Class Notes

Lisa Nichols lived in Mali and was interviewed in April on NPR and PRI about the refugee situation there. Son IJ Diakite joined UMW’s Class of 2016. Lisa was to move back to the U.S. in August and work from Abt Associates’ home office. Vicky Wilder’s youngest daughter, Maggie, attends UMW and was in Riverside Center’s Anything Goes. Middle child Tori graduated with honors from UMW. Friends of Dance helped produce the February Sonja Haydar Scholarship fundraiser, For the Love of Dance, along with the company of Kathy Harty Gray, a dance professor during our Mary Washington years. Her dance suite, Grant Us Courage… Grant Us Peace, was inspired by her three NYC firemen brothers who were at Ground Zero.

Our son, Frank, entered Vassar this fall. Son Tom, a Yale graduate, teaches high school math in New Haven, Conn. Son Michael is a Tufts sophomore. I’m pursuing my third master’s degree, this time in health policy. I traveled to Washington, D.C., and testified in May before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on healthcare payment reform innovation.

Sharon Robertson Williamson’s daughter, Shelby, was to enter Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business. Hunter, a high school junior, sings bass in a barbershop quartet. Laura Wong Dolloff lives in Colorado Springs. Susan Leavitt’s niece and Rob Wood’s daughter are College of William and Mary graduates. Susan trained for an August bike trip through Vermont and Montreal. Kathy Walters Along’s husband, Jim, retired from the FBI and is Chartis Global Investigations’ principal investigator. Daughter Gina took a youth group mission trip to Alaska and was to enter Florida Gulf Coast University. Son Joe, a high school sophomore, was in Duke’s summer TIP program. Kathy teaches Jazzercise, does yoga, and volunteers in the Junior League of South Brevard, Fla.

Dave Hardin of Midlothian, Va., has done fieldwork for the sesquicentennial of the Civil War Peninsula Campaign. He was elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Mary Ann Mayer celebrated 13 years in business at the Mount Washington B&B. Teresa Childers Peterson vacationed in Vancouver, Canada, and completed an Iron Man competition. Step-mom Marilyn passed away last October. Her dad, 82, married on St. Patrick’s Day in Florida.

Amanda Patterson Ormond and family traveled to Europe this summer, visiting Prague, Florence, and Rome. Her consulting firm, the Ormond Group, which focuses on solar and wind development in the West, celebrated 10 years. Farah Maynor Marks works in institutional advancement at Randolph College in Lynchburg, Va. Daughter Marilyn earned a degree in violin performance from Eastman School of Music and is pursuing a master’s degree at Cleveland Institute of Music. Son Samuel was to enter Hampden-Sydney College.

Make plans to attend our 30th reunion in May!

Last spring, in Fredericksburg, Elizabeth “Betsy” Maguire Whiteside of Glenside, Pa., visited college friends then visited Landonia Fletcher, 75, at her home in Spotsylvania, Va. Fletcher was a Jefferson Hall housekeeper when Betsy lived there and befriended many of the girls. Betsy’s mother is Jeanette Buechting Maguire ’56.

From Deona: Thanks for sending updates these past years. I’ve enjoyed being Class Agent and am pleased to pass the baton to Monique Gormont Mobley.

Rebecca Rogers Nelson of Crozet, Va., for years an actress in NYC, moved to California, became a writer and director, and has four full-length screenplays to her credit. She and actor-writer husband Durrell adopted three of their four children through the foster care system and were named “Couple of the Year” by Los Angeles’ Operation Child. Their screenplay, The Home Game, promoting adoption of older children, was set to film this year in Virginia.

Deb Pierpoint Randolph lives with her husband and sons in Raleigh, N.C. The twins are at UNC-Wilmington. The youngest started high school. Brother James Pierpoint ’82, his wife, and two sons participate in sports and scouting in Charlotte, N.C. Brother Tim Pierpoint ’82, his wife, and three daughters live in Northern Virginia. The oldest, Anna, is a UMW sophomore.

From Kim: Ken and I run a computer repair business and this summer visited Dallas; Tulsa, Okla.; and Fort Collins, Colo., for radio control flying events, where Ken takes pictures and video. We saw the Cardinals and their minor league team play in Oklahoma City and St. Louis. Michele A. Mulligan and Scott J. Golightly formed a Richmond firm and practice in such areas as civil litigation and corporate law. Michele received a law degree in 1990 and an MBA in 1999 from the University of Richmond. Jill Marcoux and Kem Foley enjoyed our 25th reunion. Kem was invited to present at an International Association of Administrative Professionals conference and planned a summer family vacation.

Keep the updates coming! I’m on Facebook under “Kim Jones Isaac.”

Thank you to classmates on Facebook for forwarding these updates. Don Appiarius’ wife, Vivian, became a family nurse practitioner and is in pediatric neurology at Carilion in Roanoke, Va. Don is associate vice president and dean of students at Radford University. Na-Lee is 5. Lianne Wilkens Best, an Employment Enterprises recruiter, and her husband of 23 years, William, of Manassas, Va., have daughter Amanda, a Johns Hopkins University junior, and son Nick, a high school senior. Sherri Cooper Miller, a Gloucester, Va., instructional technology resource teacher and WHRO online course facilitator, has a daughter, a son, and three grandchildren. She received a master’s degree in educational technology from Virginia Tech in May.

I’m the mother of a Yorkie puppy and a 2012 Manassas, Va., high school graduate. I ran into Karen “Tollie” Greer at my marina. Sherri Bradley Paxton moved from San Diego to the San Francisco Bay area. An avid exerciser, she works at Gilead Sciences. Her husband is vice president at a wireless company. Her son is a high school freshman.

Send updates! I’m on Facebook under “Leah Wilson Munnis.”