SHA-Cordecho-Winter-21-22

S P I R I T . M I N D . B O D Y . C O R D E C H O 2 7 ClassNotes Class Notes-where you’ll find updates on your fellow alumnae. Please share your news! Send information, including pictures, to classnotes@sacredheartacademy.org . THIS ISSUE OF CLASS NOTES IS AS OF SEPTEMBER 2020 40s Mary Rust Schmand ’48 celebrated her 91st birthday this past April! 50s JoanNicaiseUrban ’52 (above) was featured in The Arlington Catholic Herald for her career in helping to bring foreign language education to Catholic elementary schools in the Arlington, VA area. Nancy Fortkort, OSF ’53 celebrated her 65th anniversary of final profession with the Sisters of St. Francis of Stella Niagara. M. Christa Blersch, OSF ’58 celebrated her 60th anniversary of final profession with the Sisters of St. Francis of Stella Niagara. Kristen Corcoran, OSF ’58 celebrated her 60th anniversary of final profession with the Sisters of St. Francis of Stella Niagara. 70s MonicaWharton ’71 is retired and enjoying life! Her twins (Stephanie and Nick) and Alex, her youngest son, are all living and working within an hour drive fromher in Madeira Beach, FL. She has a male toy American Shepherd, a female Pomeranian and her oldest furbaby, a Scotty. 80s PatriciaHaberman, DDS ’80 was one of three inductees honored for her leadership and service in the community by the 5th Legislative District of Erie County in celebration of Women’s History Month. Patty is an experienced dental clinician and a professor at the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine. Besides her practice, she volunteers regularly at Good Neighbors Harvest House Ministries and Health Care. In addition, Patty was appointed to the State Board of Regents for Dentistry. LaurieHess Sperry ’82 was honored by the University of St. Francis with the Alumni Achievement Award in the College of Arts, Sciences and Business. Jeanne LindnerWiles ’85 was awarded “Mortgage Broker of the Year” from the New York Association of Mortgage Brokers. Dr. Maureen Forrester Finney ’87 was recently named Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Hilbert College. AlisonMoll Stone ’87 released her latest book, Seeking Amish Shelter, in January 2021 fromHarlequin Love Inspired Suspense. The novel has been named to the Publishers Weekly bestseller list for mass market. Alison has written over 20 novels of romantic suspense. More information and a list of titles can be found at AlisonStone.com. Kelly Pajek ’88 , in her role as Director of Public Art at 4Culture (based in Seattle, WA), has been appointed to Americans for the Arts (AFTA) Public Art Network Council. AFTA is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. The Public Art Network Advisory Council is composed of artists and leaders from local arts agencies and governments. Kelly and her colleagues on the council advise staff on effective strategies to communicate the value of public art in communities across the United States through the recognition of the public art field while building relationships with AFTA’smembers. 90s Karen Eckert ’91 had a book of her poems published, entitled The Poeta Project. The collection is based on a project that was featured at Buffalo Arts Studio in fall 2019. The book is available at Barnes &Noble, Amazon and book stores around Buffalo, NY. Kati RiegleMann ’94 was named Ohio’s 2020 National Distinguished Principal fromNAESP (National Association of Elementary School Principals) and OAESA (Ohio Association of Elementary School Administrators). Jennifer KorzenO’Toole ’95 has been selected to receive the 2021 Leadership Award from the Group onWomen inMedicine and Science, an affiliate of the Association of AmericanMedical Colleges (AAMC). She was selected for this prestigious honor based on her leadership among women in medicine. Heather Thompson ’95 was named Chief Development Officer at Norwescap, a $17M anti-poverty nonprofit in New Jersey that serves over 30,000 people each year. In this role, she is responsible for building and running amulti-pronged development program to engage donors, volunteers and community members in supporting the agency’s mission and work. Heather, her husband Ryan, and their son, Nolan, live in Bloomfield, NJ. 00s Chelsea Koehneke Gill ’01 was promoted to Corporate Trainer at McGard in Orchard Park in July of 2021. She has been working there since 2016. Kamila Somayaji ’01 is an internal medicine physician and has begun her cardiology fellowship in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Only 14%of cardiologists in the United States are women, and we are very proud of our SHA Shark! KathrynBelliotti Hammer ’02 received an Excalibur Award from the Buffalo Niagara chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) for the internal communications campaign, “Daemen Forum | A Panel Series.” RoselynKelada-Sedra ’02 was the winner of the Best Women Film for her documentary, Women of Resilience, at the CannesWorld FilmFestival. Lori ShepherdKern ’02 received one of four inaugural awards from the Bioconductor Organization. The international user community elected nominees and the Bioconductor governing bodies voted on winners. The award ceremony was held during the Bioconductor Annual Conference BioC2020 last July. AlisonHejmowski ’05 received her doctorate in clinical psychology in August 2020 fromMedaille College. KristenDeCarloHoldsworth ’05 was promoted to Associate Vice President, Marketing & Community Engagement of Molina Healthcare inMay 2020. Her daughter, Quinn, turned two this past May. Lauren Fish Suttel ’05 was promoted to partner at Lippes Mathia. She provides corporate and regulatory counsel to a variety of health care providers and has advised in the acquisitions and sales of private health care practices and the formation and organization of unique health care affiliations and collaborations. She is also TeamLeader of the firm’s Not-For-Profit Team, where she regularly advises not-for-profits on all aspects of their organizations and operations. AngelicaMaier ’07 published her first peer-reviewed journal article in spring 2021 entitled “’Is Cleopatra Black?’: Examining Whiteness and the American NewWoman.” She was recently awarded a Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship through the University of Minnesota’s Graduate School, which provides the university’s most accomplished PhD candidates the opportunity to devote full- time effort to completing their dissertations. Heather Schmidt Marello ’08 wasmade partner at Andreozzi Bluestein LLP. She focuses her practice on tax controversy and international tax compliance. She serves as an adjunct professor at both University at Buffalo School of Law and Canisius College, and assists in editing and contributing content to an annual Reuters publication. 10s Mary Kate Taggart Suchyna ’10 is a nurse at South Buffalo Mercy Hospital, working on thematernity floor. She and her husband Nate have beenmarried for five years and have two children- Sophia (3½) and Jack (one). Laura Gennaro, DMD ’12 graduated fromCaseWestern Reserve University School of Dental Medicine inMay 2020 where she received the “Dean’s Award.” She is currently furthering her training at Rochester General Hospital as a dental resident, after which she will obtain her licensure in New York State. A career in dentistry has been a lifelong goal of Laura’s. She is looking forward to providing care and giving back to her community. JacqulynGraber ’12 accepted a doctoral fellowship at St. John’s University in Queens, New York and has begun her journey towards a PhD in English with a focus on composition & rhetoric this fall. She holds a Master of Arts in literary & cultural studies from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in English and philosophy from the University at Buffalo. Jacqulyn will be leaving her position in higher education administration at Canisius College to continue her studies. LaurenReczek ’14 graduated in May 2020 with her master’s degree in higher education and student affairs administration fromSUNY Buffalo State College. She currently serves as the Director of Student Engagement at Trocaire College. Mary ‘48 and Molly ‘09 Schmand