Our alumni put us on the map

Great alumni live in every corner of the U.S. (and abroad) and are putting their education from the college to use in fascinating careers and retirement pursuits. They’ve settled in one location or another because of hometown ties, the draw of climate and scenery, nearby family, and that elusive “quality of life.” In this issue of Link, we are featuring alumni living in the Pacific Northwest.

Joan Pearson has Puget Sound
as her backdrop.

Joan Pearson, island consultant

Quality of life. Whoever first coined that expression could not have been far from Bainbridge Island, Washington. Thirty-five minutes from Seattle by ferry across Puget Sound, Bainbridge has become a sanctuary for professionals who work in the Emerald City by day and yearn to escape it at night.

Joan Pearson (Ph.D., ’81, educational psychology), a partner for an international professional services firm in the heart of Seattle’s business district, has found a way to escape the city both day and night on Bainbridge Island.

“I’ve worked for Towers Perrin for 16 years,” says Pearson, 56, who administers mental health benefits for corporate clients nationwide. “Ten years ago I decided I’d rather do it from home. A lot of my clients are in the East, so I make myself accessible to them by 6 a.m.”

Each morning Pearson makes her workday commute—from her bedroom in the home she shares with her husband to her second-floor office in that same home. Perched on the side of the hill on the island’s northeast corner, the house features a view of Puget Sound’s eastern shipping lanes.

Pearson grew up in the city on Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill and earned a psychology degree from Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Ore., before moving to the Twin Cities in 1969 to attend the University of Minnesota.

“I read a brochure on the counseling program in the college,” she recalls. “There was one sentence about how they prepared students to be broad thinkers who are engaged in their community. I knew right away that’s where I wanted to go.”

Pearson received a master’s degree in 1971. By 1975, she was ready to go back to school and spent six years working on a doctorate. “I wanted to keep my foot in the work world, so I continued to work full-time,” Pearson says.

Her adviser Tom Hummel, professor in counseling and student personnel psychology, encouraged her to devise a research project that would be useful in her work environment. “I was able to get my Ph.D. using only $550 of my own money,” she says. “Someday I plan to pay back that debt by giving others the opportunity I was given.”

Pearson joined Honeywell after completing the Ph.D. but regular visits to her hometown served as reminders of how much she missed the Pacific Northwest. “The longer I was away from here, the more I wanted the smell of this place,” she says. “This is where I wanted to be old.”

So she and her husband, an Iowa native and lifelong Midwesterner, headed west. But Pearson remembers often what those Minnesota days provided. “Recently I read a story in the UMAA alumni magazine (Minnesota) on the president (Robert Bruininks),” she says. “He had some very passionate things to say about the school, and I said, ‘There it is right there. That’s why I went there.’”

—Scott Holter

Michael J. McKasy

Bio: B.S., education; B.A., mathematics, '70. Taught at St. Louis Park Senior High School. In 1971 married Peggy (University graduate, '71). Graduated from the University of Puget Sound School of Law (now Seattle University) in 1976. Since 1979, a partner in the Tacoma law firm of Troup, Christnacht, Ladenburg, McKasy & Durkin, Inc.

Quote: "Peg and I attended the University of Minnesota during turbulent times of war protests and student strikes. Throughout the turbulence, the University of Minnesota was our rock. I love telling people in Washington that I am not only a Gopher, but a 'Golden' Gopher."

Still involved: The McKasys stay involved with the University, both personally and financially. "The college has made a concerted effort to stay in touch with us and we appreciate that. Hopefully, our contributions will help other students have the same experience that we had."

John Pat Hill

Bio: B.S., '51, education. Captain of the Roosevelt High School (Minneapolis) swim team, attended the University on the G.I. Bill. Captain of the University's swim team in 1951. Taught at Olympic College, Bremerton, Wash.; water safety instructor and trainer at American Red Cross; special education teacher for 25 years, Kent, Wash., taught at Highline College for 18 years.

Still involved: Hill is a member of the University President's Club Heritage Society. He stays connected to the college through participation in alumni chapter activities and events.

Arnie (Arnold) Ness

Bio: B.S., '59; M.A., '63, music education; Ph.D., '75, educational administration. A musical director for dinner theaters, a teacher, a principal, and a superintendent. Now retired, but volunteers for the Seattle Symphony and assists Washington state in improving low-achieving schools through educational audits.

Quote: "My favorite memories of the U are my years with the concert and marching bands and playing in the University Orchestra."

Still involved: Ness remains active in the Puget Sound area alumni group, serving as president twice.

Gretchen Stieler

Bio: B.S., '33, music education; M.A., '50, music education. Taught in Alexandria, Minn., 1933-40, and Columbia Heights, Minn., 1940-42. Served in the Women's Army Corps, 1942-45, as a special services officer in Missouri. Taught music and coordinated music programs for Spokane, Wash., schools, 1948-77.

Still involved: Stieler, now in her 90s, still corresponds regularly with friends at the college and the University of Minnesota Foundation.

The Wilson family: Dan, Abraham, and Annie
(left to right, back row) and Elijah, Sophia,
and Josephine (left to right, front row)

Annie (Palmer) Wilson

Bio: Postbaccalaureate teacher licensure, '91, elementary education. Taught third/fourth grade at Marcy Open School, Minneapolis, for two years. Moved to Seattle when husband Dan, former Gophers player, signed with the Seattle Mariners baseball team. Began volunteering and substituting for First Place, a school for homeless children. In 1996 adopted their first daughter from Bulgaria, Sofia. Had two birth children, Josephine and Elijah, and then adopted their fourth from Guatemala, Abraham.

Quote: I had a fabulous experience at the University and as a teacher at Marcy. My heart only grew for the inner city and at-risk youth and that influences the work I do now.