Class Notes

News is a little on the thin side this time, so I presume everyone is out having the time of their lives! I would prefer that to the time of my life, which includes visits to various doctors (who all seem to be 12) and ladies luncheons where we discuss various parts of the body that are descending or need shoring up. But, what the hay – I’m still here, well seasoned as I may be! I’m still working, though fewer days a week, because I do still enjoy the little kids and their deadly honesty. I’ve found that you can get away with saying anything that pops into your mind if you are under 6 or over 70. My granddaughter was to come back to San Luis Obispo, Calif., for her senior year in high school after a wonderful year in Germany and Europe. Her family was to go get her and take the grand tour, while their two black labs vacationed at the Casa Hovis. Fortunately, they are both 7, so I may not have to chase them down at the park!

Sally Hanger Moravitz’s granddaughter was to attend UMW this fall, and son Mike received a green hood for earning a doctor of philosophy in history from George Mason University. In May, the Moravitzes went to their cottage on the Chesapeake Bay, where Ann Doumas and Bill joined them. They all toured Solomons Island, where they hunted for fossils and fished.

Charlotte Fisher Klapproth described many doctor visits for cataract removal and lid lifting. In May, she and Chris went to the Ukraine with two other couples, spent three days in Vienna after the trip, and saw the Lipizzaner horses rehearse.

Eileen West Grenfell related the death of Eileen Cella Manze in April. She passed away at a hospital in Florida and was to be cremated and buried with her husband, Al, in Trenton, N.J. We will all miss her greatly.

In March, Nancy Shope Armbruster and Joe flew to Rome, went to Tuscany for a week, and spent two days in Florence. She thought Michelangelo’s David was inspiring and added to her enjoyment by re-reading The Agony and the Ecstasy while traveling. They spent another week in Sorrento, did a lot of sightseeing in Pompeii and Naples, spent a day on the Amalfi Coast, then flew home. Nancy spent the summer recovering from eye surgery and wasn’t able to drive for a while. She and Joe had a lot of visits from their children. Ellen lives in Santa Fe, N.M., and is chief counselor and director of testing at Tierra Encantada Charter School; Jean works for the Los Angeles County health department, writing grant proposals to improve children’s health; Michael works in Indianapolis, where he has taught English at Arsenal Technical High School for 15 years; and Ed is an environmental engineer in Boulder, Colo.

Betsy Land Johnson didn’t travel as much this year as last, but she and Dave did spend January through March in warm, sunny Fort Myers, Fla., an improvement over winter in Green Bay, Wis. She and her sister planned a boat trip from St. Petersburg to Moscow in September.

Carol Cooper sends a big thank you to all who donated funds for a seat, a gift from the Class of 1955, in the new William M. Anderson Center. It will have a plaque that says, “In Honor of MWC of UVA Class of 1955.”

Carol hopes that the Class of 1955, though long gone, won’t be forgotten – as if! So when we all get back to UMW, we can sit in “our” chair. Thank you to all the donors: Mary-Margaret Papstein Carter, Sally Watson Castle, Carol L. Cooper, Anne Rohrbach Culwell, M. Ann Strickler Doumas, Gretchen Hogaboom Fisher, Polly Stoddard Heim, Jane Johnson Jones, Charlotte Fisher Klapproth, Ann Hungerford McKinlay, Sally Hanger Moravitz, Mary Patteson Morgan, Phyllis Melillo Shanahan, Joan Ferrall Shaw, and Ann Shumate.

One more comment: How often have you put down a piece of paper or other object and turned around to find it’s vanished into thin air? Then you have to waste time hunting it down. It frustrates the heck out of me. So, I’m at work doing this for the umpteenth time when one of my employees walks in and inquires about my activities. She looks at me a moment and then says, “Well, every day is just an Easter egg hunt for you, isn’t it?” So that’s now our catch phrase at work. Now, when one leaves, the benediction is, “May the egg be with you.” So that is my wish for all of you. And send news!