Gael Glimpses, 1990-1999
1999
 Laura Boyko completed her teaching credential and subsequent master’s in teaching (M.A.T.) from UC Irvine. She fulfilled her Lasallian mission by teaching seventh- and eighth-grade English for five years at a low-income/Title I school in Orange County. After eight weeks of intensive training and testing in Philadelphia, Laura was hired as a professional representative II by the pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co., Inc. in fall 2006. Laura has traveled to Prague, London, Hawaii and various other U.S. destinations. Her favorite trip was to Sweden with her mother to meet relatives for the first time. Laura recently earned her second-degree brown belt in Kenpo Karate. |
| Shelley Benitzhar ME and her husband, Stephen, had their first baby, Joel Lawrence Benitzhar, on Oct. 11, 2006. Shelley is working for the Mt. Diablo Unified School District in the ELD Department. |
 Genesta (Cowen) Jackson and Dustin Jackson ’02 were married on July 21, 2007 in Morris Chapel at the University of the Pacific. The wedding party included fellow SMC alums Kristine Canada ’99, Joelle Hoover ’99, Heather (Kennedy) Bishop ’99, Sean Dolan ’02, Noah Cowen ’02 and Jackson Petito ’02. After their honeymoon to Ireland, they returned to their residence in San Francisco, where Genesta teaches English at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory and Dustin is a sales executive in the financial district. |
 Zulay Dowling recently traveled to Italy for two weeks. Todd Loftin took the opportunity to surprise her with a Venetian sunset gondola ride marriage proposal. They plan to get married next spring in Costa Rica, just the two of them on the beach. Zulay continues to work with her family at Dowling Associates in Oakland as the CFO. Todd has practiced dentistry at Benicia Family Dentistry for last four years. Their weekends are full of fun with soccer and football games with Todd’s sons TJ, 10, and Logan, 5. |
| Isabell Wong Flores passed the California Bar Exam without having attended law school. She is working as a legal secretary at Greenberg Glusker in Los Angeles as she considers her next career move. |
 Leah Hammond married Jeff Barrett (University of Notre Dame ’00) in October 2007. They were married and live in Chicago. |
 Marisa (Miric) and Ed Cox ’98 welcomed a son into the world on March 30. Sacha James Cox arrived weighing 7 pounds, 13 ounces and measuring 21 inches. He has Mommy’s dark hair and Daddy’s bright blue eyes. Sacha joins his very rambunctious big sister, Samantha, 2. The Cox clan resides in Walnut Creek. |
1998
 Camilla (Chatton) and Jamie Wilson are proud parents of Luke Hunter Wilson, who was born June 19, 2007. Luke joins big sisters Kyrstin and Hailey Kate. The family lives in Pleasant Hill. |
| Alison Harris works as a resource specialist at the American Cancer Society. As the specialist for three Central Valley counties, she promotes local and national ACS programs and provides resources for cancer patients, families and friends. |
 Lindsey (James) Brisimitzis and her husband, Jim, welcomed their first child, daughter Ava Theodoti Brisimitzis, on July 10, 2007. Ava was 8 pounds, 14 ounces. Lindsey and Jim reside in Kirkland, Wash., with baby Ava and their dog Wynston “the Bruiser” Brisimitzis. |
| Nina (Prossegger) Vraanes met her future husband, Maarten Vraanes, in 1998 while they were living in Vienna. The two were married in Kitzbuehel, Austria in June 2004. Soon after, they moved to Brisbane, Australia where Nina earned a master’s in linguistics at the University of Queensland. A son, Henrik, was born on April 15, 2007. The family currently lives in Marin County. |
 Mike Spencer has been involved in building Wisteria (www.wisteriaconcord.com) in downtown Concord. This community features 35 beautiful single-family homes and had its grand opening on Aug. 4. |
 Sarah (Tait) Sanabria and her husband, Michael, welcomed their second daughter, Julia Joan, on May 3, 2007. Their oldest, Madison, now 3, loves life as a big sister. Shortly after delivering Julia, Sarah graduated from UC San Francisco in June with a Master’s of Science in gerontology; she is now a gerontological nurse practitioner. |
1997
| Tiara (Dubonnet) Warlop and her husband welcomed their second son into the world on Sept. 5, 2007. They live in London (going on four years). Tiara works in a pan-European product marketing role, managing mobile social networking and community products for Orange Group. |
| Sean Fitzpatrick has been named community association manager for Keystone Pacific Property Management Inc., a property management firm based in Irvine. Sean is responsible for managing a portfolio of existing association communities throughout Orange County. He also oversees property inspections, landscape walks, compliance deadlines and the production of community newsletters. |
 Linda Hurley has been promoted from senior manager to director at Macias Gini & O’Connell LLP (MGO), a statewide accounting and management consulting firm. She joined MGO in 1997 and has developed a reputation for her hands-on, service-oriented approach. Linda has extensive experience serving governmental entities with large and diverse investment portfolios. |
| Mechelle (McCarthy) Zorio married Andrew Zorio in September 2004. They welcomed their first child, Nicholas Piero Zorio, on April 28, 2007. |
| Mercy Santos MN worked after graduation as a critical care registered nurse at Summit Medical Center in Oakland. In 2006, she graduated with a master’s from Samuel Merritt College’s School of Nurse Anesthesia and is now providing anesthetic services to surgical patients at UC San Francisco as a certified registered nurse anesthetist. |
1996
| Stephanie (Carter) Furey began a new position as the office manager at Project Recovery, a branch of the Council of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse in Santa Barbara. She previously worked for eight years supporting adults with developmental disabilities. |
| Sean Creane and his wife, Michelle, brought home their 11-month-old adopted son, Nikolas, from the Ural mountain region of Russia. The family resides in San Rafael. Sean left the publishing industry in 2005 to work as a program consultant for the Russell Racing School at Infineon Raceway and is also working for Audi on the launch of a sportscar experience program for fall 2007. |
| Dr. Michael Cruz and his wife, Cindy (Maahs) ’99, are proud to announce the addition of their first children, twin boys, Ben Jacob and Sebastian Amanuel. |
 Barbara (Hudson) Hopkins and her husband, Mark, welcomed their daughter Avery Catherine on April 21, 2007. Avery joins her brother Walker, 2. Barbara and Mark live in Meridian, Id., where Barbara is a benefits specialist and Mark a Catholic school teacher. |
| Scott McCoy and his wife, Tara, are expecting their second child in March 2008. Their daughter, Lincoln Jane McCoy, celebrated her first birthday July 19, 2007. Scott is a general building contractor in Sonora and would like to spend more time at home. |
1995
| Don Esparza resides in Southern California with his wife of four years, Patty. They have two daughters, Lily, 2, and Peyton, 2 months. Don is an account executive with Garrett-Mosier, a commercial insurance firm located in Irvine. In June Don partnered with fellow SMC alums Sari Cortez ’01 and Monique Nigorizawa ’01 to host a comedy fundraiser for Doug Rosales ’01. The event was a huge success that brought together Doug’s friends and family for an evening of laughs. |
 Samara (Houston) and Neal Tricarico welcomed son Anthony Jed Tricarico on Aug. 4, 2007. He weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces and was 20 inches long. The healthy and happy family resides in Carlsbad. |
 Monica (Lucido) Baker and her husband, David, welcomed David “Corbin” Baker into the world on June 7, 2007. Big brother Max, 11, and sister Grace, 5, are enjoying their new brother. |
| Brother Placid (Jeffrey) Morris, who made solemn profession on Jan. 15, 2006, was made Sub Prior of his community, which is in charge of assigning the weekly services. He is still librarian and sacristan and a cantor. He is also director of the retreat program and helps out in formation for the novices. |
| Ari and Erin (Cowen) Umutyan, along with their son, Alec, 5, moved to Napa this summer. They live only minutes away from the Brothers’ retirement community, Mont La Salle. Ari completed his fellowship in hematology and oncology at the UC Davis Medical Center and joined Redwood Regional Medical Group, a private practice group in Napa. |
 Kevin Strohmeyer ’95/ MBA ’99 and Jennifer (Ericson) Strohmeyer ’95 never seemed to move on from life at Saint Mary’s and have recently bought a home in Lafayette. They have two daughters, Katie, 5, and Molly, 2. Jennifer is beginning her 10th year at Rheem School in Moraga, where she now teaches first grade. Kevin has done product marketing at Sun Microsystems for the past eight years, after swearing to never take a business class in his undergraduate career. The family takes advantage of the year-round access to natural resources in Northern California, from playing at the beach to camping in the mountains. |
| Michelle (Wanlass) Anaman gave birth to a baby girl, Katherine Suzanne, on Feb. 3, 2007. Michelle teaches first grade in Concord. |
1994
 John Coleman has been in the pharmaceutical business since 1997. He started his own pharmaceutical sales and marketing company, J3 Healthcare Sales and Marketing. J3 focuses on partnering with large pharmaceutical companies to provide sales and marketing support in inner cities. His company was featured in the third quarter edition of Future Pharmaceuticals magazine. He is back at the College getting his master’s degree in leadership, scheduled for August 2008. |
 Amy Herrick, her husband, Shawn, and their three children live in Kansas. They visited Amy’s family in Sacramento in July. She spent time with friends and former roommates, Colleen (Kuzmich) Curtin (and her two boys) and Julie (Turskey) Stratton. |
| Kevin Hoffarth and his wife, Christa, celebrated their sixth anniversary. They live in South Lake Tahoe, where Kevin works as a family practitioner and is involved in volunteer mentorship of other health care professionals. |
| Jason Damaschino works in sales for Southern Wine & Spirits and represents Concannon, one of California’s oldest vineyards, operated by Jim Concannon ’53. |
| Mary Lafayette, a celebrity fashion stylist, signed with the Victoria Agency in New York. The agency held an event at Te Casan on Sept. 26 to introduce Lafayette and raise money for the American Cancer Society. |
| Trish (Feil) Muegge and her husband, Jeff, live in San Ramon, with their two boys Jake, 5, and Justin, 2. Trish is a skin care consultant for Arbonne International, and she and Jeff enjoy traveling, spending time with their families and watching the boys grow. |
| Shelli (Wade) Murphy and her husband, Mike, welcomed James McCann Murphy on Aug. 6, 2007. James joins big brother, Joseph, who will turn four in November. |
1993
| Jamie (Gaerlan) and Paul Hayden ’94 are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Yasmin Angelina, who was born on Dec. 8, 2006. She joins her brothers, Xavier, 4 (karate kid extraordinaire), and Zachary, 8 (future soccer or baseball pro). The family moved to El Dorado County in July for Paul’s job with Molex Connector Corporation, where he manages several major accounts. |
 Dawn (Mariman) Wiener and her husband, Seth, welcomed their son, Benjamin Zachary, on March 6, 2007. Older sister Madeline, 2, adores her brother. |
| Mara Meuser Maciel and her husband, Dan, welcomed Amelia Jane on Jan. 4, 2007. She joins big brother, Nolan Daniel, who is 2. Mara teaches third grade at Sierra School in Placerville. Amelia Jane is the granddaughter of Thomas ’67 and Jane Meuser. |
 Amy (O’Mara) Borkstrom and her husband, Jeff, welcomed their first child, daughter Emma Grace, on June 13, 2007. Amy and Jeff both work for Univision Radio New Mexico. Amy is the traffic reporter and night-time personality on KIOT-FM. Jeff is the assistant program director and morning personality on the same station. They have been married since October 2001. |
| Suzy (Woods) McNulty recently opened her own practice, Mia Bella Pediatrics, in Mission Viejo, with another pediatrician mom. Using state-of-the-art technology, she sees patients using only an electronic medical record (EMR) and a hand-held tablet PC. Check out the office website at www.miabellapediatrics.com. |
1992
 Lisa DeBartolo married rock musician Don Miggs on May 10 in Los Angeles at the Hotel Bel-Air. Lisa’s best friend, Corrine Clement ’92, performed the ceremony and Billy Tookoian ’93 read a beautiful Sanskrit proverb. The four-day, star-studded extravaganza featured such guests as Hall of Fame 49er quarterback Joe Montana and former 49er wide receiver Jerry Rice, and musical appearances by Paul Anka, and Irish troubadour Damien Rice. The happy couple honeymooned in Europe and will reside in Tampa and Malibu. When Lisa is not touring with her husband’s band MiGGs, she works as an executive vice president of DeBartolo Holdings and the DeBartolo Family Foundation. Lisa and Don are hoping to start a family soon. |
| Jim Lampassi MBA has been hired by Petco Animal Supplies Stores, Inc. as vice president of real estate and construction. Jim will oversee all of the company’s new store growth and existing portfolio of 870 stores from the headquarters in San Diego. Jim and his family moved to Poway (San Diego County) from Massachusetts in June. |
| Mike Nemee, a former Gael golfer, coordinated the construction of Trinitas Golf Course in the Sierra foothills east of Stockton. The course, modeled on the idea that every golfer should be able to have a PGA Tour experience, boasts views of Sierra peaks from Tahoe to Yosemite. The spring 2007 edition of NCAA Golf hailed Trinitas as “a masterpiece.” Mike is married to Michelle (McKee) ’93. |
| Erin (Triebsch) Dini and her husband, Michael, welcomed Robert Golfredo Dini on June 9, 2007. |
| Denise (Miller) and Kenan Simmons welcomed a baby boy, Aidan Thomas Miller Simmons, who was born on July 15, 2007 at New York Presbyterian Hospital. The family resides in Chatham, N.J. |
 Julie (Siler) and Bruce Templeton welcomed their daughter, Reese Marie Templeton, on Aug. 24, 2007. She weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces, and was 20 1/2 inches long. |
1991
| Frank Balestreri was admitted to the partnership at Deloitte in August. His wife, Joanna (Lucido) was scheduled to undergo a kidney transplant in October. They live in Walnut Creek in a house that they built in 2006 with son Joey, 9, and daughter Daniella, 5. |
| John Burger EE is an attorney living in Cincinnati. He is a senior project manager for Harmon, Inc., a company that does construction management, building envelopes and historical renovation. His fiancée, Rose, and Newfoundland hound, Daisy, keep things interesting. |
| Jeff Leontini and his wife, Stephanie, welcomed their fourth child and potential Gael, Cassandra Lynn, on May 29, 2007. Cassie joins Ryan, 7, Julia, 5, and Gianna, 3, in the family. |
1990
 Michael and Brigid (Shea) Grassi welcomed their third child into the family, Isabella Patricia, on July 23. Baby Isabella was welcomed with open arms by big brother, Matthew, 7, big sister, Cecelia, 4 1/2, and dogs Palermo and Lucky. Brigid continues her successful career in real estate with Alain Pinel Realtors while Michael works for EMC Corp as a sales director. |
 Kevin J. O’Connell is managing partner of Macias Gini & O’Connell LLP, a leading California certified public accounting and management consulting firm. He was selected for the CPA Technology Advisor’s “40 under 40,” which recognizes the nation’s top 40 tax and accounting professionals under the age of 40 who will help lead the professions of public accounting and professional tax preparation into the future. Honorees are chosen based on their contributions to the field of public accounting and the high regard of their peers, along with their leadership roles in continuing the evolution of technology in the practice. |
