1980s
Hans Kwee, BBA ’80, Wooster, OH, retired as staff radiologic technologist from Wooster Community Hospital in September 2022 after nearly 21 years of service. He spent 12 years in manufacturing before making a career change to radiologic technology. He graduated from Timken Mercy Medical Center School of Radiologic Technology in 1995. He worked in healthcare for 27 years.
Ray Novotny, BS ’80, Youngstown, OH, devoted 30+ years of service to Mill Creek MetroParks, Ohio’s first park district. Upon his retirement in 2016, the Board of Park Commissioners honored him with the title Naturalist Emeritus.
Short-headed gartersnakes (Thamnophis brachystoma) were known only from northwest Pennsylvania and southwest New York state until Novotny discovered the species as new to the Buckeye State in 1989-1990. A decade after finding them in Mahoning County, he found more in Trumbull County. He authored a chapter on them in the 1,100-page book Reptiles of Ohio, recently published by Ohio Biological Survey.
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History celebrated its centennial in 2021 and chose Novotny as its Conservation Educator of the Year.
The National Association for Interpretation held its conference in Cleveland in 2022 and honored Novotny as both regional and national Outstanding Senior/Retired Interpreter. NAI is dedicated to advancing the profession of heritage interpretation. Its membership includes staff at parks, museums, nature centers, zoos, botanical gardens, aquariums and historical sites (more than 6,000 members in more than 30 countries).
Angelique Walker-Smith, BA ’80, Washington, DC, was elected World Council of Churches President from North America at the World Council of Churches 11th Assembly, held in Karlsruhe, Germany, in September 2022. She was one of eight presidents elected at the assembly. WCC presidents promote ecumenism and interpret the work of the WCC (national member churches and partners), especially in their respective regions.
Walker-Smith is the national senior associate/strategist for Pan African and Orthodox Faith Engagement at Bread for the World, based in Washington, DC. She has been ecumenical representative for National Baptist Convention USA Inc., is a member of the WCC central committee and works for the National Council of Churches in the US. She also is president of the Historic Black Church Family of Christian Churches Together, made up of many US national churches, and served as initiator of the Pan African Women of Faith Networks. She earned a Doctor of Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1995.
Kathy Schulz, MLS ’83, Santa Fe, NM, wrote: “My book, The Underground Railroad in Ohio, was released January 9, 2023, by History Press. The cover blurb reads: During a dark time in our history, thousands of freedom seekers traveled the Underground Railroad through Ohio. The Buckeye State hosted about half of all fugitive slave traffic of the antebellum era. A mix of Northern and Southern settlers in the state added drama to a struggle that led to major benefits for the state and the country. Unfortunately, this epic past was obscured by silence and secrecy and then distorted with misinformation and folklore—until now. Author and native Ohioan Kathy Schulz accurately details the development and workings of Ohio’s Underground Railroad with true stories of Addison White, John Parker and others. The author drew upon her library degree and background to research and write this book.”
Beverley Laubert, BA ’84, Lewis Center, OH, retired after 33 years advocating for older adults and people with disabilities in Ohio, including 26 years as Ohio’s state long-term care ombudsman.
She is currently serving as the national ombudsman program coordinator at the Administration on Aging/Administration for Community Living in the US Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, DC.
With gratitude for her excellent education at Kent State, she and her husband, Mike, initiated an endowed fund, the Grosse-Laubert Family Fund for Aging Study in the College of Education, Health and Human Services.
Steve Case, BA ’86, Morrisville, NC, has launched a new book, Through a Psalm Briefly (Apocryphile Press, February, 2023). A humorist and youth pastor, Case has re-imagined all 150 psalms with pictures and messages that will take the psalms off the pulpit and put them back in the hands of those who need to hear these words for the first time. The book is available wherever books are sold. He is available for workshops/seminars/podcasts and other interviews through email to Steve.Case.speaks@gmail.com.
