When The Clarkston News ran features on Clarkston High School graduates and their current careers, we received great feeback. It motivated our staff to seek out even more.
So, here’s a bonus edition of ‘Where Are They Now??

Dan Fife
Dan Fife’s life would be easy to turn into a board game. His numerous achievements would be easily transformed into colorful spaces dotting a 55-year journey. Most important, as all good board games do, Fife’s journey has come full circle and placed him where all his exploits began.
‘Even though the traffic has gotten worse (in Clarkston) the roots are the same. As big as we have gotten, the community support has always been here,? said Fife.
Fife moved to Clarkston with his family in 1957 at the age of eight. His athletic excellence earned him a full scholarship to the University of Michigan where he played basketball and baseball.
In 1971, having almost completed a degree in physical education and social science, Dan was drafted by the Detroit Tigers. That same year he married his high school sweetheart, Jan. The two had been dating since Fife was 15.
Fife played in the Tigers farm system until 1973 when he was traded to the Minnesota Twins.
‘I was a thrower, some people call them pitchers,? said Fife.
He made the big leagues with the Twins in 1974 but spent 1975, on the disabled list.
After his stint with the Twins, Fife became an assistant basketball coach for U of M, a position he held for three and a half years. In the end, the non-stop travel of being a baseball player and coaching a major college program started to catch up to him. For his family, he came back home.
‘I had been traveling for five years. My oldest son had just been born and it seemed like I was never home to see him,? said Fife.
Having moved back to Michigan, Fife partnered in a golf business venture and took on the role of ninth grade basketball coach in 1981. He was named Clarkston’s head basketball coach for the 1982-83 season, a role he has held ever since.
‘I always felt when I was at U of M that I had the strong support of Clarkston. That closeness of the community is what made me want to come back,? said Fife.
In 1994, the school district made him the athletic director of CHS.
His three sons, Dugan, Jeremy and Dane are all grown. Dugan and Jeremy work in the financial world, while Dane is finishing graduate school at Indiana as a graduate assistant coach.

Mark Reene
When Mark Reene attended Clarkston High School, he did not envision a career as a county prosecutor, but he believes he received good preparation just the same.
A 1981 Clarkston graduate, Reene earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan in 1986, then worked for a manufacturing firm in Chicago for three years.
Reene decided to go a different direction, earning a law degree from George Washington University in 1992. He deliberately aimed for a job as a criminal prosecutor.
‘I refused to do the defense stuff because I knew it would be a waste of my time,? he said.
After some time with the U.S. Department of Justice, he passed the Michigan bar exam and became an assistant prosecutor in Tuscola County in 1993. He won election as prosecutor in 2000, and just won reelection to a second term.
‘I was always interested in public service,? Reene said, and he now considers himself ‘one of the few and fortunate. I get to do something I love.?
Clarkston High School ‘gave me a leg up on a lot of other individuals,? he said, noting how he gained entrance to the honors program at U of M. ‘I was very well prepared to handle the college curriculum.?
Reene ran track and cross country at Clarkston, and has great memories of support received from the faculty. ‘A lot of the teachers went the extra mile to help students.?
Like many who grew up in Clarkston, Reene has noticed the changes in the community.
‘Clarkston was still in large part a country area? when he was in school. ‘Now it’s just part of the continuum from Detroit.?
Reene is coming through another ‘major event? in his life: recovery from testicular cancer. Having been diagnosed last August, he has come through chemotherapy and surgery and enjoys a good prognosis.
A great admirer of Lance Armstrong (who had the same type of cancer), Reene said he took great encouragement from the cyclist’s example and now tackles his job with even more commitment.
‘A person’s perspective changes,? he said. ‘It becomes magnified when you go through an experience like this.?

Marc Molzon
Marc Molzon moved to Florida after graduation from Clarkston High School in 1981.
He quickly moved back to Clarkston.
‘I really didn’t like it there too much,? said Molzon, who has also traveled around the country in his job as a glazier. ‘I really enjoyed California and Hawaii, but I haven’t moved there yet.?
Part of the reason he enjoys staying in the northern climb may come from his fond memories of being on the Clarkston High School ski team.
‘We had a lot of fun doing that,? he said, especially noting the team’s district championship.
Molzon doesn’t remember the exact motivation for joining the team. He and some friends, ‘just joined,? he said. ‘We really wanted to be racers.?
Now he enjoys annual ski trips to Colorado to ski there. In the meantime, he really enjoys his job with Plymouth-based American Glass and Metals Corporation. As an installation foreman, Molzon has worked on high rise buildings such as Ford Field, the Detroit One building, Guardian World Headquarters and Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak.
‘The work changes every day,? he said.
With two children now attending Clarkston High School, Molzon sees first hand some of the differences from when he was in high school.
‘It’s amazing how many kids are there,? he said.
Elizabeth Stalker
Elizabeth Stalker, a 1997 graduate of Clarkston High School, has been singing since the young age of three. She recorded her first album at age five and has been singing ever since.
Shortly after graduation, Stalker put all her focus into her singing. She performed in coffee shops and any other place that would showcase her talent. She and her husband Noel even formed a band called ‘Lady and the Tramps,? which played jazz.
Stalker said she enjoyed her time with ‘Lady and the Tramps,? but she wanted to further her career.
She eventually began writing with lyricist Allan Goetz and realized she had a natural way of writing music. In the one year Stalker and Goetz knew each other, they had written eleven songs.
Now, Stalker has a full length album, a music video and sings every Thursday at the Clarkston Cafe. Most recently she auditioned for ‘Nashville Star.? Stalker was the only candidate from Michigan to go on to regional, placing her with 74 other finalists out of 15,000. She is back home in Auburn Hills, but will never forget Clarkston.
‘I miss the community and my family,? said Stalker. ‘It’s a beautiful town with a lot of memories.?
Look for updated performance schedules by visiting www.bethstalker.com.