Class Notes

We love bragging about classmates, whose accomplishments are the legacy of Mary Washington. Fifty-two years after graduation, we are in our 70s and still making our mark. We’re living proof that what’s learned at Mary Washington makes a difference. It’s time to start thinking about our 55th reunion in 2015. Put it on your calendar!

Sherry Farrington Green visited Ecuador in March with her daughter, son-in-law, and three grandchildren, who were on a sabbatical in Cuenca. She hiked at 14,000 feet, making her question how she did Kilimanjaro and Everest Advanced Base Camp not long ago. She fenced well this year and hoped to maintain her third-place ranking at nationals and be on the U.S. team in Austria in October. Nancy Cleaves Blaydes and her husband visited their oldest daughter’s family in Amsterdam and traveled to the Netherlands. They took a two-week river cruise, saw castles and cathedrals, and ended in Vienna. Gray Schaefer Dodson sent a picture of son Chip on the cover of Virginia Farm Bureau News magazine. Chip runs a seafood business with his daughter on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

This spring Liz Hill Heaney visited family and friends in Park City, Utah, where Bob and their daughter skied. They put their North Carolina home on the market and were looking at New Jersey homes near their daughter. Karen Larsen Nelson took a May RV trip to Florida to celebrate the graduation from a two-year college of one granddaughter, who will continue in elementary education, and the high school graduation of another granddaughter, who will attend the Savannah College of Art and Design on a full scholarship. They took a scenic route back to Arizona, through the Florida panhandle, along the ocean on Big Bend Highway, stopping in Mobile, Ala., to tour the battleship USS Alabama.

Jody Campbell Close met Bonnie Davis Hall and husband Ross for lunch during their Florida sojourn. Jody and Bonnie spent quiet moments remembering Deborah Mallett Cressall, with whom Bonnie had remained close. Jody attended her daughter’s surprise 50th birthday party on Mother’s Day in Washington state. Her daughter then surprised her, visiting her Florida home. Jody stays busy with genealogy research and her dog. Her grandson was an ambassador at this year’s Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. Pat Voelker Donnell, who spent most of her adult years in or around Houston, is a member of the Delphians, which sponsors college scholarships for underprivileged young people. Last year Pat visited Crete and Spain, then cruised from Barcelona to Rome. Pat and Jody grew up in the metropolitan corridor of Washington, D.C., attended American University, and were practically neighbors for years without knowing it. Both were divorced (Pat has remarried, Jody hasn’t) and developed careers working for engineers, and their children attended Texas colleges.

Jude Wandell Potter quilts, makes dresses for girls in Africa, and travels in their plane and on military space-available flights. Iris Hall Newton’s son, Conley, known as Tip, passed away in June from an aggressive cancer. Iris makes crib quilts, bibs, and baby items. She stays in touch with Billie Bushong Boyd. Jane Fransen Kirn survived Kentucky’s spring tornados. Nancy Carruthers Meeker plays golf and bridge; she and her husband belong to a Bonita Springs, Fla., beach club. Their youngest of three, daughter Patti, lives at the other end of Florida’s “Alligator Alley.” Nancy flew to California for two grandsons’ college graduations. Tucker Freeman Viccellio and John celebrated their 54th anniversary in June. Seven of their eight grandchildren and two of their daughters are with them in Charlotte, N.C. They play tennis, and Tucker gardens and is involved in church. She’s in touch with Cary Tilton Doyle of Richmond, who was in her wedding and is godmother to one of her girls.

Syd Collson Chichester took a cruise through the Panama Canal and Caribbean islands with Renee Levinson Laurents ’61. Patty Morgan Connelly made her annual trip to Florida to see Syd, and they visited Gay Hall Sullivan, who lives nearby. Last winter Syd mentored at the high school, helped a woman in the Vero literacy program, read and played games with migrant farm children in central Vero, and volunteered at the Environmental Learning Center. Syd and Gay volunteered to help with therapeutic riding classes in Fredericksburg. She helped years ago when her daughter’s last horse “retired” there after his MWC intramural show days.

Sandy Poole of Maryland volunteers at church and leads prayer groups. Tina Baensch Raver-Meltesen spent her birthday with family and friends. Carolyn Rolston Rourke planned to move to a smaller home in Surry, Maine. Joyce Jeffries Kendall loves reading about classmates. Martha Butler Lebovitz attended the Houston high school graduation of her granddaughter, who received the outstanding female senior award. Both granddaughters will claim the University of Texas as their alma mater. Martha plays tennis and spent two weeks in Spain with her sister visiting Barcelona and Madrid. Jean Eubanks Holland went to Bethany Beach, Del., this summer with her daughter and family.

Our class shares news monthly, and last spring we shared memories of faculty members who made a difference in our lives. Janet Garriss Lewis remembered librarian and history professor Carrol H. Quenzel, who called us by name and knew where we were from without ever meeting us; art professor Gaetano Cecere; and biology professor William A. Castle, who taught us about Gingko trees. She said campus is still beautiful, wondered if there are still heated sidewalks to Willard, and remembered spring sunbathing at the bottom of a dry swimming pool.

Betty Wagstaff Storms remembered cramming for anthropology in the French House kitchen and Mika Bergman talking in Russian to her family on the phone. Economics and business administration major Pat Voelker Donnell had lots of classes with James Harvey Dodd, who wrote the book they used. Jody remembered psychology professor Eileen K. Dodd, who was an excellent role model. She remembered her intelligence, dignity, wit, and the gardenia pin she wore on her ’30s-style suit. Iris Hall Newton recalled classmates’ help with notes so she could keep up with classes while recovering from surgery; Dr. Dodd’s kindness, when she brought a small Christmas tree to Iris’ hospital room; and English professor Reginald W. Whidden’s gentlemanly manner.

We love hearing about what’s going on with classmates, and sending birthday greetings has brought lots of feedback. We’d love to communicate with you more than three times a year. Send us your email address or write or call with your news (and your birthday).

Please send news to the designated Class Agent according to the first letter of your maiden name.

From Connie: Life these days is dictated by my pulmonary fibrosis and lack of stamina, even with oxygen 24/7. I might qualify for a lung transplant, basically the only cure, and was to spend a week in July having tests to see if I can tolerate the procedure. I had recent visits from Janie Riles and from Clara Sue Durden Ashley and Clarence, who lost electricity and stayed with son Andrew after the freak June storm in the Washington, D.C., area. We spent the last week of June at the Booth family reunion at the Highland Lake Inn in Flat Rock, N.C., with my immediate family of six, sister Barbara “Linkey” Booth Green ’63 and brother Bob and their families, and five grandchildren, ages 5 to 13.

One of my freshman roomies, Carlotta Croghan Clark, has had minor health problems but still plays doubles tennis. She and Pres were home in Annapolis for summer and were to return in October to their Fort Myers, Fla., condo. They also have a Bethany Beach, Del., townhouse often used by their children and four teenage grandchildren. Virginia’s poet laureate, Kelly Cherry, received the inaugural Rebecca Mitchell Tarumoto Short Fiction Prize at VCU in March. Kelly’s award-winning story, On Familiar Terms, was selected by the editors from fiction published in Blackbird in 2011. She is the author of 20 books of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, as well as chapbooks.

Bev Carlson Shea’s grandson, Eric (Heather’s son), visits them in Bethlehem, Pa. He took ice skating lessons and Bev, who couldn’t resist tying on her old skates, fell and broke her wrist. Carolyn Crum Pannu spent Memorial Day weekend with Renee Levinson Laurents in Culver City, Calif., and saw The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which reminded Carolyn of trips to India years ago. They visited with Renee’s friends and toured the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Carolyn lives in a studio apartment near daughter Kara in San Francisco and knits, reads, and does crossword puzzles. Grandson Alex of Texas is an enthusiastic student and athlete. Eleanor Knight Jensen and Cliff took a May cruise from Barbados to Monte Carlo, Monaco, and stayed in Nice for five nights.

Peggy Howard Hodgkins had a great time in Omaha. Judy Youngman Wigton and Jim, who recently attended a Berkshire Hathaway meeting, have wonderful friends, a beautiful home filled with art, and a Scottie dog. Charlotte Howard Austin couldn’t visit, since a large tree had fallen in their yard. For Peggy and Art and Lloyd Tilton Backstrom’s first time in Omaha, they were introduced to Dairy Queen Dilly Bars, See’s lollipops, and Borsheims jewelry, and they visited art galleries and the botanical gardens. Peggy visited Pat Scott Peck in Miami in March and in San Antonio in April, when they spent a day with Aggie Welsh Eyster at her cousins’ ranch. Peggy also went to Athens, Ga., to visit Jean Ryan Farrell, who planned a May OAT trip to China. Babs Buse Johnson came from Washington in June to visit Matte McCeney Campbell and the Farrells at their second home on Lake Lanier, outside Atlanta. They hadn’t been together since our 50th Mary Washington reunion.

Without her MWC education, Jerri Barden Perkins wrote, she wouldn’t have received her M.D., achieved an NIH fellowship, and married a Harvard man. They were blessed with three children and an amazing life. When Cal died in 2009, Jerri established four scholarships in his honor and offered their art collection to the University. She was featured in a recent UMW Heritage newsletter. Gene England Simons attended Anne Jinkins Bird and Harry’s 50th wedding anniversary in Maryland. Ellen Gotwalt Willing and Bill returned home in April after three months in Naples, Fla., where they had lunch with UMW President Richard V. Hurley and wife Rose at a February alumni function. They met other alumni, including Ruth Conroy ’42, who plays percussion in the Naples Concert Band and whom they now visit at intermission.

Barbara Ashley Firesheets’ mother died in February, and Babs Buse Johnson’s mother, 95, died in March. Our sympathy to you both.

From Renee: I visited Syd Collson Chichester ’60 at her Vero Beach, Fla., winter home, then went with her on a Western Caribbean and Panama Canal cruise in March and April. We boarded the Zuiderdam in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and ports of call included Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas and Costa Rica, where we visited an animal sanctuary at the edge of the rainforest. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in June and had a lumpectomy in July. The doctor got all the breast cancer but found cancer in two lymph nodes that required a second surgery. Pick a four-letter word, and that’s what I have to say! Please get yearly mammograms. If I hadn’t, the outcome could have been a lot worse.

Nancy “Pepper” Jacobs Germer and hubby Hank visited San Miguel de Allende in central Mexico in April and attended their grandson’s fourth birthday party in Houston in May. Pepper came out of retirement to work part time for friends who opened a jewelry store in Jonesboro, Ark., in May. They attended Pepper’s 55th high school reunion in Richmond in June, and Lloyd Tilton Backstrom and Art hosted them in their James River home. The Germers visited Pepper’s childhood friend and her husband at their Duck, N.C., beach cottage.

So far, chemo was working for Marcia Minton Keech’s husband, Bill. They still love Savannah, Ga., visit their children and grandchildren in Virginia, and welcomed sixth grandchild Landon Christian Keech in February. Donna Henninger Henderson and hubby were to travel from Troutville, Va., in July on Amtrak to San Francisco, where they were to sightsee and attend major league ball games with their daughter and son-in-law. Sylvia McJilton Woodcock and hubby Stuart hadn’t been able to travel because Stuart was still in pain nearly three years after a knee replacement; a March arthroscopic surgery showed little scar tissue. Mary Hatcher attended an April family reunion in northern Florida and visited South Lake Tahoe. She traveled to Newport News, Va., to help Diane Todd’s 96-year-old mother, who suffered a heart attack two days before the death of Diane, one of Mary’s best friends since they were Hampton High School seniors with fathers stationed at Fort Monroe, Va.

From Lynne: Sandy and I took a three-week trip to London, a cruise on the Baltic, ending in Copenhagen, and continue to enjoy life in New York City and Litchfield, Conn.

In spring, Jim and Carolyn Spell Robertson attended Jim’s 50th dental class reunion at MCV, where Carolyn’s freshman roommate, Becky Turner Perdue, was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Janie Riles visited Connie Booth Logothetis and Andy in Wilmington, N.C., where she saw her goddaughter, Elaine Logothetis Jack, and family and was impressed with Elaine’s green building supply store, Sapona. Janie and Jim took a May OAT trip to Morocco, arrived in Casablanca, visited major cities, traveled across the Atlas Mountains, and experienced the Berber culture. They camped in the desert, visited nomads in their tents, rode camels, and shopped in the souks. When they weren’t traveling, they were in Fort Lauderdale from December through June and San Diego through December.

Polly Updegraff Champ, president of women’s fellowship at Church of the Palms, and Dan of Delray Beach, Fla., play doubles tennis. Their Palm Beach County Comfort Doll Ministry donates locally and internationally to police departments, childcare agencies, and homeless shelters. Polly worked wardrobe in April for the national tour of Fiddler on the Roof and in June for Riverdance in Hartford, Conn. She also took care of Dan and her sister-in-law after surgeries.

Eleanore Saunders Sunderland broke her ankle in April but helped a friend in Jacksonville, Fla., move and visited Canaan Valley, W.Va., with twin Judy Saunders Slifer. The two planned a May cruise from Budapest to Bucharest, and Eleanore expected to be with her children and grandchildren at her home for Christmas. Kay Slaughter, who graduated from law school at U.Va., where she teaches a course, and daughter Margaret McNett were involved in the successful effort to reinstate U.Va.’s first woman president, Teresa Sullivan. Sue Wilson Sproul was in Virginia during the fire in her hometown, Colorado Springs, and her neighborhood was evacuated. Husband Dave slept in his car and took pictures. Ash covered everything in their home, but many neighbors weren’t as fortunate.

Marcy Trembath Pitkin planned a September Adriatic cruise that included a few days in Italy. Elizabeth “Bitsy” Wright Coxe was in NYC for Easter and went to the opera, Central Park, and an Easter service at St. Thomas Episcopal. Pat Scott Peck and Carolyn Crum Pannu planned an October cruise beginning and ending in Barcelona.

Jonathan and I had a mini-reunion in Fredericksburg with Mary Russell of Laurel, Md., Alice Eckenrode Alkire of Ashburn, Va., Cynthia Whitaker Finnelly of Holly Springs, N.C., and Sally Sutherland of Crozet, Va. Jonathan and I planned our annual trek to the Jersey Shore in August with the children and grandchildren and to visit Washington state in September, Cape Town, South Africa, in November, and Vermont for Thanksgiving.

Nancy Slonim Aronie teaches her Writing from the Heart workshop at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, Calif., and at holistic institutions and has conducted writing workshops on Martha’s Vineyard for 18 years. Her book, Writing from the Heart, is in its seventh printing. Their 38-year-old son, Dan, died two years ago from complications of MS. Their other son, Josh, owns Saltwater Café on Martha’s Vineyard. Ann Reardon Crowley Rowe and husband Mack live in Madison, Va., near Charlottesville. Annie does some ghost hunting, is writing a novel about a local haunted house, and sells books on Amazon. Annie wrote that Charlotte Hudson died last fall. Sue, as she was known to family and friends, lived at Cameron Glen Nursing Home in Reston, Va. Nancy Pida Remmers of Palm Coast, Fla., participates in art shows at local galleries. Daughter Debbie placed third for a color monotype in a recent competition.

Sue Bentley Varn of coastal South Carolina, a retired hospice nurse who left Mary Washington to attend nursing school at U.Va., has six grandchildren with her retired physician husband. Bonnie Smith Wescott of Virginia’s Eastern Shore planned to visit Europe for a Baltic Sea cruise. She retired in 1999 as director of elementary instruction in Spotsylvania County, does ballroom dancing, is active in the garden club, and has two grandchildren. Lynne Kolarsey Blair of Blue Hill, Maine, retired from Wooden Boat magazine. She worked at the Maine Maritime Museum and another museum in Bar Harbor, and she volunteers at the food pantry. She and her husband have two daughters, one of whom is Sarah Blair Reeves ’90.

This column is by and for you. I’d love to hear from more of you. Have a wonderful end of the year.

I celebrated my 70th birthday with close friends, colleagues, and family. I planned to work this summer on writing lectures in art history and literature for the Greenwich, Conn., adult education program, which I direct. I still work at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Greenwich. Sally Crenshaw Witt and I planned a June mini-reunion in NYC, but Sally welcomed Henry Clay Witt, her and Sam’s first grandchild, and I shared their joy vicariously. Sally had a spring reunion with Barbara Humphries Davenport, Sue Rogers Burton, Becky Spears Wright, Joanne Crockett, and Helen Vakos Standing.

Betsy Churchman Geary; Monie Argo Plueger of Vass, N.C.; Dottie McDowell Smith of Pinehurst, N.C.; Peggy Morgan Tarr of Columbia, S.C.; and Linda Rudd Davis of Salem, Mass., had a spring mini-reunion. They lunched at the home of Dottie and her husband, retired Adm. Leighton Smith, had dinner in Vass, and shopped in Seagrove, N.C. Betsy, her husband, and the Davises visited the Smiths’ condo in the Boone, N.C., mountains and lunched with them in Blowing Rock. Betty Gregory Wickersham of Bakersfield, Calif., couldn’t join them but planned to head east for her mother’s 100th birthday at Foster’s Castle, the Richmond-area home where Betty grew up.

Carolyn Ginsberg and I discovered we’d worked within a few miles of each other – she in Stamford and me in Greenwich, Conn. – for years. Carolyn divorced in 2000 after 33 years of marriage. Her three daughters and three grandchildren, ages 5 and younger, live nearby. Carolyn works in administration and adjunct teaching at the University of Connecticut, practices meditation, and designs small-scale drawing projects. Like me, she loves living close to NYC and its galleries and museums. We planned a July dinner in Stamford.

Barbara Ioanes lives in Washington, D.C., across the street from the zoo. Anne Liady Lynch has lived in Phoenix for 40 years. Daughter Betsy of Phoenix and her husband are architects and parents of Teagan Mae, 4. Daughter Caroline of Washington, D.C., is chief counsel to the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. Daughter Stephanie earned a doctorate in physical therapy from VCU and moved to Peru for a yearlong volunteer position. Anne retired in 2007, but her husband still practices law. They planned trips to Arizona’s White Mountains and Coronado Island, off San Diego. Anne is active in DAR and serves on boards, including Maricopa County Parks and Recreation and the Arizona State Board of Accountancy.

We love hearing from you! Keep healthy and happy.

I enjoy life in Atlanta and want to play as much tennis as possible before my knees give out and I turn to duplicate bridge. I visit my grandchildren in California, and we planned an August family vacation at Big Sur before my son was to be deployed again to the Middle East. He was to be gone again this year for Thanksgiving and Christmas and miss the February birth of his third child. My daughter was to have another son in November, and I planned to visit to help with her 2-year-old.

Mary Lou Skeeter Murray, Lee Smith Musgrave, and I had our annual mini-reunion in Virginia Beach in April. Mary Lou travels to wherever her Navy husband is stationed but enjoys beach life too much to give up their home and move. Lee visits her grandchildren, does craft projects, and plays duplicate bridge. Agnes “Missy” Bush Shives, Sonja “Toni” Algren Schuyler, Kathy Tuttle Birnbaum, and Sandra Fields Seymour, suitemates sophomore year, had a May reunion in the Shenandoah Valley. They stayed at Massadoah, an old farmhouse near Woodstock, Va., on the North Fork of the Shenandoah River, owned by Kathy and 10 other partners. They reminisced, shared recent chapters of their lives, hiked, bird-watched, and visited Girl Scout Camp May Flather, where Kathy, Toni, and Missy worked during summers at Mary Washington. They ended up at Kathy’s house in Herndon and drove into Washington, D.C., to visit the Martin Luther King Jr. and Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorials.

Margaret “Meg” Cobourn John said that, after much therapy, Trudy Kitchin Kohl, who fell in spring and had surgery on her neck and spine, went from not being able to move anything to being able to feed herself; she has movement in both legs and can straighten her fingers. Barbara Hagemann Hester and husband Ben planned to visit Meg and Kenny in July and go together to their daughter’s in Travelers Rest, S.C. They all plan a mini MWC reunion with Barbara Wohlfeil Weatherall and Joe of Ashville, with one missing from their junior-year suite – Bev Boudreau. Caroline Smith Parkinson retired from full-time parish ministry and moved to Richmond with husband Jim. She is on the board of the John Marshall Foundation and teaches at St. James’s Episcopal Church, does pastoral calling, and coaches clergy and parish vestries and search committees.

If you’ve retired, please send your new email address so I can keep sending unedited news.

Barbara “Bobbi” Bishop Mann and Jana Privette Usry drove to Fredericksburg in May for the UMW College of Education’s second annual Educator-in- Residence presentation on the Stafford Campus. They ate lunch at FOODĒ restaurant and stayed overnight at the Kalnen Inn at the Jepson Alumni Executive Center. Bobbi took a June photography class to increase her proficiency with her new camera. She also started taking yoga and saw Eleanor McJilton Thompson at a class. Bobbi attended a July mini-conference at UMW and got a private tour of the newly renovated Mason and Randolph dorms. A mural with scenes from the Rappahannock, York, and James rivers designed from a faculty member’s photos covers the walls of the connecting tunnel. The complex has seminar rooms, group study rooms, Wi-Fi everywhere, and hall lights on motion sensors. Bobbi was already planning the next MWC Lunch Bunch meeting and reading Geraldine Brooks’ March, about the absent father from Little Women during the Civil War.

Ginny Bateman Brinkley and husband Bill met Roger and Ryan Stewart Davis in April in Maui, where Ryan and Roger enjoyed an extended stay. Ryan was completely healed after last August’s auto accident and subsequent surgeries and rehabilitation. Ginny’s son, Scott, and his family joined them, and Ginny and Bill shared favorite holiday spots with several grandchildren. They visited Oahu, the North Shore, and the Volcom House and spent time with surfing legend Peter Cole, a former coworker of Ginny’s and one of the original Hawaii surfers. At 81, he still surfs! Ginny’s latest book, EarthQuest, a Story of Life, Love and the Pursuit of Red Meat, has received good reviews. Ginny’s mad scientist uncle began the story and put it aside. Ginny found it after he moved to a nursing home, and she and another writer finished it and had it published. Ginny thanks all who promoted it.

Cathe Cantwell Luria received a national award at the June convention of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners in Orlando, Fla., and sent copies from the photo shoot for posters, articles, and magazine covers. Linda Mitchell Spiers of Collinsville, Conn., hoped to finish her doctor of ministry degree by summer. She was an adviser for a June ecumenical mission camp for high schoolers in Hartford and chaired the Connecticut deputation to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in July. She vacationed with friends at Rehoboth Beach, Del., and visits her mother and stepfather in Alexandria, Va.

Linda Spangler Berkheimer spent her usual two weeks in North Carolina’s Outer Banks in June and visited Mary Parsons Black and Annette Maddra Horner, who both live in Elizabeth City. They, in turn, visited Spang’s timeshare, where Karen Berkheimer Morton ’95 and Betsy Bowen ’79 joined them. The five of them did a rousing rendition of the MWC fight song in the beach club parking lot. Last November Spang and husband Phil visited Egypt and Jordan between demonstrations, and toured the museum in Tahrir Square. In August, she and Phil entertained Charlie and Mary Kathryn Rowell Horner at home in Frederick, Md., for golf and Maryland cuisine. Mary K hoped to dine at one of Top Chef Bryan Voltaggio’s restaurants there.

Carolyn Eldred visited Canadian cousins she hadn’t met before in Toronto in July, planned to attend her 50th high school reunion in summer, and hangs out with the folks at WAMU, the NPR station of Washington, D.C. Lynn Smithey Campbell is retired and spends time with family and grandchildren. Kathleen Goddard Moss and husband Tom visited their daughter’s family in Spain last Easter. Kathy and sister Eileen Goddard Albrigo care for their parents, who are in an assisted living/nursing facility. Kathy took a June trip to California, where she and Tom cared for their 2.-year-old grandson. Yvonne March of Tampa visited her son in Westerville, Ohio, for his 43rd birthday and traveled in July to Italy, visiting the Amalfi Coast and Sicily. Yvonne and Chris attended an August Ferree family reunion in Pennsylvania, stopping along the East Coast to visit family and friends.

Joan Cuccias Patton spent an extended Memorial Day weekend with her siblings on Mobile Bay in Alabama, continuing the tradition their father initiated years ago of giving the “gift of themselves,” without any spouses or grandchildren. Joan attended her 50th high school reunion in June in Coronado, Calif., and visited friends in Tucson, Ariz. She spent a week in North Carolina’s Outer Banks with her children and grandchildren and attended an extended family reunion in California. Sally Souder and Gerry Sargent Habas met in St. Petersburg, Fla., in May to celebrate Gerry’s birthday, lunching at a Tampa Bay restaurant and laughing over reunion photos sent by Anne Clagett. Sally, Gerry, and Patti Bergin Bergman were enthusiastically dancing and waiting for an invitation from Dancing With the Stars! Sally monitors sea turtle nests and said a mild winter and early spring resulted in more nests and eggs. Susan Roth Nurin is in love with her home city, New York. Central Park blooms outside her window, the subway stops at her doorstep, and she finds affordable ways of attending activities and performances. She’s met ballet and opera stars, including Plácido Domingo and Mikhail Baryshnikov.

In March, several classmates convened at the Fredericksburg restaurant, FOODĒ, to discuss a project of the U.S. Women’s History Since 1870 class, taught by Jeffrey McClurken ’94, UMW associate professor and chair of the history and American studies department. The class was challenged to research college life as experienced by American women, decade by decade. Samantha Stepanov- VandenBerg ’14 focused on the ’60s and contacted Barbara Bishop Mann to solicit participation from our class. Some classmates answered questionnaires, and seven of them met with Sam, whom Anne Meade Clagett said is enthusiastic. Jana Privette Usry brought old photos and MWC memorabilia. The rest of the group added to the thoughts Lois Rucker Scott had put in writing. Dianne Twiggs Wentworth said they discussed changes that occurred during our four years at Mary Washington, including the end of sit-down dinners at Seacobeck and the beginning of men being allowed to visit dorms on Sunday afternoons. Sheila Denny Young, Kathy Goddard Moss, and Joan Cuccias Patton agreed it was an interesting project, and Sam referred everyone to Internet links and blogs created for it.

After 25 years in Chicago, Sarah Nabstedt Barnes, who had a long career in health care and hospice, and her architect husband moved to San Diego three years ago. She does sumi-e, or Japanese brush painting, and takes long walks. She visits her grandson, born on St. Patrick’s Day, in Richmond. Florence Bishop of Richmond retired from the classroom after 39 years teaching high school social studies in Henrico County and is VCU’s supervisor of student teachers. She serves on the executive board of the international organization of women educators Alpha Delta Kappa, volunteers in the church office, reads, and travels.

Susan Church Dillon and husband John, Jane Wolfe Stilmar and husband Ben, Joan Hughes Ryan and husband Doug, Susan Wolf Shults and Porter, and Linda Todd “Toddy” Puller were together at our class reunion and planned a future dinner. They met in Fairfax in July, when Susan and Porter visited their son and family in the area. Susan and John live in Oxford on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and volunteer in the community. John retired as vice president and chief lobbyist for Bell Atlantic/Verizon, and Susan retired after 16 years as head of The Country School’s upper school in Easton. They have three children and nine grandchildren. Meghan is in St. Louis, Lindsey is in Washington, D.C., and Brendan is in Philadelphia. John is chairman of the hospital board. Susan is a trustee for the Gunston School, and she reads, cooks, and dabbles at golf.

Sue Spencer Collins of Birmingham, Ala., has been married 42 years to internist and geriatrician Mike Collins, who still practices in retirement homes. Sue worked in Mike’s office as a medical technician, office manager, bookkeeper, and insurance clerk. She retired at 50 with a torn ankle tendon. They have two married daughters, two grandchildren, and a “grand dog.” Mary Mac Blanchard Harris, a legislative assistant for a delegate at the Virginia General Assembly, planned to retire after the 2012 session and pursue community volunteer opportunities. This year their third grandchild was born to son Sam, and daughter Kelly was married in Austin. When Mary Mac visits her daughter, Emily, in Richmond, she sees roommate Helen Callaham Hutter, and she had a great time during reunion at dinner with Mary Lou Murphey Lee, Connie Burkhart Goggin, Sue Wolf Schults, Susie Church Dillon, Jane Wolf Stilmar, Linda Todd “Toddy” Puller, Joan Hughes Ryan, Ellie Frith Peters, and Jane Howard.

Mary Diggs retired to Bethlehem, Pa., after a 34-year career in education as a high school English teacher and an alternative high school administrator. She’s divorced and serves on the Northampton County Election Commission and on the boards of Rotary International in Bethlehem and a Northampton County political group. She visits family in Missouri, Wisconsin, California, and Norway. She reported that Donna Robertson Thomas and Irene Bartlett Lape are healthy. Vivian Crater Gray of Hockessin, Del., a pharmaceuticals consultant, vacationed with her four grandchildren at the family home in Orange, Va. Next year she plans to visit a cousin in Ecuador. Marcia Hileman Clark taught 35 years and retired from Maryland’s Anne Arundel County Public Schools.

Laurie Newman DiPadova-Stocks is dean of Park University’s Hauptmann School for Public Affairs and was temporarily serving as dean of the School of Graduate and Professional Studies. She and husband Hugh Stocks live in Parkville, Mo., on the Missouri River. Together, they have six children, 16 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild, all west of the Mississippi River. She and Hugh traveled to Turkey and Australia, and visited family in Virginia. Cheryl Tate Duke and her husband live in the Fredericksburg area and have a son and daughter. Their 42-year-old son was born with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and has depended on a ventilator for the better part of 22 years. Heavily involved in disability rights advocacy, Cheryl is president of W.C. Duke Associates, a consulting company specializing in the Americans with Disabilities Act. She publishes access information for Virginia and maintains a disability travel portal, both projects of the nonprofit organization The Opening Door. Her hobbies are website development and genealogy.

Nancy McDonald Legat and her husband of 45 years, Dan, are retired and spend time with their three daughters and sons-in-law and seven grandchildren, all of whom live nearby. Dan and Nancy exercise, “dog-sit” their “grand dogs,” volunteer, read, and are involved with church. Mary Akers Braverman and husband Richard, a retired dentist, had lived 42 yeas in Rochester, N.Y., but recently moved to Charlotte, N.C., to be near older daughter Lisa Scott and grandsons Oscar and Quentin, ages 9 and 5. Younger daughter Jill lives in Boston. Mary planned to retire this year as an accountant for a commercial photographer and graphic design firm.

The featured article in last spring’s Heritage newsletter was on Betty Olander Adams, who is giving back to the institution she feels gave her the foundation to meet her life goals. She and Alec, her husband of 43 years, have provided through their estate plans for a full-ride Alvey Scholarship for out-of-state UMW students. Betty had a successful career in insurance, but decided to attend law school just before her 40th birthday and received her law degree in 1990 from the University of Baltimore. She and Alec met while she was at Mary Washington and he was at U.Va. They established the Adams & Adams law firm in Howard County, Md., where they’ve been partners for 22 years; manage their 19th-century, 63-acre farm and two Arabian horses; and serve in the Blue Ridge Arabian Horse Association. Betty is commissioner for the Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland and is active in her church, the American Bar Association, and the American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility.

Donna Cannon Julian and Jean Polk Hanky wrote that Katherine “Kat” Caffee Gompf’s son, Mike Jr., passed away suddenly in March. Our condolences go to Kat and husband Mike. Kat was Donna’s roommate freshman and sophomore years. Kat’s daughter, Meredith L. Gompf ’99, was a star Mary Washington softball player. Jean’s roommate, Beth Stewart Coleman, helped Jean shop for dresses for the weddings of two of Jean’s granddaughters this year. Jean’s grandson plans to marry next Fourth of July at the Hanky home in White Stone, Va., and her youngest granddaughter, age 3, visits often in Richmond.

Trent Costley Clark sells real estate in the Destin, Fla., area. Gloria Gibson Shelton saw the Picasso to Warhol exhibit in April at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, where she visited Pidge Williams Walden’s widower, Danny, and daughter Kate and her family. We all miss Pidge. Gloria went to Beech Mountain, N.C., in July for her annual girlfriends’ weekend at the home of Sidney Robins Lockaby ’71. Kathy Fowler Bahnson ’66 is also in the nine-woman group. They hike, shop craft shows, and attend concerts in the park.

Lou Myers Daly’s son, Will, and his sculling partner, Andrew Campbell, almost made it to the London Olympics. Will participated in the Olympics in Beijing, where Lou and husband Andy cheered him on. Iris Harrell is planning a mid-July wilderness trip west of Lake Tahoe with 24 other CEOs in Silicon Valley. They were to hike to a mountaintop as a group and spend two nights on the ground without tents, one of those alone, away from team members. The goal of the trip, sponsored by the American Leadership Forum, is to learn to be better leaders and include the community in efforts to shape and embrace the future. Iris’ company, Harrell Remodeling, has 46 employees and is 37 percent employee-owned. Her goal is for it to be completely employee-owned when she retires on her 70th birthday. Her company remodeled Phyllis Newby Thompson’s home, and she expected the project to win awards. Iris and partner Ann Benson celebrated their 33rd anniversary with a golfing weekend in Monterey.

Jeanine Zavrel Fearns of Fairfax, Va.; Anne Witham Kilpatrick of Greenville, S.C.; Suzy Bender Winterble of Yorktown, Va.; and Toni Turner Bruseth of Austin, Texas, have been best buddies for 47 years and had an April reunion in Nashville. They visited historic homes, art galleries, and restaurants. Toni led at an “Official Croning Ceremony” that Jeanine said was hysterical, charming, and touching. Toni and husband Jim’s award-winning book, From a Watery Grave, tells of the discovery of French explorer La Salle’s ship, La Belle, in the Gulf of Mexico south of Texas. Jim retired as the Texas Historical Commission’s chief archeologist.

Patti Boise Kemp wrote of Mason and Randolph halls, which were gutted and renovated in time for this fall’s students. The small porches off the main level and the sunbathing “beach” over the tunnel were enclosed and turned into conversation and meeting rooms. The suites and bathrooms were redone, and there’s a mural in the tunnel beneath the dorms. Many of us have reminisced about living in Mason and Randolph. To hear those stories you’ll have to attend our 2014 reunion.

Please let me know what you did on summer vacation, so I’ll have some news for next time.