Class Notes

1960s

Judith (Houser) Theisen (AAS '62) of Gloucester, VA is fully retired from nursing but has been assisting family members who live near Dryden, NY. She also keeps busy with crafts, gardening and reading. Her husband is a self-employed research scientist. Their two sons live on the west coast and their two grandchildren live in Montana.

Cynthia Bloomingdale (AAS '67) was promoted in 2007 to charge nurse at Crouse Hospital in Syracuse and works in the NICU. She writes that she has three children and four grandchildren, and is happily married.

Barbara Conahan (AAS '67) turned 60 and has 40 years of nursing experience. She serves as an adult nurse practitioner at City College in San Francisco. In student health she performs acute episodic and primary care along with some health education. She and husband, Scott, celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary this January. He works for Gerentech and daughter, Molly, works as a senior actuarial analyst.

Karen Bommelje (AAS ‘68) of Woodstock, GA , is director of Survey, Accreditation and Regulatory Affairs for Pediatric Services of America (PSA) Healthcare in Norcross, GA.

Susan Travis Heffron (AAS ‘69) of Harrisburg, NC, does pediatric home care with Bayada Nurses for children with tracheotomies and/or ventilators. She and husband Ward have a son and two daughters and four grandchildren.

Nancy McBride (AAS '69) of Carthage, NY retired last year and spends winters in The Villages, FL.

1970s

Mary Wetherby Gleason (AAS '70) of Canandaigua, NY, has been a full-time elementary school nurse since January and, previously for several years, she was a high school nurse. For 13 years, she served as camp director for 4H Camp Bristol Hills. She is the mother of four (three sons and a daughter) and a grandmother.

Marilyn Gessinger Sellers (AAS ’70) of Clinton, CT, continues to work in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Yale Children’s Hospital in New Haven. While approaching retirement, she still enjoys working with patients and their families.

JoAnn Bolesh (AAS '71) of Eagle Bridge, NY, took a nursing refresher course and, for nearly eight years, has been a medicalsurgical charge nurse at the South Western Vermont Medical Center. She has two grandchildren, Sophie, 4, and Charlie, 2, and lives on 118 acres in an old farmhouse.

Kristine Rietveld (AAS ’71) who graduated as a critical care RN, retired from the Orlando Regional Medical Center to Smith Lake in Jasper, Alabama this year. She writes that during 35 years: “I never wished I had pursued another career. My passion has always been nursing, mentoring, patient advocacy and evidence-based nursing. I am proud to say Upstate prepared me to ask serious questions and to be a leader in nursing. I spent the last 10 years of my career as an assistant nurse manager of a 24-bed ICU.  I never wanted to get too far from the bedside. I did not want to forget that nurses make a critical difference in the outcomes of individual patients and teaching the next generation of nurses was an honor. I will miss nursing. Who knows? I may be lured out of retirement by the passion that is still within me. Thank you Upstate. You did me well.”

Cheryl Thornburg Post (AAS ’72) Works as a quality data analyst for the Quality Management Department at Verde Valley Medical Center in Cottonwood, AZ.

Susan Houser Hubbard (AAS '74) of Pasadena, CA works per diem for the Pasadena Public Health Department in the adult immunization/travel clinic and loves working part-time. A retired FNP/school nurse, she also volunteers in the Pasadena Unified School District and performs statemandated screenings for school districts with few or no school nurses. She additionally gives her time at a local Planned Parenthood clinic. She hopes to find part-time work as an FNP and loves nursing in other languages, with immersion having worked in German, French, Spanish, Japanese and Russian at Concordia Language Villages in Minnesota.

Cheryl Hall (AAS ’75) of Hamburg, NY, works for Aurora Home Care - PSA Healthcare.

Mary (Hall) DiMauro (AAS '76) of Manlius, NY, is clinical coordinator for the Specialty Surgery Center of Central New York in Liverpool.

Sharon Kellogg (AAS ’76) is employed in the operating room at Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca, NY. She is enrolled part-time in Upstate’s BSN program there as well. She is married 31 years to Ray, and they have two grown sons.

The Philipson family: Beth,
Jon, Jordan and Ethan

Elizabeth Salvucci-Philipson (AAS '77) of Baltimore, MD, celebrated her 25th wedding anniversary in May with Jonathon, whom she met in the Crouse (then Crouse-Irving Memorial) Hospital ER. Their youngest goes to college this fall – meaning they will finally be "empty nesters." Her RN position is congregational nurse for the Temple Oheb Shalom.

Catherine T. O’Hara (NP ’78) is an adult nurse practitioner at Syracuse VA Medical Center.

Alberta and Bill Knorr
The Nutcracker performance

Alberta Knorr (PNP ‘79) of Brattleboro, VT is working for the Vermont Department of Health as a public health specialist. There five years, she was a public health nursing supervisor and now works part-time, mainly for the Emergency Preparedness program to improve emergency response systems across the state and develop procedures and protocols under CDC grant initiatives. Knorr plays on two US Tennis Association teams and also enjoys performing ballroom dancing. Photo shows Alberta and her husband Bill after performing in a local production of The Nutcracker last year.

1980s

Christine (Barnes) Merritt (ANP '80) of Vernon, NY is director of the Student Health Service at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY.

Cynthia (Dole) Redeker (PNP '80) of Shelburne, MA has been working as a pediatric NP in a private practice since graduating. Her last of nine children graduated this year from business school. Two of her daughters also are RNs. "Nursing is a great career," she writes.

Nancy (McAlaine) Evale (NP '81) of Mexico, NY is a longterm care specialist providing custom designed long term care insurance plans from all providers to individuals and companies.

Susan Larimer (MS/CNS '89) went to Baton Rouge, LA the end of 2006 to set up a Palliative Care Program at Our Lady of the Lake RMC. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, talks had begun about the program, she writes, "but we had to put the discussion on hold to get past the storm." Two months later, she was able to return and the program initiated the AP nurse liaison and staff educator position in which she served. A year later, her life took a turn and she was married in January 2007. She now travels with her husband, an orthopedic surgeon who does locum tenens
(substitute) assignments in various locations.

1990s

Tamara Tripp (MS ‘91) is a nurse practitioner and clinical services manager for Evercare, managing eight nursing homes and supervising six NPs in three counties in North Carolinas. Her husband, Dennis, is a pilot for USAirways. She enjoys going on cruises and went recently with classmate Nancy Rongo (MS ’91) and Nancy’s daughter, Kaitlyn.

Martha (Dinneen) Alberti (MS ‘96) of Camillus, NY, works in Syracuse and married Peter Alberti in 2007.

Patricia Knox (MS '96), family nurse practitioner and manager of Palliative Care Services at University Hospital at SUNY Upstate Medical University has been appointed to the New York State Palliative Care Education and Training Council. Council members make recommendations regarding undergraduate and graduate medical education in palliative care, as well as palliative care centers of excellence and resource centers.

Bonnie Miner (MS '96), clinical nurse specialist and pediatric patient safety officer at SUNY Upstate's University Hospital, was selected to be a Patient Safety Leadership Fellow with the Health Research and Educational Trust, a partner with the American Hospital Association. The fellowship is a year-long intensive learning experience that brings participants together through leadership retreats, self-study modules and a virtual learning community with other fellows and expert faculty. Miner will be working with the National Patient Safety Foundation on a project to improve the compliance of pediatric medication administration and using smart pump technology for time-sensitive medication delivery through education and precise delivery specifications.

2000s

Linda (Austin) Szczyt (BS '02) of New Albany, OH, has been married to Rick Szczyt since 2003 and they have a son, Adam, born September 2004.

Mary Greene (MS/FNP '06) of Syracuse is working at Hematology Oncology Associates of Central New York in East Syracuse as an FNP.

Theresa Rollason (MS/CNS ’08) is a Major in the US Army, stationed near Seoul, Korea. She is chief nurse of the 135th Forward Surgical Team and, when deployed, oversees all nursing aspects to provide life preserving surgeries before evacuation to the next echelon of care. When not deployed, she serves as a CNS at a community hospital there. She enjoys the “mixture of old and new” living in Seoul.

Kristin Tooker (MS/FNP '08) of Oneida, NY started a new position this January working for an otolaryngologist/surgeon in Oneida.