Dr. Karen Hockenyos (Yarnell) Goodwin, PhD, age 70 of Pagosa Springs, CO, passed away at home on April 24, 2019, surrounded by family after a year-long struggle with cancer. She is survived by her husband, (John G Goodwin, Jr.), two children (Sarah and Jacob), two grandchildren (Madeleine and Carson), siblings (Jon, Kris, and Mark) and their extended families.
You can read her full obituary here.
James D. “Jim” Robinson, Jr., age 67, Normal IL passed away on Wednesday, June 12, 2019. A service celebrating his life will be 3:00 PM Tuesday at Calvert & Metzler Memorial Home, Bloomington, IL. Rev. Jan Hazekamp will be officiating. Visitation will be Tuesday, June 18th from 2:00 PM-3:00 PM at the memorial home. In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorials be made to Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL. Jim will be remembered for his boisterous personality, as an enthusiastic runner, church involvement, and forever as a proud father.
You can view his obituary here.
Timothy Szerlong ’74 was elected chair of the Illinois Wesleyan University Board of Trustees.
You can read more here.
Jack Sikma ’77 was recognized by the Metropolitan King County Council for his upcoming induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
See full story here.
This has been a big year for alumna Birda Ferguson of the Class of 75! She became a grandmother on May 9, 2018 when William Lucas Oliveros, the first son of her daughter, Kirstin Ferguson Oliveros, was born. On February 1, 2019, she retired from First Presbyterian Church of Hackettstown, NJ where she had served as pastor for 9 years. She moved to South Carolina at the end of February with her husband, Glenn. Together, they are enjoying exploring the area and making new friends!
Gwenn (Bailey) de Mauriac ’72 and her sophomore year IWU roommate, Kathe (Loyd) Heyer ’72, are spending three weeks in Europe this summer, visiting Amsterdam, traveling down the Rhine River to Basil, Switzerland and then taking the train to spend a few days in northern Italy. This will be their second trip together.
Christine Ellsworth Coyne ’74 trained for and ran in her first marathon when she completed the 2017 Chicago Marathon. Christine is a customer service representative at Molex, Inc., in the Chicago area. She has 4 children, 6 grandchildren and a 7th on the way! Here she is with one of her grandchildren:
Charles (Charlie) McCarthy ’73 passed away at the age of 86 on April 10, 2019 in Normal. Charlie was a marine veteran who received his bachelors of science in sociology from Illinois Wesleyan. His obituary can be found here.
Jim Molinari ’77 has joined the University of Oklahoma’s men’s basketball team staff as assistant coach. Click here to read more about Jim’s accomplishment.
Congratulations, Jim!
Wayne Messmer ’72 sang the national anthem for the Chicago Cubs’ opening day at Wrigley Field. Although he has sung the anthem for thirty-five opening days at Wrigley and hundreds of times at other events, this year’s April 9 season opener was a milestone. It marked twenty-five years since a gunshot to Wayne’s throat left him wounded and worried he would never sing again. Here is the link to the article about Wayne and a video of his national anthem performance. Wayne lives in Glenview, Illinois.