Centralight

37 centralight winter '10 Alumni News 37 centralight winter'14 Anson Family Atrium dedicated at events center CMU alumni Todd and Tim Anson possess a deep appreciation for the lifelong benefit an education provides. In late October, the brothers shared that appreciation with their alma mater by lending their generous support to the McGuirk Arena atrium. The area, now known as the Jack and Patricia Anson Family Atrium, was dedicated and named in honor of their parents. "My parents are living proof that 'Going to school is like walking through a magic door to your dreams,'" Todd Anson says, borrowing a quote from Nobel Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai. "That's exactly what happened to our family." CMU ties run deep in the Anson family. Jack enrolled at CMU on the GI bill after serving in the Navy in World War II. He met Patricia at CMU; she passed away in 2011. Jack graduated in 1950, Patricia in '47. They settled in Mount Pleasant and raised their family. All three sons, Todd, Tim and Steve, are CMU alums. Todd is an attorney and venture investor living near San Diego, and Tim is a certified public accountant in Washington, D.C. Todd's wife, Terri, and Tim's wife, Kristi, also are CMU graduates. "We celebrate one of Central Michigan University's most distinguished families as we officially dedicate the Jack and Patricia Anson Family Atrium," CMU President George E. Ross said during the ceremony. "We sincerely appreciate your unwavering generosity and leadership which has made the Anson Family Atrium, and so much more, possible here at CMU." Entrepreneurial alum wants to help students navigate campus Jay Peitsch arrived in Mount Pleasant in 2008 from the Saginaw area and tried to make his way around an unfamiliar campus and city. It took a while for him to get his bearings, and he found the campus maps helpful. But by his second year on campus, he wanted more information. So he went to work building his own navigation system. He and a business partner have since created a navigational app for Michigan State University and the city of Detroit; an app for CMU is set to launch in February. Back in '08 Peitsch envisioned a website that featured not only a map, but information about businesses, entertainment, nightlife and more. "But back then, the most advanced phone was the Palm Treo, so there really wasn't a market for it to be mobile." He graduated in 2009 and entered the investment world but wound up crossing paths with Dan Kerbel in 2012. Kerbel was developing a mobile application that would function the way Peitsch envisioned his website. They created Guidesmob and launched their first app for a college campus. More than 28,000 people have downloaded the Spartan App, featuring information about MSU's campus. The CMU app will be a free download for iPhones and it will be offered for the Android platform in fall 2015. • Ringing it in Sacred Heart Academy in Mount Pleasant marked its 125th anniversary on Sept. 2, with 125 bell rings, rung by CMU alumniJulie Theisen, '82, and Capt. Andy Theisen, '84. Delta Sigma Phi reunion CMU's Delta Sigma Phi fraternity members from the mid 1950s came together again this year, keeping up a tradition to meet every other year for more than four decades. PHOTO BY SHANNON MILLARD Julie Theisen, '82, and Capt. Andy Theisen, '84

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