Class Notes

Once again Patti Boise Kemp has made us proud that she is a member of our class. President of the UMW Alumni Association, she was keynote speaker at the Ring Ceremony for the Class of 2014 last March. Patti reached out to members of our class for remembrances of our Junior Ring Ceremony, the Ring Dance, and festivities surrounding those events. She used many in her speech, which is posted on our Facebook page. I encourage you to read it, as it will bring back many memories from 45 years ago.

Barbara Crickenberger Hall retired after working 43 years full time, 33 in development. She expects to continue working in the field but in a more limited way. She and husband Bob planned to split time between their home in D.C. and Lewes, Del., where they have bought a charming 1850 “money pit.”

Bonnie Page Hoopengardner retired after 23 years as a CPA at Dixon Hughes Goodman and was getting her golf game back. She and husband Roger babysit their grandchildren, which she said is the nicest part of retirement. Bonnie and Roger looked forward to a family beach trip.

After having retired from the Congressional Budget Office, Nina Shepherd and husband Max moved to South Carolina for several years. Nina then took an offer from the U.S. Treasury Department to work in Bucharest, Romania, with several short-term assignments for the USAID in Amman, Jordan. It was formidable to take up a new line of work in a strange country after not working at all for several years, Nina said, but she and Max saw the world and met wonderful people. She is retired again and lives in South Carolina.

Claudia Stell Hawks taught with Kay Barnes Goldberg at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, and they still get together. In July, Claudia’s family, including three children and three grandchildren, gathered in Bermuda. Her children live in Washington state, Minneapolis, and Connecticut.

Anne Witham Kilpatrick of Greenville, N.C., was in D.C. for a DAR convention and got together with roomie Jeanine Zavrel Fearns of Fairfax, Va. Jeanine looked forward to her summer “retreat from reality” trip to the Outer Banks.

Iris Harrell spent her first summer off in 40 years on an extended visit to Italy and France with her partner, Ann. They hiked in the Alps, biked from San Escondido, Italy, to Lienz, Austria, and toured southern France. Today, Iris’ company, Harrell Remodeling, is 37 percent employee-owned; in four years, Iris plans to retire and turn the reins over to her employees, who should by then own 100 percent.

After a year of retirement, Betty Wade Miles Perry went on a pilgrimage to Guatemala in July with 21 others from across the country to build a library in a remote village. She and husband Boyd live in Virginia Beach, as does daughter Ellen Perry ’00 and her husband and 2-year-old daughter. Daughter Suzanne Perry
Wallis ’03 has two little boys
and lives in Richmond, so Betty Wade and Boyd are able to be part of all their grandchildren’s lives.

Ruth Ann Sichol Myers of Scottsdale, Ariz., has taught preschool for several years and would like news of Ellen McGhee Jumper, Susie Turner Johnson, or Frances Smith Armstrong.

Phyllis Newby Thompson of Atherton, Calif., has a home in Hawaii. She spent three weeks in NYC last spring visiting her daughter and helping her move. She also spent a week in South Boston, Va., in July visiting friends and family.

Lyn Howell Gray and husband Jim live in Liberia. On a visit home, they got together with senior roomie Donna Cannon Julian. Lyn hopes to be back for our 45th reunion next year.

Please make an effort to attend our reunion May 30 to June 1, 2014. It is always fun to visit and reminisce with classmates about our time at MWC. Hope to see you then!