Oklahoma Wesleyan University

ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR

Sam Susuras

Sam experienced the three most stressful events in life, moving to a new location, changing jobs, and losing a spouse simultaneously in Oct 2001. He had accepted a new position in another part of Colorado. His wife, Marilyn, stayed in Denver to sell their home there. However, Marilyn suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. Sam was agonizing over the loss of Marilyn and all the decisions. He was lying in bed looking at the foot of the bed when a bright but indistinct figure passed by the foot of the bed and disappeared. Immediately his mind was clear and he had perfect peace. He was able to make plans for the funeral, decided to go ahead with the move to a new house and a new job. Sam said “God has displayed this kind of Mercy to me all through my life. His Grace is sufficient in all my experiences in life”. Psalm 23 describes Sam’s entire spiritual life experiences. It is only six verses long but he has experienced all the Psalm describes including walking through the valley of the shadow of death, but God was with him. Sam sees his years at Colorado Springs Bible College as the time God poured the concrete into the frame for the foundation of his spiritual life. It was at CSBC that he came to believe that the Bible is the inspired work of God. Sam has remarried and enjoys bikes, fishing, golfing, hiking, playing catch, shooting hoops and just hanging out with his grandson.

YOUNG ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT

J. David Joyce

Dave graduated from OWU in 1994. He graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1999 with a law degree, and was admitted to the bar in May 2000. He held several different positions in the field of law but never found fulfillment. With the help of friends, family and God, he was able to find an almost complete convergence of his education in law, his passion for adoption, and his purpose of bringing families together.
He is an attorney who handles almost exclusively adoption cases. He focuses on foster children under the supervision of the Texas Department of Child Protective Services. Every year he brings together hundreds of new families. Family is a big word in Dave’s life. He is the eldest of 13 brothers and sisters, 11 of whom were adopted. Dave carried his role of big brother well and was quick to dismiss common misconceptions about his adopted family explaining that they were all his “real” brothers and sisters. He was their hero and champion in the face of a culture that often lacked proper guidance about the dynamics of his family. He and his wife, Sherry, are the proud parents of four children. Three of his children are adopted. They attend Collin Creek Community Church in Plano Texas where Dave sings on the worship team and is a member of its performing arts department. It becomes easy to find Dave’s passion when the conversation turns to the children in his life. Their number is far greater than the four at his house, or the 13 with whom he matured. This extends beyond the hundreds that he has helped join new, loving families. The number of children expands well beyond that to the foster children who are still waiting for the day to come when he can turn to them and say, “Welcome to your new family.”

ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Tim Votapka

Tim was born and raised in northwest Kansas and is fiercely proud of his rural heritage. Although his father and mother were in the medical profession, it was not a chartered course or a “calling” for Tim. He became a physician almost incidentally. He attended Bartlesville Wesleyan College in 1975 and discovered his interest in science. He then entered the University of Kansas majoring in Chemistry. After two years and a grant proposal rejection, his research director suggested taking the MCAT exam. Four years of medical school later, Tim thought about becoming an Urologist. Early in his first year of residency, he rotated through the cardiothoracic surgery service. It was then he realized that he had found a career. He completed five years of General Surgery Residency at the University of Kansas and then went to Northwestern University in Chicago for a three year residency in Cardiothoracic Surgery. He then went on to do a one year fellowship in Heart Transplantation at St. Louis University. After staying on the faculty at St. Louis University for three years, Tim returned to Chicago to enter private practice in 1995. He has authored/co-authored numerous Papers that have been published, in press, or accepted for publication in peer reviewed journals. Tim is a member of several professional societies, including the American Heart Association and the American Medical Association. Tim is married to Laurie and on January 14th, 2003 God gave them the gift of a little boy, William Jennings Votapka. After all the years of formal education Tim feels like he is just beginning to learn. “Anything I know about medicine that is truly important, I learned from my mom and dad. I would hear my dad go out in the middle of almost every night to make house calls and I learned the importance of dedication. I would see the comfort patients experienced from his gentle touch or his words and I learned the importance of compassion. I could see the pain in my mother’s eyes when she told stories of some lonely elderly patient she was taking care of in the nursing home and I learned the importance of empathy. Every day I watch my wife take care of my son and I learn patience and the importance of family and spiritual growth. She has taught me how to prioritize my life. She clearly is the strength of our marriage. The active, inquisitive, and occasionally ornery 5 year old that lives with us is clearly his father’s son. He has shown me over and over what I have been doing wrong for the last 51 years and constantly inspires me to do better. He has taught me how to forgive, how to laugh and to appreciate the little joys of life.” Life is a circle. No matter how far you wander in life it always brings you back home. The wheat fields and pastures of western Kansas are still my home. The values of those people are still my values. This is who I am.

OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO OKWU

Alice Adee

Alice Adee grew up on a farm in Kansas. She is grateful to her parents for their dedication to sharing God’s word with their children. Alice accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior at nine years of age. After her high school graduation, she moved to Lincoln, Nebraska where she worked for the Veterans Administration and then at the Lincoln Children’s Clinic. In 1959, Alice married her high school sweetheart, Richard Adee. The couple relocated to Bruce, SD to continue Richard’s beekeeping business. Through the years, Alice and Richard worked together to grow their business from a few thousand hives to the largest beekeeping operation in the country. They were blessed with two sons and a daughter. Alice is actively involved in the Brookings Wesleyan Church, serving on the church board, as Sunday School teacher, YMWB teacher, Wedding Coordinator, Christmas Decorating Chairman, Kitchen Chairperson and youth sponsor. Alice has always had a heart for young people, encouraging many to seek Christian education, including her three children. For the past four years she has served on the Wesleyan General Board. She was instrumental in the founding of the Brookings Christian Women’s Club where she held numerous positions. Alice has a degree in Interior Decorating from the LaSalle Institute. Her projects include the Brookings Wesleyan Church and the Kihei Baptist Church in Maui, Hawaii. Alice’s passion for design led her to open a boutique in Watertown, SD. She also owns and manages Adee Apartments. Alice currently serves on the Oklahoma Wesleyan University Board of Trustees, the Brookings Retirement Center Advisory Board and as Building Decorating Coordinator for the Kihei Baptist building project.