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Brophy Celebrates Alumni at 2023 Grand Reunion
Over the weekend of Sept. 29–Oct. 1, Brophy hosted the 2023 Grand Reunion, welcoming alumni from “3” and “8” grad years. It was Brophy’s largest reunion so far, with over 300 in attendance.
Weekend activities included tours, lunch and an evening happy hour and dinner on Friday, a pancake breakfast and a service project supporting Arizona Helping Hands on Saturday, and Mass on Sunday followed by donuts, tours and farewells. Once a Bronco, always a Bronco! AMDG
Thank you to all who attended and to the Office of Alumni Relations — Mike Ward and Delia Ortega-Nowakowski!
Alumnotes
1960s
1970s
Deacon Shawn French ’72 was named the associate director of hospitals and prisons within the Catholic Social Ministry for the Diocese of Dallas, Texas. He is in his 26th year of ordained Diaconal ministry for the Diocese.
Dr. William Dunn ’72 was designated as Fellow of the American Society of Retina Specialists (FASRS). The FASRS recognizes members in good standing who have demonstrated commitment to the Society, expertise management and the highest ethical and professional standards.
Brian Kenny ’72, who is an applied anthropologist and archaeologist, gave a presentation on “The Historical George McJunkin Reimagined through His Archaeological Sites” on Sept. 21.
1980s
Matt Birmingham ’88 lives in Phoenix and works for Snowflake, a data cloud company, He is married to Jeanne who owns White Poppy Floral.
Michael Book ’88 lives in Phoenix and works for HDR. He and his wife, Krystal, have two children, Jackson, 12, and Cecilia, 7.
1990s
Chad Eaves ’93 lives in Phoenix and is a territory manager for Viatris.
Dr. Amit Gosalia ’93 gave the keynote address at the California State University Northridge’s White Coat ceremony for the inaugural audiology doctoral program on May 20.
Mike Mitchell ’93 lives in Los Gatos, Calif., and works for the software company, SAP.
Patrick Crowley ’98 lives in McMinnville, Ore., with his wife, Erica, and children, Atlas, 7, Luciano, 4, and Rio, 2. He received his undergrad at Claremont McKenna, and graduated from the University of Arizona with an M.S. in watershed hydrology. He works for Chapul Farms.
Matt Howell ’98 lives in Medfield, Mass., with his wife, Elizabeth, and children, Malcolm, 13, Ivy, 10, and Duncan, 8. He is vice president of analytics and digital marketing technology for Warner Bros.
Sion Roy ’98 lives in Malibu, Calif., and is a cardiologist at Harbor UCLA Medical Center.
Matthew Fitz-Gerald ’99 lives in Phoenix and works for Colliers International. He and his wife, Valerie, have two children, Sutton, 9, and Rooney, 7.
J. Patrick Horbeck III ’99 made a quick visit to campus in May to surprise his mother, Sue Hornbeck, who retired after 28 years at Brophy. Patrick recently moved to Washington D.C. with his spouse, Patrick Berquist.
Births
Weddings
2000s
Kyle Harder ’02 competed in the Japanese Karate Association Pan American Championships for Team USA this past August in Bogota, Columbia. This is a semi-contact tournament held over two days. The adult Men Black Belt Kumite Division contained 76 fighters where Kyle made the top eight, only losing to an Argentinian fighter one round before the finals. He was the only U.S. fighter to make it past the second round. His international success now qualifies him to the U.S. Team Trials for next year’s world tournament, “The Shotocup” in Tokyo, Japan.
David Levy ’02 and his sister, Rebecca (Levy) Corwin (Xavier, ’00), completed the Pan-Mass Challenge in August, riding 78 miles out the length of Cape Cod in one day among 6,000 other riders. The PMC is a Massachusetts-based bike-a-thon that raises more money for charity than any other single athletic fundraising event in the country. The PMC raises funds for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a world leader in adult and pediatric cancer treatment and research. Together, David and Rebecca raised over $23,000 for Dana Farber in memory of their mother, Rosemary, former Xavier employee, mainstay at theater production snack bars and a member of Brophy’s Mother’s Guild.
Mike Santos ’02 received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Notre Dame and will graduate from UC Berkeley in 2024 with a master’s in transportation engineering.
Simon Zachary, SJ ’02 concelebrated a special Mass for the Jesuit presence in the Diocese of Phoenix on Sept. 17, at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral.
Joseph Feltham ’03 lives in Phoenix with his wife, Liset, and is chief operating officer at 4Front Ventures, Inc.
Paul Grumley ’03 received engineering degrees from Cal Poly and Penn State. He works for General Dynamics Mission Systems and lives in Gilbert, Ariz., with daughters Charlotte, 4, and Brooklyn, 2.
Andrew Paschall ’03 lives in Phoenix and works for Okta. He and his wife, Laura Ory, have a daughter, Ada, 2, and are expecting their second child in November.
Greg Sullivan ’03 lives in Budapest, Hungary, and works for Bloomberg News.
Stanko Zovko ’03 graduated from ASU with a degree in urban planning and from the University of Arizona with a degree in geographic information science. He works for the City of Phoenix.
Births
Corbin “Corey” Hague ’00 and his wife, Chelsea, welcomed Wyatt Hamilton Hague on July 23.
Jorge Espinoza ’04 and his wife, Huguett, welcomed their third child, Enzo Ray Espinoza, on July 20.
Joe White ’05 and his wife, Shantae, welcomed Gianna Noelle White, on Aug. 18.
Matt Beienburg ’07 and his wife, Cassandra, welcomed Aurora in November 2020 and Maia in June 2022.
Riccio Torrez ’08 and his wife, Kimberly, welcomed their second child, Reece, on Aug. 18. Reece joins older sister, Isabelle.
Joseph Fellows ’09 and his wife, Denise, welcomed Mila Virginia Fellows on July 4.
Weddings
Tom Ciafone ’07 married Meredith Taylor on April 30, in Charlotte, N.C.
George Nitescu ’09 married Mariscia Rodriguez on July 1, in Avrig, Romania.
2010s
Ryan Hemelt ’10 graduated from the University of San Diego and now works for Vercel. He lives in Frisco, Texas.
Nikhar Abbas ’11 had his writing on control co-design of novel wind turbine rotors with trailing edge flaps officially published. He also received two awards, the EAWE Excellent Young Wind Doctor Award from the European Academy of Wind Energy and the ECEE Outstanding Graduate Researcher Award from the computer and energy engineering department at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Nehal Samra ’13 graduated from Northwestern with his medical degree this year and now works at Creighton University School of Medicine in Phoenix.
James Rix ’16 earned his private pilot certificate and instrument rating. He is currently working on his commercial rating. He will continue training towards becoming a certified flight instructor and is working towards completing the pilot pathway program at Aeroguard to become a first officer with an airline.
Graham Armknecht ’18 graduated summa cum laude from Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University. He is currently working for the Center for American Institutions while studying for law school.
Sam Fallon ’18 finished his first year at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
David Krakauer ’18 graduated from Santa Clara University this spring with a master’s in computer science and engineering. He received his bachelor’s from Santa Clara in 2022 in the same field.
Jack Woodrow ’18 graduated from Yale in 2022 and lives in Scottsdale.
Joseph Gilligan ’19 and Aidan Rowland ’19 met up at the American Collegiate Rowing Association Championship (ACRA) Regatta in Tennessee. Joseph graduated from University of Michigan and Aidan graduated from George Washington University, where they both rowed for four years.
Births
John Heiland ’11 and his wife, Samantha, welcomed Harper Jo on May 7.
Justin Dizon ’11 and his wife, Adriana, welcomed Sophia Alaina Dizon, on July 24.
Tyler Miller ’11 and his wife, Mallory, welcomed Ario Hudson Miller on July 31.
Dominick Olmedo ’13 and his wife, Emily, welcomed their second child, Beckett, on Sept. 15. Beckett joins older sister, Ellison.
Bradley Nordstrom ’14 and his wife, Jordan, welcomed Lucy Juliet Ann Nordstrom on July 31.
Taylor Moorman ’14 and his wife, Emma, welcomed their second child, Maeve Whitney Moorman, on Sept. 12. Maeve joins older sister, Eloise.
Weddings
Stephen Squatrito ’10 married Katherine Gatz on Jan. 27, in Costa Rica.
Tony Almero ’12 married Allison Jeffrey on May 27, at the Secret Garden in south Phoenix.
Jonas Fowler ’13 married Katarina Klett on April 29, in Napa, Calif.
Joe Skoog ’13 married Emily Courchaine on May 20, at St. Aloysius Church on Gonzaga University’s campus in Spokane, Wash. Joe met Emily while they were both students at Gonzaga; they currently live in Spokane.
Andy Vainauskas ’15 married Lydia Davidson on April 22, at the Mission Church at Santa Clara University.
J.J. Good ’15 married Carolin Dunn On July 28, in
Babylon, N.Y.&r
2020s
Owen Reinhart ’20 is a student at Washington University in St. Louis and is interning at Huron Consulting Group.
Noah Nuez ’21, who is currently at the United States Naval Academy, was on the weapons detail training incoming Plebes Class of 2027 this past summer. He also signed his “2 for 7” last month which committed him to two more years of school and five more years of service.
Weddings
Raymond Link ’20 married Abigail Beach on May 9, in Tyler, Texas.
IN MEMORIAM: Alumni and Alumni Parents
Alumni
1960s
Frank Barrios ’60 passed away on Sept 11.
John Pope ’65 passed away in January 2022.
Bob Robson ’66 passed away on Aug 11.
John Baker ’67 passed away on Aug 26.
Michael King ’69 passed away on April 4.
1970s
Wayne Tuma ’73 passed away on July 6.
Mike Santiago ’73 passed away on Aug 10.
Gregory Morell ’76 passed away on Aug 31.
1980s
David Makay ’86 passed away on June 30.
1990s
Dylan Bragg ’95 passed away on May 12.
2000s
Joshua Liffton ’05 passed away on June 4.
Tyler Vandeventer ’08 passed away on Aug 3.
2010s
Alec Carbine ’14 passed away on Sept 9.
Alumni Parents
Pete Carag, father of Sam ’22 and Rafe ’25, passed away this summer after a long battle with cancer.
Thomas Fencl, father of Chris Fencl ’08 and Nate Fencl ’09, passed away suddenly on Aug. 3. A funeral Mass was held in Brophy Chapel on Aug 26.
Jane Kohnen passed away on July 25. She is the mother of Bob Kohnen ’76 and Patrick Kohnen ’86, mother-in-law of Tom Palmer ’84 and grandmother of Henry Palmer ’21 and Charlie Palmer ’23.
Ronald Roderique, father of David Roderique ’76, Mark Roderique ’78 and Peter Roderique ’81, and lifetime Brophy Dads’ Club member, passed away on June 27.