Class Notes

What an amazing reunion weekend! Tiaras were out in force at the lovely class get-together on Friday night; the lawn picnic under the tent on Saturday; the dinner and dancing (lots of dancing!) Saturday night; and the Sunday brunch. With classes, tours, campus walks, dorm visits, bookstore shopping, and most of all, catching up with classmates and talking, talking, talking, it was a special time for those who attended. If you weren’t there this time, don’t miss the next one; we are already planning for a smashing 50th!

The Class of 1968 swept the Race for the Eagle awards, winning all three! We were honored for having the largest class gift and the largest number of classmates participating.

Pam Tompkins Huggins emailed: “As some of you already know, Queen Pam ended up being a no-show at the reunion because I was needed at home to help my sweet hubby, Jim, who was recovering from surgery and other miscellaneous bizarre medical events. Sally Monroe Kelly exploited my absence by reclaiming her title, but we will straighten that out at the 50th!” Pam lives in Staunton, Va., and volunteers for nonprofits and favorite causes. She has a new grandson and son-in-law, and they took their annual beach trip to Hatteras.

Sally Monroe Kelly (who proved while dancing with President Hurley that she can still do a mean “bump”) and husband Pete of California celebrated their 25th anniversary. Six of their eight kids are married, five have children, and they expected their 11th grandbaby in October.

Kris Krstulich Hoyer loved the reunion, seeing members of the Class of ’68, and wearing her tiara all weekend! She said it was interesting visiting Virginia Hall and that the campus looked amazing, but she felt completely lost with all the new buildings. Did we really make it to 8 a.m. classes, walking from Marshall to duPont?

Dale Saunders Kalkofen retired from Chesterfield County, Va., in 2011 after 44 years in public school education. She is pursuing her original interest in art, mostly drawing and painting.

Mel Wittig Neale is an artist in the Northern Neck of Virginia, where she exhibits regularly. She also exhibits in Florida and recently won best in show for one of her watercolors at the juried St. Augustine Spring Membership Show.

Merrilyn Sawyer Dodson retired in September 2012 and enjoys grandchildren Dex, 8, and Taylor, 6, who live in Richmond. Donna Harrison Lile retired from the Bowling Green, Ky., public library. She has two daughters and two grandsons, so she spends a lot of time traveling between Louisville and Lexington!

Susan Morris and her husband, Don Wolford, live in Barrington, Ill., in the Chicago suburbs. She is semiretired from educational consulting and enjoys two granddaughters after raising three sons. Susan wrote: “My latest breaking news is the arrival of my second granddaughter, Ivy Sloane Leflar, on Thursday, July 11. This date is the birthday of my maternal grandmother, my first cousin, and my youngest son, making Ivy our fourth generation born on 7/11.”

Angela Cummings Petro and husband Ray celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. They have two children and two granddaughters and recently moved from Fairfax County to Williamsburg. Rhoda “Dodo” Fisher Roberts still works full time for UBS in Stamford, Conn., but took a new role this year as manager for graduate trainees, interns, and diversity in the Americas. Last year she traveled to Switzerland, Scotland, and England. This spring she visited the homes of the first four Virginia presidents – Montpelier, Ash Lawn, Monticello, and Mount Vernon.

Anne Tooke, a retired psychotherapist, and husband Brooks travel extensively. Judy Henley Beck finished a two-year term as president of her local woman’s club and cares for her mother. She and Gary celebrated their 45th anniversary and have two children and three grandchildren.

Last fall Susan Blosser Wight played in a golf tournament in Virginia Beach. When she got to the fifth hole, there was a brown Lexus hybrid parked by the tee. Susan hit a hole-in-one and won the Lexus – talk about exciting! She was elected to the board of directors of the Garden Club of Virginia and is an avid golfer, flower arranger, and bridge player just 10 points away from her Life Masters. Her husband of 45 years is a golf rules official. They go to lots of golf tournaments and were heading to the U.S. Open right after the reunion.

Jill Robinson Burkert lives in Juneau and works for the University of Alaska, Southeast. She teaches special education teachers, most located in remote native villages, so part of her job requires her to fly out to visit. Jill wrote, “I never thought of this job as an option and would never have thought about Alaska as an option, but it has been an adventure. The state is huge and incredible.” Jill’s family is a bit fragmented, but her son, daughter, and grandson are healthy and happy.

Lynn Belcher Fox was sorry to miss the reunion. Her youngest child completed her master’s degree in cultural arts management, and they were at the ceremony. Lynn was in Minnesota for the summer, enjoying Gull Lake, grandchildren, and three of her four children.

Morgan Golladay and her husband and cats live in Ocean View, Del. She volunteers at the library, sketches in pen and ink, creates acrylic collages on canvas at her studio, and shows her paintings at the Mispillion Art League in Milford and at the Rehoboth Art League.

Jean Eley Thompson and husband Jim are in good health and drove to Fort Lauderdale for their son’s graduation as a physician assistant from Nova Southeastern University. Her son and his wife planned to move back home to live. Jean was sorry to miss the reunion but promises to make the 50th, “the good Lord willing!”

My husband, Ash, retired in June, and we planned to move back to our home in La Quinta, Calif., which was rented out for four years while we both worked in the Northern California Bay Area. I plan to continue working for WestEd, an education service agency based in San Francisco, telecommuting from a home office. We planned a family reunion in September at our niece’s wedding in Austin, which will include a visit from son Todd and his family from Melbourne, Australia. Both our kids and their spouses are well, and we grab any time we can with Denver grandkids Maddy, 15, and Spencer, 11, and Aussie kids Maya, 5, and Flynn, 3, with lots of Skyping! The weekend before the reunion I had brunch with Cindy Long in NYC. She couldn’t attend the reunion due to conflicts with her job as lead attorney for a major bank in New Jersey. We had fun catching up, and I missed dancing with her at the reunion!

Christie Wineholt ’69 had a great time at the reunion and wrote that the fabulous Class of ’68 set the bar high, cast down the gauntlet for ’69 for achievement, had their tiaras on all weekend, and had not changed a bit. “As a tag-along (Deb, Mel, and Dodo were my roomies my junior year), I have had a wonderful time!”

OK, ladies, now you see what it’s like to have class news in the magazine. Let’s try to keep this going!