Alumnotes [ 50s | 60s | 70s | 80s | 90s | 00s ]

1950s Top
Corinne (Pflugrad) Zehm ’51 and her husband, William att., live in Berrien Springs, Mich. Corinne is retired but does work as an office assistant at Andrews University. After college, Corinne spent a few years working at Mt. Ellis Academy as a girls’ dean and accountant. In the 1960s, Corinne and Paul spent eight years in Peru serving at Inca Union College, where Paul taught agriculture. The couple also served at Andrews University, where he was a teacher, and Corinne worked on the staff as a secretary. They have four children. EMAIL

Ernest G. Call ’55 and his wife, Marjorie, are retired and living in Turner, Ore. They are members of the Mill City Seventh-day Adventist Church, where Ernest is the treasurer. Ernest keeps himself busy helping the local church in visitation and enjoying the beauties of the foothills of the Cascades. One of the things he enjoyed about his education at WWC was attending with veterans of World War II. He and his wife celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in March 2002.

1960s Top
Jere Franklin, ’63 and ’65, and his wife, Linda, live in Chetwynd, British Columbia, Canada. Jere is president of Sanctuary Valley Training Centre located in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. The Franklins and another Adventist couple have started a Sabbath School in Tumbler Ridge, which has never had a Seventh-day Adventist church. Jere is the author of the recently published book You Can Survive. The book provides information about preparing for end times. It is available at Adventist book centers. He also conducts seminars for groups that are interested in learning how to move to the countryside.

Charlaine (Amey) Wheeler ’65 and her husband, Charles “Lynn” ’66, live in Angwin, Calif. Lynn is starting his 17th year as the chair of the Music Department at Pacific Union College. Charlaine has her own business working as an “Elder Musician,” where she conducts piano sing-alongs with the elderly throughout the Napa and Solano counties for independent, assisted, and skilled nursing communities. She also assists a physician in providing nutrition information for a wellness clinic. During her WWC days as a secretarial major, Charlaine was elected secretary to many committees as well as the student association. One of her most memorable college experiences was working with Frank Bondono and helping prepare for an event featuring radio personality Paul Harvey.

Sylvia “Lou” Kinzer Blanchfield Sylvia “Lou” Kinzer Blanchfield was a part of the “Sputnik Kids” program in the late 50s and early 60s—taking accelerated courses in mathematics and science. She drew on her personal experience for her recently completed doctoral dissertation, “The Relationship Between Fathers and Their Gifted Daughters that Supports Giftedness: A Grounded Theory.” She selected the topic after reviewing the research that existed on gifted children and various familiar relationships and discovering that no studies addressed this specific topic. Lou interviewed gifted college-age women and their fathers for her research. She found that “fathers who held high expectations of their daughters and who provided encouragement, advocacy, and guidance, had daughters who demonstrated perseverance, and persistence, with a sense of equanimity across the tasks of their lives.” Lou plans to develop her research into a book. Lou completed her doctoral studies in 2002, receiving a doctoral degree in human development and family studies from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Her dissertation was selected as the 2002 Outstanding Student Paper by the National Council of Family Relations. Lou has many fond memories of growing up in College Place. Her parents still live in their home on College Avenue. Lou attended Rogers School, where her second-grade teacher, Katherine Meckling, became her lifelong mentor. Lou was a member of the first graduating class of Walla Walla Valley Academy in 1965. She majored in nursing at WWC and graduated in 1969. She says that her nursing education prepared her well for her career. Lou earned her master’s degree in nursing from Drake University at Des Moines in 1991. Lou’s area of clinical expertise is in obstetrics. She has taught nursing for 16 years, 14 of those years at Des Moines Area Community College, where she was also the department cochair for the last three years. She and her husband, Roger, have two children, Loralee and Brett.

1970s Top
Kathleen Westergard Pullen Finley ’73 was selected as Nurse Practitioner of the Year for the state of Oregon, an award given by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. The award was presented at the recent national conference of the academy held in Reno, Nev. It is given annually to a nurse practitioner who demonstrates excellence in his or her area of practice. Kathy, who lives in Eagle Point, Ore., provides primary medical care to many residents of the Upper Rogue community and is the owner of Eagle Point Medical Center and Shady Cove Medical Center. She employs four other nurse practitioners. Approximately 10,000 patients are seen annually at the clinics. Kathleen has been active in professional affairs and in the training of new professionals as an adjunct professor for Oregon Health and Science University, Ashland campus. Kathleen and her husband, Glen, have three children and six grandchildren.

Paul Faber ’75 and his wife, Brenda ’74, reside in Wichita, Kansas. Paul and Brenda celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary in October. Paul is vice president of finance at Heartspring, a national school and residential center for children with disabilities too severe to be appropriately educated in standard public school special education classes. Paul owns a marketing and a real estate investment company. Brenda is a real estate appraiser. Their hobbies include camping, photography, sailing, travel, and identifying good business deals. They have three children: Deryk, Tracy, and Chase, all of whom are now in college. Paul’s favorite WWC memories include getting thrown into the pond when he got engaged and taking Brenda’s mother along on his first date with Brenda. EMAIL

Terry Bolton ’77 and his wife, Sheryl (Ballard) Bolton ’82, reside in Grizzly Flats, Calif. Terry has been the camping ministries director for the Northern California Conference since 1998. His work includes directing summer camps and facilitating various Bible conferences, conventions, and outdoor education for groups throughout the year. Terry’s memories of college include working at KGTS, the evening worships at Village Hall, and sleeping in a pile of leaves one cold and frosty fall night. EMAIL

1980s Top
Linda Rose-Siwardi ’83 lives in Harare, Zimbabwe, Africa. For the past nine years she has worked as an administrative secretary for the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Linda is the mother of a 14-year-old daughter, Sibonile, who hopes to attend WWC. “We hope our prayers will be answered,” Linda writes. “I have many fond memories of my time [at WWC] and met beautiful and loving people who have had a great impact on my life.” Among her favorite WWC memories are going to different churches to present programs and music with the group “All God’s Children” and also getting to know fellow students while working in the cafeteria. Linda’s favorite hobbies are reading and cooking. EMAIL

1990s Top
Greg Allen ’91 and his wife, Linda (Clark) ’91, currently live in College Place. Greg graduated from WWC with a major in theology. He writes that the “Lord has led him to be a minister on the air at Positive Life Radio to a much larger congregation than I ever expected.” Greg and Linda have a daughter, Susan. EMAIL

Richard Bobst att., lives in Riverside, Calif., and is an associate professor of physics at La Sierra University. He writes “I just enjoy loving the Lord more and more. I just can’t keep up with all the blessings He bestows.” EMAIL

Marci Evans ’97 and her husband, Dwayne ’97, live in Milton-Freewater, Ore. Marci loves being a mother and knows that it is the most important and fun job she will do. Marci is also a substitute teacher for the Umatilla School District. Dwayne and Marci have fond memories of a summer at Rosario Beach. Marci especially enjoyed a sociobiology class she took from Joe Galusha. They have two children: Levi and Annalee. EMAIL

Ty McFarland and Jerry Woods Ty McFarland (pictured on the left) and Jerry Woods are the proud recipients of the 2002 Dove Award, Christian music’s equivalent of a Grammy. The two alumni work at KTSY, a Christian radio station in Boise, Idaho. The Gospel Music Association selected KTSY as the best medium-market Christian music station in the country. Ty, who attended Walla Walla College in 1991-92, is the program director and afternoon show host. Jerry, a 1997 communications graduate, is assistant program director and morning show host at KTSY. Radio stations are judged on ratings, community involvement, on-air presentation, and industry leadership. ktsy also won the Dove Award in 2000. Ty has worked at ktsy for most of the past 12 years and Jerry since 1997. KTSY is ranked the number one radio station among adult women in Boise. “I think a lot of times Christian radio stations see themselves as only talking to the Christians,” Ty says. “Or some stations believe they should only evangelize the mainstream audience.” According to Ty, “KTSY doesn’t take either one of those views. We let the music do most of the preaching, but we certainly don’t hide who we are. We try to make it distinctively Christian, but at the same time you don’t have to know the secret handshake to listen to this station.” KTSY is active in the community and works with many mainstream organizations. It is community-funded and is owned by the Idaho Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. KTSY is broadcast on the Internet at www.895ktsy.org. Both Ty and Jerry worked at WWC’s radio station, KGTS, while in school. Ty started in radio at age 17 and recalls having a great time helping teach a radio/TV production lab with Professor Jim Hannum. He was in the same class as Jerry, and he describes Jerry as “Mr. KGTS.” “The college radio station was expanding at the time, and it was exciting to be a part of that,” Ty says. Ty is married to Tonya Munsey att. Woods and his wife, Crystal, were married this year in Boise.

2000s Top
Amanda Gibson ’00 lives in College Place and works at Walla Walla College as a special projects coordinator in college relations. She graduated from WWC with a major in communications. Her future plans include working toward a master’s in Social Work and being employed by Project Patch at one of their youth camps. She enjoys taking long road trips to various states. One fond memory is of a summer in which she and a friend toured the Lewis and Clark trail sites with her two dogs: Lewis and Clark. W

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