Chadron State honors retirees

They include Dr. Ronald Burke, professor of economics, and his wife, Mary, an office assistant for CSC’s graduate programs. Both retired in summer 2010.

The other two retirees are Jack Caswell, a custodian in Memorial Hall, and Gary Muenchau, a technician for heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

Dr. Janie Park, CSC president, presented a plaque to each of the honorees and thanked them for their years of service.

Information about each follows:

Mary Burke
Office Assistant II

Mary Burke retired as an office assistant for the Chadron State College graduate studies program in June of 2010. She joins her husband Ron among this year’s retirees who are being honored.

Burke began her employment at CSC in 1987 with a data entry position in the Reta King Library. The following year, she began working as an office assistant in the Graduate Program Office. Dr. Bruce Bartels was the first of five deans to whom she reported. The others were Dr. James Wright, Dr. Pat Colgate, Dr. David Welch and Dr. Margaret Crouse.

Prior to coming to CSC, she had been employed in the University of Minnesota’s Agricultural Economics Department. She also taught kindergarten at Sand Fork Public Schools and worked in its library.

Burke said she has enjoyed working with the variety of people, including “great faculty and fabulous deans” through the years.

“I have enjoyed getting to know so many people during this time. It seems that no matter where we go, we know somebody,” she said.

Burke was raised in southwestern Minnesota, where her father served as a postmaster and owned a Schwinn Bicycle dealership and her mother stayed home with five children. She graduated from Renville, High School in 1963.

Burke said she and her family often jokes about her father’s insistence upon his children having a strong work ethic.

“He made sure we always had a job, even if it was hoeing thistles out of someone’s potatoes or detasseling corn for the seed companies,” she said.

She attended the University of Minnesota, Glenville State College, West Virginia University and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in interdisciplinary studies from Chadron State in 2001.

Burke has been involved in the Our Saviors Lutheran Church since moving to Chadron. Since retiring she has enjoyed spending time with family, including their six grandchildren.

Their family includes son Andrew of Kearney, Neb., son Robb, and his wife Jill, of Brookings, S.D., and daughter Melissa Miskimins, and her husband Matt, of Chadron. The grandchildren are Kaylie, Brayden, Anika, Trinity, Jonathan and Tristan.

Dr. Ronald Burke
Professor of Economics

Dr. Ronald Burke has become one of Chadron State College’s most well-known faculty members during the past 23 years. He joins his wife, Mary, among this year’s honored retirees.

Burke arrived at CSC in August 1987 and stepped down from his post as professor of economics in July 2010. During that time, he served as the director of CSC’s Center for Economics Education.

Burke said the opportunity to teach economics and agricultural economics courses attracted him to CSC. He also liked the potential for research and community services, as well as the existence of the Center for Economics Education.

“I greatly appreciated the honesty, philosophy, vision and focus on high academic expectation of administrators and faculty of CSC during my campus visit in May 1987,” he said.

Burke’s work in the classroom has earned him the Burlington-Northern Teaching Excellence Award and the Outstanding Service to Chadron State College Award.

In addition, the Center for Economic Education received national affiliation with the National Council on Economic Education in 1997 and 2002.

He said students’ success on the economics portion of the national exit examinations conducted within the department is a source of pride.

Burke said he’s enjoyed teaching all his courses through the years, with some bias toward teaching the principles of micro, macro and survey economics, as well as agricultural finance and national agricultural policies.

He said the changes in his teaching discipline have been constant and dynamic with increased interest in economics by the general population. There also has been increased focus on the general environment and role of economics in solutions, positives and negatives, domestically and internationally.

Prior to coming to Chadron State, Burke worked one year as special assistant to the vice president of extension and public service for West Virginia University. His work experience also includes one year as visiting professor at Montana State University, 15 years as associate professor and director of the Community Development and Research Center at Glenville State College in West Virginia, and more than five years as research fellow and agricultural economist for the United States Department of Agriculture’s Economics Research Service at the University of Minnesota.

Burke is a native of West Virginia who graduated from Sand Fork High School in 1959. His degrees include a Bachelor of Science in agriculture and biology education, and a Master of Science in agricultural economics from West Virginia University in 1963 and 1964, respectively. He earned a doctorate in agricultural and applied economics from the University of Minnesota in 1970.

Burke said he was raised in a family of four in a small rural town on a small diversified farm. His mother was a 4-H Club and home demonstration agent with the West Virginia University Extension Service. His father was a school teacher and administrator, as well as a carpenter and painter.

As retirement continues, he plans to travel, do consulting work, spend time with family and friends and complete home projects. His hobbies include gardening and lawn work.

Their family includes son Andrew of Kearney, Neb., son Robb, and his wife Jill, of Brookings, S.D., and daughter Melissa Miskimins, and her husband Matt, of Chadron. The six grandchildren are Kaylie, Brayden, Anika, Trinity, Jonathan and Tristan.

Jack Caswell
Custodian

For those who have spent any time in Chadron State College’s Memorial Hall during the past decade, Jack Caswell is a familiar face.

Caswell, a custodian who has spent most of his years in CSC’s fine arts building before arriving on campus in 1997, is among this year’s retirees.

In addition to Memorial Hall, he’s had periods of service in the Student Center, the Nelson Physical Activity Center and Hildreth Hall.

In addition to common custodial duties, he has been called upon to help set up for the myriad of fine arts events in Memorial Hall. He said he’ll miss the people most.

“I’ve always considered the kids in the building to be like my kids and the people work there are like family,” he said.

Caswell was born in England and is a native of California. He served one tour of rescue and salvage missions for the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam Conflict. He served on the USS Current ARS 22, a diver-class ship.

“Whenever someone got shot down, we’d go in at any time, day or night, to do whatever rescue and salvage work needed to be done,” he said. “We also did underwater salvage if ships lost gear or went down.”

In addition to his military experience, he has studied at Los Angeles Trade Technical College and Pasadena City College.

He said he was lured to Chadron by his brother David, another CSC employee. Before becoming employed at CSC, Caswell worked in roofing construction and for farm implement dealers. He also had worked in maintenance at Pacific University of California.

Caswell has been a leader in collective bargaining for CSC’s support staff employees, serving as a negotiator for the past four contracts.

He said one of the first orders of business during retirement is getting healthy. He recently had surgeries on both hands, and had encountered issues with his heart.

Caswell is married to Pamela. Their family includes son Stephen, and his wife Leslie, of Chadron, and daughter Andrea who lives in California. Stephen is a maintenance repair worker in the CSC boiler house.

Gary Muenchau
HVAC Technician

Gary Muenchau has become a familiar face across the Chadron State College campus, as he’s one of the two employees who respond when people run into heating and cooling problems.

Muenchau, who earned a biology degree from CSC in 1979, brought four years of construction experience to the job when he was hired as a groundskeeper in 1984. After two months, he began a two-year stint working on CSC’s plumbing. After that, he stepped into his current role, working on heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

During one six-year stretch of that period, he was the only employee specializing in HVAC on campus. That changed when Scott Kadlecek transferred to HVAC from another CSC position in 2001.

Through the years, Muenchau has seen the campus go from hand-valve pneumatic regulation to digital controls for its heating and cooling. During his time, the campus has expanded use of its unique wood-fired system, including the implementation of a chiller unit.

Muenchau said he’s most enjoyed being able to work across the campus and getting to know people in every building.

“I know people in every building. It’s nice to be able to walk in to their offices and say ‘We’re here to fix your stuff,’” he said. “I’ve really enjoyed my time here and am thankful for the opportunity.”

Muenchau is a Chadron native who graduated from Platte Valley Academy, an Adventist school in Shelton, Neb.

His family includes two grown sons, Christopher of Chadron and Anthony of Sidney. He said the benefits of working at CSC attracted him to applying when his sons were small.

—Justin Haag, CSC Information Services