Class Notes

Barbara Forgione Tansey and husband Bruce welcomed their first grandchild, a boy, born to daughter Lisa and husband Eric in March 2012. A month later Barbara and Bruce learned that Bruce had stage-4 cancer, and he passed away in June. Barbara plans to relocate to Chesapeake, Va., to be near Lisa and her grandson. Our sincere condolences go to Barbara.

Gaye Gregory Elliott enjoys retirement with husband Stephen, taking classes and attending lectures around Richmond, and exploring her family history. When she sees Mick Jagger she reminisces about my dad driving us to Washington, D.C., for a Rolling Stones concert. We could see them, but we couldn’t hear them with all the screaming!

Ellen Grace Jaronczyk of Williamsburg hosted a large Thanksgiving family gathering. Her parents relocated to a nearby facility that offers more care, and Ellen hoped to have more time for adult literacy tutoring.

Gretchen Gregory Davis and husband Gene sold their Chesterfield, Mo., home and moved to an apartment in St. Charles. They purchased a larger condo in Summit County, Colo., and plan to relocate there with their cat and two yellow Labs after renovations are completed this summer and Gene’s planned July retirement. Gretchen serves on her HOA board in Colorado while winding down volunteer work in Missouri. Son Greg completed a graduate-level program his company offered and was selected as a lead engineer on the project he was working on.

Anne Sommervold LeDoux and husband John welcomed grandson Sean, born in August to son Justin and wife Cari, who moved into a new home in December. Anne and John’s other son, Matt, and wife Shannon live in Arizona, where their daughter, Grace, is in kindergarten and their son, Cash, 2, goes to a Montessori school. Anne traveled to Tanzania and spent time in the Serengeti photographing wild animals in January 2012, and she traveled around Israel in October. John continues to do consulting work, help at church, and play golf.

In spring 2012, Patricia Piermatti took a Victorian Society trip to Wilmington, Del., to tour the Alfred I. duPont Nemours-Mansion and Gardens and Joseph Shipley’s Rockwood estate. Last fall, Pat attended the annual Victorian Days celebration in Belvidere, N.J., and took her annual trip to southwest Florida, where she visited the Ringling Museums in Sarasota, saw her first live Nutcracker performance by the Miami City Ballet at the Naples Philharmonic Center, and heard a piano performance at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall.

Susan Duffey DiMaina, a retired high school English teacher, still substitute teaches. She serves on the board of a nonprofit that serves a Zambian village, volunteers at a community food site, and sits on the board and maintains the website for her Northern Virginia neighborhood’s civic association. Husband John works at the International Monetary Fund. Daughter Caitlin graduated last year from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., and was working with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in L.A. to help provide housing for the homeless.

Faye Carrithers Roberts and husband Claude moved to northern Florida in 1984, and Faye began library work in 1985. They celebrated their 40th anniversary last year and have five grandchildren. While speaking to library groups as executive director of the Florida Library Association, Faye reconnected with Athene “Tena” Poulos Harris and met Jody Campbell Close ’60.

I lost my mom in December, barely seven weeks after losing my dad. They were both WWII veterans, and their cremains will be interred in Arlington National Cemetery later this year.

Everyone who writes tells me how much they enjoy reading about classmates. So consider adding me to your Christmas newsletter list, and drop me a line about places you’ve visited, your hobbies and interests, or anything in your life.

By the time you read this article, our 40th reunion will be a memory. Thanks to Janet Hedrick and Sharon Richmond Janis for serving as our reunion class representatives. Keep those emails, cards, and letters coming!

Rod and I will celebrate our 30th anniversary in June and plan a trip to Belize to snorkel, kayak, fish, and drink delicious rum concoctions. We also look forward to our annual week of R&R with family in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. I helped at a florist shop for Valentine’s Day and started painting classes in the fall. I was looking forward to chatting with classmates, including Virginia Davey Addison, Anne Bevins Cooper, and Jeanne Coats Black, at the March reception for the Richmond Alumni Network.

Susan Regan of Virginia retired from a career in education as a teacher, principal, and director of personnel. She is secretary of her condo association. Last year she took a cruise to Alaska and visited Seattle. Ruth Siko retired from Roanoke City Schools. Debbe Heiman-Hughes lives in Northern Virginia. Bambi Creighton Willis is rector at St. Asaph’s Episcopal Church in Bowling Green, Va.

Mary Driehaus Schwem is director of academic services for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s campus in Cheyenne, Wyo., where she’s lived since 1984, courtesy of the Air Force. Husband Bill retired in 1994. One of their daughters works for the law library at Ohio State and one is a nuclear engineer for Idaho National Laboratory. Their son works for the National Institutes of Health in the Philippines.

Sharon Richmond Janis planned to retire after nine years as innkeeper at the Delaware Inn at Rehoboth and relocate to Greensboro, N.C. Barbara Lee Brand’s son was to marry in June in San Francisco, and another son and his wife were to come from London for the festivities.

Thanks to all who contributed to this issue. Keep sending updates on yourself and classmates.

Class of 1974, we know you’re out there doing great, exciting things, and we want to hear about them more frequently than every five years at reunions. Start planning now for our 40th, coming up in May 2014, and let us know what you’d like to do.

Missie Carpenter lives in California and doesn’t see many classmates, but she travels to Virginia to look after her aging mother. She stays in touch with Cynthia Gorwitz of Fayetteville, N.C., whose twins were to graduate from high school this year. When Missie visited her brother in Florida in January, she spoke to Linda Kier Hertler, who lives near Miami, still teaches school, and scuba dives.

Missie said Mary Tulipane was in a serious car accident last July and passed away in August as a result of her injuries. Mary and Missie’s fathers were in the Marine Corps together, and their families were longtime friends. Mary majored in psychology, lived on campus her first two years, and then moved to an off-campus apartment. She had children Catherine and David and worked for the Hogan Lovells law firm.

Missie exchanged emails a few years ago with Patti Kershaw Morris, a real estate agent in Monroe, La., when their high school graduating class was celebrating its 40th reunion.

Missie lives in a rural agricultural area in Sacramento Valley, about 100 miles north of Sacramento, amid rice fields and almond, walnut, prune, and olive orchards. She is an avid quilter. After many years in the nursery/landscaping industry, she works in a farmer’s office and looks forward to retiring someday.

Hope all is well with you!

Rob Hall and I moved to a new home in Saltville, Va., where Rob continues as chief of police. He’s made major strides in safety and community policing, and launched the “Serving Seniors Initiative,” a series of programs addressing the needs of area senior citizens. I’ve added yoga classes and sing with my choir. Our energetic boxer-mix is our constant companion.

After a spell with NASA and Electromagnetic Sciences, Barbara Auray Hampden of the Orlando/Winter Park area has sold Florida real estate since 1994. She still swims, gardens, tutors, bikes, and travels with husband Ed and extended family. She reconnected with Martha Londeree, Nora Kathryn Wire, Janet Langhorne, and Donna Burner.

Kevin Havens is associate pastor at Pender United Methodist Church in Fairfax, Va. He has granddaughters Taylor and Hannah. Oldest son Trevor is a Marine Corps gunnery sergeant. Youngest son Tanner was to start college in the fall. Kevin still plays Christian music; his group, JC Reigns, has released four CDs in the past nine years. They traveled with Chuck Colson and Prison Fellowship but now focus on raising money for fresh water and Christian relief around the world.

By the time you read this, our 35th reunion will have taken place. I hope you had a wonderful time! I’m sorry I missed it. As director of fundraising development for one of the country’s best libraries, I had to be at our signature fundraising gala. This is my last Class Notes submission as class agent. Between hectic work lives in Connecticut and aging parents, who live a day’s drive away, my husband, Jim, and I want to cut back on volunteer activities, with one exception. I’m an avid outdoor cyclist and participate in several cycling fundraisers each year. It’s been my pleasure to be your class agent. I look forward to reading about classmates in the years to come.

Anne Leckie retired as executive director of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun, a self-governing First Nation in the central Yukon area of Canada, in September 2011. She and partner Mark spent 18 months visiting Europe, the U.S. East Coast, Hawaii, and Mexico. They took a three-month, 10,000-kilometer winter road trip from Yukon to Todos Santos in Baja California, Mexico, which they were considering making a winter home.

Bobbi Rollins Johnson was with the federal government, where she met husband Loren, for 17 years. They built a house on former farmland her parents bought in Hanover County, Va. Her sister lives next door, and her brother plans to build and retire there. Bobbi does genealogy research. Son Joey earned a degree in physics and astronomy at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and is pursuing a Ph.D. in physics at Arizona State University in Tempe. Bobbi keeps up with “roomie” Elizabeth Somerville Hutchins ’78 and said, “Libby was the best thing that happened to me at Mary Washington, and I am eternally grateful for her friendship.”

Isn’t that the truth about so many of our MWC friendships?!

Condolences go to Betsy Larson Kyker, who lost her father, retired Navy Capt. Richard Larson, in November. He was a key part of Betsy’s family, having lived with them for many years after Betsy’s mother passed away. Our sympathies also go to Judy Kemp Allard, who lost her mother in December. She had lived with Judy’s family for several years, and I enjoyed her annual Christmas greetings. She was one of a kind, and many of us who knew Judy at MWC have fond memories of “Becky with the bun.”

My son graduated this May from East Carolina University with a major in communication-media production. I’m sure he’d love to work on the West Coast, but it would take a while to get used to him being so far away.

The next Class Notes deadline is Nov. 15. Let us know what you’ve been up to!