John S. (Jeff) Jeffeys (Agriculture ’55) has worked in many roles, including animal husbandry, teaching science, school counseling, serving as a vice principal, and becoming state supervisor of school counseling and state coordinator of student services. He also earned a doctorate in counseling psychology and is a licensed psychologist, grief therapist, college professor, author and trainer. He is now a semi-retired husband, dad and grandad with many rich memories of college, the Cal Poly Fire Department, student teaching at San Luis Obispo Jr. High and then Los Angeles public schools, the U. S. Army, and marriage in Washington, D.C.

Tom Avenell (Animal Husbandry ’57) recently celebrated his 88th birthday and his 15th wedding anniversary, and is expanding his business, Tom Avenell Management Company. He leads physical fitness and self-defense classes at retirement homes in Sacramento, Carmichael and Roseville, Calif., and is often the “baby” in the classes. He recently got a new dog and new car. One recent setback: halfway to earning his fourth black belt, he had a pacemaker installation following an aorta replacement, which prevents his continuing training in Tae Kwon Do. Otherwise, he says, “Life is good!”

Dale Creasey (Agricultural Engineering ’58) developed a hybrid cross between a small pumpkin and an Italian squash. They grow on vines up to 30 feet long and require about 400 square feet of space. In organic soil they have produced 10 fruits per plant per day. In mineral soil they produce about four per day. Creasey has raised them for many years now, and from his quarter-acre garden has taken as many as 2,500 pounds of the fruit to the local food closet. With the small social security check he receives, he also purchases about 200 units of carrots weekly and donates them to the food closet. Between the two, he provides over $4000 to the food closet annually.

Terry Jones (Milk Manufacturing ’65) has become governor of Rotary District 5400, which covers most of Idaho.

Joseph Dutra (Crop Science ’75) went back to the family farm in Sacramento, Calif., and farmed until 1983. From 1983 to 1987 he worked in Saudi Arabia for Prince Mughren Bin Abdul Azis as a senior agronomist for the HADCO wheat farming project. Dutra left Saudi Arabia in 1987 and returned home to start a small agricultural seed and equipment company called Westec, selling seed and equipment to South America and eventually developing a non-GMO corn seed business in the Middle East. In 2000, he started a candy manufacturing company called Kimmie Candy Co. with original manufacturing in Korea before moving it to Reno, Nev., in 2008.

Janice Baker (Nutrition ’81) has worked in San Diego since graduating and completing her dietetic internship in Cincinnati, Ohio. She married Mark Baker (Architecture ‘84) who she met her first year in Trinity Hall. Baker has added several post-graduate credentials — an MBA, and certifications in diabetes education, nutrition support and advanced diabetes management. She has been working in clinical nutrition management and support, and management of diabetes, bariatrics and eating disorders. Her middle son, David Baker (M.S., Mechanical Engineering ’17), just graduated from Cal Poly he had been involved in PolySat and worked as a machining lab technician.

Gregory Martin (Poultry Industry ‘82) is training the poultry industry in Pennsylvania to be better prepared for the avian flu. As an extension educator for Pennsylvania State University and chair of the Pennsylvania State Avian Flu Depopulation subcommittee, Martin explains how the use of firefighting foam could be used for humane depopulation of broiler and turkey farms in Pennsylvania during a high path avian flu outbreak. Several demonstrations of the foam generation equipment have been made in the commonwealth. Pennsylvania is the fourth largest producer of eggs in the U.S.

Frank Marinelli (Ornamental Horticulture and Agricultural Education ’84) will begin his 34th year of teaching for the Tulare Joint Union High School District. His son Patrick just graduated from Gonzaga University with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Ted Moncure (Agricultural Engineering ’93) is the director of engineering for Transamerican Manufacturing Group, a company specializing in off-road vehicle parts. The company is setting up a new research and development facility in Chula Vista, Calif. “We will be looking for some moreCal Poly grads soon,” he says.

Hillary Dummer (Food Science ’94) is finishing out her 17th year of teaching math and science, and was able to launch food science courses in some of her high schools. Even after 17 years of teaching, she still aspires to be as great a teacher as the ones she had at Cal Poly. “Their sagacity influences my teaching every day,” she says.

Dawn (Mazzagetti) Wilson (Animal Science ’99) just completed a career change, from 15 years in wildlife education to now being a physical therapist assistant. She is moving on to a new adventure in life, along with her two young kids, husband, dog and cat.

Julie Holme (Fruit Science ’00) just opened a tasting room in Oceanside, Calif., with her husband for their wine label, Holme Estate Cellars. They have been producing wines since 2009 and feature California and Australia wines.

Gina (Opferman) Berry (Nutrition ’04) and James Berry (Ag Education ‘05) welcomed their second daughter, Emersyn, in September 2016. She joins big sister Sasha in their Sonoma County home. Gina is the director of food and nutrition services for a local hospital and James is a financial advisor and partner in a local firm in Healdsburg.

Lilani Estacio (Nutrition ’05) was selected as part of the 2017 National Fisheries Institute Future Leaders program. This past May she and the group visited Washington, D.C., and met with U.S. senators and congressional representatives to discuss FDA guidelines for pregnant women and seafood consumption. Estacio works as head of the marketing and communication efforts of Orca Bay Seafoods in Seattle, Wash. She sits on the board for City of Hope Pacific Northwest Food Industry Circles and is a committee member of Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, the commodity board for the state of Alaska. She also volunteers as a nutritionist for Cooking Matters, a program developed to educate lower-income families on nutrition and cooking, and serves on the board of Street Yoga, a nonprofit with a mission to heal trauma through yoga and mindfulness.

Jenny and Jeff Hansen (Agribusiness ’06; Recreation Administration ’05) co-founded Wildcard Brewing Company in Redding, Calif., in 2012. The brewery is the result of homebrew experimentation and is now a successful microbrewery.

Kelsey Schmidt (Agribusiness ’12) is now studying for the GRE to get her masters in psychology at Cal Poly after spending three years as a wine club manager with Le Vine and then Bianchi Winery. She is volunteering for Big Brothers Big Sisters and is really excited to meet her first little.

Alexandra Salch (Animal Science ’13) graduated with a doctorate in physical therapy. In her final clinical rotation, she had the opportunity to work with patients with neurological conditions such as spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, stroke and Parkinson’s disease. At her graduation, she was awarded the Compassionate Care Award. Salch hopes to continue to work with patients with neurological conditions in her first physical therapy job. She thanks Cal Poly for all that it has done for her.

Saieed Rihan (Kinesiology ’13) just completed a master’s degree in orthotics and prosthetics. Rihan has accepted a job offer in Spokane, Wash., and couldn’t be more excited to begin this new adventure in a totally new place.

Ellis Beardsley (Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration ’14) got married last May to a man she met on move-in night in the Cerro dorms. It was love at first sight, and now they live in downtown San Diego with their darling pup, Aspen.

Paige Livingston (Nutrition Science ’14) recently started a career as a physician assistant at Stanford Health Care, specializing in blood and marrow transplantation. The Stanford Blood and Marrow Transplant Program combines 25 years of treatment expertise, state-of-the-art research and comprehensive support services to provide the best possible outcomes. Offering treatment for malignant and non-malignant diseases, including lymphoma, myeloma, leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, and selected solid tumors.

Arturo Manzo (Crop Science ’15) was recently promoted to assistant lettuce breeder at 3 Star Lettuce, LLC.