Class of 2021

Daniel Crecelius attended Colorado College where he graduated with a B.A. in history and political science in 1959. He continued his studies at Princeton University, earning his M.A. (1962) and Ph.D. (1967) in Near East Studies. It was during his time at Colorado College that he was selected as one of 42 students from a national pool to tour the Middle East during the summer of 1957. It was this experience that changed his life and sent him on his life’s journey.

 

He served as a professor at California State University, Los Angeles from 1964 to 2001 teaching courses on Middle East Studies and the history of Ottoman-Egypt.

He is recognized as one of the world’s leading scholars of Ottoman-Egyptian history. During his tenure at CSULA he also spent time teaching at Colorado College and Cairo University. He spent a cumulative 13 years in Cairo doing research and working with Egyptian colleagues from various Egyptian universities. He is known for his ability to work with Muslim scholars across the Islamic world. Besides learning to read different Arabic scripts, he has frequently lectured in Arabic at various Egyptian universities and at international conferences in the Islamic world.

 

Daniel has received numerous awards, honors, and recognitions for his expertise in Middle East history. He has presented more than 50 research papers at international conferences. He is significantly published in scholarly journals and books regarding his experience and expertise in Middle East Studies. He has published two books, translations of important 18^th century Arabic manuscripts, 40 articles in professional journals, and chapters on Ottoman Egypt in various books. He is the co-editor and co-translator of four books of conference papers relating to the 18^th and 19^th century history of Egypt.  For more than a half-century he has received numerous accolades and awards in recognition of his dedication to the educational community.

 

Daniel has been married to Dr. Anahid Tashjian of Aleppo, Syria, since 1963. They have one daughter, Gia Maria. Between he and his wife, they can speak six languages. In their travels to many countries, this has enabled them to interact with citizens of many diverse backgrounds.

Paul Crisler has served in Lutheran School teaching ministry for 49 years. His career includes nine years in Lutheran elementary schools as a teacher and principal, interim principal at Lutheran South for two years, and 38 years at Lutheran North as a mathematics teacher, coach, registrar, assistant principal, and principal. He considers himself a lifetime Crusader.

 

Paul earned his B.S. in Education from Concordia Teachers College, River Forest and his Master’s in Secondary School Administration from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He has taken additional classes at St. Louis University and Washington University.

 

He was selected as Principal of the Year by the St. Louis Area Secondary School Principals Association, named a “Consummate Profession” by the Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals, and was awarded the “Spiritus Christi Medallion” by his alma mater, Concordia University, Chicago. He served on the Board of Regents for Concordia University, St. Paul. While serving as principal at Lutheran North, he received the Paul Lange Award by the National Association of Lutheran Secondary Schools. He was also selected as one of 100 principals from across the nation to attend the Principals’ Center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education for a Summer Institute. Paul was a member of the State North Central/Advance Ed Board and served as a member/chair leader of more than 35 school accreditation evaluation teams in Missouri.

 

During the late 70’s, Paul initiated the use of technology into the curriculum at Lutheran North, being one of the first schools in the St. Louis community to use computers in the academic program. Lutheran North was the first Lutheran High School in the country utilizing computers. He also introduced the concept of the block schedule, departing from the traditional seven periods of forty-five minutes classes. Lutheran North was the second school in the St. Louis area to adapt to this format, which is used by all schools today in various forms.

 

He initiated the development of the Jim Crane Athletic Complex by working with Lucas & Hunt Village and a highway advertising sign company in purchasing the unused 25 acres of land south of Lutheran North’s campus. His last year at North, 2003-04, was the scene of land clearing and grading for the 25-acre addition to the North campus.

 

Building relationships with students whether as a teacher, coach, or administrator has always been Paul’s goal at Lutheran North. It is the common relationship with Jesus Christ that provides the positive culture found within the Crusader community.

 

 

After graduating from Lutheran North, David Crockett attended the University of Missouri-Columbia. He received his B.S.B.A. degree in 1992. He then went to the University of Wisconsin in Whitewater and received a M.B.A. in Marketing. He attended the University of Arizona obtaining his Ph.D. in Marketing with a Minor in Sociology in 2000. During the next two years (2000-2002), he did Post-doctoral Research Fellow at Harvard Business School. Since 2002 to the present date, he has been a Professor in Marketing in the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. He was promoted to Full Professor and Moore Research Fellow in 2018. He will be joining the faculty in the Marketing Department at the University of Illinois-Chicago in January 2022 as a Full Professor.

 

Dr. Crockett’s primary research interest is in sociological aspects of consumer behavior and marketing, particularly the consequences of social inequality along the lines of gender, race, and social class. His research investigates social inequality in the marketplace and addresses public policy and social movement initiatives designed to alleviate it.

 

David’s research has been published in numerous academic and business journals. This research is in the form of book chapters, popular press, monographs, and business cases. He is presently working on a paper, “Racial Oppression in Consumer Markets: A Racial Formation Theoretical Approach,” that had been accepted by the Journal of Consumer Research.  He has presented many of his papers at various conferences.

 

He has received recognitions via awards and honors from various sources including, the Journal of Consumer Research Best Paper Award, Associate Editor Journal of Consumer Research, Moore Research Fellow (Darla Moore School of Business), American Marketing Association Foundation, and the International MBA Outstanding Elective Professor. He was also the President of the University of South Carolina Black Faculty Caucus.

 

David and his wife, Andrea, and stepson, Kenneth, presently live in Columbia, South Carolina.  

Cain Hayes graduated from Drake University, earning a BSBA in Marketing in 1991. He continued his studies at Webster University receiving his Master’s in Business Administration in 2002. He also attended The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania where he earned a Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS). At the age of 19 after hearing a lecture at college from a CEO, he set a goal to become a CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company within 30 years.

 

The first twenty years of his career he worked in financial services in the business world. He then took a position within the healthcare industry with Atena where he served as president of the company’s Mid-America Region and president of the Government-Sector and Labor Division. His next position was with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota. He was appointed as executive vice president, chief operating officer, and president of the health business.

 

Cain became the President & CEO of Gateway Health in Pittsburgh in 2018. At Gateway he was responsible for all strategy and day-to-day operations of the company. While at Gateway Health, he was adamant about his commitment to company diversity and equality. He helped procure a business operations and community partnerships plan called “10 Commitments Impacting Our People” to help drive change in the communities that Gateway serves. He refers to this written plan as Gateway Health’s new playbook to address racial inequality.

 

In the summer of 2021, Cain assumed the CEO role of the combined organization of Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care in Massachusetts. These two companies had just merged in January 2021 under the new name Point32Health. The company plans to expand healthcare access, deliver innovative products to solve healthcare’s greatest challenges, and improve healthcare experience regardless of age, health, race, identity, or income. The vision of this new company is consistent with Cain’s experience and vision for the healthcare industry.

 

 

 

Gerald Kirk and his two brothers, Orville Kirk, Jr. and Ronald Kirk, were the children of two outstanding educators in the St. Louis public school system. Needless to say, education was the focus of life in the Kirk family. Upon graduating from Lutheran North, Gerald obtained a BSBA degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in Finance, Management Information Systems, and Economics. He obtained his MBA from Washington University in St. Louis. At Washington University he was the recipient of the Washington University Distinguished Peer Award as voted by his entire class.

 

Gerald’s work history in the business community includes: Vice President, Credit Officer-Credit Administrator at PNC Bank, Investment Banker and Capital Markets at Edward Jones, President/Owner of Kirk Consulting, 14 years at US Bank in IT, Loan Review, Commercial Lending group, Middle Market Group, Leverage Lending, and Large Corporate group.

 

Since 2015 he served as Chief Credit Officer for the Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF). In 2019 he was promoted to Chief Credit and Administration Officer for the Lutheran Church Extension Fund. He supervises Loan Operations, Loan Processing, Underwriting, Loan Resolutions, Investment Processing as well as maintaining the credit quality for LCEF’s $1.7 billion portfolio.

 

With his background in Christian schools and training, Gerald has been involved with serving community and nonprofit organizations, including the Lutheran High School Association, a local Christian elementary school, volunteering his financial expertise to his own church in a number of roles, and volunteering at the Mathews-Dickey Boys’ and Girls’ Club.

 

Gerald and his wife, Kathy (LN ‘82), have been married for 27 years with three children Jarrick, Maya, and Cameron. They refer to Lutheran North as the “The Kirk Family High School.”

 

Montras:       •  The choices you make dictate the life that you live

                        •  Sacrificing today will provide options later

                        •  I prefer to be true to myself even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to false, and incur my own abhorrence (Frederick Douglas)

Marian Moon graduated from Valparaiso University, earning a B.A. Degree in 1972. After a very brief time in Missoula, Montana, she moved to Oklahoma City where she began her career in the oil and gas industry.

 

She was employed for eleven years at Amarex, Inc., an Oklahoma City-based oil and natural gas production and exploration firm, where she held various positions, serving most recently as Treasurer. In 1984 she accepted a position at Devon Energy Corporation, a privately-held oil and gas company with a total of 50 employees. She began her service there as Director of Corporate Communications and then Manager of Special Projects. Her responsibilities over the years included compliance with SEC and stock exchange regulations, financial analysis of acquisition targets and execution of financial transactions.

 

During her last ten years at Devon, she was Executive Vice President of Administration, responsible for information technology, office services, human resources, real estate security and corporate governance. At the time of her retirement in 2008, Devon was a Fortune 500 firm traded on the New York Stock Exchange with about 3,000 employees.

 

In retirement, Marian continues to share her administrative skills in the nonprofit world. She has served on the Valparaiso University Board of Directors for the last ten years and is also currently serving in her eighth year as the Senior Warden (Church Council President) for her home congregation of St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church in Oklahoma City. She also has served or presently serves on boards of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, Science Museum Oklahoma, the YMCA of Oklahoma City and the Executive Service Corps of Central Oklahoma.

 

Marian has been married to Tony Moon, an Episcopal Priest and former organizational consultant for 34 years. Together the Moons have three daughters who have blessed them with eight grandchildren ranging in age from 12 to 18.

Larry and Christie Tietjen were high school sweethearts who met during their sophomore and freshman years at Lutheran North. The rest is history. They both attended Valparaiso University with Larry obtaining his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1980 and Christie completing three years in Business School in Accounting. After moving to St. Louis in 1980, Christie completed her academic work with a BS in Accounting at the University of Missouri. She passed the CPA exam on her first attempt and went to work for the CPA firm of Rubin, Brown & Gorstein.

 

Larry’s first position was with Monsanto in its Corporate Engineering department. He later joined a small business, Don H. Munger & Company, a sales and engineering services firm that supported the manufacturing industry. After moving to Kansas City where Larry facilitated the acquisition and integration of a business there, they returned to St. Louis five years later.

 

In 1992 after moving to St. Louis, Larry and Christie became co-owners of Don H. Munger and Company, now known as Experitec Inc. Larry became President and CEO of the company and continued in this role for 28 years transitioning the business to an employee-owned company. Larry and Christie grew the business from 60 to more than 200 employees. Through mergers and acquisitions, Experitec grew from 12 to 140 million in bookings in 2020.

 

During Larry’s career he has also been responsible for several innovative new products and service ventures. Larry and Christie utilized their home as collateral to start another new business which was ultimately acquired by Emerson. Larry developed a highly respected engineering services company and two software products that are leaders today in industrial simulations software.

 

Since high school, Larry and Christie’s faith lives have continued to grow as they have become active leaders in the Lutheran community. They have served at their church, Trinity Lutheran, on numerous boards and with Lutheran Families Children Services (LFCS). Christie has created a ministry called Meals Do Matter. Larry serves as the chairman of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago Foundation Board of Trustees.

 

Larry and Christie have been married for 42 years and are blessed with three daughters (a lawyer, pediatric nurse, and a chemical engineer) and five grandchildren.

Upon graduating from Lutheran North, Stuart Vogelsmeier attended Valparaiso University and graduated in 1985 with a B.A. in Economics with High Distinction. He then attended Washington University in St. Louis School of Law and received his J.D. in 1988.

 

Stuart is the Executive Vice President of Lashly & Baer and Chair of the Health Care and Business practices. He is a business lawyer and represents health care providers, health care organizations, owner-operated businesses, and professionals in Missouri, Illinois, and nationwide. He practices health law and corporate law. His clients have included major health systems, national health care group purchasing organizations, dental service organizations, senior living facilities, multi-specialty physician groups, critical access hospitals, rural health centers, billing companies, durable medical equipment suppliers, imaging centers, ambulatory surgery centers, and individual providers. 

 

Stuart has been involved in every phase of the life of business. This includes dealing with structuring businesses, buying and selling businesses, providing regulatory advice, negotiating contracts and leases, structuring joint ventures, as well as providing planning advice to business owners. Health care providers rely on his advice for operating issues such as Medicare compliance, the Stark law, fraud and abuse, group purchasing, joint ventures, tax-exemption compliance, reimbursement, telemedicine and ancillary services. He counsels health care providers and business owners on licensure, information systems, risk management, liability protection, zoning, and real estate matters.

Stuart has written 26 professional articles regarding legal advisements that have been published. He has also presented seminars in Missouri and Illinois regarding legal issues in the Health Care Industry. He has been the recipient of several awards including a Law Firm Leader Award, Best Lawyers in America, AV Preeminent Peer Review Award, and Best in Client Satisfaction.

 

Curtis Vod Der Ahe graduated from Texas Christian University in 1972 with a Bachelors’ Degree in Business Administration. He continued his education with the completion of a Masters’ Degree in Business Administration from TCU. He has also attended Southwest Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University and the National Commercial Lending School at the University of Oklahoma for additional academic work.

 

With his academic background and 49 years of banking experience, Curtis has built a strong background in helping businesses grow and achieve their goals. He began his banking career with Frost Banks, which includes more than 100 locations in the state of Texas. He started working as a Market President for the Arlington and Mansfield Frost Bank locations.

 

Throughout the years Curtis has served in several roles including Senior Lending Officer for Tarrant County (the third largest county in Texas, including Fort Worth, Arlington, etc.), Executive Vice President for Tarrant County, Community Banking and Treasury Management Executive Vice President and in his current role as Executive Vice President for Community Banking and Community Development.

 

True to his training as a Christian young man, he has continued that spirit as an active member in the community. He is a former board chair and board member of the Boys and Girls Club of Arlington. He also served as a board member of Oakridge School and was a former board member of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. He has been a lifetime member of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Board of Directors at Holy Cross Lutheran

Church in Arlington.

 

He takes considerable pride in his Christian training at Lutheran North. All of his family members including his deceased wife, Vicki; daughter, Elizabeth; son-in-law, Jim; granddaughters, Avery, Ellis, and Laine; and sister, Jeanne, are well-grounded Christians. He also shares his joy in helping scores of businesses grow and prosper along with helping a countless number of people achieve success.

 

In high school Curtis was a football, soccer, and baseball athlete and has continued his sports participation as a lifelong, avid golfer.