Class Notes
These are the unedited class notes as submitted by class agents and other alumni. Edited notes appear in the print edition.
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1950s
1950
Dorothy Held Gawley
dnigawley@juno.com
Our 65th reunion has come and gone and unfortunately not many of our friends were able to attend. I am sorry that I was one who couldn’t make it but my thoughts were with everyone there. Marcy Weatherley Morris made the arrangements for our class dinner at the Kalnen Inn in the Jepson Alumni Executive Center. Marcy prepared a memorial time to honor the 110 deceased members of our class. As the names were read, Marcy placed a dollar bill in a basket. At the end she also honored Florence Overley Ridderhof, who won the People’s Choice award in the Dancing With the Fredericksburg Stars event, and me, for my years of service as class agent. The $120 was to be donated to the Ridderhof Art Gallery. After the delicious filet mignon dinner they gave me a call and I spoke to everyone—Marcy and Juney Morris; Carol Bailey Miller; Billie Mitchell Hanes and her daughter, Diana, who brought her; Florence Overley Ridderhof; and Jane Frazier Snead. They told me that the earlier Brompton reception had an unexpected rain shower toward the end and several of our group got soaked.
Betty “B.J.” Vincent Sakes arrived with her son for the class picnic on Saturday. Marcy and Juney’s granddaughter Kelly decorated our tables—one in the Dr. Seuss Lorax theme of caring for our environment and the other The Places You’ll Go. Carol and the Morrises stayed to enjoy the All-Class Party and breakfast on Sunday morning. All agreed that they were treated royally with shuttle buses from the hotel and golf carts to get around the large campus and good food. A big thank you goes to Marcy and her family for all their work.
In her Valentine letter Marcy wrote that her granddaughter Erin’s house in Northumberland burned and they lost everything. Luckily they and their pets were ok and they were able to move into a temporary home for a while. On the whole, all of Marcy and Juney’s grandchildren and great-grands are doing great.
Marge Diener Knapp has moved into a retirement community in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, closer to her church and bell ringing. She had good help from family with unpacking and getting organized. She says that except that she has broken both shoulders, one arm, her pelvis, and has a titanium implant for a left arm, she feels great and loves everything about her new living experience. The only recent sad event was the loss of her dear friend, Mabel, 103, with whom she played Scrabble for many years.
Betty Gavett Breeden is still busy with church stuff and singing but no more library work or driving. She has recently moved into a retirement center in San Diego and says her eleven-year-old artificial knees appreciate the elevator in the facility.
Ginny Hardy Vance has also moved to smaller quarters in Tallahassee, Florida—a one bedroom apartment on the first floor. Her nephew Beau is nearby and helpful with transportation and other needs so she is well taken care of.
I had a brief phone chat with Kitty Keely Anagnost, who lives in Rivervale, New Jersey, and still spends summers in Maine.
Garland “Dorsey” Estes McCarthy keeps busy garden-clubbing in Humble, Texas. They judge yards each month and always have luncheons first. She sees MWC grad Betsy Gould ’63 at her Presbyterian Church.
Gerry Boswell Griffin sent the sad news that her daughter’s husband passed away in the end of 2014 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 53. He and Judy lived in Phoenix, Arizona, and enjoyed the casual lifestyle; she will probably stay there as she likes her job, her house and yard, and is active in her church.
Nan Riley Pointer and Joe have been doing some traveling. They had a fabulous trip on the Amazon with stops at islands along the way. They saw pink dolphins native to the river, went piranha fishing, and stopped at a very primitive village with a one room school, church, and shacks for houses. They had heard about this stop and took some school supplies to them. Their summer Norwegian cruise took them in and out of many fjords. In Bergen they met with a former exchange student along with her husband and daughter. That was the high spot of their trip.
Also a world traveler, Patti Head Ferguson was taking advantage of having her Santa Fe, New Mexico, house being rented for two years. In the spring of 2014 she visited family in Dubai, then went on to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Right before the holidays she was off to India again on the Railway Express. When leaving there she was heading to Cuba and Papua, New Guinea. Quite an itinerary!
I received an email from Carmen Zeppenfeldt Catoni’s daughter in the spring informing me that Carmen had colon surgery which would require some rehab before she could return home. I did not receive a follow up, so I hope no news is good news.
Catharine “Kitty” Keely Anagnost and her husband, Jim, are retired and moving well but slowly. Jim celebrated his 90th birthday last summer and Catharine turns 86 in September. They spend the winter in New Jersey in the same house where they have lived since the fall of 1958. They spend three or four months in the cottage at Ocean Point in Boothbay, Maine. Their son-in-law Jim now drives them up and back since the “children” didn’t think they could do it anymore. Their son Jason teaches math in Brooklyn. Their daughter Alex and her husband, the above-mentioned Jim, live in Belgrade, Maine. He is employed by a construction company, Chinbro, and she teaches remedial math to grades four and five in local schools. Son Allan is a househusband while his wife, Linda, works. Their 13-year-old daughter, Grace, keeps Allan busy. She has a 4.2 grade point average (How does one do that?) and is active in every seventh grade activity in her school and also plays the piano. She favors math. Son Robert Jon (RJ) and his wife, Maureen, live in the south of River Vale, about five miles distant, which makes them free to come should they call on them. He works in Stamford, Connecticut, as an account. Where did all this math come from? Kitty says it’s not her genes, and that it brings to mind dear Dr. Carter. What a chore he had trying to teach sine and cosine when his students’ minds were on ensigns!
One of Mary Ann Lutz Williamson’s daughters notified me of her mother’s death in December 2014. After she graduated from MWC she received a Master of Humanities degree from the University of Richmond and her Doctorate from the University of Virginia. Mary Ann taught elementary and middle school and later accepted professorships at Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia Union University. She created the Edinburg Virginia Heritage Foundation which resulted in revitalizing Edinburg as a regional destination. Over the years she was consulted throughout the United States for her genealogical research. Two of her daughters, Mary Wilson ’83 and Penelope Cottrell ’77, are Mary Washington graduates.
I also received the sad news that Nell Grieve Swanson died in February 2015. Her son Lynn died in January of that year and her husband, Capt. Charles Swanson, died in May. They were living in San Diego, California. Thoughts of sympathy go to both families.
1951
Roselyn Bell Morris
classnotes@umw.edu
[Editor’s note: Longtime class agent Roselyn “Rosie” Bell Morris submitted these notes in early summer. We’re sorry to report that she passed away Aug. 30, 2015, and we offer our condolences to her family and friends.]
The years seem to be just racing by, and I just can’t believe we graduated 64 years ago. I am so glad I have a little news to pass on.
For the last 20 years Nancy Tate Tossey has spent at least part of the winter months in the Bonita Springs area in southwest Florida. Ohio is still her permanent home, but she doesn’t like the cold, gloomy Ohio winters. She says her biggest news is that she is still around, and she is truly thankful for this and for being able to drive herself to Florida each winter. Her husband died a number of years ago, but her three children and their families remain a close knit family group. It is her joy to see them often. She has very little UMW news, as most of the friends she kept up with are no longer with us, but she does still occasionally hear from Virginia “Ginny” Peirce Carmichael.
Beverly Steel Livesay was married to C.S. “Sherb” Livesay for nearly 60 years when he passed away last year. They have four boys and one girl who gave them thirteen grandchildren. Now there are thirteen great-grandchildren. They were able to all get together for Thanksgiving last year. Beverly left Virginia in 1970 due to her husband’s employer, NCR. They stopped in Illinois and Alabama, and finally settled in the Atlanta area for 39 years. Because their children settled nearby in Georgia, Alabama, or Florida, they never returned to Virginia to retire. Beverly reports that she is in good health and able to stay in her home. She says she has kept up with all the exciting things at MWC—its growth, and even change of name. She is proud of being a member of the Class of 1951 with lots of good memories.
Betsy Smith Hughes reports that it has been a pretty good year, despite the sad fact that her husband, Chuck, continues on in the fog of dementia. They have lived at Roland Park Place for more than ten years now, and although Chuck is safe and comfortable, he would hate the life he lives now if he could understand it. Happy news was grandson Chris DeCamp’s marriage in November to the beautiful Dr. Debbie Wang. Debbie is an orthodontist and is establishing her practice in Baltimore, where she and Chris live in their historic Fells Point home. Chris, who is daughter Anne’s son, is managing special projects at Vane Brothers and is finishing up his studies at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. More happy news—Anne’s youngest son, Will, married the beautiful Libby Justice in Atlanta, Libby’s hometown, in March 2015. Will is a financial analyst in San Francisco, where he and Libby live. The family was very excited to have another reason to bring everyone together.
Betsy’s daughter Anne is busy in Richmond, having recreated her decorating business. Her daughter Sarah keeps Betsy up to speed on work and play at the Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland, where she teaches Spanish and American History. Betsy’s son Duff and his lovely fiancé, Katja, moved to a beautiful home in Cockeysville, Maryland. They are up to their ears in the active lives of Katja’s children, Kristiana, Markus, and Claudia. Duff’s son Charley, a senior at the Boys’ Latin School and a varsity lacrosse player, is the family energy machine. Alex, the older of Duff’s sons, is a midshipman in the United States Merchant Marine Academy. When Betsy wrote, he was about to board a Maersk merchant ship, the SeaLand Lightning, to sail to Asian ports for months to come, all part of the merchant mariner program at King’s point. Betsy is still busy at Vane Brothers managing publications and communications, as Duff continues to take the company to new levels of expansion moving petroleum products by tug and barge along the eastern seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico.
This is all I have at this time. Please, please help me by sending some news. I feel really down. I’m doing o.k. at this time, even if I did fall on the street by the Apothecary Shop on January 12. I am back to normal now after not working for two weeks and in the hospital for one week. Of course, I told the doctors that I’ve never been normal, so I am quite surprised to be normal again at 85 years old. Ha!
1955
Christine Harper Hovis
chrishovis@aol.com
Happy 60th to all of you. All six of us had a great reunion in May. Carol Cooper, Sally Hanger Moravitz, Gretchen Hogeboom Fisher, Mary Margaret Papstein Carter, Ann Stricker Doumas, Barbara Trites Peterson, and I were the group, as well as three brave husbands—Skip Fisher, Bill Doumas, and George Carter. Our hearty six (well, in spirit anyway) enjoyed seeing the new buildings, which were spectacular. We walked around the beautiful campus, visited some of the new buildings, attended some lectures, and learned about how much the University has grown into this century. There were still old memories, however, such as a big surprise at Seacobeck where we had a wonderful dinner! Now that familiar building will no longer be a cafeteria. Remember cheese macaroni and liver? Seacobeck will remain for another life. The six of us visited at the picnic, various dinners, and the last night at the hotel where we talked and talked about MWC, old friends, and how it was in the 1950s. We missed you all, and somewhere ears are burning. On to news; I’m starting back in May.
I’m compiling a lot of emails from Charlotte Fisher Klapproth. She has sent me quite a few emails over a couple of months, for which I am sincerely grateful. The news is getting harder and harder to get except from a very few. Charlotte went to stay and take care of Cindy after hip surgery and once she returned home she became very tired. This was a thyroid problem that has been ongoing, so she was not able to come to the reunion as planned. In her email on June 10 she said she was working on sewing a wool sweater together which she started in 2006 in 91 degree weather. I hope you feel better soon.
Update from Martha Lye Pitmann: Sad news from her. Her husband, W.J., passed away last February, just two months from their 59th anniversary. She said that they had a wonderful journey, having four children and seven grandchildren. Their sons have had successful careers in medicine and law and their daughters in interior design and marketing. This past May their oldest grandson graduated from medical school at the University of Kentucky.
Ann Strickler Doumas wrote that she was invited to the new Dahlgren campus for lunch to hear President Hurley report on UMW. She met a Mr. Jones who heads up that campus and she discovered that his mother, Jane Johnson Jones, was a 55er. Jane now lives in Oregon. Ann also added some notes on the new buildings on campus—Chandler is being replaced, as well as the nearby parking lot. This building completes Ball Circle and even used the old columns from Chandler. It will now be the student’s living and dining room. As for travels for the Doumases, they are going to Texas for a beach house anniversary and then to France to Normandy Beach in October on a Smithsonian Tour.
Mary-Margaret Papstein Carter reported that several people were unable to come to the reunion because of health problems: Joan Ferrall Shaw, Lena French Fuller, Coralyn White McGeehan, and I can also add Phyllis “Bee” Melillo Shanahan. We missed you all.
Sara Jane Parcells Vignali lives in Providence, New Jersey, where she was born and retired after teaching nursery school for 26 years. Just around the corner lives her three grandsons, with whom she loves spending time. Her three granddaughters live in North Carolina. Sara also had a three-day visit from Polly Stoddard Heim, who traveled from Lewiston, Idaho, to visit her sister, also an MWC graduate, in Long Island, New York. Being so close to New Jersey, she made time for a visit with her old roommate. They had a telephone conversation with their special friend and suite mate, Ann Grubbs Blitchington.
In June, news came from Oklahoma from Ann Lou Rohrback Culwell, who attended her great grandson’s wedding on May 30. In April, she went to see an old friend who had a stroke and then she came home and had problems of her own, so her next event is surgery. She remarked that after 80, things seem to go to pot! Amen to that. Ann says they have had rain, rain, rain. Her office had four inches of water and she had to remove all of the carpet and some of the cabinets, and now summer has come with 94 degrees.
Sally Hangar Moravitz was down to UMW twice in May, the first for the graduation of her granddaughter, Madeline Moravitz ’15, and the second for our reunion. Her only upcoming trip is to a Sacred Dance Festival in Erie, Pennsylvania, in July.
Virginia Marco Hancock says 60 years—WOW! She would have enjoyed being there and is really excited about the planned restoration of the Amphitheatre. She also remembered that a couple of classmates from the pre-nursing program participated in the May Day festivities. She reports that one of our classmates was lost last April: Mildred Corum Campbell. Mildred had an unbelievable career as a Cardiovascular Nurse Specialist and worked at times with two famous surgeons, Dr. Michael DeBakey and Dr. Denton Cooley. Virginia says that Mike and she will be going for a visit to Winchester, and they might stop in Fredericksburg and Charlottesville.
Well, as all of you have been inundated with the rain, we are now on water rationing with virtually no watering, short showers, and brown lawns and hills plus several fires. It looks like we are returning to deserts. No special news except that I am closing my business after 40 years of working, so we’ll see what life will bring next. I’m having a hard time with that and I will miss the third generation children that I now have. By the way, did you know that the UMW students call the college Mary Wash? However, it will forever be MWC to me. Take care and be feisty!
1956
Ann Chilton Power
anncpower1@gmail.com
Sue Canter wrote that after graduation she moved to New York City and did some off-Broadway acting and odd secretarial jobs so she could eat! She next moved to California and worked on TV scripts. She was executive assistant to the producer for Red Skelton’s company for eight years and handled the detail work of the foreign sale of Red’s TV show. Sue bought a house in Hollywood Hills and became a casting director for NBC. In 1972 she enrolled in law school at night and graduated in 1976 second in her class. She married her professor, Presiding Judge Earl Riley of the Probate Court in Los Angeles, in 1975. They went to Mauna Kea Beach, Hawaii, to celebrate when she passed the bar exam. She served 13 years as an assistant D.A. in Los Angeles County.
Upon their retirements, she and the judge split their time between Kona, Hawaii, and Los Angeles. After her husband’s death in 2000, Sue made Hawaii her full-time home. She became secretary of Hawaii County and the State of Hawaii Republican Party. She founded and funded the IRS-approved non-profit Hawaii County Ronald Reagan Scholarship Fund, doing all the work from fundraising to secretarial duties from her home and donating 100 percent to college scholarships for 47 kids who were chosen on the basis of essays written on the Bill of Rights. She also personally helped 10 other students get through college; one is now a doctor in his residency in anesthesiology at the University of Texas in Houston. Sue has traveled to 45 different countries on six continents. This is just a brief outline of her life.
I connected with my sophomore roommate, Dixie Moore Kirby. She and her husband, Wallace, live in Asheville, North Carolina. Her daughters and granddaughters are spread world-wide. The eldest, Walker, is in Raleigh, but of the other two, one is in Sweden and the other is in San Francisco. Her granddaughters are in New York, England, and Raleigh.
1958
Susannah Godlove
sgodlove@valleyhealthlink.com
Jane Crenshaw Avera enjoyed an oceanfront winter vacation in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, a gift from children Scot and Lila. She reported that 13 family members traveled to the beautiful Caribbean coastline. Daughter Anne and family and son David and his lady friend are in California. Anne, her husband Charlie, and their youngest son, Dave Shep, enjoyed skiing at their Lake Tahoe vacation home. Their middle son, Robbie, has graduated from UC Berkeley. He flew to Paris after Christmas for a weeklong visit and then moved on to Spain for a four-week course in international studies at the University of Barcelona, after which he planned on traveling around Europe. Other son, Charlie B., is a Lieutenant, Junior Grade in the Navy. He owns his first home in Beaufort, South Carolina. Jane is filled with gratitude and contentment, and for her, at age 78, life is good and blessings abound.
Dr. Mary Lou Morris Wolsey reports that her 19-year-old Lawrence University sophomore will be studying in Uganda next fall. She also learned that one of the last “old guard” relatives in Virginia died at 100 years of age in Charlotte Court House, Virginia. She hopes to make a trip there soon, as she has not been back since her mother died 10 years ago. Her husband attended his 60th high school reunion and Michigan State 50th reunion. Mary Lou still hears from Mildred “Chick” Hallatt, who started in a class ahead of us but then graduated with us, and Ann Flanagan Gregory, who lives back in her home territory of Virginia Beach. Mary Lou said there was a lot of snow in her area this past winter, and in the spring she went on a cruise with alums from Michigan State University, departing from Lisbon and traveling to northern Portugal, southwest Spain, the Pilgrim’s Way in Santiago de Compostela, a French island, and the Isle of Guernsey. Her grandchildren are growing up quickly and she enjoys sharing in their life experiences.
The children of Joyce Butler McKee Allen created an endowed chair at Davis & Elkins College in her honor. The Davis & Elkins Joyce Butler McKee Allen Chair in Education, a $1 million endowed chair, will provide a professorship, as well as professional development opportunities, to enhance D&E’s teacher education program. After attending Mary Washington, Joyce received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Joyce is a retired educator and has served as a Davis & Elkins College Trustee since 1992.
I am passing on information about Eloise Strader ’42, teacher, local historian, and community theater volunteer who died this past year at age 96. She was always interested in history, and she transcribed and edited The Civil War Journal of Mary Greenhow Lee, a book about life in Winchester during the Civil War. Her major at Mary Washington College, however, was mathematics, because she excelled in it. I was in Miss Strader’s Algebra I class in high school and she passed me, but I could not get a grade higher than a D. However, she prepared me for Algebra II because I went on to make B’s and C’s that year. Miss Strader attended a number of Handley High School class of 1954 reunions. She is missed by many.
I was thinking about how to end these Class Notes. On November 15 I moved from a second floor apartment at Fort Loudon Apartments—with 17 steps to get in—to a new first floor apartment. Because I only had 15 days to get out, my belongings are still not sorted. I missed the previous edition of the UMW Magazine, and when the recent edition showed up with that picture on the front cover, I was annoyed. I called the powers-that-be and expressed my opinion.
Other problems appeared—I was hit when crossing an “all way” stop sign intersection and my vehicle was damaged. Neither driver was hurt, but it took the repair shop 44 days to fix the car. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time calling the business and expressing my opinion. One last event in my life is that I was employed as a per diem therapist at Behavior Health Services at Winchester Medical Center. A decision was made to use the funds for the per diem positions and create one part time position. My last day to work at BHS was July 15. “And so it goes.”
1959
Edna Gooch Trudeau
ednanewkent@verizon.net
Another new year—where do they go? Priscilla Brown Wordlaw was in Florida in May, visiting son Robert and family. Son Chris and his wife, Ryoko, visited “Pete” in the summer. She keeps busy with numerous church activities.
Patricia Gray Proulx’s husband, Dan, keeps news current on their children and grandchildren. His notes are decorated with snapshots he has taken and they are beautiful. The last was a waterfall in Cashiers, North Carolina. What talent!
Anne Saunders Spilman and Bob do lots of traveling to visit their kids. Son Jim and family live in Massachusetts. He and his wife Debbie’s son Robert entered the Navy in January. Daughter Lisa graduated from Endicott College four years ago. Daughter Laura is a junior at Roanoke College. Anne and Bob’s daughter Katherine is in Charlottesville. Her daughter Nicole attends U.Va. Anne and Bob’s youngest daughter, Karen, and her husband, Peter, are in Pennsylvania. Karen and Peter’s oldest daughter, Anne, is a senior in high school, younger daughter, Grace, is a junior, and son John is in seventh grade.
Sally Warwick Rayburn and Jim traveled 5,000 miles in their RV last summer—here are some highlights: February was spent in Atlanta for a friend’s anniversary celebration, and in March, Sally and Jim celebrated their 57th. Sally, daughter Ginny, and Ginny’s children— Samantha, Sara Kate, and Andrew—spent a week in Pensacola. Samantha graduated high school. She and Andrew attend the University of West Florida. April brought camping with RV friends and an annual Hawaiian trip. In May, granddaughter Kelley, Richard’s oldest daughter, graduated from USC. Richard, his wife, Angee, and their youngest daughter, Hannah, participated in a martial arts demonstration in Clayton, North Carolina. June brought for them a visit with son Steve, his wife, Cindy, and their granddaughter Stephany. They wandered from Tampa to St. Augustine, South Carolina, Blacksburg, and Jim’s brother’s cabin on the Chesapeake Bay. Then it was off to the Erie Canal, the Mohawk Valley, Boston, New York, Richmond, Charlotte, Georgia, and the list goes on—a great year!
Eleanor Markham Old’s husband, Arthur, continues his interest and participation in the Sons of the Revolution, UMW Elder Study, and the Civil War Round Table. Their son Jim is still consulting and his wife, Beth, is still a nurse manager. Jim was selected as inaugural winner of the U.S. Lacrosse’s Annual Homer Schwartz Award. He has been a tireless worker for years and a volunteer for Tidewater-area teams as well as the club team of ODU.
Mary Massey and her husband, Jack Meiners, went to Gainesville, Florida, in May to help his sister celebrate her 65th anniversary—quite a blowout. In September, they enjoyed a West Virginia Road Scholar “Ride the Rail” vacation. Mary wrote that the Shay Steam locomotive for the Cass Mountains ride was fantastic. There were good speakers, entertainment, and four-course old-time dining room dinners. They spent a lot of the year on repairs, replacements, and an addition in their house including a new roof, hot water heat pump, new sump pump, and a drainage system in the basement. Health-wise all is okay. Mary did fracture her right hand bone which has slowed her a little. At 95, Jack continues full steam ahead. In 2015, they plan to attend the Meiners family picnic in Washington.
Phyllis Hartleb Rowley and Jim gave a large party with 90 in attendance to celebrate their 55th anniversary. Then she was off to Rome for a week followed by Florence, Pisa, Monte Carlo, Marseilles, Barcelona, and Cartagena. She cruised the Strait of Gibraltar and saw Lisbon and Madrid. What a trip! Jim remained home recuperating from open heart surgery with care from Dave and Jay’s families.
Barbara Barndt Miller and her husband, Wayne Suley, continue their two-hour trek between Pennsylvania and New York. January and February were bitterly cold. Barbara had a relapse from a fracture in 2013 but has pulled through. Sadly, at Easter her colt (from daughter Ann) had to be put down. She was replaced, which allowed Barbara to participate in the Devon Horse Show this year. Her name is Meadowlark’s Dancing Rabbit. Barbara and Wayne were busy in the spring gathering fallen trees for firewood, gardening, and mowing eight acres. They traveled to Pennsylvania for horse shows, friends, golf, and Wayne’s class reunion. In August, they met at the Warrenton horse show with Babs Woods, Donna Pethic, and Harriet “Ozpie” Mask. Summer was spent sawing, splitting, and stacking logs for the fireplace. Wayne said “never again.” Barbara said it was “another chapter in their book of life.”
Sally Steinmetz continues to dabble in retirement activities.
Joan Whittemore Louck and Jim had a good year with no health complaints. The weather was not as cooperative with an ice storm. They visited Virginia Beach in February. In May, they sold their beach condo. August found them in Bridgton, Maine, visiting friends. They also took a quick trip to visit friends and family in Wisconsin. Their special two-week trip to Mexico was repeated. The holiday found them at home in Foley, but they do plan to return to Virginia Beach. Joni is ready for a 60th reunion.
When Julia Coates Littlefield celebrated Mo’s 80th birthday in Lexington in September, daughter Bess and her husband, Mike, brought Breezy and Bentley, their two Corgis. Their son Scott and his wife, Susan, from Augusta, Georgia, brought their son Chris and daughter Mary Graham to spend Thanksgiving. After they left, Julie and Mo spent the weekend with Bess and Mike. They missed seeing Jack, their grandson, who will be home for Christmas! He will graduate from U.Va. this year and is already job hunting.
A highlight of the year was an invitation from VMI to attend the celebration of 150th Anniversary of Battle of New Market. Invites went to living descendants of cadets and faculty who fought in the battle. Since several relatives of Julia’s were there, they met for a family reunion dinner afterwards. Julia is in her second year of serving as coordinator of United Thank Offering, a missionary arm of the Episcopal Church, USA. She serves in the Diocese of Southwest Virginia, which helps the needy in Appalachia and has an innovative mobile dental treatment and education program for impoverished school children.
Celeste Shipman Kaufman and Alan updated on all the grandchildren. Their daughter Julie and her husband John’s oldest son, Austin, spent summer working for a running store, Trak Shak. He represented them in runs around the country and did well. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in Sports History at the University of Texas in Austin. Their daughter Francie graduated summa cum laude from USL in May. She is teaching fifth grade. In October, she married Matt, a second-year dental student at UAB. Their other daughter, Sara, is a high school junior, talented in art and music, and is looking at college. Smylie, son of Jeffrey and Pam and grandson of Peg and Alan, graduated from LSU in May and qualified to play in the U.S. Open in Pinehurst. He is qualifying for his web.com tour final stage in Florida in December. He has already won one mini tour tournament. His brother Luckie, a junior at LSU active in Sigma Nu, caddied for him at Pinehurst. What a team! Alan and Peg were in Nassau at the beginning of the year and this summer went on an Alaskan cruise. Peg had a trip home to Jackson, Mississippi, this summer to visit with old friends. The year will end with a trip to New York.
Marcia Phipps Ireland is doing better since the fall on her back at Gary’s reunion. Her back is healing, helped by her attendance at exercise classes. Granddaughter Caitlen graduated from Villanova in May. Grandson Nick is studying to be a chef at the Culinary Institute of America in New York. Larissa is a high school sophomore and plays and coaches ice hockey. Ten-year-old Gavin is teaching Gary to play chess!
Barbara White Ellis wrote all is well.
Ann Brooks Coutsoubinas is still substituting in grades Kindergarten through third.
Lois Gaylord Allen can’t believe she and Howard are great-grandparents. Angelo is 18 months old.
Gloria Winslow Borden reports that the good news is no surgery, but the not-so-good news is that her arthritis is worsening. She doesn’t let it get her down. In February, she took her three daughters and daughter-in-law to the Empress Hotel in Victoria, Canada, for a tea weekend. Delightful. She spent Easter with oldest daughter, Caroline, and her family in California. She met with Audrey Dubetsky Doyle in San Diego. In July, she took son Cliff on a baseball tour to celebrate his 50th birthday. Cliff’s daughter Cynthia, her husband, Rob, and Gloria all celebrated their birthdays at a crab fest in Annapolis. Gloria took a trip to Savannah and Stockton for Rebecca’s (Beth’s daughter) graduation. Gloria continues with church, community, and husband Ed’s class activities.
Jane Tucker Broadbooks wrote she is “still savoring the reunion” and looking forward to the 60th. They had a lot of good company during the year. Unfortunately, John had his second kidney removed in November which gives him no choice but dialysis. John Karl, their son, was there for them during the week of John’s surgery.
Barbara Gorden McNamee spent June through September traveling from Montreal, through Richmond, to Brazil, California, Las Vegas, and Seattle. She is still coaching swimming. Bob is in two golf groups, a tennis group, and is a member at a fitness center and a stodgy men’s club (Barb’s words). Update on Crabtrees: Karen (Barb’s daughter) and her husband, Tony, spent the year fixing a house by the water. They relax, fish, and crab. Karen’s daughter Brittany was married and Karen’s son Ryan, a Marine, returned from Okinawa. All came to California for the wedding. Howard, Barb’s son, and his wife, Margie, have girls Kelly and Kate in middle and high school. Kelly is in a special engineering program. Margie has started a bakery business—yum. The Organs—Chris and wife Youngmi and their kids and Rob— also attended the wedding. The McNamees were represented by Lynn, Steffi, and Gabe.
Mary Carolyn Jamison Gwinn keeps busy with walking and driving skills. Moose, their two-year-old dachshund, is in charge of walking and seeing neighbors. Mason, 14, is in eighth grade, is almost six feet tall, and needs her for after school activities. Burt has physician and dental appointments so her driving skills are sharp. Mason went to West Virginia on his first-ever ski trip. I’m sure there will be tales to tell. He’s maturing quickly and will be driving Mary before you know it.
Edie Weber Staile’s trip to Paris with daughter Kathy and granddaughter Jenny was a special time. She met Al for a two-week transatlantic trip home. Then for Christmas, 15 family members went to the Dominican Republic. They rented a villa with a pool, chef, house and grounds keepers, and a view of the Atlantic. Wow!
Frances Burke Firth hopes many more of us will be inspired to attend out 60th. Her husband, John, says he finds them full of real people and neat activities.
Charlotte Wohlnick Wiggs and Archie worked on their wish list in 2014. They toured Machu Picchu, Iguazu Falls, Easter Island, and took a Mediterranean cruise. During the summer they took a delightful trip with their granddaughter Anna (Tracy’s daughter) to France. Molly (Tracy’s other daughter) will graduate from MIT in June. Tracy and her husband, Andy, enjoy retirement. Alan (Charlie’s son) and his wife, Dale, are working and continuing their education in Raleigh.
My grandson Lucas graduated from Kindergarten and earned a Super Reader award. Daughter Virginia and her husband, Matt, took him to Legoland Florida for vacation and he loved it, especially the roller coasters and the water park. Immediately after vacation, he fell off the monkey bars and broke two bones in his wrist. He is in a full arm cast but coping well!
Girls, I’m sorry to tell you Irene Piscopo Rogers lost her husband Don in November. Kay Rowe Hayes lost her Don in November. Cecile Duncan Tolan’s John passed also. Our thoughts are with you.