Pierce College honors two Distinguished Alumni who grew up in Lakewood

The products that Kurt Fletter makes keep roller coasters rolling, help salmon negotiate river dams and, if all goes as planned, will prevent the Tacoma Narrows Bridge from toppling down in an earthquake. 

Meanwhile, L. Denice Randle is working to help promising youth achieve their dream of attending college – even if no one in their family has yet accomplished that feat.

Both Fletter and Randle grew up in Lakewood, and were honored this week as Pierce College Distinguished Alumni for 2013. The third Distinguished Alumni, Alan Kropf of Napa Valley, Calif., grew up in Puyallup and is now president of Mutineer Magazine, a fine beverage publication. (Read about Kropf in puyallup.patch.com.)

The college awarded the designation based on their professional achievements and community service. More than 100 people honored the alumni at a dinner Wednesday, April 17, at Pierce College Puyallup.

The trio began their higher education by earning an Associate in Arts and Science degree from Pierce College. Before Pierce, Randle and Fletter graduated from Lakes High School.

L. Denice Randle: "Really living the dream."

Randle, who still lives in Lakewood, is director of education and employment programs at Making a Difference in Community (MDC) in Tacoma. The education program offers college preparation services to low-income students who will be the first in their family to go to college.

“I’m really living the dream,” Randle said. “I love being in a position where I can really support staff in reaching our goal as an agency to promote self-sufficiency and remove individuals and families from poverty.”

Randle, 30, speaks from experience when helping students decide which college or university is the best fit. She earned master, bachelor and associate degrees from three institutions, both public and private, and later taught at Stadium and Foss high schools in Tacoma.

Randle flourished at Pierce, serving as president of the Black Student Union and earning strong grades. After paying for her first quarter of studies, she earned academic scholarships and financial need grants that covered the rest of her tuition for the next year and a half.

“It was an environment that was small enough to give me the undivided attention I needed in order to blossom and grow, identify my weak areas and really have an opportunity to nurture my strengths,” she said of Pierce.

Kurt Fletter: Started business in a closet

Fletter, 48, is co-owner of Power Plastics Corp., a fabrication company in Portland that incorporates robotics and computerized machinery to produce gears, sprockets and other industrial components out of high-strength plastic, polymer and composite materials.

The company's products span a variety of applications, from the wheels in roller coasters to the miles of earthquake abatement coils enmeshed in concrete pillars supporting the newest Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

One of its ongoing jobs is fabricating the drive systems that pull giant metal screens over dam turbines to protect young salmon on the Columbia River.

Fletter and his business partner John Yannello started the company in the closet of their rented house in Portland in 1992.  Today, the company employs 12 workers and grosses $3 million annually in sales, said Fletter, who lives in West Linn with his wife, Denise, and their three children. 

He credits Pierce College with providing him the educational foundation to go into business. Though dyslexia made learning tough for Fletter, the classes at Pierce were small enough to allow the personal interaction with teachers that Fletter needed. After Pierce, Fletter transferred to Central Washington University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1990. 

“Without Pierce College," Fletter said, "I’m sure I would not have been able to do a four-year degree.”

To read more about the Distinguished Alumni, go to: http://tinyurl.com/2013dalumni