Class Notes

Many thanks to Susi DeMaina Duffey for her help in gathering some news from the Class of 1970! She has set up a Facebook page titled Mary Washington College Class of ’70. As Susie says, “Since I barely know what I am doing it is rudimentary at best, but I encourage all of you to go visit and ‘like’ it! If you haven’t signed up for Facebook, you may as well do it. It isn’t difficult to do and doesn’t have to take over your life, unless you let it!”

Karen Anderson Muszynski sent a lengthy letter regarding her horrible year which included a massive re-grouping to salvage the house she and her husband were building that had been abandoned by the contractor who took their money; her husband breaking his leg when they finally moved into their house; her son being diagnosed with a large mass in his chest which turned out to be an extra stomach; and her 87-year-old mother having a heart attack while her son was in surgery!

Understandably, she was stressed and her hair started falling out. After all of that, everything finally calmed down and her son does not have cancer and her mom is well. Karen is looking forward to retirement in December after working 28 years at the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Maryland.  In January, Karen, Karen Stifft Caroll, and Barb Bingley gathered in Richmond at Francie Cone Caldwell’s house where they enjoyed viewing the Downton Abbey Exhibit that featured clothes and accessories from the popular show as well as the Rodin exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Last Halloween Susi Duffey DiMaina spent some lovely quality time on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, at the beautiful home of Tina Kormanski Krause along with Gabby Pagin, Kathy Thiel, and Kathi O’Neill. What a gorgeous place for a girls’ getaway! Susi is very excited for her 26-year-old daughter Caitlin, who is going to start nursing school this fall at Johns Hopkins. Recently Susi had the pleasure of assisting with the UMW 2016 Reunion Weekend held at the beginning of June. Because she is on the Alumni Board of Directors, she volunteered to help out wherever needed, and the experience was wonderful—different from our own reunions, but terrific fun nonetheless.

Patti Boise Kemp ’69 and Susi got to judge the tent decorating efforts of the classes celebrating their 10th, 15th, 20th, etc.  (She got some great ideas for our 50th!) They ate, laughed, and danced away the evening on Saturday night at the All-Class Party in the gorgeous new University Center, joined by Donna Sheehan Gladis ’68 as well as lots of Class of ’71 women, including Mary Bradley MacPherson, Barbara Halliday, Dory Potter Teipel, and others. Extremely impressive was the attendance list for the Class of ’66—they had about 75 members of their group there. It would be wonderful for that to be us in 2020!

If you’ve never come to an MWC/UMW reunion or haven’t been able to attend a recent one, please make a special effort to be there for our 50th. Put it on your calendar now—probably the first weekend in June. You’ll love seeing what our college has become AND I promise you’ll enjoy reminiscing and catching up with old friends and classmates again.

Laurie King Myse still splits life between the Fredericksburg area and Florida, but has chosen to list their Stafford house and its 34 acres of privacy. Another one of her “grands” is off to college. The latest family addition is a precious Havanese rescue. This summer she and her husband are headed north to Alaska for a cruise and land tour.

I was so happy to hear from Dinah Douglas, who sent news in for the first time! She is happy and healthy and living in Lynchburg with her partner of 14 years. Dinah retired as an LPC, having worked with the seriously mentally ill for many years. Her daughter lives in Italy with two wonderful little half-Italian grandsons, and her son recently married his partner of 10 years.

Frances Cone Caldwell has added to her fiber arts repertoire by taking up weaving in addition to knitting and needlepointing. It seems to add balance issues to her life which includes two yearlong contracts with churches on opposite sides of the country and both of her daughters a long way from home. She loves those mileage points, is not bored, and life is good!

Kathy Thiel, Kathi O’Neill, Jean Burgess Botts, Suzanne Ferguson Buchanan, Elaine Wilson Maloney, and Anne Sommervold LeDoux gathered at Gabby Pagin‘s beautiful home in Vienna for a farewell to Northern Virginia dinner for Tina Kormanski Krause and her husband, Paul. After grad schooling, working, and raising their daughters in the D.C. area for the past 40-plus years, the Krauses have moved to Richmond to be nearer their older daughter, Lindsay, her husband Wade, and Eleanor (7) and Spencer (5). Their fourth grandchild, Will, was born this past March in Rye, New York, to younger daughter Megan and her husband John, joining big brother, Jack (2). Tina and Paul made a quick trip to Arizona this spring to visit the Grand Canyon for the first time. They hope to travel to Japan in the fall for their nephew’s wedding, and then to Australia with her sisters to round out the trip.

Cathy Dover Stetson wrote that she retired from her life’s work as a librarian in August, 2014.  She and her husband live in Needham, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. In the past year and a half they have traveled to Southeast Asia (Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia), Croatia, Montenegro, Sicily, and the Caribbean. Upcoming are trips to Italy and Cuba.

Lee Howland Hogan skied for a week in Lake Tahoe in March and went on a river cruise through Bordeaux and Loire Valley in France in May. She caught up with Kathi O’Neill for a day in D.C. after her 50th high school reunion, and they did museums and lunch.

Donna Accettullo DeNyse is now the proud grandmother of four granddaughters! Donna and husband Bob have lived in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, for the past 11 years.

Carole LaMonica Clark is living in Colorado Springs and loves it. Pikes Peak Center is very near their home and she and Ted have attended several concerts there. Carole loves the beautiful mountains and she and Ted have hiked around the Garden of the Gods and in Palmer Park. She is looking forward to attending home games at the Air Force Academy.

Thanks again for all the news! I hope more of you will send me news for the next edition. Keep in mind our 50th coming up in 2020 and be sure to check out the Mary Washington College Class of ’70 Facebook page!