Events

Make plans now to attend the Carroll Alumni and Friends Summer Reunion and Family Picnic on Saturday, July 18! The event starts at 4 p.m. and goes until 7, with everyone gathering at the Sladich Fountain on the north side of Borromeo Hall. Activities start off with a pitchfork fondue barbeque of chicken, steak, hot dogs, and jojo fries, all cooked using real pitchforks in huge cast-iron kettles (served with coleslaw, beans, rolls, brownies, homemade ice cream, snow cones, cotton candy, lemonade, iced tea, and sodas). Dinner will be served from 5 to 6 p.m. Games will include ring-toss, bean bag throw, fishing pond, face painting, sack races, giant cookie walk, water balloon toss, boat races, limbo, inflatable bouncer and giant slide, rocket launching, and much more! After the food and fun, head over to the Carroll Centennial Symphony Under the Stars, starting at 8 p.m. and ending with dazzling fireworks.

Register online at www.carroll.edu/alumni or call Alumni Director Kathy Ramirez at 406-447-5185. Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for children ages 3-8; free for kids under 2.

Deaths

Former Great Falls resident James R. Anderson, who attended Carroll in 1937, of Bozeman, Mont., a World War II Navy veteran and longtime U.S. Forest Service employee, died of natural causes April 26, 2009, in Bozeman. He spent his youth in Helena, and attended Carroll College before joining the Navy in World War II to serve on PT boats in the South Pacific. Jim worked with the U.S. Forest Service in Helena, Butte and Hamilton, before retiring from the Great Falls office after 30 years of service. For more on his life, read: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20090524/OBITUARIES/905240336

Father Raymond Vincent Gilmore, class of 1958, died May 24, 2009, at his home in Missoula. The Butte native attended St. Thomas Seminary in Seattle and was ordained as a Catholic priest on June 2, 1962. Father Gilmore began his priestly ministry at St. Paul's Parish in Anaconda. He then taught theology at Girls Central High School while assisting at Sacred Heart Parish. He next served at St. Michael's Parish in Conrad and the Cathedral of St. Helena, after which he spent six years as pastor of the tri-city parishes of St. Mary's in Laurin, St. Joseph's in Sheridan and St. Patrick's in Ennis. He then served six years as pastor of St. Ann's Parish in Butte before going on to work 17 years at St. Francis Parish in Hamilton and finally moved to St. Ann's Parish in Bonner. After this long career in ministry, he was extended senior status and retired to Missoula. For more on his life, read the obituary at: http://www.missoulian.com/.

A Special Thank You

Matthew Driessen, class of 1988, recently had his letter to the community published in the Helena Independent Record, and it bears reprinting here in QNs:

"Because I grew up in Helena and graduated from Carroll College, Helena was always a place filled with fond memories, a place I always felt was home. On May 20, my brother's house burned down. At 8:30 a.m. my mother shot me an e-mail that ‘his house was on fire and everyone including the animals are fine, more later.' My first reaction was to go through the thought process of what would my brother need: a home, clothes for the kiddos, food, money. It wasn't until 2 p.m. that I was able to get through to a family member. It was then I learned, in six hours the Helena community offered my brother and his family clothes, a week stay at the Wingate, Hamlin Construction would put up a new house in short order, several homes were offered for his family to stay at while waiting for their new home, and people were pitching in money. I also learned that a neighbor saved the animals by untying the dogs and shooing the horses away. A fireman saved the family pictures and jewelry by entering the burning house. In the big picture of things, I've always felt that family was the one thing you could always count on to watch your back and be there when the chips were down. The Helena community did all that and more. Helena was always home, a place I loved. I am proud of my hometown. I guess no matter how bad a day starts, having a Helena day can turn out pretty good."

In the News

Deborah L. (Leach) (Gibson) Strandberg, class of 1977, of Helena reports that, since July 13, 2002, she has been married to Nels H. Strandberg, class of 1976, who is semi-retired after having worked 25 years for the State of Montana Department of Administration as a budget analyst/accountant. Deborah has worked for the State of Montana's Department of Public Health and Human Services for 36 and a half years. For the past nine years, she has been a computer support specialist and will retire in October 2009.

David Casey, class of 1995, was recently featured in the Montana Catholic for his career as a musician and songwriter who combines his musical gifts and his love of Jesus Christ. Among his many faith-inspired musical pursuits, he plays in The Watercarvers Guild, a trio featuring his father and his brother Nathan. Earlier this spring, Casey released his third Christian music CD "Pilgrim Songs." See the story at: http://www.diocesehelena.org/

Breanna Dorseth, class of 2004,is the new campus outreach manager for the nonprofit Student Assistance Foundation at its office at Montana State University - Great Falls College of Technology. Dorseth has been employed by the foundation for about three and a half years in a variety of capacities.

Chris Mattix, class of 2008, has been accepted into the North Dakota State University Mass Media Communication graduate program, where he has accepted a teaching assistantship that will waive his tuition fees.

On May 27, former Carroll College kicker Zach Thiry, class of 2008, had a tryout with the NFL Philadelphia Eagles. An All-American who led the NAIA with 43.3 yards per punt in 2007, he was scheduled to compete with two others for a position on the team's 80-man roster. Thiry was approached by National Football League scouts after the Saints won their fifth NAIA title in six years in December 2007.

By LARRY KLINE - Independent Record - 05/10/09

See 2009 Graduation photos

They walked into their futures backed by a few thousand cheering family and friends, and their alma mater celebrated the beginning of its second century.

Carroll College gave degrees to 243 graduating seniors in the school's PE Center on Saturday.

Carroll officials also bestowed honorary doctorates to a celebrated Montana-born author Ivan Doig; Capt. Diane Carlson Evans, the founder and president of the Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation; and the Very Rev. David M. O'Connell, who now serves as the president of The Catholic University of America.

The school also recognized Good Samaritan Ministries with its annual Borromeo Award for outstanding service to the community.

Carroll President Tom Trebon urged the graduates to continue their involvement with their communities, regardless where they settle n a lesson that begins each fall at the college as new students hit the streets to solicit donations of food for struggling families.

"With all the goodness in the world and all the badness ... every day, be a sacrament to the community in which you live," Trebon said. "Go into the world and do well."

Doig, author of the acclaimed memoir "This House of Sky," the novel "English Creek" and seven other books, said he had fond memories of Helena and the college on the hill. A White Sulphur Springs native who said he remembered traveling to Helena as a child to buy school clothes, Doig said many of his characters spent chapters of their fictional lives in the Capital City.

"The way-above-average class of 2009, the centennial class forever, begins its next chapter now, and I am proud to be a footnote to it," he said.

Evans, of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, returned from service in Vietnam to find a country not yet ready to heal the wounds of social strife. She told the graduates she knew she had a mission when she returned, but it took her more than a decade to find it. She led the battle to fund the construction of a memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring her sisters in service. She told the graduates to find their own mission.

"Cast your energies beyond your own welfare," Evans said. "And find your own way to serve.

"You cannot give up," she added. "Dream, strive, challenge adversity and do not be intimidated by anyone at any time. Serve and work for peace and justice.

"Now go change the world."

Theresa Ortega, the executive director of Good Samaritan, shared similar sentiments.

"I hope n whatever you do and wherever you go n you find the time to serve your community," she said.

The Michael Murphy Award, presented to a graduating senior who has excelled in personal achievement, generosity and leadership, was presented to Mike Paffhausen.

Five students received the Bishop Gilmore Memorial Trophy for holding the highest grade-point average over the course of their four years at Carroll: Benjamin Dunham, Lacey Middlestead, Cherry Tomsheck, Janna Tomsheck and Briana Wipf.

After the speeches, and after tossing their mortarboards, the new graduates were brimming with the energy that comes with a new chapter in life. Proud parents and grandparents embraced the former students.

For many, the finality of the ceremony hadn't yet hit them.

"It's done, I guess n it's kind of weird. It'll sink in, in a week or two," said theology graduate Kelly Ruby.

She and others said what they loved most about Carroll was what attracted them in the first place n a tight-knit family of students, faculty and staff.

"I was looking for a school that had strong sciences and an accessible outdoors n and a strong community sense," said Krister Kroll, who earned degrees in ecological anthropology and environmental science.

He has a few jobs lined up to keep him busy until graduate school, but he said some of his classmates are facing an uncertain market, though he noted many are opting for positions in progressive fields.

Katie Sheehy, whose mother Janet works at the school and handed Katie her nursing degree on stage Saturday, said she too will remember the Carroll community.

"The people, really... I just think that element of it was really big," she said.