1970s

Richard Allen ’75, is on the executive committee of a child advocacy group known as F.A.C.T. It serves three counties in the St. Louis area. Richard has enjoyed 33 years of public school employment, 21 in administration, and 18 of those in the central office in Washington, Mo. His wife, Barbara Dakan-Allen ’82, taught 28 years in elementary public schools. They celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in January.

Dennis Atkins ’77, was named executive director of Disable Citizens Alliance for Independence in Viburnum, Mo.

Dan Danford ’78, is now a registered financial advisor for the NFL Players Association because he has met a series of criteria prepared by the NFLPA. Dan is the Principal/CEO of the Family Investment Center in St. Joseph, Mo.

1980s

Charles Bruffy ’81, director of the Kansas City Chorale, won a Grammy Award for Chorale Performance at the 2013 Grammy Awards ceremony in February. Charles and the Chorale won the award for the 2012 recording “Life & Breath. – Chorale Works by René Clausen.”

Laura Osborn ’85, is a partner in B2B CFO, a national virtual firm. She is a CPA and is a member of the Missouri State Society of CPAs.

1990s

Dave Gall ’94, joined Pro Serv Business Systems as an account executive.

2000s

Jeff Jungers ’00, southeastern district sales manager for Yamaha Golf Car Company for the past seven years, was named 2012 Salesman of the Year for the top overall sales and management performance.

Jason West ’00, is a clinical assistant professor of exercise and sports science at the University of Tulsa. He graduated in August 2012 as a 2nd Lt. in the Oklahoma Army National Guard and received the Honor Graduate Award. He and his wife, Ginger (Overton) West ’99, have three children: Joey, Emma and McGwire.

Becky Kendrick ’01, is the director of human resources at Central Methodist University in Fayette, Mo.

Dennis Merritt ’01, was named director of the St. Joseph School District’s Hillyard Technical Center.

Stacy Williamson ’02, was elected state vice president of the Missouri State Teachers Association at the state convention in November 2012. She is currently the president of the Greater Kansas City Region of MSTA and the president of the North Kansas City School District Community Teachers Association of MSTA.

Kathleen Randall ’03, received the Certified Speaking Professional designation from the National Speakers Association at its annual convention in Indianapolis. The CSP is the speaking profession’s international measure of speaking experience and skill, and fewer than 10 percent of the speakers who belong to the Global Speakers Federation hold this designation.

Dustin ’05, and Blair (Lehr) ’05, Holcumbrink announce the birth of a daughter, Kennedy Noel, born Sept. 21, 2012. PHOTO

2010s

Blake Maulsby ’10, and Brittani Dixon were married Aug. 7, 2012. The couple resides in Milan, Mo.

Amanda (Scott) McQuerry ’10, and her husband, Scott, announce the birth of twin girls, Ava Kristine and Ella Jean, born Sept. 29, 2012. PHOTO

Brittany (Enyeart) ’11, and Justin ’11, Simpson announce the birth of a daughter, Jordan Nicole, born Oct. 26, 2012.

Alumni Authors

Mark Lawhon ’81 & ’98, has published his second book, “Literary Leaves.” Mark said his new book contains “nearly everything in this work, from biting satire, social commentary, historical analysis and philosophy,” written in both prose and poetry.

Mark, a retired educator, published “Classic Concerts of the 1970s: The Encores Continue” in 2004. Dr. Daniel Trifan, professor of history at Missouri Western, wrote the foreword. Both books are available on Amazon Kindle. He is working on a third book of photographs.

Tim Houlne ’86, published a book with co-author Terri Maxwell, “The New World of Work: From the Cube to the Cloud.” Tim is the CEO of Working Solutions, a virtual agent and technology solutions provider in Dallas. He has authored multiple articles and white papers covering a wide range of subjects including, Top Traits of High Caliber Agents, Platform as a Service and Contact Center Security – Moving to the Cloud. He is a speaker at industry conferences, business summits and schools. Tim’s book is available on Amazon.com.

Brent Anderson ’93, published his first book, a children’s story, in 2012.

“One evening in December 2007 I was in the kitchen drying dishes, humming along to the song ‘We Three Kings’ on the radio. I thought, ‘What if it was wee three kings?’ The thought captivated me,” Brent said. And that became the title of his book.

When the book was published in September 2012, Brent decided to donate all proceeds of sales from his book in the month of November to three charities, ShowHOPE, Croatian Relief Services and Cirrus House, Inc., where he works. He plans to do it again this coming November.

Brent said the creation of the book became a family project, with his wife, Joylene, and his children, Caleb, Abigail and Faith. They all learned a lot about writing, editing, publishing and marketing, and each of the children created an illustration for the book.

“Wee Three Kings” is available at Amazon.com as a paperback and e-book.

Greg Gildersleeve ’93, published a novel for young adults, “The Power Club,” and it is available through Amazon Kindle. Greg, who lives in the Kansas City area, is an adjunct professor at a community college. In 2005, Greg published his own comic book, “Gold Dust.” He then took his love of superheroes and expanded it into “The Power Club.” Greg Gildersleeve grew up in the northwestern corner of Missouri, where kids played sports, hunted, and longed to ride motorcycles. Being inept or uninterested in any of those things, he read comic books instead. Flash forward x-number of years later, and he’s an adjunct professor at a Kansas City-area community college and author of the new novel, THE POWER CLUB, which shows what a lifetime of being brainwashed by comics (as opposed to sports) will do to you. Greg dreamed of becoming the next Stan Lee, not the next Dr. J.

In 2005, Greg published his own comic book, GOLD DUST, and now has taken his love of super-heroes and expanded it into a novel, THE POWER CLUB.

Greg lives in the KC area, where he hangs around too many coffee shops, listens to classic and modern rock, and daydreams a lot.

In Memory

We remember those who have passed away. If you want to include someone in this listing, please call 816-271-5651, mail the information to Diane Holtz, Missouri Western State University, 4525 Downs Drive, St. Joseph, MO 64507, or email holtz@missouriwestern.edu.

JoEllen L. Abbott ’07, St. Joseph, Mo., Nov. 26, 2012.

Stacy L. Anderson ’01, Faucett, Mo., Dec. 14, 2012.

Velma L. (George) Bunse, St. Joseph, Mo., Nov. 9, 2012. Velma had served as chair of the Advisory Board of Secretarial Science at Missouri Western.

Dorothy J. Dilley, Elwood, Kan., Dec. 16, 2012. Dorothy had been employed as a custodian at Missouri Western.

Rhonda Gayle (Hancock) Ingham ’83, St. Joseph, Mo., Sept. 27, 2012. Rhonda served as an administrative assistant at Missouri Western for 29 years.

Joseph Kadera ’48, Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Dec. 23, 2012.

Lyle Wayne Neff JC, Tucson, Ariz., Sept. 10, 2012.

Melissa N. (McBrien) Pittam ’70, St. Joseph, Mo., Dec. 24, 2012.

Juan C. Rocha ’50, Kansas City, Mo., Feb. 13, 2013.

Lorraine E. (Gould) Sisk ’76, St. Joseph, Mo., Jan. 6, 2013.

Kevin M. Young ’81, St. Joseph, Mo., Jan. 27, 2013.

First Alumni Association president dies

John Philip Beihl ’57, passed away Nov. 15, 2012 in Bonita Springs, Fla., where he’d resided the past 10 years. John was the first president of the Missouri Western State College Alumni Association in 1970. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1959 and received his LLB from the University’s School of Law in 1961. He retired after 40 years from the Brown, Douglas and Brown Law Firm in St. Joseph, Mo. His wife, Sandra, graduated from Missouri Western in 1995.