Class Notes

Carol Muldoon Martel was the keynote speaker for the UMW Scholarship Donor Appreciation Luncheon in April. She spoke about her experience as a student living abroad as well as her career in international business. Carol and her husband, Carlos, have established a UMW scholarship for International Studies.

Rhoda “Dodo” Fisher Roberts has lived in Wilton, Connecticut, for 43 years and is still fully employed at UBS. She enjoys traveling for both work and pleasure and spends as much time as possible on Nantucket. Her daughter Nell was married in June. Both daughters live in New York, so she sees them often. If Plan A happens (retiring at age 70), Dodo looks forward to downsizing—despite the frightening thought of clearing out the basement—and having more time to travel.

After many years of leadership roles in the Garden Club of Alexandria, Sally Guy Lynch Brown was awarded the Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement at a ceremony in Norfolk last May. She has previously served as president of the Garden Club of Virginia and is now a board member of Preservation Virginia as well as a benefactor and volunteer for Mount Vernon, Stratford Hall, and Menokin Plantation. She has also won numerous other horticulture awards. Congratulations, Sally!

Pam MacPhee Gibert and Paul are head-over-heels in love, not just with each other but also with their first grandchild, Caroline, born in April. They were sure they would never be grandparents so they had “adopted” a few grandchildren of friends. Then their son met and married the love of his life, and they delivered this beautiful baby girl. Pam says, “Life is good!”

Suzy Blankenship Capone and her husband, Cap, work in Boston at their insurance companies and head to Connecticut on weekends to play golf and see friends and family, especially their favorite 10-year-old grandson. Cap is a grateful survivor of 9/11; he was in the second tower of the World Trade Center. The Capones have built a house in Southport, North Carolina, to escape the Boston winters. They travel frequently with friends, and are amazed at how many beautiful European countries there are where one can play bad golf! Suzy wishes all classmates many more years of health and happiness.

Jill Robinson Burkert is an Associate Professor and Program Director in Special Education at the University of Alaska Southeast, and her grandson is finishing his degree there as well. She flies throughout the state providing support to teachers in remote Alaskan native villages. She is chronicling her adventures, which may be compiled into a future book. Jill was appointed to the Governor’s Council on Disabilities—a statewide advocacy group—and volunteers as a court-appointed advocate for kids going through the judicial system. She loves her work and plans to continue as long as she can still climb into those small planes.

Susan Blosser Wight and her husband, Richard, are world travelers—New Zealand and Capri in 2015—and devoted golfers. She is a longtime member of the Garden Club of Virginia and is also a flower arranger and a flower show judge. Susan graciously hosted a small gathering of ’68ers in June at her home in Virginia Beach.

Anne Tooke’s big news is a new puppy—a Gordon Setter—and she finds her new life to be “exhausting, but joyous.” Anne and Brooks are retired and live in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Judy Boyce Perry and Steve live in Portsmouth and enjoy traveling, most recently to Italy. Judy has had her own interior design business for 15 years. She is on the Board of the Elizabeth River Project and on the Garden Club of Virginia Restoration Committee, which oversees landscape restoration of historic Virginia gardens. Judy loves to garden, arrange flowers, and get together with Mary Washington friends.

Pam Tompkins Huggins and Jim added a grandson and granddaughter to their fold this year, bringing the total to five. One daughter lives in Virginia, one in North Carolina, and one in California. Jim is now a fully retired radiologist and enjoys his volunteer work with hospice. Pam has been a community volunteer for 32 years. She’s now declining roles that require meetings and is spending more time on the projects she is passionate about–education and advocacy for the underserved in the Staunton area. She is active in her church and is also part of a speaker’s bureau. Pam says, “Like Nora Ephron, I hate my neck, my barnacled skin, my belly… and I’m thinking of removing the mirror in my bathroom. But I’m loving my life and am beyond grateful for my blessings, among which are all of you. Class of ’68 rocks!”

We would love to see your name in this column next time! Submitted by Sally Monroe Kelly (sallykelly521@gmail.com) and Donna Sheehan Gladis (dsgladis@gmail.com).