Class Notes

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.