Current News from Classmates

From Tim Ellens: My path since Hillcrest took me to Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI (where I spent a couple years rooming with Terrance Faber) where I majored in English and Art, and then to Chicago where I married my college sweetheart, Jeanne in 1984.

Professionally, I took a job at an advertising agency for five years before starting an agency of my own in 1990. We went through a few business transformations and I now am the senior partner at CHANGEffect (www.changeffect.com). I'm blessed to be able to work with people who are passionate about helping cause-related and faith- based organizations tell their story in a compelling way.

On the family side of things, God has blessed us with three great kids. Tahnee is a junior at Calvin College majoring in Art Education. Jorie is a freshman at Calvin College and majoring in communications. Troy is just trying to grow into his body as high school freshman. Our family attends Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church in Elmhurst, Illinois.

Peter Hundrieser writes: I left Nigeria and moved back to Chicago to start college, which lasted for 6 months. I then worked building houses for 2-1/2 years until a recession drove me back to school. I moved to Champaign, Illinois and took art classes part time at the University of Illinois when I got into glass blowing, which I really enjoyed. That brought me to Seattle Washington to Pilchuck Glass School, an international glass school which has classes in the summer. For the next 10 years I worked for many international glass artists on a glass blowing team making fine art for galleries (underpaid with no benefits). In the summers of the first 5 of those years I was on the staff at Pilchuck rebuilding and running the glass shop and blowing glass for the artists in residence.

I then switched jobs to a sign business where I made neon signs and supervised production in the fabrication shop. (I also kept blowing glass for another 8 years.) After 12 years of service with the same company I was given a one day notice that my job was terminated. I was definitely finished working for other people at this point. I am back in school and will finish a two year AAS degree in Landscape Horticulture by December of 2007. I am currently starting my own landscape company where I will design and install residential landscapes. I already have a couple of clients which will keep me busy this summer when I have a break from school. I'm looking forward to my new direction and being my own boss.

In 1995 I met my wife Jill in Nantucket, Massachusetts. She moved to Seattle in 1998 and we were married in 2000. She works as a website producer for Corbis, which is an image stock house. We now have a lovely daughter Laura who is now three years old. I take care of Laura when I am not in school. She is keeping my soul young and keeping me busy!(Updated May, 2007)

From Tim Fuller: I married Dianne Balisky (Hillcrest '79) in 1981 in Grande Prairie Alberta. Started married life in the suburbs just north of Seattle and are currently living on a small farm in Snohomish, Washington roughly an hour northeast of downtown and about 2 hours south of Vancouver. We have 4 marvelous kids. Joel is 20, and currently at Peace River Bible Institute in Alberta. Sharilyn is 18, and a freshman at George Fox University in Newberg, OR. Kristin is 15. She has a full disability after a severe illness at 18 months old. She is technically a sophomore in high school. Tyler is 13, in 7th grade and growing!

We are both self employed and work from home so finally have time to enjoy our kids and the farm, a bit more. We bought the property partly because it has two houses on it so we are able to have my parents (Dick and Muriel) live in the other. (They are doing great by the way and love to hear from any of you). It has been wonderful to have Grandma and Grandpa so involved, especially to help care for Kristin.

Very brief history for me. I have worked several different fields over the past 28 years. Its not really that long is it? Construction, janitorial business, commercial fishing (Alaska), sales, construction and auto, and finally, sales and retail management, auto. Currently I am working from home as a business and marketing consultant. Most of my work is by phone and computer so my schedule is a little more flexible. After working sales and sales management for the previous 12 years, I was burned out and ready for a change so am thoroughly enjoying this new challenge. Dianne was able to stay home and be a Mom to our kids for most of the time they were younger. She took a rural paper delivery route when we moved out here and has stuck with that, currently running a huge territory. She has been taking a few computer classes and exploring her options. Dianne also volunteers her time in the church office every week.

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After Tunisia, we returned to Minneapolis for a year while Maria finished her course work. Then to Washington, DC, where I took a job with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. We enjoyed the Washington area immensely, lots of things to do and a large international community. During my last year in Washington I took a leave from the U.S.D.A. to serve as the senior economist for agriculture and natural resources on President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers. My job was to provide intelligence on what was going on in the agricultural sector and advise on the implications of various policy proposals. Also contributed a few pages to the Economic Report of the President, an annual publication that describes the nation's economic condition and outlines the Administration's economic policies.

After six years in Washington we decided to try something new. Once my stint on the CEA was over, I left Federal service and joined the International Potato Center (or CIP, acronym for the Spanish name, Centro Internasional de la Papa), a non-profit agricultural research institution that works to improve potato and sweet potato production in developing countries. CIP's headquarters is in Peru, where potatoes and sweet potatoes originated. I'm stationed at CIP's regional office for East Asia and the Pacific, in Bogor, Indonesia. We've been here since November, 1998. If all goes well we hope to be here for the next few years.

Older News from Classmates

From Karen (Fluth) Nwulu: After college, I met a Nigerian guy in the US - Equi - who had just finished his MS in Media Tech. We got married in 1984 and returned to Nigeria, where he got a job with IITA. We have two kids. Ifolo Carmelle, who just finished her freshman year at Taylor University, and Chika Conrad who just finished his sophomore year at our high school here in Ibadan.

In 1990, I was asked by the Reeces to tutor three American missionary kids in Ibadan. The next year, I was asked to handle 9 international kids (grades 1-4) who had been taught by a British woman in town who was leaving the country. That's how our house became a one-room school. Eventually, we had to move out of our house and the school has continued to expand.

We are in urgent need of more teachers, as we just acquired a new property and have more kids and more space. Equi is now working full time at the school too. We also run a pottery business from our home, called "Earth and Fire Clayworks".

Ifolo and Chika will both be working all summer (2003) at a Christian Camp in Iowa. Equi and I hope to pick them up at the end of the summer, take Chika college hunting, drop Ifolo off at Taylor, and then fly back to Nigeria with a cousin who is also coming to help us out.

From Cherie (Olson) Robinson: (from an email 2/03) I am currently living in Okotoks, Alberta which is just outside of Calgary. Not too far from the beautiful Rocky Mountains and Banff. If anyone is coming for a visit or a holiday, feel free to look me up! Most of my family live around here. They include Patty, Timothy and Val. Lisa is in Toronto and Steven is in New Zealand. I am married to Dave, have been for 19 years. I have 4 children (Jessica 19, Kyle 17, Toby 14, and Jarrett 13) I work at a beautiful golf course and we also own a business in Okotoks. It has been a long time since I have had contact with any classmates, but maybe one or two will see my name here and send a quick e-mail. Would love to hear from anyone.

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Calvin Knights:(from an email 12/02) I went to Hillcrest from 66 to 74 (gr 1 - 8). I lived at the Missionary Church hostel "Rock Haven" with people like Elmer Rifle, Phil Nelson, Phil and Rick Hostetter. My father Harold Knights taught Jr High (6-8) from '72 through '74.

I have been married to Wanda since 1984 and we have two great teenagers, Erin (16) and Joel (14). I work as a Solution Architect (computer geek) for ADC. (www.adc.com) With my job I have had the opportunity to travel and live in a number of different places. As a family we have lived for two years in Lahr, Germany and then in Galway, Ireland for 1.5 years. During our time in Galway I worked on a project in Israel which gave us the chance to visit Israel and see many of the fantastic sites. I have also traveled in the US to many different places.

From Jan 26 through Feb 14, 2003 I will be traveling with a group from the Missionary Church to begin the building of a Church camp in Mokwa (on the north side of the Niger River, on the Ilorin - Bida road at the intersection to the road going to the Kiangi (sp) Dam. Jim McDowell will be leading this group. He taught and was principle (??) at Hillcrest for a number of years.

We've been in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for 3 years now, where James, still with InterVarsity, works alongside students in 5 of the University of Michigan's professional schools. Barb has her hands full with all of us, plus students stopping in, and sundry church work. Abigail, almost 6, is having the time of her life with kindergarten, learning to read, and extending her social network. Abraham, 3½, wants to do whatever Abby does, borrows her bed and books for his afternoon quiet time, but has his own take on life. Paul, 2, is a jokester and a mimic, notices what others do and is quick to try it out for effect.

We're enjoying life in a college town, especially a town that's within a couple of hours of almost all our extended family. And God has shown his kindness to us in the midst of some tough things, too, bringing home to us the reality that He doesn't waste even what's not good, and drawing us to trust Him more and more.

In 1996, they returned to the States and Steve completed his M. Div. at Princeton Theological Seminary. Steve was ordained in 1998 as an American Baptist minister, and called to serve as the associate pastor of the American Church in London. Steve came to the APC in Bonn as senior pastor in August of 2002. Marian and Steve have three children now, Trenton (11), Camie (8), and Lindie (2).

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Marc McDill sent this update: I graduated from Custer High School (Custer, SD) in 1978. I earned a B.S. degree in Forestry from the University of Minnesota in 1984. I then went on to North Carolina State University for a master's degree in forest economics, which I earned in 1986. More importantly, I met my wife, Denise, at NCSU. We were married in 1985 in a beautiful town in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC called West Jefferson.

After earning my M.S., I went straight on to earn a Ph.D.,again in forest economics,from Virginia Tech. While there, Denise and I lived in a cabin in the woods and expanded our family to include a beautiful German shepherd dog, which we named Isaac. A 4-year post-doc at the University of Minnesota followed; then, a 1-year temporary teaching position at Penn State; and finally, a 3-year stint as an assistant professor of forest management at Louisiana State University, in Baton Rouge.

I'm now back at Penn State, where I finally have the job I want, in a place I really like. During the first stint at Penn State, my daughter, Grace, was born. She is now 5 years old (she would say 5 and a half). Grace is starting kindergarten this year. My wife, Denise, after spending six years primarily raising Grace, is returning to school at Penn State to study nursing. I'm working hard to earn tenure.

I can be reached by e-mail at mem14@psu.edu.

Karen Ogburn Lint spent two years at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa after graduation. She then married an Englishman and lived in England for 8 years. After her marriage failed she returned to the US and lived in Pennsylvania for four years with her two boys, then ages 4 and 2, before remarrying. She now lives with her husband Jim in Fairfax County, VA, near Washington DC. She is a stay-at-home Mom who never the less keeps very busy. She has a daughter now, Michaela, and her sister Kristen and 6-year-old son Justin live with them. She says her townhouse is "a little crowded".

One of Karen's projects is volunteering for the OMII Genealogy Project, which has an emphasis on German Amish and Swiss Mennonites and their descendants. She also works on memory albums and scrap books along with her brother and sisters. They eventually hope to compile their history into a book.

Here is Karen's description of another project, a picture quilt. "Just last year, I completed a three year project: my first quilt. It was somewhat unusual, however, since there were 121 picture blocks on my quilt. Many of these were African-related. There were about 3 from Hillcrest, but there were animals, flowers, people, places, and memories. These 6-inch blocks were drawn, appliqued, embroidered, or painted (or any combination, thereof) This was a 40th wedding anniversary gift for my parents. Krista and Jon each contributed but one square, but were invaluable in their suggestions and encouragement. Sandy contributed 9 squares, which amazed me since at the time she had three children under 4. There were also some blocks from Europe and the US. I tried to include things from all parts of their lives together. I included one each for their siblings, parents and grandparents, as well as their four children, and 8 grandchildren. Perhaps I can get Mom and Dad to come along to our 25th graduation celebration and you all can see what I have done."

Karen's quilt is really an amazing piece of work. The size is about 98 by 108 inches. It has been nicknamed The Magic Carpet. Click here to see a photo.

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Elmer Reifel's wife Joann wrote this "condensed posthighschool life history" for us. "Elmer worked in construction for a couple of years after he graduated, once he found out that he couldn't drive semi's because of his bad eye.

He was busy saving up money when the Lord called him to go to Africa as a missionary. Some may be skeptical, but he heard God tell him what He wanted Elmer to do. He met me at Emmanuel Bible College in Ontario, Canada, after he was halfway through the missions program. Two years later we both graduated and were married June 15, 1985.

We had to have some experience before we went overseas, so the Lord led us to work at a very small country church in Michigan for four years. In 1986 our daughter Kara-Lee was born; in 1989 we were accepted as missionaries to go to Sierra Leone and in 1990 our son Kevan was born in Goshen, Indiana.

We lived in the bush of Sierra Leone for two years, before all Americans were evacuated following a coup. We worked with a church in Clarinda, Iowa for one year and would gladly move back there if the climate would warm up significantly year round (if we weren't in Africa). In 1994 we returned to Sierra Leone, to a more central town, but were forced to leave Kabala when it was attacked by the rebels on Nov.7th. We were separated from our children for three days, as they had gone downcountry ahead of us, with the former principal of the mk school.

We arrived in Freetown, via Guinea, on Kara's 8th birthday. Talk about trauma! Our kids have seen some but are eager to go back to Africa, they just don't want any more coups.

We left Sierra Leone when God called us out that following January. We have been living in Mishawaka, In. with Elmer's parents ever since, renting their basement apartment. We couldn't find the right place to live or work career wise until Dec. of last year. After four years of Moses-type limbo we hooked up with Christians in Action, out of California and will be leaving for Ghana in July (Lord willing the support will be in by then). We will be working with pastors and Christian leaders to provide ongoing Christian education."

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Lost Classmates

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