Wondering what's new with your classmates? Feel free to read the recently submitted notes below, scheduled for publication in the next Curry Magazine, or go to the Curry Magazine web page to view back issues and previously submitted class notes.
1960-1969
Fred DeMarco '65 recently retired as Executive Vice President of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and has been consulting on public media issues in a digital world. His wife, Pat, is Senior Vice President for Programming for PBS. They have been enjoying their children and five grandchildren and spending a considerable amount of time at their beach home on the Maryland shore. Fred would love to hear from old friends.
James A. Johnson '65 is a former Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice, intellectual property lawyer and trial attorney. He has published two articles in the New York State Bar Journal: "A Primer on Music Licensing: Thou Shalt Not Steal" and "Personal Images: The Professional Athlete's Right of Publicity", which was a featured and lead article. Jim is a member of the Massachusetts, Michigan, Texas and U.S. Supreme Court Bars.
Arlene (Rosendorf) Lourie ’67 moved to the sunshine state five years ago with husband Jim. The enjoy working and playing. “Our home is like a revolving door with family and friends.”
Mary "Ricki" (Klein) DeRhodes '68 has been married for nearly 36 years. She and her husband have lived in Illinois for the last 28 years. They have two children and identical twin grandsons.
1970-1979
Sandra Asdourian '70 has been living in Florida for the last 22 years while raising two boys now in their 20s who are members of Gator Nation. They then decided to move to beautiful Amelia Island, Florida where she now works at the Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island. All are welcome to visit!
Gordon Goldstein '72 has been married for 32 years and has twin sons who are working successfully in the NYC metro area. Gordon continues to work in high end men's fabrics and owns his own company.
Richard McDonough '73 is back to teaching after 22 years of working in the design and home construction business. He is teaching in a vocational setting and finding it very rewarding.
Taj Oluwa '74 went on to graduate from Boston University Medical School after leaving Curry. He later returned to Nigeria to serve his state, Lagos, for his graduate sponsorship. He voluntarily retired from service to pursue a career in politics and won the elective post of First Executive Chairman (Mayor) of Ojo Local Government, one of the largest local government areas in Lagos. He held his position for four years.
Patty (Curto) Netto '79 is employed by Rockland Public Schools as a special needs teacher in a self-contained classroom. She was honored with a Plymouth County Teacher Appreciation Award this year. A daughter, Mimi, is a graduate of Umass Amherst where she majored in Japanese. Mimi is leaving for Tokyo this month for an intensive Japanese course. Her other daughter Nicole just completed her first year at Boston Baptist College. Her husband has two years (and counting) until his retirement.
1980-1989
John Feeney '80 went on to receive his MFA from NYU. He is married with twin boys and currently teaches orchestra classes at LaVilla School of the Arts in Jacksonville, FL.
Bob Diotalevi '81 and his wife, Janet, celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary June 12 this year. Bob is Program Coordinator of Legal Studies at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida. Bob is a member of the Massachusetts and Florida bars. They have one son, Michael, age 7.
Carrie (Isaacs) Costa '84 and her husband, Joe, will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary in September 2008. She is active in fundraising events and school functions for her two daughters, Rebecca, 15 and Hannah, 12.
Miriam Buttrick '87 remarried on August 9, 2007 on Nantucket. She now has three stepsons, ages 14, 12, and 10, in addition to her own children, Anthony, 16; Sarah, 12; and Margaux, 9. She and her husband, John, recently moved to Hingham.
Jennifer (Leonard) Hahn '88 is living in a log cabin on a lake in New Jersey with her husband and three children. "I have evolved into an artist using various mediums. Check out my style at www.jenniferleighleonard.com."
Jeffrey Rosenberg '89 runs a successful broadcast engineering consultancy. He would like to reconnect with old friends, as well as network with past and current students.
1990-1999
Jill Cummings '91 and her husband just adopted their first child from Shanxi Province, China. Shayla Yu Ping Nicholson was born July 15, 2005 and joined her family on February 25, 2008.
Mary (Campbell) Tharp '92 and her husband, Jade, live in Buford, Georgia with their two children Bailey, 8 and Bradey, 6.
Sarah Erlandson '92 recently accepted an offer to work as the solo paralegal for NOVA. For more than 30 years, NOVA has brought authoritative, innovative an entertaining science documentaries to television and is the most watched documentary series on PBS.
Terrie Hayward '92 and her husband Mark have recently purchased the Palmetto Guesthouse on the Caribbean island of Culebra off of Puerto Rico. Terrie is also active with educational projects in the schools, including working in conjunction with the Animal Welfare of Culebra (humane society) and the local elementary school.
Eric Gustafson '92 and his wife, Alison, live in Newburyport with their children Liam, Hanna and Olivia. He currently works for Zoll Medical as a product and clinical research manager for Advanced Life Support Defibrillation. He would love to touch base with old friends.
Michelle (Rimkie) Nordstrom '92 and her husband, Marc, welcomed their fifth child, Quintin Joseph, on January 24, 2008. They now have four sons and one daughter. Michelle currently works as a post partum nurse at The Hospital of Central Connecticut.
Kerry Lachmann '93 recently left her job as Traffic Manager at Rhode Island Monthly Magazine after almost 14 years and has taken a job at Brown University, working at the Brown Alumni Magazine. She is enjoying being in a college atmosphere again and is living in Providence.
Ashley (Blankstein) Delaney '94 writes, "We live in Glenview, IL with my husband (Tad Delaney) of nine years. We have two children (Griffin age 4 and Brendan age 2) whom we are very blessed to have in our lives as it was a long road to becoming parents. This past year my father, Stuart Blankstein passed away suddenly in September 2007. He and I were very close and he will be missed terribly by all. I am still best friends with Stephanie George (Cohen) from Curry and we see each other a few times a year but talk almost daily."
Shawna Hough-Pacheco '94 went on to get a master's degree in education after leaving Curry. She is teaching 3 to 5-year-olds with special needs and teaching the extended day program for children with Autism in Issaquah, WA. She is married and has three sons.
Jill Pearlstein '94 passed the National Certification Exam in Inpatient Obstetrics to become certified in her specialty. She works with fellow Curry alumni Nicole (Whynoy) McNeil '93, Mary (Barry) Trabulisi '93, and Pamela (Yetman) Simpson '84 at the Birthing Unit at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth.
Jeff Yourtz '94 has been married to wife, Kathy for eight years and has two children, Madison age 6 and Ethan age 3. They have two dogs Gable and Sherriff. Jeff has been at the Jewish Community Center of Denver since 2006 and is currently the Operations Manager.
Jennifer Dondero '95 has been working for the past three years as a truant officer for Quincy Public Schools and loves her job. Her daughters, Madison and Courtney, will be six- and five-years-old this summer, respectively.
Julie Ann (Jimenez) Boyle '96 and her husband, Michael, welcomed their newest addition. Garret Patrick Boyle was born on March 25, 2008 at 8 lbs. 14 oz. He joins his big brother, Michael Patrick Boyle II.
Autumn Bunche '96 and her fiancé, Paul, became engaged after he proposed on the Charles Bridge in Prague. They are planning a wedding for August 2009. Autumn retains her position as Vice Principal of a special needs school in England and enjoys her work. She looks forward to catching up with Curry friends at her wedding.
Karen (Callaghan) Nee '96 and her husband welcome a baby boy, Callaghan Dunne, on December 12, 2007. The family resides in Pembroke, MA.
Joel Simon '96 writes, "My wife Ruthie and I welcomed our second child, Avery Lou Simon, into the world on June 24, 2008. He was preceded by big sister Hattie Pearl Simon on March 23, 2006. I'm still working as a funeral director at Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York, NY and living in Fort Lee, NJ. Ruthie is Director of Student Services at Yeshiva Chovevei Torah, a Modern Orthodox Rabbinical School in New York, NY."
(Chevalier) Daniel C. Boyer '97 will have a pen-and-ink drawing, "Concerns of the Day", included in the collections of the "Inter-Art" Contemporary Art Museum in Aiud, Transylvania, Romania. His gouache, "The Year Before Our Hearts Were Broken", is going to be in the 7th International Mini-Art Exchange Malaysia 2008, at the Tuanku Nur Zahirah Art Gallery/ Royal Gallery, Mara University of Technology, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia in September. His erased colored pencil drawing, "She Enjoys the Taste of the Smoker" has been included in the collections of the Museum of Smokers (Musee du Fumeur) in Paris. He also will have a pen-and-ink drawing in the Manif D'Art 4, La Bienale de Quebec in Quebec City in May 2008 and has a story, "Without Memory", and the illustration for it, included in the just-published anthology, The Somnambulist Footprints: A Collection of Surrealist Tales.
Lisa (Danziger) Metz '97 and husband Jason '94 had a beautiful baby boy, David Henry, born on April 1, 2008. He weighed 8 lbs, 10 oz and was 21 inches long. Jason and Lisa are very proud and happy parents.
Calandra Parsons '97 is living near the beach in Long Beach, CA and working for JPMorgan Chase as an Account Executive. She writes, "I don't miss those East Coast winters!"
Mary (Vo) Torello '97 was married in 2000 and welcomed twins, Jack and Sophia, in 2005.
Erin Foley '98 graduated from Syracuse University in 1999 with a BSN and worked for eight years as a critical care RN. She is currently attending Wolford College of Nurse Anesthesia in Naples, FL, working on toward a master's degree in Nurse Anesthesia.
Sara (MacGregor) Murphy and her husband, Steve, married in 2004 and welcomed a baby girl, Hailey Elizabeth, in October 2007.
Andrea Aronson '99 and her fiancé, Sean, got engaged in Rockefeller Center in December 2007. They recently purchased a home in Hyde Park. Andrea is in the Nurse Practioner program at UMass and works as a Registered Nurse at MGH. Her fiancé is a Boston firefighter. They are planning a May 2009 wedding.
Sean Murphy '99 returned to complete his military career after working as a government contractor at Hanscom AFB and serving in the Army Reserves at the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington DC. He has returned to active duty with the US Army as a Military Intelligence All Source Analyst and is currently stationed in Grafenwoehr, Germany. As a leader of young soldiers, he takes great pride in the education he received at Curry and encourages his soldiers to strive to attain a higher education as well.
Greg Tomasello '99 married his wife, Allyson, in 2003. They have two children; a daughter, Julianna, born in December 2005 and a son, Nicholas, born in February 2008. Greg went back to school to focus on culinary arts after graduating from Curry. He is currently living in North Carolina and working as the Banquet Sous Chef at the Westin Charlotte. He also owns a fledgling catering company.
Michael Amaral-Sweeney '99, '04 writes, "Time continues to go by. It was great to graduate twice from Curry. I miss the college and the wonderful professors and great education. I just celebrated my first year anniversary with Steven. We are doing foster parenting and currently have two 10 year old twin boys. Life is crazy at times, but so worth it. I am completing my second master's degree, this one in nursing at URI. I will be applying for the doctoral program this September 2008. Our granddaughter is now 2 years and 2 months."
Catherine Burnett Swendsboe '99 went on to Cambridge College for a Master of Management degree after graduating from Curry's Continuing Education program. In 2005, after 15 years working full-time for UPS, Catherine took early retirement. She now happily works for herself as a mobile notary and justice of the peace. Both of her children now live in California, with her daughter residing in L.A. and her son in Berkely.
2000-2007
Julisa Burgos '00 currently works at Children's Hospital of Boston on their cardiac step down unit. She works as a Level II nurse and teaches classes for the hospital that range from telemetry interpretation to management of transplant patients. She has represented the hospital at conferences in Spain and Switzerland and has been working on research on Shones Syndrome, which is not often written about. She serves a preceptor for new nurses and has re-launched the mentor program on her unit. She would love to reconnect with classmates via Facebook or MySpace.
Emily (Johnson) Rotondo '00 was married June 28 to Richard Rotondo in Barrington, RI. Attendees included Curry Alumni Becky Roberts '01, Amy Morris '01, Bride Emily (Johnson) Rotondo '00, Lisa Volovick '00 and Jill Haas '01.
Brett Joseph '00 married his longtime fiancée, Xueping Tao, on January 5, 2008 at Independence Harbor in Assonet, MA. A Disney World honeymoon is planned. Brett has worked for eight years at the Quincy Registry of Motor Vehicles branch in their Drivers' Licensing Division.
Nicole Miller '00 and her husband, Sam, have been married for four years and have two sons: Three-year-old Lance and Justin, seven months. They are adopting a daughter from China, who they hope will join their family within two years.
Lisa (Najarian) Salmon '00 married husband Michael in 2005 and welcomed a beautiful baby boy, Michael Anthony Jr. on May 16, 2008. The family currently lives in Belmont, MA.
Jeffrey Arleque '01 was commissioned as a 2nd LT in the Massachusetts Army National Guard after graduating with Military Distinction from Boston University's ROTC Program. Since leaving Curry, he graduated from the Army Airborne School, the Army Officers' Course, Army Ranger School, and the Captains' Career Course. Over the past seven years, he has been deployed to Barnes, AFB, to New Orleans after hurricane Katrina, and just recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq. Cpt. Arleque was awarded the Bronze Star for Service as a result of his performance as the Executive Officer for Delta Co. of the 181st IN. For the past three years, in his civilian life, Jeff has been a police officer in Andover, MA. He is currently working on his master's degree in Criminal Justice at Anna Maria College in Paxton, MA.
Nicole (Pelusi) Hajj '01 and Ronald Hajj '01 welcomed their daughter, Addison Layla, on January 13, 2008 at 8:10 p.m. She was six pounds, 10 ounces.
Rebecca Dunlap '02 writes, "Last fall I moved to Connecticut and started a new teaching job which I am enjoying. I am also engaged to a wonderful man named Mike Agnese and we are planning a September 2008 wedding. Our lives are pretty busy but we are very happy!"
Kimberly McRae '02 was recently engaged to her boyfriend Mark Herzig. They have set a date for September 5, 2009 at Castleton in Windham, NH. They live in a condo in Brighton with their puppy Milo. She has been working at Eastern Bank since March of 2006 in Human Resources as their HR Analyst and says, "I love it."
Danielle Landry '03 recently became engaged to Michael Cobb. The wedding is planned for September 2009. Danielle has been working as a RN for 5 years in Providence, RI recently posted to the Pediatric ICU.
Amber Mann '03 recently moved to Silicon Valley to purse a career in the Web 2.0 business. She took a position working with the Vice President of Operations at eBay, Inc. She is currently living just outside San Jose and looks forward to new adventures on the West Coast.
Mindy Paige '03 and Jason Grinacoff recently became engaged. A wedding is planned for the summer of 2009.
Charlie Roberts '03 is living in Springfield, MA and working in Natick at Ovations for the Cure as the Development Coordinator.
Kelly Wright '03 and Jason Feldman '03 have recently become engaged. A summer 2009 wedding in Long Island is planned. They both currently work for AIG in downtown Manhattan and reside in Hoboken, NJ.
Dan Allar '04 and Jeanmarie Conrad '04 were recently engaged. A fall of 2008 wedding is planned. Dan currently works for the Department of Youth Services as a group worker. Jeanmarie just completed her master's degree in Early Childhood Education and currently works as a Kindergarten Reading Specialist.
Kristen Conkey '04 is engaged to Mark Stanton and living in Hingham. They plan to marry in September 2008 on Cape Cod.
Katie McMakin '04 writes, "I just received my master's degree in Education (Counselors Education: Mental Health and School Adjustment Counseling) from Bridgewater State College on May 14, 2008. I am currently working at South Bay Mental Health in Plymouth as a Staff Therapist doing community based therapy in the homes of my clients who range from age three to adult."
Pamela (Magill) Underwood '04 married Peter Underwood on October 14, 2007 at the Harding Allen Estate in Barre, MA. Fellow Curry alums Ronald Ramos '04 and Kevin Lebreton '05 were in attendance.
Scott Rosenberg '04 graduated with honors from the New England School of Law and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar. He is presently pursuing a LL.M. in tax law at Boston University School of Law.
Jennifer Ward '04 is the newly hired Assistant Director of Special Programs at Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill. She supports Career Services and the Center for Inclusive Leadership and Social Responsibility. She earned her Master of Social Work degree from Boston College in May 2007.
Heather Wilson '04 and Jamie McCready '04 recently became engaged. Heather left her job as a television news anchor to move back to Boston and work as a publicist with Regan Communications. Jamie continues to see great success with his graphic design and screen printing business, JM Graphix, in Quincy, MA. The couple purchased a home on the South Shore last summer and they are planning a 2009 wedding.
Christopher Annese '05 is the president and founder of CURL FILMS, a multi-media production company founded in March 2007. They produce television commercials, infomercials and sports highlight videos. He recently received two Hometown Video Awards for his work on the 2007 Union County Musicfest.
Catherine Cheng '05 writes, "Along with starting my MBA in the fall at Bentley, I have changed to a whole new professional direction! Since April, I have joined the Statewide Rapid Response Team for Massachusetts. This team is designed to respond to major layoffs and plant closings by coordinating services and providing immediate aid to affected companies and their workers. In addition, I am a PT technology consultant for Mclean Hospital. Brian and I are really looking forward to more whitewater kayaking, sailing, climbing, and hiking this summer!"
Christopher Roberson '05 has happily re-entered the journalism field as a correspondent for the Wakefield Observer. He has been writing for them since February 2008 covering the school committee and police news.
Aaron Rosenweig '05 just bought a condo in Brighton and is still employed with Cambridge Brands.
Sheika "Shay" Target '05 and Donald Edmond '06 became engaged on Christmas Eve 2007. Shay completed her Master of Education degree from Boston University in December 2007 and just accepted a position with the Mass. Department of Education in Malden. Donald works for State Street Financial in Downtown Boston. Shay writes, "We are really excited about all the changes in our lives and are looking forward to the future!"
Cassie (Bergoli) McGlynn '06 just changed jobs and currently works for a social service organization that dedicates its work to ending domestic violence. She is a newlywed and planning to grow her family within the next few years.
Trisha Thompson '05 writes, "I recently moved to Canton, about 15 minutes from Curry. As soon as the accreditation was granted for the master's degree program in Nursing as Clinical Nurse Leader, I sent my application. I've tried other schools, but it is a welcome home to Curry College."
Christine Mello '06 is engaged to her high school sweetheart, Steve. They plan to marry in February 2009. They currently live in Marshfield with their two cats.
Joseph Morabito '06 moved to L.A. in January 2008 to become a member of the NBC Page Program. He writes, "This is a dream come true! Many thanks to Jerry Gibbs and Tom Patino."
Jason Altavesta '07 and Teresa (Cristiani) Altavesta '98 were married in June 2006 and reside in Quincy, MA. They welcomed their first daughter, Josephine Cristiana Altavesta on June 5, 2006.
Gregory Martinez '07 is now working as a direct care counselor for Longview Farm, which is under the umbrella of The Home for Little Wanderers. He is also working as a security officer for Verizon via Securitas USA.