Class Notes

In less than three years we will be celebrating our 50^th reunion! Seems hard to believe but time marches on. If you have not already done so, please go to Facebook and friend Mary Washington College Class of ’70. There you can find some extra news about what is going on at UMW and catch up with some other classmates. Please send more news as I am sure many of you have interesting things going on in your lives!

Joyce Burcham sent news of what she has been up to these last years. She wrote: I ticked a major item off my bucket list on New Year’s Day 2016, when I set foot on the Antarctic mainland. That trip of a lifetime means I now have been on all seven continents. Antarctica was (as the kids would say) totally awesome, surrounded by the overpowering scale of nature. And en route I had five fabulous weeks doing the samba in Brazil and tango in Buenos Aires. Had lunch in the little cafe on Ipanema Beach where Jobim wrote ‘Girl from Ipanema’ over 50 years ago, while we were at MWC. I am living on Upper West Side, Manhattan, after spending most of life outside the US. Two weeks after we graduated, I left for Europe, and after working au pair in Paris and running a restaurant in Spain, I spent a year hitchhiking around the world through the Middle East and South Asia, ending up eventually in Sydney, Australia, where I lived, off and on, for 40 years, with a four year stretch in London. In the late 80s, I moved to New York to do a PhD in biostatistics, and have lived in Manhattan, off and on, since then.  After a career in the computer industry, I went into the pharmaceutical industry, working on clinical trials. This turned out to be a very satisfying direction, providing interesting, meaningful work that took me to Geneva, The Netherlands, and back to Sydney. Currently, I am working for IBM Watson Health involved in machine learning for radiology (after retiring twice!). I am planning a two week trip to Sydney in June, just to catch up with friends. I met our classmate, Cathy Haringer Christensen ’70, at our 50th high school reunion. We had been together all through high school in Alexandria, and in Virginia Hall freshman year. Cathy is now in the home she built for retirement in North Carolina.

Helen Kim lives in Birmingham, AL, where she is president of the Alabama Asian Cultures Foundation. She is a retired Associate Professor from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She and her husband are diehard Bama football fans.

Jane Bourdow writes: “I am “sort of retired. I left my position as organist and choirmaster at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Alexandria in May of 2015 after 33 years.  However, most Sundays I’m still on an organ bench somewhere as a substitute, as well as performing occasionally.  It’s great to have more free time for taking long walks and reading…so many books, so little time!  I’d love to know what the other music majors in our class are up to!”

Jean Burgess Botts took a wonderful trip to South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. I have to agree with her that seeing that part of the world is absolutely amazing! We traveled to Spain and Portugal in March and are headed to England, Scotland and Wales in Oct.

The class of ’71 is working hard toward the goal for the Golden anniversary, 50 years in 2011. I hope we will have many more attend for our 50^th than the 45^th. Plan to come back in a few years for the reunion.

I heard for the first time from Marie Droste Martin who recently retired from teaching Spanish and French in Roanoke, Va. but then decided to teach French part time. Sadly, Marie lost her husband Darrel two years ago but they have two daughters; Laura who was ordained as a minister in April and Erin, an artist, jewelry maker, poet and short story writer.

Marie continues to travel and has spent a great deal of time in Europe. Her most unnerving trip with students was when the terrorist attack occurred in Nice, followed by an attack in Germany. She wrote that she has also become active in politics.

In June, I had a wonderful visit with Diana “Diney” Rupert Livingston. She was in York for a family wedding and came to stay for a couple of days. To say we talked non-stop day and night would be an understatement but we had lots of catching up to do. Diney sits on the Foundation Board for Mary Washington and remains active in many charitable areas since retiring as the General Manager of the largest Call Center for QVC not long ago. She recently moved to an apartment in downtown Richmond and was happy to give up the suburban Florida life for city life. Like many of us who were not necessarily close friends while attending Mary Wash, we have found so many mutual interests and have become good friends in our later lives. Of course in catching up, we laughed as we went through the Yearbook recounting various events. We have promised to do it again.

Mary T “Fred” McPherson couldn’t join us because of business, but Mary and I co-chair the College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Committee and see or chat fairly regularly. She is very busy with her consulting and non-profit business spending a great deal of time in Slovakia. Mary is also very active for our class fundraising anticipating a great 50^th reunion.

Laurie McIntosh continues to stay in touch and has cut back on her business which involves teaching writing skills to businesses and government agencies. Not an easy feat. She too lives in Richmond and does charitable work for the Junior League. They run a shop called “Boots to Suits” that provides veterans attire to help ready them for interviews and back into the job market. Laurie is also an accomplished landscape artist.

In March, just prior to my cruise through the Panama Canal, I visited with Elizabeth “Liz” Keith who has lived and taught college in San Diego for several decades. We have stayed in touch since college and try to cross paths along with Barbara Exline Staller who lives in Pennsylvania. Occasionally the three of us have met for lunch to catch up on our lives. Barbara lived in Betty Lewis and left Mary Washington to finish her degree at Ursinus in Pa.

In May 2017 Lisa Barker traveled to Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan with nine others following an itinerary organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The group was accompanied by Griffith Mann, the Curator in Charge of the Department of Medieval Art and the Cloisters, along with local guides. The trip covered territory with  beautiful landscapes, multiple languages and alphabets, musical performances, ancient churches, monasteries and art, prehistoric petroglyphs, wonderful people, politics and history.

Betty Barnhardt Hume ’71  retired from the Central Rappahannock Regional Library at the end of October and went back in December as a part-time sub. As Betty aptly wrote, she is working less and enjoying it more!

Randy HUME ’75  still golfs every day he can, and they’ve done lots of traveling to Wilmington, NC where one daughter lives and to the Outer Banks where Betty’s sister-in-law lives. Their other daughter still lives in Fredericksburg, so as Betty writes, they haven’t been totally abandoned by family.

Summer greetings one and all.

It was such a joy to see all of you wonderful classmates at our recent reunion. Reunions keep getting better and better. My thanks to both Julie Obarski Simpson and Lona Kardos Tonelson for assisting me with the planning. Great job! As usual, the time together was over too quickly.

Lona retired last year from Norfolk Public Schools after 26 years as a Library Media Specialist. While she misses the kids, she is happy to be able to travel with husband Steve during the school year. She also continues to enjoy mini reunions with Gail Sherwood Cervarich, Shirley Harris Sutton, Terri Hall Alford, Nancy Mahone Miller, Sherrie Mitchell Boone, Mary Saunders Williams and Laurie Clark Crigler. This group is part of a combination from Virginia and Willard Halls that ended up in Madison Hall when they were sophomores. Others include Kathy Duley, Kathy Ray, Mary McFadyen Halliburton, Kathy Bradford Lehman, Anne Toms Richardson and Brenda Franklin. Karen Jenkins and Philo Funk Liedquist also joined this group a little later. Seeing the way these ladies have all stayed together for 45+ years reinforces a belief we all share that the friendships formed at our alma mater really do last a lifetime. My friendships with Cheryl Prietz Childress and Norah Heckman, ‘73 are the same way.

Cheryl and I still see each other several times a year. Dennis and I were so pleased to attend the wedding of their son Alex last fall. Cheryl and husband Dave are pleased to announce the happy news that daughter Thea is expecting a daughter in the fall.

Carol Smith Howland and her husband recently purchased a home in Luray, Virginia. They are in Florida during the winter months where both of them worked and retired.

Our deepest sympathies go out to Kathy Deneke Clatanoff for the loss of her husband, Bud (also a former professor at Mary Washington). She is staying in Annapolis, at least for now.  Bud had grown up there and they moved back because it was his town. Annapolis has proven fun and lively for Kathy and she’s made some good friends.  Even so, she still considers herself “a Virginia girl”. We are hoping to hook up at some point and go to one of her favorite haunts for crab cakes.

Debbie Bradford Stanley lives in Moreno Valley, CA She worked in advertising before returning to Trenton State in NJ for a teaching credential. She retired this year after almost 31 years of teaching in CA, 26 as a certificated teacher librarian at all grade levels. In addition to past writing and several awards in her field, Debbie is currently under contract for a fourth book in a series entitled Practical Steps to the Research Process in a Digital World. For 40 years Debbie has traveled to over 25 countries; the latest being China and Peru. Our sympathies go out to her as well for the loss of her husband, David, after 20 years of marriage. Her son, Jonathan, completed a 5-year surgery residency and will begin a 2-year fellowship at the University of Connecticut for vascular surgery. Her other activities include volunteering at a local library, membership in the American Association of University Women and participation on many committees at her UCC church. She still remains an avid reader and the words of Thomas Jefferson, “I cannot live without books” are her motto.

Dennis and I enjoyed a lengthy holiday in California this past Christmas. It was certainly a different experience from East Coast Christmases but very enjoyable with about eighteen other family members. Another Hon Fest has come and gone but our group continues to remain active in charity ventures all over the Greater Baltimore area. In addition, we are doing some upgrades to our home.

That is all of the news for now but here is hoping more of you will be in touch. I’m already starting to plan our 50^th reunion so please send me your ideas.

Caught up with Virginia Davey Addison this spring. She retired earlier in the year. In April enjoyed a day trip to Fredericksburg with sister Grace Hines Sorey ’70. We toured Belmont and ended our day at Carl’s. Still the best!

Mary Stevens Portier writes: After 11 years in Atlanta working at the American Cancer Society’s national home office, my husband Kenneth is retiring June 16. We sold our house in Atlanta and downsized to a house in Athens, Georgia. We spent most of our adult lives in university towns, so we chose to move close to one of Ken’s younger sisters, rather than to either of our children. Our son Russell and his family live in Madison, Wisconsin, and our daughter Sarah and family are in Palm Bay, Florida. Wisconsin winters hold no appeal for us, and we spent 27 years in Florida and have no desire to return. The short move to Athens also allows me to stay in touch with the friends I have made in Atlanta for as long as I am able to make the drive. A new phase of life begins!

2018 is our 45^th reunion. Mark your calendars now for the weekend of June 1-3, 2018.

Class of 1974, need to hear from you all and hope you are looking through your old MWC stuff for our 2019 reunion, our 45^th, never too early to start planning….believe it or not I (Sid Baker Etherington) found some of my old catalogs in one of my parents’ trunks…

Diane “Harvey” Smith reports that she is now a grandmother three times! Twin son Adam is now the parent of twin girls (Ami and Mia), and his brother  Ben is equally as proud about his boy, Bodhi. The cousins were born within 6 months of each other and if all families ever end up in the same place, hopefully the kids will enjoy playing together. Adam just moved back to the San Francisco area and Ben will soon be moving from India to Thailand for a three year gig with the government. Lots of Facetime is in the cards. Diane and her husband Steve visited with Ben’s family in New Delhi this past March and traveled throughout northern India. If you think the traffic in northern VA, LA, or NYC is bad, go to India! It is pure and utter chaos but yet with little drama.

Diane reports that Pat Denton is doing well and happily retired and living in Siler City, NC. Pat bought a turn of the century Queen Anne style house some years ago and has been diligently working through renovations. It is truly an architectural gem now.

Pat, Pam and Diane recently enjoyed a brief “old girls” weekend catching up on news and generally enjoying our brief glimpse of spring in Virginia this year. Pam continues to work and is looking forward to some quality retirement time, hopefully soon.

Mary Ann Pomfrey Casey (’75) wrote that, after graduating as a Music Major in 1975, she learned how to teach and “control” masses of junior high choral music students in Culpeper County. In 1983, she married Larry Casey, an orchestra director in the Prince William County School system. They lived right below Brompton for their first year of marriage and bought a house on sixteen acres of woods on the Spotsylvania battlefield where they still reside today. Mary Ann studied harp with Jeanne Chalifoux while at Mary Washington and that opportunity shaped so much of her music career. She has played with many college and community orchestras, choirs and church concerts around the state. In fact, the harp was present at Rebecca Reames (’76) funeral this past May, who passed away after a four-year battle with cancer. Mary Washington’s policy of free applied music lessons gave Mary Ann the opportunity to take her “country piano lessons” and study with a world-class harp instructor who gave her the technical proficiency and confidence to go out into the world and use her skills. That confidence shaped Mary Ann’s desire to also develop her skills as a middle school choral specialist. In 1990, she started teaching at Saunders Middle School in Prince William County and stayed there until early retirement in 2009 after 34 years in the classroom. Mary Ann and her husband, Larry, presently serve as Choirmasters at the Presbyterian Church in Fredericksburg, where they have five choirs and two instrumental ensembles. Mary Ann’s semesters spent studying organ with Peggy Kelley Reinburg at Mary Washington have been of invaluable service when she needed to cover organ at the church. Mary Ann’s married life includes two step-children who have given Larry and Mary Ann such joy, including two grandsons. Their son, Neil, is a violinist and conductor on staff at the University of South Carolina and his wife, Sunny, is on the Voice Faculty of East Tennessee State University. Their daughter, Allison, is manager of Enterprise Car Sales in Richmond and her husband, Mark, is an assistant principal in the Henrico Schools. Their two sons are the “reward” grandparents receive when life finally gives us time to enjoy the slower moments of life.

Faith Geibel Moore (’75) and her husband, Robert, continue to enjoy travel and they spent two weeks in Scotland in October 2016. They also traveled to Berlin this past October. Faith and Robert still live in eastern NC, where Faith volunteers at Tryon Palace in New Bern, teaches summer water aerobics and enjoys retirement. Faith also wrote that she lost her mother May 12th of this year, so we extend to Faith our deepest condolences and sympathy for her loss.

Jacalyn Bryan (’75) is in her ninth year as a Reference & Instruction Librarian at Saint Leo University, where she was a former dance professor. She received the Florida Library Association’s Library Research Award at their annual conference in May for her research on the preparation of academic librarians who provide instruction, which examined the impact of first careers on second-career librarians. Jackie has presented this research at two international conferences: the Society of Teaching & Learning in Higher Education in Halifax, Nova Scotia; and the European Conference on Information Literacy in Saint-Malo, France. Jackie and her husband are empty-nesters once again and attended a family reunion in Maui this October, along with their two sons and many of their relatives.

Barbara Shepherd (‘75) retired from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in June after 24 years there and 36 years in arts education. While she has accepted some consulting work, she’s looking forward to the usual retiree activities: travel; visiting her children; gardening; and attending Washington Nationals baseball games.

Mary Beth Moore Coya (’75) wrote that it’s hard to believe but, this past August, she celebrated 30 years as the state and local lobbyist for an association in northern Virginia. She continues to enjoy the job, living in Reston, and her weekend home near the mountains of Virginia.

We would love to hear what’s going on in your life, so please email me with your news! All news is welcome!

We were sorry to learn of the death of Rebecca “Becky” Rae Reames on May 22, 2017. Becky was associate Professor for the Crane School of Music. She is survived by sisters Ronda M. Reames of Staunton and Diane R. Bates of Free Union; her nephew Joshua M. Bates of Rockbridge Baths, Virginia; and her honorary sister, Mary Lawrence Welliver, who supported Rebecca tirelessly through her four-year cancer battle. In addition to her beloved cousins, friends, and colleagues, Rebecca leaves behind hundreds of music educators across the country who were inspired by her teaching and are using techniques and approaches they learned from her with their own students. Dr. Reames’ legacy survives her. After graduating from Mary Washington College and teaching middle and high school music in Prince William County, Rebecca earned a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Music Education/Choral Conducting from Florida State University. After teaching at the University of Georgia, Dr. Reames was hired at the State University of New York at Potsdam in 1996 as an Assistant Professor of Choral Conducting in The Crane School of Music and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2000. For the past 21 years she taught courses in music education and conducting, plus conducted choirs, one being the Phoenix Club, a women’s chorus and the oldest choral group on campus, originally founded in 1894 by Julia E. Crane. Her touring choirs performed internationally.

It’s been an extremely busy 2017 so far for the Class of 1978. Bobbi ROLLINS Johnson shared the good news that her son, Joseph, completed his PhD in Physics this spring and has accepted a position at Intel in Hillsboro, OR—a real dream come true for him. Bobbi is looking forward to visiting the area!

A little bit of humor from Martha WEAVER Campbell. Martha and husband Dave are on vacation in Myrtle Beach, SC with grandsons Hampton, age 7 and Hudson, age 5. Martha is pleased to announce that boys are much easier to deal with than girls. For those of us that know Martha could this possibly be because husband Dave has all of the personal hygiene issues to address with the boys?

Cindy DRURY Clark and her husband Jim have been married and living in Connecticut for 29 years.  She works as the Director of Development (fundraising) for the Westport Library which will break ground on a $19.5 million Renovation in August 2017.  She had a successful double knee replacement on November 23, 2015 which allowed her to resume many of the sports she had to sideline like tennis, paddleball and volleyball.  To celebrate, 11 months after her knee replacements, Cindy and her husband climbed down the Grand Canyon, spent the night at Phantom Ranch, and then climbed back up again the next day.  They also did some climbing in Sedona. Both love their jobs, but are starting to ponder a life of retirement or at least semi-retirement.

Congratulations to Beth D. Atkinson who shared that she and her daughter, Virginia Atkinson, class of 2003, enjoyed their first Reunion Weekend together at UMW in June. They were guests of Mary Wash during the weekend and stayed in a lovely room at K. Inn, Jepson Alumni E. Center. Beth’s daughter was honored with the 2017 Outstanding Young Alumnus Award at the All Class Party on Saturday night. Before attending the ceremony with some family and friends who came from Northern Virginia, they showed Beth’s 14-year old niece around campus potentially planting a seed?! Beth is enjoying volunteer docent work with schoolchildren groups at Gunston Hall in Fairfax County Virginia and also contributes occasional articles and photos to several Northern Virginia area newspapers. Her June article was about she and her husband, an EPA scientist, celebrating 39 years of marriage this summer. To celebrate their anniversary, they will travel to SC to watch the full solar eclipse and their son, Jeremy will travel to NC to camp and see the eclipse.

For Jeannette SMITH Sullivan It’s been a real year of Mary Washington reunions. She shared that thanks to Class Notes, she was able to reunite with Mindy CAMPO Thomas of Wallingford, PA, tracking her down at Thomas Consulting.  Jeannette SMITH Sullivan, Susan HAAS Meyer, Kathy KING Wirtala, and Toni SHOWALTER Scott got together in Williamsburg for a mini-reunion last summer, which she hopes will be an annual tradition.  Jeannette was also able to see MaryLinn PHILLIPS Fleming in Fremont, California, and Betsy BEAN Fowler at her shop, The Red Feathered Nest, in Newport News.  Missing Robyn REED Eustis in Arlington, she is meeting Rob Clairwood in Connecticut this summer and hoping to catch Barbara BACON Mitchell in Florida this fall.  She reports that her siblings, Shirley Smith Bekri, Diane Smith, Leslie Smith Brundage, David Smith, Valerie Smith Koenig, and Niki Smith Pemberton are all thriving and are planning their family reunion cruise to celebrate their mother’s 90^th this fall.  She lives in the sleepy seaside town of Lake Worth, Florida and is a Professor at Palm Beach State College.  She holds a Ph.D. in Higher Educational Leadership and specializes in studies of personality, happiness and student resilience. Topics she will be presenting at the International Positive Psychology conference in Montreal in July.

Malinda WILLIS who has been teaching Acrylic Painting for about 5 years, she has been drawing for about 2 years and now is certified to teach water colors at Michael’s craft store, where she has been employed since 1999. Malinda was married for 16 years, then divorced. She has two sons who are grown, married and moved away, so now she has the house all to herself. Malinda has 2 beautiful grand daughters, whom she adores!

Betty WOOD-Holt reached out after having received her UMW Magazine and wishes more graduates from 1978 would let us hear from them. Betty has retired from Hollywood and now lives at her farm in Southern Virginia, where she grew up. She and her husband are busy building their organic farm, complete with chickens, ducks, pot bellied pigs and lots of veggies and fruits. They are building a new home there and still do a bit of consulting, so retired is a bit of a misnomer. Roseanne GALZARANO Wyatt and her husband Jeff, came for a visit. They too, have retired and live in Ashland, Oregon. They are both planning to come to the reunion in 2018-our 40th!!!! Betty asks, “So where are the women and men of 1978!!!! Please come, or at least write and let us know where you are?”

From Barbara Goliash Emerson – I had a fun time getting together with some classmates in late May. Betsy Larson Kyker, Carol Middlebrook, Linda McCarthy Milone and Lisa Jenkins as well as Betsy’s roommate from sophomore year, Liz Sarkissian Gassew who had transferred to George Mason University for nursing school, all met at the Willard in Washington DC for their wonderful tea. We had a great time catching up. Betsy’s son, Jake, was just accepted to transfer to Virginia Tech. Linda and her husband downsized from their Georgetown home to a condo in Rosslyn with spectacular views of the Washington DC skyline. Lisa is keeping busy with her volunteer work teaching English as a second language. And Carol is looking forward to retiring from the federal government which will allow her even more time for her many travels.

I had a note from Carrie Winger Tyer who has been a NICU nurse for 33 years and has been working at Mary Washington Hospital since 2006. She is very active in her church as the dance ministry leader and both she and her husband, Mike, head up the Prayer Team. Her oldest son, who is VP of Marketing at Global Outreach International, is married; as is her middle daughter who is getting her master’s in music education; and her youngest daughter is away with Adventures in Missions, doing missions in 11 countries in 11 months. Carrie added she is excited with grand babies coming in October and January!

Rebecca DelCarmen Wiggins, Ph.D. received a doctorate in psychology from the Ohio State University following her graduation from UMW.  She was a NIH grant recipient for the Postdoctoral F32 National Research Service Award in the NICHD intramural program.  She completed a clinical internship in Baltimore at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She is a licensed psychologist with teaching experience at American University and Georgetown University.  She currently works in Bethesda, MD as a scientific research program officer in the NIH Office of the Director, Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) with scientific expertise in mental health and behavioral issues.  At ORWH, she is the Liaison to NIAAA, NIDA, and NIMH.  She stays in touch with fellow classmate Ann Weihsmann but would love Sto hear from other classmates!  She lives in Potomac, Maryland with her husband, Steve Wiggins, MD and two children, Daniel and Elizabeth.

Since the Class of 1980 seldom has news reported, I pestered my sister, Patricia Goliash Andril, for some to report (you’re welcome, Class of ’80!). Patty and her husband recently bought a beautiful home on the water near Annapolis so they can continue their pursuit of boating. She was also recently asked to contribute to a book on colored pencil drawing techniques. Patty shared some exciting news that Dottie Traweek Large’s son, Cullen, a junior and second baseman for the William and Mary Tribe, was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays. And any other members of the Class of 1980 can feel free to submit news until you get a class agent.

(Editor’s note: Members of any class, with or without a class agent, can submit news directly to classnotes@umw.edu.)