Class Notes | Fall 2020

Lifetime Member of the Alumni Association
Annual Member of the Alumni Association

• 1950s

  • Brent Van Kampen AS ’58 graduated from Weber when it was a two-year school. As a private student of piano, Brent volunteered his time weekly as a pianist in music appreciation classes. He served in the Eastern States Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Brent was awarded a music scholarship to the University of Utah, where he met and married his wife, Patty Rae Hansen. Brent graduated in 1965 with his bachelor’s degree in music education. He began teaching private piano lessons and has continued teaching throughout his life. Brent taught band for 12 years in public schools, serving for 10 years at Murray High School as band director. He took the Murray High School band to the Calgary Stampede in Canada, one of the largest rodeos in the world. The school took second place out of all those competing from the U.S. He later started Van Kampen Crusader Marine and sold boats all over the country for 12 years. Brent also enjoyed working for two years as a car salesman for the Larry H. Miller Group. After working with Summerhays as a piano salesman for 10 years, he retired, but continues to teach piano to his grandchildren. Brent and Patty Rae have three children, 17 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. They live in Cottonwood Heights, Utah.

  • Mary Ellen Ipson Hazen AS ’59 is a retired labor and delivery nurse with Greene Memorial Hospital in Xenia, Ohio. She has been married to Vernon Hazen, who attended Weber State and spent over 21 years as a U.S. Air Force officer, for over 50 years. Together, with their children, they lived throughout the United States and Europe on various military assignments. In 1970, Mary Ellen was awarded “Military Wife of the Year,” representing the Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. While stationed in Italy, she served on wives club boards in various positions, and in the PTA presidency. Mary Ellen has served in various roles in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She and Vernon have six children, 19 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. They live in Beavercreek, Ohio.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
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• 1960s

  • Douglas Marker BA ’67 received a master’s degree in physics from the University of Virginia. He has worked for the U.S. Navy in a civilian position at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Virginia for 50 years. Since 2002, Douglas has served as the technology manager for the Navy Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS). In 2019, the Small Business Technology Council presented Douglas with the prestigious “Champion of Small Business Technology Commercialization Award.” This award recognizes outstanding Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contributions made by government officials. While he served as technology manager for the Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems, the small businesses he managed in the SBIR program have transitioned over $1 billion in technology to the fleet and the private sector. His wife, Kathleen Reeve Marker AS ’62, received a Bachelor of Arts in business management from Brigham Young University, and worked for the IRS. Douglas and Kathleen live in Fredericksburg, Virginia. They have eight children and 27 grandchildren.

  • Alden “Al” Talbot BS ’67 received his master’s degree in business from Utah State University in 1969, and Ph.D. in business education at the University of Iowa in 1976. He taught at the University of Wyoming for one year, the University Lab School in Iowa while working on his Ph.D., and Cal State University at Los Angeles for three years. He later taught business education at Weber State, where he remained 38 years before retiring. For 25 years, he served as the chapter advisor for WSU’s Future Business Leaders of America Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA-PBL) organization. He also served terms on the organization’s National Board of Directors and earned FBLA-PBL “Advisor of the Year” for Utah numerous times. For his dedicated service, Al was the first Utahn elected to the FBLA-PBL Wall of Fame. He is married to Charlene Winegar Talbot. They have three children, who all attended Weber State, and nine grandchildren. After retiring, Al and Charlene served a fulltime, live-at-home mission in the Utah Ogden Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Al currently serves on the WSU Emeriti Alumni Council.

• 1970s
  • Debra “Debbie” DeBoer Wright AS ’76, BS ’79 owns Grizzly Graphics LLC, a full-service graphics print shop. For over 20 years, her business has provided graphic and logo design services, and printing services, such as banners, signs, decals and vehicle graphics. She and her husband, Kenny Wright, are Weber State basketball season ticket holders. They have three sons and one daughter, who are all WSU graduates. They also have nine grandchildren. Debbie and Kenny live in Eden, Utah.
  • Retired Col. Joseph B. Michels BS ’76 served for nearly 30 years in the U.S. Air Force. Joseph holds a master’s degree in systems management from the University of Southern California. He received his Ph.D. in industrial engineering from Texas A&M University and completed a post-doctorate in public policy analysis from the University of Oklahoma. For nine years, Joseph served as the dean of the College of Business at Montana State University-Billings. He is now managing principal of Solomon Bruce Consulting LLC in Fort Worth, Texas. In his work, he provides consultation regarding business operations, supply chain management, executive coaching and government contract procurement strategies. He has also done legal expert witness work. He is a member of the Fort Worth Downtown Rotary club.
  • Robb Alexander BS ’78 is executive director of the Aerospace Heritage Foundation of Utah. He is known as “the voice of the Wildcats,” and has announced at numerous WSU athletics events such as football, volleyball and men’s and women’s basketball. He’s announced nearly every women’s home basketball and tournament game since 1976. He also worked for nearly 30 years as a WSU Development Director. He spent time in both the Goddard School of Business & Economics and the Dr. Ezekiel R. Dumke College of Health Professions and helped secure millions of dollars for various WSU disciplines during his career. Robb is married to Camille Blau, a WSU graduate. They have two sons who are also WSU graduates.
  • Richard C. Scott BS ’78 is the current director of sales for Ogden Blue, which has been serving the community for over 65 years in the business of blueprinting, large graphics, business and general retail printing. Ogden Blue is currently supporting the community with PPE face shields, barriers and safety products for essential employees to use while they work. Richard has previously been involved in leadership roles for the Ogden Weber Chamber and in religious service, and he currently volunteers for the Boy Scouts of America. He and his wife, Tricia, live in Ogden.
• 1980s

  • Rob Higginson BS ’80 currently serves on the WSU Alumni Association Board of Directors and is a lifelong resident of Weber County. Rob previously owned H & W Industrial Sales from 1980–1994 and, for the past 23 years, has worked in the elevator industry. After working for Lerch Bates, Thyssen Krupp, and KONE Elevator, Rob became an independent elevator consultant and started Higginson Consulting Services. Most recently, Rob and his wife, Pam, opened a Crumbl Cookies bakery in Lubbock, Texas. They have three children and live in West Haven.

  • Karen Ducharme Snoy AS ’81, BS ’82 enjoyed a 30-year career as an elementary teacher in the Davis School District. She taught kindergarten and second grade, and served as a reading specialist and reading coach for the district. Since her retirement, Karen still tests for the resource and gifted programs for Davis School District. She and her husband, Ken, live in Layton. They have four children, two of whom graduated from Weber State.

  • Shawn Dorr BS ’84 is the president of 2 Guys’ Deco Flooring America. For 30 years, this retail flooring and decorating business has provided carpet, tile, hardwood, laminate and luxury vinyl flooring. They also provide all types of cabinets, lights, counter tops, stone and paint for every home and lifestyle. Shawn and his wife, Sonya, live in Gillette, Wyoming.

  • Gary Petersen AS ’87, BS ’90 is a partner at Adams & Petersen, CPAs LLC. He has worked for 31 years in public accounting. His work focuses on entity selection, taxation, high-net-worth individuals and estate planning. He also has specific expertise in construction and almost every other industry. He has served on many community boards and on the West Point City Council for 19 years. He and his wife, Carolyn, live in West Point, Utah. They have four children and five grandchildren.

  • Lynell Craner BIS ’89 is the regional sales and marketing manager for Sam’s Club, where she has worked for 18 years. She has served on the WSU Alumni Association Board of Directors since 2017. Her husband, Adam Craner AS ’91, AS ’97, BS ’98, is a family nurse practitioner for MountainStar Primary Care. Adam received his master’s degree in nursing at the University of Utah in 2001. They have four children and live in Kaysville, Utah.

  • Len Putnam AS ’89, IC ’91 has served as a registered nurse for Intermountain Healthcare for 29 years. She currently works as an experience of care consultant for Intermountain. In previous years, Len worked at McKay-Dee Hospital, Intermountain Layton Hospital and Intermountain Homecare and Hospice. Len and her husband, Scott Putnam, are WSU supporters, and Len currently serves on the WSU Alumni Association Board of Directors. They have two children.

  
  
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• 1990s

  • Brandice Bringhurst BS ’94 is a librarian and teaching assistant for Wasatch Peak Academy. She married Mike Bringhurst in 1995. They have three children and two grandchildren. When Brandice was raising her children, she worked in various roles, including owning and operating her own online business and serving as a marketing director for a motorcycle company. She also enjoyed working as a labor and delivery technician for four years. Brandice serves as a member of the WSU Alumni Association Board of Directors.

  • Jason Grider BS ’97, M.Ed ’14 is a colonel in the United States Army Reserve. He serves as the state emergency preparedness officer for Utah, as well as the scholarship and enrollment officer for the University of Utah Army ROTC Program. He and his wife, Summer Grider, have one son. They live in Sandy.

  • Matt Dixon BA ’98 is the city manager for South Ogden City. He received a Master of Public Administration degree from Brigham Young University in 2004. Matt has spent 23 years working for local government. He is a member of the Utah City/County Management Association, where he has served as treasurer, vice president and president. Matt serves as a board member for Cottages of Hope and continues to look for opportunities to serve his church and his community. He currently serves on the WSU Alumni Association Board of Directors.

  
  

  • Melena Fenn AA ’99, BA ’01 leads a product management team at NICE inContact. When she’s not crafting a product vision and strategy, she volunteers as a coach with American Youth Soccer Association and Junior Jazz. She spends her evenings taxiing her kids between practices and games. She is married to William David Fenn BS ’16. They have one daughter and two sons.

  • Gary Hill BA ’99 is the city manager for Bountiful City. He previously worked for Park City Municipal for eight years, and as city manager of West Point, Utah, for five years. Gary is a current board member and past president of the Utah City Managers Association. He serves as an officer for the Utah League of Cities and Towns board of directors. He married Amber Elggren AS ’98 in 1998. They have seven children, and their eldest currently attends WSU. Gary is currently serving on the WSU Alumni Association Board of Directors.

  • Chris Parker BS ’99 received his Juris Doctor degree from Brigham Young University in 2002. He was appointed by Governor Gary R. Herbert as the executive director of the Utah Department of Commerce, after nine years as director of the Utah Division of Public Utilities. Chris also served as an attorney for the Utah Legislature and law clerk for Justice Michael J. Wilkins at the Utah Supreme Court.

• 2000s

  • Christie Fewkes AS ’00, BS ’19 is the customer service manager for Rentmeister Total Home Service, a family-owned and operated heating, air conditioning and plumbing company that serves Davis County and surrounding areas. For the past 13 years, Christie has volunteered as a troop leader with Girl Scouts of Utah.

  • Dan Smith BS ’00 graduated summa cum laude in computer science at Weber State, following his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Utah in 1991. He has worked as a software engineer for L3Harris Corporation for over 20 years. He and his wife, Lisa-Marie, have two children. They live in Cocoa, Florida.

  • Cassi Meyerhoffer AS ’00, BA ’02 is an associate professor of sociology at Southern Connecticut State University. She received her master’s degree and doctorate in sociology from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2006 and 2012. Cassi is the editor of Race: Identity, Ideology, and Inequality (2020), and has three published articles in academic journals. Cassi also published a chapter in Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice (2014). Previously, she was a lecturer at University of Buffalo, Niagara University and Weber State University. Cassi was married in 2012, and she and her partner have two children.

  • Nicole Carpenter ’02 is an author, speaker and the communications and operations manager for the Women’s Leadership Institute, a nonprofit working to elevate Utah women in business and politics. She is the author of 52 Weeks to Fortify Your Family (2015), and founder of MOMentity, a motivational support blog for moms. Nicole also serves on the board of directors for Reading Horizons of Kaysville, Utah, an educational company dedicated to making reading accessible for everyone.

  • Douglas Clawson BS ’06 is the owner of North Star Counseling Services in Ogden, providing mental and behavioral health services to the community. With over 15 years of experience, he and his team of trained mental health clinicians counsel individuals, couples and families using psychotherapy, talk therapy and mindfulness techniques, including telehealth therapy. He lives in North Ogden.

  • Hailey Higgins BS ’08 is a reporter and multimedia journalist for FOX 13 News. She is a two-time Emmy- and Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist for local reporting and breaking news. Hailey began her career as a reporter in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and later moved to Sioux Falls, S.D., where she worked as a weekend anchor and producer. Hailey has also worked for ABC4 Utah in St. George and Salt Lake City.

  • Brandon Hone BS ’08, MBA ’16 is the vice president of operations for Hone Propane, Inc. His company specializes in home heating solutions, with tanks and propane for all applications, including small tanks for BBQ grills and trailers. He received a master’s degree in history from Utah State University in 2010. He also earned a business certificate in international supply chain management from Louvain School of Management in Brussels, Belgium in 2014.

  • Kim Ealy AS ’08, MBA ’16, MPC ’18 is a professional employment and internship advisor for Weber State in the College of Engineering, Applied Science & Technology. She has more than 15 years of experience assisting both private and professional clients to develop effective job-search strategies. Previously, Kim received her bachelor’s degree in organizational behavior from National University in California. Her career path has allowed her to teach and present on the west and east coasts, in Japan, and, presently, in Utah.

  • Daniel P. “Dan” Schwab BA ’09 is a Vertical Lift Global Sales campaign team leader for The Boeing Company. He leads marketing, strategy and sales efforts with military customers in Latin America, Kuwait, Jordan, UAE, Norway and Bahrain for the AH-64 Apache, AH-6 Little Bird, CH-47 Chinook and V-22 Osprey estimated at $5 billion. After graduating from Weber State, Dan was selected for Boeing’s premier leadership rotational program, the Business Career Foundation Program. While part of that program, he worked in various functions, including 787 procurement financial analysis, Boeing Capital Corporation accounting, 777 financial planning and analysis, revenue management and cash operations, and the fabrication division as a rotational manager before transitioning to attack helicopters global sales. Dan is a member of the Association of the United States Army, Army Aviation Association of America and the Vertical Flight Society.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
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• 2010s

  • David Broadbent BS ’05, MAcc ’08, MBA ’15 is the practice administrator for Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons of Utah. David previously worked for nearly 15 years at the Management & Training Corporation, including eight as director of administration. He volunteered as the controller for Our Schools Now and Education First. He also worked as the controller for the Spencer Cox campaign for governor. He has served for a collective 30 years in various civic action, education and fundraising volunteer roles. David lives in Pleasant View, Utah, with his wife, Jodi Broadbent BS ’03, and their four kids.

  • Alissa Burden BA ’17 is the owner of Grounds for Coffee Creekside Cafe in MarriottSlaterville, Utah. Founded in 2019, the business offers a wide variety of hot and iced drinks, savory and sweet food options, and catering. As a Weber State student, she served as a local barista at Grounds for Coffee before starting her own business. She volunteered for two years at the Ogden Treehouse Museum and has served on the Ogden Arts Festival Committee.

  • Kimberly Hernandez Snoy AS ’16, BA ’16 is a graphic designer for Get Air Sports, an international company with trampoline parks in the United States, Canada, Belgium and Japan. She also works as a freelance graphic design artist on Etsy. She and her husband, Isaac Hernandez, are expecting their first child in fall 2020.

  • Michael Maynor BS ’16 is a Residential and Hospitality Services facilities supervisor at Michigan State University. For nearly 20 years prior, Michael worked as a supervisor in the custodial management department in the Davis School District and at Weber State University. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Bogota, Colombia. He lives in Holt, Michigan.

  • Brian Stearmer BS ’16 and his wife, Leandra Stearmer, have spent 20 years serving as a military family in the Utah Army National Guard. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published U.S. Patent 10,560,916 B2 in Feb. 2020, which is an improved wireless communication mobility management process. Brian is the sole inventor. Brian and Leandra have three children.

  • Tammy Duran-Martin AS ’17 is the proud independent owner and operator of the licensed Avon retail store in Ogden. She has been in business for over 13 years. Her store provides the full range of Avon products, including bath and body, skincare, fragrance and makeup. She has earned multiple awards for sales increase, volume and recruiting. Tammy and her husband, Beazer, have one son, who also graduated from Weber State.

  
  

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