Keeping up with the shamrocks

We are very proud of our alumni here at St. Pat’s! Below are recent updates from many of our alumni. To be included on this page in the future please complete the online form at the following link. SUBMIT YOUR KEEPING UP INFO

Pictured above: Daniel Cortez ’13 joined by several Shamrock Alums at his wedding on October 17, 2020 in Indianapolis.

John W. Kluesener ’60 (Lafayette, CA) retired after 37 years as an Engineer/Project Manager for Bechtel Corporation, an engineering company.  He then taught inorganic chemistry and biochemistry at a local junior college for 13 years.  He is now retired, traveling more, mainly to Europe, and working as a facilities manager for his local parish.  He and his wife, Kathleen, have been married for 55 years and have 3 children, 9 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren.  He likes to do gardening and home maintenance projects.  He also tutors students interested in getting their GED.

Thomas F. La Barbera ’60 (Villa Park, IL) had some earlier health issues, but he feels blessed that he is now feeling quite healthy and able to remain very active in his hobbies and other social activities.  He is also very proud of his family with whom he is quite close and maintains great relationships.

John C. Mickus ’60 (Downers Grove, IL) started his teaching career at the University of Central Florida, returned to SIU for three years, and then on to Benedictine University, giving him a total of 44 years of collegiate teaching.  He was the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences for seven years and received multiple grants from NSF and HHMI.  He has been married to his lovely wife, Mary, for 49 years.  They have three sons, six grandchildren, and are enjoying retirement and learning to paint watercolors.

Patrick J. Murphy ’60 (Milwaukee, WI) has been an Adjunct Professor at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee’s School of Business for the last eight years.  He teachers a variety of courses depending on the semester, but his bread-and-butter course is titled Business & Society.   Though living in Milwaukee, he kept the house in Chicago (St. Viator’s Parish) where he grew up, and he and his wife spend most weekends there in the summer.

John J. Pikarski Jr. ’60 (Chicago, IL) is still practicing law with his two sons and daughter.  His practice is limited to land use and real estate taxation.  He has no thoughts about retiring.

Charles O. Prettyman ’60 (Barrington, IL) retired when he turned 55.  He and his wife have a second home in Gulf Shores, Alabama (5+ acres of land) with 3 horses and 1 dog.  Their son and grandson live with them.  He has been to 41 states on his Harley Davidson motorcycle and presently rides a Can-Am in Alabama.

Thomas J. Rutkowski ’60 (Naples, FL) is doing well, residing with his wife of 55 years in a golf community in Naples for seven months a year, then spending 5 summer months at their home in Lake Carroll, Illinois.

Albin J. Sikora ’60 (New Buffalo, MI) is doing well and still learning.  He is a retired Trustee of the New Buffalo Township Library.  He is on the Parish Council and Finance Committee at St. Mary of the Lake.

Nicholas P. Speziale ’60 (Elmwood Park, IL) has been fighting cancer for the past 10 years, which has recently limited his activities.  He is proudest of his children and grandchildren, and is fortunate to live around all of them, sharing many wonderful times.  Despite his current limitations, he remains strong in his faith and values, and greatly enjoys visiting and spending time with his family and friends.

Dino J. Micheli ‘67 (Huntley, IL) is currently owner of Dino Micheli Realty and serves the Chicagoland suburban area with an emphasis on real estate sales in Del Webb Sun City in Huntley, Illinois.  His past careers included being CFO of several international manufacturing companies, including Siemens and Ammeral Beltech, and manager of a local CPA firm in Chicago.

Kevin N. Chapman ’70 (Carlsbad, CA) was married in 1977 to Maria Elena in San Ysidro, Peru.  They have two children, Traci and Jonathan.  He moved to Colorado in 1972 and then to California in 1973.  He worked for Continental Airlines from 1970 to 1985 in various customer service positions, computer installation and maintenance, and programming; then for Hughes Aircraft from 1985 to 1995 as a programmer, independent Microsoft trainer and consultant; then TRW/Northrop Grumman from 1998 to 2019 in various positions, IT infrastructure and networking INFOSEC and spacecraft test integration engineering.  He retired in 2019 while working on the James Webb Space Telescope.

Michael A. Colletti Sr. ’70 (Chicago, IL) recently retired after 45 years as a teacher and forensics coach.

John E. Forrette ’70 (Sioux Falls, SD) is a podiatrist and has been in practice for 39 years, the last 25 years in Sioux Falls.  By sheer coincidence, he worked in a clinic alongside a fellow classmate, Richard Barth.  He retired in 2012 from the U.S. Army Reserve as a Colonel and continues to be active in military reunions.  He and his wife, Marcine, hope to travel more in the coming years.  He sends his best to his fellow classmates and the whole Saint Patrick community.

Edwin J. Stojak ’70 (Chicago, IL) is retired from the Chicago Police Department.  He has part-time security jobs working for the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks, as well as his own small security firm which handles different events as well as some stores.  He likes to golf and is still working on his game; he still has a 26 handicap.

Joseph F. Waldau ’70 (Elgin, IL) is retired, but stays active with his wife at their church, the local homeless shelter, and spending time with children and grandchildren.

James L. Zirngibl ’71 (Ballwin, MO) lives in the St. Louis area with his two children, Michael and Jaime, and four grandchildren.  He still swims competitively, travels the world, and manages apartments, although he says retirement is near.

Thomas R. Wilkens ’75 (Riverside, IL) and his wife run their own company called Dancing Cranes Yoga, which offers classes in Hatha Yoga and Tai Chi over Zoom.  He says he will be forever grateful to St. Pat’s for giving him excellent teachers who taught him so much and offered him great examples of how to communicate to others so that they can improve their lives.

Mark E. Cichon ’77 (Park Ridge, IL) is playing a vital role during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to serving as the Chairman of Emergency Medicine at Loyola Medical Center in Maywood, he recently collaborated with a plastics manufacturer to develop an intubation safety system, known as the Provider Protection Box, designed to provide an extra layer of protection to healthcare workers. His message to young Shamrocks: STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) is the answer. When this pandemic is over, those who have acquired STEAM skills will get this country going again and lead the way in containing future pandemics.

Paul G. Benson ’79 (Golden, CO) and his wife, Carolyn, moved to Golden, Colorado (an area called Genesee) in August.  They are surrounded by a large herd of elk and often have deer in their driveway.  He says the mountain views are amazing and they are looking forward to the convenience of world class skiing a little over an hour away this winter; and that mountain golf has beautiful views but it’s very difficult to read mountain greens. He joined the Genesee Volunteer Fire Department and is currently completing the Firefighter I class.  They love having family and friends visit and enjoying the outdoors with them!

Joseph C. Ozog ’83 (Chicago, IL) retired from the Chicago Police Department in May after a 34-year career, 24 years of it as a Sergeant, having served in both uniformed and plain clothes capacities in most of the  districts of the city.  He represented the Chicago Police Department nine times at the National Police Shooting Championships and played briefly with the CPD Baseball Club in the CNMSBL.  He was inducted into the SPHS Hall of Fame in 2018 and looks forward to future endeavors with both the Shamrock soccer and baseball programs.

Noel Medina ’85 (Romeoville, IL) is a Sales Specialist at D’Arcy Hyundai.  He thanks God for giving him the opportunity to attend St. Pat’s.  It was the best experience of his life.

Raymund P. Tibayan ’85 (Covington, LA) has been with the U.S. Postal Service for 27 years.  He started as a clerk in the Chicago area at Bedford Park and has held positions as Mail Processing Equipment Mechanic and Electronic Technician at Fox Valley. He transferred to Atlanta in 2013 as an Electronic Technician and was promoted to Supervisor shortly afterwards.  He was then promoted and moved to Jackson, Mississippi as a Maintenance Engineering Specialist in 2018.  He was recently promoted in July as Maintenance Manager of Operations and moved to New Orleans.

Joseph F. Pinzon ’90 (Spicewood, TX) says Saint Patrick High School took significant responsibility for his accomplishments as a results-driven global sales leader with broad-based expertise leading effective strategy, team management, key account management, and revenue growth in the Enterprise Technology and Digital Transformation industry.  In 2019 he completed his graduate studies from Saint Leo University (Florida’s oldest Catholic institute of higher education), earning a master’s degree in Business.  He is Vice-President of Global Client Sales for Konica Minolta Business Solutions.

Patrick M. Aylward ’91 (Chicago, IL) is a Lieutenant with the Chicago Police Department.  He coaches football for Park Ridge Football and Cheer and is also a baseball coach for Windy City Baseball 11U.  He and his wife have three children.  He is extremely proud that his son attends camps and events at St. Pat’s, and is well on his way towards becoming another Proud Shamrock!

Kenneth A. Trendel ’98 (Brookfield, IL) started a new job as the Athletic Director at Trinity High School in River Forest this past August.

Walter P. Mannino ’03 (Broomfield, CO) and his wife currently live in Denver and are expecting their first child, a girl, in January.  He works for Techstars as Manager of Business Development.  Techstars is a Seed Accelerator which invests in start-ups and helps founders grow their company through mentorship.

Anthony M. Merino ’03 (Superior, CO) has gone from completing an Ironman Triathlon to trying to make it through 2020.  Stay safe, Shamrocks!!

Colm B. Mitchell ’08 (Elmwood Park, IL) was ordained a transitional deacon for the Archdiocese of Chicago in August.  He is currently finishing his seminary studies at Mundelein Seminary and will be ordained a priest in May 2021.

Kenneth B. Mroz ’09 (Chicago, IL) is the proud father of his new baby girl, Mila Gene, born this past August.

Billy J. McMahon ’11 (Chicago, IL) is a Trooper with the Illinois State Police.

Markeise R. Russell ’11 (Chicago, IL) has been named a national quarterfinalist for the third time in four years for the Grammy Music Educator Award.  He is a Fine Arts Instructional Supervisor at Glenbrook South High School.  He was inspired to become a music teacher after playing saxophone his junior year at St. Pat’s under then band director Kevin Carroll. He earned his bachelor’s degree in music education at Berklee College of Music in Boston.  He has one master’s degree and is working on a second one, and next year will enter the doctoral program in education policy, organization, and leadership at the University of Illinois.

Michael R. Traversa ’12 (Chicago, IL) was awarded the Tom Wirtz Award for Courage and Integrity at Benedictine University in 2019.  It is the highest honor an athlete at Benedictine can receive from the university.  He coached the offensive line during the 2019-2020 football campaign.  He also upstarted Morton College’s Personal Training service and its Strength and Conditioning program for their athletes.  He is currently the Head Trainer and Strength Coach at Morton College and Assistant Strength Coach at Benedictine University.

Eric D. Cruz ’15 (Berwyn, IL) graduated in the spring from Illinois State University with a major in History/Education.  He is currently teaching history and social studies full-time at Urbana Middle School.  Once a Shamrock, always a Shamrock!

Marcelo R. Tanon ’15 (Chicago, IL) started his master’s degree at the University of Maryland, School of Pharmacy, in Medical Cannabis Science and Therapeutics.  This is the first master’s program on cannabis science in the nation.

Daniel J. Galante ’17 (Boston, MA) recently moved from Chicago to Boston to continue college swimming and undergraduate studies in the Questrom School of Business at Boston University.

John E. Bogusz ’19, Timothy A. Chavez ’19 and Joseph J. Oesterreich ’19 (Chicago, IL) signed a record deal for their band, Pure Intention, with producer Butch Vig (who worked with Nirvana and the Smashing Pumpkins).  They are currently undergoing the writing process and polishing already finished songs.  The album should be released sometime next year.