based oneconomic factors, population shifts andshifts in high school population,” ex-plained Nadine Nelson, Union’s vice presi-dent for Enrollment and Student Financial

Services. “College leadership and theboard felt it was prudent to build a budgetbased on an enrollment of 750 FTE, downmore than 50 from last year.”

While Nelson believes the enrollmentstaff’s renewed focus on customer serviceand relationship building influenced thetrend-bucking numbers, she also creditsthe increase to a campus-wide effort.“When we expanded the visit program,everyone on campus got involved in creat-ing a visit experience that is authentic toUnion College,” she explained.

Union’s campus visit program providesan opportunity for prospective college stu-dents to get a taste of college life through afree, three-day stay. “Students can come toone of our special preview weekends orthey can schedule an individual visit,” saidBecky Dewey, guest experience coordina-tor. “If they apply and send in their tran-scripts, they are also eligible for up to $250reimbursement for gas or a plane ticket.”

Dewey transitioned to her newly cre-ated position in January 2010 and wel-comed more than 450 prospective studentslast school year. “Our main goal is to intro-duce them to the culture of Union Collegeso they can find a place to belong,” saidDewey. “Visitors are immersed in the life ofa college student, experiencing residencehalls, classes, worship services and socialactivities. Many students who didn’t knowabout Union find they fit in and belongright here.”

More than overall head counts andnumbers, the fall enrollment showed a sig-nificant increase in students taking full-time loads and living in residence halls,both of which translate into a stronger fi-nancial position for the college. “Thesenumbers point to a strong enrollment forthe near future,” said Smith of the 168 first-time freshmen, 20 more than the five-yearaverage. “I believe these signs all indicatewe will continue to grow and offer thestrong academic programs and vibrantcampus life that Union is known for.”

Union experiences enrollment increase by Ryan Teller

CORDmagazine 5

he large freshman class helped offsetthe sizable number of graduates whoreceived degrees during Union’s com-mencement ceremony on May 9, 2010.

Union College conferred 211 de-grees to 197 students, including 23 stu-dents graduating with a Master ofPhysician Assistant Studies. Union’sclass of 2010 represented eight coun-tries, 28 states, and one U.S. territory.Of the degrees conferred in 34 areas ofstudy, the most popular major wasnursing with 39 graduates and businessadministration with 31. Rachel Welshof Columbia, Md., became the first stu-dent to graduate with Union’s newestmajor, fitness and wellness.

Graduation 2010

T

Enrollment at a glance Total Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . .901

Full time equivalent . . . . . . . . .818

Countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Male/Female Ratio . . . . . . . .41/59

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eturned missionaries and internationalvolunteers quickly learn to tell the storiestheir audiences want to hear—stories filledwith triumph and divine leading—and fil-ter out the rest. But when they get together,the experiences they share are filled withboth more laughter and more sorrow.These stories of cultural gaffes and in-escapable self-doubt are the cathartic re-lease of intense loneliness and longing. Inher book, Honestly, I’m Struggling,Heather Bohlender breaks down the wallbetween the sound bites shared with theuninitiated and the complex realities re-served for confidants.

Now a senior English education majorat Union College, Bohlender based thebook on blog entries she wrote as a volun-teer teacher in Cambodia during the 2007-2008 academic year. With a gift forintrospection, she leads the reader throughher journey of becoming a teacher andmentor in a devastated country while fight-ing her own battles against an eating disor-der, a sexual assault, and the inability to fit

into the society around her.Despite the difficult subject matter,

Honestly, I’m Struggling is a book filledwith hope. Amid Bohlender’s lonelinessand depression are many small victories—finding a counselor, building friendships,finally reaching students. Throughout, shemaintains a frank dialogue with God anddiscovers a new perspective on life.

“I am so proud of Heather for her bravehonesty,” said Rich Carlson, campus chap-lain. “Each volunteer sent oversees has aunique experience, but the themes ofHeather’s story are universal—from cultureshock and feelings of inadequacy to thedisconnect from their familiar support andconstant reminders of being an outsider. Ibelieve her testimony will help us betterprepare future volunteers and their familiesfor the enormity of what lies ahead.”

Honestly, I’m Struggling is available atAdventist Book Centers and Amazon.com.To read an interview with Bohlender andlearn more about her book, visit UnionCollege’s website: pwww.ucollege.edu.

6 FALL 2010

CAMPUS NEWS_____________________________

ometimes it’s smaller details thatcreate the biggest memories. Foralumni who attended last year’sHomecoming Weekend, that memoryis tofu meatballs.

“Alumni weekend was wonder-ful,” said Janya Mekelburg, director ofalumni activities, looking back on theweekend’s events. Then with achuckle she recalled the Friday nightbanquet. “At the banquet there were anumber of people asking for the tofumeatball recipe.”

While you probably don’t want therecipe that serves 300 people, LuAnnDavis, vice president for Advance-ment, has kept her promise to get apractical take-home version of thebeloved recipe for all.

SS

RRStudent author turns mission blog into book

by Scott Cushman

Back by popular demand: Homecoming 2010 meatballs

Homecoming Meatballs

Tofu Meatballs

¼ pound Saltine crackers1 tablespoon onion soup mix2 tablespoons Trio gravy mix2 teaspoons garlic, fresh, minced¼ cup onion, fresh, minced½ teaspoon red pepper, crushed12 ounces tofu, firm, mashed12 ounces Morning Star Griller Crumbles1 ½ cups whole almonds

Crush almonds and crackers together infood processor. Mix almond and crackermixture together with other ingredientsand form into balls. Fry in a skillet withvegetable oil until heated through.

Apricot Sweet & Sour Sauce

1/2 cup vegetable oil1/2 cup vinegar2 1/2 cups apricot preserves2 cups ketchup½ cup fresh onions, grated2 teaspoons salt2 teaspoons oregano

Add all ingredients together in a sauce panand bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Togive the meatballs a clear glaze appear-ance, pour hot sauce over hot meatballsand serve immediately.

Heather Bohlender, a senior elementaryeducation major at Union College, wrotea book based on blog entries from her ex-periences as a student missionary inCambodia.

by Kelly Phipps

any a parent andgrandparent has regaled eye-rolling children with tales ofwalking many miles toschool every day (uphill bothways of course). But few cantop Michael Rohm, a fresh-man at Union College, whodecided to make the trip

from his home in Oregon on foot.Rohm started his two-month journey in

early June after deciding to enroll in UnionCollege’s international rescue and reliefprogram. Just back from volunteering inAfrica, he set out on foot because he“wanted to experience the country of mybirth firsthand,” he explained. “My parentsare very active and we have done a lot ofhiking and camping growing up.”

For Rohm, the choice to study IRR atUnion was easy. After returning from ninemonths at Riverside Farms in Zambiawhere he helped build nearly 90 churchesin the Southern Africa nation, Rohm knewwhat he wanted to do with his life. “I wantto spend my life overseas,” he said. “Iwould like to work in refugee camps andorphanages—somewhere with lots of peo-ple who need help.”

Union’s international and relief pro-gram provides the perfect preparation forsuch an endeavor by combining medical,survival and rescue training in a baccalau-reate degree emphasizing one of fourareas: paramedic, project development,pre-med or pre-physician assistant. The de-gree program includes a summer sessionlearning rescue techniques in Coloradoand a semester providing training andmedical care in under-served regions ofCentral America.

Packing light, Rohm embodied the survival spirit that IRR students learn dur-ing the course of their training. Carrying

only a tent, a sleeping bag, a couple ofchanges of clothes, an extra pair of bootsand his cell phone, Rohm stopped at gro-cery stores along the way to buy fixings forpeanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He oc-casionally splurged on some fruit or veg-etables. “It’s a lot cheaper than buying fastfood,” he said. At night, he left the roadand pitched his tent in a field. If hestopped in a town, he usually connectedwith local law enforcement to get permis-sion to camp in a city park. “Most werevery surprised, but very supportive,” hesaid. Public libraries provided a good placeto cool off, check e-mail and charge hiscell phone.

Rohm admitted he didn’t plan his routevery well in the beginning. “My dad waseager to help me plan,” he said. “Weplanned the first 200 miles to get methrough Oregon.” Originally intent on hik-ing through Wyoming, Michael changedroutes when he realized how far he’d haveto walk between towns. He opted formountainous Utah and Colorado instead.

Normally, the car trip from his home inCanby, Ore., to Lincoln is 1,600 miles. At17-25 miles per day, Rohm estimates thathe walked nearly 1,000 miles by the timehe reached Craig, a small town in north-western Colorado. He woke up early on aSaturday morning in order to attend wor-ship services at the local Seventh-day Ad-ventist church. “I always wanted to go tochurch on Sabbaths during my trip,” hesaid. “But a lot of times I ended up in atown with no church or in the middle ofnowhere.”

Rohm arrived shortly before the wor-ship service began and introduced himselfto the six people present that day. “Onelady asked me if I could do public speak-ing,” he remembered. “When I said yes,she asked me to give the sermon.”

After he spoke for 30 minutes about hisexperiences in Africa, the same woman in-vited him home for lunch. Afterwards, herhusband presented Michael with a gift. “Hegave me a bicycle,” said Rohm. “He fixed itup for me and got it going.”

Rohm made good time riding his bikeacross eastern Colorado and Nebraska—ar-riving in Lincoln three days before orienta-tion. “I accomplished what I set out todo—to meet people and see the country,”he said. “I know this experience will helpme in my studies because I had to learn tobe self-sufficient, creative and live in toughcircumstances—all things I will have to doin my IRR training.”

CAMPUS NEWS_____________________________

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CORDmagazine 7

Freshman walks to college in Nebraska … From Oregonby Ryan Teller

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Michael Rohm’s 55 pound pack carriedeverything he needed for the trip Union.

Michael Rohm, now a freshman interna-tional rescue and relief major at Union,encountered all types of terrain on histrip across the Western U.S., from thedesert of Eastern Oregon (right) to themountains of Colorado.

When he visited an Adventist church inCraig, Colo., one of the members gaveRohm a bike (right), greatly speeding upthe last third of the trip to Nebraska.

8 FALL 2010

CAMPUS NEWS_____________________________

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e blinks. He talks, moves and breathes.His heart beats, his pupils dilate. Hesweats, cries and even bleeds. But he’s noordinary patient. Sim-Man 3G, the latest inpatient simulator technology, has becomethe core element of Union College’s newmedical simulation laboratory for nursing,physician assistant and international rescueand relief students.

Today, many hospitals require appli-cants to pass a standard written test anddemonstrate application of their knowl-edge on a high-tech mannequin similar tothe 3G. By acquiring this technology,Union has the tools to better prepare stu-dents in medical fields for the fast-pacedand ever evolving job market.

In the past, students practiced on staticor low-fidelity mannequins. “Those man-nequins basically just lay there,” saidTheresa Flowers Stimson ’94, associateprofessor of nursing. “They may make asound, but over all, are not extremely use-ful.” Now, students fine-tune their skills, re-action and intuition about a patient’ssymptoms in a safe environment. Patientsymptoms not commonly seen during clin-ical rotations, such as cardiac or respiratorydistress, are easy to simulate on the 3G andallow students to better understand symp-toms and appropriate responses.

As students respond to the 3G’s symp-toms, a computer records each reaction. “Ifthe student administers a drug to him, it’srecorded,” explained Stimson. “If they takehis pulse, check his pupils, give him chestcompressions, basically whenever he istouched, it is recorded on our computer.This allows us to debrief when the sce-nario is complete, and helps the studentsunderstand what they did well and whatthey should do differently.”

Wireless operation frees the 3G formore realistic training. “We wanted to sim-ulate a scenario where a nurse might find apatient on the floor of their hospital room,”explained Stimson. “What would you do?What do you check? This would have beena difficult task with other mannequins, butit isn’t a problem with this one.”

The Sim-Man 3G is located in the newannex for the Division of Health Sciences.A $50,000 grant from the Abel Foundationlaunched the renovation of a campus stor-

age area into a high-tech simulation labora-tory. Purchasing the Sim-Man 3G wasmade possible through support from or-ganizations and private individuals includ-ing leadership gifts from Adventist HealthSystem, Marlyn (’58) and Sharon ’66Schwartz, Bruce Bacon ’49 and HanfordCommunity Medical Center.

Before purchasing the Sim-Man 3G, thenursing faculty carefully considered how tobest use the donors’ gifts to support boththeir curriculum and that of other fields ofstudy. “We chose the Sim-Man 3G becauseit is full of possibilities,” said Stimson. “It isan investment that will have lasting bene-fits, not only for nursing majors, but forphysician assistant and international rescueand relief students.” Union received one of the first 3G simula-tors ever shipped to the U.S. in October2009. In December, it officially moved intoits home in the newly renovated nursingannex on the north side of the Don LoveBuilding.

Teachers are currently working on in-corporating the simulator into their coursecurricula. Faculty members anticipate thistechnology will be used in all entry-levelnursing classes in the future.C

Union College installs high-tech medical simulation lab

HHby Tiffany Doss

SimMan 3G, the latest in patient simulator technology, gives teachers the ability to testnursing students’ responses to all types of medical emergencies.

nion College thanks for the follow-ing donors for making the Division ofHealth Sciences Annex and SimMan 3Gpossible.

Abel FoundationAdventist Health SystemBruce Bacon ’49Randy ’96 and Wendy Barnes ’99 BeckerPat Dunn Caviness ’59Doug ’83 and Carrie Mace ’85 GoetzHanford Community Medical CenterSharon Dahl Herbel ’ 57Margaret Maxwell Hyde ’53Dean ’52 and Trudy Degering ’52 JohnsonM D Schwartz EnterprisesJohn ’80 and Shannon Stegmaier Oien ’89Barbara Versaw Pogue ’50Rich ’69 and Lynnet DeRemer Reiner ’70Dennis ’76 and Patsy James ’76 ReinkeJames Reiswig (’53)Marlyn (’58) and Sharon Ericson ’66 SchwartzRuby ShieldsDale (’76) and Pamela Reiswig ’76 TimothyCelina Auber Westphal ’82Debi Yancer

Thank you

UU

CORDmagazine 9

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CAMPUS NEWS_____________________________

entered the Teaching Learning Center(TLC) ready to report on the department’snew life coaching service, and left with anewfound motivation for my own work.For more than 30 years, the TLC hashelped students overcome difficulties tosucceed in college—whether physical dis-abilities, learning differences or academicapathy.

I’m usually a good student, but I con-fess I sometimes fall into that final cate-gory. During the course of my interview,Debbie Forshee-Sweeney ’94 and ElizabethAnderson helped me change that.

For both Anderson and Forshee-Sweeney, life coaching certification fromthe International Coaching Federation isonly one of many qualifications they hold.Both are experienced academic coachesand tutors and are trained in disability testing.

As a social work graduate from UnionCollege, Forshee-Sweeney has a particularinterest in the success of the TLC. She laterattended the University of Nebraska-Lin-coln and earned her master’s degree in ed-ucation administration with emphases inhigher education and special education. In2001, she returned to Union to earn an ed-ucation degree and was offered the job asTLC director. Jennifer Forbes, the formerdirector, had been impressed by Forshee-Sweeney throughout the years and wascertain she would be an asset for the pro-gram.

Anderson’s path to the TLC startedwhen Forbes spoke at her church aboutUnion’s learning programs. She was im-pressed with the strategies and assistanceoffered and later applied for a position.With a degree in speech-language pathol-ogy and audiology and a master’s in spe-cial education, Anderson has been a vitalpart of TLC for the past 13 years.

The power of life coaching is most eas-ily understood by experiencing it, so dur-ing the course of my interview,Foreshee-Sweeney led me through a mocksession. It turned serious when I divulgedmy apathy toward writing a 2,000-wordpaper that was due the next day.

“What do you want to get by complet-ing this task?” Forshee-Sweeney asked.

“A good grade,” I replied.

She looked at me skeptically, and witha shake of her head and a raised eyebrow,she leaned in, “Really?”

I sighed. “No, I have to complete thepaper in order to prove myself competent.”Smiling, she relaxed in her chair. With twosimple questions we had discovered thereal goal and the drive that would allowme to finish the assignment. She began jot-ting down a list of what I felt was neces-sary in order to achieve my goal. Thepaper became filled with words and linesas she pointed me in a new direction.Then, we discussed what I could realisti-cally accomplish in the allotted time.

She sent me out the door confident inmy new action plan: eat supper, go to thelibrary, eliminate distractions by turning offthe Internet on my laptop, type for anhour, then take a ten-minute break, repeat.The plan was simple, but having addressed

the issue and knowing why I needed to ac-complish the dreaded task made all the difference.

The first coaching session covers goalsand an action plan best suitable for the stu-dent’s personality. Campus Tool Kit, an on-line assessment program, is then used tomonitor stress, personality, learning andcommunication styles, which help indicatean individual’s strengths and weaknesses.This assessment is taken at the beginning

and again near the end of a student’s workwith a coach to gauge improvements.

Life coaching differs from counselingby sorting out information a person alreadyknows, rarely focusing on the ‘why’ behinda problem. It concentrates on asking theright questions, which leads students to asolution and action steps on their own.

According to their research, Forshee-Sweeney and Anderson are the only on-campus academic coaches in the nationwho are also life coaches. Many higher ed-ucation facilities hire outside marketingcompanies to do life coaching on theircampuses.

“Our students are so important to usand we both want to be better coaches forthem,” said Forshee-Sweeney. “After work-ing here for so long it felt like we were stillmissing something. We think life coachingwill help bridge that gap and allow us to

better prepare them.”“Life coaching will help us to better

focus our efforts on the needs of our stu-dents,” said Anderson. “Our training has al-ready helped us ask better questions andcreate more effective action plans that steerthe student in a clearer direction. Everyoneshould have the opportunity to achieve hisor her goals and we hope to continue giv-ing insight and support to accomplishthem.”C

Union College Teaching Learning Center offers life coaching

II

Debbie Forshee-Sweeney, director of Union’s Teaching Learning Center, now offers lifecoaching to students and employees (with Emily Carlson ’10).

by Tiffany Doss

10WINTER 2010

Called to Serve:Union’s Physician Assistant

Program Emphasizesthe Ministryof Healing

by Lauren Bongard Schwarz ’04

CORDmagazine 11

his spring marked the tenthclass to graduate from Union’s physician assistant (PA)

program, and the fourth to completethe program with master’s degrees.And while the program has alwayshad a reputation for turning outhighly-qualified health profession-als, recent classes have proven theprogram keeps getting stronger. Infour of the past five years, 100 per-cent of graduates passed the Physi-cian Assistant National CertifyingExamination on their first attempt.So it’s no surprise that Union Col-lege’s PAs are in high demand.

“Teaching responsible servant-hood is our foremost goal, and ourgraduates are taking that into thefield in a way that makes them standout from their peers,” explainedMike Huckabee, Union College’s PAprogram director. “Employers recog-nize that, and some even contactour program to list their jobs amongthe new PA graduates. They wantour graduates because they show compassionate integrity thatgoes beyond what they normally see in the profession.” In fact,100 percent of Union’s PA graduates have jobs within just threemonths of graduation.

In 2010, the PA program earned the maximum seven-year ac-creditation from the Accreditation Review Commission on Edu-cation for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA), the national PAaccreditation association. This is an exceptional honor, as lessthan 10 percent of the schools who earned continuing accredita-tion from 2004-2008 were awarded the maximum seven-yearterm. “These numbers show the real accomplishments of ourgraduates, the hard work and effortthey put in and the training our pro-gram gives them,” Huckabee said.

Union’s physician assistant stu-dents’ emphasis on compassion andskill has also earned recognitionfrom the National Health ServicesCorps (NHSC). The NHSC scholarship is a highly sought-aftergovernment program which pays tuition and living expenses inexchange for students’ commitment to serve in a high-need areathat has a shortage of health professionals. Six Union Collegephysician assistant students have earned this coveted scholarship,including graduates Larry Sluiter ’08 and Roberta Yoshimura ’04.

While the NHSC is a federal program available to medical,dental, nurse practitioner and physician assistant students at ac-credited public and private colleges and universities throughoutthe United States, their emphasis on compassionate care for the

underserved fits right in with UnionCollege’s physician assistant pro-gram’s goals. “We teach our wholecurriculum from a Christian view-point,” emphasized Huckabee. “Weengage scripture and we focus onthe life of Christ. His was a ministryof healing, and we understand thatthe Bible teaches us how to re-spond when we approach life anddeath. It’s a holistic approach andwe feel our students and their futurepatients are best served becausethey’re called to make a difference.They’re called to serve God andman.”

A Burden for RuralHealth Care

Larry Sluiter, a 2008 Union Col-lege PA Program graduate, currentlyserves in Onida, South Dakota. Heis the only full-time health profes-sional serving Sully County, andwith the closest hospital more than35 miles away, his small clinic pro-

vides vital services to the more than 700 local residents.Sluiter began his career as a medical technologist in southeast

Kentucky and in Michigan. While in Michigan, the hospitalSluiter worked at was closed down because of budgetary con-straints. “I got to see firsthand what hardships come to communi-ties that are robbed of health care,” he says. “That really left animpression on me and I saw what the lack of health facilitiesdoes to the community and what great need there is for healthcare in underserved communities.”

Colleagues encouraged Sluiter to grow his medical expertiseand become a physician assistant, and he found a home at

Union. “I had been working in themedical field since 1985, so I had abroad clinical knowledge base. Italked with Mike Huckabee, the pro-gram director, and found that UnionCollege has a passion to find physi-cian assistant candidates who have

unique talents and well-rounded experience in the health carefield. I chose Union because their philosophy was in line withwhat I wanted to incorporate with my personal beliefs and pro-fessional background.”

His years of experience in the medical field and his training atUnion give Sluiter the ability to effectively practice in an area ig-nored by other health professionals. “I’ve always had a burdenfor rural health care,” he said. “My beliefs prompted me to turndown job offers from larger health care centers and accept thisposition at a stand-alone clinic in a small town that had a great

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Larry Sluiter ’08, a recipient of the NHSC scholarship, nowruns a medical clinic in the small town of Onida, S. D.

Compassionate service and clinical relevance. This is the spirit of health care embodiedby the more than 240 graduates of the Union College Physician Assistant Program nowserving in the United States and beyond.

One hundred percent of Union’sPA graduates have jobs within

just three months of graduation.

One hundred percent of Union’sPA graduates have jobs within

just three months of graduation.

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need for medical professionals.”Sluiter has found that serving a community so far from the

bright lights of large cities is filled with opportunity. He ex-plained, “It’s rewarding and challenging, and I wouldn’t have itany other way. There’s a real importance to my being here, andI’m constantly growing as a professional. I’ve even seen rare situ-ations that rival those at large hospitals.” Along with routinecheckups at his mainly family practice, Sluiter treats accident vic-tims from farms, performs basic lab tests and X-rays, completesphysicals for truck drivers and deals with internal medicine is-sues. He’s even had a patient who, after several months of col-laborative study with four different neurologic clinics, wasdiagnosed with a debilitating syndrome on the National Institutesof Health’s list of rare diseases.

He’s grateful for the NHSC loan repayment scholarship whichhas rewarded him for practicing in an area of great need, but fi-nancial rewards aren’t what drive Sluiter’s commitment to serv-ice. “Medicine is not a career but a calling,” he affirmed. “It takesan internal drive and personal devotion to practice medicine inareas that some consider not worth the financial payback or re-gard as having a lower quality of existence. For me, being aphysician assistant is all about giving back and being there forthe people that need you most.”

A Cyclical JourneyTacoma, Wash., may not be a place you’d expect to find a

medically underserved population. But there in the immigrationdetention center, thousands of detainees rely on just a handful ofhealth care professionals to diagnose, treat and prevent illnesses.

Roberta Yoshimura’s journey started in 1998 during her three-month medical assistant externship in a small village inGuatemala, where she helped two young doctors treat the localpopulation. At the doctors’ urging, she decided to go back toschool to become a physician assistant; and after graduating fromUnion, Yoshimura accepted a position treating migrant farmworkers in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Later, when she sawthe call for a female physician assistant who spoke Spanish toscreen and treat female detainees at the immigration detentioncenter in Tacoma, Yoshimura knew it was a natural fit.

Yoshimura’s career has afforded her the unique opportunityto see the cyclical journeys of many patients. “I started in thatpoor village in Guatemala, and I saw how the people had littleaccess to health care and jobs. Many of my female patients toldme their husbands had come to the United States to work, and Isaw why firsthand. They’re desperate, their children are dying ofpreventable diseases and infections, and they need a way to feedtheir families,” she explained. Then, as a new PA in California,

Yoshimura treated migrant day laborers and field workers. “Itwas hard, intensive labor, and they suffered from disease and ill-ness, but they were proud to do the work,” she remembered.

Now, in the immigration detention center, Yoshimura treatspatients on the final leg of their journey, as they are sent back totheir home countries. “They often say to me, ‘I don’t know how Iwill feed my family now.’ I see their despair, and I truly under-stand where they’re coming from because I’ve been to the placemany of them come from,” she said. “It’s a government facility,so I can’t give them Christian counseling, but I can reassure themthat they’re going to get through because God has a plan forthem, and I pray for them every day.”

The NHSC strives to identify and reward heath care profes-sionals who are dedicated to service and are willing to work inunderserved areas, providing health care to those who need itmost. Yoshimura embodies that spirit. “I’m a Christian and mydesire is to serve others. That’s why I served in Guatemala, de-cided to become a PA, and why I’m still serving in underservedareas,” she says. “From my original interview at Union Collegewhere I told them my goals until now, and for as long as I cansee into the future, I have been and will be serving the under-served.”C

NHSC scholarship recipient Roberta Yoshimura ’04 now treatspatients at an immigration detention center in Washington.

nion College’s physician assistant pro-gram will receive a $792,000 grant fromthe U.S. Department of Health andHuman Services, which will be used toaward scholarships to new PA studentsover the next four years.

Each year, between 2011 and 2015,the grant will fund five scholarships fornew Union PA students. These $22,000

scholarships will cover tuition and otherexpenses and can be renewed for a sec-ond year. This funding will help expandthe program by five additional slots to aclass of 30 by the 2011-12 school year.

As part of the Affordable Care Act,congress set aside $30 million for a five-year initiative to fund the training of morethan 700 PAs pursuing a career in primary

care medicine. Union is one of only 28 PAprograms in the nation to receive thisaward.

“Having Union College’s grant appli-cation chosen for this award emphasizesthe strength of our program,” stated MikeHuckabee, PA program director. “We arevery excited about what this means forthe program’s future.”

Union College PA program receives $792,000 grant

UUby Tiffany Doss

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hy would you want to come to the reserva-

tion?” the old man asked in surprise.The question haunted Shane

Merchant, now in his first year ofphysician assistant studies at UnionCollege. As he helped treat the re-tired Winnebago man at the reserva-tion clinic, Merchant shared hisdream of becoming a physician as-sistant and serving on the reserva-tions in Nebraska and South Dakota.

“I want to help your people,” hereplied. “But I don’t know if I canmake a difference.”

“When you throw a rock into alake, it makes a ripple,” the old mansmiled. “And that ripple makes a dif-ference.”

More than 20 years after graduat-ing from Norfolk High School, Mer-chant enrolled in college for the firsttime, intent on becoming a physi-cian assistant to provide primarymedical care services in rural Ne-braska. “I could see the lack of ade-quate health care providers in ruralareas.” he said. “That’s why I de-cided to become a PA.”

Finding a home atUnion

Union College’s graduate pro-gram in physician assistant studiesproved to be the perfect fit. Mer-chant earned a degree in medicaltechnology from the University ofSouth Dakota, and he intended tocontinue his training there. Butwhile visiting other nearby PA pro-grams, he found a home at Union.

“I wanted to come to Union be-cause of their involvement in the community,” he said. “Helpingthose in need is part of their philosophy.” From giving seminarson sexually transmitted infections at local high schools to staffinga foot clinic for Lincoln’s homeless citizens, Union’s faculty findmany ways for Merchant and his fellow PA students to sharpentheir skills by serving the people of Lincoln.

But as a non-traditional studentfrom rural Nebraska, Merchantalso appreciates Union’s smallclass sizes, personal attention andChristian atmosphere. “At Union, Ican see the important role thatfaith plays in healing,” he ex-plained. “And the professors andstudents are like a family. I felt likethey would do anything for me—and they have.”

A passion to serveSince putting off his dream of a

degree in medical technology afterhigh school to join the army, med-icine has been in Merchant’sblood. Maybe not literally, butduring his time as an airborne mil-itary police officer, Merchant usedhis emergency medical techniciantraining to volunteer at the baseclinics in his free time. When aparachuting accident forced himout of the army, he continued touse his skills to serve as a first re-sponder in the steel mill and trailerfactory where he worked for sev-eral years.

Merchant also joined the vol-unteer rescue squad based nearhis home in Randolph, Neb. Nowthat he studies in Lincoln, hemakes the nearly four-hour drivehome each weekend to see hiswife and three sons, but also con-tinues to volunteer on the rescuesquad. “I feel everyone shouldgive back to their community insome way,” he said. “My commu-nity has given a lot to me and thisis one way I can give back.”

Merchant’s career goal came into focus after he began shad-owing PAs and volunteering at clinics on several reservationswhile studying at USD. “I have seen American Indians suffer somany injustices and live in appalling conditions,” he said. “As aPA, will I be able to change that? Probably not. But I can make adifference in their health, one person at a time.”C

PA student plans career of service

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Shane Merchant, in his first year of Union’s PA program,plans to use his medical knowledge to serve on the Ameri-can Indian reservations of Nebraska and South Dakota.

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by Ryan Teller

Mission: HaitiFour Union College team members reflect on what they saw and what they learned while aiding the relief effort in Haiti following January’sdevastating earthquake.

14 FALL 2010

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Jason Warren checks a patient at a mobile clinic.

Brittany Nunez helped at the Adventist hospital.

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teaM 1:

arrived January 18

arah Sexton, now a senior international rescue and reliefmajor, along with three other students and an instructor, arrivedin Haiti on January 18, less than one week after the devastatingearthquake rattled the already impoverished nation.

“The whole house collapsed on top of my family. My only sonwas crushed by a slab of concrete while we tried to get to him.My nephew has been trapped for a week under the rubble. Canyou save him?”

I blinked under the hot sun and focused on the woman stand-ing in front of me. Seven days earlier, the catastrophic 7.0 earth-quake hit Haiti and I was still trying to process the idea that I wasstanding in Port-au-Prince surroundedby building rubble, dead bodies andchaos.

When we saw the images from thedecimated country on the news, manyinternational rescue and relief majorswanted to go help. We were told ourprogram directors were in contactwith ACTS World Relief, an organiza-tion that Union had partnered with inpast domestic disaster relief opera-tions, but it might be up to a monthbefore the arrangements were madeto send students into Haiti. But thenext evening the phone rang.“Sarah, you speak French, right?”my instructor asked. “Can you beready to leave for Haiti by Sunday?”

In a whirlwind of a few days, Ifound myself on a plane headed toFlorida with three fellow studentsand one of our directors. We weretold we would fly into Haiti withthe first team from ACTS WorldRelief to scout out the possible lo-cations and work out logistics toset up a base of operation for fu-ture relief teams. That soundedpretty doable, and I felt some-what capable despite the appre-hension of arriving at such alarge-scale disaster. En route to Florida,however, we received another surprise call—“You packed yourrescue gear and equipment, right?”

We were asked to investigate the many reports of peoplestill trapped in buildings. I haven’t been trained in searchand rescue yet! I thought, my confidence now shaken. Wedidn’t bring any equipment! These are real lives we’ll bedealing with!

After jumping through a million hoops in Florida tryingto get rescue gear and flights to Port-au-Prince, our smallteam, with a group of doctors and surgeons, boarded aprivate jet bound for Haiti—the second plane charted byACTS. Soon we circled the city, but waited hours for clear-

ance to land amid the many other planes flying about. We finallytouched down just after dark but found less-than-ideal accommo-dations. We didn’t dare stay in the earthquake-damaged terminal,and we could not leave because of a citywide curfew, so we slepton the tarmac that night.

Most of us got a decent night’s rest in spite of the giant militarytransports planes taxiing a mere 25 feet away. In the morning, werumbled through the streets of Port-au-Prince toward the Adven-tist Hospital of Haiti in the back of a dump truck, led by a UnitedNations security truck. The sights, sounds, and smells in Port-au-Prince brought back memories of the year I spent in Africa, work-ing at a remote Adventist hospital. During my time in Chad, Ilived in much of the same conditions I now observed around me.And it was in Africa that I learned some French—a skill that be-came so valuable in a few short hours.

As we rolled into the hospital compound, the ACTS directorran through the chaos to our truck, yelling, “Good you’re finally

here! We have reports of people still alive that are stuck.You need to gather your gearand head out immediately!”

Within the hour, the five ofus tromped through the citywith a K9 rescue team, a surgi-cal team to help with extrica-tion, and more than a hundredlocals, eager to be our man-power. First, we were led to acollapsed school and restau-rant. We found no entry into therubble or any signs of life. Afterinterviewing the neighborsmore extensively, we discoveredthe noises they heard from thebuilding had ceased a few daysearlier.

An employee from the Adven-tist hospital pleaded with us tocome to her flattened home. Aswe packed up our gear and fol-lowed her, she explained hereight-year-old nephew was stilltrapped alive somewhere under-neath. He had been communicat-ing with them for most of theweek, describing the locations ofseveral other victims, which thefamily had located. The boy hadsurvived so long by drinking waterfrom a leaking pipe that was drip-ping on him, but the last time she’d

heard him make noises was just the night before. We sent thesearch and rescue dog, Zeus, to scope out the area. Trained todistinguish between live and dead victims, he soon circled thearea where the boy was thought to be, and promptly lay down.We sadly explained to the lady that he was signaling there was adead body there. Despite her grief, she thanked us profusely forgiving her peace in knowing he no longer suffered.

The rest of the day, we wandered around the city answeringmore calls for help, but we soon realized that most were just hop-ing someone was still alive.

As we drug into the hospital that evening, down from a long

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The first team to arrive in Haiti: John Thomas, GingerHany, Jeff Schall, Justin Woods and Sarah Sexton.

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day with no happy endings, we were immediately engulfed bythe chaos of the courtyard. Patients lay everywhere and doctorsshouted orders left and right. We soon joined the fray, startingIVs, bandaging wounds, organizing supplies and whatever elsethe doctors needed.

They told us the airport had been shut down right after ourteam arrived, so none of the nurses made it. We decided to stay atthe hospital—they clearly needed all they help they could get. Itfelt like back home in Africa—speaking French with the patients,triaging all the inflow of injured people, learning to splint themyriad of broken bones, assisting in surgeries, scrubbing surgicaltools and just filling in wherever needed over the next five days.

Aftershocks regularly rattled the hospital, including the news-making 6.0 rumble that woke us up early one morning, jolting thehospital back and forth like a rocking horse. The ACTS directorcame to us once again, tasking us as the only ones with any tech-nical experience, to evaluate the structural integrity of the hospi-tal after each earthquake. As I walked around with my notebook,rating the cracks that started appearing in the walls, I faced thethought that hounded me constantly, I’m not trained to do this!

But as I lay on the hospital floor each night waiting for sleepto overtake me, I realized even if we weren’t trained to do thesespecific things like inspect damaged buildings for structural dam-age, we have been taught qualities that became so important in adisaster situation. We have been taught to be flexible, how to dealwith stressful situations both physically and emotionally, how tosurvive in tough situations, how to support of each other and,most importantly, how to intently care about the lives around us.But ultimately, there is no training like just being there and doing it.

I would not trade this experience for anything. Heartache sur-rounded us in Haiti, but so did smiles, goodness and miracles. AsI worried about the patients I helped treat, I reminded myself thatGod cares for each of them individually so much morethan I ever could and I must trust He will work fortheir best. Haiti reaffirmed my trust in a God that isgood. Now I excitedly look forward to the future whenI can be involved in long-term disaster relief and med-ical mission work.

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arrived January 28

avid Skau, senior pre-med/international rescue and re-lief major, traveled to Haiti with three fellow students andtwo recent IRR graduates. They arrived in Port-au-Prince onJanuary 28 and stayed for five days.

A week and a half after the earth (mostly) stopped shakingPort-au-Prince, I received the news. “You have been selected forthe second IRR response team,” my instructor reported.

The first team had returned with stories of an intense weekspent keeping the Adventist hospital in Port-au-Prince running.Their training had been stretched by constant urgent needs: steril-izing surgical instruments, keeping IVs running and woundsclean, assessing the building’s safety after the frequent after-shocks and many other skills learned on the spot. I knew my experience would be different, but I expected to be similarly

stretched and needed.God’s plans definitely

stretched me, but in ways Icertainly did not antici-pate. Despite the chal-lenges, my team helpedtreat more than a thou-sand patients in mobileclinics. We also organizeda pharmacy depot tohold all the donatedmedications.

But we were askedto tackle a much morechallenging task. Fortwo days we dugthrough a flattenedmulti-story apartmentbuilding looking forbodies—sometimeswith the aid of heavyequipment—--but mostly with our bare hands.It’s hard to feel useful when so many living people need help, butthe four bodies we uncovered helped bring closure to grievingfamilies.

Back at Union, I wrestled with the overwhelming feeling that Ihad done very little—unsure if my service there was worth theexpense and effort of the trip. Thousands of patients still clam-ored for a chance to see a doctor. If no one else took up the taskof organizing the pharmacy, the volume of in-coming unsorted donationswould soon re-

turn thesmall room to a state of

utter chaos. And what difference did un-covering four bodies make in a city where hundreds of

thousands died?The black cloud surrounded me through my first two days

back in class. The realities of catching up on more than a week ofschoolwork kept me busy, but the thoughts still poked through.The second night home was Wednesday, when my friends usu-ally hold a Bible study in an apartment near campus.

“I know how busy you are,” I could hear God saying. “I know

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Senior David Skau joined Union’ssecond team (with Brittany Nunez).

David Skau took notes on the assignments for the day.

CORDmagazine 17

about the makeup work and the tests coming up over materialyou missed. But I also know you need to go to Bible study.”

The text for that night was Philippians 2:4-8

“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very natureGod, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled him-self and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!”

Then it hit me. Jesus didn’t come to this earth saying, “I’ll onlydo it if one thousand will repent.” He would have come, lived,suffered and died for just one. And if that was good enough forHim, then I don’t have to change the world either. It is enough toreflect a little of His love to even one of His hurting chil-dren. And with that, I had peace.

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arrived february 11

oug Gatz graduated with a degree in internationalrescue and relief in 2009. He traveled with Union’s thirdteam to Haiti, which arrived in Port-au-Prince on February11. While the team spent only a week in Haiti, Doug stayedon for a total of six weeks at the medical clinic.

Normally, I live in a world that revolves around me. I livelife oblivious to most of what happens around me—ofteneven God’s attempts to reach into my world. But He used myexperience in Haiti to get my atten-tion. I first found out about theearthquake on January 13 afteremerging from a sea of NCLEX(registered nurse certification)study questions I had been livingin. After reading more than 200Facebook status updates aboutHaiti, I wanted to be one of thosepeople who say, “My heart wentout to those people and I knew Ihad to do something.” But truth-fully, I read some news articlesabout the earthquake and wentback to studying for the NCLEX testscheduled in three weeks.

But the next day my phonerang. “So when are we going toHaiti,” asked one my fellow IRRgraduates. “How can we get downthere?” I am glad God doesn’t needor ask for perfection, just willing-ness, because on February 11, I,along with the rest of the thirdUnion College relief team, set footin Port-au-Prince.

Exhausted, we fell into bed after a flight into the DominicanRepublic and a six-hour bus ride into Haiti. But around 4 a.m. wefelt the rain, even inside the large, green, MASH-type army tentwhere we slept. Nobody got any more sleep after that. Note to fu-ture travelers: when you decide to get involved in a disaster re-sponse, pack a Ziploc plastic bag with at least one pair of dryclothes, some earplugs and more than a pound of flexibility (forall those around you).

The next morning I met the medical group at a clinic that hadbeen set up by ACTS World Relief and Operation Hope for theChildren of Haiti, a local non-governmental aid organization. Theclinic had been seeing around six hundred people a day, not in-cluding mobile clinics that operated throughout the city whenthey had enough staffing. By this time, the medical staff had tran-sitioned to providing more primary care instead of the acute in-juries treated in the two weeks immediately following the

earthquake. I had recently be-

come a registerednurse, but did not havea job waiting for me athome, so I stayed inPort-au-Prince andworked as a medicalprovider after theUnion College groupreturned to Lincoln.When I first arrived inHaiti, one of theworkers told me thatthe physical (temper-ature, sleepingarrangements, etc.)and mental strainmade an eight-hourday working in themedical clinic feel

more like a 12-hourday back home. I found this to betrue. Along with the fatigue, I beganto struggle with the idea that wewere not doing enough. It is hard towork all day and know that beyondthe 600 people you helped are thou-sands or maybe millions more.After working on the medical stafffor a few weeks, I transitioned to alogistical role (I guess people sawme as a “veteran” or “old-timer”) tosupport all the volunteers. Godbrought some amazing volunteersthrough the clinic during my sixweeks in Haiti—people from everybackground and belief. A fewproved to be answers to prayer byproviding both perspective and anoutlet to share the joy andheartaches of the job. But I considereach of them my friends.

One of the grief counselors told astory that has stuck with me. He

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spoke with a father who had been holding his young son in hislap when the earthquake hit. The wall of their house had fallenon top of them, pinning the man’s arms and legs and his sonagainst his lap. Over the next several days, he felt his son slowlystop moving, stop crying and eventually die. “How could youpossibly understand what I went through?” the father questionedthe counselor. “How can this ever get better?”

“I don’t know,” replied the counselor with tears in his eyes.“But I know Someone who does.” He told the grieving fatherabout how God had watched His son die, and He understands.

Some may think the counselor’s response trite, but to a manwho had lost everything, it was hope. In the midst of over-whelming suffering, we often miss the miracles. Each morningI woke up to the singing voices of the locals as I prepared fora long day of treating hundreds of hurting people. We drovepast the rubble of a church and saw a thousand people hav-ing a vibrant worship service. You can’t help but be changedby the spirit and resilience of people who have lost so much.

I am still processing my experience in Haiti and how ithas impacted my life. The truth is, I have never come back un-changed from a service trip. But as time goes by, it is so easy tolose perspective and go back to thinking the universe revolvesaround me. When that happens, though, God always sendssomething along to help me remember—such as writing this story.

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arrived MarcH 11

athy Bollinger ’71, associate professor of education, traveledto Haiti with the fourth Union College team to serve the devas-tated country. Originally planned as a mission trip to Belize, thespring break trip allowed more students to go without missingclasses. A total of 34 students, employees and medical profession-als departed on March 11 and spent a week working in hospitals,medical clinics and playing with the children. Bollinger and twoelementary education students joined the team to care for chil-dren while their families sought medical attention.

Our bags chock full of crafts and other activity supplies forchildren, two education majors and I disembarked with the med-ical team in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, ready to play school with hun-dreds of young earthquake victims. I quickly discovered laughsand giggles sound the same in Creole as they do in English, a hugtakes your breath away in any language and all little boys andgirls love to have fun.

We spent most days sitting under a shade tree cutting, pasting,weaving, coloring, gluing, playing and singing while Haitianmoms and dads stood in line to be treated at one of the medical clinics staffed by Union College volunteers. I was amazed that

amidthe chaos ruling the lives of somany, the children always acted with gentleness and politeness.The older siblings carefully tended to younger ones’ needs—helping them create little novelties with our stickers, cups, pipecleaners and paper. I loved how the children smiled and sweetlysnuggled up to me, their tiny arms stretching around my waistwhile shy grins danced across their faces. We quickly discovereda game of London Bridge causes shrieks of laughter and tennisballs can provide just as much entertainment on hardened clayroads as they do on manicured tennis courts.

The children focused with a joyful vengeance on the “school-work” we brought for them—coloring, weaving, designing andcreating—and then proudly displayed their creations to anyonewho stopped to look. The pride in their eyes as they surveyedtheir masterpieces was a gift to me as paint-covered hands giftedparents with newly created items of beauty.

Children are God’s gift to us—similar in every culture—want-ing to love and be loved. Little Sebastian, a fixture around thehospital compound after losing his leg in the earthquake, snug-gled up to me after completing one of the activities. “Thank you,teacher,” he beamed as he proudly showed me one of his worksof art.

We gave out lots of clothing and toys to the children. After re-ceiving a gift, one little boy hugged me and we danced and danceda little jig and laughed and laughed. That moment was one of pure,whimsical joy. Each evening I lay on the ground under the shelterof a gigantic army tent, wrapped in my sleeping bag surrounded bytwenty (or more) fellow travelers, each processing his or her ownmemories of the day. I knew this was where God wanted me atthat moment, and though I probably didn’t change lives of thesechildren forever, I did for that one day.C

Kathy Bollinger, an education professor, joined the fourth team.

he first three trips to Haiti were fi-nanced entirely by gifts from alumni andfriends of Union College, who donatedmore than $26,000 to pay for travel, foodand supplies.

Originally planned as a mission trip toBelize over spring break, the fourth tripto Haiti cost each participant $1,500. Moststudents raised the money from churches,family and friends, who gave nearly$43,000.

Thank you to each of you who

helped support these disaster relief trips.If you would like to provide funds soUnion’s international rescue and reliefstudents can continue to respond to dis-asters, please contact the AdvancementOffice at 402.486.2503 or p www.ucol-lege.edu/advancement

Financing the Trips

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s a dental hygienist, Julie Collett ’81loves teeth—or at least working

on them. Now, as director of Kids InNeed of Dentistry (KIND), a Coloradonot-for-profit organization that providesdental work for children who can’t affordit, she has found her life calling.

“I was making one of my first presen-tations as executive director, and a promi-nent businesswoman interrupted me withtears in her eyes,” Collett remembered.“The woman said, ‘I know all aboutKIND. KIND is the reason my son cansmile.’”

Twelve years before, the woman andher husband were out of work and livingwith her parents. A friend gave them tick-ets to an amusement park so they couldhave a family outing, but the fun endedwhen her little boy tripped and broke hisfront tooth.

“She didn’t have insurance and shecouldn’t afford to pay,” said Collett. “Shewent online to find someplace she couldafford. That’s when she found us.” Thenext day her son had an appointment,and the tooth was fixed within a week.Collett was surprised to hear the 18-year-old remembered the help he receivedand had asked his mother to thank her.

These experiences make Collettthankful she chose this path. While at-tending high school in Nebraska, shecouldn’t decide whether to study dentalhygiene or nutrition, so she sought advice from a guidance coun-selor. “She told me if I went into nutrition I would be stuck in thebasement of hospitals,” said Collett, “right then I decided dentalhygiene was for me and I never looked back.”

Collette graduated from Union College in 1981 with an associ-ate’s degree in health science and then went to dental hygieneschool in Pueblo, Colo. While working as a dental practitioner in

Colorado, one of her friends asked Collettto fill an opening in KIND’s ChopperTopper Program.

“My favorite part is the kids,” Collettsaid about the program, which workswith elementary schools to place sealantson the molars of second graders. “I got tobe their best friend for the week. Theyare all so sweet, I’m glad I could dosomething that helped them and their future.”

Collett worked for KIND for two and ahalf years before taking a break to learnmore about the not-for-profit world as exec-utive director of the Alumni Awards Founda-tion, an organization dedicated to raisingfunds to support Adventist education.

In 2007, Collett returned to KIND,which at the time had a $250,000 deficit.The auditor told the board it would takethe organization three to four years toturn the deficit around. As executive di-rector, Collett did it in nine months.

Now that the organization is on solidfinancial footing, Collett has ambitiousgoals for the future. She wants to expandKIND’s current services and ultimatelybecome the dental provider for all theschool systems in the metro Denver area.“I know right now it is not possible tohelp everybody,” Collett said. “But I alsodidn’t think it was possible to turn a$250,000 deficit around in less than tenmonths. We can do anything we can

imagine with the right help.”Collett ultimately found fulfillment in life through serving oth-

ers. “I love my job,” she said. “These last few years have been re-warding. I can go home at night knowing this organization makesa difference in the lives of children. The best part of this job is thatit combines both of my passions: dentistry and philanthropy.” C

Her KIND of service

by Michelle Current

A

Julie Collett ’81 runs Kids in Need of Dentistry,which provides dental care for children in theDenver area (including the mobile clinic below).

ids In Need of Dentistry was started in 1912 by a group ofdentists who saw a need for dental care among the low-incomeminer’s and railroader’s children in Colorado. Today KIND hasthree dental clinics: two in the metro Denver area and one inColorado Springs and a wide range of services for kids.

The Chopper Topper Program works with elementary

schools to place sealant on the molars of second graders. Den-tal hygienists do oral health education, dental screenings andplace sealants. This program targets second graders, because astheir first molars erupt, the sealant helps prevent cavities.

Miles for Smiles is a 36-foot dental clinic on wheels. The busspends a month at a time at Denver’s clinics for low-incomefamilies, making it easy for people to take advantage of bothservices.

KKids in Need of Dentistry

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20 FALL 2010

By Brenda Forbes Dickerson ’86

ounded warrior, you are now on U.S. soil. You aresafe!” These are the first words injured soldiers hear when they arrive at Landstuhl Medical Center in Ger-

many. And volunteer trauma surgeon Dr. Reg Burton ’83 fromLincoln, Neb., is helping make those words a reality.

Patching up the woundedIn February Burton traveled to Landstuhl Regional Medical

Center, the largest American hospital outside the continentalUnited States. Located in northern Germany, Landstuhl is wherewounded soldiers from Operation Enduring Freedom and Oper-ation Iraqi Freedom come for medical care within 24-36 hours ofbeing injured. The American College of Surgeons coordinateswith the military and the American Association of SurgicalTrauma to provide the Visiting Distinguished Surgeons program.Their role is twofold: to assist military surgeons with current sur-geries and to present continuing education lectures. The perma-nent staff coordinating the operations at Landstuhl arespecialists, but the doctors actually performing the surgeries aregeneral surgeons deployed short term. Every three months thereis a whole new team, requiring a continual process of education.

“It was an outstanding experience—a real honor—for me tobe able to go to Landstuhl,” Burton said. “Most trauma cases inthe U.S. are someone driving recklessly, getting drunk and jump-ing off a balcony or doing high-risk sports. But these guysweren’t doing anything except protecting me and my country.It’s a totally different feel.”

During his two-week stay Burton received a “wounded war-riors” military coin from the commander of the base for saving the life of a soldier who couldn’t breathe.

In July Burton returned to Landstuhl in response to an urgentcall for help. July was the highest month to date for casualtiesfrom the war in Afghanistan. Because of an increase in the use ofexplosives by the Taliban, many U.S. soldiers suffered severe in-juries to the lower body, often losing one or both legs.

Burton stayed another two weeks to help treat the increasednumber of wounded soldiers at the hospital before returning toLincoln.

Constant trauma isn’t easyThe high stress world of trauma surgery often burns out the

faint of heart. But amid the constant pressure, Burton enjoys hiswork and finds time to share his talents across Nebraska, not justaround the world.

Since 2002, Dr. Burton has been the director at the Traumaand Surgical Critical Care Center for BryanLGH Medical Center inLincoln. He serves as the Region 2 trauma director in the Ne-braska Statewide Trauma System, chair of the NebraskaStatewide Trauma Performance Improvement Committee (andauthor of their training workshop materials) and chair of theRural Trauma Committee for the American College of Surgeons.Burton also helps train young surgeons as a clinical associateprofessor of surgery at the University of Nebraska.

As director of the Trauma Center, Burton constantly workswith patients who are dying or in critical condition. When peo-ple ask how he maintains a positive attitude in such an environ-ment, Burton replies that the key is focusing on performanceimprovements. “We always seek ways to do things better andfaster. We look for new research to improve methods so we cansave the next person.”

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Getting trauma victims tomedical facilities morequickly is one of Burton’s ob-jectives. Every Thursday histeam conducts “Trauma onthe Road” training events inoutlying communities toteach medical staff how theirpre-hospital services can bedone more efficiently. Dr.Burton also teaches traumacare workshops across thecountry. “I’m on the roadquite a bit on national lecture-ship tours,” Burton said. “Thisyear was really busy.”

“I always wanted to be a doctor”

From the beginning, Bur-ton’s career path has beenstraightforward. “I alwaysknew I wanted to be a doctor,” he said. “I was the kid cutting updead toads to see what was inside and what they had eaten. I al-ways wanted to know how things worked.” When Burton waseight years old, his grandfather suffered a heart attack on a farmin the middle of nowhere. “I promised God then that if Hewould save my grandpa I would grow up and serve others,” saidBurton.

When he arrived at Union College, Burton found a dedicatedteam of professionals in the sciences who helped make his aspi-ration a reality. He particularly remembers Walter Page, GilbertMcMillen and Barbara Goyne. “They were not only very smartpeople, they were personable,” he recalled. “They knew who Iwas and took an interest in me.”

It wasn’t only the science faculty whoconnected with Burton. Jim McClelland,long-time professor of art at Union, became aclose friend. “Mr. McClelland is not only afantastic artist, he’s also a great person. Weshare a love of birds and orchids,” Burtonadded. While Burton was in medical schoolat Loma Linda University, McClelland stagedan art show in California. “I loved his paint-ings, but of course I couldn’t afford them. Hebasically gave me one of his paintings,” Bur-ton said. “I knew he was proud of me forbeing there. Now that I can, I buy his paintings.”

Service doesn’t end after surgery

From his professors, Burton received amodel for mission and service that he haspersonally developed as part of his career.Last year he and his wife, Dr. Jamie Snyder-Burton, started the Burton Trauma Founda-tion to assist trauma survivors. Burton knowsmost young people don’t get to be traumapatients because they have their lives to-gether and are heading toward their goals.

It’s often kids with issues who startdoing drugs and get into situationsthat land them in the emergencyroom. Burton points out it’s easy fortrauma surgeons to become judg-mental and think, This is just an-other kid on drugs. But he believesthat if you judge people at their low-est point, you’ve missed an opportu-nity because that is when they’remost open to change.

“We have an active trauma pro-gram where we help put the badstuff behind and start exploringgoals,” Burton said. “If they haven’tfinished high school, we help themget a GED. If they have, we get theminto college programs where theycan reach some goals. We’re helpingquite a few kids and we realized wecould help many more if we usedpre-tax dollars,” Burton explained.

“That’s why we formally started the foundation.”

A passion for mentoringAlthough Burton serves on a dozen committees and his of-

fice walls are ringed with certificates and awards (including the2009 Trauma Champion Award), mentoring young people is hispassion. In addition to their three biological children, the Bur-tons have five “adopted” children. He speaks with satisfaction ofhis “other kids” and their accomplishments. “I do a lot of coun-seling with kids I try to help. There’s a lot of dysfunction andsometimes kids just need understanding.” Burton tells them wis-dom is making a mistake and learning from it, but they don’t al-ways have to make their own mistakes. It’s much less painful to

learn from someone else’s.Dr. Burton regularly gives this advice to

students: “Find something you’re really in-terested in, that you can be excited aboutevery day. Then if another opportunitycomes that looks interesting, do that to thebest of your ability. If you don’t know whatyou want to do, attend a liberal arts collegewhere you’re exposed to a lot of differentthings. Give everything a chance and doeverything to the best of your ability eachstep of the way. If you’re just doing it to geta grade you may be missing an opportunityfor your life’s calling. You never knowwhere life is going to take you, but try tofind a career that stimulates you to be yourbest; look for a life partner who brings outthe best in you; and raise your family sothey’re the best they can be.”

Throughout his life—from his grandpas’heart attack to saving the lives of woundedsoldiers—Burton has been handling highadrenaline moments. He believes having “afirm foundation of your beliefs in God andyour mission in life is what gets youthrough.” C

Dr. Reginald Burton ’83 (second from left) directs BryanLGHMedical Center’s Trauma and Surgical Critical Care Center.

Burton twice traveled to Landstuhl, Ger-many, this year to treat wounded soldiers.

22 FALL 2010

1940sJohn Stevens ’49 has spentthe past 40 years working in thefield of religious freedom. Hehas represented freedom of re-ligion alongside governmentleaders in various countries in-cluding Brazil, England, Kenyaand Russia. He founded two re-ligious liberty organizations, in-cluding the Council onReligious Freedom, and hasseen his bills supporting reli-gious freedom passed into law.His articles have appeared inthe Los Angeles Times, USAToday and Signs of the Times.

He has served as guest chaplainin the U.S. House of Represen-tatives and most recently pub-lished a book entitled, TheAbortion Controversy: Will aFree America Survive? WillYou?

1960sCharles Prowant ’61 and hiswife, Mollie Sue, recently cele-brated their fiftieth wedding an-niversary on the Oregon coastwith family and friends. Follow-ing his graduation from the Uni-versity of Nebraska College ofDentistry, Charles practiced forfive years in Grand Island,Neb., before setting sail on aNorwegian freighter bound forKarachi, Pakistan, where theyserved at the Karachi AdventistHospital. Their 20 years of mis-sion service continued in Oki-nawa, Japan, where Charleswas instrumental in buildingthe dental clinic at Naha Adven-tist Hospital and Hong KongAdventist Hospital. Following12 years in private practice inOverland Park, Kan., they re-turned to mission service inMoscow, Russia, where Charlesserved as director of the Adven-tist health center. Now retired inWhitney, Texas, they remain ac-tive in their community andenjoy time with their childrenand ten grandchildren.

Wayne Judd ’64 is retiring asassistant vice president for mis-

sion and spiritual care at Ad-ventist Health West after servingin this capacity for 16 years.Wayne began his health carecareer in 1984 working in mar-keting at the corporate office inGlendale. In 1989, he beganwork at Glendale AdventistMedical Center as associate di-rector of behavioral medicine inproduct line development, mar-keting and management. Healso spent five years working asa health care consultant. Joiningthe corporate office again in1995, Wayne worked as astrategic planner for AdventistHealth before adding missionand spiritual care to his portfo-lio. Prior to entering the healthcare field, Wayne, an ordainedminister for the Seventh-dayAdventist Church, was a collegeprofessor. He taught religionand history courses at PacificUnion College in Angwin,Calif., as well as serving in ad-ministrative roles at ColumbiaUnion College and Loma LindaUniversity. Wayne is an accom-plished musician who has ledseveral musical groups at Ad-ventist Health. Among otherthings, he has led the BrAHvoConcert Band and has sungwith the AHmen male octet. Aresident of Roseville, Calif., heand his wife, Audrey, have twoadult children as well as threegrandchildren. Audrey contin-ues to work at Adventist Healthas an executive assistant.

1970sLynn Johnson ’71 has re-cently retired as a partner withDixon Hughes, the largest CPAfirm based in the southeast. Atthe time of his retirement, Lynnwas the managing partner ofthe Hendersonville, N.C., of-fice. He still lives in Hender-sonville with his wife, Erika.He will continue to be in-volved part time with DixonHughes, while also a vice pres-ident of a local manufacturingcompany and serving on theboards of eight community or-ganizations. Lynn and Erika

have three married sons andfour grandchildren.

1980sDavid Crane ’86 of Hinsdale,Ill., has been elected treasurerof the Metropolitan ChicagoHealthcare Council’s Board ofDirectors. Crane is presidentand chief executive officer ofAdventist Midwest Health andAdventist Hinsdale Hospital. Hepreviously served as presidentand chief executive officer ofLittleton Adventist Hospital inLittleton, Colo., and has alsoserved at other institutions suchas St. Vincent Mercy MedicalCenter and Mercy Health Part-ners in Toledo, Ohio, and Cen-tura Health in Denver, Colo.David earned a master’s degreein business administration fromCrummer Graduate School ofBusiness at Rollins College inWinter Park, Fla.

Charles Jaster ’87, from Fair-field, Penn., earned a master’sdegree in finance and account-ing from Regis University inthe fall of 2009. Charles is cur-rently the chief financial officerat the National Fallen Firefight-ers Foundation, where heoversees the finance and ac-counting. He had two grand-children born in 2009.

1990sKen ’90 and Tami Cox ’91Bieber, are proud to announcethe birth of their baby girl, Bai-ley Elizabeth. She was born Oc-

CORDmagazine wants tohear from you. You have toldus this is your favorite sec-tion. Tell us where you are,what you’re doing or justsend greetings.

Direct your letters to: Class-ifieds Alumni Office Union College 3800 South 48th StreetLincoln, NE 68506

e-mail: alumni@ucollege.edumake changes online atpwww.ucollege.edu/cordmagazine

’67 denotes graduation year(’67) denotes last year attendedor preferred class year

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tober 22, 2010, weighing 6pounds, 14 ounces, and meas-uring 19 ½ inches long.

Mark Smith ’90, former fac-ulty and his wife Jacque, for-mer Union College director ofpublic relations and communi-cation teacher, moved to theDayton, Ohio, area in May2010. Mark is the vice presidentfor finance and operations ofGreene Memorial Hospital inthe Kettering Health Network.After 10 years at Union Collegeincluding more than eight yearsas director of public relationsand former CORDmagazine ed-itor, Jacque is now pursuingsome freelance communicationwork while staying at homewith their 19-month-old son.Branson Conley Smith wasborn April 12, 2009.

Suzanne Beranek ’91, re-cently accepted the position ofdirector of communications forpolicy and philanthropy at theColorado Health Foundation.Most recently, Suzanne workedas an independent consultantand owner of Beranek Commu-nications. She also led commu-nications efforts for institutionsof higher learning and non-profit organizations includingthe Cystic Fibrosis Foundation,the Coalition for the Homelessand Florida Hospital.

Joseph ’92 and Julie Fults ’95Fralick just moved into a beau-tiful home in the country. Theyare enjoying their three acresand a river flowing behind the

house. Joe is principal atShenandoah Valley AdventistElementary School and Julieteaches part time at the sameschool. All four of their childrencurrently attend SVAES. Theiroldest will graduate next yearand attend Shenandoah ValleyAcademy.

Jeanie Drake ’93 has servedfor three years as principal of APlus Elementary, voted pre-school for 2009 by the city ofGlendale, Calif.

Lee Bowes ’97 has beennamed southwest regionalmanager for Duncan Aviation.In this position, Lee will helpoperators in Nevada, Arizonaand southern California be-come more familiar with the ca-pabilities and services offeredby the company. He began hiscareer with Duncan Aviation in1999 as a marketing specialist.He is an instrument-rated pilot,has done more than 100 sky-dives, and enjoys playing musiclocally and regionally.

Rhonda Purkeypile Mazlu-mian ’97 and her husband,Pablo, were blessed with adaughter, Alexa Noelle, on Feb.19, 2009. The family lives inShawnee, Kan., where Rhondais a stay-at-home mom withAlexa and her big sister, Gi-anna. Pablo is director of tennisat Clayview Country Club andan automotive journalist for Eu-ropean Car Magazine.

Nick Bock ’98 and JamesBowen and their company, FiveNines Technology Group, inLincoln, Neb., have beennamed the Nebraska SmallBusiness of the Year for 2010 bythe United States Small Busi-ness Administration. Previously,Nick worked with the NebraskaHeart Institute in IT support be-fore serving as IT director forthe Nebraska Urban MedicalCenter in 2002 and as a phar-maceutical sales representativefor Pfizer. In 2004, he foundedNebraska IT, a client-focused ITsupport and counseling firm.Three years later he joined

James to form Five Nines. Nickis on the board of directors forthe Lincoln Children’s Museum,a member of the school boardfor SDA Schools of Lincoln, anda Union College Business andComputer Science mentor.

2000sTorrey ’00 and DoneneCaster Braithwaite ’00 welcomed Ezekiel “Zeke” Coleon July 12, 2010, at 6:32 a.m.Zeke weighed in at 7 pounds 15ounces and was 19.5 inches long.

Greg (’00) and AmberDoolaard ’99 Johnson were blessed with a baby boy,Drew Gregory, on Sep. 9, 2009.Drew joined big sister Claire athome. The family lives in Com-stock Park, Mich., where Amberis a physical therapist and Greg isa computer network consultant.

Josh Huenergardt ’01 and hiswife, Becca, welcomed NatalieRose on Aug. 11, 2010. She was6 pounds 14 ounces and 20.5inches long.

Dean ’01 and Laura Rumsey’03 Poblete are the proud par-ents of a baby boy, Isaac Allen,born April 16, 2009. Laura is aregistered nurse at Florida Hos-pital, and Dean is the art direc-tor at Try-Foods International.

Tyrel ’02 and KlarissaBrownlee (’03) Blanchfieldwere married in August 2006.They welcomed Javen ZacharyBlanchfield on Feb. 24, 2009.Tyrel is currently the financemanager for Dunn CountyRural Electric Cooperative.

Stefan ’02 and CrystalSchauer ’02 Kaiser wereblessed with a daughter, CarisseDenae, on Jan. 22, 2008. They

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live in Loma Linda, Calif., whereCrystal is a registered nurse andStefan is in a medical residencyat Loma Linda University Med-ical Center.

Christine Pfeiffer ’02 marriedDon Allison on September 6,2009 at the Chehalis AdventistChurch in Chehalis, Wash. Theymake their home in Randle,Wash.

Heidi Hiebert ’03 marriedDustin Jones on June 29, 2008, inBonner’s Ferry, Idaho. They livein Colton, Calif., where Heidi isthe associate director of public re-lations at Loma Linda University.

Todd Hoyt ’03 graduated fromUnion College with a major incommunications. Since gradua-tion he has pursued a successfulcareer in sales in the fields ofmarketing and recruiting. Hislatest endeavor is delving intothe challenging and rewardingfield of real estate.

Bill ’04 and Tasha Reynolds’03 Heinrich welcomedColton Keith on Dec. 1, 2009.

He weighed 8 pounds, 15ounces, and was 21 incheslong. They currently live in Or-lando, Fla.

James Goddard ’04, staff attor-ney at Nebraska Appleseed,presented a case before the Ne-braska Supreme Court to helprestore Medicaid benefits tomore than 400 low-income par-ents unlawfully dropped fromthe Employment First programby the Nebraska Department ofHealth and Human Services. Hesuccessfully represented themembers of the EmploymentFirst program in this class actionlawsuit.

Jessica Jorgensen Cress ’05and her husband, Barry, wel-comed a baby boy, OwenWilliam, on June 15, 2009. Hejoins big brother, Caleb, athome. The family lives inZanesville, Ohio.

Miguel (’05) and Katie Inman(’08) Nunez are pleased to an-nounce the birth of their son, Eli-

jah Miguel. He was born May 6,2010, and weighed 6 pounds, 15ounces. Elijah is the grandson ofMiguel and Mary Nunez Aguilarand Mike and Deb Inman.

Josh (’06) and Shelly McLeanKittleson ’06 are pleased toannounce the birth of their son,Martin Douglas Ora, born onNov. 11, 2008. They live in Lin-coln, Nebr., where Shelly is asenior accounting clerk at Chris-tian Record Services, and Josh isa skip trace specialist at Nelnet.

Stephanie Rick ’06 marriedJeff Lind on February 20, 2010,in Daytona Beach, Fla. Theyboth recently finished theirMBA degrees and are ready totake on the world together.Stephanie is working as seniorsales and marketing manager atFlorida Hospital and Jeff is di-rector of communications atWaterman Communities.

24 FALL 2010

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Caleb ’09 and Codi Davidson’05 Jahn are pleased to an-nounce the birth of their son,Conner Caleb. He was bornApril 29, 2010. They live inShawnee, Kan., where Codi is asales representative for Pac-Van,and Caleb is a pilot for FlightExpress.

2010sGrace Escobar ’10 internedwith Street Team, a group thatworked in Lincoln to pave theway for the arrival of the Spe-cial Olympics athletes in July2010. Awareness was the key toGrace’s work; Street Team’smain focus was on building abetter understanding aboutpeople with disabilities and theSpecial Olympic movement.

Angela Washington (’10)served as a volunteer intern atthe People’s City Mission in2009. During her time in thatposition, Angela helped withthe Halloween Food Drive andco-founded the Amazing GraceFood Drive, coordinating morethan 100 volunteers and raisingmore than a ton of food to feedthe homeless. On Wednesday,August 11, 2010, Angela wasawarded the Governor’s Pointof Light Award by LieutenantGovernor Rick Sheehy and FirstLady Sally Ganem.

People PlacementsAndrea Ahrens is the new an-nual giving director for Union.Ahrens received her B.A. in Po-litical Science from the Univer-sity of California, Los Angeles in1999. She earned an MBA fromthe University of Maryland,Robert H. Smith School of Busi-ness, 2009. She is married toMichael ’00.

Tina Booton is the newcashier; she previously manageda local restaurant. She and Gary,her husband of 18 years, havetwo children, Aimee and Will.

Teresa (Smith) Edgerton ’01took over as Career Center Co-ordinator, in Feb. 2010. Edger-ton graduated from Union witha degree in business adminis-tration. After graduation sheand her husband, Thaddeus(’01) moved to St. Louis, Mo.where she started her career asan office manager at a smallconstruction company. Shelater worked as a staff account-ant at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.Before coming to Union sheworked as the controller at aconstruction company in Lin-coln, Neb.

Kristine Follett, a clinical in-structor in childbearing andfamily community health nurs-ing at Southern Adventist Uni-

versity, moved from Col-legedale, Tenn., to Union Col-lege as an assistant professor inthe nursing department. Follettreceived her BSN from South-western Adventist College andher MSN from Southern Adven-tist University. Her husband,Kalvin, works at ChristianRecord Services as an audio en-gineer and technician. Theirchildren, Nathan and Jannah,attend Helen Hyatt and are infourth and sixth grade.

Tracy Cash Hagele ’93 is nowUnion’s simulation lab coordi-nator. Hagele graduated fromUnion College with a BSN andhas enjoyed 16 years of nursingin a number of states includingCalifornia, Alaska and most re-cently Colorado, where she de-veloped and ran thePre-Admission Testing NursingDepartment for Parker Adven-tist Hospital. She met her hus-band, Greg ’92, at UnionCollege. They have a five-yearold daughter.

Brian Hauff came to UnionCollege in 2010 as the EMS co-ordinator and an assistant pro-fessor in the internationalrescue and relief program. Hegraduated from the Universityof North Texas in 2003 with aMaster of Science. Prior to com-ing to Union College, Hauffspent seven years as a fire-fighter and paramedic for theCity of Cleburne Fire Depart-ment in Texas. He is nationallycertified as a paramedic, fire-fighter, and emergency medicalservices and fire instructor.Hauff is married to Krystal, as-sociate professor of health andhuman performance and hastwo children: daughter, Riley,who is six years old and son,Brady, who is 18 months.

Krystal Lakoduk Hauff ’98 isa new associate professor ofhealth and human perform-ance. Hauff graduated fromUnion College with a degree inexercise science. In 2000, sheearned a Master of Educationdegree in exercise physiologyfrom the University of Ne-

braska-Lincoln and a Ph.D. inhealth study from TexasWoman’s University in 2006.Before coming to Union, Hauffworked at Southwestern Ad-ventist University as a teacherin the kinesiology department.She is married to Brian, assis-tant professor of internationalrescue and relief at Union, andhas two children: daughter,Riley, who is six-years old andson, Brady, who is 18 months.

Karla Navarrete is the newenrollment coordinator. Beforecoming to Union in 2009 as anursing student, Navarretteworked with handicappedchildren and adults in Los An-geles, Calif. She is currently apart-time student in Union’snursing program and is antici-pating graduation in 2011.

Jonathan Rickard recentlybecame the new student ac-counts manager at Union Col-lege. Rickard attained hisdouble major in history andgovernment and business ad-ministration from Pacific UnionCollege and later earned anMBA from the University of Cal-ifornia Riverside. Before com-ing to Union, he lived in LomaLinda while working for the USCensus Bureau. His wife, Amy,is a new professor in the biol-ogy department and they havea 2-year old son, Benjamin Reid Utt-Rickard.

Frankie Rose ’02 graduatedfrom Union College with abachelor of science degree inbiology and is now assistantprofessor of biology. Roseearned a Ph.D. from the depart-ment of molecular microbiol-ogy and immunology at theUniversity of Missouri and justcompleted a one-year post-doc-toral fellowship doing biomed-ical research within the samelab. His wife, Ellen ’02, has aBSN.

Ben Tyner, a new assistantprofessor of history, graduatedfrom La Sierra University in2002 with a degree in history.Tyner is currently working on

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his dissertation to complete hisdoctorial studies. Prior toUnion, Tyner worked as an ad-junct teacher at several schools,including Asheville-DebunchTechnical Community Collegein North Carolina. He and hiswife, Jenny, have a four-yearold son, Gabriel.

Amy Utt-Rickard is a new as-sistant biology professor for theDivision of Science and Mathe-matics. She graduated fromLoma Linda University in 2010with a master’s in animal be-havior and conservation. In2001 she graduated from Pa-cific Union College with abachelor of science in biology.Before making the move toUnion College, she worked atSan Bernardino Valley Collegeand La Sierra University. Utt-Rickard is married to JonathanRickard, Union’s new studentaccounts manager, and has a 2-year old boy, Benjamin ReidUtt-Rickard.

Ryan Veness ’10 graduatedfrom Union College with a de-gree in international rescue andrelief with an emphasis in proj-ect development. Veness isnow a full-time staff assistantfor the department after work-ing overseas last year. He isnewly married to Heidi MorseVeness, who plans to graduatefrom Union this year with anIRR degree.

Michelle Younkin has as-sumed the role of Director ofRecords. She joined the staff inJune after relocating fromGlendale, Calif., where sheworked at Glendale AdventistMedical Center. Michelle re-ceived her bachelor’s degreefrom Southern Adventist Uni-versity and her MBA from LaSierra University.

Transitioned:

Sherri Gregory transitionedfrom her position as office man-ager for the Division of HumanDevelopment to the admissionsand progression coordinator for

the nursing program. Gregory isdeveloping systems to track stu-dents who move through thenursing program and the activi-ties of the faculty who servethem. Her position will evolveinto coordination of the nursingprogram, supervision of the of-fice staff and serving the healthsciences division chair, nursingprogram director and nursingfaculty. This position becamefull-time on Nov. 1, 2010

Jill Morstad has expanded herrole at Union College. While stillworking as an adjunct Englishprofessor, Morstad is nowUnion’s assessment director inwhich she coordinates with theacademic programs to determinetheir effectiveness.

Aaron Kent ’08 graduated witha degree in international rescueand relief returned to Union as astaff intern while completing hismaster’s program through South-ern Adventist University. Kent isnow working as a full-time IRRfaculty member.

Roger Runck ’31, Grand Junc-tion, Colo., died Dec. 20, 2009,at age 97. He was born May 24,1912, in Dolores, Colo. Aftergraduating from Union Collegewith a degree in pre-med, heearned a Bachelor of Science inChemical Engineering from theUniversity of Colorado and aMaster of Science in Metallurgyfrom Stevens Institute of Tech-nology. While an undergradu-ate, Roger won a national awardfrom the American Institute ofChemical Engineers. Later, heworked for Metal and ThermitCorporation, Battelle MemorialInstitute, the Department of En-ergy, and served as the found-ing president of InternationalPrecious Metals Institute. He is

survived by his sons, Robert andRobin; daughters, Lahna Ro-gene Neely and Rhonda; sisters,Mildred Beck and Ruth Smoot,and four grandchildren.Theodora, his wife of 69 years,preceded him in death in 2003.

Harold Singleton (’31), SilverSpring, Md., died Feb. 8, 2009,at age 101. He was born in 1908in Valdosta, Ga. After graduatingfrom Oakwood College, hecontinued his education atUnion College in 1931 and laterat the Adventist TheologicalSeminary. Harold served aspresident of the South Atlanticand Northeastern Conferencesand later worked at the South-ern Union Conference. In 1962,he was elected regional depart-ment secretary at the church’sworld headquarters. Upon en-tering the ministry, Haroldgained a reputation as a churchplanter, pastoring churches inTennessee, Florida, and the Car-olinas. He is survived by Mary,his wife of 71 years, six chil-dren, five grandchildren andone great-grandchild.

Esther Sonnenberg ’32, LomaLinda, Calif., died March 18,2010, at age 98. She was bornDec. 5, 1911, in Winside, Neb.Esther’s life was devoted toteaching and helping others.She taught at Union College,Walla Walla University, and wasdean of women at Loma LindaUniversity. She is survived byher sister-in-law, Alma ’38;nephews, Craig and Mark, andnieces, Diane and Karen.

Audrey Anderson Johnson(’33), Turner, Maine, died Jan.22, 2010, at age 95. She wasborn Aug. 8, 1914. Audreytaught nursing, piano andorgan. She is survived by herhusband, Melvin and daughter,Lynette Johnson-Fisher.

Harold Schmidt (’36),Apopka, Fla., died Jan. 2, 2010,at age 99. After finishing col-lege, he began pastoral work inthe Missouri Conference. Healso served in Illinois, Min-nesota and Florida. While serv-

ing as pastor of the Miami Tem-ple Church, he was namedpresident of the Florida Confer-ence, a post he held for eightyears. He then served as presi-dent of the Southern UnionConference for the next 15years until retiring in 1980. He issurvived by his son, H. Lane;twin daughters, Barbara Fowlerand Beverly Garner; sevengrandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. He was pre-ceded in death by Doris, hiswife of 60 years.

Anabelle Mills Hills (’37),Loma Linda, Calif., died Feb. 3,2010, at age 93. She was bornJune 4, 1916, in Bravo, Mich.She graduated from NatronaCounty High School in Casper,Wyo., attended Union Collegeand Columbia Union College,and graduated from the Schoolof Nursing in Paradise Valley,Calif. She began her nursing ca-reer in 1945 at White MemorialHospital in Los Angeles. In1955, Anabelle earned a mas-ter’s in nursing from the Univer-sity of Colorado. She thenbecame an associate professorof nursing at Loma Linda Uni-versity. In 1978, Anabelle mar-ried Floyd ’37. She is survivedby her daughters, Carol Huddle,Betty Woods and Cindy Ford;eight grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and sisters,Kathryn Mills, Alyce Fund andMadalyn Lathrop.

Delwin Blue ’39, Boulder City,Nev., died Jan. 28, 2010, at age91. He was born March 18,1918, in a farming communitynear Lincoln, Neb. He earned adegree in chemistry from UnionCollege where he met his futurewife, Eloise Laugen ’40. Theymoved to Boulder City in 1954where Delwin served as direc-tor of the Bureau of Mines Met-allurgy Plant until his retirementin 1975. He was also an expertand published author on thesubject of aluminum processing.He served the Boulder Citycommunity for 16 years andwas a dedicated member of Ro-tary. Delwin loved boating onLake Mead and exploring the

CLASS-IFIEDS_____________________________

26 FALL 2010

IN MEMORY

Death dates and/or obituar-ies have been received forthe following individuals.

IN MEMORY_____________________________

CORDmagazine 27

Colorado River. He is survivedby his wife, Eloise; son, Wayne;sister, Myrna Koundoriotis; sixgrandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. He was pre-ceded in death by his son,Craig.

Fern Seamount Nelson ’39,Loma Linda, Calif., died March4, 2010, at age 93. She was bornJan. 25, 1917, in Green River,Utah. She is survived by herson, Steven; daughter, BarbaraBing; and four grandchildren.

Arthur Heinrich (’41), Eustis,Fla., died Feb. 17, 2009, at age93. He was born Oct. 7, 1915, inNorth Dakota. Arthur was amember of the Umatilla, Fla.church. He is survived by hiswife, Eldina; sons, Milo ’80 andArlo ’81; daughters, SharonWerner (’69) and CynthiaDarcy; seven grandchildren andseven great-grandchildren.

Marie Sanders Rowland ’42,Lincoln, Neb., died February 29,2009, at age 91. She attendedCampion Academy and gradu-ated from Shelton Academy.1936 was her first year at UnionCollege. The years 1937 to 1940found her back home teachingthe same country school shehad attended as a girl. In 1940,Marie continued her studies inteacher education/biology andimmersed herself in offices suchas Sabbath school secretary andwas chosen as an honorarycadet captain of the Union Col-lege Medical Cadet Corps. Shemarried Neil ’47 on February 3,1943. During the two years Neilwas in the army, Marie workedas registrar, librarian and biol-ogy teacher at Campion Acad-emy in Loveland, Colo. In 1977Neil received a call from theGeneral Conference to teach atMountain View College in thesouthern Philippines. She is sur-vived by her husband, Neil;daughters, Janice (’66) andhusband, Ed ’72 Seltmann;Bonnie (’74) and husband,Kurt Schindler; son, Dale ’70and wife, Colleen; six grandchil-dren; three great grandchildren;and her brother, Edward.

Helen Bliss Mathis ’44, CenterPoint, Iowa, died April 21, 2010,at age 91. Helen was born Sept.20, 1918, near Marion, Iowa.Helen earned a degree in homeeconomics while at Union. OnJuly 13, 1944, she married DaleMathis. Helen taught at LinnCounty country school for twoyears. She also worked as a so-cial worker for 17 years at theDepartment of Human Servicesin Cedar Rapids. She loved totravel and cook, and wasknown for incredible pies.Helen is survived by include herhusband, Dale; sons, Edwin’70, Vern (’74), and Norman’81; six grandchildren, onegreat-granddaughter and abrother, Harold.

Oliver Johnston ’45, LomaLinda, Calif., died Feb. 19, 2010,at age 92. He was born Aug. 25,1917, in Horine, Mich. Oliver

served as pastor in Texas, Min-nesota, Michigan, South Dakota,and California. He is survived byhis wife, Eunice Skadsheim(’45) Johnston; sons, Oliverand Robert; daughter, EileeneMadden; six grandchildren andsix great-grandchildren.

Vera Jordan McWilliams ’45,Nashville, Tenn., died Nov. 17,2009. She was a member of theMadison, Tenn., campuschurch. She is survived by herson, Darrell, and his wife, Linda.

Betty Yearwood Seal ’46,Somerset, Ky., died March 30,2010, at age 86. She was bornMay 2, 1923. She was a kinder-garten and head start teacher for15 years, a radiology transcriberfor 15 years, and a co-owner ofSouthwest Portable X-ray andEKG Service for 11 years. She issurvived by a son, Richard;daughter, Linda Thorman; threegrandchildren and two greatgrandchildren.

Lois Cummings Haas ’48, Lit-tleton, Colo., died June 10,2010, at age 85. She was bornDec. 28, 1924. Her life’s workwas spent as an elementaryschool teacher, wife andmother. She is survived by herhusband, Harry ’48, daughters,Diane Rasco (’70) and hus-band, Jerry; Sheryl Hasenauer’74 and husband, Bruce ’74;six grandchildren and twogreat-grandchildren.

Patricia Carter Zima (’48),Cleveland, Tenn., died Oct. 5,2009, at age 81. She was born

Dec. 13, 1927. She is survived byher sons, Bob and Jeff ’78; anddaughter, Nancy Zima-Gentry.

William Brumfield ’49, Den-ver, Colo., died Feb. 13, 2010, atage 88. He was born in 1921 inPierce, Colo. He is survived byhis daughter, RaeNell Mittleiderand two granddaughters. Hewas preceded in death by hiswife, Olivet Atwood Brum-field (’49) and son, John.

Delphine Watson Gates ’49,Grand Junction, Colo., died Feb.24, 2010, at age 91. She wasborn May 27, 1918, in Montrose,Colo. She graduated from Cam-pion Academy and earned abachelor’s degree from UnionCollege. During her career, Del-phine was a teacher and admin-istrator for the Seventh-dayAdventist school system. Sheenjoyed music, reading, travel-ing and the outdoors. She is sur-vived by her husband, LeeGates, Jr. ’49; son, Garry;daughter, Sandra Drobny ’69;brother, John Watson (’37);six grandchildren and sevengreat-grandchildren. She waspreceded in death by a son, LeeGates III.

Timothy Ling ’49, LomaLinda, Calif., died June 10, 2010,at age 95. He was born Feb. 19,1915, on Kulangsu Island inSouth China. After graduatingfrom the China Training Insti-tute, Tim served as teacher atthe Bee Hwa School. He gradu-ated with bachelor’s degreesfrom St. John’s University inShanghai and Union Collegebefore pursuing graduate stud-ies in political science at theUniversity of Nebraska. In 1951,Tim began his career at theUnited States InformationAgency in its Voice of Americaoperations. He was committedto sharing global news withthose behind the Iron Curtain,particularly in China. In 1983,Tim and his wife moved toLoma Linda to be closer to theirchildren and enjoy the warmerclimate. He is survived by hisdaughter, Julia Miller; son, Ben-jamin; and one granddaughter.

Helen Bliss Mathis

Marie Sanders Rowland

Betty Yearwood Seal

IN MEMORY_____________________________

28 FALL 2010

He was preceded in death byhis wife, Irene.

Larry (Bogdanovich) Stevens’49, Lakebay, Wash., died April18, 2009, at age 82. He was bornApril 16, 1927, in St. Louis, Mo.After earning a master’s degreein higher education and coun-seling, he spent 40 years inacademy, college and universitycampuses as dean, dean of stu-dents, financial aid officer, direc-tor of personnel and patientrelations administrator. Larryhad a great love of outdoorlife—mountaineering, canoeing,flying, backpacking and travel-ing in 21 countries. He retired toa 100-acre farm where an arrayof wildlife roamed the forestsand hayfields. He is survived byhis wife, JoAnn Perkins ’49Stevens; brother, John ’49; anddaughters, Cathleen FitzGeraldand Dana Greenlee.

Gerald Williams ’49, Apopka,Fla., died Sabbath, January 23,2010. He interned in the Ne-braska Conference and thenwent as a missionary toVenezuela, Columbia, El Sal-vador, Panama and Mexico.Gerald earned a doctorate inhospital administration andserved at Washington AdventistHospital and operated two nurs-ing homes in the D.C. area. Ger-ald is survived by two sons,Dale and Dennis; and brother,Royce ’51. He was preceededin death by his wife, EvelynCoultas (’49) Williams.

Norman Baughman ’50,Loma Linda, Calif., died Nov. 30,2009, at age 86. He was bornJan. 30, 1923, in Rock Springs,Wyo. His is survived by his wife,Bertha; sons, Gary and Ron; andfour grandchildren.

George Pierson ’50, Moberly,Mo., died Nov. 18, 2008, at age85. He was born Aug. 24, 1923,in Wheatland, Wyo. He proudlyserved his country in the U.S.Army, receiving an honorabledischarge. Prior to retirement,he was owner and operator ofHawkeye Book and MagazineCo. He is survived by his wife,

Alice Forste ’50 Pierson; sons,Dave and Steve; daughters, Mar-ilee Pierson and Sandee Bales’69; grandchildren; brother,Paul (’53); sisters, Lula Masterand Fern Helzer Partridge.

Merritt Schumann ’50, GrandJunction, Colo., died April 13,2010, at age 87. He was bornJuly 26, in Montrose, Colo. Hegraduated with a degree inmusic from Union College andearned a master’s from the Uni-versity of Northern Colorado.Merritt served with the U.S.Army during WWII in the Eu-rope. Later, he founded LaVillaGrande Care Center and theSchumann Singers. He was alsoa guest conductor throughoutthe United States and Canada.He had a deep love for the Lordand his family. He is survived byhis wife, Betty Dixon (’48)Schumann; son, Merritt II;daughters, Linda Skidmore,Diann Cashell and Deb Warren;sister, Lillie Lorenz; 12 grandchil-dren; and three great-grandchil-dren.

Doris Venden Sharp (’50),Loma Linda, Calif., died Jan. 28,2010, at age 82. She was bornSept. 4, 1927, in Portland, Ore.She is survived by sons, Douglasand Walter; daughters, BarbaraMelton and Nelda Woodin; 11grandchildren; three step-grand-children; and four great-grand-children.

Gaston Wallace ’51, Jefferson,Texas, died March 24, 2010, atage 88. He was born Jan. 20,1922, in Burnett, Texas. He wasa member of Jefferson Academychurch. Gaston served as abook editor at Southern Publish-ing and as a pastor in Austin andJefferson, Texas, as well asOklahoma. He is survived by hiswife, Marjorie; daughters, KarenAltwell and Linda Greene; fourgrandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

Merle Christensen ’53, Belle-vue, Wash., died April 6, 2010,at age 78. He was born Sept. 26,1931, in Milford, Iowa. He wasraised on a farm and loved shar-

ing stories about his adventures.He graduated from Union Col-lege and then served in the U.S.Army. Merle’s business degreeled him to accounting and earn-ing a CPA. He started his financecareer at Haskin and Sells, andthen continued at the Universityof Colorado Medical Center andin healthcare administration atthe University of Washington.Merle also loved to build modelboats, work in the yard, fish,hunt and travel. He is survivedby his wife, Carol; daughters,Wendy Sefcik and BrendaHeflin; eight grandchildren;brother, Marvin; and sister,Geraldine Furne. He was pre-ceded in death by his youngestdaughter, Elizabeth Danna andsister, Jean Johnson (’45).

Merle Rouse ’53, Franklin,N.C., died Jan. 18, 2010, at age81. He served the church for 40years in the roles of educationand pastoring. Before retiring in1993, he was the pastor ofFranklin Church for eight years.He is survived by his wife, Mar-garet; sons, Stan, Byron andGary; sisters, Wilma Gromer,Dorothy Huenergardt (’42),and brother, Raymond (’53);eight grandchildren; and fourgreat-grandchildren.

James Bradburn ’54, PortCharlotte, Fla., died Oct. 14,2009, at age 81. He was bornJune 29, 1928, in Indianapolis,Ind. He was a member of thePort Charlotte church for nearly21 years. His 20 years of denomi-national service were spent atPunta Gorda Medical Center,Punta Gorda, Fla., in administra-tion; and Shawnee Mission Hos-pital, Overland Park, Kan., asassistant director of materialsmanagement. He is survived byhis wife of 37 years, Muriel; sons,David and Gordon; daughters,Kathy, Karen, Sherry Hickmanand Rena Gotschalk; sister, Joan;and seven grandchildren. Hewas preceded in death by hisson, Bill, and daughter, LindaStephens.

Maxine Leonhardt (’54), Lin-coln, Neb., died March 20, 2010,

at age 82. She was born Nov. 17,1927. She is survived by her sis-ter-in-law, Vada Korgan Leon-hardt ’67, and many nieces andnephews.

Frank Crawford (’55), Com-merce, Texas, died April 22,2010, at age 76. He was bornOct. 11, 1933. He is survived byhis wife, Jane Woicinski Craw-ford ’56; son, Michael (’82);daughter, Charlotte Bobek ’88;and brother, Larry (’67).

Wallace Croak ’55, BerrienSprings, Mich., died Feb. 4, 2010,at age 87. He was born Jan. 30,1923, in Willmar, Minn. He was amember of the Pioneer Memorialchurch in Berrien Springs. He issurvived by his wife, Ellen Wid-mer Council Croak (’47);sons, Randall and Lowell; daugh-ter, Linda Royal ’70; stepdaugh-ters, Llona Chapman and Jo EllenConley; four grandchildren; twostep-grandchildren; and twostep-great-grandchildren.

Catherine Warrick Welch ’56,Lincoln, Neb., died Feb. 14, 2010,at age 75. She was born March29, 1934. She worked as a regis-tered nurse, mostly in surgical re-covery. She is survived by herhusband, Clifford ’59; daugh-ters, Brenda Fleming ’78 andSusan Wooledge; and fourgrandchildren.

John Sandquist (’57), KansasCity, Mo., died Nov. 21, 2009, atage 72. He was born Oct. 22,1937, in Goose Creek, Texas.John was a member, elder, Sab-bath School teacher and choristerat Golden Valley Church in Mis-souri. He is survived by his wife,Norma Yeager Sandquist ’57;daughters, Lisa Kraulik and Erica;son, Stephen; sister, MarilynLeonard; brothers, Bob and Don;and six grandchildren.

Luis Lescay ’58, Muskegon,Mich., died Aug. 17, 2009, at age83. He was born Aug. 23, 1925,in Santiago, Cuba. He was amember of the Avon Park churchin Florida. He is survived by hiswife, Monica; son, Heernan; andtwo grandchildren.

Theodore Wade, Jr. ’58,Berrien Springs, Mich., died Dec.4, 2010, at age 73. He was bornJune 28, 1936. His life work wasin education and writing. He issurvived by his wife, Karen Pe-terson Wade ’69; sons, Timothyand Melvin; and daughter,Dorothea Sarli.

Nadeen Nichols Hendricks’61, Silver Spring, Md., died June4, 2010, at age 70. She was bornAugust 16, 1939. She is survivedby her husband, Audley ’61;daughters, Cara Olson and SherylMiddleton; and two grandchil-dren.

Evans Hagelgantz ’62, Lincoln,Neb., died Feb. 19, 2010, at age79. He was born May 14, 1930, inLa Crosse, Kan. He was a mem-ber of Holland Church. He is sur-vived by his sons, Michael andMark; daughter, Denise Polk(’89); sister, Althea Nazarenus;

five grandchildren and onegreat-grandchild.

Ray Herbel ’62, Mishawaka,Ind., died April 14, 2010, at age77. He was born Oct. 9, 1932, inNekoma, Kan. He was a teacherfor 33 years in the Michigan Con-ference and served as principalfor many of those years. He wasalso a member of the Niles,Mich., Westside church. He issurvived by his wife, Le AnnaRodie (’52) Herbel; son, Brent;daughter, Kathy; father, Harry;mother, Eva; brother, Norman;sister, Elsie Hermann; and twograndchildren.

Beverly Fisher Schmidt (’64),Chattanooga, Tenn., died Jan. 20,2010, at age 65. She was bornOct. 17, 1944, in Benton Town-ship, Mich. She graduated in1962 from Maplewood Academyand married Marvin (’58) in St.Paul, Minn. on Aug. 14, 1966.

They moved to Tennessee in1973 and were active in theOgden Road and Graysvillechurches. Bev earned her LPN li-cense in 1981 and worked foryears as a nurse. Marvin and Bevalso took care of foster children,including the medically needy.She also participated in evangel-ism in El Salvador, Central Amer-ica, and in outreach to TellicoPlains, Tenn. She is survived byher husband, Marvin; sons, Clin-ton, Byron, and Vance; tengrandchildren; mother, EldoraHatcher; brothers, Teo, Deryl,Earl, and Alvin; and sisters, Eliza-beth and Marie.

Gary Burgeson (’69), Alexan-dria, Minn., died Dec. 11, 2009,at age 61. He was born July 29,1948, in Harvey, N.D. He gradu-ated from Maplewood Academyand later attended Union Col-lege. Gary was a member ofWadena Church. He is survived

by his sister, Bonnie (’74). Hewas preceded in death by par-ents, Vernon ’44 and HelenTemple (’39) Burgeson.

Clifford Morgan ’71, LomaLinda, Calif., died March 28,2010, at age 62. He was bornMarch 15, 1948, in Painesville,Ohio. He is survived by his step-son, David Greenwood andbrothers, Timothy ’76 and Dou-glas ’78.

Alice “Midge” ThompsonOlson ’71, Clarkson, Wash.,died Feb. 24, 2010, at age 88. Shewas born Jan. 14, 1922, in Col-man, S.D. From 1947-1964,Midge and her husband servedas missionaries in Lebanon andIraq. Upon returning to theUnited States, Midge taught atAdventist schools in Colorado,Missouri, Michigan and Oregon,winning Teacher of the Yearawards and endearing herself to

IN MEMORY_____________________________

CORDmagazine 29

hirley Burton ’49, Lincoln,Neb., died August 16, 2010, atage 83 after suffering a stroke.Born on May 5, 1927, in Lincolnto Jack Burton and VerleCowin Burton Morris ’26,Shirley graduated from CollegeView Academy and Union Col-lege before launching a com-munication career thatencompassed her entire life.From serving as dean ofwomen at Oak Park Academyand Milo Academy to teachingEnglish, speech and journalismat Laurelwood Academy,Shirley became well known asan advocate for communicationskills. After earning a master’sdegree in communication fromSouthern Oregon College, shewas named director of publicrelations for the Oregon Confer-ence and then at the PacificUnion Conference before mov-ing to the General Conferenceof Seventh-day Adventists, firstas news director and then as di-rector of communication for theworld church. She retired from

this position in 1994, but didn’tretire from the communicationarena. In retirement Shirley be-came director of communica-tion for ASI (Adventist-layman’sServices and Industries), servedas a consultant for ChristianRecord Services and volun-teered countless hours to heralma mater. She worked inUnion’s alumni office, taughtcommunication classes andserved for 17 years as class rep-resentative for her graduatingclass of 1949. Shirley’s life, serv-ice for her church and her posi-tive outlook on life will beremembered by many. She issurvived by her sister-in-law,Mary Morris ’92; nephew andhis spouse, Marcus ’06 andRachel (’05) Morris; nieceand her spouse, Karen ’92 andBrady Schroer; half-sister,Jacquie Rallis and half-brother,James Burton. Memorials in hername may be directed to theAdvancement Office at UnionCollege.

SSAdventist Communicator dies

IN MEMORY_____________________________

30 FALL 2010

hundreds of students. She wrotefour books about her life and twobooks about early pioneers inTurkey. She also led nearly 2,000people on more than 60 worldtours. She is survived by her son,David ’72; daughters, RonnaleeNetteberg ’68 and RebeccaGardner; as well as eight grand-children, including Megan Fer-guson Danowski (’09); and sixgreat-grandchildren. She waspreceded in death by her hus-band, Wayne ’44, and daughter,Ronda Olson Ferguson (’82).

Barry Lauritzen ’82, St. LouisPark, Minn., died Oct. 23, 2009,at age 51. He was born July 24,1958, in Minneapolis, Minn. Hewas a member of the Min-netonka Church. He is survivedby his mother, Evelyn andbrother, Jeffrey ’74. He was pre-ceded in death by his father,Adrian (’29).

Notice of the following deathshas been received:

Ruth Wasemiller Heinrich (’39),Wilsonville, Ore., died April 18, 2009. She is survivedby her husband, Emmanuel (’40).

Esther Heiser Slate ’39, Arlington, Va., died Jan. 16, 2009.

Paul Kunce (’41),Owasso, Okla., died Sept. 9, 2009, at age 92.

He was born Aug. 29, 1917.J Reynolds Hoffman ’42,Glide, Ore., died June 29, 2007.

Jeanette Hause-Miller (’47),Moreno Valley, Calif., died July 18, 2010, at age 83.

Peter Kostenko ’49, Shreveport, La., died May 6, 2009, at age 89. He was born May 6, 1920. He is survived by his wife,Joyce Long (’46) Kostenko.

Kathryn Stevenson Soper (’49),Ooltewah, Tenn., died Feb. 16, 2008, at age 82. She was born May 18, 1925.

Gilbert Bader ’50, Simi Valley, Calif., died July 5, 2008, at age 89. He was born Oct. 6, 1918.

Donna Burritt Aamodt ’51, Star, Idaho, died April 13, 2008, at age 78.

Marion Brodie ’51, Yucaipa, Calif., died March 9, 2007, at age 86. She was born Aug. 26, 1920.

Alice Tyler Wick (’51), Canby, Ore., died Jan. 13, 2010.

Masachika Mori ’54, Oxnard, Calif., died Sept. 12, 2009, at age 90. He was born Nov. 25, 1918.

Mollie Hudson Blanscet ’55,Salisbury, N.C., died April 16, 2009, at age 78. She was born March 6, 1931.

Daina Ramey Colby ’55,Sorrento, Calif., died Nov. 10, 2009, at age 78. She was born Dec. 2, 1930.

Mary Jensen Edmister (’55),Lexington, Ky., died June 6, 2008, at age 72.She was born Feb. 5, 1936.

Clive Mercer ’57, Hendersonville, N.C., died May 1, 2010, at age 88.

Jean Schunter Metzler ’61,Cheyenne, Wyo., died Jan. 29, 2010.

Chikwendu Anyatonwu ’65,Washington, D.C., died March 11, 2009, at age 76. He was born Feb. 8, 1933.

Spencer Lagro (’72), Loveland, Colo., died June 13, 2008.

Ruth Melsted ’79, Sacramento, Calif., died Jan. 13, 2010, at age 64.She was born June 1, 1945.

Former Faculty:

Ken Spaulding, assistant profes-sor of physics, died Jan. 1, 2010,in Lawrenceburg, Tenn. He

taught at Union College from1960 to 1972. He was precededin death by his wife.

Friends of the College:

Wanda Bell, wife of alumnus,Robert ’49, died Feb. 8, 2010, inFort Worth, Texas, at age 79. Shewas born Sept. 23, 1930, inOklahoma City, Okla. She grad-uated from Campion Academyand Texas Christian UniversityCollege of Nursing. She was alsoinvited to be among the firstmembers of the TCU honor soci-ety. In 1970, Wanda became amember of the Fort WorthWoman’s Club, serving as treas-urer, president, director of theclub board and other depart-ments. She also worked as a vol-unteer relief nurse in Malawi,Africa, in 1974. She is survivedby her daughter, Deborah Sil-vera; one granddaughter; onegreat-grandson; and fouradopted grandchildren. She waspreceded in death by her hus-band, Robert.

Geraldine Dickinson, formerBoard of Trustee member, diedMay 25, 2010, in Meridian,Idaho, at age 89. She was bornJune 21, 1920. She served onUnion’s board from 1982 to2003. She is survived by herstepdaughter, Farrel Chapman.

Rockpile alumni community - p www.ucollegecommunity.orgFind out what’s happening at Union, connect with former class-mates, register for events and even make a gift.

Facebook – p www.facebook.com/unioncollegelincolnnebraskaBecome a fan of Union College to connect with other alumni and re-ceive news posting on your home page from the school’s news feed.

UC Live – p uclive.ucollege.eduWatch live webcasts of sporting events, Friday evening vespers,concerts and more.

Good Morning Union – p blogs.ucollege.edu/gmuRead Pastor Rich Carlson’s daily devotional, or request to be on hisemail list.

College View Church online – p www.collegeviewchurch.orgWatch worship services and read news from the college church.

Union College website – p www.ucollege.eduLearn about Union’s academic programs, student life, spiritual pro-grams and more.

Stay connected to Union all the timeEver wonder what is happening at Union between issues of CORDmagazine ?Here are six ways to stay connected with Union all the time.

or alumni like Gilbert ’48and Rosella Hart ’40

Jorgensen, fond memo-ries make the choice togive back to Union Col-lege an easy one. “I loveUnion with all my heartand want to see as many students as possible at-tend,” said Gilbert, who graduated in 1948 with adegree in history and religion.

He finished eight years after Rosella because astint in the Navy during World War II got in the way.“I’ve got a whole lot ofmemories,” said thenephew of the chem-istry professor for whomJorgensen Hall isnamed. “One of my fa-vorites was traveling toall the camp meetingswith Dr. Woods and thequartet.

Dr. Woods pulled asmall trailer with a hamradio to draw people tothe young people’s tent.Then we’d tell themabout Union Collegeand the quartet wouldsing.”

Gilbert earned amaster’s degree andtaught at Union andSouthwestern AdventistCollege before changingcareers and working as anurse anesthetist for the

U.S. Veteran’s Administra-tion for 26 years.When they retired, the

Jorgensens wanted to giveback to Union. “I honestlybelieve Union College pro-vides the best education in

the denomination,” Gilbert said. With the help ofTodd Mekelburg, director of leadership giving atUnion, the couple set up a gift annuity.

“The Jorgensens picked the best time to create agift annuity,” said Mekelburg. “In these uncertain

economic times, it is im-portant to have a steadyretirement income. An an-nuity provides a guaran-teed income for the rest oftheir lives. When theyboth pass away, the prin-cipal becomes a lastinglegacy at Union.”Union College is gratefulfor the alumni and friendswho have established giftannuities. For informationabout gift annuities pleasecontact Todd Mekelburgat Union College Ad-vancement, 3800 South48th Street, Lincoln, NE68506, call 402.486.2503or e-mail tomekelb@ucol-lege.edu.

It takes

ForeSight...

CORDmagazine 31

by Rebekah Story ’10

F

Find out more about gift annuities online at p www.ucollege.edu. Click Give to Union, then Planned Giving, then Types of Gifts.

Giving Back

Gilbert and Rosella Hart Jorgensen

I love Union with all my heartand want to see as many

students as possible attend.

Non-profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDLincoln, NEPermit No. 62

News from Union CollegeVol. 75, No.1 Fall 2010

Published by the Union College Advancement Office3800 South 48th Street, Lincoln, NE 68506

Address service requested

CORDmagazine

Homecoming 2011April 7-10

ThemeExperience Homecoming

Honor Years41, 51, 56, 61, 71, 81, 86, 91, 01

Featured Speakers:First Church ServiceMike Ryan ’71

Sabbath SchoolKathy Hanson Bollinger ’71

Second Church ServiceStella Ramirez Greig ’61

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ExperienceHomecoming

2011

Warrior Athletics25 Year Reunion