Class Notes

Elizabeth Cumby Murray was to turn 90 in September and, with another 90-year-old, planned a big party with lots of friends. Elizabeth has three great-grandchildren – the youngest is a girl – and hopes she can just keep going as well as she has been.

Libby Phillips Roe said what we all realize – the years are catching up with us. She turned 90 in June, and she and Bill celebrated their 69th anniversary! Lots of her friends and granddaughters plan to marry soon.

Anna Austin Ware turned 90 in April and had lunch with a schoolmate and a few locals. Her daughter took her to church on Mother’s Day. Anna has decided to stop going to the grocery store and let her once-a-week helper shop for her.

Isabel Hildrup Klein has her first great-grandchild. Willa is the daughter of Isabel’s granddaughter, Robin, a scientist who travels the country with baby in tow. They hadn’t had much storm trouble, but their driveway flooded. Bob isn’t doing too well, but Isabel is a pretty good nurse.

Mary Ellen Starkey still lives in her La Plata, Md., retirement house and is doing as well as can be expected with her cane. She has lunch with a friend at son Donny’s restaurant every day after Mass. Her great-granddaughter, Donny and Marta’s granddaughter, is in England.

Elaine Rolley Alley likes reading Class Notes in UMW Magazine and decided it was time to give her own update. She is in assisted living in Richmond’s Short Pump area and regularly sees her two children, five grandchildren, and one great-grandson who live nearby. She goes to church, reads, does word puzzles, and bowls on her iPad.

My children planned a big party for my 90th birthday. There must have been 100 people there. Half of them were my family, including three great-grandchildren – one boy, Gabriel, born at Christmastime, and two girls, ages 1 and 2. Three grandchildren couldn’t be there. One was in Hawaii, one in California, and one newly married in Germany. One of my grandchildren does photography and took hundreds of photos. I still play bridge and sing in the choir. My family keeps telling me to use the cane, but I haven’t given in yet; I guess I should because now I am one of the old ladies. One of my sons has lived with me for a while, and one of my daughters and her fiancé were living upstairs until their planned marriage in October, so I can’t be lonesome.