ALUMNI PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Congratulations
to the 2006 graduates. It was great to see so many of you at the
May alumni banquet. We wish you all the best in your exciting nursing
career journey. The graduation ceremony was a regal affair at the
historic Meyer Theater. Thank you for allowing the alumni association
to be a part of the ceremony.
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We
were able to give out two $500 scholarships this year to active alumni
members to assist in their continuing education. We were also able to
continue the student scholarships. The association realizes the
importance of supporting the college students but equally in importance
is to support our alumni. Supporting nurses and future nurses is
what we need to do to ensure that the well-trained nurses are available
for our community.
We encourage all
alumni to pay their dues. The dues reminder cards will be in your
mailbox in November. The amount that we request is minor, but as a
group we are financially strong. The association is able to do
great things when we all work together for a common goal.
The
next alumni meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 3 at BCON. I
encourage all alumni to attend but especially the new grads. Join us to
exchange ideas and to hear BCON updates. It is important to stay
connected to the institution that gave us the foundation for our
career. If you would like more information on the meeting you can
contact Nancy McCulley at BCON Development Office, 920.433.7904.
Marcia Salm, President (1970)
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Renee Crozier-Comins (1989)
Renee
Crozier-Comins was featured in “The International Who’s Who In
Poetry”. November 29, 2005 Renee, a resident of the City of
Marinette, first found out she was featured in this four hundred page
coffee-table quality book after receiving the book. The poem “A
Passing Glance” had been chosen for the book. This was not made
known to Renne until she opened the book.
It is
felt that the “featured poets honor the passionate art of poetry by
gracefully and courageously exploring their most intimate thoughts and
emotions. It is our hope that all those who read these selections
will be inspired and encouraged to pursue their own creative form of
expression.” This is a great honor with the amount of poets
reviewed from many nations, including Netherlands, United Kingdom,
Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, Australia, Belgium, and South
Africa.
Renee
also received the status of “Founding Laureate Membership”in the
International Society of Poets. The organizational goals
are to assist with development of writing and possible publication of
her personal book of poems one day. Other published poems of
Crozier-Comins are “Flowering Splendor” and “”Freedom”. For more
information visit www.poetry.com under the author name Renne Crozier.
Lydia
Tamm Leverenz, age 93, of New Holstein, recently returned her Alumni
Association Membership card. Lydia graduated with the class of
1933.
Melissa LaLuzerne (1998) e-mails that she is
working as a perianesthesia nurse at Vancouver Ear, Nose and Throat
Surgery Center and at Southwest Washington Medical Center.
Michael (husband) is the Director of Engineering at LifePort, an
aerospace medical manufacturer specializing in life-flight helicopters
and air ambulance equipment. We moved to the Pacific Northwest
over 2 years ago and love it!
Karen Mayer RN, MSN, CHE (1976)
Karen
Mayer has joined RUSH Oak Park Hospital, Oak Park, IL as Vice President
of Patient Care Services. Ms. Mayer will be responsible for
development and implementation of the hospital’s plan for provision of
nursing and ancillary care, formulating long range strategic objectives
for patient care services, and setting performance expectations.
“One
of the things I enjoy most about a nursing leadership role,” says
Mayer, “is being an advocate for nurses and the care team. There
is a nursing shortage. Demands for quality care are at their
highest. Our patients have high expectations – to feel like
they’re at home in this friendly, local community hospital, and to be
treated as family. At the same time, our affiliation with RUSH
University Medical Center creates a high level of expectation for
clinical expertise equal to a major medical center. RUSH Oak Park
Hospital must meet both, but we are up to the ongoing challenge.”
Karen
is the former senior director of patient care services at Evanston
Northwestern Healthcare’s Highland Park Hospital. She has past
critical care or leadership affiliations at ENH-Evanston Hospital,
Resurrection Hospital, Chicago, Loyola University Medical Center,
Maywood, and Appleton Medical Center, Appleton WI.
Deb Hammond (1988)
We
received an e-mail from Deb Hammond that she noticed in the spring
issue of the Briefs that she was listed as “lost”. Well, now she
is found. Since graduation she moved to Las Vegas for a short
time, met and married a wonderful guy. She is currently working
as a charge nurse at Aurora Bay Care Medical Center in the Neuro Unit.
Thanks, Deb. It’s great to have you back!!
Laura Hieb RN, BSN, MBA (1989),Vice President BCON Alumni Association
In
March, 2006, Laura Hieb was promoted to the role of Chief Nursing
Officer for the Bellin Health Systems. Laura is a 1989 BSN Bellin
College of Nursing graduate and has a Masters Degree in Business
Administration with Health Care Executive focus. Laura has worked
at Bellin for 11 years, both as a staff nurse and in a leadership role.
Laura
states that her initial priorities involve assisting the organization
in achieving their Magnet Status, growing visibility of nursing,
creating a Clinical Advancement Program for nursing at Bellin, and
increasing the incorporation of evidenced-based practice into the work
environment.
Laura states, “I am so excited to work with Bellin in this capacity!”
NEWS
Class of 1953 Visit Friday, June 9, 2006
Left to Right: Ruth Ihlenfeldt Hafeman, Ruth Marcussen Prochnow, Elisabeth Koch Knuth, Pat Jones Fitzsimmons
On
Friday, June 9th we were blessed with a visit by four members from the
Class of 1953. The ladies were accompanied by Ruth Freix, a
hospital nursing supervisor at Bellin in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
The
ladies had come to view the contents from the time capsule that was
opened during construction at the hospital last fall (2005). It
was their class picture that was discovered in the capsule. While
here, they also took a short tour of the renovated / new areas of the
hospital.
Some of the memories they shared were that
of a 10:00 curfew and they had a very strict house mother, who made
sure this curfew was enforced, with lights out at 10:00 and her
checking that they were in their beds. They were told when they
started school at Bellin that if they had to go home at night instead
of staying at school – they were not mature enough to be nurses!
One night of the weekend they were allowed a 1:00 AM curfew. The
1953 students worked a split-shift for their training, which was 7:00 –
11:00 AM and 3:00 – 7:00 PM.
Of their years following
graduation, Ruth Ihlenfeldt worked in geriatric nursing and has a
daughter who is a Navy nurse; Ruth Marcussen Prochnow did “home care”,
staying at home to raise her family. She also has a daughter,
Joan Rotzenberg, a 1976 BCON graduate and a daughter-in-law,
Bernadette, who are registered nurses. Elisabeth Koch Knuth was
Director of Nursing at the Park Lawn Health Care Center having two
daughters who also became nurses. Pat Jones Fitzsimmons, who
originally lived in the Neenah area, traveled from Seattle, WA for this
special visit.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Engagements…
- Karissa Ellis, Class of 2004, engaged to Andrew Singleton.
Wedding October 2006.
- Tracie Matuzak, Class of 2003, engaged to Justin Coonen.
Wedding Nov. 4, 2006.
Wedding Bells Were Ringing…
- Dawn LaLuzerne (1998) married to Michael Brandt, May 28, 2006.
- Margaret Tubbs (1999) married to Christian Reynolds, April 30, 2006.
- Sarah McKenna (2000) married to James Komp, June 3, 2006
- Joseph Wagner (2006) married Elizabeth Gluth, July 28, 2006.
Babies on Board…
- Tammy Lynn Farrell Blan (1996) and husband, welcomed twin daughters, Alyssa and Sienna on February 23, 2006
Get Well Wishes…
- June Etmanczyk Demske (1947) hip surgery.
Our Sympathies…
- Madeline Allen Roche, 99, class of 1928, passed away August 24, 2006.
- Ruth VanBerg Puls, class of 1936, passed away March 17, 2006.
- Margaret Sorensen Kuehne, 91, class of 1936 passed away September 11, 2006.
- Mildred Beversdorf Batte, 81, class of 1946, passed away July 9, 2006.
- Bette Ellis DeGroot, class of 1948, passed away February 16, 2006.
- Arlouine Miller Fende, 79, class of 1948 passed away June 17, 2006.
- Michael
Wilde, 48, class of 1984 passed away July 2, 2006. Mike was an
educator at Bellin and loved by all who worked with him.
- Sylvia
Erickson, passed away June 2006. Sylvia was Director of Nursing
at Bellin as well as at Kenosha College and clinical instructor of
Marquette College of Nursing.
LETTERS
Dear Bellin Alumni,
I
truly appreciated receiving the $500 Bellin Nursing Alumni MSN
Scholarship award for 2006. I applied the scholarship money
towards the summer graduate class I am taking at BCON. I am
honored to have received this award. Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Sharon Gerrits, RN, BSN
Class of ’74 and ‘92
To the BCON Alumni Association,
I
was overjoyed to learn that I was selected as the winner of the BCON
Alumni Scholarship. This money will be very useful in paying off
student loans. It is great to know that the school I attended as
a student is also able to support me for my Master’s program and my
journey towards an advanced practice degree. Many thanks to those
that had to choose a winner and for selecting me. Thanks again.
Jodi Budwit, RN, BSN
Class of 2001
Below is a copy of an email the College received from the daughter of a 1932 Alumni:
Email #1
I
just happened to go on line to the Bellin Memorial website. While
looking at the alumni page of the Bellin college of Nursing, I was
taken back by the historic photo that is posted on the Alumni page, a
picture of a nurse next to an ambulance. It appears to be a photo
of my Mother – Carol Catherine McCormick (Key) who received an R.N.
degree from Bellin in the early 1900s. If this is her, is there a
way for me to get a better quality digital image of this photo emailed
to me? The family never knew this photo existed!
I live in the Seattle area, so am not able to conveniently visit the college in person to inquire about this photo.
EMAIL #2
Hi Nancy,
I
was elated when I got your reply yesterday with the attached page of
pictures. This is exciting for our family to so accidentally
"find" this picture that we've never seen before, although we had heard
there was a picture of her on display at the hospital. I can
confirm that the photo of the nurse taken next to the oldest Bellin
mobile (black-looking color) at the bottom of the page is definitely
our mother, Carol Catherine McCormick (married name, Key). By
"our" mother, I refer to her three children, Sara, Clare, and
myself. We all reside within Washington State.
My
Mother grew up in Wild Rose, Wisconsin, prior to entering the nursing
school at Bellin (graduating class of '32 [???]). She married
Bernard Key in July 1940 and moved to Marshfield, where the three of us
were raised.
(However, both Sara and I were born at
Bellin.) In 1961, my Father was transferred to Tacoma,
Washington, and our family has remained in this state for the most part
ever since. Carol Catherine passed away on April 25, 1989.
Last
night, I also was paging through old photo albums of my parents.
In one album, there are several pictures of Carol and nursing school
classmates (in uniform), buildings, etc. Obviously, what else can
this be but pictures while she was at Bellin?
If
the Bellin School of Nursing and/or the Alumni Assn. would be
interested in some of these pictures, I would be most happy to scan the
better ones and email them to you. Unfortunately, names and/or dates
are not with the pictures!
Thanks a TON for your
correspondence and follow through, Nancy Mc. We are very
appreciative of everything you have done and are able to do. I
hope our story is "newsworthy" in the Alumni newspaper!
Nancy J. Miller, Seattle, WA
