Class Notes

In the last few months, I’ve heard from several classmates with their news. To those of you who haven’t sent any in a while, please do so because I know our classmates would like to hear from you. My news consists of continuing to play tennis (three teams), enjoying book clubs (three groups), and visiting with my daughter’s children frequently who moved to the Atlanta area last year and live just eight miles from me. My son was due to leave the Navy next year after 17 years to build a home in North Georgia. However, the number six Blue Angel was killed this year in a practice at an air show. My son has been called back to replace him, so he will be the Blue Angel Opposing Soloist (number six this year), and the Lead Soloist (number five) next year. If they perform near you, I hope you will see the show and say prayers that all the pilots stay safe!

Janice Helvey Robinson writes that they are still in the Atlanta area and still close to their kids and four grandkids. Their oldest, Katie, took a whirlwind college tour in the spring. The first college tour they had was at Mary Washington and she really liked it a lot. They visited Virginia Hall and Mason Hall for old times’ sake, but also many of the newer buildings. They based their trip out of Williamsburg so they were able to show Katie Colonial Williamsburg and the two Jamestown sites. They also visited William and Mary, Duke, and Clemson but she liked Mary Washington best!

Martha Wangler Ryan writes that she and her husband Chris of Richmond, Virginia, often visit their daughter and son-in-law in San Francisco for several days and then tour different parts of California. They also visit their son and his family in Atlanta.

Connie Marsh Pollard ’64 and Martha Hanks Cooper ’64 visited Martha this summer. Connie is traveling to Prague, Italy, and the Oregon Wine country. Martha Hanks Cooper keeps busy with her grandchildren and trips to Washington, D.C., to see her daughter. Both Martha Hanks Cooper and Martha Wangler Ryan take classes at Open University.

Pat Hartman Bownlee writes that she and her husband still live in California. They have four daughters and seven grandchildren. All of them live within 15-40 minutes of them. Pat and John love to travel and she still is active with Mary Kay. Recently they took a cruise from Miami through the Caribbean, ending in Puerto Rico. In April, they went to Hawaii for their yearly trip. Their youngest daughter, Jamie, got her Ph.D. at Regent University in Norfolk, Virginia. Pat and husband enjoy good health and invite friends to call them when they are in California.

Agnes “Missy” Bush Shives writes that she, Sonja “Toni” Algren Schuyler, Ophelia “Ophie” Baker Crowley, and Elizabeth “Liz” Kelling Leasure ’66 got together for a suitemate reunion in April. They stayed with Liz and her husband Bill in their beautiful new home in Odenton, Maryland. With Liz as their guide, they toured the Maryland State House in Annapolis, visited the Baltimore Museum of Art, and explored the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. They are trying to get together every year now, and hoping to meet in Boston in 2017.

Carolyn “Cookie” Davis Lakin Davis writes that retirement has been wonderful. She and her husband enjoyed a cruise of the Danube and enjoy entertaining their grandchildren. She has been active with Historic Port Royal coordinating docents at their three museums and has served as president of the group for the last two years.

Margaret Cobourn Robinson writes that after 23 years, she and Kenny married in April. She, along with Lisa Corder Wharton, Barbara Hagemann Hester, and husbands attended Donna Lingo Rauch‘s husband’s memorial in Snow Hill, Maryland. Eric, who Donna met at an MWC mixer, fought pancreatic cancer for nearly three years. Meg and Kenny are working on his bucket list which includes touring every state capitol building. In January they will fly to Honolulu, then cruise some of the islands. The last time she was there was on an MWC trip in the 70s, and Kenny passed through on his way back from Vietnam.

Lisa Corder Wharton periodically sees Trudy Kitchin Kohl, who lives in Raleigh, since the mishap that left her a quadriplegic. She is an inspiration. She said she would like to convince David to retire so that they could travel more, but they do love spending time at their place on the Chesapeake—great sunsets!

Carol Meese went to Iceland in June to paint. She has had two solo shows of her art in galleries and a performance piece at The Sacred Heart Cathedral in Richmond. She developed a new website we can visit: www.carolmeese.com. Her family is all well, with the oldest of eight grandchildren heading to VCU and youngest starting kindergarten. She and her husband are seeing the world: Morocco, Turkey, Tanzania, and U.S. National Parks.

Susan Ford Irons writes that she is beginning a new chapter in the journey; they are expecting their first grandchild in September! She can’t wait for all the fun that follows. She and her husband are traveling; they are about to go to Alaska for a first visit, land and cruise, and are enjoying their Palm Desert Marriott time share many days during the year with golf and visits from family and friends.

Joanne Lott Byrne writes that she and husband Dick now have nine grandchildren between them and they do a lot of traveling to visit them. Being a grandmother has been great! Her youngest grandson was just born on May 23, 2016. His name is Declan, and he is her youngest son’s first child. He and his wife live in downtown Washington, D.C., so it is nice to have a grandchild nearby. She has four grandchildren in total. Three of them live in Fort Worth, Texas, with her oldest son and his wife. They try to visit them every three months or so. Dick’s grandchildren are in Denver, Colorado, and New Jersey, so they keep busy. Now that she has retired, she is doing some oil painting, mostly still life. She enjoys Tai Chi and aerobics classes to try to stay in shape. She also does some gardening, but enjoys looking at the flowers more than planting them these days!

Cheryl Yancey writes that she drove from San Diego to Virginia with her daughter, Anne, and her black Lab this summer. Anne is married to a Captain in the Navy and they have orders for the Virginia Beach area. Cheryl will be so glad to have them back close to home.

Lee Smith Musgrave writes that she had an exhibition of her sumi-e paintings at her community village center. She discovered that Sidney Mitchell, who was on the English faculty when we were at MWC, lives in her retirement community. His wife (Nancy, now deceased) was also in the English department and taught Lee freshman English—small world. After they retired, they bought a farm in West Virginia and raised sheep. Nancy was a wool spinner and weaver until she died.

Carolyn Kennet Barry writes that she and her husband Richard just made a donation valued over time at more than 35 million to Old Dominion University for a new art museum. The Barrys will bestow their multifaceted art collection to serve as the museum’s initial foundation, and they will also provide support through pledged annual gifts and a permanent endowment from their estate. Carolyn is a longtime art collector. She is currently a master docent at the Chrysler Museum of Art, specializing in glass, and she also serves on the museum’s board of trustees.