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 LEONARD W. SAMPSON [1969]: Sadly, Leonard was murdered near the Dairy Queen on Grand Avenue in West Duluth. On April 28, 1967, a Denfeld drop-out named Richard T. Young, beat Sampson to death. Witnesses said that the attack was unprovaked and couldn't explain Young's actions. That evening durring a police manhunt, Young was spotted by an ambulance crew and was chased into the Lepak lumber yard. Young was arrested and charged with murder. Leonard Sampson was a sophomore at Denfeld and was described by his friends as "a wonderful kid". In 1987, a Morgan Park J.H. student was murdered near that same Dairy Queen and in 2004, a Denfeld student was stabbed in the same area after a football game.  PATRICK J. SCHILTZ [1978]: Patrick graduated from St. Scholastica in 1981. He later earned a law degree from Harvard and became a clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He then joined the faculty at Notre Dame Law School where he was elected "Faculty Member of the Year". Patrick wrote an article called "On Being a Happy, Healthy, and Ethical Member of an Unhappy, Unhealthy, and Unethical Profession". This article has been published in the Vanderbilt Law Review and in many text books and journals. Schiltz has appeared on every major network including FOX News, CNN, MSNBC, and CBS's 60 Minutes and has been interviewed for many major publications. Schiltz has served as the Associate Dean at the University of St. Thomas Law School. In 2005, Patrick was nominated by president George W. Bush to become a U.S. federal judge for the Minnesota District. When Schiltz became a federal judge, three U.S. Supreme Court justices praised him: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr: "I have the greatest respect for his abilities and dedication and am confident that he is going to serve the federal judiciary well for many years to come." Antonin Scalia: "Patrick's work ethic and scholarship as a law clerk were at the top of the class or else I would not have brought him to the Supreme Court with me." Samuel Alito: "Pat served as reporter to the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure when I served as chair...He did tremendous work for the committee. I am sure he will be an excellent district court judge."  JACK SETTERLUND [1965]: A Duluth lawyer and former host of Almanac North, a public affairs program on WDSE-TV channel 8. Jack is also an actor appearing in a number of Renegade Comedy Theater shows and also with the Duluth Playhouse. Jack played a newspaper reporter in the 1994 Walt Disney movie Iron Will.  MIKE D. SIMONSON [1975]: Mike has worked in broadcasting for decades. Some of the stations include WSSU-FM, KDAL-AM, KUWS-FM, WSOC, WCNC-TV, and Wisconsin Public Radio. Mike has worked both as a reporter and a news director. He has covered five U.S. Presidents during his career. Simonson has won a number of awards including an Armstrong Award for undercover reporting, a Public Radio News Director award, an Edward R. Murrow Award handed to him by Walter Cronkite, and the Radio-Television News Directors Association of the Carolinas Radio Journalist of the Year Award. While a student at Denfeld, Mike wrote for the Denfeld Criterion.  CRAIG W. SMITH [1976]: Craig has been the General Manager for the Duluth Huskies minor league baseball team since 2002. In the past, Smith has worked for the Duluth Parks and Recreation Department and as general manager for a magazine and book wholesaler.  WALLY SMITH [1943]: Smith was a record setting Denfeld football star who earned 141 points for his team durring his senior year. Smith frequently made sports headlines in the newspaper. Durring WWII, Wally joined the U.S. Marines. In 1943, he was the only survivor of those in his tank. Wally was awarded a Presidential citation and the Purple Heart. Due to his injuries, Wally was unable to play sports again, but did serve as a coach. Smith also was a former business owner. Wally died on Christmas Day 2008 at the age of 85.  PETER A. STAUBER (Pete) [1984]: Pete is a Hermantown City Councilor and a Duluth Police lieutenant. Pete was elected to the council and served from 2001 to 2004 and was later appointed to the Hermantown Council in 2009. Stauber is part owner of Stauber Brothers Sporting Goods in Duluth and once played hockey for Lake Superior State, the Adirondack Red Wings, and the Toledo Storm, and was a member of the 1988 NCAA Division I National Championship Hockey Team. In 1995, Pete survived an accidental gun shot to his head at a Duluth convenience store. A Minneapolis man was later charged with assault and reckless discharge of a firearm.  ROBERT T. STAUBER (Rob) [1986]: Rob played professional hockey for the LA Kings, New York Rangers, Washington Capitals, and Buffalo Sabres. Stauber played in the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals and is a two time AHL All-Star. In 1988, Rob became the first college goalie ever to win the Hobey Baker Award. Stauber served as a goalie coach for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers during their 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 NCAA National Hockey Championship seasons. Rob is the founder and president of Goalcrease Inc, a goalie training camp and is part owner of Stauber Brothers Sporting Goods in Duluth. While playing hockey for Denfeld, Stauber became a Minnesota High School All-State goalkeeper.  RUSSELL STOVER [1973]: Former Duluth City Council member. Russ served several terms in office.  JOHN STRONGITHARM [1977]: Current Duluth Fire Chief. John has also served as a fire investigator and as the Deputy Fire Marshal for the Duluth Fire Department. Strongitharm serves on the Board of Directors for the Minnesota State Fire Chiefs Association.  JAMES T. SULLIVAN [1921]: James was the only witness to the alleged rape of Irene Tusken on June 14, 1920. This controvercial accusation led to the famous mob lynching of three black men in Duluth. Tusken and Sullivan claimed that six black circus employees had held them at gunpoint and raped Irene while forcing James to watch. The police rounded up about a dozen suspects and held them at the old city police jail. On the evening of June 15, 1920, about 5000 Duluth residents forced their way into the police department and drug three of the suspects out and hung them from a light pole. National Gaurd troops had to be called in from Fort Snelling to control the riot. This story has been written about in many newspaper articles and in several books and has been featured in national television documentaries. There is also a web site and monument dedicated to the history of the lynchings. The Bob Dylan song Desolation Row begins with the line "They're selling postcards of the hanging...the circus is in town". This song referring to the Duluth incident, has been performed by Bob Dylan and the by the group Greatful Dead, and was ranked by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the "Greatest Songs of All Time".  DWIGHT A. SWANSTROM [1923]: Dwight was born in 1905 and was the owner of the Dwight Swanstrom Agency which sold insurance, real estate, and loaned money for mortgages. Dwight served 17 years in the Minnesota State House of Representitives. Dwight's grandfather, E.G. Swanstrom served in both the Minnesota House and Senate in the 1870's. Dwight died in late September 1978.  CARL A. SWENSON II [1937]: Carl was born in 1918 and attended both the Duluth Junior College and the University of Minnesota where he earned his Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree. Swenson then went on to spend 42 years working as a electrical and aerospace engineer for Honeywell where he designed control systems and instruments for the Space Shuttle and Apollo missions. Carl once served on the Anoka-Hennepin District 11 School Board where he helped to establish the Anoka Technical College and also served on the Brooklyn Park Planning Commission. Swenson was a historian who did research on Isle Royale National Park and helped to put the island's Johns Hotel on the National Register of Historic Places. Mr. Swenson died on June 16, 2004.  MICHAEL J. TALARICO [1971]: A Duluth lawyer who runs the Talarico Law Office. Mike also has been a Duluth City Councilor, president of SVCNDA, and serves on the Duluth Economic Development Authority (DEDA) board. Mike is married to former local TV news personality Maureen Talarico.  HERBERT TAYLOR [1947]: Herb was a Duluth television pioneer. After graduating from UMD in 1952, he began working at a local UHF TV station. He then moved on to KDAL (Now KDLH) Channel 3 where he was an on air personality until 1964. He played such local TV characters as "Mr. Ulysses X. Tolliver" and "Dr. Macabre". Walter Cronkite once asked Herb Taylor to move to New York and "help us define the future of television." Herb became a broadcast professor at Southeast Missouri State University. Herb also became an author & poet who wrote under the name of H.T. Clancy. Herb and his friend Fred Wyman started one of the first public access TV stations in the United States. Herb was once asked to appear before the U.S. Senate to provide an opinion regarding the impact of cable TV in America. Taylor was the former general manager of KRCU-FM Radio in Missouri. In 1980, Herb founded Red Letter Communications, a successful, multi-million dollar marketing & advertising company. Taylor was Red Letter's Creative Director until his death on March 19, 2004.  SANDRA J. VITOLO (Wilson) [1967]: Sandra served 28 years in the U.S. Air Force working her way up to Chief Master Sergeant. Sandra ran as a Republican for the Nevada State Assembly District 37 which serves the Las Vegas area. Sandra made headlines in Nevada in 2002 after contesting an election in which a Republican candidate lost to a Democrat by only 134 votes. About 160 Democrat votes were thought to be fraud. Two people were later charged in connection with the voter fraud.  JILMARIE HANN VONHENNCHEN (Jill Hann) [1981]: Sadly, Jill made headlines after being murdered in room 206 of the Viking Motel in Duluth. On September 5, 2000 Douglas Michael Edling, Jill's boyfriend, beat and strangled Jill and left her for dead in the motel bathtub. Edling was convicted of 2nd degree murder and is serving a 40 year prison sentence. Jill was only 37 years old when she died.  GARY L. WALLER [1963]: Brother of Roger Waller, Gary served as the St. Louis County Sheriff from 1986 to 1999 and as a Duluth Police officer for 21 years. Gary was one of the lead investigators on the scene of the famous Congdon double murder at Glensheen Mansion. Gary is a co-author of Will to Murder, a book about the Congdon murders. In 2005, Waller appeared on Court TV's Dominick Dunne's Power Privilege & Justice, an hour long episode about the Congdon Murders.  ROGER J. WALLER [1969]: Former Duluth Police Chief. Waller began working for the department in 1979. He served as a detective, a member of the Tactical Response Team and the Gang Strike Force, and seved as chief from 2003-2006. Roger also served as a deputy sheriff, several years as a U.S. Marine, and has worked with the Boys & Girls Club of Duluth. In 1999, Waller was injured while working as a police officer and later filed a lawsuit against the city for failing to compensate him for damages.  JOSEPH A. WEHMANEN [1987]: Evil is the only way to describe what Joe did. In late January 2001, Joe was at a motorcycle club in West Duluth. He got into a fight with Erik Schrieffer. Joe then used his truck to run over Schrieffer twice. The body got stuck to the bottom of Wehmanen's truck and was draged 80 yards. He then put the body into the back of his truck and later dumped the body into the St. Louis River near the Riverside/Morgan Park area. Two witnesses from the club told the police what had happened. The Minnesota State Crime Lab looked at Wehmanen's truck and were unable to find any blood. The Duluth Police then decided to take the truck apart. They found tiny spots of Schrieffer's blood on the truck. After confronting Wehmanen with the evidence, he confessed to the crime and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He is serving a 12 year term at Stillwater State Prison. The reason for the small prison term is because at that time the police still did not have Schrieffer's body and the two witnesses vanished. The two witnesses are still missing to this day. Schrieffer's body was found later that spring after the ice had melted. Court TV's Forensic Files devoted an entire show to the case. Former Denfeld police liason Scott Campbell was interviewed for the show. Campbell was the detective investigating the murder and was the one who arrested Wehmanen.  AMANDA WENBERG [1995]: Took part in the national MTV show Twelve Angery Viewers, and was a VJ finalist for The Music Video Network. "Mandy" can be seen locally as part of the Renegade Comedy Theater. WALTER L. WISKI [1935]: Served as Duluth Police Chief from 1957 to 1966. Wiski started with the Duluth Police in 1939 and for a short time in the early 1940's, served in the U.S. Air Force. Walter attended the FBI academy in Washington DC, graduating in 1955. Wiski passed away on June 24, 2009 at the age of 92. |