Class Notes

Rochele Hirsch sent news of the death of Nikola Nikolic, UMW professor emeritus of physics, which also was reported in the summer UMW Magazine. I took his class senior year, and he was never boring. I’ll always remember his smiling face, booming voice, and thick accent. Condolences go to his family.

After falling and fracturing a bone in his left foot, my husband, Ted, had worn a walking boot since last June. He had surgery for spinal stenosis and a pinched nerve in his neck, was recovering, and hoped to get rid of the boot in August.

Gaye Gregory Elliott and Stephen have been married 30 years. Ellen Grace Jaronczyk hikes with a Williamsburg group and attends cultural events at the College of William and Mary. Helen Kim attended a May American Society for Mass Spectrometry meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, then flew to Portland, Ore., to visit Linda McNaughton ’69, who runs her parents’ pear orchard.

Please let me hear from more of you.

Hey, there! I hope you all survived the summer’s heat waves and storms.

The 40th reunion was one of the best! It was fabulous to reconnect, and the Kalnen Inn party seemed to bring back cherished memories for those who lived at Trench Hill. We mourned those we’ve lost and missed those who couldn’t attend, but our memories are bright, and all were with us in spirit. As always, the weekend was over too soon.

My job at the law firm keeps me busy. The Inner Harbor was packed during the city’s Sailabration to honor the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, and the 27th-floor office offered a perfect view of the Blue Angels and tall ships. It was nostalgic to pass on my “Hon” crown, but it went to the winner I would’ve chosen. Dennis and I joined Dave and Cheryl Prietz Childress for the annual Fort Frederick, Md., colonial re-enactment, where their costumes were great and their button business did well. Cheryl attended part of the reunion, and we spent an afternoon in downtown Fredericksburg.

Sue Rogers Gilmartin was in my music survey class freshman year. She dabbled in several careers, including teaching and tutoring, before becoming a certified personal trainer and opening a fitness studio with a friend. Unfortunately, it didn’t survive the economic downturn. She and husband Neil, an AT&T systems engineer, met in Atlanta, where they live, and have three children, ages 25 to 29. Daughter Heather works with the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., son Chad is in real estate in New York, and youngest Casey studied in Tulane and lives in Salt Lake City. Sue is in superb shape and put us all to shame on the dance floor during Reunion Weekend.

Hope to hear from many of you in the coming months. Keep safe.

I’m excited to be our new Class Agent. It was great to hear from so many of you, and I look forward to more updates. There are 320 members of our class, and I hope to hear from everyone throughout the years.

When I retired two years ago from an information technology career, Rod had already retired, so it seemed the house shrunk and we kept running into each other. Here in rural New Kent, Va., we’re active in our church and enjoy fishing and kayaking. For the 15th year, we flew our 1946 J3 Piper Cub to Lock Haven, Pa., in June for the annual Sentimental Journey for pilots who enjoy flying the vintage aircraft. Our Yellowbird is the basic flying machine with no electronics and minimal instrumentation. We cruise along at 70 mph, with cars below going faster.

We have dinner monthly with friends from Rod’s high school class, including Carolyn Collins Vass ’69 and husband Randy of Richmond’s Short Pump area. A beach trip was planned to celebrate Carolyn’s 65th birthday this fall. We spend time with my sister, Grace Hines Sorey ’70, and husband Bill, kayaking, touring wineries, listening to jazz, and visiting Bill’s Norfolk, Va., home place in Ocean View. Their friend and neighbor, Margie Baker Dowe ’56, still golfs and plays bridge, and our families enjoyed a Memorial Day cookout on her front porch, where three of us had special connections through Mary Washington. For more than 25 years, Rod and I have celebrated the New Year, birthdays, and other events with Virginia Davey Addison, a Baylands Federal Credit Union mortgage loan officer, and her husband of 35 years, Will, of West Point, Va. They have two daughters and two granddaughters.

Mary Sue Warner Weimer and Susan Jacobius Davis have traveled to every continent. Since our last reunion, Mary Sue visited Asia, South America, and Europe, and Susan visited India, Australia, New Zealand, Egypt, and Jordan, and cruised the Mediterranean. They traveled together to Norway, Russia, the Galapagos, Machu Picchu, the Greek Islands, and Turkey. Susan’s daughter, Amy, a Virginia Tech graduate, began a job with Disney in Orlando and a double major in hospitality and event planning at the University of Central Florida. She and Susan walked a Disney World 10K in 2009. Susan did three half marathons in 2010, walked the 39.3-mile WDW Goofy in 2011, and since has done at least nine half marathons.

Kathy Gardner Walker, a retired elementary school principal, and husband Charles live in Quinton, Va. She works with a Colorado-based publishing company, assisting schools with program implementation. Sister-in-law Debbie Walker of Fredericksburg, a retired elementary school teacher, travels, gardens, and reads.

As a follow-up to a spring 2012 magazine entry, Duke Price passed away in 2010 after a massive heart attack. He is survived by wife Ingrid Kampinga, daughter Danielle Price, son William “Bill” Price, and grandchildren Allison and Matthew Price.

Kaye Carrithers, a pre-nursing student who transferred to VCU’s School of Nursing, moved with then-husband Rick Beale wherever the USMC directed until they settled in the Richmond area in 1976. They were married 10 years and had three children. In 1991, Kaye earned an MPH with an emphasis in epidemiology from VCU. Her second marriage was to Thomas Meeks, Virginia State University professor emeritus of economics. Kaye has five grandchildren; enjoys traveling, genealogy, drawing, and watercolor painting; and is writing her memoirs.

American studies major Debra Branham Coffey was homesick for Mary Washington after graduation and began studying art history in graduate school. Compared to Mary Washington’s academic excellence and free spirit, she said, that school seemed like “a repository for zombies.” She married and homesteaded in isolated country for more than 11 years until her husband’s new job led to a more conventional life. They lived in Poland, and they homeschooled their three daughters. Debra supports conservative political causes and alternative medicine, loves to garden, and substitute teaches. One daughter teaches at a university, another is an artist, and the youngest went to school in the mountains of the Northwest. Debra often thinks of Professor of American Studies Glen R. Thomas, Professor of Philosophy Kurt Leidecker, Professor of English Donald E. Glover, and Professor of Education Ray Merchent, as well as the Monroe Hall murals.

During summer, Janet Hedrick of Alexandria was the eastern regional major gifts officer in Cody, Wyo., at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. She planned to move to Cody if her interim director of development position became permanent. Janet and Sharon Richmond Janis, innkeeper at the Delaware Inn at Rehoboth Beach, get together each Thanksgiving and volunteered to be on our 40th class reunion committee.

Dale Cole Carter of South Bend, Ind., retired from a 30-year IT management and consulting career and helped her mother through a health crisis. She launched an information and consulting business serving adult children of aging parents, created the ADAPT framework for caregivers, published Transitioning Your Aging Parent: A 5-Step Guide through Crisis & Change, and speaks nationally. She and husband Bill travel and visit children and grandchildren across the country. Dale and Kris Overstreet Helms plan to attend our 40th reunion.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this issue. Look in Class Notes for due dates, and save May 31 through June 2 for our reunion weekend. If you haven’t signed up to receive UMW email updates, please do. If your email address changes, remember to update UMW and me.

Our son, Ian, and wife Vickie expect their first child, our first grandchild, in December. After a quarter-century in southern California, my husband, Gene, and I planned to move to Pinehurst, N.C., where we’ll be closer to family. I hope to continue my part-time Weight Watchers career, maintain my involvement with an American Association of University Women book club, and practice tai chi, Pilates, and Zumba.

Carol Ekern Connors and husband Paul of McLean, Va., have son Brendan, a U.Va. School of Law graduate and Virginia Bar Association member. Carol is director of government affairs at the Washington, D.C., energy law firm Mogel & Sweet. She held a 16-year senior staff position at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, representing them before Congress, addressing constituent concerns in areas like natural gas transportation and hydroelectric power facilities, and much more.

Nicki Hutton LoCascio, associate dean of the Marshall University Honors College, was named interim dean in June. Barbara O’Brien is director of global expense management and sourcing for Manulife, a division of John Hancock Financial Services, in Boston. She paints in oils and en plein air, travels to Mexico a couple times a year, is on the steering committee of the New Hampshire Star Island Conference on the Arts, spends time in her Maynard, Mass., ArtSpace studio, and had a recent piece on exhibit at Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House in Concord.

Kim Ballard has master’s and doctoral degrees in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in learning technologies from the University of Minnesota. An instructional designer for the University of Minnesota’s College of Continuing Education, she helps professors translate courses to online environments. She designed an award-winning German I course, won an international award for her dissertation’s contribution to distance education research, and spoke at a May Center for Transportation Studies conference. Kim has daughters Anne and Amy and grandson Aiden, all of Minnesota. She visits her parents at the Jersey Shore, where she’s vacationed for 34 years.

After FEMA called Elizabeth Wright for help with the Irene/Lee tropical storm recovery effort in Albany, N.Y., she was deployed in July and wasn’t sure when she’d return. She said helping the community heal makes the long hours worth it. She also was asked to assist in an effort of the national survey of bicyclists and pedestrians in Alexandria, Va. Lina Scott Woodall and Jon’s daughter, Sarah, is pursuing a master of tourism administration at George Washington University’s School of Business and was selected by the Greenland Tourism and Business Council for a four-month research internship.

Thanks to everyone who submitted news. I look forward to receiving more!

Deborah Peel Spidle was promoted to director of EMV solutions for Paragon Applications Systems in North Carolina and was accredited by the Smart Card Alliance. She was to do EMV training and consulting in the U.S. and Latin America. She traveled this year to Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Missouri, Maryland, and Puerto Rico. Becky Adams Mauck and husband Newby became grandparents in June when daughter Cabell gave birth to Layne Elizabeth Bailey.

Alison Haworth Regan’s husband, Don, took a year off from his Colorado National Monument park ranger job, and they planned to fly or travel in their RV to Yellowstone, the Galapagos Islands, the Amazon region, and Wyoming. Alison planned to attend the annual needlepoint retreat in Texas, then go with Don to a Formula One Grand Prix race. Alison’s mom, 85, lives nearby, as does Helen Taylor Salter. They hope to get together with Mary Gillis Garwood ’62.

Diane Pearson Cotter retired after 35 years teaching kindergarten and first grade in Spotsylvania, Va., and became a grandmother when daughter Meghann gave birth to Patrick James Conner in February. Sandra “Sandy” Nelson Smith’s three children finished college. Her older son teaches English in Korea and is opening a restaurant in Seoul; her daughter is a Washington, D.C., attorney with a 3-year-old son. Sandy and husband Randy enjoy their sailboat and anticipated a Father’s Day visit from all three children.

Kathleen Chapman, a Mesa, Ariz., school district speech and language pathologist, and husband Michael Hushek, who works for the family business, Phoenix Heat Treating, live in Tempe and celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary in Las Vegas.

Son Nicholas Chapman-Hushek earned a law degree from Arizona State University and married Allison. Daughter Emily, a caseworker for mentally ill adults, graduated from the University of Arizona and was to begin a master’s degree program. Kathleen’s mother died in 2010 and is buried with her husband in Arlington National Cemetery. Kathleen still corresponds with roommate Nancy Sparks- Cresswell of Oregon.

Cathy Briggs lives in Tallahassee, Fla., with daughter Rebecca, who attends community college. Cathy works for National Forests, and she kayaks, hikes, and camps with friends. Sarah Raynor Coleman is married to Michael (“Mick”) and works for Turner Sculpture. Children Mike of Richmond, who is married, and Elizabeth, who’s pursuing a teaching certificate, graduated from college. Marge Schlemm Sidman splits the year between Fort Myers, Fla., and their Cape Cod home. She and her husband, who is retired, planned to bike Tuscany in the fall to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Marge worked 10 years as a physician assistant in Boston and retired to be a homemaker and equestrian, riding, training, and showing. They have two sons, ages 25 and 23. One works in social media marketing in San Francisco. The other plans to teach English in South Korea after teaching a year at a Boston nonprofit. Marge’s freshman year roommate, Daphne Johnston Elliott, and husband John were heading to Sunnyvale, Calif., to get son Jay situated before beginning work there as a software engineer. Marge’s other freshman year roommate, Sue Smith Hane, has seen more of Mary Carroll Myers since they moved to Morrisville, N.C. Sue and her husband of 32 years, Tom, a fly fisherman, enjoy visiting the North Carolina mountains. Sue, Mary, and Sharon Reel Fuhrmeister take an annual weekend retreat. Sharon is a new grandmother to daughter Krista and husband Jonathan’s son, Everett Carl Mueller. Sharon plans to sell her house and renovate the condo she bought.

Marsha Blosser Barley is retired after teaching music for 34 years in Winchester Public Schools. She works part time at Coldwater Creek and was to join the Shenandoah University adjunct faculty, working with music education students. Daughter Elizabeth, a Bridgewater College graduate, has three part-time jobs. Carrie Bell Jacobus has two married daughters and a son who may marry next year. She has a master’s degree in chemistry, teaches high school chemistry, and was working with other teachers on an AP chemistry lab book and a college-level organic chemistry text. She choreographed the school musical and creates art in mixed-media fiber. She and her husband hike out West and spend summers at Chautauqua Institution in New York.

Sue Sendlein Luscomb finished a seven-year commitment on the executive board of the Tennessee state chapter of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, a philanthropic organization promoting women’s education, and was state president last year. Sue volunteers at the Memphis VA hospital. Daughter Alicia is married and in graduate school. Younger daughter Ashton is renovating her house. Nancy Smith of Richmond retired from Henrico County Schools, where she supervised the program for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Involved in conservative grassroots politics since 2008, she began an effort to promote voting in the 2012 presidential election. Husband Thom Helsel is a small business owner and cyclist. Daughter Meredith, 26, a Longwood University graduate, works for Northwestern Mutual Financial Services. Rebecca, 21, a James Madison University senior, is a marketing intern.

Marcia Richards Suelzer lives in the Chicago suburbs, has worked for a legal publishing company since she stopped practicing law, and is pursuing a master’s degree in mental health counseling. Her husband enjoys fishing, Civil War re-enacting, and playing guitar. Their son is a Washington, D.C., data administrator and spends lots of time in Costa Rica. Her older daughter graduated from college in May, married three weeks later, and was to teach with an AmeriCorps group. Their younger daughter, in high school, is interested in psychology. Marti Taylor Clements lives in Maryland with her husband of 30 years, Mark. Son Rob, 25, works in Baltimore; Geordy, 23, finished his first year in medical school; Tom, 21, graduated from Gettysburg College; and Alex, 19, finished his Naval Academy plebe year. Marti does high school dance choreography, teaches dance, and is active in her church and community. She keeps up with Jan Biermann and Carolyn Roberts.

Kate O’Driscoll Hilburn of Louisiana got an MFA in photography and moved with her husband to the country, where she has a studio in their 120-year-old house. Her exhibit, Beating Hearts: Stories of Domestic Violence, includes writing and art. Daughter Jenny is a veterinarian in Kansas. Cathy Colbert attended her 40th high school reunion in Honolulu and planned to visit Candy Rossell Baunsgard in Montana, where Candy’s daughter and son-in-law own a river rafting company.

Madelin Jones Barratt, her husband of 34 years, Henry, and their family attended son William’s December 2011 marriage to Susanna Guo in Shanghai. Daughter Ellen teaches second grade. Anna, 17, a high school senior, attended the summer Governor’s German Academy. Elizabeth, the older daughter of Madelin’s freshman year roommate, Hannah Patterson Crew, married and returned to Hanover County, Va. Younger daughter Emily finished college and was preparing for the CPA exam. Hannah works for the state, and husband Todd raises bees and oysters.

Please keep the news coming! It’s great to hear what’s going on in your lives.

I love it when the alumni magazine comes out and I hear from someone I hadn’t for a while.

After 32 years of federal service, Pam Staples Piasecki retired in June from a Naval Intelligence career that included trips to Bahrain and lunch at the White House. Son Kyle graduated from high school in June. Pam and her husband of 30 years, Larry, plan to sell their Vienna, Va., home and live by the water in Fort Myers, Fla. She’ll be close to Terry Souza Beck of Plantation, Fla., but will miss Laura Buchanan Bentzen. Their families took a cruise together a couple years ago, and they met with Terry before heading home. Pam spoke to Craig Howie ’81 of London, who attends the Royal Opera and was recently visited by Patrick Everett. Pam would love to hear from the underclass girls who lived in Virginia Hall her senior year.