Spring/Summer 2020 Class Notes

Bob Storms, BAE, music education and ’68, M.Ed., music, is a musician and retired music teacher who was named Outstanding Music Teacher in the San Juan District in 2000. Since retiring, he’s kept up his lifelong hobby of songwriting and is nearing his 1500th song. “At age 81, I look forward to reaching my goal of 1500 songs and tunes in copyright,” he writes, “and then setting my new goal at 2000.” Storms also recently published his first book, “School Stories: The Funny Thing about Music,” with vignettes from his 40-year career teaching music in public schools. He also keeps up with The Birch Bay Band, an annual music reading session for band directors that has been going since 1958.

Jim Pearson, BAE, English – elementary; ‘75, MED, secondary, has a 50-year running streak. Pearson, retired Ferndale High School cross-country coach and member of the WWU Athletics Hall of Fame, has run a mile or more every day since Feb. 15, 1970, through illness, terrible weather, and now worldwide pandemic.  

Lavone Newell-Reim, BFA, art, and ’75, M.Ed., art, and Cathy Pearson Stevens, ’75, B.S., visual communication, teamed up to produce “The Barn Shows 1987-2003: In Their Own Words,” a book that chronicles 18 years of art exhibits in the Skagit Valley, beginning in La Conner in 1986 and continuing annually at The Barn on Newell-Reim’s property on Fir Island. 

David New, B.S., interdisciplinary concentration and geology, and his wife Darlina New, ’72, B.A., anthropology and ’78 M.Ed., science education, and their family recently received the Outstanding Tree Farmer of Year award from the American Tree Farm System for their efforts to restore a portion of critical watershed on their 165-acre property, Nourse Tree Farm in Bellingham. 

Mike Compton, BAE, PE- exercise and sport science, hosted a wrestling reunion over the sum mer that included legendary former Western coach Lanny Bryant and a house full of wrestling alums from the ‘70s and ‘80s, including Harry Smith, ’69, BAE, physical education and ’75, M.Ed., physical education, Anton Ehinger, ’81, BAE, physical education, Mike Donnelly, ’76, B.A., history, Lee Andersen, ’77, M.Ed., physical education, Jerry Bailey, ’72, B.A., accounting, John Hymas, ’79, B. A., history, Dan Anderson, ’75, B.A., technology, John Pinquoch, ’70, BAE, special education and mathematics, Randy Tomaras, ’72, BAE, industrial technology, Terry Beckstead, ’71, B.A., psychology, Bill Hunt, ’72, BAE, industrial technology, Darrell Gleason, ’73, BAE, special education and history, Tom Tripple, ’74, BAE, PE-exercise and sport science, and former coach Rick Iversen.

David New, B.S., interdisciplinary concentration and geology, and his wife Darlina New, ’72, B.A., anthropology and ’78 M.Ed., science education, and their family recently received the Outstanding Tree Farmer of Year award from the American Tree Farm System for their efforts to restore a portion of critical watershed on their 165-acre property, Nourse Tree Farm in Bellingham. 

Theresa Marshall Schroeder, BAE, was recently honored with a Gold Medal by the American Dahlia Society for her service as general secretary of their volunteer board.

Heather Richendrfer, B.A., home economics, was selected for the adjudication panel at the 2019 World Highland Dance Championships in Dunoon, Scotland. Her dance school, the Clan Heather Dancers, is also celebrating its 45th anniversary of Scottish and Irish dance in the Pacific Northwest. She is executive director of the Scottish Dance Society presenting the annual Bellingham Scottish Gathering. She is also a life member of the British Association of Teachers of Dance and her tenure on the Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing judging panel has presented opportunities to judge events around the world.

George Trudeau, B.A., music – performance, recently announced he plans to retire this summer as director of the Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State University. 

Beaming Books recently published “Someday We Will: A Book for Grandparents and Grandchildren,” by Pam Webb, B.A., recreation. “Someday We Will” is a picture book about grandchildren and grandparents counting the days until they can be together again and have fun adventures. 

Ted Pratt, B.A., theatre and ’93, M.Ed., student personnel administration, recently retired after 32 years at Western and as the longtime dean of students. The Western Foundation is raising funds to endow the Ted Pratt Dean of Students Diversity & Leadership Scholarship. Learn more at www.vikingfunder.com/TedPratt. 

Mark Petrie, B.A., business administration, is the CEO of Copiers Northwest, where his brother, Gregg Petrie, B.A., business administration, is president. 

Linda A. (Vandlac) Smith, M.A., speech communication, retired in 2019 after  a nearly 42-year teaching career. For the last 30 years, she taught communication studies at Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon, where she created an online speech lab, coordinated the Center for Learning and Teaching, edited the faculty newsletter and served as department chair and division chair. Now, she is looking forward to spending more time traveling, writing, and volunteering locally.

Greg Cox (B.A., chemistry) had two books come out in 2017: “The Librarians and the Mother Goose Chase,” based on the popular TV series, and the official movie novelization of “War for the Planet of Apes.”

Natalie Wilson, B.Mus., music education, teaches at Grass Valley Elementary School in Camas, where she coordinates one of the nation’s only elementary-level vocal jazz ensembles. She’s also the chair of the national Jazz Education Network’s K-8 Education Committee, encouraging more music teachers to teach jazz music to kids in the earlier grades. She was recently inducted into the Washington Music Educators Association Hall of Fame.   

Mark Perry, BAE, history – secondary education, recently became director of teaching and learning at Moses Lake Christian Academy. 

Jeff Todahl, BAE, school health education, is an associate professor in the Couples and Family Therapy Program in the University of Oregon’s College of Education.  

Tim DeJong, B.A., political science, is an attorney in Portland who recently recovered $234.6 million on behalf of investors in the largest settlement of a securities fraud case in Oregon history.

MaryAlice Wallis, B.A., speech-language pathology & audiology, recently became the mayor of Longview. 

Karla Sperber, B.A., business administration, recently became vice president of human resources for Staypineapple hotels. 

Greg Baker, M.Ed., secondary education, was recently named the 2020 Superintendent of the Year by the Washington Association of School Administrators. 

The Rev. Leonisa Ardizzone, M.Ed., secondary education, recently became the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills. She is also a musician and jazz vocalist who performs with her own quartet and an adjunct assistant professor at Vassar College. 

Disney-Hyperion recently published “If We Were Giants” a middle-grades book co-authored Clete Barrett Smith, BAE, English – secondary, who is also an English teacher at Burlington-Edison High School. Smith has published six books for kids – this is his first project with musician and co-author Dave Matthews. 

Bruce Dear, B.A., theatre, produced “Between the Notes,” a documentary about musicians and music in New Orleans, now available for viewing on Amazon Prime. 

Bryan Woodward, B.A., communication, journalism, is managing director of the Horseshoe Bay Resort on Lake LBJ in Texas Hill Country. 

Justin Neal’s (Fairhaven Interdisciplinary Concentration) play, “So Damn Proud” received a staged reading at the Seattle Repertory Theater with Northwest Playwrights Alliance on Indigenous Peoples Day in October.

Ina Howell, principal’s certificate, is a retired Seattle Public Schools administrator and recently received the National Educators Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Alliance of Black School Educators. 

Steve Kirkelie, BA., journalism – public relations, political science, was recently appointed city manager of Puyallup, where he had been serving as interim city manager since July 2019.  

Joel Runnels, B.A., Fairhaven interdisciplinary concentration, speech language pathology and audiology, is a doctoral student at University of North Dakota recently left for Ghana on a Fulbright Specialist Award to work on his dissertation on Andrew Foster, a deaf African American missionary who established 32 schools for the deaf in 13 African nations.

Nancy Boutte Finn, B.A., general studies, recently became the chief development officer at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. Before that, she worked at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. 

Darren Orange (Art) is a mixed-media artist in Astoria, Oregon, and uses nontraditional materials like tar, house paint and concrete in his work.

Chris Adams, B.A., communication, is president of the Northwest Chron’s and Colitis Foundation. Earlier this year he spoke at TEDxBig Sky about his journey with the disease and how it helped him connect to a world he had never imagined. Adams works closely with Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, who also has Chron’s disease, to raise awareness and funds for a cure. Adams is president of Hockey Talkter records, McCready’s small vinyl record label.  

Jeremy Pataky, B.A., English – writing, lives in Alaska, where he publishes Edible Alaska magazine and directs 49 Writers, a literary nonprofit. University of Alaska Press recently published his debut collection of essays and poems, “Overwinter.” 

Drew Hamilton, B.A., recreation, is president of the Friends of the McNeil River, leading their fight against the Pebble Mine project in Alaska, and works as a wildlife guide in Manitoba. He recently co-authored “BEARS of the Alaska Peninsula” to raise awareness about the region’s bear habitat and the potential impacts of the mine project. 

Sarah Aronson, B.A., Fairhaven interdisciplinary concentration, won the 2018 New American Poetry Prize from New American Press, which recently published her debut poetry collection, “And Other Bodiless Powers.” Aronson, a graduate of the University of Montana’s MFA program, is the host of “The Write Question” on Montana Public Radio. 

Ryan Simmons, B.S., environmental science, is a project manager for Seattle City Light, overseeing fisheries projects studying trout and mountain whitefish populations native to the lower Pend Oreille River. 

Dian Ver Valen, B.A., journalism, recently became editor of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. She has been at the Union-Bulletin since 2015, most recently serving as news editor.  

Jake Licht, B.A., management information systems and East Asian studies, recently became the CEO of Baden Sports, a sporting goods company in Renton. He had served as the company’s chief operating officer since 2011.   

Julie Marie Wade, M.A., English, made tenure at Florida International University, where she’s an associate professor of English. Wade’s newest collection of poems is “Same-Sexy Marriage,” published by A Midsummer Night’s Press in 2018, and “The Unrhymables: Collaborations in Prose,” coauthored with Denise Duhamel and published this year by Noctuary Press. 

Chris Kowitz, B.S., environmental science, recently became the North Central Region manager of the Oregon Water Resources Department, overseeing the allocating of water and inspection of wells in the Umatilla, Lower John Day, Lower Deschutes and Hood River basins. 

“The Good Way: A Himalayan Journey” by Julie Tate-Libby, M.A., anthropology, was recently published by Koehler Books, recounts her solo trek in the Himalayas at age 19, her stay in a Buddhist nunnery near Mount Everest, and her search for a deeper faith. Tate-Libby taught a course at Western in Himalayan culture and ecology in 2016 and now teaches sociology and anthropology at Wenatchee Valley College. 

Caitlin Unsell, B.A., journalism – public relations, recently opened Neko, Bellingham’s first cat café. She also founded the Neko cat café in downtown Seattle. 

Alex Ramel, B.A., planning and environmental policy, was appointed to represent the 40th Legislative District in the Washington State House of Representatives. He replaces Jeff Morris, who resigned in November 2019.

Kathryn Kegel, B.S., environmental science, is a senior aquarist at the Seattle Aquarium. 

“The Sun is a Compass: A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds,” by Caroline Van Hemert, M.A., English, won the 2019 Banff Book Competition Awards for Adventure Travel. Van Hemert wrote about her six-month self-powered odyssey from Bellingham into the Alaskan wilderness with her husband Patrick Farrell, ’04, B.A., art-sculpture.

“The Sun is a Compass” by Caroline Van Hemert, ’05, M.A., English, recently published by Little, Brown Spark, is the story of her 4,000-mile journey with her husband Patrick Farrell, ’05, art – sculpture,  from Bellingham to the western coast of Alaska by row-boat, foot, packraft, canoe and skis. Fellow writer and Alaskan Eowyn Ivey, ’95, B.A., journalism,  called it “My favorite book of 2019 and one of the best Alaskan books I have ever read.” 

Derek Thornton, B.A., economics/political science and ‘12, MBA, was recently named senior vice president and chief financial officer of People Bank. He’s also vice president of the board of directors for Lydia Place in Bellingham.  

Casey Mullin, B.Mus., music – performance, head of Cataloging and Metadata Services at Western Libraries, won two awards in 2019, including the Richard S. Hill Award from the Music Library Association for his scholarly work and the Esther J. Piercy Award from the American Library Association for his contributions and leadership in library and technical services.  

Andrew Eakin, B.A., economics/political science, has spent about a decade in agribusiness and recently became a sales rep for Firestone Pacific Foods in Vancouver, Washington. He also just spent his eighth season volunteering with the White Pass Ski Patrol.

Philip Dierking, B.A., communication, is a video producer and multimedia journalist based in Washington, D.C. After several years teaching English in Europe and Africa, Dierking moved to Washington, D.C. and joined Voice of America as a digital writer reporting on education, environmental issues, arts and culture. Now, he’s in VOA's Africa Division where he produces television shows on health, news, and entertainment. He also recently completed a documentary on global child marriage.

Kate Gould, B.A., Fairhaven interdisciplinary concentration, recently became the senior policy advisor to U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-California. Previously, Gould was a foreign policy fellow at the Congressional Progressive Caucus. 

Kathryn Eyraud, B.S., environmental science, earned a law degree in 2012 from Roger Williams University School of Law and is now an attorney in the Olympia and Centralia offices of Althauser Rayan Abbarno. Previously, she was a family law facilitator and family juvenile court improvement program coordinator in Clallam County Superior Court. 

Warren Weigel, B.S. electronics engineering technology, earned his Master of Engineering in electrical engineering from Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, in December. He also passed the National Council of Examiners for Engineering Fundamentals of Engineering examination and earned the title Engineer in Training. 

Julie Stone, B.A., psychology and B.S. PE-sport psychology, is the youth leadership manager at North Cascades Institute.  

Carina Kuo, B.S., manufacturing engineering technology, is the owner and chief operating officer of SportsArt America, which specializes in energy-generating fitness equipment. Also at the company are Marketing Manager Britt Harris, ’15, B.A., marketing, and Product Manager Matt Thorsen, ’13, B.S., kinesiology and ’17, M.S., kinesiology. 

Sam Milne, B.A., history, is the head brewer at the new Brick West Brewing Co. in Spokane, which he helped design. Previously, Milne was the head brewer at Kulshan Brewing in Bellingham and trained at the Siebel Institute in Chicago, Doemens Academy in Munich through the World Brewing Academy. 

Jake Koppenberg, B.A., general studies, has returned to competitive golf and plays in U.S. Golf Association amateur events. He recently made it to the quarterfinals at the 2019 Mid-Amateur Championship at Colorado Golf Club southeast of Denver. 

Kim Harris, M.Ed., student affairs administration, owns Distinctive Voice Consulting, a diversity, equity, inclusion, cultural and bias awareness training and consulting business in Bellingham. She recently received the 2020 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Building Award. 

The Tacoma-Cienfuegos Sister City Committee selected Stephanie Skaggs, B.A., English literature and ’13, MiT, for its first travel fellowship to Cuba. Skaggs, who teaches English and social studies at the Science and Math Institute of Tacoma, traveled to Cuba over winter break.

Matthew Moroney, B.S., environmental science, is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Raise Green, a financial technology platform that enables people to invest in community clean energy projects and other projects aimed at climate solutions. 

Rachel Lerman, B.A., journalism, recently joined the Washington Post as a breaking news technology reporter. Previously, she covered technology for the Associated Press, the Seattle Times and the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Tavish M. Brown, B.A., Fairhaven interdisciplinary concentration, is a graduate of Boston University School of Law and recently became a construction law associate at Hinckley Allen in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Carina Kuo, B.S., manufacturing engineering technology, is the owner and chief operating officer of SportsArt America, which specializes in energy-generating fitness equipment. Also at the company are Marketing Manager Britt Harris, ’15, B.A., marketing, and Product Manager Matt Thorsen, ’13, B.S., kinesiology and ’17, M.S., kinesiology.

Paul Heller, B.A., international business, German, lives in Slovenia and works as a regulation and compliance assistant for GEN-I, an energy trading company and one of the fastest growing energy companies in Europe. 

Carina Kuo, B.S., manufacturing engineering technology, is the owner and chief operating officer of SportsArt America, which specializes in energy-generating fitness equipment. Also at the company are Marketing Manager Britt Harris, ’15, B.A., marketing, and Product Manager Matt Thorsen, ’13, B.S., kinesiology and ’17, M.S., kinesiology.

Rachel Roll, B.A., communication sciences and disorders, is a hearing aid specialist as well as a freelance makeup artist and body painter.  

Arlen Coiley, B.A., Fairhaven interdisciplinary concentration, is the chef de cuisine and partner in a new Bellingham restaurant, Storia Cucina.

After graduation, Leah Sauter, B.A., history, moved to Israel to pursue a master’s degree at the Weiss-Livnat Program for Holocaust studies at the University of Haifa. Then she completed an internship at the Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York City, where she translated survivor testimonies from Yiddish to English. Now, she’s interning at the Virginia Holocaust Museum.  

Allayana Darrow, B.A., journalism – public relations, covers crime and public safety for The Sheridan Press in Wyoming. 

Joel Connelly, a Campus School alumnus, recently announced he’ll be retiring from seattlepi.com -- he started at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper in 1973 and has covered local and national politics, energy, education as both a reporter and columnist.  

Nancy E. Wilson Piovesan, 92, who worked in her husband’s veterinary practice, was a partner at Bellingham Travel and served as a community volunteer, on Aug. 25, 2019, in Bellingham. 

Norma Hall, 91, retired from 31 years working for the Skagit County Assessor’s Office, on June 16, 2019.  

Donald Dean Jones, 85, a retired science teacher and professor, on Oct. 1, 2019, in Shelton.  

Robert Suggs, 85, a retired teacher, football and baseball coach, and commercial fisher who served on the Fraser River Panel of the Pacific Salmon Commission and was involved with the implementation of the 1985 Pacific Salmon Treaty, on Nov. 19, 2019, in Lynden.  

Barbara Harnden, 84, a retired real estate agent, on Oct. 30, 2019.

John Bannecker, 88, a retired industrial arts teacher who worked with special needs youth in Seattle Schools, on Oct. 12, 2019, in Shoreline.

Ellis Hosmer Robinson, 89, a U.S. Navy veteran who ran print shops, on Nov. 3, 2019, in Wenatchee.  

Patricia Morton, 84, on Oct. 16, 2019.

Winston Earl Pearson, 86, retired teacher, principal and superintendent of Napavine schools who later worked as director of student teachers for Grays Harbor County schools, on June 3, 2019, in Yakima.  

Kathleen Mae Kreiss, 83, a longtime high school teacher in Edmonds and Shoreline who later worked in human services at the Bitter Lake Family Center, on Nov. 10, 2019.

Lucille Marie (Gilliam) McCurdy, 82, who taught for several years in Auburn, on Aug. 26, 2019.  

Edward Earl Cotter, 94, a U.S. Army veteran and retired social worker, on Oct. 22, 2019. 

Don Rice, 81, a retired math and science teacher in New York, on Oct. 12, 2019, in Clearwater, Florida.  

Roy Reichert, 83, a U.S. Army veteran who worked as an FHA appraiser, on Nov. 1, 2019. 

 Truman William Nybakken, 83, who worked for Boeing, EG&G, and Delco, on April 6, 2019. 

Rosemary Dahlquist, 79, on Aug. 12, 2019, in Bellingham. 

Donald Haase, 80, a retired math teacher, on Dec. 6, 2019.

Mary Smelling, 92, of Port Angeles, on Aug. 27, 2019.  

Bill Mortimer, 79, a math teacher in the Longview School District who served on the Board of Trustees for Lower Columbia College, on Dec. 4, 2019.  

Gary Swanson, 76, a longtime teacher and coach at Castle Rock High School in Cowlitz County, on April 23, 2019.  

Dennis Jerome Pearson, 81, a retired math teacher and commercial fisher, on Dec. 4, 2019, in Oak Harbor.

Sandra Strom Mannick, 78, a musician and longtime Bothell resident, on Nov. 9, 2019. 

Patricia May Skene, 76, a retired teacher who worked in Federal Way, Walla Walla, Beaverton and Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 10, 2019, in Beaverton, Oregon.  

Ann Margaret Donovan Moore, 78, a retired middle school English teacher in Anacortes, on Nov. 4, 2019, in Olympia.

Carol Ann Kramer, 78, a retired elementary school teacher for South Kitsap schools, on Aug. 13, 2019.

Rudy Baerg, 87, retired music faculty member at Columbia Bible College and the founder of the Valley Festival Singers in Abbotsford, B.C., on Sept. 17. 

 Lance Van Brocklin, 79, retired from Trident Seafoods in Alaska operations quality control, on Oct. 22, 2019.

Darlene Joy Page, 80, a retired teacher, on Nov. 15, 2019, in Bellingham.  

 Dennis W. Graham, 77, a retired elementary teacher for the Kelso School District, on Oct. 25, 2019.

Mary “Pat” Call, 100, a retired teacher and community volunteer who served in the Women’s Air Service Pilots during World War II, on Oct. 17, 2019.

Margaret Gayle Inouye, 73, a retired librarian, on Oct. 16, 2019, in Hilo, Hawaii.  

Leonard Charles Blauvelt, 78, who worked for the Nisqually Indian Tribe and at Yelm High School, on July 11, 2019. 

Karen Dee Barnard, 71, a retired third-grade teacher in the Snohomish School District, on Jan. 10, 2019.

James William Abbott, 72, who worked as a lawyer and later in commercial construction and development, on Oct. 15, 2019.

Duane Wilcox, 75, a retired lieutenant with the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, on Jan. 18, 2019.  

Kathryn “Kit” O’Connor, 72, a retired teacher of 31 years in Olympia and Bellingham, on Sept. 5, 2019, in Bellingham. 

Michael Harmon Davenport, 75, a professional musician and music teacher in Bellingham, Yakima and Tacoma schools and in his own studio, on June 30, 2019, in Tacoma. 

Maxine Strege, 71, who worked for 35 years in education in Washington and Minnesota, on March 19, 2020, in Little Falls, Minnesota. 

Katherine Grace (Hicks) Green, 71, who worked as a police and ambulance dispatcher and later a substance abuse counselor, on June 30, 2019, in Kent.

Stan Dodd, 69, an exploration geologist, on Aug. 18, 2019.

Clarence Zylstra, 89, a U.S. Army veteran, dairy farmer, 38-year faculty member at Whatcom Community College, and former board member of Lynden Christian School, the Lynden Pioneer Museum and other organizations, on Dec. 7, 2019.  

Roge Roush, 75, an actor, ESL teacher and casino worker, on Nov. 12, 2019. 

Evelyn Larsen, 92, a retired teacher in Sacramento, on Oct. 25, 2019, in Provo, Utah.

 Jim Folsom, 72, a longtime resident of Henderson, Nevada, on April 6, 2019.  

Richard Lyle Boyd, 68, a longtime art teacher and coach in Port Angeles who later ran a bed and breakfast inn with his wife, on Jan. 7, 2019.

Jan Susan Zidell-Dahl, 67, a 40-year teacher in the Bethel School District, on Nov. 15, 2019.  

 Ronald Lee Martini, 67, a retired elementary school teacher in Wyoming, Utah, and the Las Vegas Valley, on Nov. 26, 2019. 

  Charles C. Doughty, 72, on April 9, 2019., 72, on April 9, 2019.

Michael Swanson, 77, a U.S. Army veteran, on Dec. 18, 2019.  

Olga Beth “Betty” Anderson Speer, 91, a retired teacher in Seattle, on June 17, 2019.

Judy Robards Taylor, 68, a retired teacher, counselor and high school psychologist who also was a veterinary assistant for the World Canine Health Organization, on Dec 16, 2019.  

Betty Merner Chamberlin, 94, who worked in human services, on July 25, 2019. 

Catherine Rose Mesich, 67, who worked for the Washington State Department of Transportation, on June 11, 2019, in Vancouver, Washington.  

Douglas W. Taylor, 65, on Sept. 26, 2019.  

 Lee Lowe, 95, a retired elementary school teacher in Everett schools, on July 21, 2019.

Katherine Ann Graves, 94, an artist and signature member of the Northwest Pastel Society, on Jan. 27, 2019, in Redmond.

Gilbert Erickson, 62, who worked for Holland America Cruise Line for 35 years, on Nov. 17, 2019, in Coupeville.

Stacy Jo (Lindgren) Rapp, 61, who worked in the banking industry, on Dec. 31, 2019, in Everett.  

Gretchen A. Ludwig, 70, a retired teacher and administrator in public and Catholic schools, on Jan. 8, 2019 in Inverness, Illinois.

Donald John Overmiller II, 62, a pharmacist, on Nov. 4, 2019.  

Jeff Phillips, 60, a pediatric dentist, on June 14, 2019. 

Don Axworthy, 62, a scientist who spent more than 30 years developing cancer therapies and was a leading authority on multi-step radioisotope targeting in the treatment of cancer, on Sept. 19, 2019.

 Larry Keith Jones, 67, who ran a newspaper distribution business in Whatcom County and wrote a book about his humanitarian work in El Salvador, on June 14, 2019.  

 Stanley Sakamoto, 58, a U.S. Air Force veteran, on July 29, 2019.  

Lance Harris, 60, a painting contractor who sometimes worked as a stuntman in the entertainment industry, on Feb. 1, 2019.

 Patricia A. Sanders, 87, a former judge for the city of Hamilton, Montana, on Feb. 9, 2020, in Phoenix.  

 Janis L. Harnden, 58, on Dec. 12, 2019.

Roger Flotre, 81, who worked at Georgia Pacific and at WWU, on Feb. 16, 2019.  

 Steve Milward, 63, on July 18, 2019.

Mark Amano, 61, a water treatment chemist, on Dec. 11, 2019, in Mount Vernon.

Robert Alan Robinson, 61, a skilled boater and U.S. Navy veteran who established and ran Signature Yachts on Seattle’s Lake Union, on Sept. 15, 2019, in Seattle.

 Teresa Birkeland-Roebke, 53, on July 8, 2019.  

The Rev. Anna Maria Korathu, 71, former rector of St. George’s Episcopal Church in Lake City, on April 9, 2018.  

 Jim “Jamie” Blevins, 56, who was a doctoral student in anthropology at the University of Utah and taught for many years at Salt Lake Community College, on May 21, 2019, in Salt Lake City. 

Thomas Keith, 56, who ran Flickers Coffeehouse in Helena, Montana, and later worked for Conduent, on Dec. 4, 2019.

Phillip I. Bakke, 49, a FEMA regional manager and state liaison, on Nov. 26, 2019, on South Whidbey Island.  

 James Werle, 47, executive director of the Community Anchor Program at Internet2, on Sept. 19, 2019.  

Timothy R. Kirchgatter, 51, on Dec. 6, 2019, in Blaine. 

Victoria Collier, 71, who worked in communications for environmental organizations such as the Sonora Institute in Arizona and the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies on Colorado, and volunteered for the Democratic Party, on Feb. 2, 2020, in Boulder, Colorado. 

Jennifer Lamonica, 44, a speech pathologist in the Concrete and Sedro-Woolley school districts, on Nov. 15, 2019.  

Kimberly Bickle Richardson, 49, on January 27, 2019.  

Curtis Clayton Jacobson, 39, a flight instructor, regional training manager in Boeing’s pilot development program and former vice president of the Boeing Employee Flying Association’s board of directors, on Dec. 8, 2019.  

Albert Charles Shaw, 84, chair of the Music Department from 1978 to 1998, on Oct. 14, 2019, in Bellingham. Before coming to Western, Dr. Shaw served as dean and director of the schools of music at Pacific University in Oregon and Illinois Wesleyan University. During his time in the U.S. Navy, he was conductor of the U.S. Naval Aviation Band and Chorus in Pensacola, Florida.  

Rod Roth, 77, one of the founders of R&D Plastics in Oregon, who established and funded three scholarships in Western’s Plastics Engineering Program and supported the program for decades by hiring graduates and interns and providing materials, guest speakers and industry tours. He received the 2019 Community Volunteer Award from the Western Alumni Association.  

Bill Roe, 69, a revered assistant coach and a fixture in the track & field and cross country program for the last 35 years, who was nationally and internationally known for his involvement in the administration of those sports, on Feb. 28, 2020, in Victoria, B.C., where he was making final preparations for the North American, Central American, Caribbean Athletics Association Cross Country Championships.Roe coached distance runners for the Vikings. His athletes set more than 20 school records and earned numerous NAIA and NCAA All-America honors. 

Holly Bammert, ’10, BAE, special education, and Alex Mittelstaedt, ’08, B.A., finance, on Nov. 8, 2019, in New York City.  

Holly Bammert, ’10, BAE, special education, and Alex Mittelstaedt, ’08, B.A., finance, on Nov. 8, 2019, in New York City.  

Allison Andrews, ’11, B.A., economics/environmental studies, and Anderson Beebe on July 13, 2019, in Mazama.

Jade Coppieters, ’14, B.A., politics/philosophy/economics and Samuel Dunlap, ’14, B.S., computer science, on April 7, 2019, in Arlington, Virginia.  

Jade Coppieters, ’14, B.A., politics/philosophy/economics and Samuel Dunlap, ’14, B.S., computer science, on April 7, 2019, in Arlington, Virginia.  

Sean Daniel Leaverton and Malia Elizabeth Zurcher, ’19, MiT, on July 27, 2019, in Naches.