Class Notes

1960s

Lee Patrick Brown (1961, ’94), is a founder of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), helping to organize around the needs of African-American police executives.

Earl A. McKee (1953) was inducted posthumously into the Woodlake High School Hall of Fame in May.

 

1970s 

Javed I. Ellahie (1970) was elected to the Monte Sereno City Council in November 2018.

Beverly Hayden-Pugh (1979, ’83) — senior vice president, chief nursing officer and chief transformation officer for Valley Children’s Healthcare — was honored by the Marjaree Mason Center at the Top 10 Professional Women and Leading Business Awards.

Susan (Weaver) Hogenson (1971), retired on June 14, 2018, after 46 years of teaching, including 36 years at Pine Ridge School near Shaver Lake. She was the 1987-88 Fresno County Teacher of the Year runner up, and she was presented with a brick on the Fresno State Teachers Honor Wall by her colleagues.

Fred Jamee (1979) is now vice president for regulatory and compliance at Vivera Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Mike Olmos, who retired as Visalia city manager in 2017, was appointed as interim city manager by the Hanford City Council.

Rosemary Parga (1977, ’76) announced her retirement, effective end of year, after 11 years as superintendent of Merced City School District.

Larry D. Reiner (1978) retired in June after a 38-year career as a court administrator in California, Maryland and Idaho.

Bill Zigler retired as interim city manager for the City of Lindsay after 42 years in public service and 21 years of service with the city.

 

1980s

Mark Arax (1980), a journalist and author, won the prestigious James Beard Media Award for feature writing for his 20,000-word story, “A Kingdom From Dust,” published in The California Sunday Magazine.

Kathryn Catania (1989, ’92), deputy superintendent of educational services for the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools, was honored at the Top 10 Professional Women Leading Business Awards for the Marjaree Mason Center.

Jhone Ebert (1988) was appointed by Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak as the state superintendent of public instruction.

Michael J. Ellington (1985) was awarded the Teacher of Excellence award by the California Agricultural Teachers Association in San Luis Obispo.

Joetta Fleak (1986) was appointed the Area 4 representative on the Madera Unified School District Board of Trustees.

Craig Fulcher (1983) announced his retirement, effective Dec. 1, from East Bay Municipal Utility District after nearly 29 years.

Mike Genetti (1988) is now managing partner of tax and advisory firm KPMG in Sacramento.

Carol Hartman (1984) will have an exhibition of her art hosted by the MonDak Heritage Center in eastern Montana.

Jeff Miller was appointed to sergeant by Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux.

Rolic Oboh (1981) released his new book, “The Treasure Hunt.”

Jan Lynn Owen (1987) is now the senior adviser in financial services for the Sacramento and San Francisco offices of Manatt, Phelps and Phillips.

Ellen Porter (1984) published her new book, “The Basket Maker,” which is the third book of her series, “The Redskins.”

Pete Richmond (1986) was named Napa Valley Grower of the Year by Napa Valley Grapegrowers.

Jaime P. Rodriguez (1988) was elected president of Oregon’s American Federation of Teachers.

Victor Rosa is now superintendent of Hanford Joint Union High School District.

Mark Salwasser(1988) is now the 1,000-acre University Agricultural Laboratory farm manager at Fresno State. He has worked on campus for nearly 30 years.

Ray Sherman, entering his 28th season coaching in the NFL, is now interim wide receivers coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Maj. Gen. Bradley D. Spacy, a Fresno State political science alumnus, retired from the U.S. Air Force after more than 30 years of service, including the past three as commander of the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center at the Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas. In 1987, Spacy was a distinguished graduate from Fresno State’s ROTC program. He went on to lead a headquarters responsible for supporting 77 Air Force installations, nine major commands and two direct reporting units with an annual budget of about $10 billion. 

Mark Thompson (1986) was appointed lead pastor at Kingsburg First Baptist Church.

Thomas T. Watson (1986) is now Santa Maria city attorney.

Mike Weststeyn (1988) was appointed to the South San Joaquin Irrigation District board of directors.

 

1990s

Joe Burns (1999) serves as mayor for the City of Sausalito.

Trent Dilfer (1993), the former standout quarterback at Fresno State and 2000 Super Bowl champion with the Baltimore Ravens, is now head football coach at Lipscomb Academy.

Curt Fleming (2004, ’98) was appointed as police chief for the City of Clovis.

 

Karen Forte (1990) was appointed interim principal of Our Lady of Fatima School in Los Banos for the 2019-20 school year.

Marc Forth (1994) was appointed president and CEO of AEON Biopharma, Inc. by the ALPHAEON Corporation board.

Kristen Holihan (1993) is now vice president/business services officer for First Northern Bank in Sacramento and El Dorado counties.

Alex Holman (1993) is now winemaker at Notre Vue Estate and Balverne Wines in Windsor.

Reggie Jones (1991), owner and cheesemaker for Central Coast Creamery, earned three Best of Class awards from the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association.

Claudia Lourido-Habib (1995, ’11), who earned a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Fresno State, is now president at Porterville College.

Matthew Macia (1992) is now executive vice president and chief risk officer for Bank of the Sierra.

Matthew J. Navo (1993) was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to the 11-member California Board of Education.

Germaine Newstead (1997) is now advertising sales coordinator for Good Fruit Grower.

Irma Valdez (1999, ’01) was Cutler-Orosi’s 2019 Educator of the Year.

Michael Erin Woody (1991), of Morro Bay, announced his candidacy for the 24th Congressional District.

Holly Zamora (1992) is now principal for St. Aloysius School in Tulare.

 

2000s

Stephen Abas (2005), a three-time national champion as a Fresno State wrestler and Olympic silver medalist, is now head wrestling coach at Fresno High School.

Christy Ackerman (2001) is now associate winemaker for Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery in Sonoma County.

Raman Bath (2001) was appointed Fresno County librarian by the Fresno County Board of Supervisors.

Kassandra Booth (2003) is now the chief business official for Oakdale Joint Unified School District.

Casey Creamer (2002) is now the association president of California Citrus Mutual.

Aaron Crutchfield (2005), a former member of the Bulldog Marching Band, is now a mass communications specialist for the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake.

Brenna Hughes (2006), a speech-language pathologist at Community Medical Centers and adjunct faculty member at Fresno State, was honored with the ASHFoundation’s Clinical Achievement Award at the annual American Speech-Hearing Association Convention in Orlando.

Kamaljit Kaur (2007), who is a community organizer for the Jakara Movement, was honored at the Top 10 Professional Women and Leading Business Awards for the Marjaree Mason Center.

Sandra Lamonica (2004) is now marketing director for Fisher Manufacturing.

Carly Oliver (2009) is now resident teaching artist for Hartford Stage in Connecticut.

Courtney Razor (2009) is now director of member services and communications for the California Fresh Fruit Association.

Dr. Russel Statham (2009, ’11, ’15) is now CEO of Girl Scouts of Central California South, an organization that serves over 11,000 girls across Fresno, Madera, Kern, Kings and Tulare counties.

 

2010s

Sara Borjas (2010) released her collection of poetry, “Heart Like a Window, Mouth Like a Cliff.”

Jen Cruz (2015) is now program manager for the LGBTQ+ Resource/Drop-in Center for the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission. Cruz is currently working with Fresno State students on a report addressing the lack of equal access to housing and health care for the transgender community.

Brian Guess (2012) is now southwest sales manager for Marrone Bio Innovations.

Braxton Huggins (2019), a former standout guard for the Fresno State basketball team, signed a one-year contract to play for ZZ Leiden in the Netherlands.

Zachary Kramer (2016) is now manager of corporate communications at Frontier Airlines, overseeing external communication for the airline that operates out of Denver and flies to more than 100 cities.

Jesus Loera (2017) was sworn in as a member of the Clearlake City Council.

Darin Manning (2013) is now a registered civil engineer in the state of California.

Connor Matteson (2019) is now a broadcast journalist at KOTA (ABC) and KEVN (FOX) in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Aaron Mitchell (2018), a former all-conference offensive linemen for the Bulldogs, re-signed with the San Diego Legion Major League Rugby team for his third straight season.

Justin M. Moore (2017) graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas.

Mary Kate Paquette (2017), a former broadcast journalist at KGET in Bakersfield, is now working in communications and marketing at Garces High School.

Ryan Provost (2019) is now an assistant engineer with MKN & Associates.

Tyler Ribiero (2010), of Tulare, was appointed to the newly formed California Cattle Council by the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Oracio Rodriguez (2011), who served at Madera South High School for four years, is now area assistant superintendent for Madera Unified School District.

Ben Sherley (2014) is now principal at Bakersfield High School.

Candice White (2019), who led the Mountain West in scoring for two straight years with Fresno State women’s basketball, signed with BC Pharmaserv Marburg in Bundesliga, Germany.

 

Bulldog WED

(A) Kristen Beasley (1990, ’93) and Lisa Marie Anderson married Sept. 8 at The Pines Resort at Bass Lake.

(B) Alyssa Boyles (2017) and Nicholas Hauck (2015) are engaged to be married Nov. 8 in Sanger.

(C) Chris Gillespie (2015) and Camille (Rogers) Gillespie (2016, ’18) married on June 22 in Lodi.

(D) Mattie (Boren) Merrill (2014) and Clayton Merrill (2014) married in October 2016.

(E) Chhun Sun (2007) and Ariel Banos married on March 15 by way of a Cambodian-Buddhist wedding ceremony. Their legally-binding, American wedding was July 20.

(F) Blake Zante (2018) and Gina De Young (2019) were engaged on Sept. 8.

 

Bulldog Born

(G) Lucero Benitez (2007) and Alfredo Hernandez (2009) welcomed their third child, Emilio Hernandez, on Aug. 23, 2018.

(H) Emily Carr (2016) and Calvin Carr (2013) welcomed their child, Caitlyn Elizabeth, on March 3.

(I) Benjamin Holton (2008) and Tracy (Funk) Holton (2000, ‘03) welcomed their second child, Julia Elise, on Dec. 3. She’s pictured with her parents and sister, Olivia.

(J) Mattie (Boren) Merrill (2014) and Clayton Merrill (2014) welcome their child, Reid Anthony, in October 2018.

(K) Shelby Fredrickson (2014) and Tommy Fredrickson (2011, ’12) welcomed their child, Theodora Rose, on July 24.

(L) Melissa Gunn (2010) and James Gunn welcomed their child, James Porter, on Dec. 10, 2018.

(M) Brooke (Lloyd) Rummonds (2004) and Joshua Rummonds welcomed their second child, Cameron Caleb, on May 26.

(N) Allison Thurner (staff) and Geoff Thurner (staff) welcomed their second child, Harlington Townes, on April 16.