Notes from the Class of 1973

A survey by magazine publisher Law & Politics Media bore good news for L. Judson Todhunter (PolSci’73). He was named one of the “Illinois Super Lawyers 2014,” a list on which only 5 percent of lawyers in the state manage to get their name. Judson works in the Chicago office of Howard & Howard Attorneys and lives in La Grange, Ill.

The 2013 Back to Boulder Homecoming Weekend, Oct. 24-27, was a very special one for Christy Conroy Yonz(PE’73). The former cheerleader, who moved to Mansfield, Texas, in 1996, not only visited her alma mater, but she also ran behind Ralphie before the Homecoming football game. Her first return to campus after many years was certainly a memorable one, and she wrote, “What a thrill it was to be back in Boulder for the first time in many years!”

Professional photographer Stephen Collector’s (Engl’73) clients include The New York Times, Forbes Magazine and United Airlines. Stephen is based in Boulder and has been on the job for the past 30 years. “Working with light is my love, both in color and in black and white,” he writes. “I am excited by the variety of subject matter in the world.” See his work at stephencollector.com.

Running with Ralphie at the start of a football game is a staple at the University of Colorado. Christy Conroy Yonz (PE’73), a former CU cheerleader, had the privilege of running behind Ralphie during last year’s homecoming football game during Back to Boulder Homecoming Weekend. Christy resides in Mansfield, Texas.

William Blackwell (Jour’73) was visited by a two-year-old brown bear at his home in South Lake Tahoe, Nev. The bear was interested in his CU rain gauge, but he says he told the bear that he was still too young to enroll in the school. Apparently this bear has good taste.

Art and art history teacher at Columbus State Community College Judy Beckman (Art) was crowned Ms. Ohio Senior America 2014 at the Tri-State Pageant in West Virginia. For her talent in the show, Judy performed a martial arts routine to music. In the philosophy of life category of the pageant, she emphasized the importance of faith, patience and persistence in achieving goals. She lives in Ashville, Ohio.

John Kaye Gottschall (MMus; DMus’83) authored the second volume of Johann Sebastian Bach’s four-part plain chorales in keyboard manuscript. Volume II contains German stanzas accompanied by vertical English translations. He resides in Corbin City, N.J., where he is retired from church music ministry, having taught piano for four years at Immaculata University in Pennsylvania.

Barbra Levine Cohn (RelSt; Engl’77) published Calmer Waters: The Caregiver’s Journey Through Alzheimer’s & Dementia. The guide offers caregivers tools and techniques for feeling happier, more energetic and confident. It contains essays contributed by other caregivers, 20 healing methods that can be incorporated into a daily regimen and the author’s personal experience. Barbra lives in Boulder.

Pueblo, Colo., resident Kathleen Hearn Croshal (CommThtr; Law’79) was named president of the Colorado Bar Association for the 2019-20 term. Kathleen spent 16 years practicing law, including work as a deputy district attorney in Pueblo. She was then appointed a Pueblo County judge for the 10th district, a role she held until her retirement in 2011.

Attorney William Blackwell (Advert) of Zephyr Cove, Nevada, will be featured in the documentary Lust For Gold, A Race Against Time, in the October 2020 Arizona Film Festival. It follows a team of adventurers, including William, that are on a quest for gold in the mountains of Eastern Arizona. 

When he marched with the Golden Buffalo Marching Band in 1970, Bob Larsen (MCDBio) played the French horn. Now, he is excited to be starting his term as a board member of the Silver Buffs Marching Band Alumni. Bob’s book, Wounded Workers: Tales from a Working Man’s Shrink, intertwines Bob’s own experiences with real stories of cops, firefighters, bank tellers and more.

John Poimiroo (MJour) was named Writer of the Year by the Outdoor Writers Association of California. He was recognized for his many achievements, including four first-place awards: Best Outdoor Feature Photograph, Best Outdoor Photographic Series, Best Outdoor Video and Best Outdoor Internet Site. 

Until June 2021, Timothy Larsen (Mktg) was the treasurer for ForeverGold, a group of alumni, parents, friends and fans who engage with CU Boulder and other members through exclusive social, athletic and academic events. Tim served as the senior international marketing specialist with the Colorado Department of Agriculture, and was responsible for assisting Colorado’s farmers, ranchers and food manufacturers in developing global markets. He retired in 2015. He and his wife, Candace (Engl’71), met at CU when she was a resident advisor at Kittredge Commons. They live in Erie, Colorado, and have two grown children.

Wounded Workers: Tales from a Working Man’s Shrink, the first book written by Bob Larsen (MCDBio’73), received the Nonfiction Authors Association’s gold award. Through stories, this book details the physical and mental effects many American workers experience as a result of doing their jobs. Bob is a clinician and forensic psychiatrist who specializes in assisting cops, bank tellers, firefighters, farm workers and executives deal with traumatic events. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The University of Iowa Press published Connie Mutel’s (MBio’73) latest book, Tending Iowa’s Land: Pathways to a Sustainable Future. This book explores the benefits and challenges that have come from the transformation of Iowa’s prairies and other wildlands into vast agricultural fields. In a straightforward and friendly style, Iowa’s premier scientists and experts consider what has happened to their land and outline viable solutions that benefit agriculture and the state’s human and wild residents. Connie is the former senior science writer at IIHR — Hydroscience & Engineering at the University of Iowa College of Engineering. She lives in Iowa City, Iowa.

Artist Marc Castelli (BFA’73) is still painting and drawing. For 30 years, his main subjects have been the watermen of the Chesapeake Bay, where he spends two to three days a week working alongside them through various seafood harvests. He has been giving the watermen his photographs and watercolors of them at work for many years. Marc has his own tidal fishery license and brings a quota to the boat as a small favor of thanks for their time with him. See his work at massoniart.com/caste.

David Wilsey (EPO-Bio’73) and Naomi Yanaga Wilsey (BFA’74) celebrated their 50th anniversary in May. This included a visit to Japan to visit some of Naomi’s Japanese relatives. The couple lives in Needham, Massachusetts, and has two adult children, one living in San Francisco, California and the other in Rensselaer, New York.