Following graduation from Fergus Falls High School in 1964, Barbara Caspers attended Ancker Hospital School of Nursing, St. Paul, earning a diploma in nursing in 1967. After 10 years of practice, at what is now Regions Hospital, she earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing from Minnesota State University Moorhead. She was then accepted into the graduate program in Nursing and Healthcare Administration at the University of Colorado. Barbara’s first role out of graduate school was a senior health planning position with a bistate regional health planning agency of which she would become the Chief Executive Officer. In this role, she was able to work with a diverse board representing twenty counties in Minnesota and North Dakota with a focus on improving the population health status. Barbara then started developing policies for health care associations and even worked with the American Medical Association and American Hospital Association through their strategic planning processes. From 2003-2014 she was Catholic Health Initiatives first National Director for Nursing Research and Practice, and the first Vice President of Nursing Operations. In 2013, Barbara received the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) Innovation in Technology Award. Barbara has been a nursing instructor at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Bethel College, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Concordia College – Moorhead, and Albuquerque Technical-Vocational Institute. Barbara retired in 2014, but she continues to provide services as an independent healthcare executive and management consultant.

Eric Newell (’92) is the CEO and co-founder of Stoneridge Software, a business technology consulting firm that has grown to be one of Microsoft’s Top 10 business application partners. Since starting Stoneridge in 2012, Eric has led the organization from a team of three to a team of 250 with a vision anchored in business excellence and a determination to serve clients with a strategic, solution-focused approach. They were recently named to the INC 5000’s fastest growing companies for the 9th year in a row, a feat only achieved by one in two million businesses. In addition to Stoneridge, Eric co-founded Levridge, an agriculture-focused software company where he serves as the Chair of the Board and his wife, Becky, serves as President. He is also an adjunct instructor for the University of Minnesota Morris where he teaches a class on Entrepreneurship. Eric graduated with majors in Management, French and Economics from the University of Minnesota Morris where he served as the Student Body President for his junior and senior years. He worked in Fergus Falls out of college at Great Plains Natural Gas Co. He left to join Microsoft in 1999 and spent 13 years working on support and consulting for business applications products. Eric and his wife, Becky, lived in Barnesville, MN for 26 years where he served on the school board and was active in the community. They now split time between Fargo, ND and a lake house in Western MN. They have two daughters (Katie and Amelia) who attend St. Thomas University in St. Paul, MN.

Mark Solie grew up in Dawson, MN (pop. 1500) in Lac Qui Parle County. Both of his parents were school music teachers. Dad worked with the older students while Mom worked with the younger students. When Mark was in third grade, he remembers listening to them talking about restarting the orchestra program. Many small towns had let their orchestra programs lapse after World War II. Both Mom and Dad were string players so it was a considered decision. The next year, Mark started playing the cello and in fifth grade, he badgered his dad into starting the oboe as well. In Dawson, everybody was in everything: music, sports, plays, speech, musicals and more. After high school graduation, Mark went on to Carleton College and then the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis for his teaching degree. He did a lot of subbing in the metro area after that and it turned out that music classes were the hardest! His first contract job was a year-long appointment in the St. Cloud School District where he taught general music, elementary orchestra and middle school orchestra. Then he taught elementary orchestra for two years in Osseo, followed by eight years in the Anoka-Hennepin School District teaching elementary orchestra and directing the Blaine High School orchestra. Around 1990, a job opened up in Fergus Falls, just when he and his wife, Rebecca Petersen, were looking for schools for their daughters in the metro area. Fergus Falls could not have been a better place for both of them, but especially their special needs daughter, Mara. Mark and his wife, Rebecca, have been married for 41 years and have two daughters. Sarah is a research biologist at Princeton University and Mara lived almost 38 years through the careful and kind attention of all of Fergus Falls.

Norm Newell earned his BA degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. He worked for the IRS for 35 years, with 30 of those years in management. He retired in 2008, receiving the Gallatin Award for Distinguished Service. Starting in 1982, Norm coached youth basketball with the Fergus Falls Backcourt Club for 19 years, serving as Program Director for many years. He was an assistant boys’ basketball coach at Fergus Falls High School for two years, then assisted the girls’ basketball program for four years. He wrote sports stories for area sports publications during his coaching years. Norm assisted the boys’ tennis team for five years and was the Head Coach for three years, leading the team to its highest ever 4^th place finish at the State Tournament in 2014. He was the Head Coach for varsity girls’ tennis in 2010 and 2011, coming back to assist the girls’ tennis program in 2020, where he still serves. Norm was a founder of the Fergus Falls Community Tennis Association Booster Club, leading their fundraising effort for four new courts that were donated to FFHS for varsity tennis. He has been teaching summer youth individual tennis lessons for over 20 years and was named Fergus Falls High School’s Assistant Coach of the Year for 2025.