Class Notes

Class Notes are a great place to read about the accomplishments and happenings in the lives of your old friends and classmates. Read class notes from the latest issue of SPA Magazine below or visit the Class Notes Archive to read notes from previous issues. To submit a class note, please complete the online submission form.

Click here for class party photos from Reunion Weekend 2025!

spring 2026

1933
Robert Eliot Matteson's (d. 1994) self-published booklet, originally written in 1993 for family and friends, about his part in the extraordinary capture of Ernst Kaltenbrunner in the Austrian Alps at the end of the war in 1945 was released in June 2025 as a full memoir with appendices and historic photos added by his sons Sumner and Fredric. Robert was a member of General Patton's Third Army and "Capturing Kaltenbrunner: The Pursuit, Capture, and Trial of Hitler's Hidden Gestapo Chief" details the mountaintop ambush and postwar Nuremberg trial of Kaltenbrunner, the head of the Nazi Gestapo. 


1942
Betsy Turner '65 regularly meets up with Leila Poullada and shared this photo of Leila from one of their lunches this past spring. 

1951
Hector Rupert writes that he is an honorary life member of his local Boy Scouts Council and reached 50 years of registration with the Boy Scouts of America in February 2025 -- a milestone considering that he was out of Scouts for 30 years! Some health issues have ended his birding hobby and ability to drive, but he has an electric tricycle that he rides for short errands, adding that he once managed to fit over $100 worth of groceries into his cargo basket on one trip!

1965
Members of the Summit School Class of 1965 met up for lunch in St. Paul in November to catch up with a classmate who was not able to attend Reunion Weekend in September. Pictured below left to right are Mary Ann Barrows Wark, Betsy Bertholf Parish, Katie Davis Eddlestson, Betsy Turner, and Barbara Clark Vlacich. 

1970
Members of the Class of 1970 have planned several gatherings to walk and enjoy the Twin Cities. Pictured in the first photo from left to right are Gates Blodgett, Charlie Greenman, Bob Adair, Barry Ross and dog Roscoe, and Bill James. Barry and Roscoe, Charlie, Chip Lindeke, and Bill are pictured in the bottom photo. 

After 25 years working in banking, and 20 years working for nonprofits, Bookie Read-Orr retired from the Texas Department of Agriculture to become a part-time volunteer, home rehabber and gardener, and dog parent. She and her retired husband sold their Austin home and split their time between homes in St. Paul and Plano, TX. Their daughter and her fiancé, and four adult grandkids live in Anoka County, so they enjoy time with them as well as friends from Summit School. 

1975
Nick Scott enjoyed the Christmas lights in London and made sure to represent SPA along the way! 

1976
After teaching stints and community organizing in Duluth, Edward France moved to Austria in 1995 with his wife and two daughters. He has trained as a Montessori educator and taught and directed a Montessori Kindergarten for twenty-one years. In retirement, he has pursued his longstanding political interests by writing a book that has recently been published, "A Different Way Forward: Social Market Capitalism & Social Partnership in Europe, Austria and the USA". The book surveys and appraises the historic and recent trajectory of American 'market capitalism' in comparison to the development of 'social market capitalism' in Europe and Austria. More details can be found on his website edwardfrance.com. 


1986
Robert Plant and his band Saving Grace recorded a version of "Higher Rock", a song written by singer-songwriter Martha Scanlan, for their latest album. The band has performed the song in several live performances, including an NPR Tiny Desk Concert which aired in November 2025. Plant praised Martha's work, calling it a part of a "song book of the lost and found".


1991
SPA welcomed the Jarfalla Hockey Club, a Swedish U18 team, to campus this winter as part of their visit to Minnesota for the World Juniors Exhibition Showcase. This visit was especially meaningful because it was a reunion between David Landes '92 and Dan Nyberg, who accompanied the team with the goal of exposing their sons, Tim and Niklas, and 16 high school-aged Swedish players to Minnesota hockey. David's family hosted Dan, a Swedish foreign exchange student, during the 1990-91 school year and David and Dan forged a friendship and a strong bond around their love of hockey. The Swedish team enjoyed a week of games, practices, and experiences while they were in Minnesota, including a jersey swap and a joint practice at Drake Arena with the SPA team. In a reversal of roles, David has lived in Sweden for nearly 20 years and Dan lives in the DC area. 

 

1993
David Coggins is a regular columnist for Artful Living magazine, where he provides sophisticated guidance on men's style, travel, and the "art of living" with a focus on classic elegance and personal expression. His columns often blend sartorial advice with cultural observations, drawing on his experiences as a Minnesotan living in New York. He is also the author of The New York Times bestseller Men and Style. 


1995
Anil Menon is a NASA astronaut who will be launching on his first mission to the International Space Station in June 2026. In a story done by KARE 11 in the fall, Anil credits our faculty and staff at SPA, especially former teacher George Leiter, for challenging him and launching to where he is today. 

1997
Dr. Mayme Hostetter was formally installed as the twenty-second president of Hamline University on November 6, 2025. Mayme attended Harvard University and Columbia University and most recently served as president of Relay Graduate School of Education, a private Manhattan graduate school for teachers which she also helped found. 

2004
Sarah Raisch has been named a partner at Romanucci & Blandin, a national personal injury firm primarily based in Chicago. In September 2025, she was named to the 40 Under Forty list of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and she is also featured on the Best Lawyers in America list for 2026. Sarah focuses her practice on cases pertaining to survivors of sexual abuse, medical malpractice, and civil rights & police misconduct. 

 

2010
Claire Redhelm (née Wilhelm), the Risk Manager for the Lunar Gateway Program at NASA, toured the Neutral Buoyancy Lab where astronauts train for spacewalks at the Johnson Space Center in Houston with her husband Josh in August 2025. Claire and Josh were lucky enough to catch suit up at the beginning of the day and were allowed to take a photo with one of the astronauts before he went on his training run. They later googled the astronaut and were surprised to discover that he was fellow SPA alumnus Anil Menon '95! Anil is training for his June 2026 mission to the International Space Station. 

2012
Thomas Moyers and his wife, Maggie Raemer Moyers, welcomed their first child, Ruby Margaret Moyers, on April 4, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts.


2013
Steven Olson and his wife Madi (a former Lower School teacher), welcomed Arlo Odin Olson in June 2025. 

2015
Sheila Sullivan married Isaiah Welckle (son of Kirsten Wedes '77) on August 9, 2025. Several classmates were in attendance, including Ben Pettee, Mychal Morris, Delaney Carter, Isaac Forsgren, Jackie Olson, Maddie Flom-Staab, and Molly Fiedler. 

2016
Patrick Commers married Caitlin Tycz on Great Diamond Island in Portland, Maine on July 12, 2025. Caitlin is from Brunswick, Maine, and is currently finishing her internship year to complete her Psy.D at the University of Nebraska, where she lives with the couple's French Bulldog, Casco. Patrick is currently living in Denver, finishing up his MBA at the University of Denver, and working as a Product Analyst at bet365. 

 

2021
Jonas Bray, one of the founding members of the SPA ultimate frisbee team, continued to play collegiately at Lewis and Clark College where his team won college nationals last spring.