Class Notes

I think that because the holidays are almost upon us there is very little news to report from our class this time. Please remember that our 50th will be coming up before you know it, so please plan ahead to join us in 2020! Plans are already being made for that time and we hope to see all of you then!

Kathi O’Neill sent this information regarding the endowment for the Talley Center for our upcoming 50^th. We know that mental health needs are a major concern in our country, and those attending college are often especially vulnerable and in need of our support. The Talley Center at Mary Washington offers crisis intervention, consultation, community referrals, and training and educational outreach programs. Back in the fall, we launched a fundraising effort to create the Class of 1970 50^th Reunion Endowment for the Talley Center. We hope you will join us in making a pledge and ensuring a lasting contribution from our class in honor of our upcoming 50^th Reunion. Be on the lookout for an e-mail that contains details for making your contribution.

Sandy Sayre is managing to stay very busy! She has finally retired for the third and last time (she thinks!) from teaching. Her time now is focused on raising her 3 grandchildren (ages 14, 16, and 18) since her daughter passed away in 2013, gardening, helping her husband with his business, and working with a volunteer group to help the homeless find housing and employment. The oldest grandchild is starting at Longwood this fall. She had NO luck getting her to visit UMC!! The youngest one, 14, will be attending the Science and Medicine Academy in Chesapeake, VA. Only 60 rising 9th graders were accepted from the entire city!! She is very busy with her church where she coordinates the landscaping of the church and is involved in the Food Bank. She also volunteers with the church’s pre-school program to help the children with gardening projects. In the fall, she will be volunteering at some of the public schools to help tutor in reading and whatever else they need.

Teresa O’Neil Sanders writes that she is now extremely involved with volunteer work and fundraising for her church and community. Her husband Don turned 70 this fall. They went to Africa in the spring with a tour that focused on farming in Africa. They took a safari which was a fantastic way to end the trip. She and Don have three grandchildren (8, 6 and 1) and they are a real blessing to them. Don is still working full time but has decided to downsize his farming operation which might give them more time to travel. Teresa adds that her time at MWC enriched her life.

I have managed to stay quite busy this year. In Feb. I went to Costa Rica with some girlfriends and I zip lined and white water rafted for the first time and hopefully not for the last time! In March my husband and I took a river cruise from Amsterdam to Vienna. I stay busy with our 4 grandchildren and thoroughly enjoy being a part of their lives. In Nov. I had a serious surgery in Phoenix but recovered in record time and I am now back at the gym and ready to travel again!

Please send news for the next edition!

From Gale Mattox: Gale A. Mattox Class of 1972 co-authored Coalition Challenges in Afghanistan: the Politics of Alliance, Stanford University Press, 2015. For 2016-17 she is a Woodrow Wilson International Center Scholar for a sabbatical year from the US Naval Academy where she teaches.

[Editor’s note: An outdated email address was listed in the print version of the Spring/Summer 2017 UMW Magazine. Please send notes for the Fall/Winter issue to the updated address: sherryhon2011@gmail.com.]

You never know when your path will cross with a fellow MWC/UMW graduate; it is a small world. I want to share with you a path I crossed this year. In September I had the honor to play for the funeral service of Caroline Melissa Mason Hoffman ’76. I didn’t know Melissa. I wish I had. This is her story. Melissa died suddenly on August 31, at the young age of 61 leaving a husband, children, grandchildren, and much more. Her degrees from MWC and W&M were in art history, and museum education. Her careers included art, writing, design, and real estate. It’s what she did in addition to all this that she will be remembered – it’s the ‘much more’. Throughout her adult life Melissa helped to found and operate programs for the homeless and under-privileged children in the Newport News, VA area. Included is a shelter program for the homeless and a free respite child day care program. Her final program implemented was ShoeLady.org, a Newport News based charitable origination dedicated to provide shoes to school children in need. She was a generous individual who believed in helping others.

Ann C. Salter – a history major continues to work as a consultant to museums and other not-for-profit organizations in the greater Rochester area.  Her principal project is the restoration of America’s oldest lighthouse structure (1822) on Lake Ontario: the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse, for which she’s helped raise $300,000 to date (http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=304). This on-going project recently was recognized by an “Award of Merit” from the Landmark Society of Western New York.  Information for the restoration comes from the National Archives and is coordinated with the National Park Service – so, it’s been an exciting project, which includes the fabrication of an historic reproduction of the Fresnel lens that was missing from the tower, as well as re-painting the entire stone tower with whitewash, the historic coating that’s been missing for over 100 years. With the new Fresnel, this lighthouse tower, out of commission since the 1880s, has been returned to “active duty” and is once again an official navigation light on US Coast Guard charts.  In fact, Ann moved to a condominium, right on the lakeshore, to be closer to the lighthouse and her work there.

Cynthia Howk writes: I continued on staff at the Landmark Society of Western New York, at which I reached my 40^th anniversary this past spring. This is always amusing, as I was a music major at MWC (but took lots of history classes), returned to New York State & completed my teaching certification, planning only to complete a 3-month project at the Landmark Society, before launching into a music education career.  I tell our interns that career paths can often turn out to be quite different from what you might have originally planned! Our regional historic preservation projects cover a 9-county area and with a new executive director, it’s really exciting to do new outreach and creative programming at an organization that’s nearly 80 years old (http://landmarksociety.org/). I had a nice surprise this past year, when colleagues told me I’d been elected as an honorary member of the New York State chapter of the American Institute of Architects, for the preservation and architecture work I’ve been involved with since joining the Landmark Society staff.  Music hasn’t vanished from my activities, however: I play violin in a  community orchestra & string quartet, am active in the local alumnae chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon music fraternity (I became a member at MWC), and, most recently, have become really busy with historic pipe organs & their restoration (which combines both my music and historic preservation interests).  In fact, the new pipe organ that was installed in the Episcopal Church in downtown Fredericksburg was designed/built by a Rochester organ builder & some of the pipes are re-cycled from an organ that was previously in a 19^th-century Rochester church (the church was demolished in the 1960s, but the organ pipes survived).  I visited that Fredericksburg organ & heard it played during our 40^th reunion weekend in 2013. I always enjoy reading the class notes & other info in the UMW magazine: am especially excited about the restoration of the Amphitheater!

Last summer, Margaret Murphey, April Tooke, Jackie Sobinski, Agnes Rollins and Debbi Sudduth spent a long weekend at Pat Powers’ River House in Tappahannock. This group has been getting together for about 5-6 years now, so Pat guesses it’s become an annual event!

Pat’s oldest son, Michael, got married in early October. He & his wife are in the process of buying a house in Woodbridge Va.

Pat met up with Jackie Sobinski and her husband, Leo Henderson, for some ice cream at Carl’s in early November as they were passing through Fredericksburg on their way home to Cartersville, Va.

We would love to hear what you’ve been up to! The next time you get that Alumni Office email, asking for class updates, take a few moments and email/snail mail me your news. I’d love to include your news in the next Alumni Magazine.

Alison Cross Denler wrote from Colorado that she is sorry to have missed the 40^th reunion, but hopes to make the next one. Her daughter and son-in-law had Emmalin Louise Royce in October 2015, making Alison a grandmother! They were stationed in Korea at the time and she flew over to spend 2 months helping out. They are back in the States stationed at Ft Leonard Wood, MO. Her younger daughter Rachel got married in October 2016 outdoors at the Denver Botanic Gardens, and then they went to Ireland for their honeymoon.

Dave Kitterman wrote that he is consolidating and downsizing. Smart man to stay ahead of the retirement curve! Carolyn Roberts and Lucy Dee Kinsey continued their tradition of participating in the annual Walk to End Alzheimers in DC in October since both of them lost their mothers to the disease. It has become a great bond for them. Lucy’s younger daughter Monica married Daniel Thomas in September. They had an evening wedding at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond. She and her husband Carrol are so happy for them.

Sue Sendlein Luscomb wrote that she and Rich are still in Germantown, TN. Their daughter Alicia joined her dad’s clinical psychology practice after finishing her pre-doctoral internship in NH. Alicia’s husband Dustin is a pilot with Delta Airlines and was recently promoted to captain. Sue’s daughter Ashton and her husband Zach are moving to London in 2017 for his job as a financial analyst. They are excited to be going and Sue is looking forward to visiting. Sue continues her involvement in Community Bible Study, P.E. O., volunteering at an inner city school, and working part-time in a fabric store. Rich continues to stay busy in his practice with no plans for retirement at this point.

Sharon Reel Fuhrmeister had a second grandchild, Coral Ann Mueller born in September 2016. She visited Mark and Mary Carroll Myers in St Petersburg, FL in April. She has a trip planned for Israel and New Zealand in 2017.

Ann Chryssikos McBroom is now a grandmother. Henry Oliver McBroom was born in September 2016 and she says he is very cute! Barbara Baylis Hinton is still in Fairfax. Her older daughter Laura is a captain in the Army and recently back from a year in Korea. Daughter Jackie is a cardiac perfusionist in Atlanta. Barbara’s husband still coaches volleyball and is working for the DOD at the Pentagon. She still works at the local elementary school, currently manning the front desk. She and her husband have taken in an international student from Lithuania who is a 6’8” basketball player. They’ve enjoyed getting back into high school sports and spending time with this wonderful young man.

My old freshman year roommate, Hannah Patterson Crew sent word that her younger daughter Emily is getting married in May. They are busily planning for that and Hannah said it doesn’t leave her any time to make plans to retire. She hopes to take a big, exotic vacation after the wedding! Barbara Bryant Zingg and her husband Rob of 41 years live in Harper’s Ferry, WV. Barbara teaches math at one of the local high schools and has recently completed her second masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction. Rob teaches special education at the cross town rival high school and plans to retire after this school year. Their elder son Jason lives nearby with his wife and son Josh lives with his wife in Ohio. Barbara has recently become active with projects with the West Virginia Department of Education . She was the only classroom teacher on the State Superintendent’s Commission on Assessment. In addition, Barbara was a key speaker on the statewide Academic Spotlight tour to address rigorous standards and academic excellence in West Virginia.

Carrie Bell Jacobus continues to teach and inspire students in chemistry. She loves her work and has won multiple awards for her teaching. She has 2 grandchildren with another one on the way. She is a fiber artist and tries to combine the science and art sides of her brain. She is staying home during the holidays in order to go into her studio and make art! Carrie is also writing a series of science books for young children. Lundy Baker Updike wrote that she and husband Jim and their youngest son Tom Updike ’17, traveled to Dubai for Thanksgiving to visit their oldest son Sam who is programming lighting systems for a new amusement park. They swam in the Arabian Gulf, visited the tallest building and biggest mall in the world and met people from all over the world. Their middle son Jim Updike ’13, bought a condo in Sterling, VA. Jim and Lundy will celebrate their 35^th wedding anniversary in January. Jim plans to retire in 2017 and they will take a trip to Ireland with the UMW rugby team in March as they close out their final year as collegiate parents.

Kathleen Chapman is still living in Tempe, AZ. Winter there is the best, she said, but summer not so much. She is going to retire when the academic year ends after 10 years of teaching and 11 years of working as a Speech and Language Pathologist Assistant. She is looking forward to “getting back to her life.” She works three days a week and takes care of her grandson two days a week. She loves taking care of him and gets to see her son Nick 2 mornings a week when she does. Nick is an Assistant Attorney General for the state of Arizona. He graduated in the top 2% of his class at the University of Arizona. Nick and his wife Allie are expecting their second child. Her daughter Emily received her master’s degree in psychology and works for Arizona Adult Mental Health as an administrator for Mercy Care. Kathleen and her husband Michael are approaching their 35^th wedding anniversary in March. Two summers ago she and Michael visited her college roommate from MWC, Nancy Sparks-Cresswell, in Oregon where she lives with her husband and three kids nearby. Nancy transferred from Mary Washington to the University of Oregon where she graduated. Last summer Kathleen and Micahel went to Rocky Mountain National Park in CO. This summer they’re taking the whole family to the beach at San Diego.

Joanna Pinneo wrote from Colorado that she received a Ted Scripps Fellowship in Environmental Journalism at UC, Boulder, Center for Environmental Journalism. She began in August 2016 and finishes in May 2017. Her project is reporting on Indoor Air Pollution in the Developing World. She is taking African Dance, Public Speaking, Science Writing and Narrative of the Self. She joined a group of photographers called Ripple Effect Images several years ago. It is a team of journalists who document the plight of poor women and girls and highlights the programs that are helping to empower them.

Yolande A. Long’s son Andrew Fallen married Allison Russell in August at the UVA chapel. They are both UVA grads. The groom’s brother Ross was the best man and the bride’s sister Meg was the maid of honor. Clare Stechschulte ’14 was also a bridesmaid. Melissa Baisch Face, ’78, the groom’s godmother attended the wedding. The newlyweds will live in Richmond where Andrew works at Capital One and Allison is with Environmental One. Henry and Madelin Jones Barratt’s son William and daughter-in-law Susanna had a daughter, Constance, in July 2016. She enjoyed teaching a sewing class to the elementary children at her church on Wednesday nights and also loves being with their grandchildren.

Janet McConnell Philips retired after 28 years as the White House Photo Archivist.  She plans to split her time between the Washington, DC, area and Essex, Connecticut.

Kathy Haffey Bova writes, “I saw Grace Matheny LaLonde at a dance studio in Poolesville, Md., on November 6. She invited me to join her in a LaBlast dance and fitness class led by Louis van Amstel, one of the dance pros from “Dancing with the Stars.” He was fantastic and we had a blast! (LaBlast is a partner-free dance and fitness class using a variety of ballroom dance styles.)”

Martha Harville performed as part of a choral group at the Holiday Concert of the 2nd Marine Division Band, Camp Lejeune, NC.

Vicki Sprague Ravenel got together with Craig (Skippy) Strickland Robinson, Pam Roberts Albrecht, Terrie Martin Dort, and Jo McTague Atkinson in Naples, FL, in May for their annual “goddess” reunion. Vicki writes, “It was a wonderful time, as always. And no catastrophic weather events like the 2015 Charleston trip! Lots of food, drinks, sunning and shopping and non-stop chatting and reminiscing! I’d also like to shout out a huge request to our class to make every effort to attend our 40th reunion in June!! As VP of Reunion, I’d be so proud if our class had a record attendance.”

I realize that I never include my own news when I compile Class Notes.  This year has had enough family news, some joyous and some sad, for me to send an update.  In December 2015, my daughter Mary married her longtime partner, Nicole Weir, in a beautiful wedding ceremony in Reykjavik, Iceland.  They had visited Reykjavik early in their courtship and decided they wanted to return for the wedding.  Then, in June, Mary and Nicole welcomed baby Nora, who has introduced me to the joys of grandmotherhood!  And, finally, sadly I lost my mother the end of October.  She had suffered with Alzheimer’s for about six years and took a turn for the worse this summer.

Thanks to those who sent in news.  Don’t wait for a reminder from the Alumni Office; feel free to send your news to me any time and I will compile for the Class Notes deadlines.  I hope to see all of you at Reunion Weekend in early June!  If you are on Facebook, we have a Class of 1977 group and are posting reunion updates and Mary Wash memories.  The page address is https://www.facebook.com/groups/278807489139057/ or you can send me an email and I’ll add you.

I heard from Pamela Brown and she shares some of her travels. According to Pamela, “Our mothers tried to warn us~ time speeds up as you age, and this year has flown by. The passing of some good friends reminds us to enjoy life as much as possible as we go along… so while I do the occasional 75 hr week in application support, I also make sure to take ALL of my vacation days.  The biggest batch this year was used in May for cruising on Carnival Vista’s inaugural journey out of Trieste, to Croatia, Montenegro, Greece (Athens & Crete), Malta, Italy (Sicily, Rome, Florence), Marseilles ( with tour/tasting at Chateauneuf du Pape vineyard), and ending in Barcelona in time to join the street celebration of team Barca winning an all-Spain championship. My roomie on this trip was a cruisepal who lives in Edinburgh – Scotland, not VA~ hadn’t seen her in years, and we enjoyed hanging with my many office friends who were also enjoying the inaugural cruise.

I still had enough leave left for a long weekend for the opening of Ortanique restaurant at the Cliff Hotel in Negril Jamaica.  A handful of friends & I are great fans of Chef Cindy Hutson and her partner Delius Shirley (and dine at Ortanique in Coral Gables at least once a month), so we were very happy to see a LOT of positive press coverage for them.

And then there was Fantasy Fest in Key West… Halloween for adults.  While what happens at Fantasy Fest stays at Fantasy fest~ I will admit I stopped well short of going the body-paint route. But I highly recommend it for anyone who still has ‘body issues’ – you will see bigger smaller wider thinner taller shorter and EVERYONE is having a fabulous time.  I was with a handful of friends in a group theme, and we came in 4^th at Sloppy Joe’s costume contest.

Thanksgiving was spent quietly with a few friends – and then the town exploded on Black Friday with news that Fidel Castro was dead {some pointed out the irony of prime socialist passing on the most capitalistic of ‘holidays’). I think some Cuban friends are still celebrating down at Versailles restaurant ;->  Between that and a new president, it will be interesting to see what happens in the coming year (Folks might want to take advantage of Fathom cruises or flights to Havana soon, just in case we go back to embargo-era tactics!)  Whichever way the wind blows – I wish all the best to my friends!”

Allen Nichols Scott, Darrhea Pierce Donlavage, Mary Jane (MJ) Ford Johnston and I gathered in Annapolis on Saturday, November 5, for lunch and conversation. Although I was reported as the party pooper and had to leave for a Capitals game that night, MJ gave Allen and Darrhea a tour of the Eastport area of Annapolis after which they adjourned to MJ’s house for a crab quiche dinner and sleepover.

Luisa Freeman has been in the energy efficiency (now climate change) industry since graduation, and is a senior principal consultant at DNV GL. She has worked for utilities and government agencies around the world, from Thailand to Dubai to Barbados. She and her family – husband Joe Preston and son Sam Freeman Farvardin – are now relocating to Nashville, TN where Luisa will be supporting a project for the Tennessee Valley Authority. She is sad to be leaving the DC area, friends and family after a 25-year stint, but is also looking forward to going back to the hills of Tennessee where she completed her graduate degree. Son Sam (age 20) is a talented glass blower and is working toward a degree in scientific glass. Husband Joe continues to fly (where they met 10 years ago) around the country in his tech industry career. If you find yourself in Music City, Luisa says to please look her up!

Parker Curlee wrote, “After years of reading alumni notes, I decided to share my post-graduation activities. After graduating, I attended William & Mary’s MBA program. After professional stints in Chicago and Philadelphia, I’ve lived in Richmond since 1984 and am married to Lisa, a 1978 graduate of Radford University. I’m President of Guarantee Insurance Services and have a daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, who is on track to graduate from Longwood University this coming spring with a degree in English Literature. I’ve kept up with Ron Bennet who is living his dream retirement in central Florida.”

Margaret Kay Watson Stone emailed, “I keep saying I am going to send in some news then in a blink of an eye, I am off in another direction. I do enjoy reading our class notes each time the magazine arrives. My husband, Tim, retired from the U.S. Navy in 1995 and we settled in Auburn Alabama. He is an Auburn University NROTC graduate and we like being in a college town. I worked in the Planning Department for the City of Auburn for 10 years and then took a position with Auburn University Museum of Natural History. I currently coordinate the outreach activities for the museum including 30+ conservation-based education programs in east central Alabama rural schools each year. It is very rewarding and I learn something new constantly as I am surrounded by faculty and graduate students conducting amazing research. I share my office with a small zoo of mostly reptiles and often foster animals that college students obtain and then lose interest in. My best to all our classmates!”

Linda Reynolds Thornton, who is Associate Director for Business Systems Analysis for UMW, shared some sad news about a Class of ’79 member, Anne Meaney Leckie ’78 said that Elizabeth “Liz” Greathouse passed away in March 2016 in Washington, DC.

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From Victoria Humphreys: I am pleased that Frank has retired after 33 years at UPS.  He has started a new career as General Manager of Built to Last outdoor furniture in Moyock, NC.  This will be our first Christmas in 33 years where he’ll be around to enjoy the holidays with us!  Our daughter, Meredith, is a Special Education teacher in Campbell County, Virginia.  I expanded my firm and hired an Associate two years ago as part of my slowing down/retirement plan. She enjoys the practice of family law as much as I do.  I have been in touch with Sally Harrison Higgins a lot in the last few years and she continues to be busy with her own company, Higgins Resources, but is also branching out in other directions.