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On March 10, 2017, the 36th Annual Dinner Auction was held at The Pfister Hotel. 410 guests attended

this event, raising a total of $200,000 dollars for the annual fund to provide tuition assistance.

This year’s theme was Celebration, and that theme was not lost on the attendees. DJ Palistine got the party started with some 70s jams, and the decor had LED lights of our school colors. Kicking off the main dinner, everyone got to see a lip sync video of the principals and teachers singing to Celebration by Kool and the Gang! If you want to see the video for the first or fifth time, you can find it on the WeTeachTruth Facebook page.

The Pfister Hotel was a spectacular venue where hundreds of items were bid on to raise money for tuition assistance. The splendor of the rooms was outshone by the message from students and why they can celebrate their Christian education. We were truly humbled by the response of the people to support our current and future students to be taught the Truth of God’s love for them.

We look forward to another great event next year! To God be all the glory.

A Night of

Celebration

Our donors enjoying the evening.

Milwaukee Lutheran Choir sang praise.

The silent auction items were once again a big hit.

SAVE THE DATEApril 13, 2018 - 5:30 PM

Pfister Hotel37th Annual Dinner Auction

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WeTeachTruth.org

Why donate to an annual fund?Annual Fund is a vague name. Not many know what it actually funds. Is it for pencils, or electricity, or food? Yes! But it provides for so much more than the basic supplies to run the buildings. Our most valuable school supplies are the students we bring in to fill the hallways and classrooms. The annual fund provides tuition assistance, which helps bring in students who otherwise wouldn’t even consider a private education. It provides meals for those who can’t bring a lunch. It provides technology to learn new subjects like Engineering or A.P. Physics. It provides equipment

to try a new hobby or sport. It provides a safe and clean environment to study and hear the words of Jesus spoken by dedicated teachers.

All of these things contribute in big ways to our mission at each school of developing leaders that know how Jesus makes all the difference in their lives. To be a part of the mission, you can make any sized gift to the Annual Fund by using the enclosed envelope, or visiting our website at the “Donate” tab. Thank you for funding our students, teachers, and mission!

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1940 LHS Yearbook

2017 MLHS Winter Play

THE LEGACY OF LUTHERAN HIGH

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Early stages of display case being set up at Milwaukee Lutheran. Featuring photos of the original classroom and a diploma from 1906.

The first round of names have been listed on our Wall of Honor at MLHS. To add a name, send name, graduation year, rank, and the years of service (ex. 1977-1984) to the LHSAGM office.

1969 ML yearbook: The second year being open.

Our schools have a rich history, from starting in a 12-student classroom in 1903, to serv-

ing a community of 1500 families in three full-sized campuses across Milwaukee and Waukesha county. To keep our history alive, there are several new areas on our campuses that have intentionally been set aside to showcase our longstanding foun-dation built on Christ.

The first is a display case in Milwaukee Lutheran’s remodeled Red Knight Room. The four cases will show the time-line of how MLHS evolved from the one-room class, to the LHS campus, to the updates of the campus on Grantosa. Trophies, pins, newspaper articles, and never before seen photos discovered in storage tell the whole story!

At Martin Luther, the whole school is preparing for to the celebration of its 50th anniversary in the 2018-19 school year! Martin Luther High School opened its doors in September of 1968. This com-ing school year will be full of events and prepara-tions for the momentous milestone.

The history of our country was shaped by a large number of our alumni, most notably by our service members and veterans. Milwaukee Lutheran has recently installed a Wall of Honor to recognize those brave alumni. Located in front of the old gym, the six cases list the names, ranks, years of service, and graduation years of our alumni in each military branch and those as first responders. We will continue to update the lists as we receive names. Plans are set to install a display in both Martin Luther and Lake Country Lutheran High School in the upcoming years.

We also keep our legacy alive by continuing to teach God’s word to our present community. As we have in the past, we move forward by faith, through prayers and gifts, and making it our goal to continue to embrace more students with God’s love. Jesus makes all the difference!

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Milwaukee Lutheran 2013 alum, Oswald Bwechwa Jr, completed the hands-on class experience through Marquette business school’s Applied Global Business Learning program. Over winter break, he traveled to Tanzania with his classmates to work with Nkoaranga Lutheran Hospital, located in Arusha, Tanzania. Their job was to use their education to help improve business operation of the hospital.

Some of the problems they were facing was employee overhaul from previous corruption, being six months behind in salaries, losing patients every month, inefficient daily oper-ations, and barely breaking even month to month. While this hospital was labeled a top orthopedic facility of the area, it did not even have an X-ray machine.

The students began by interviewing the staff about how the hospital was run. They reviewed financial statements and were even allowed to see personal data. Oswald, knowing the lan-guage, lead the marketing research to deter-mine the public opinion of the hospital. After

Alumni Story

We followed up with Oswald Bwechwa Jr. who shared his story of traveling to his family’s country, Tanzania, for a learning experience of a lifetime through Marquette University.

Seeing a school being

built.

Learning about orphan

programs.

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gathering information from the nearby residents, they determined that while the hospital was better for specialized treatment, the main issue was its unaffordability. Then after working in the hospital for a week, they were able to offer some suggestions.

They were uninformed on government policies that assist hospitals. They have the ability to purchase an X-ray machine or even a computer for digital records through accessible loans. Then they came up with a more efficient way of tracking their expenses by using QuickBooks, which is a program designed to manage payroll, inventory, sales, and other business expenses. It even includes marketing tools and training solu-tions. This really helped with medication orders, which were previously done semi-annually. That led to shortages, and unnecessary reorders after expiration dates were reached. Ordering quarterly instead was their solution to this problem.

To increase communication in the hospital, they recommended having regular, scheduled meet-ings with staff and department heads. There were no meetings in the previous system. Follow up plans to increase the patient load would be to create a web page, and target community outreach.

The hospital staff was so grateful for their assis-tance, they requested the group to come back again next year to assess their progress. In the several months since, they are already improving with salaries, and have managed to get funding for an X-ray machine.

Another special part of this trip was being able to visit his grandmother. While there, he saw how much he has taken for granted in Milwaukee, like running water, electricity, clean toilets that can be used comfortably, and not having to set up a mosquito net every night before bed. It was a humbling reminder of who he is. The work he did was also a worthwhile experience to preview what he would do for a career.

Oswald has been on many mission trips to underprivileged countries such as Mexico and the Dominican Republic through his church Brookfield Lutheran, but this trip was different. He was responsible for making decisions with people that would impact a city in his family’s country.

Oswald will be attending Marquette Law School next year. He does not know if he will be able to return to Arusha through that program, but was grateful to have been a part of that experience. We praise God for the amazing work He continues to do through our alumni!

Photos by Christopher D’Anna - Marquette University ‘17

An Usa River family in

town near the students’ house.

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Christine Specht grew up with Cousins Subs—the sub sandwich chain her dad, Bill Specht, founded with

his cousin two years before she was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After attending grade school at Grace Lutheran Menomonee Falls, she went on to attend Milwaukee Lutheran High School, graduating in 1992. While in high school, some of her activities included cheerleading her freshmen year and playing basketball as a sophomore. During high school, she also learned the ropes of the family business by working in the restaurant until she went on to pursue other areas of focus.

Prior to returning to the family business in 2001 as its human resources manager, Specht worked as a staff mem-ber of the Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau in Madison, Wis. In 2008, she became the president and chief operat-ing officer of Cousins Subs and in 2015 assumed the role of chief executive officer following her father’s retirement. Specht earned a bachelor’s degree in criminology and law studies from Marquette University. While she worked towards her master’s degree in public administration from American University in Washington, D.C., she spent time in the human resources departments of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Academy of Public Administration in Washington. Specht serves on a number of boards in Wisconsin that focus on healthcare, senior care and higher education. She also serves as the president on the Cousins Subs Make It Better Foundation board. Specht lives in the Milwaukee area with her husband J.J. and two sons, Reagan and Harrison.

C U M D E ODISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS AWARD

For twenty years, the Lutheran High School Association of Greater Milwaukee has honored distinguished alumni of its schools with the CUM DEO Award. This award is bestowed on individuals who have made notable accomplishments or significant achievements in the areas of service to the church, their community, or to mankind.

CUM DEO, Latin for “With God,” acknowledges that He is the author and creator of all things. This world is His; we are His; and our accomplishments are done to His glory.

Christine Specht Milwaukee Lutheran High School

Class of 1992

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Commander Michael Clemens (retired) is a 32-year veteran of local and federal law enforcement. He served as a

military policeman and investigator in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve for twenty-two years, deploying to and conducting criminal investigations in Bosnia, Croatia, Hungary, Kuwait, and Iraq. As a civilian, he has worked as a narcotics, vice and organized crime detective, a Deputy United States Marshal, and as a federal agent. Prior to his semi-retirement in 2016, he worked as the Regional Patrol Commander in Region 9 of the U.S. Forest Service, Law Enforcement and Investigations, supervising law enforcement officers and operations across the 20-state Midwest and Northeastern Region. He also served as the noncommissioned officer in charge of Military Police operations, oversaw 3 Iraqi Police training academies in Mosul, and supervised over 6,000 officers of the Mosul Police Department, before becoming the Abu Ghraib prosecution team’s special investigator. He has over 25 years of experi-ence teaching law enforcement subjects for the military and the federal government.

Clemens is the co-author of the best-selling investigative book The Secrets of Abu Ghraib Revealed: American Soldiers on Trial. He frequently presents training on the Abu Ghraib case, leadership, and ethics at Marquette Law School, West Point, the Air Force Academy and other locations.

Since returning from Iraq in 2005, he continued to work con-ducting military investigations until his retirement from the Army in 2006. Since then, Clemens has worked with many returning soldiers, helping them negotiate the disability pro-cess at the Veterans Administration. He regularly works with veterans on PTSD, dependency, and employment issues. He also worked with lawyers and defendants in helping to estab-lish the Milwaukee County Veterans Court program in which veterans are afforded the opportunity to have their cases heard and adjudicated before a “veteran focused” judge.

Clemens has been awarded the Legion of Merit, one of the Military’s highest awards, presented by Senator John McCain (R-AZ), the Meritorious Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, multiple Army Commendation Medals, Army Achievement Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, NATO Service Medal, and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.

Currently, Clemens works as a financial fraud consultant and teaches occasionally at Homestead High School, in Mequon, WI. He has been married to his wife Jennifer for 22 years and is the proud father of two daughters.

Michael ClemensMartin Luther High School

Class of 1983

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Alumni News

Martin Luther 1975 Yearbook

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News

Martin Luther 1981

John Klinge (ML ‘81) was recently promoted to Aeronautical Engineer Principal. John is employed by the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, and designs propulsion systems for mili-tary aircraft. He has worked for Lockheed Martin for 25 years, and specializes in design, analysis, and test. John manages a team of engineers while supporting advanced development programs.

Milwaukee Lutheran 1995

Lisa (Johnson) Belanger and her husband Michael wel-comed Carleigh Qwynne Belanger to their family on April 28, 2017, weighing 7 pounds 7 ounces, and 19.5 inches long. Carleigh joined her five older siblings Jordan (22), Devan (18, MLHS 2016), Dominic (10), Emma (8), and Madyson (6).

Milwaukee Lutheran 1968

Lois (nee Wehmeier) Linderman MLHS 1968 and hus-band Bruce celebrated their 45th Wedding Anniversary, Lois’s 46th year as Registered Nurse and Bruce’s 40th Ordination Anniversary in LCMS by visiting Hawaii. It was a wonderful time. Lois and Bruce have 4 children and 11 Grandchildren with the 12th on the way. They live in Bozeman, Montana where they are retired. Lois fondly remembers her days and many friends at MLHS, although she met her husband Bruce at Concordia High School Milwaukee when they were 16. The photo on the right was taken in 1967 when they were 17, walking down Wisconsin Avenue.

Milwaukee Lutheran 1975

Dione (Kagerbauer) Kelm just published her first book in a series of children’s books called “Grandma Hearts” which explores the special bond grandparents have with their grandchildren. The first book, “Grandma Hearts: Bedtime,” is available at Amazon, Barnes & Nobel, and at Mascot Books. Dione and her husband Pete have been blessed with four grandchildren (so far).

Milwaukee Lutheran 2011

Ashley Meinzer and Richard Kurz were married on June 10, 2016 at Faith Lutheran Church in Germantown. The wedding was rich in nostalgia! The church they were married in and the pastor who married them were the same as Ashley’s parents. Ashley and Richard met in school during their junior year at Milwaukee Lutheran, and started dating their senior year. All of the bridesmaids were also MLHS grads, so before they walked into the church, the ladies gathered in a circle with their hands in, and shouted “Go Knights!” With such a history founding their relationship at MLHS, they had to take some pictures at the campus. Ashley and Richard live in Milwaukee, and are expecting their first child in July 2017. Congratulations to the Kurz and Meinzer family!

The wedding party had numerous MLHS graduates. From left to right in the Red Knight photo: Bridesmades- Erika (Kurz) Nowakowski, 2008; Kaylin Hempe, 2011; Amanda (Goetzke) Jepson, 2010; Jennifer (Goetzke) Staedler, 2010; Ali Potratz, 2011

Groomsmen- Nick Schultz, 2012; Brad Vajgrt; Ben Meinzer, 2006; Michael Johnson; Justin Nowakowski; Tim Schultz, 2018; Brian Meinzer, 2016; Jake Paschke

Lake Country Lutheran 2014

U.S. National Guard Pvt. Hannah M. Rezutek, has graduated from basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. During the 9 weeks of training, Rezutek studied the Army mission, history, tradition, and core values, as well as military courtesy, drill and ceremony, and the military justice system. She also com-pleted rigorous physical fitness training in which she scored the highest PT in her batallion. Other areas in training included marksmanship, bayonet use, unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics, basic first aid and chemical warfare. Rezutek will spend 6 weeks at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for Advanced Individual Training and then return to UW-Milwaukee for fall classes in Criminal Justice, and be in the Reserve Officer Training Corps program.

Three teachers are leaving their legacy at Martin Luther as they retire this year. Jim Dietz of 35 years, Paul Doerr of 24 years, and Phil Herzog of 43 years have graded their last exam. We wish them God’s blessings as they enjoy rest after their labors!

Other faculty and staff members have reached amazing milestones in their career in the Association. We are so grateful for their continued service to our students!

Elizabeth (Radewahn) Gall, the LHSAGM Director of Student Accounts, married Ben Gall on January 15, 2017 in a beautiful service at Lake Country Lutheran High School.

Andy Locke and Chris Root are our newest LHSAGM Foundation Advancement leaders. They establish relationships with our alumni and community to further the LHSAGM mission.

Jason Jurss, Milwaukee Lutheran Art and Design teacher, was named the South Wisconsin District Secondary Educator of the Year!

Dante Gutter, the English and Social Studies teacher for Milwaukee Lutheran’s Freshman Preparatory Academy, received the Early Career Educator Award from the Wisconsin Association of Colleges.

Retirements and Milestones Congratulations!

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FACULTY AND STAFF NEWSMILWAUKEE LUTHERAN:

Billy Bynum - 10 yearsLaurie Radewahn - 10 yearsFaith Schultz - 10 yearsThomas Darien - 20 yearsJay Koebert - 20 yearsRandy Weyhrich - 40 yearsBruce Harmann - 40 years

MARTIN LUTHER:James Halverson - 10 yearsDonella Monaghan - 10 yearsJanet Zweifel - 10 yearsJason Moesch - 20 yearsJames Miller - 30 yearsScott Nickel - 30 yearsJames Dietz - 35 years

LAKE COUNTRY LUTHERAN:Derek Fischer - 10 yearsChristopher Irish - 10 years

ASSOCIATION:Mark Bahr - 30 years

In MemoryLutheran High School

Ila Mae (Sohm) HoraClass of 1938October 26, 2016

Wayland C. BehnkeClass of 1945March 25, 2016

Alice (Schmidt) HarmannClass of 1945May 22, 2017

Jean C. (Hahlbeck) HarderClass of 1947February 11, 2017

Donna (Fischer) LooseClass of 1947November 15, 2016

John BatovskyClass of 1948July 23, 2016

Rosalyn (Newman) GieschenClass of 1948April 13, 2017

Duane “Duke” BackhausClass of 1950May 27, 2017

E. LeRoy GriepentrogClass of 1950May 2, 2017

Alan R. AbelClass of 1954December 27, 2016

Gerald C. GoerlitzClass of 1954December 20, 2016

Elaine J. (Henrich) MartensClass of 1954September 15, 2016

Corrine (Tetzlaff) PrueserClass of 1955 January 5, 2017

Milwaukee Lutheran

Carolyn (Liebnow) SchmelingClass of 1957February 27, 2017

Kenneth LaunClass of 1958January 1, 2017

Henry “Hank” MertzClass of 1960January 1, 2017

William “Bill” GlitzClass of 1962November 2, 2011

Ron KoepkeClass of 1963October 14, 2016

Jeffery Wayne JacobsClass of 1965November 5, 2016

Gregg BraunClass of 1969August 30, 2015

Michael G. LentzClass of 1969December 10, 2015

Nancy (Barczak) KunzClass of 1970December 16, 2016

Dr. George Fueredi Class of 1974May 26, 2015

Martin Luther

Elizabeth (Gunka) Gallenbeck*Class of 1977June 4, 2016

ReunionsLutheran High School 1944The Lutheran High School class of 1944 is planning a reunion this year on Monday, September 25, 2017 at Harwood Place in Wauwatosa. We will not be sending out a mass mailing to class members as we had in past years. If you, family or friends are interested in getting the information, contact Shari DeBraal, LHSAGM Director of Events, at SDeBraal@lhsagm.org. Once we have you on the list, we will keep you informed. We hope to see you there.

Lutheran High School 1955Class of 1955 will hold their annual reunion at Alioto’s in Wauwatosa on September 15, 2017 at 11 AM. To confirm or for more information, contact Evelyn Pike at epike@att.net or Laura Statza at 262-797-9085.

SEND US YOUR NEWSLHS, MLHS, ML & LCLHS graduates... Let your classmates know what you’ve been doing!

_________________________________________________________________Last Name First Name M.I. Surname before marriage

_________________________________________________________________High School Attended Year Graduated

_________________________________________________________________Street Address City State Zip

_________________________________________________________________Phone Number Email Address

My News for class notes:

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

Mail this form to:

LHSAGM Alumni10427 W. Lincoln Ave. #1300West Allis, WI 53227

Fax this form to:

414.421.9120

Contact us:

Class notes, updates, address changes, letters to the editor, births, engagements, weddings, deaths and other alumni news.

wdotson@lhsagm.org

The Lutheran High School Association of Greater Milwaukee

Main telephone:414.421.9100

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2017-18School EventsMLHS Homecoming - September 29, Tailgate starting 3:00pm

ML Homecoming - September 29, starting 5:30pm

LCL Homecoming - September 29

ML Root River Run - October 7, 8:00am

LCL Fall Play - October 13-15

MLHS Fall Play - November 3-5, 7pm, 7pm, 2pm

LCL Fall Instrumental Concert - November 9, 7:00pm

ML Musical - November 10-12, 7pm, 7pm, 2pm

MLHS Craft Fair - November 11, 9:00am-3:00pm

MLHS Choir Concert - December 3, 4:00pm

ML Christmas Concert - December 8-9, 7:00pm

MLHS Band Concert - December 9, 7:00pm

LCL Christmas Concert- December 15, 7:00pm

MLHS Jazz Band Concert - January 13, 6:00pm

MLHS Bel Canto Concert - January 20, 6:00pm

ML Dinner Theater - January 27 Service Day: LCL

WeTeachTruth.orgThe Lutheran High School Association of Greater Milwaukee10427 W. Lincoln Avenue, Ste. 1300West Allis, WI 53227