After 36 years as director of the music ministry and organist at the Braddock Street United Methodist Church (BSUMC) in Winchester, Virginia, Judy Barefoot Connelly (C ’74) is retiring at the end of June. In addition to her position at BSUMC, she has been a music teacher for Loudoun County Public Schools, a private piano and organ teacher, accompanist for numerous community choral groups and co-founder and director of the SINGGG! children’s summer music program. (Pictured to the left.)
In March, the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts, awarded Thomas Wilkins (C ’78) the Leonard Bernstein Lifetime Achievement Award for the Elevation of Music in Society. Wilkins will lead the Boston Symphony Orchestra in “The Best of the Boston Pops” in performances at 8 p.m. on both Tuesday, May 22, and Friday, May 25. The Boston Pops is offering discounted tickets for Shenandoah University alumni. To purchase tickets, visit www.bso.org/shenandoahalumni. (Pictured to the right.)
Mark Sunderlin (AS ’84) has recently been promoted to adjunct assistant professor at Lord Fairfax Community College in Middletown, Virginia, where he teaches information technology courses. In his full-time career, Sunderlin is a principal data engineer at Oath in Ashburn, Virginia. Oath is one of the world’s largest media and technology companies, formed by the recent merger of AOL and Yahoo. (Pictured to the left.)
Lisa Burks Byrd (AS ’95) is a senior SharePoint developer and technical lead for the Royal Australian Navy with Zenetex in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Annette Amerman (AS ’97) is a supervisory historian for the U.S. Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia. Amerman recently received the Simmons-Shaw Award for Public History by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation for her work on commemorating marines in World War I through her book and work on the WWI Symposium. (Pictured to the right.)
Alice Fens (HP ’05) is the physician assistant for West Virginia University Medicine’s new Jefferson Internal Medicine practice in Ranson, West Virginia.
Andrew Gorman (C ’05) is the special events manager at SeaWorld San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas. (Pictured to the left.)
On August 05, 2017, Natalie Koepp Laverde (C ’06) married Omar Laverde on the beach in Galveston, Texas. Laverde has been an orchestra teacher for 12 years, receiving superior 1 ratings, teaching several region students and an all-state cellist, and is on the Texas Music Adjudicators Association provisional list to judge orchestra contests. (Pictured to the right.)
In January 2018, Alexander Serio (C ’09) was the featured guest speaker at the Towson University Department of Music’s Career Convocation, where he gave a presentation on his work, teaching and music entrepreneurship to the entire faculty and staff. Serio also presented this lecture at West Chester University, and performed as a trumpet sub with the Kennett Symphony, Lancaster Symphony and Lancaster Symphony Brass Quintet in 2017. He is an administrative director and trumpet faculty at Nelly Berman School and concert manager for Harmony For Peace, an organization that promotes international peace through music. (Pictured to the left.)
Sarah Hensley (AS ’11, HP ’14) is the head athletic trainer at Allegany College of Maryland in Cumberland, Maryland.
After serving as assistant principal of Spring Mills Primary School in Berkeley County, West Virginia, for five years, Nicole Wolf Krause (EL ’12) has been named principal for the 2018-19 school year.
Kat Terza May (AS ’12, HP ’14) is an athletic trainer at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.
Colleen Cook (C ’13) has accepted a position as director of operations at Vinyl Marketing in Ashland, Ohio. In her new position, Cook will work with both local and international clients to see their vision with Vinyl comes to fruition, as well as working internally with the Vinyl team and leading marketing efforts.
Nicole Gilbertson (AS ’13) is a Ph.D. student at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Erin Septer (AS ’17) is a physical therapy assistant at Princeton Orthopaedic Associates in Princeton, New Jersey.
Brittany Mason (AS ’14, AS ’16) is a behavior analyst at Grafton Integrated Health Network in Berryville, Virginia.
Courtney Stull (AS ’14) is an assistant women’s soccer coach at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland. Stull is also pursuing her master’s degree in education at Goucher.
Brian Collins (HP ’16) is a physician assistant at Avera Health in Gregory, South Dakota. Collins provides outpatient family and internal medicine services at locations in Gregory and Winner. He also provides coverage for the Level V Trauma Center in Gregory and serves as an inpatient hospitalist for the critical access hospital in Gregory.
In April, Daniel Hillgren (B ’17) accepted a position as learning developer for Valley Health in Winchester, Virginia.
Alysha McCleaf (AS ’17) is a behavior technician at Family Preservation Services in Winchester, Virginia.
Mary Severin (AS ’17, ’EL 17) is a health and physical education teacher at Lanier Middle School in Fairfax, Virginia.
Jovanna Wiggins (N ’17) won the DAISY Award at the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Virginia, for her extraordinary compassionate care. (Pictured to the right.)
In Memoriam
Ervin J. Hamme (C ’52) of Pinehurst, North Carolina, passed away on April 26, 2018. After graduation from Shenandoah Conservatory of Music, Hamme was immediately drafted into the United States Army, where he served two years in Korea during the war as a Supply Sergeant in the 439th Engineer Construction Battalion. Once discharged from the Army he became a band teacher and earned a master’s degree in music education from Florida State University in 1956. Hamme taught band at the middle school level in Kathleen, Florida, until his retirement in 1983. He and his wife, Eleanor, moved to Staunton, Virginia, after his retirement, where he middle school band for another 11 years in Augusta County. Hamme was always active in his church, serving as Elder, singing in the choir, playing handbells and serving on various committees.For several years he also volunteered with Meals on Wheels and the Blue Ridge Food Bank in the Staunton area. He enjoyed his wood-working shop, and he and Eleanor together created crafts and entered many craft shows around the state for several years. In addition to his wife, Hamme is survived by his son, Gary Hamme; his daughter, Denise Wallace; and three grandchildren, Christy Wallace Chapman, Alex and Dylan Hamme. Ervin is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews.
