St. Al's Queens Throughout the Years

In the excitement about our recent Winter carnival queen win, we reached out to past queens to catch up with them.

KRISTEN BROWN, MD, MMM, was crowned Winter Carnival queen in 1993. She graduated from MTU with a bachelor of science in biology/pre-med that same year. “When the president was ‘crowning me,’ I was draped in a huge and heavy blue velvet robe and handed two dozen red roses. He placed the crown on my head, but it was too big and slid over my eyes, and stopped at the bridge of my nose. I could not reach up to grab it because my hands were full. The audience laughed, as did I.”

As a student, Kristen was an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, lector and volunteer on the teen program. “I had a great group of friends who supported me in college and are still my friends today. St. Al's helped me in very formative years to build a foundation of integrity and confidence, backed by my faith and spirituality. MTU is a long way from home for most of the students. Having this guiding source, place of strength and worship is so valuable to young adults who are just learning to stand independently from the safety of their family unit.”

Kristen is the president of a regional medical group that is part of Trinity Health, located in West Michigan. She is a single mom of three teenagers who play soccer and basketball. She enjoys running and has completed seven marathons; her last was in Paris in 2016.

In 1996, LINDA (SIGEL) WEHNER was crowned Winter Carnival queen. She graduated from MTU in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in scientific and technical communications with a focus in environmental studies. She is married to her college sweetheart, Ron Wehner ’97 BS ME and they have four children ages 6 to 15. Ron was a Chapel Rat and Linda’s escort for the queen competition. Linda now is a stay-at-home mom.

While at St. Al’s she was in the music ministry, “often singing at all weekend Masses and Wednesday night ones, too.” She says St. Al’s is important to her for so many reasons. “I was confirmed there in fall 1997, and my hubby and I were married there in May of 2000. St. Al's helped make me into the person I am today.”

JEN BZURA-LANZAFAME, a 2005 chemical engineering graduate, was crowned Winter Carnival queen in 2002. She says winning was “spectacular since I never expected to win the competition. I loved celebrating in the St. Al’s basement afterward with friends, family, Father Larry and a live band. Being queen really showed me how spirited Michigan Tech students are and how much fun we have!”

Jen and her husband Jeff live in the San Francisco Bay area. She is an associate director for the Center of Operational Excellence in the R&D organization at BioMarin Pharmaceutical. She likes to bike, swim, lift weights, work on their new house, volunteer and travel.

During her time at St. Al’s, Jen was an altar server and helped with retreats. “St. Al's offered a great community for me which is really important when you are far away from home. I made so many great friends and still keep in contact with them.” She says St. Al’s is a place unlike any other on campus. “The sense of community and togetherness is evident from the first time you participate in an event and that feeling never goes away. St. Al's was always a very uplifting and joyous place full of amazing people.”

ST. AL'S QUEENS
1954.................Sandra Gendzwill
1960.................................Kay Ojala
1993........................Kristen Brown
1996..............................Linda Sigel
2002........................Jennifer Bzura
2019.............................Jill Poliskey