Class Year: 1990

Thomas Akland ’97 and Audrey Coates ’97 Akland

Thomas Akland ’97 has recently been named to the Ascension Medical Group of Michigan board of trustees. Ascension is the nation’s largest nonprofit health system and one of the largest health systems in Michigan. He has served as the chief of the department of pediatrics since 2007 for Borgess Health in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and is… Continue Reading →

Rebecca Spencer ’97

Rebecca Spencer ’97 of Amherst, Massachusetts, received a five-year, $2.64-million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study mid-day napping benefits on young children. She is a neuroscientist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Continue Reading →

Beth Quimby ’99 Fischer

Nine alumni who have pursued careers in opera or have experience as opera accompanists returned to campus on Tuesday, Oct. 24, to share their experience and talent during a panel discussion and a gala concert named for an acclaimed predecessor that brought them together for the first time. They gathered from as far away as… Continue Reading →

Brenda Hutson ’90 Popek

Brenda Hutson ’90 Popek of Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, died on Tuesday, May 9, 2017. She was 48. She was born Sept. 17, 1968, in Sayre, Okla., and formerly lived in Ohio. Brenda graduated from Hope College and Cooley Law School. She was the chief council for U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, Detroit office. A member of the… Continue Reading →

Kimberly Krofft ’91 Lease

Kimberly Krofft ’91 Lease of Indianapolis, Indiana, died on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. She was 48. A graduate of Carmel High School and Hope College (Holland, MI), Kim was a case manager for Indiana Professional Management Group. She was a devoted advocate for individuals who are developmentally disabled and for their families, and she was an activist for the… Continue Reading →

Samuel Middleton ’94

Samuel Middleton ’94 of Byron Center, Michigan, died on Tuesday, June 6, 2017. He was 46. He was preceded in death by his father Jeffrey J. Middleton.  Sam is survived by his wife, Jennifer, his two children, Olivia and Owen Middleton, three step children, Jake, Clare and Grant Newhall, his mother Sherry Middleton, brother Joe Middleton, sister Brandy (John Thomas) Todd,… Continue Reading →

Holly LeBlanc ’96

Holly LeBlanc ’96 of Holland, Michigan, exchanged her wheels for wings on Friday, July 21, 2017. She was born Dec. 31, 1972. She graduated from Holland High School in 1991 (Go Dutch!) where she acquired a love of theater, a passion for people and a tribe of friends that became family. She was the youngest of… Continue Reading →

Anna Demshuk ’99

Anna Demshuk ’99 of Holland, Michigan, died on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017. She was 40. Anna was born July 3, 1977, daughter of Thomas and Carol Demshuk. After high school, Anna attended Hope College and Eastern Michigan University where she graduated with a master’s degree in social work. Anna is survived by her parents, Thomas and Carol Demshuk;… Continue Reading →

Jen Baker ’91

Jen Baker ’91 recently moved to Bath, England, and reports that she is excited to discover the beauty found in the stunning and historic city. She has written three more books which will be published this year (January, April and September) and enjoys traveling internationally, speaking about the wonderful freedom found in Christ. She also… Continue Reading →

David MacIntyre ’92

David MacIntyre ’92 of Waukesha, Wisconsin, has been elected faculty president at Carroll University, where he teaches kinesiology in the exercise science program. He has been at Carroll since 1995. He is the first non-tenured, non-tenure track, clinical faculty member to serve as faculty president. Continue Reading →

Michelle Ready ’92

Michelle Ready ’92 of Nunica, Michigan, was named the 2017 Gerri Allen Communicator of the Year by the Michigan School Public Relations Association. She is the director of communications and integrated marketing for Ottawa Area Intermdiate School District. Continue Reading →

Mike Nowlin ’93

Mike Nowlin ’93 reports that his family recently repatriated to central Ohio after working in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for nearly four years. He was the executive director for Hagar Cambodia, a Christian non-profit ensuring that survivors of human rights abuses such as human trafficking, gender-based violence and abuse receive trauma recovery services. He reports that… Continue Reading →

Trent Wakenight ’93

Trent Wakenight ’93 of Lorton, Virginia, has been working in the field of graphic facilitation and graphic recording since 2002, helping the federal government and industry-leading companies develop visual solutions to complex challenges and create poster-sized drawings in real-time at conferences and events. In 2017, he started his own firm, Marker Ninja LLC, and also… Continue Reading →

Miriam Beyer ’98

Miriam Beyer ’98 and Thomas Meadows were married in November in Brooklyn, New York. She is the director of communications at The School at Columbia Univeristy, the K-8 school affiliated with Columbia. Tom is a product support analyst at Macmillan Publishers. They reside in Brooklyn, New York. Continue Reading →

Mary Heering ’91 Hoats

Mary Annah ( Heering) Hoats, 86, died on January 3, 2018, after a battle with cancer. She was preceded in death by her parents, Paul Orlando and Lily Ann ( Penney) Heering; her brother, David Penney Heering ( Joanne), and her former husband, Claude L. Hoats. Surviving are her children, Jacqueline Shields ( Gary), Charles Hoats ( Holly), and Betsy Hoats; grandchildren… Continue Reading →

Kerstin Byorni ’92 Manley

Kerstin Waltraud Byorni Manley, beloved Latin teacher who inspired hundreds of students, passed away Jan. 6, 2018. She was 47. Kerstin helped found two Arizona schools during her 21-year teaching career, Tempe Preparatory Academy and Scottsdale Preparatory Academy. She joined John B. Connally High School in 2016 in Austin, Texas. A valedictorian of Trinity High… Continue Reading →