Alumni News

KD is celebrating 100 years at Michigan Tech as a fraternity, which was started by WWI veterans! 

The organization is having events August 2-7. See the schedule and register here.

Among the events is the dedication of the Jimmy Finley Memorial Library at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, August 6.

Professor Emeritus Bernie Carr

Bernard Warren Carr (Bernie)–also known to some as Butch—died at Omega House in Houghton, MI on June 7, 2021. He was born April 22, 1943 in Munising, Mich., to Frank and Irma (Kumpu) Carr, and raised in Christmas, Mich. He graduated from Munising’s Mather High School in 1961. While working as a Forestry Aide in the Seney area he met the love of his life (Karen Ruth Ketola) in the fall of 1961. They were married on August 29, 1964 in Germfask, Mich.

During the summers while in college Bernie worked two summers for the US Forest Service, one summer for the Celotex Corporation, and while a student at MTU he worked as a rodman for Helmuth Steinhilb, a Forestry professor and land surveyor.

Bernie attended Northern Michigan University before finishing a BS degree in Forestry from Michigan Tech University, followed by an MS degree in Silviculture from the University of Maine.

He then accepted a teaching position in Michigan Tech’s newly created Forestry Technician Program within the School of Technology. Upon accepting the position he planned to stay for three to five years and ended up staying for 35 years. The joy and challenges of working with the students was what kept him teaching, especially in the early years. During the 35 year period, he served as the program coordinator and earned the rank of Professor. Upon retirement he was conferred with the title of Professor Emeritus.

Bernie was professionally active in the Society of American Foresters (SAF). He served as Chair of the Michigan SAF, and as the Michigan Society representative on the planning committee for an SAF Region Technical Conference held in Wisconsin. He was elected a SAF Fellow in 1987, and was an SAF Golden Member with more than 50 years of continues membership. He was appointed to the Michigan Forestry Licensing Board by then-Governor Engler. Bernie also served as the first elected chair for two years of the Council of Eastern Forest Technician Schools (CEFTS), and later as elected Secretary and newsletter editor for two years. He also chaired the committee that developed the CEFTS constitution and operating procedures.

Bernie also engaged in public service throughout his life. He was a member of the L’Anse Hockey Association (LHA). He coached, served on the LHA board of directors, and chaired the LHA committee that negotiated implementation of hockey in the L’Anse Township Schools in the 1980s. He was a member of the L’Anse Township Board of Education for eight years, and member of the Copper Country Intermediate School District Board of Education for 12 years. A past member of the Copper Country Building Committee, he participated in a number of home builds over the years. Bernie joined the L’Anse Lions Club in 1974 and transferred to the Houghton Lions in 1991, belonging to the Lions for 47 years. He also served a number of years on the Portage Township Planning Commission and the Board of Review.

Bernie was a member of Good Shepherd Luther Church of Houghton and past member of United Lutheran Church of L’Anse. At both congregations, he served on many committees over the years.

He was a member of the Portage Fitness Center and while there, he “joined” Club 43 which was initiated by Frank Taucher. Other members are John Lawton, Dick Prince, and Bob Haataja (all of whom were born in 1943). With his wife Karen, he received the Ken Hamar Award for exemplary and continuous support of the Michigan Tech Athletic Program through the Blue Line Club. He was also active in the Center Court Club of Women’s Basketball at Michigan Tech.

Preceding Bernie in death were his parents Frank and Irma Carr, and his brothers Richard and Kenneth.

Surviving are his wife Karen Ketola Carr; children Amy Carr (Michael Kirby) of Macomb, Ill., and Frank (Rosa) Carr of Elko, Nev.; sister-in-law Susan Carr, and grandchildren Rachelle Reymers, Savanna Carr, Alysia Carr and Brett Carr.

As a parting thought, Bernie “wished to thank my wife for always being my kindred spirit and supporting me. Also to all my friends and not so friends, please forgive me if I insulted you and hopefully remember the fun times we had.”

Professor Emeritus and Former Graduate School Dean Eugene Huang

Eugene Y. Huang died June 14, 2021, in New Hope, at age 103.

He was born in Changsha, China, in 1917. He was the son of historian Huang Shan and his wife Zhao Yiyun.

As a child, he was raised in a traditional home, and given a Chinese classical education, but was soon drawn as a young student to Western science and technology.

During WWII, he worked in the Chinese National Highway Administration, assigned to a team in southwest China that designed and built roads and bridges in support of the war effort against the Japanese.

He came to the United States for further education in 1948. In 1950, he began to obtain an M.S. in engineering at the University of Utah. In 1954, he was awarded a doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Michigan. Eugene began teaching at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, where he met and married his wife, Helen.

In 1963, he moved with his young family to Houghton. He was a professor of civil engineering at Michigan Technological University, and later a dean of the Graduate School. He retired in 1984.

Eugene and Helen were committed supporters of the arts at Houghton High School and Michigan Tech. His family worshipped at Trinity Episcopal Church.

After Eugene’s retirement the couple enjoyed visits to Europe and Asia. In 2009, he and Helen left their beloved Copper Country and relocated to Henderson, Nevada, where dear friends and a warm climate gave them a new lease on life. In 2018, they moved to Pennsylvania to be closer to family. He was a firm believer in lifelong education, and encouraged his children in all of their studies, research, and professional pursuits.

He is preceded in death by his wife, Helen.

He leaves behind six children, Martha (Andrew) Higgins, Pearl (J. Peter) Hobbs, William, Mary (Jim) Toga, Priscilla (Jonathan) Singer, and Stephen (Jeannie) Chu and 10 grandchildren.

Michigan Tech hosted a Celebration Walk on campus to honor its 2020 and 2021 graduates. Students invited family and friends to walk a one-mile loop on campus with photo opportunities and members of the faculty and staff cheering them on. With sunny skies, this inaugural event was a huge success. Check out some images from the event.

A group of Michigan Tech alumni has turned its social events into a significant benefit for Michigan Tech students. Members of the West Michigan Chapter of MTU Alumni, through events like pasty sales and pickled egg contests, are helping students complete their education through an endowed scholarship fund.

Kevin Grzelak has been involved with the West Michigan Chapter since 1997 and its president since 2003. He’s seen activity for the Chapter increase with the high number of Tech alumni living in the area. 

“We weren’t trying to raise money initially, but we started making a little money,” he said. “Then someone donated a fishing charter that we raffled off. It wasn’t long until we decided we should use the funds to start the scholarship.”

Events used to raise the funds include annual events like a Chapter Spring Dinner, a Vollwerth’s pasty sale, a golf outing, raffles for fishing charters, and a pickled egg contest.

Scholarship recipients are high school graduates from the counties of Allegan, Barry, Lake, Kent, Mason, Mecosta, Muskegan, Montcalm, Newaygo, Oceana, and Ottawa on the lower peninsula’s west side. Priority is given to children of Michigan Tech alumni. Students must maintain a 2.5 GPA, and the scholarship is renewable for up to five years.

Over the last 10 years, 14 students have received scholarships to continue their education. Many more will be helped as the endowment balance approaches $100,000.

“The work of the chapter and putting on events is spread over a large group of alumni,” said Grzelak. “We split up the tasks. It’s a pretty active group with good camaraderie, and we’re happy to support our alma mater.”

Contribute to the West Michigan Alumni Chapter Scholarship or support the Annual Fund Scholarship for any student with need.

Professor Emeritus Milton Olsson Passes Away

by Mark Wilcox, University Marketing and Communications

An educator, composer and conductor who spent more than three decades leading choral and orchestral groups at Michigan Tech has died. Professor Emeritus Milton Olsson died Saturday at UP Health System – Portage hospital in Hancock from complications resulting from catastrophic injuries he sustained in October. He was 80.

Olsson came to Michigan Tech in 1976 as director of choral and orchestral activities. His establishment of the Michigan Tech Concert Choir and his work as director of the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra (KSO) quickly brought him to prominence in the arts and music scene not only in the Upper Peninsula but throughout the state. Under his guidance, the Michigan Tech Concert Choir grew from less than 20 to nearly 100 members. Olsson began the Concert Choir’s tradition of performing internationally.

In 1993 Olsson was appointed the first chair of Tech’s newly created Department of Fine Arts, now known as the Department of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA). Olsson’s efforts and influence reached far beyond the MTU campus. He was a past president of the American Choral Directors Association of Michigan and was in high demand as a choral adjudicator and clinician.

Olsson earned degrees in music theory and composition from Wayne State University and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Colorado-Boulder in the literature and performance of choral music.

Olsson was widely respected as a composer and arranger and had several of his compositions performed by the KSO and other orchestras.

Among his highlights at Michigan Tech was the performance of his composition “MASS,” written to celebrate the opening of the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts in 2000.

According to his family, one of the most cherished memories of Olsson’s career was conducting the KSO with rock music legend Alan Parsons. The performances featured his son PJ Olsson, who is the Alan Parsons Project lead singer, and some of Olsson’s arrangements. They produced four sold-out shows.

In 2009 Olsson retired from Michigan Tech but remained active and vital in the music and fine arts community, and served as conductor of the Keweenaw Youth Symphony. 

Jared Anderson, chair of VPA, commented on Olsson’s legacy.

“Milt Olsson’s musical legacy will reverberate throughout the Michigan Tech community for generations. He was a gifted conductor, composer, teacher, mentor, administrator, visionary and friend. Joel Neves and I often joke that it took two of us to replace one Milt Olsson. He will be sorely missed in our lives and in the lives of so many students that he inspired over his long career at Michigan Tech, from 1976 to 2009.” 

Neves, the current conductor of the KSO, said the success of the orchestra is due in large part to the foundation laid by Olsson.

“Milt was a legend here in the Keweenaw: Everyone knew him, everyone loved him. I will be forever grateful for his personal mentorship and friendship, and of course his stunning musical mind,” said Neves. “Milt dreamed big and was hugely influential in the building of the Rozsa Center and taking the Concert Choir and Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra to greater heights. His artistic legacy is only matched by his humanity and kindness toward all. He was a great man, father, artist and colleague.”

Among Olsson’s survivors are his wife Trudy and their sons, Dave (Karyn), Stephan (Cathy) and PJ; and grandchildren, Cameron, Amelia, Ana, Kinzli, Bella and Sophia. He was preceded in death by his grandson Remi. 

There will be no funeral, but a memorial service is being considered for the future. The family is encouraging those who wish to, to give to the Milton Olsson Endowed Scholarship at Michigan Tech. 

Professor Emeritus Henry Santeford Remembered

by University Marketing and Communications

Michigan Tech professor emeritus Henry Santeford passed away peacefully at his Superior Location home, surrounded by his family, on Sunday, Feb. 14, following a lengthy illness. Santeford, a Michigan Tech alumnus who spent more than two decades teaching at his alma mater, was 78.

A native of Chicago Heights, Ill., Santeford earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Michigan Tech and PhD from Colorado State University. In 1972, he joined the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences as a staff research hydrologist in Washington, D.C.

Santeford’s love of snow, ice and mountains made him the perfect candidate to head up the first National Weather Service/NOAA field station tasked with unraveling the mysteries of Alaska’s hydrology. His passion for teaching lured him back to academia at the University of Alaska, where he lectured at both the Anchorage and Fairbanks campuses. In 1974, he was the recipient of Michigan Tech’s Outstanding Young Alumni Award.

In 1980, Santeford joined the faculty of Michigan Tech teaching water resource engineering with a focus in cold regions hydrology in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Highly respected by his students, he received the Chi Epsilon Outstanding Faculty Award multiple times, was the faculty advisor for the MTU Ridge Roamers and the Four Wheelers Club and was an active board member of the John Wesley House. He retired as professor emeritus in June 2001.

Following his passing in February, several former students remembered Santeford on Facebook:

• “Dr. Santeford was one of my favorite professors at Tech. And I use the things I learned from him in my career to this day. I’m grateful for the energy and passion he invested in his students!”
• “One of my favorite professors at Tech! He was animated, funny and had passion for his position, students and community. I’ll never forget his State jokes and I learned a lot about hydrology!”
• “He made an impression on all of us — he was so lively and fun with his course work. I loved our labs — we were always making something cool to observe how water flowed and moved in different scenarios.”
• “Dr. Santeford’s last year teaching was during my senior year in 2001. He helped shape the course of my career with his classes in hydraulic structures and hydrology. I remember him and his lessons with great fondness.”

Santeford was a 35-year fixture in the holiday kitchens of Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly and, as the son of a carpenter, he constructed the large oak cross hanging in the sanctuary of Grace United Methodist Church in Houghton, where he was a member. Among his survivors are his wife of 52 years, Sally, and their daughter, Jodi Santeford of Chicago.