Class Notes| 2017

ERIKA BENNETT MBA ’14 – a member of the Mexican National Team – joined the UTEP Miners’ coaching staff after two years at FGCU, where the former Marshall pitcher directed the pitching staff.

During Bennett’s two seasons at FGCU, the pitching staff posted a 2.82 ERA with only 268 walks and 515 strikeouts in 794 innings. Prior to coaching at in Southwest Florida, Bennett spent one year at Dodge City Community College where the Conquistadors compiled 142 strikeouts. Originally from Hereford, Ariz., Bennett previously spent time as a graduate assistant at Lake Erie College.

MITCH BROWN ‘12 has been twice-more published in Personality and Individual Differences for his work on sociosexuality and how dangerous world beliefs influence preferences for facially communicated extraversion and psychopathy, respectively. Also, his paper concerning the health-communicative properties of limbal rings (dark rings circling the iris) and their influence on mating decisions was accepted for publication in the highly cited journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

DOMINIC CRIBRARI ’13 married BRITTANY ORTIZ ’12 on June 3, 2017, at Saint Mary's Church in Painesville, Ohio. The couple purchased a home and reside in Chesterland, Ohio.

LESLIE JONES ’87 and WILLIAM “BILL” BIMBER ’86 celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary in September. They met at a performance of “Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You” at the C.K. Rickel Theatre in 1985. Leslie is a Youth Financial Analyst with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington, DC. Bill is a teacher of AP Physics in Woodbridge, VA.

ELLA (SCHULZ) LYNN ’36, Boca Raton, Fla., reminisces often about her years at Lake Erie – her friends, the professors, Miss Small, the banquets, and the visits she’s had over the years. She writes, “I’ve really appreciated the guidance and knowledge I received at Lake Erie. I was well prepared for life, and it has treated me well.”

JANE (GALLACHER) DeBARBIERI ‘67, HOLLY (CONKLIN) FITZGERALD ’67 and BOBBI (THOMAS) McGOVERN ’67 recently spent time together in Asheville, N.C. They are planning on attending the LEC 50th reunion in September 2017. “The 40th was fabulous. Please join us and celebrate this milestone! See you there!”

DIANE PERUSHEK ’68 is a librarian at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. She recently donated a wonderful collection of 172 books that were published by the University of Hawaii Press to the James F. Lincoln Library at Lake Erie College.

JOSEPH HUMPOLICK ’74 retired April 10 from the Ashtabula County Public Defenders Office, where he worked for close to 38 years.

KIMBERLY BARTLETT ’87 is a political consultant at Right Hoof Strategies, LLC in Cleveland.

DEBORAH (SMITH) ESTES ’92 is the administrative assistant to the director of the Frist Presbyterian Day School in St. Petersburg, Fla.

AMANDA (KINSER)-VINS ’98 and her husband, Wes Vins, announce the births of their two sons, Harrison Wesley, born July 7, 2014, and Jackson John, born Nov. 10, 2016. The boys join their two big sisters, Katherine, born in 2009, and Mariska, born in 2011. The Vins live on a farm in Kinsman, Ohio where they farm certified organic hay and raise their own beef, pork, chickens and turkeys; they also still have a couple of ponies. Amanda is a stay-at-home mom and loving it.

JANICE LAWRENZ ’96 accepted a new position in January 2017 as Director of Surgical Technology & Perioperative Education at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, Ohio.

CHRISTINE (WALLER) VENALECK ’97 is Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Goldberg Companies, Inc. (GCI) in Beachwood, Ohio, where she has been employed for three years. GCI, founded in 1952, is a national developer, general contractor and property manager of residential and commercial real estate. The company owns and manages over 10,000 apartments nationwide.

SONIA BROTZMAN ’09 is office manager for Brotzman’s Nursery, Inc., a family-owned business in Madison, Ohio.

JAMES GARGAS ’04 was featured in the Miami University Department of Accountancy Annual Report for 2014-2015. A forensic accountant, Gargas is Director of PwC’s Forensic Services Practice in Washington, D.C., where he has traveled six continents in his service while guiding multinational companies through anti-bribery and anti-corruption projects, his main specialty. His two co-authored white papers, “Raising Your Anti-Corruption IQ” and ‘Is Your Organization Conflicted?” sum up these two areas and provide a glimpse of what companies must consider in today’s business environment.

MELISSA NYE ’06 is the Senior Coordinator for Advancement Services at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio. She moved from admissions to this new position in January 2017.

MITCH BROWN ’12 had a first-author paper accepted in December 2016 to the peer-reviewed journal “Personality and Individual Differences” addressing his continuing research on social motives and perceptions of facially communicated extraversion.

KYLE ADAMS ’16 recently passed the fourth and final part of the CPA exam; he passed each part on his first try. Adams is currently a staff accountant at Skoda Minotti, CPAs, Business and Financial Advisors.

BRIDGET BEURY ’12 is an elephant keeper at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida.

JARED DALEY ’10 is the Coordinator of Employer Engagement Services with the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities. He was interviewed in March 2017 on 90.3 WCPN ideastream about integrating persons with developmental disabilities into the workforce.

JULIA KUDLA ‘13 and JAMES “JIMMIE” SHAW ’13 were married on June 24, 2016 in Morley Music Building on the Lake Erie College campus. The couple met at LEC in 2009 when they were both freshmen; Kudla was on the lacrosse team and Shaw on the baseball team. Many members of the wedding party were LEC alumni as well, and many guests were shared friends and staff from the couple’s time at the College.

BRANDON LOGUE ’14 is a major crimes detective at the Henderson Police Department in North Carolina. He was honored as Officer of the Year for 2015 and 2016.

RACHELLE MOSHOLDER ’12 is a project manager for Hitachi Data Systems in Bellevue, Wash.

JAMES PERRY SHAW IV ’13 was recently promoted to Associate Partner of the New York Life office in Toledo, Ohio after three successful years as an agent. Making Executive Council for the past two years, Shaw was also awarded the “New Associate of the Year” award in 2016 as well as the 2016 “New Org Life Case Leader.”

JULIA (KUDLA) SHAW ’13 works in Athletic Development Operations at the University of Toledo.

JUSTIN SLABY ’11, CPA, has been hired as a senior staff accountant at Skoda Minotti.

BRIAN TURK ’10 is a mental health and substance abuse counselor at Glenbeigh Hospital in Rock Creek, Ohio. He graduated with a Master of Science degree in social work from Case Western Reserve University in May 2016 and achieved professional licenses as a Licensed Social Worker and Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor. He currently serves as a lieutenant for the Windsor Fire Department and is going to be a first-time uncle to a baby niece in June 2017.