Midge (Kistner) Billig, BS '46, Clinton, Wash., retired as owner of Billig Flowers, Ithaca, Mich., in 1985 after 35 years as a florist and nurserywoman. At 82 she is still gardening and active in the South Whidbey Garden Club.

Mel Mathias, BS '61, retired from the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, USDA, in Washington, D.C., in January 2004. He was inducted as a Fellow in the American Society for Nutritional Sciences in April 2005. He and his wife, Pat, live in Alamo, Texas.

David S. Caldwell, BS '62, MS '65, retired April 1 after 26 1/2 years teaching high school vocational agriculture and science and a little over 14 years as the 4-H Extension educator in Fayette County, Ind. He plans to spend his time working on his farm in Connersville, Ind., and training to run at least two marathons a year.

J. Franklin Willis, MS '68, is the author of Roses and Poets, a collection of photographic rose portraits by Willis and vintage poems from the mid-sixteenth century to the early twentieth century.

William L. Braman, BS '69, Waukesha, Wis., is vice president of animal health and nutrition for Chr. Hansen Inc. The company has 2,600 employees in 32 countries and provides natural ingredients for the food industry.

Jack Loyd, BS '69, retired from IBM on Jan. 31 after nearly 35 years of service. His most recent assignment was a three-year stint at IBM's European headquarters in Paris, managing a segment of the software business. Loyd and his wife, Rita, live in Leander, Texas.

Glenn G. Peters, BS '70, lives in San Antonio, Texas, where he is chief pilot with M7 Aerospace.

Cynthia L. Kessler, BS '74, Copley, Ohio, was named the Ellet High School Teacher of the Year in February. She is head of the science department and teaches biology and earth science classes.

Steven K. Hopkins, BS '78, has relocated to Harrisburg, S.D., where he has been hired as a research associate for Monsanto's new corn breeding and testing station.

Gary Weber, BS '77, MS '79, received the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner's Special Citation "for recognizing and gaining the agriculture industry's support for regulations ... preventing the spread of BSE (mad cow disease)." Weber was executive director of regulatory affairs for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association from 1994 until Aug. 31, when he became chief operating officer of Harrison Ethanol, LLC, which is building an ethanol plant in Cadiz, Ohio.

Tom Davis, BS '80, has been named group publisher of Meredith Corp.'s men's brands. He will oversee all operations of the WOOD, Successful Farming and Living the Country Life brands. He and his wife, Sandy, live in Des Moines, Iowa, and have one son, Adam, who is a senior at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Kevin A. Hamilton, BS '80, Danbury, Conn., is global product manager with Chemtura Corp.

Cmdr. Brian Q. Gauck, BS '84, is on active duty at U.S. Northern Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., as the deputy director for an Office of the Secretary of Defense Joint Test and Evaluation for Maritime Homeland Defense Command and Control. His two daughters are also serving our country. Beth A. Gauck, a Purdue senior in liberal arts, is a Navy ROTC midshipman first class; Sara R. Gauck is a plebe midshipman fourth class at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Anthony T. Grossman, BS '84, Sparks, Nev., was recently hired as habitat staff specialist with the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

Cecilia Ramos-Mane, MS '85, returned to Uruguay after graduating from Purdue. She is a consultant in climate change issues and, since 2000, has been an environment, science and technology specialist for the American Embassy in Montevideo, Uruguay. She is married to Ricardo Romero, an agricultural scientist for USDA/Uruguay. They have a 9-year-old daughter, Francisca.

James T. Quinn, MS '87, Columbia, Mo., is a regional horticulture specialist in Cole County with the University of Missouri Extension.

Kenneth J. Eck, BS '89, MS '95, Jasper, Ind., is a district support specialist with the Indiana State Department of Agriculture's Division of Soil Conservation.

Jennifer L. Boyle, BS '93, MS '96, Indianapolis, on June 12 became the executive director for the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts. She previously was a watershed specialist with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management Office of Water Quality.

Scott P. Dideon, MS '95, and his wife, Lavonne, have moved to Renton, Wash.

Shelly L. Norris, BS '95, MS '98, Madison, Ala., is a homemaker and has a year-old daughter, Clara Norris, who was born on Aug. 5, 2005.

John A. Demerly, BS '97, Avon, Ind., is business development manager with ABG, a consulting company with food and agriculture clients worldwide.

Heather (Armstrong) Charles, BS '98, Woodridge, Ill., and her husband, Lawrence, announce the birth of their first son, Christopher, on Feb. 6.

Susan G. Woods, BS '00, Lahaina, Hawaii, has been promoted to account director, group sales for the Midwest territory at the Sheraton Maui Resort.

Christy (Shelburne) Powell, BS '01, MS '02, San Diego, Calif., and her husband, Darren, announce the birth of Katherine Irene Powell on Oct. 8, 2005.

Cyndi Portteus Sudhoff, BS '02, Brownsburg, Ind., graduated in May from IUPUI with a Master of Public Affairs degree in nonprofit management. She is the program manager of the mobile spay/neuter clinic for the Friends of Indianapolis Animal Care and Control Foundation.

Brad A. Briggs, BS '03, Dupont, Ind., and Amanda Coy, BS '03, announce their wedding for Oct. 14.

Tara (Wesseler) Henry, BS '03, married Jeremy Henry on Nov. 26, 2005. They live and farm in Connersville, Ind.

Charles L. Nichols, BS '04, recently moved to Fort Wayne, Ind., where he is a manager with Enterprise Rent-a-Car.

Samuel A. Whiteleather, BS '04, Sullivan, Ind., is assistant property manager at Minnehaha Fish and Wildlife Property, which is managed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Whiteleather, a sergeant in the U.S. National Guard, returned in February from his second deployment with the Air National Guard's 122nd Division in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On Oct. 15, 2005, he married Rena Teuschler.

Laura Lee Oesch, BS '06, Middlebury, Ind., married Ryan J. Yoder of Shipshewana, Ind., on June 24.

Larry Turner, BS '76, MS '78, died in an airplane crash in Lexington, Ky., on Aug. 27. A native of Rising Sun, Ind., Turner had been associate dean and director of Extension in the College of Agriculture at the University of Kentucky since 2002.

Jon B. Rosenberg, BS '82, DVM '84, Waterford, Conn., died Feb. 23. Memorials may be made to The Purdue University Foundation for the Dr. Jon Rosenberg Dairy Production Medicine Scholarship, Purdue School of Veterinary Medicine, Lynn Hall, Room 1177A, 625 Harrison St., West Lafayette, IN 47907.