The editors of the eDelt, our communication to Michigan Delta Chi fraternity members, have decided to implement a new bi-monthly section called “Alumni Updates.” Our plan is to keep members in the loop in the forthcoming years by letting others know what is going on in their lives. Our success depends in having YOU tell us what is going on with you and others that you have communicated with. It doesn’t need to be earthshaking, just a note. It can be long or short. We have not decided whether pictures should be included in the future. Here is our first effort which we hope you enjoy. Frank Morrey ’64 at [email protected] and Keith Hellems ’62 at [email protected]
Lane Kendig ’61 sent a note: Elaine and I are fine, but frustrated that many here in Wisconsin are not following the mandates on masks etc. We had highest ever water level in Lake Michigan and Thanksgiving storm left our peninsula an island with 6 inches of water over roads and many lots. Heavy damage on my shoreline, and we had 183,000 lbs. of large rock installed to protect land. Spent the summer redoing landscaping destroyed. I am isolating except for sailboat racing every Thursday.
Herb Koenig ’63 wrote: After finishing my BSME at Michigan I worked for Sundstrand Corp in Rockford, Illinois. After her graduation from Michigan in 1964 Mary and I were married in Dundee, MI. A year later we moved to Texas and I went to work with my family’s company, Koenig Iron Works. This business was sold in 1978 and I decided to start a manufacturer’s representative agency selling various mechanical components such as hydraulic cylinders, gears and machined bronze components. In 1983 I sold the rep agency and signed up to own Liftmoore, Inc. a manufacturer of truck mounted field service cranes. That continues to this day. On the personal front Mary and I have been married for 56 years. We have three married sons and two grandsons. Both grandsons are studying at the University of Florida. Mary’s health is a problem as for the last seven years she has suffered with a dementia named Hydrocephalus. Today she is living in our house with around the clock caregivers. She still can walk, although slowly. Life has been good to us and we are thankful for the advantages of living in the USA.
Scott Walls ’83 says, “I’m trying to get Michael Jordan to notice me.” He also noted: “I remember one night after coming home from studying at the wind tunnel with Nelson Orozco ‘80, who saved my bacon with study help for a whole term. Anyway, a huge snowball fight broke out with the Sigma Nu’s where both houses emptied out. It went on and on until I think the Sigma Nu’s ran out of snow as they didn’t have a front yard. The fight ended when Jim Fuger ‘82 got in a tussle with one of their guys, and frozen hands and feet got the best of everyone. I knew then that those days were special, never to be repeated.”
Mark Dunning ‘84 has been in Atlanta for 4 years as the Director-HR for a leading multi-location packaging manufacturer. While there, he’s visited Scott Walls’ (‘83) home in Charlotte NC and pre-COVID, saw Steve Hook (‘82) annually at a mutual friend’s waterfront home outside Baltimore. In his spare time, he’s playing golf and recently visited both the Sea Island Resort, Sanctuary Resort at Kiawah Island, and the TPC-Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, among others. Prior to that, Mark lived in Phoenix and played golf while working as the Director-HR for a medical device manufacturer following an 18-year career at Chrysler in Michigan.
Jeff Klaiman ’93 has lived in the Northern Virginia, right outside Washington, DC, since 1999 with his wife and 2 high school aged children. In 2015, he and his business partner purchased the 30+ year old civil and structural engineering firm that they both worked at, ADTEK Engineers, Inc. with four offices offices in VA, MD and Bay City, MI He does not get back to Ann Arbor as often as he would like, but his daughter, a high school junior, is applying to U of M, so hopefully that will change in 2 years.
Don Sweeney ’94 lives in Evanston IL with his wife and 2 sons, both are boys in high school. Don is the founder of Ashling Partners, a firm that focuses on process automation and the Future of Work. He still gets back to most home football games.
Nick Abruzzo ’95 lives in Burbank, CA, with his wife and 1 daughter who is in middle school. Nick is a mathematics specialist for the Los Angeles County Office of Education which involves writing high school curriculum and modeling instruction for teachers. Interesting side note: About a decade ago, he discovered that one of his students was the granddaughter of the Physics professor who lived next door to the Delta Chi house on Hill Street back in the 90s.
Cameron Saless ’95 lives in Los Angeles with his husband Matt and their two dogs. Cameron has spent the last 15 years with start ups like IFilm, Jibjab, Machinima in the online video space and is currently Chief Business Officer at Jukin Media.
Ron Virtue ’95 lives in Boca Raton, FL with his wife who also graduated from the University of Michigan, two sons and a daughter. One son is in college and the other two children are in high school. After many years as the Director of Investments at JM Family. Ron became the Assistant Treasurer, and his team is responsible for capital raising which includes structuring automotive ABS transactions. He makes an annual pilgrimage to Ann Arbor for a football game.
Dennis Carr ’96 lives in Mentor, OH with his wife Julie. He is the Assistant Supervisor of the Education Services Department at the Lake County Juvenile Justice Center. Dennis is also an avid sailor who competes in racing off-shore trimarans. His crew won four of the last five Mills Trophy Invitational Races on Lake Erie and this July placed second in the 96th annual Port Huron to Mackinac race.
Joe Magro ’96, who was our President in 1995-96, won the UM IFC Lutes fraternity president of the year award. That was a huge honor! (Editors’s note: Not sure how many times Delta Chi has won that but I suspect Joe is the only one.) We also won Greek Week during my time. Those were the major recognized accomplishments. In my professional life I worked for GE Healthcare in Sales and marketing for 13 years, then led a division at a biotech company for 10 years. I left to join a family business and we opened up a solar panel installation company in Florida, Titan Solar Power Florida. It’s been a very exciting ride to be a part of this as we have grown to one of the largest solar companies in the state. In my free time I run my kids to sports practice and help coach my kid’s baseball/softball, enjoy boating and biking. My wife, Danielle, and I have four children: Tommy 12, Gianna 10, Benjamin 7, Clara 7. We were lucky enough to move on the saltwater in Tarpon Springs, Florida last year and are loving it. 40 Central Ct, Tarpon Springs FL 34689, 727-804-7290
Eric Kraft ‘05 lives in Macomb, MI with his wife April and son Silas. He works as the Senior Controls Engineering Design Leader at Universal Tool Equipment and Controls.
Dave Bacon ’06 lives in Niwot, Colorado with his wife Rachel and daughters Charlotte and Millicent. He works as Director of Development, for WW Reynolds Companies, a real estate development and management company in Boulder, Colorado. When he isn’t in the office, you can find him on the slopes, hiking the mountains or paddle boarding the reservoirs.
Brian Cloutier ‘06 lives in Chicago with his wife Heather and son Theo. Upon graduating with a BSE in Chemical Engineering he has worked for BP in various engineering and operations roles with his most current position as the Operations Superintendent of the FCU Complex at a nearby refinery in Indiana.
Patrick Forrest ’06 lives in Northville, MI with his wife Lisa and children Preston and Sabrina. He is a Senior Staff Anesthesiologist for the Henry Ford Health System. He also serves as a clinical assistant professor at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and chair of anesthesia quality assurance.
Paul Van Gasse ’06 lives in Sunnyvale, CA with his wife Nikki and sons Clay and Reid. He works as a Product Design Manager at Amazon’s hardware division “Lab126”. He enjoys travel, motorsports and spending time outdoors with the kids, and is looking forward to “back to normal”.
Gary Poirier ’06 lives in Katy, TX with his wife Tiffani and their sons Trent and Cole. He is the CFO of the Measurement & Controls division within Honeywell, Inc.
Matt Williams ‘06 lives in Northern Virginia, just outside of Washington D.C., with his wife Amber and their son Max. He serves as Director of the U.S. Senate Democratic Policy and Communications Committee as well as Communications Director for Michigan U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow.
Andy Yen ’06 lives in San Ramon, California with his wife Parisa and daughter Mila. He works in product marketing for an enterprise software company called ServiceNow in the Bay Area.
Dan Oele ’07 lives in Madison, WI with his wife Jessica and he is a senior fisheries biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Nathan Thomas Panzlau ’11, pledge class 2007, graduated from his emergency medicine residency program in 2019 and finished a fellowship in emergency ultrasound in 2020. He has since relocated to the Grand Rapids area to start a career as an Emergency Medicine Physician in the Spectrum Health system.
In our first effort, we want to particularly thank Don Sweeney ’94 and Matt Williams ’06, for gathering information for us. We want ALL members to be so conscientious in helping us.
Craig Poirier ’07 lives in the greater Austin, Texas, area with his wife Daniella, son Kevin (2), and daughter Carly (4). He has worked the last 5 years as an eCommerce Senior Product Manager for the shopping experience on Dell.com. When he’s not picking up his kids toys, he enjoys learning about personal finance and the FIRE movement, running, golfing, and going on nature hikes.
