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Celebrating a Legacy: The Last Handshake Party

by Grace Becker, DSHA '17
On the evening of June 5, 2018, over 350 guests flooded The Quad and R.J. Fridl Commons to send President Ellen and Mike Bartel off in style. The Last Handshake Party, which celebrated Ellen’s 20 years as president of DSHA, highlighted her contributions to the school’s financial, spiritual, academic, and personal growth.

Guests were invited to leave personal messages of gratitude to Ellen and her husband Mike on written notes or in a video recorded by DSHA alum Sarah Kram, DSHA ‘18. Alumnae, parents, faculty, and staff thanked Ellen for her contributions to the DSHA community and to them personally, and many cited her as an influential role model in their own lives and in those of their daughters, as well.

The evening’s presentation featured tributes by Principal Dan Quesnell, Sr. Grace Mary Croft, SDS, DS ‘56, DSHA past Board member Mike Hansen, President-Elect Katie Konieczny, DSHA ‘92, and Mike Bartel. Each emphasized the legacy of strength, perseverance, and progress that Ellen leaves behind at DSHA, and thanked her for leading the institution to ever-increasing heights.

Ellen’s speech was brief – “after all, what’s left to say when you have left it all on the field?” she asked. A fitting answer, she suggested, was thank you. The trust of the Sisters of the Divine Savior and the leadership of the DSHA Board of Directors proved to be guiding lights for Ellen over the past 20 years, and she emphasized their role in creating the DSHA so many have come to respect and cherish. She then thanked students, parents, and alumnae, who make the investment in DSHA, see the return, and continually prove that a DSHA education is second to none. This education couldn’t be achieved without the Advancement department and outstanding faculty and staff members, who will soon be led by President-Elect, Katie Konieczny. “We have learned a lot from each other, and I have seen how strong and decisive of a leader you are,” said Ellen to Katie. “What a comfort it is for Michael and I to leave knowing with such confidence that you are the right woman at the right time to lead our fantastic school.”

She then proceeded to thank her husband Michael, who she credited with many innovations, initiatives, and improvements at DSHA within the years of her presidency. “He was truly the ‘secret sauce’ over these years,” she said. “He has always believed that more is possible.” To honor her husband’s contributions to DSHA, Ellen awarded Mike with the 2018 Emil & Freda Petrusek Award for Service to DSHA.

The accolades were not one-sided. Michael proposed the back hallway of the school be renamed Ellen’s Alley, to remind generations of girls, faculty, and staff of the woman who walked through it each morning to her office, steadfast and ready to embrace the day’s joys and challenges.
Though the obstacles loomed large and the goals were lofty, for Ellen, each day was a blessing. “Devotion to a mission larger than yourself is a privilege and truly a God-given gift,” she said. “That has been the essence of the last 20 years.”
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    • Ellen embraces Gaylene Townsley, mother of Brittany (Townsley) McCollum, DSHA '04, and Lindsey Townsley, DSHA '07.

    • Mike Hansen, past DSHA Board member, participant in the Last Handshake program, and father of daughters Rebecca (Hansen) Nelson, DSHA '00 and Mary Ellen (Hansen) Tighe, DSHA '08.

    • Ellen Bartel with Sister Virginia Honish, DS '55, and Sister Mary Jo Stoffel.

    • Ellen embraces her husband, Mike, after awarding him the 2018 Emil and Freda Petrusek Award for Service to DSHA.

    • Mike Bartel celebrates his wife's 20 years as DSHA's fearless leader.

    • Over 400 alumnae, community members, parents, staff, and faculty members attend the Last Handshake celebration.

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