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1957
Robert Cannon, Jr. |
Robert Cannon Jr. is enjoying retirement in Pawleys Island, living close to two of his four daughters and four of his seven grandchildren.
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1978
Rev. Thomas M. Rickenbaker will be on sabbatical from July to October 2007, celebrating 25 years in the ministry. He plans to travel extensively in Israel, Egypt and Europe. Back to Top
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1983
David Pruett is an assistant manager of Wal-Mart. He lives in Conway and has two children, Beth and Joe.
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1984
Jean Ann Brakefield is the new director of Alumni Relations at Coastal Carolina University. She was formerly employed with the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce as vice president of the Myrtle Beach Area Convention Bureau.
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1987
Charlie Graham of the U.S. Army's Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., retired in March 2003, serving a total of 24 years. He has continued in government service since retirement, traveling extensively to the Middle East, Southwest Asia and Europe. He lives in Palm Springs, Calif.
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1989
Lee Haun and his wife Patti have two children, Lauren and Erik. He is a real estate investor and lives in Florence.
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1990
Darin Sutton received his medical degree from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and completed his residency at Eastern Virginia Medical School. Sutton specializes in otolaryngology and is employed at the Conway Medical Center.
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1992
Marc Gura has joined Strategic Energy as a product marketing specialist at the firm's corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh.
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1995
Pat Hendrix worked as the staff historian for a documentary on Gullah culture that was featured in Smithsonian Magazine in June 2007. Hendrix, who is employed at Environmental Resources Management as an archaeologist, is currently working on a Ph.D. in African history at the University of Stellenbosch. He is the author of Down and Dirty: Archaeology of the South Carolina Lowcountry.
Jennifer Derbyshire Hunter and her husband Christopher recently celebrated the birth of their son, Braydon Chase Hunter, born March 10, 2007.
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1996
Ashley L. Bruton has been hired as the internal communications manager for Richland County School District 2 in Columbia. He earned a master's degree in mass communication from the University of South Carolina.
 Daniel Pirigyi |
Daniel Pirigyi lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and owns a telecommunications consulting firm.
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1997
Jason Hoffman Hugg is an appraiser for the Lexington County Assessor's Office in Lexington.
Vicki Elders Littlewood was recently promoted to tax supervisor with American Tower Corporation and has relocated to Atlanta.
Serge Skiba is a retirement adviser in Charlotte and is working toward his certified financial planners license. He plans to work as a financial planner in Charlotte.
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1998
 Virginia Elizabeth Cook, daughter of Christopher Cook |
Christopher Cook and his wife celebrated the birth of their second child, born Sept. 22, 2006. Virginia Elizabeth Cook was 20 inches long and weighed 6 lbs. and 15 oz.
Monica Friece-Outten was married in May 2003 and had a son in April 2004. She is a real estate agent and lives in Williamsburg, Va.
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1999
Jennifer Lynn Clack is the director of marketing at Bennet Communications. She is engaged to marry Spencer Hecht, an attorney, on Sept. 2, 2007, in Bethesda, Md.
Benjamin Hill was just accepted for his residency in clinical neuro- psychology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
Chrissy Hunter was recently named on-premise sales representative for Better Brands Inc. in Myrtle Beach. Hunter was formerly a public relations associate with LHWH Advertising and Public Relations in Myrtle Beach.
Brian Mauldin recently relocated to Winter Garden, Fla., after accepting a position with Sears.
Kela Jo Lane Plamper is a freelance make-up artist in the Cleveland, Ohio, area.
Tracie Raulerson is enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
Diane Tulipani has been accepted into the Ph.D. program at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science of the College of William and Mary. She has been awarded a three- year fellowship to study blue crab ecology and conservation.
John Williams recently co-authored a book, Proactive Parenting: A Skills Reference Guide for Parents. The book is designed to foster parent participation in language arts and mathematics education for middle school children.
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2000
 Deanna Case Voisine |
Deanna Case Voisine is pursuing a doctoral degree in school psychology at the University of Rhode Island, where she also teaches. She married Jason Voisine in April 2005 in Hartford, Conn.
Robin Turner Kirby is southeast human resource manager for GE Healthcare. She and her husband Chris live in Atlanta.
Austin Rogers and his wife Kimberly live in the greater Charleston area, where he is a police officer with the North Charleston Police Department. Their son, Owen Connor Rogers, was born Oct. 27, 2006.
Joy Roof has been promoted to media supervisor at the Erwin-Penland agency in Greenville. Her accounts include such companies as Advance America, Firehouse Subs, Fatz Café and Uniroyal Tire.
Jennifer Dutton Toy has a daughter, Adrianna Grace, born Feb 9, 2006.
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2001
Rhett J. Graham is a commercial insurance broker with Harold W. Wells & Son Inc. in Wilmington.
Jaime Hilliard Goldman is pursuing a master's degree in marine biology and coastal zone management at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (For photo - see Marriages)
Katie Burke Hudson is expecting her first child in September 2007.
Katie Reid graduated from George Mason University in January 2007 with a master's degree in bio-defense.
Edward Tkacz is developing software for the U.S. military in Baghdad, Iraq. He has also lived in Europe, supporting the U.S. Army in Heidelberg, Germany, and the U.S. Air Force in Rammstein, Germany.
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2002
Kelly Robinson Crocker and her husband Corey Crocker live in Columbia, Md., where she is a corporate sales trainer for Verizon Wireless.
Brian Lowe has recently relocated to Dallas, Texas, to continue his marketing career with House of Blues. Lowe was previously with the House of Blues in Cleveland, Ohio.
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2003
Calvin Waters III and his wife Amber live in Auburn, Ala., where he is a fourth-grade teacher with Auburn city schools and she is pursuing a degree in hotel/administrative management at Auburn University.
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2004
Jennifer Abbott is pursuing a master's degree in early childhood education at Coastal and is engaged to Rob Edwards. She is a member of the CCU Alumni Association Board of Directors.
Meghan Fitzpatrick is engaged to W. Alan Lovejoy Jr. of Kennebunkport, Maine. She is entering physician's assistant school at the University of New England.
 Ashley Satterfield |
 Meredith Putnam Schmidt |
Ashley Satterfield is an engineering analyst in the hydrology department of South Florida Water Management. She plans to move to Austin, Texas, to attend graduate school.
Meredith Putnam Schmidt recently earned a master's degree in psychology and is working full time as a drug/alcohol counselor. She has also opened Blue Wave Beads, a store in downtown Conway. She supports local animal rescue groups through her business.
John Swindler is the assistant manager of Gold's Gym in Aiken.
Clare Thomasy competed in the 2006 St. Anthony Triathlon in St. Petersburg, Fla., raising more than $4,500 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through the Team in Training Program. She is a second-year student in the optometry program at Ohio State University in Columbus.
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2005
Jessica Bell is engaged to Karl Kolarsick '06.
Jackie Costa is the youth programming coordinator for Sports Zone in Little River. She was previously with the Trenton Thunder, the New York Yankees AA team, as a ticket and events coordinator.
Christine Weldon is a kindergarten teacher at St. James Elementary.
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2006
Michelle Dye is pursuing a second bachelor's degree in order to become a medical technologist.
Chas Fries lives in Chicago, where he studies and interns at the Second City Theater and at the Annoyance Theater.
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Marriages
Kela Jo Lane '98 and Eric Peter Plamper were married on May 12, 2007, in Medina, Ohio.
Eric Bennett '00 married Frances Rose Walsh on Nov. 25, 2006, in Yreka, Calif.
 Jaime and Ryan Goldman |
Jaime Marie Hilliard '01 and Ryan Arthur Goldman were married March 25, 2006, on the beach in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Kelly Robinson '02 married Corey Crocker on Dec. 30, 2006.
Helen Nicole (Nikki) Thomas '04 and Michael Parkman were married Jan. 13, 2007 at Wintergreen Woods in Lexington.
Kasey Amanda Gardner '05 and Robert Douglas Herrington '05, both of Conway, were married March 10, 2007. She is employed with Atlantic Urology Clinics, LLC and he is employed with DDC Engineers, Inc.
Lauren Simmons '05 married Brent Anthony Barker on June 3, 2006, at the First Baptist Church in Conway.
 Amanda and Michael Whyland |
Amanda Hillman '06 and Michael R. Whyland '06 were married Oct. 26, 2006 at St. Nicholas of Tolentine in Atlantic City and the reception was held at the Trump Plaza Resort and Casino.
Julie Marie Shaffer '06 and Russell Allen Woodson were married March 31, 2007, at Ocean Drive Presbyterian Church in North Myrtle Beach. She teaches at North Myrtle Beach Elementary.
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Deaths
Michael Lee '91 died Jan. 14, 2007.
Christopher R. Workman of North Myrtle Beach, a senior sociology major, died June 15, 2007
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In Memoriam
James F. Kane |
James F. Kane was one of the founding members of Coastal Carolina University's board of trustees. Best known for his long and distinguished tenure as dean of the University of South Carolina's College of Business (1967-1993), Kane shared his experience and wisdom to help guide the growth and maturity of Coastal Carolina. Serving as a trustee from 1993 to his death on June 5, 2007, he was a valued adviser to former President Ronald R. Ingle, and he played an important role in the accreditation of Coastal's Wall College of Business.
A native of Minneapolis, Minn., Kane was a semi-pro baseball player and served in the U.S. Air Force before earning bachelor's and master's degrees from Indiana State and a doctorate from Washington University. He was the first full-time director of the AACSB, the premier accreditation organization for schools of business. During his career he was on the boards of directors of the South Carolina Educational Television Network, the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce, Duck Head Apparel, First Union Bank and many other organizations and businesses. Kane received the Order of the Palmetto from Gov. Carroll Campbell in 1993.
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Alumni Profile: Martha Sasser Hunn
Martha Sasser Hunn '87 |
It's 30 minutes to on-air time at the WBTW-Channel 13 studio, and anchor Martha Hunn dashes off to the makeup mirror to "put on a fresh coat of paint," check the hair, which is perfect as always, check the smile for anything untoward. Then she goes over the news scripts to make sure they are written to match the way she talks and, in the last few minutes before countdown, she mentally "centers before entering," usually with a short meditative prayer.
"It gets my mind and my spirit focused on the bigger purpose," says Hunn, "and on how I want to be a vessel for God in each moment, most especially when I'm on the air, communicating to the viewers."
Martha Sasser Hunn graduated from Coastal in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in political science, a path that helped shape her career. "I believe the political science focus has been a huge factor in helping me understand what happens in our community and in the world," says Hunn, referring to the rhetorical writing and classroom debates that helped hone her communication skills.
She joined News13 in late 2004 as the primary anchor in Myrtle Beach for the news programs at 5 and 11 p.m. She had worked at the station previously in the early 1990s on the sunrise and noon news shows before leaving TV altogether for a 13-year foray into local government and tourism.
Like most television anchors, Hunn is good looking, confident and articulate. But she is also accomplished beyond the polished surface that viewers see. Before returning to the news business, Hunn was chief executive officer of the Myrtle Beach Area Hospitality Association for nearly 10 years, and she served briefly as Horry County's first public information officer. She began her career in television in 1987 as reporter, anchor and later news director for WGSE TV 43.
She recalls her years at Coastal, then a four-year branch of the University of South Carolina system, fondly, giving special mention to her adviser Eddie Dyer, who is now Coastal's executive vice president; Claudia McCollough, philosophy professor emeritus who taught her the critical importance of ethical thinking; and Cynthia Hodell Dyer, who taught her public speaking.
"They each had a great impact on me," she says. "Much of what I do today and who I am comes from those early formative years at Coastal. In our educational experiences, the people we come into contact with are the largest factor in how the student is molded," says Hunn. "I've been extremely blessed to have had key people in my life." (The late Ashby Ward, who led the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce for many years, was another key mentor for Hunn, as is friend Donna Tyson, whom she describes as her "Jiminy Cricket who sits on my shoulder.")
During her career, Hunn has received South Carolina's Out-standing Young Business Leader award, and the Order of the Silver Crescent, which she received in 2000 from Gov. Jim Hodges, the highest state honor awarded to a citizen for service to the community.
But it hasn't always been a straight career path. The daughter of an attorney and politician—dad Philip D. Sasser was a state legislator—Hunn originally thought she'd go to law school and maybe even enter politics. At 16, she served as a page for Strom Thurmond on Capitol Hill during a summer that was heady for an ambitious young girl. "He always had time to help me chart my path," she said of the late senator.
But then, after two years of Coastal and a year at USC, which she found too large and impersonal for "a little Conway girl," she met her future husband Ralph Hunn and began to rethink her future. "I didn't want to go back to Columbia," she says, "and I was beginning to think that my passion was not in the law."
After selling timeshares and preparing to get a real estate license, she took a screen test for a weather girl position, but she didn't get the job because stations were turning to meteorologists by then. She did get an entry-level position at TV 43 making $5.50 an hour. "I took morning classes at Coastal to finish my 18 remaining hours, managed a dress shop during the day and worked at TV 43 at night," says Hunn.
After the marriage to Hunn, a realtor and professional ballroom dancer who teaches dancing, she got her degree and worked her way up the ladder at the station as reporter, anchor and later news director. "The adrenalin energy of the news business is the thing that keeps your blood flowing and gets you past the fear factor of live TV," she says.
When she returned to the airwaves in 2004, it felt like coming home, says Hunn. "I thought long and hard about returning. I'm the kind of person who, when in a job, gives 150 percent. I am fully there and committed to that job."
The Hunns, who just celebrated their 21st anniversary, have an 18-year-old daughter, Brigitte, who plans to attend Coastal in the fall.
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Brakefield named new alumni director
Jean Ann Brakefield |
Jean Ann Brakefield became Coastal Carolina University's new alumni director on May 7.
Brakefield, who served as vice president of the Myrtle Beach Area Convention Bureau beginning in 1992, is responsible for all alumni activities of the university. Her duties include developing programs and events that engage Coastal's more than 14,000 alumni, as well as strategic planning that integrates alumni objectives in many areas of the university. She serves as a liaison and executive director of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. One of her goals is to improve contacts with Coastal graduates by establishing and developing alumni chapters in various geographical areas.
A native of Cheraw, Brakefield earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Coastal in 1984. She received an Executive Excellence Award from the Association for Convention Operations Management in 1998, and a Tourism Marketing Professional award from the Southeast Tourism Society Marketing College. She has also served on the board of the Coastal Carolina Alumni Association.
"I look forward to getting back to my alma mater and building a strong alumni program," said Brakefield, who lives in Murrells Inlet with her husband Steve and their children Carter and Sarah.
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Suprise reunion abroad
Jenny Creque '00 (right) and Michelle Ward '02 (left) were unexpectedly reunited when they bumped into each other at a hotel in Amsterdam, where they (unbeknownst to each other) had traveled to serve as sports team leaders for the People to People organization.
Creque, a third-grade teacher in Columbus, Ohio, and Ward, a special education teacher in a West Palm Beach, Fla., elementary school, had both been chosen as tennis team leaders for People to People's Sports Ambassadors Program in the summer of 2006. This program provides opportunities for outstanding fifth through 12th graders to travel to foreign countries to compete in their respective sports. Each year the organization selects highly qualified and responsible teachers to facilitate the program.
"Needless to say, we were both surprised to see someone from Coastal while traveling in Europe, not to mention at the same hotel!" says Creque. The two got to work together and spent a lot of time catching up on CCU. Both Ward and Creque participated in the People to People summer 2007 program in Vienna, Austria.
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Happy Days are here again
John Hanna, a 2007 communication major, buddies up with actor-producer Henry Winkler ("The Fonz") on a Holly-wood field study for Journalism 497X. The 10-day course, design-ed by professor Carole O'Neill, provides a first-hand glimpse of the film industry at work. The eight students enrolled in the class visited studio tapings, location shootings, casting agents and attended lectures by celebrities, directors and producers such as Winkler. The class also visited the sets of Desperate Housewives and Boston Legal.
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