Alumni who work at Rock Falls (Ill.) High School represented Augustana on College Sweatshirt Day during National Education Week last fall. Front row, from the left: Mindy Fager '98 Porter (science) and Rochelle Monteith-Bollman '98 (special education); second row, from the left: Vicki Jones '15 Swegle (English), Patrick Fortney '79, Lori Getz '91 Kyger and Kerry Grim '92 (science). Fortney and Kyger both retired from teaching but returned to Rock Falls High School as paraprofessionals.

News

Class Notes

February 5, 2026

Notices received as of Feb. 2, 2026

1975

Bill Allee was honored as the IHSTCA 1A Head Coach of the Year for 2025. He is the tennis coach at Alleman High School in Rock Island.

1980

Jean Whittemore Adams retired in June 2025 as a middle school social studies teacher for the Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tampa, Fla.

1982

Ann McGovern Pedersen retired as the business office coordinator at the Village of Glen Ellyn (Ill.) in December.

1991

Carla Arnell published an article in the January 6 issue of Inside Higher Ed on teaching writing in the age of AI. The article is titled "Bio Lab, Chem Lab, Writing Lab? Instead of quiet quitting the take-home essay, we need a whole new model for writing instruction.”

2004

Woody Loverude is dean of the Class of 2029 at Grace Church School in New York City.

2008

John Deery was named a Golden Apple Award finalist for 2026. He teaches AP language and world mythology at Belvidere (Ill.) High School.

Peter Eckardt married Susie Heine on July 13, 2025. He is director of parish music at St. John's Lutheran Church and School in Mattoon, Ill. He was the organist for the International Church Relations Conference in Wittenberg, Germany, for two consecutive years.

2009

Wyatt Brieser was named to Marquis' Who's Who in America. He is the CEO of Hammond-Henry Hospital in Geneseo, Ill.

Ryan Landi joined Augustana College's Public Health Advisory Board. He is chief operating officer of the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago.

2016

Anthony Roome is the new head football coach at Rock Island (Ill.) High School.

2019

Brianna Hillyer Opyd joined the team at Nahant Marsh Education Center as a naturalist. Nahant Marsh in southwest Davenport, Iowa, is the largest urban wetland on the Upper Mississippi River. After teaching high school science for five years, she transitioned to environmental education so she can focus on conservation.

2021

Maria Wood is the STEAM educator at Lewis Latimer House in Flushing, a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens.

Deaths

Notices received as of Feb. 2, 2026

Doris Samuelson ’49 Melchert on Oct. 3, 2024.

*Ralph Nelson ’49 on Nov. 10, 2020.

J. Philemon ’50 Anderson on Dec. 24, 2025.

Clara Cunningham ’52 Savage on Dec. 1, 2025.

*Marguerite Robinson’53 Johnson on Jan. 26, 2025.

Hugh Johnson ’55 on Jan. 11, 2026.

*Carol Floto ’55 Boyd on Dec. 20, 2025.

Louise Anderson ’56 on Dec. 26, 2025.

Raoul Reinertsen ’58 on Jan. 1, 2026.

James Collinson ’60 on Jan. 4, 2026.

Edward Beier ’61 on Oct. 16, 2025.

Carole Benander ’62 Hultgren on Dec. 31, 2025.

Valerie Comstock ’66 Cooley on Jan. 15, 2026.

W. Thomas Tagtmeier ’69 on Dec. 29, 2025.

Bradney Welch ’69 on Jan. 8, 2026.

Richard Johnson ’70 on Dec. 16, 2025.

Lynette Beinke ’73 Unger on Jan. 18, 2026.

Faith Wilmot ’92 on Jan. 10, 2026.

Karen Nord ’95 on Jan. 21, 2026.

Joshua Lyphout ’08 on Dec. 2, 2025.

Caitlyn Schaffer ’19 on Dec. 21, 2025.

*attendee