Class Notes

Anne DePorry McGrath of Fredericksburg attends UMW programs, does photography, and helps raise grandchildren.

Kay Martin Britto visited Chicago with her daughter in May and went to her 60th high school reunion in Maryland. She and her husband visited California in July and attended a September Road Scholar program in the North Carolina mountains.

Judy Townsend Bainbridge’s history of Greenville law and lawyers since 1786 was to be published in fall. She and husband Bob planned an August garden tour of southern England.

Suzanne Doran Houser keeps up with Patricia Lawder Rusk of St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, Jean Phipard Rutherford of Norfolk, Virginia, and Marie Cherry Koneczny of Clifton. A music major, Suzanne graduated in three years and married her West Point sweetheart in 1957. They traveled the world for 30 years with the Army, including three tours in Germany. They’ve been in Atlanta 27 years. Suzanne has taught children and adults since graduation. Two daughters live in Charlotte, North Carolina. Three grandchildren are college graduates. One is a college sophomore.

Joyce Butler Allen treated daughter Susan Crimmins to a two-week trip to London. Joyce’s children are giving a chair in education in her honor to Davis and Elkins College. On their board of trustees since 1992, she plans to retire in May and attend her 60th high school reunion in October.

Jane Crenshaw Avera planned to visit her oldest children, Anne and David, and their families, in California and watch the July Fourth fireworks from Anne and Charlie’s boat in Lake Tahoe. Jane has been a weekend concierge at a Richmond retirement home for 10 years. Jane said Judie Pyrke Orrell died in June 2013 after two years in a Virginia Beach nursing home. She had debilitating dementia and didn’t know Jane when she visited her in 2012. Robert, Judie’s husband, died suddenly in December 2012.

Mary Elizabeth Hendrickson Greenup’s husband, Bill, said shepassed away in February after heart surgery at the Medical College of Virginia. Married 55 years, they’d lived in Fredericksburg since 1961. Mary was active in Fredericksburg organizations and managed the Historic Kenmore gift shop for years. She is survived by two daughters and three grandsons. Martha Kimball Hearn of Fredericksburg attended the memorial service at St. George’s Episcopal Church. Martha also will miss Lucile Geoghegan Cheshire and saw Bill, Lucy’s husband, at daughter Helen’s second wedding. Her four children were in the wedding and have Lucy’s red hair. Martha planned to visit Elinor Runge Vitek in July when Betsy Smith LaFever passed through Virginia from Connecticut to her Florida home. Martha participates in UMW activities. After losing two husbands, she’s dating an old high school friend, a West Point grad and retired general who lives in Virginia Beach.

Elizabeth “Betty” Gould Storms learned about Mary Greenup’s death from a friend who’d attended St. Mary’s Hall in Burlington, New Jersey. Betty and Mary Liz graduated from St. Mary’s in 1954. Betty and husband Bob were helping daughter Susan cope with the death of her 54-year-old husband after a heart attack. He’d been preparing for a heart transplant. He and Susan have five children and one granddaughter.

Nancy Snook Miller said Elizabeth “Bettie” Beckham Gentry lost Bill, her Marine husband of 55 years, in June to Parkinson’s disease. Bettie had cared for him at home. Nancy and husband Jack spent many happy times with them. Nancy and Jack’s daughter lives in Fredericksburg, so Nancy sees Martha Kimball Hearn. She and Ruthie Edge Griggs relive by phone their days in Framar and Custis.

Fay Purcell Parke Cantrell, who lost her husband in an auto accident, married Alex Cantrell of Knoxville, Tennessee. They live on a working farm run by Alex’s son. He raises Black Angus cattle and grows fruits and vegetables. Fay took her fourth European tour, then drove to their condo in St. Simons Island, Georgia, and visited her four sisters. Fay earned a master’s degree from the University of Tennessee in 1981. A retired high school counselor, she still helps select scholarship recipients, is in a garden club, and grows blueberries. Alex stays busy at his office and has no plans to retire.

Edith “Edie” Massie Warner died in May at home, surrounded by her son, daughter, grandchildren, and pets. Husband Don Warner died in 1984. Edie taught second grade in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for 36 years.

Christine Harper Hovis ’55 reports that Kay Purdy Cook, a longtime cancer survivor, died in June. After graduation, Kay, recruited by California public schools, began her teaching career in San Diego. The family moved to San Luis Obispo, where she was a classroom aide. Kay earned a certificate in library technology, managed an elementary school library, and received a 1996 Honorary Service Award. She leaves husband Bruce, son Christopher and wife Elisabeth, and grandson Ian. Kay lived by the theme “pay it forward with an act of kindness toward another.”

Yvonne Lewis Alexander married husband of 53 years Harry Alexander before finishing Mary Washington. They had five children, 11 grandchildren, and several great-grands. When Yvonne’s youngest started fifth grade, she got re-certified, taught art in a Christian school for 17 years, and quit to help care for aging parents. Harry died of cancer in 2010, and a 10-month battle with glioblastoma took Yvonne’s 54-year-old son. She was blessed with three more great-grandchildren, but recently a grandson’s 4-month-old son died in his sleep. Last year Yvonne married Alfred T. Matthew, who lost his wife to cancer. Yvonne had known him since eighth grade, but they’d never dated. They are active at church, and Yvonne has published two books, Count It All Joy, a faith-builder, and Adventure in Autou, a children’s fantasy with spiritual insight.

These notes were hard to write. Five of my friends, none related to each other or me, died within two weeks. My sympathies to all who’ve lost loved ones. Thank you for sharing your joys, sorrows, and ability to go on.