On November 19, 2020 Steve Watts was awarded the Thomas B. Herring Community Service Award by the Galesburg Area Chamber of Commerce for “volunteer activities exemplifying the true meaning of service to others and a willingness to do so without recognition and publicity”. Watts retired from the practice of law in 2018. He currently serves as chairman of the Knox County Mental Health (708) Board.
Frankie Faison ’71 was recently featured in an article in The Daily Press, which can be found here, discussing his distinguished, decades-long career in theater, film and television.
Cheryl L. Portwood-Peden Emery ’74 gave a Titan Career Chat: Experiences in the Spanish Caribbean. Presented virtually, the power-point photo slide presentation helped students learn how Cheryl’s cultural immersion experiences during her IWU Study Travel Seminar to Puerto Rico inspired her. Cheryl earned her B.A. from IWU in Spanish leading to a rewarding and satisfying teaching career in Spanish; Spanish Bi-lingual/E.S.L., and Special Education that has spanned 38 years. Cheryl retired from teaching in the Chicago Public Schools in 2012.
Glenn Neumann ’72 passed away on September 29, 2020 in Louisville, Colorado.
David McCord ’75 is retiring in May. After six years practicing law, he was a professor at Drake University Law School for thirty-six years. He plans to enjoy life with his wife Laura (‘75), their three children, and their grandson. He plans to do volunteer work with his church and other nonprofits.
Debbie wished to give the following message:
Hey There, COVID Weary Titans!
Carl Mowery ’77 died May 30, 2020 in Chicago. He was 64. After graduating from Illinois Wesleyan University and John Marshall Law School, Carl went on to specialize in compensation, benefits, and human resources. He served most recently as a managing director and leader of the Chicago Human Capital Services practice in Grant Thornton LLP. Carl was an active alumnus of IWU, serving on the University’s Chicago Leadership Council. He is survived by two children, a friend and former spouse, and a brother.
Sue Ellen (Brown) Haliski ’75 of Culpeper, Virginia, died Feb. 8, 2021. She was 68. Sue earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing at Illinois Wesleyan and moved to Portland, Oregon, where she worked for 25 years as a registered nurse in labor and delivery, lactation consulting, and orthopedics, at Good Samaritan Hospital, Legacy Health Group and Visiting Nurses. She lived in Charlotte, North Carolina, from 2004-09 before moving to Culpeper to be closer to family. Sue was a loving wife, mother and grandmother. She is survived by her husband, daughter, granddaughter and two sisters.
Congratulations to Lucy Carmody Simkins on her second children’s publication! The Summer Kitchen Bully summary reads
“Cocooned within a field of cornstalks rests Farmer’s homestead. An ancient summer kitchen inhabited by a group of field animals sits just steps away from the main house. Inside this primitive kitchen, fierce threats from Flame, the tomcat, scare the field mice, Jasmine, the spiders and others. Bullying is something everyone needs to learn how to deal with, and the ways these animals learn how to counter and defuse bullying offers solutions to anyone!”