Feature: Class of '97 reunites in Portugal
This past summer, nine graduates from the Kinesiology Class of '97 travelled to Sintra, Portugal to spend a week together to celebrate their 50th birthdays and 31 years of friendship since meeting in first year! They spent one week staying at a villa in a small town and visited the sights around the Lisbon/Cascais area where Dalia Turner resides. It was an amazing opportunity to spend quality time together and to reminisce about UWaterloo and their friendship over the years.
Pictured back row: Laurens Van Der Mark, Sean Perry, Kate Windsor (Van Bakel), Rob Reid
Front row: Dalia Turner (Thomas), Colleen Burgess (Roberge), Cheryl Van Der Mark (Hunter), Jennifer Gunning, Teresa Reither (Di Biasio)
1970s
Nancy McCalder
BA '78, Recreation and Leisure Studies
On June 2, 2023, Nancy took part in and helped organize the Recreation and Leisure class 50th anniversary reunion to celebrate their beginnings at Waterloo. The classmates raised enough money to donate a legacy bench outside of the Health Building, looking onto the BMH Green.
Richard Heemskerk
BSc '78, Kinesiology
Richard is now retired (after 38 years) from UWaterloo as manager of the Environmental Isotope Laboratory in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department. He is still living in Waterloo with his wife Jana, also a former kinesiology student.
Dr. Ken W. Dick
BSc '79, Kinesiology
Ken is a Doctor of Chiropractic who recently celebrated his 40th year anniversary as a chiropractor and continues to offer his services in Ottawa on a part-time basis. His recent accomplishments include the publication of a book titled Healing Satori, where he details the healing insights gained throughout his career. His proudest accomplishment might be that two of his children have followed in his footsteps to join the chiropractic profession.
Stephen Webb
BSc '79, Kinesiology
When at UWaterloo, Stephen played varsity rugby. Three years ago, he came back to the University and started the Men's Rugby Alumni Committee and is currently the alumni chair. The committee has reconnected with more than 300 rugby alumni and the number continues to grow. He also enjoys working with the Advancement and Athletic departments. When not involved with alumni, he runs a business, Stephen Webb Group Benefit Solutions, now just a semi-retirement gig, allowing him time for golf and other activities.
1980s
Danna Dobson
BSc '83, Kinesiology
Danna is recently retired after 32 years with the Ontario Public Service. With the kinesiology field being limited at her time of graduation, she was influenced by health payment and programs through epidemiology, data management and standards, EHRs, security and privacy and managing health systems IT vendors.
Laura Pisko
BSc '84, Health Studies
Laura retired after 30+ years in management positions in the health-care system and provincial government. In retirement, she has started a garden design business focused on low-maintenance pollinator gardens and volunteers as a land stewardship director for the Bruce Trail Conservancy. For her, hiking and learning about other parts of the world is a priority!
Yvonne Reitsma
BSc '84, Kinesiology
Yvonne is a semi-retired RN, heading into her 35th year of nursing! She spends time volunteering at Edmonton Food Bank, attending junior hockey games and walking her rescue dogs. She has been an Alberta girl since 1985!
Darcy Brioux
BA '86, Recreation and Leisure Studies
Darcy is currently the athletics director at Centennial College after a long tenure as a senior administrator and faculty member in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Toronto. He is living in Tottenham with plans to retire in the next few years and move north for continued active living on the lake.
1990s
David Henderson
BA '90, Recreation and Leisure Studies
David retired after more than 32 years at Parks Canada in 2021. Some of his new activities include long-distance cycling, tennis and volunteering for the Rideau Winter Trail (a multi-use winter trail for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking and fat biking). David and his spouse, Melissa, spend a portion of the winter in Vancouver.
Melissa Henderson (Bronstein)
BA '91, Recreation and Leisure Studies
Melissa retired after 28 years in the education field. Her oldest daughter just completed her master’s in Food and Nutrition at Guelph. Her younger daughter is completing her BA at UOttawa.
Diane Schuldt-Zundel
BA '92, Therapeutic Recreation
Diane has moved from full-time employment at her local community college to part-time contract work with ProcedureFlow. She works with clients across North America to help them simplify the complicated using the ProcedureFlow knowledge management software. When not working, she uses her skills as a master gardener to further the growth of Grow Wood Buffalo, a local horticultural group, volunteer with Communities in Bloom and spend time in her own garden, where she grows a variety of fruits and vegetables. Diane and her husband hope to move to an acreage in the near future.
Gillian Shaw
BSc '92, Health Studies
After graduating from Waterloo, Gillian attended the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, and was a student volunteer at the law school’s legal aid clinic, assisting low-income members of the community. Since graduating, Gillian has practiced law predominantly in the public sector, including a significant portion of her career at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal. Gillian and her family live in Toronto, and she enjoys the cottage, fitness and playing the piano. She is grateful to the Faculty of Health for giving her the knowledge and skills to forge a satisfying career.
MJ Macdonald
BA '92, Recreation and Business
MJ spent many years after graduation in high tech marketing. She left in the early 2000s to start a wellness business and went back to her active roots, becoming a yoga instructor. After completing an adult education degree, she shifted into learning and development and has led a team at ivari Canada since 2010, with leadership training as her specialty. But her passion remains travel and wine! She runs a local wine shop, bar and event space (Decanter PEC) in Wellington, Prince Edward County, where she lives, and from where she (occasionally) commutes to Toronto.
Robert Brown
MA '94, Gerontology
Robert L. Brown has been named a Senior Fellow at the National Institute on Ageing – Toronto Metropolitan University. This role will allow Robert to continue his research into financial security for retirees in times of rapid demographic population aging.
Ly Eng (Tan)
BA '94, Recreation and Leisure Studies, Therapeutic Recreation Option
In her time since graduation, Ly has worked at Parks and Recreation, City of Toronto, West Park, O'Neil Centre, Scarborough Grace and Providence Healthcare. Currently, she is a realtor in the Yonge and Bloor office at Toronto Home Realty Inc. Brokerage. Ly is married to Peter Eng (also a Waterloo grad), and they will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary in January. They have two children: Austin is in third-year at University of Toronto for Statistics, and Megan is in Grade 11.
Schad Richea
BSc '95, Kinesiology
Schad was voted to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Athletic Therapists Association (CATA) in 2021 and is currently serving as the vice-president.
Jennifer Hammond
BSc '95, Health Studies
After graduating from Waterloo, Gillian attended the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, and was a student volunteer at the law school’s legal aid clinic, assisting low-income members of the community. Since graduating, Gillian has practiced law predominantly in the public sector, including a significant portion of her career at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal. Gillian and her family live in Toronto, and she enjoys the cottage, fitness and playing the piano. She is grateful to the Faculty of Health for giving her the knowledge and skills to forge a satisfying career.
G. Christopher Lyn
BSc '95, Kinesiology
After graduating, Chris took a year off and entered the Doctor of Chiropractic program at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in Toronto. Graduating in 2000, Chris opened his multidisciplinary clinic located in Markham, Ontario. In 2015, he was part of the medical team for the Toronto Pan-Am and Para Pan-Am Games and continues to be a supporter to the University of Waterloo via alumni services and donations.
Paul Stolee
PhD '96, Health Studies
Paul retired as a professor in Waterloo’s School of Public Health Sciences this fall. He shared the following thoughts at his retirement gathering: “I have had the privilege to work with outstanding colleagues and students. My career has not followed a straight path, but the throughline has always been geriatrics and health services for older people. I hear it’s the coming thing."
2000s
Lisa Boate (Galbraith)
BA '00, Therapeutic Recreation
This year, Lisa left her career as an educator to launch a Menopause Metamorphosis Coaching Business. Lisa is using the knowledge and skills gained from her degree now more than ever. She launched a podcast, called Transforming 45, which tells the stories of women who have experienced transformations in their lives that allow them to show up as the most real, joyful and sovereign versions of themselves!
Michelle Campbell
BSc '04, Kinesiology
Michelle graduated from Chiropractic College in Toronto in 2008 and built a successful wellness clinic in London, Ontario, as well as a real estate residential, commercial and vacation rental corporation. Most recently, she graduated from Ivey Business School at Western University with an Executive MBA in 2023. She has been recognized for professional and community contributions with multiple awards and media experiences. She has started a consulting company to help other allied health business owners. She holds positions on her regulatory board and volunteers in her profession, and she enjoys guest lecturing and public speaking. Michelle has six-year-old twins, Jackson and Alexandra.
Dan Ackerman
BA '07, Recreation and Sport Business
Dan wants to reach out and say, “Hey RECers! I hope everyone had a great summer! Welcome to the fall '23 term.” After 13 years as the communications coordinator in Waterloo’s Department of Athletics and Recreation, he started a new position this past May as the social media manager with University Relations. Dan is responsible for all the main UWaterloo social media accounts, creating content and collaborating across campus to keep the digital space on campus a fun, safe, engaging place for all.
Hasina Jaffer (Kanji)
BSc '08, Kinesiology
Hasina met her husband, Naheed, on the first day of Frosh Week at Waterloo in 2003. This fall is exactly 20 years since they met at UW. They now live in Toronto and have three children who keep them quite busy! In addition to mommying, Hasina is the academic chair of Critical Care (Anesthesia Assistant, Respiratory Therapy, Cardiovascular Perfusion) and Graduate Imaging (Ultrasound) programs at the Michener Institute of Education at UHN. She also continues to practice frontline as a registered respiratory therapist in critical care at Southlake Regional Health Centre. In addition to daddying and playing hockey, her husband, Naheed, is an actuary and works as a director at Willis Towers Watson.
2010s
Laura Becotte
BA '10, Therapeutic Recreation
Laura is a senior manager, Joint Collaborative Committee Learning and Development with Doctors of B.C. She has strategic leadership, oversight and management related to the alignment of learning and development projects and programs across British Columbia for 16,0000 physicians. Laura currently lives in Kamloops, B.C.
Kristen Boonstra
BSc '13, Kinesiology, MSc '17, Kinesiology
Kristen is currently working as the Upper School Science lab technician at St. John’s-Kilmarnock School, assisting science teachers with planning and running laboratory experiments for students, as well as assisting students with their independent science projects. She just recently had a baby boy, born in January 2023.
Thiv Paramsothy
BSc '13, Health Studies
Thiv’s latest startup, Hera Fertility, was accepted into the Techstars Health program in Fort Worth, TX. Thiv is super excited because it's a top-tier accelerator program that will help to take Hera to the next level and reimagine the way we assist people trying to build a family or struggling to do so.
Emily Button
BSc '14, Kinesiology
Emily has been working as a scientist researching Alzheimer’s disease since her time at Waterloo, first as a PhD and post-doctoral researcher at UBC in Vancouver, and now at a biopharmaceutical company in Stockholm. She welcomed a baby in late August and is currently settling into life on parental leave.
Lydia Colacino
BSc '15, Kinesiology
Lydia went to the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) and graduated in 2018. She met her husband Jason at CMCC and they opened two chiropractic clinics in Kapuskasing and Hearst, Northern Ontario. They just welcomed their daughter Vienna in June 2023.
Krystal Mittler (Kowalski)
BA '15, Recreation and Business, Therapeutic Recreation
Krystal continues to work on campus after graduation, having married RECer Greg Mittler in 2020, then again in 2021, thanks to the pandemic. In late 2022, she started her own side venture called Bright and Boundless Photography, where she specializes in lifestyle and branding photography.
Munsa Rana
BSc '17, Health Studies
Seven years after graduation, Munsa is now married and a licensed optometrist in the States and Canada (having gone to Optometry School in Puerto Rico). Munsa owns a clinic named EYEOLOGY in Brampton and is growing to three clinics this year! She could not have done it without the Faculty of Health and her mentors, and says, If she can do it, so can you!
Carly Cameron
BA '16, Recreation and Sport Business
After completing her studies at Waterloo, Carly pursued a master's degree in Economic Development and Innovation while working at Velocity as the manager of Entrepreneurship Experience. Her interests in recreation and community development led her to relocate to Kelowna, where she enjoys leisure activities such as snowboarding and hiking. Carly joined the Okanagan Young Professionals Member of Influence Committee, the Kelowna HR Culture Shaping Group and the Labor Market Information Committee. She now works at the University of British Columbia as the industry and employer engagement specialist, where she collaborates with industry stakeholders to bridge the gap between academia and the professional world.
Lilly Foggo (Broderick)
BA '17, Therapeutic Recreation
Lilly wants to say hi to her alumni friends! In February 2023, she became the program coordinator for the Ronald McDonald House of B.C. and Yukon!
Hannah Hodgins (McCutcheon)
BSc '17, Kinesiology
Waterloo has always had a place in her heart, but there was more room, so she got married, had her first child, and graduated with her MHSc, Health Administration, from the University of Toronto. You can find her at London Health Sciences Centre as a transformation consultant.
Bradley Bonitatibus
BPH '19, Public Health
Bradley is leading a data engineering team at Score Media Ventures (theScore/theScore Bet/ESPN Bet) that powers all the analytics and regulatory financial reports.
2020s
Terry Martin
BA '20, Recreation and Sport Business
After graduation, Terry kept working in the optometry industry, but got an internship with SponsorUnited, a sports marketing company. Terry continued to grow in the company and is now a market manager. Terry recently got married, in June of 2023, and adopted a Golden retriever puppy a month later.
Danielle Roussin
BSc '21, Kinesiology
Danielle just graduated from Queen's University in the Master of Science in Physical Therapy program. She will be working as a physiotherapy resident at Kingston General Hospital in their intensive care unit in the fall. Danielle is excited to use the knowledge learned at the University of Waterloo along with skills gained during her master's degree to help future patients.
Mark Eckert
BSc '21, Kinesiology
Mark has made the transition to business and is currently a sales rep at Fibernetics. He gained a lot of experience from working with people as a trainer. He says he couldn’t have done it without the University of Waterloo!
Miruthula Queen Anbu
BA '21, Recreation and Sport Business
From working at Dragon Boat B.C., to presenting at the World Congress of Sport, and working on a UNDRIP committee, Miru has been connecting with communities around the globe. Currently, she is completing an MA in Sociocultural Studies of Sport, exploring the historical and cultural meaning of dragon boat racing as a potential tool of anti-racism post-COVID-19, while working at Cmmn Grnd, a trauma-informed and choice-based fitness and social wellness collective.
Lida Rajabee
BSc '22, Health Sciences
After graduating from Waterloo in September 2022, Lida started medical school at Saba University in fall 2023!
Ava Suntok
BA '22, Therapeutic Recreation
Ava started at Durham College in fall 2023 in the Communicative Disorders Assistant graduate certificate program.
Omar Pusey
BA '22, Recreation and Sport Business
Since graduating from Waterloo, Omar has been working under Ivey Publishing at Ivey Business School, working in marketing and events. He also has been running a blog page called Surreal Opinion, which you can find at Surrealipinion.com.
Christina Gallucci
MHE '22, Master of Health Evaluation
Christina joined the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care at Baycrest in 2022 as projects and evaluation manager. She recently earned her Disciplined Agile Scrum Master (DASM) and Project Management Professional (PMP) certifications. In her role, she works closely with her team to co-develop, implement and evaluate educational initiatives across the LTC sector.
Sofia Babici
BA '23, Therapeutic Recreation
Sofia is working at Kerry’s Place Autism Services (KPAS) as an autism support facilitator! She supports adults on the autism spectrum in building social, emotional, physical and financial life skills. They explore what being independent means and how each client can achieve a greater sense of independence through goal planning and action steps! Every person, inclusive of IDD, has the right to understand the world around them, explore who they are and who they want to become. It’s all about learning and she’s at KPAS to facilitate that!
Want to let your former classmates know what you have been up to? Use our Class Notes submission form!
