Class Notes

Seattle Repertory Theatre Artistic Director Braden Abraham, B.A., English – writing, is moving to Chicago to lead the Writers Theatre of Chicago. During his 20-year tenure at the Seattle Rep, Braden worked to stage early productions of “Come From Away,” which went on to be a hit Broadway musical, and “All the Way,” which won a Tony award.

Amy Vira, B.A., German, was recently elected to be the San Juan County Prosecuting Attorney.

The Jefferson Transit Authority board recently appointed Nicole Gauthier, B.A., political science, as general manager of the transit agency that runs buses in and around Sequim, Poulsbo, Kingston, and east and west Jefferson County. Nicole had served as the interim general manager for several months.

Darin Detwiler, B.A., history, and ‘98, teaching certificate, was included in Quality Assurance and Food Safety magazine’s recent list of 21 people who have shaped the last 30 years of food safety. Darin, who was featured in the fall 2021 edition of Window, is a food safety expert and an associate teaching professor at Northeastern University.

Richard Shockey, BAE, history, elementary, plans to retire from the Blaine School District after 17 years in the Blaine High School career center, coaching golf teams and, more recently, working as a paraeducator at Blaine Middle School.

Peter Bloch Garcia, BAE, English-secondary, is president and executive director of the Latino Community Fund of Washington State, which helps build leadership and capacity among non-profit organizations to improve the lives of the state’s Latine residents. Peter is also a force behind Progresso, which focuses on Latine voter registration and civic participation.

Dan Steelquist, BAE, elementary education, plans to retire at the end of the school year from the Blaine School District, where he’s been coaching and teaching, mostly in the middle school, since graduation. He coached varsity soccer teams and led 26 groups of eighth-graders on trips to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Bob Gray, B.Mus., music education, plans to retire after 41 years as a music teacher and band director in the Blaine School District. During his tenure, the district has grown the program from the pep band to add several grade-level bands as well as high school jazz and concert bands and a wind ensemble. Bob also traveled with band students to Japan five times during his career—and hopes to return in retirement.

Mike Ho, M.Ed., student personnel administration, is manager of Student Life and Leadership at Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix and is the 2022 recipient of the NASPA Region VI Mid-Level Student Affairs Professional Award.  

Real estate brokers Kena Brashear, '95, B.A., Fairhaven interdisciplinary concentration, and Peter Ahn, B.S., manufacturing engineering technology, recently bought their company, The Muljat Group, a residential real estate brokerage in Bellingham. Kena has worked for the company for 20 years, and Peter, a U.S. Air Force veteran, joined the company seven years ago.

Real estate brokers Kena Brashear, B.A., Fairhaven interdisciplinary concentration, and Peter Ahn, ’13, B.S., manufacturing engineering technology, recently bought their company, The Muljat Group, a residential real estate brokerage in Bellingham. Kena has worked for the company for 20 years, and Peter, a U.S. Air Force veteran, joined the company seven years ago.

Gary Thomas, '84, B.A., English, is the author of several best-selling books about Christianity, faith, marriage, parenting, and intimacy. His 26 books, including “Sacred Marriage,” “Sacred Pathways,” and “Authentic Faith,” have sold a total of more than 2 million copies. Gary, who travels to speaking engagements all over the world, and his wife Lisa Thomas, B.A., English, are based in Colorado.

Sean Hackney, BAE, English-communication, is the broker/owner of NextHome Northwest in Bellingham. He’s a contributing author to “Next Level Your Life,” in which he shares how a football injury changed the trajectory of his life. The book was scheduled for late January from publisher Kyle Wilson.

Hiro Yamamoto, B.S., chemistry, was recently inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame. Hiro was one of the founders of Soungarden and is a former bassist for the Grammy award-winning grunge band.

Mike Nagle, BAE, history-secondary education, and ’93, M.A., history, teaches history and political science at West Shore Community College in Scottville, Michigan. In fall 2022 his second book, “The Forgotten Iron King of the Great Lakes: Eber Brock Ward 1811-1875,” was published by Wayne State University Press. His first book, “Justus S. Stearns: Michigan Pine King and Kentucky Coal Baron, 1845-1933,” received the Kentucky History Award.  

Dann Mead Smith, B.A., political science, is a consultant on public policy issues and the co-leader of Project 42, a non-profit advocacy group that funds, launches and mentors organizations that prioritize free markets and personal liberty. Previously, Dann spent 20 years as president of the Washington Policy Center.

Gary Thomas, B.A., English, is the author of several best-selling books about Christianity, faith, marriage, parenting, and intimacy. His 26 books, including “Sacred Marriage,” “Sacred Pathways,” and “Authentic Faith,” have sold a total of more than 2 million copies. Gary, who travels to speaking engagements all over the world, and his wife Lisa, ’90, B.A., English, are based in Colorado.

David Swanson, B.A., sociology, is an emeritus professor of sociology at U.C. Riverside and a population research associate at Portland State University. He and co-authors Jack Baker and Jeff Tayman recently received the E. Walter Terrie Award for State and Local Demography at the Southern Demographic Association conference. The study, “Boosted Regression Trees for Small Area Population Forecasting,” resulted in David’s third Terrie Award; the others were in 1999 and 2016.

After graduating from Western, John A. Simpson, B.A., history, earned an M.A. at the University of Arkansas and a Ph.D. at the University of Oregon. He retired from Kelso School District following a 33-year career in teaching. His sixth book, “All for the Union: The Saga of One Northern Family Fighting the Civil War,” released in April 2022 by Stackpole Books, is a non-fiction account based on 180 letters written by family members from a rural western New York community during the Civil War.

Barbara Luther, BAE, secondary vocational home ec, recently retired as the longtime director of Early World Montessori school in Mercer Island, with plans to move to the Big Island of Hawaii.