Class Notes from the Fall 2020 Alumni Gazette
1950s
Graeme Goebelle, BA'59, was reappointed as a part-time public member of the Council of the College of Psychologists.
1960s
Anantha Kumar Konanur, MESc'67, and Gail Konanur, BA'78 (English), were married on Aug. 28, 1965, and celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary this year.

Elaine Cougler, BA'68 (French), published her fourth book, The Man Behind the Marathons: How Ron Calhoun helped Terry Fox and other heroes make millions for charity.
Ian Newbould, BA'64 (Huron), was appointed senior consultant to U.S. Universities at The Registry, Peabody, Mass.
Ron Cougler, HBA'66, along with his son Kevin, co-founded STEM Camp Foundation to support STEM initiatives in K-12 classrooms and Women in STEM Awards in community colleges.
After a 45-year career in the energy sector, Stewart Behie, BESc'69, MESc'71, PhD'74 (Chemical Engineering), accepted the role as interim director of the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center, chemical engineering department, Texas A&M University.
Walt Cherwaty, BA'62 (King's), has raised more than $50,000 for various charities with his Golf Balls FORE campaign, started in memory of his daughter, Jacqueline, who lost her battle with cancer in 2005.
1970s

William A. Howe, BEd '77, received the 2019 Bassett Distinguished Humanitarian Award in October 2019 from Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, Conn. The award recognizes those who exemplify the service and life attributes of Ambassador Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett, one of the most distinguished civil rights advocates of the 19th century.
Vicki (Ball) Simison, BSc'74, MCLSc'75 (Communication Disorders), met with her 1974 classmates for a reunion in July 2019. Four from that undergraduate class formed the first graduating class of the master's program in speech pathology and audiology.

Submitted by Sylvia Smitas, BA’79: On October 5, 2019, alumni friends met up in Kitchener, Ontario for a 43-year reunion. “Six young men lived together in a house on Victoria Street in London, Ontario from 1975 to 1976. After many emails back and forth, we managed to find everyone and get a time and place to get together. Both Sylvia and Pat were good friends of the group. Unfortunately, Graham Smith who came to Western from Bermuda, was not able to join us but we FaceTimed him. Times have changed since we were 19 or so. A few pounds, ten children, a few health issues, and grandchildren! We are lucky to all be healthy and happy! The guys are all retired, except Graham in Bermuda. Sylvia and Pat are both still working hard. We have so much to be thankful for meeting at Western and meeting like this 43 years later! (Photo left to right: John Hazell, BA’77; Brian Farn, BSc’74, BESc’78; Ken Speare, BA’76; Sylvia Smitas, BA’79; Greg Mavin, BA’78; Graeme Walker, BESc’78; and Pat Petch Hazell, BA’79)
In December 2019, Pat Camozzi, HBA'75, vice-president sales and marketing for Nammex Organic Mushroom Extracts, launched his fourth self-published book,Hey Daddy!: This book is for you, a memoir and guidebook for new fathers.
Lillian (Scott) Salmon, Diploma'70 (Journalism), published her first book, Living Slim: A Canadian Woman's Way. She retired in 2009 after 18 years in communications at Toronto Public Library.
Kimble Ainslie, BA'74 (Political Science), published his second book, Selecting Rationality: public opinion, polling, civic engagement and campaigning.
John Stuart Durrant, BA'73 (Russian and Spanish), professor emeritus, Memorial University, was presented with the Order of Friendship of the Russian Federation on Nov. 4, 2019, in the Kremlin, Moscow.
Ian Turnbull, MBA'75, has authored books on human resource management systems and privacy law in Canada. His latest, Human Resources Guide to Managing Information Systems, 2nd ed., was published in December 2019.

Donald McLeish, BA'70 (English), senior lightweight varsity captain, Mustangs rowing team, 1967- 68, is still rowing at age 80. Photo is the 2017 8+ gold Western Alumni sprints, with Don on the far right.

Bob Howison, DDS'78, hosted fellow alumni and former teammates from an intramural basketball team at Western in the mid-1970's called the ‘Bnorks.' They gather a few times a year and in February, they met to watch some NCAA basketball and play cards. Pictured are from left: Ray Bart; Claude Damiani, BA'77, MBA'85; Carlos Zigrovic, BSc'72, DipEd'74; Bob Howison; Brian Bulger, BA'77; George Grabowski, BA'76, DipEd'78; Ted Reczulski, LLB'80; Bob Hobbs, BA'83; and Moe Kuzemchuk, BA'76.
1980s
English professor Marianne Micros, PhD'89 (English), retired from the University of Guelph. She has completed a new collection of poetry entitled The Aphrodite Suite and is working on a second collection of stories. Her short story collection, Eye (Guernica, 2018), was one of five finalists for the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction (2019) and was shortlisted for the Danuta Gleed Award from the Writers' Union of Canada.
Trina Innes, BSc'89 (Geography), received Clean50 and Clean16 awards, for advancing sustainability and clean capitalism in Canada, for her work at Alberta's Municipal Climate Change Action Centre.
Duncan Edgar, BA'89 (History), moved into a new home in August 2019.
Stacey Allaster, BA'85 (Physical Education and Economics), MBA'00, LLD'14, was named the tournament director for the U.S. Open Tennis Championships. Allaster, a champion of equality and an innovator in sports administration, was the CEO of the Women's Tennis Association and has worked at the U.S. Tennis Association since 2016.
Mitchell Smet, BA'83 (Physical Education), BEd'85, retired from his position as a secondary school vice-principal in 2016 and is now a professor of business mathematics at Cambrian College.
1990s
Todd Kasenberg, MSc'91 (Plant Sciences), owner of Guiding Star Communications and Consulting Inc., was elected mayor of the Municipality of North Perth, Ontario for a four-year term beginning December 2018.
Peter Lukomskyj, BESc'96, was appointed general manager for Lyft in British Columbia, introducing the ridesharing service to the province.
Paul Ling, DDS'93, completed his first graphic novel, The Demonhuntress.
Pamela (Rwankole) Morris, BA'97 (Political Science and History), is leading corporate social responsibility communications for a Fortune 17 global company.
Linda M. Verde, BA'94 (Philosophy and Women's Studies), received RISE's Entrepreneur of the Year award for her business, Linda Verde Editing.

Judith Calixto-Seli, BA'94 (Spanish), retired from Bank of Nova Scotia in July 2016.
Jay Sinha, BSc'90 (Biochemistry), along with Chantal Plamondon, founded Life Without Plastic, a lifestyle brand for plastic-free living. Their book, Life Without Plastic: The practical step-by-step guide to avoiding plastic to keep your family and the planet healthy, has been translated into Italian, Japanese, Slovak, and French.
David McCall, BSc'96 (Biology), started Acumen Energy Consultants, performing residential energy assessments on homes throughout Nova Scotia and hopes to expand into the rest of Canada.
Brian Friend, BA'94 (Political Science), celebrated two years as customer liaison at Lakepoint Homes and James Sylvester Enterprises.
Andrew Bowles, BA'99 (Political Science), is manager, government affairs at 3M Canada, leading the company's engagement with provincial and municipal governments across Canada.
2000s
Valerie Brown, LLB'01, was appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice. She has been in private practice in Newmarket since 2002, with a focus on family and child protection law.
Taslim Alani-Verjee, BA'09 (Psychology), recently opened a new business, Silm Centre for Mental Health, that focuses on providing accessible mental health care to marginalized populations.
Stephanie Reid, BA'06 (Classical Studies), MLIS'08, welcomed a baby boy, Jasper – a brother for daughter Amber.
Sarah (Legacy) Raslan, BA'08 (Philosophy and English), and her husband welcomed their second child, Knox, joining son, Nyal, who was born in 2016.
Remy Knott, BACS'04 (Organizational Studies and Human Resources), developed an over-the-counter reusable medical device, ‘MoxyPatch' (patent pending), that works to prevent mild to moderate stress urinary incontinence in women.

Randy Luck, EMBA'03, and his wife started a vacation rental business, located east of Parry Sound on the 46-mile Ahmic Lake System.
Nana (Yirenkyi) Guenther, BMOS'09 (Finance and Administration), recently welcomed her first child, Sebastian.
Mike Meldrum, BMOS'08 (Finance and Administration), and his wife, also a Western graduate, welcomed twins Ethan and Emily on Dec. 23, 2019.
Matthew Wilson, BA'07 (King's), JD'10, was recognized as a certified specialist in real estate law by the Law Society of Ontario in October 2019.
Lisa Gayhart, MLIS'08, married Matthew Merritt in December 2018 and relocated to Manhattan where she was appointed director of user experience for New York University's division of libraries.
Kalina (Adams) Van Praet, BA'09 (Kinesiology), got married on June 1, 2019. The couple met at Western and are proud alumni.
Jordan (Simmons) Roberts, BA'08 (Psychology and Childhood and Family Relations), welcomed Lucy Grace Roberts, born Sept. 25, 2019.
Jason Wood, BA'08 (History), and his wife, Lisa, welcomed daughter Madelyn Angela Wood, born in Oakville on Feb. 12, weighing 6 lbs. 4 oz., a beautiful little sister to brother Lincoln.
Greg Mills, BESc'01 (Mechanical Engineering), celebrated more than 20 years of friendship with his engineering classmates at a BBQ, where they remembered meeting during Frosh Week 1996.

Erin (Campbell) Romeo, BA'08 (Family Studies, Brescia), published The Visual Guide to Easy Meal Prep: Save time and eat healthy with over 75 recipes.
Eran Berliner, BSc'04 (Computer Science), stayed in the high-tech sector by starting an SAAS software called InfoFlo Pay, an invoice-management system.

David Blunt, BA'03 (History and Political Science), became interested in global justice while a student and recently published his first book, Global Poverty, Injustice, and Resistance.

Ashlynn (Perry) Adachi, BA'08 (Psychology, King's), and her husband Paul Adachi, BA'08 (Psychology, King's), welcomed their second son on Aug. 21, 2019 - Zachary Taylor Adachi.
Armen Khajetoorian, BMOS'07 (Finance and Administration), returned home after a decade in New York City pursuing his legal career. He joined Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP in Toronto as a partner in the real estate and development group and is looking forward to reconnecting with the Western alumni community.
Alexis (Chapeskie) Juliao, BA'07, MA'09 (Anthropology), welcomed a baby girl in 2019.
2010s



Rebecca Rebeiro, BA'12 (Political Science), and Jordan Patterson, BA'12 (English), welcomed their son, Oscar Robert Patterson, on Feb. 24.


Marissa Younan, MMASc '16 (Biological Sciences), graduated from Wayne State University in 2019 with a degree in genetic counselling. She works at the Children's Hospital of Michigan in the metabolic clinic and got engaged in May 2019.
Majid Jahanmiri, MEsc’17 (Chemical Engineering), won two awards at the Professional Photographers of Canada National Image Competition. His submission, Vivid Matrix, was deemed ‘Best Student of The Year Outstanding Image’ and ‘Best in General’ Category. He followed that with a ‘Highly Commended’ from the Italy-based Siena Awards.






Jeff Blommers, BSc'09 (Biology), is a happily married man as of June 8, 2019, his 10-year Convocation anniversary from Western.



2020s
In Memoriam

Richard M. Ivey, HBA'47, LLD'79, the visionary Western graduate, philanthropist and champion who helped elevate the university and its business school to international prominence, died on Dec. 28, 2019. He was 94; Ivey was a member of Western's Board of Governors from 1968-78, including three years as chair. He also served as university chancellor from 1980-84, sat on what is now the Ivey Advisory Board from 1966-91, and served as director of the John P. Robarts Research Institute prior to its merger with Western. He helped establish Foundation Western and was a director from 1980-86, also serving as the board's chair; The Ivey family's support for Western represents one of the most significant philanthropic relationships between a family and a Canadian university. The Ivey family, both personally and through the Ivey Foundation, has donated $50 million to Western, including gifts to the business school, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Robarts Research Institute, Faculty of Arts & Humanities and Western Libraries.

Norman Robert (Bob) Cumming, BA'55, MBA'58, passed away peacefully in Ottawa on May 28, 2020, in his 88th year. Bob moved to Ottawa after graduating and had a successful career in the Federal Public Service in the Trade Policy area, which included two foreign postings, one to Milan, Italy where he met and married Marian, the other to Bogota, Colombia. He was a lover of the arts and a great collector, particularly of antique English porcelain and specifically the Minton Factory, donating a large portion of his collection to the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art in Toronto. He also lectured and authored several articles and books on the subject. He served as President of the Canadian Ceramic Circle for 24 years. Bob had a long and healthy retirement. With Marian, his soulmate of 53 years, he travelled the world which included spending several months each year in Malta, their second home.
Gary Manning, BA'71 (Journalism), died Jan. 22, 2020, in Moncton, NB. Journalism was Gary's life, one he loved unreservedly. His first job after graduating from Western was in Corner Brook, Nfld. during the Smallwood premiership; a great introduction to the profession. He became city editor in Sarnia and managing editor in Cornwall, Guelph, Woodstock and Welland, Ont.. A gentleman in the newsroom and beyond, he was rarely seen without a smile. He demonstrated patience, commitment and enthusiasm and was always receptive to new ideas. Gary appreciated the arts, his first love was theatre, followed by music and visual arts. In honour of Gary's dedicated career in journalism, his widow, Joanna Manning, has endowed The Gary Manning Memoriam Journalism Scholarship to students interested in pursuing a career in the arts or public relations.

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