RHS January News

Laurie (Meierhofer) Kasuboski has been named the Ripon Commonwealth Press' Person of the Year for 2004. Laurie is the founder and chairperson of Ripon Cookie Daze, and is active in many other community, church, and service club activities. (Source: Ripon Commonwealth Press, December 30, 2004). Congratulations, Laurie, on a well-deserved honor!!

Mike Benkoski (Ripon) plans to move back to Chicago in the first three months of 2005. Mike is a senior account executive for Solarcom.

Sherry (Page) Muskavitch is one of four candidates running for three positions on the Ripon School Board. (RCP, January 6, 2005).

Robert Schanke (Pueblo West, Colorado) returned home on December 16 after an 11-month deployment to Kuwait. Rob and his family visited his in-laws in Seattle over Christmas. Rob and Nancy's son, James, is a sophomore majoring in materials science engineering and metallurgy at the University of Idaho. Their daughter, Angela, is a high school junior, a member of the National Honor Society, and active in her church youth group.

Happy birthday to Janet Simmons (Ripon), who turned 50 on January 16. (RCP photo, January 13, 2005).

Congratulations to Anne (Schmitt) and Craig Murphy (Puyallup, Washington), who turned 100 in 2004 (Craig turned 50 in January, and Anne turned 50 in November)! Their daughter, Stephanie, is a freshman at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. She is a member of the varsity crew team. Their daughter, Natalie, is a ninth grader; competes on the volleyball, basketball, and track teams; and plays violin in the school orchestra.

Mark and Marilyn Zeatlow (Brandon) celebrated their 25th anniversary in May. Their daughter, Sarah, is a junior majoring in finance at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Their daughter, Rachel, graduated from high school with honors in June and is a freshman at UW-Whitewater. Their son, Aaron, is 13 and competes in football, wrestling, and baseball.

Kathy (Zimdars) and Boyd Schleicher (Waunakee) celebrated their 25th anniversary in September. Their daughter, Kirstin, married Justin Arndt on October 9. Kirstin began rotations for her year-long pharmacy internship in Milwaukee in May. Kathy and Boyd's son, Matthew, is a senior mechanical engineering student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Their son, Erich, is a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

After suffering a collapsed lung in August, Jeff Root (Fairfax, Virginia) has become the local authority on collapsed lungs. When the star basketball player at Jeff's high school suffered a 25% collapsed lung in early December, the head coach and both assistants approached Jeff to ask what to expect. In the player's case, his lung healed without surgery, he scored Woodson High School's first dunk in several years on December 17, and he never left the court during the winter break tournament in Florida.

Jeff is completely healed, and was in fact cleared to donate blood in early December. He has not, however, been able to dunk a basketball since his surgery!

Bruce Link (RHS '76) has accepted a promotion and transfer to the Wyoming Retirement Center in Basin, Wyoming, as the Director of Dietary Services. He began his new duties on January 3. Bruce was formerly employed at the Veterans Home of Wyoming. He has his own health care consulting business and is a professional speaker.

Bruce is the immediate past-president of the Wyoming Dietary Managers Association (WDMA). He is currently serving as the WDMA newsletter editor, webmaster, and public relations director. He has been nominated by the National Dietary Managers' Association to be on the ballot for national director-at-large.

Kevin Davis, son of Bill (RHS '72) and Kathy Davis (Ripon), is engaged to Tara Lupo. Kevin is a 2001 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Stout with a bachelor's degree in packaging engineering. He is employed as a packaging engineer at Sanford Corporation in Shelbyville, Tennessee. (RCP, November 18, 2004).

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association has realigned several high school athletic conferences. The Ripon Tigers will compete in the East Central Flyway Conference next year against Berlin, Omro, Waupun, Winnebago Lutheran, and Winneconne. (Source: Aaron Kramer, RHS '87).

Dorothy Cole, aunt of Russ Morgan (Oconomowoc) and longtime Central Elementary teacher, passed away on November 11 as a result of injuries from an automobile accident. (RCP, November 18, 2004).

Arlene Davis, mother of Brian Davis (Ripon, RHS '75), passed away on December 8. (RCP, December 16, 2004).

Grace Leu, mother of Larry Leu (Ripon), passed away on December 10 as a result of complications from surgery. (RCP, December 16, 2004).

Lorraine Kimble, mother of Gene Kimble (Ripon, RHS '72) passed away on December 21 in Markesan. (RCP, January 6, 2005).