Class Notes

After a hiatus, the Class of 1980 once again has a class agent. Susan Garter looks forward to hearing from classmates with news to be published in the Spring 2019 issue of the University of Mary Washington Magazine.

After nearly 29 years of service, Mark Madigan took an early retirement from the Department of Defense in 2010 and soon went back to graduate school to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in Writing degree from Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky.  He selected Spalding University due to the strength of its poetry staff and the fact that its program included residencies every summer in different foreign locations. For the next several years, he headed off to places like Athens, Prague, and Rome to write and work with a small community of like minded writers.  In 2017, he graduated during the summer residency held in Edinburgh, Scotland, and has since been writing full time.  Recently, Finish Line Press accepted the manuscript of his chapbook, Thump and other poems, for publication.  All the poems for the book are set in foreign locations. The chapbook will appear in January 2019, with preordering to beginning in mid-September at finishinglinepress.com.

Our 35^th Reunion was a blast.  A good time was had by all.  Sara Thompson Doig, Cathy Cooke, Mabel Royal, Anne Thompson Steen, Karrie Nelson Ferguson, Susan Jones Hollister, Vince DiBennedetto, Judith Sweetman Gwynn, Joe Davoli were among the attendees. Cathy Cooke led the group in our Alma Mater song for Dr. Troy Paino….it was awesome.  Many thanks to Scott Harris for the James Monroe Museum venue for our reunion class party on Friday night.

I got a note from Billy Pugh.   Oldest daughter Katherine graduated from Berry College, and is a 3^rd grade teacher outside of Atlanta.  Daughter Lindsey finished her sophomore year at Kennesaw State near Atlanta.   Billy and wife Allison celebrated their 25^th anniversary with a trip to Hawaii.  Billy and Allison often gets together with Billy’s MWC roommate Tim Money and wife Melody . Billy still works for Paradies Lagardere and is involved with a number of development projects.

Congratulations to Mabel Royal, who was given an award at NC Central University for excellence in teaching (nominated by students), voted by students and faculty.

Hope everyone is doing well, please keep in touch!

Judith Inge Forrest wrote, “I plan on joining you all on 1-3 June. I am currently enrolled at New England College pursuing a Master’s Degree in Nonprofit Management. Since I am approaching my 80th birthday in September, I am pleased to have almost completed the first quarter and am delighted with a 100% in all submissions so far. I just competed at a local nonprofit (John 3:16) Macaroni and Cheese Cook-Off with my Beefy Mac & Cheese Recipe. See attached. All is well in Littleton, North Carolina. See you in June.”

Greetings! I’m Christine Waller Manca, and it’s a pleasure to serve as the new class agent for 1984. To (re-)introduce myself: I have been living in Houston, Texas, since 1990. Before moving to Houston, I enjoyed six post-grad years in Washington, D.C. I work as the senior editor at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and my husband, Joe, is an art history professor at Rice University. My daughter, Camilla, graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio and has returned there for a master’s in education. My son, Marcus, is a junior at Rice and is spending the fall semester in Rome. Last December, I got back to Washington and had a wonderful visit with Nan Stanford McCarry ’83 and her husband, Caleb; they live in Leesburg. I have also kept in touch through the years with my MWC roommate Kathy Key White, who has lived in Calgary, Alberta, since graduation. I am excited to have the chance to reconnect with the class of 1984, and I look forward to our 35th Reunion in 2019. Please be sure to send me your updates for future editions of Class Notes. Thanks go to our previous class correspondent, Auby J. Curtis.

 Freda White wrote with lots of news. She is living in Madison County, Virginia, and following many years of teaching high school biology, she switched careers and is now a hearing specialist. All her children have left the nest, and her youngest just received her BSN and has embarked on a nursing career in Harrisonburg. Fred has two beautiful granddaughters and is awaiting the arrival of a grandson in the fall. Freda is part of a group of eight Mary Washington friends who get together often, most recently for a stay in Nag’s Head. She reports that Cindy Greer Chalkley lives in North Carolina and has three children, one of whom lives in Alaska. Trish Bowdring Gordon lives in Herndon; her son started at Christopher Newport University this fall. Carole Comly Dezii and Marye Driver Downs both have kids living in Hilo, Hawaii. Teresa Negron Louth ’89 lives in Fredericksburg and stays busy with her four children. Lynn Conville Abraham ’83 lives in Richmond and is looking forward to retirement soon. Yvonne Koontz Sening ’85 lives in Centreville and is involved with the Women’s Club of Fairfax while raising three boys.

After 11 years as an attorney, Sarah Kosak Calvert went in a new direction, and she is now a United Methodist pastor serving more than 100 churches in Northern Virginia in the areas of church revitalization and leadership development. Sarah writes, “I live and work out of Fairfax, but my real home is at Lake of the Woods, so I get to Fredericksburg quite a bit. My 24-year-old son is a server at Sedona Taphouse near the campus, and serves a lot of students and faculty from UMW. Stop by and say hi to Matthew next time you are down that way!”

Jessica Woodman Godwin reports that, following moves from Alexandria to Lake Ridge to Montclair, Virginia, she is back in Fredericksburg! She enjoys rediscovering some old haunts and delighting in new establishments. Jessica is working at the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) but would love to work for UMW. She looks forward to spontaneously crossing paths with classmates downtown.

I am very sorry to report that Anne Baber Wallis lost her son Christian Meriwether Kennedy last November. Christian, age 21, was pursuing an equestrian career and was especially accomplished in dressage. He also loved music, and he is remembered for his kind and compassionate nature and his enthusiastic approach to life. Christian was tragically killed as a passenger in a car crash in Wellington, Florida. I know that we all, Anne’s classmates and friends, extend our deepest sympathy to Anne and her family.

I hope that everyone can make it to Reunion on May 31–June 2, 2019. Incredibly, it will be 35 years since our graduation. Many of us have gotten back in touch via Facebook and other electronic means, and I want to give a special shout-out to Blair Howard for running the super-fun Facebook group “Our Mary Washington College Friends.” There is no substitute, however, for actually being together on our much-loved Mary Washington campus and in Fredericksburg. Please make plans now to attend Reunion 2019!

Joanne Bartholomew Lamm ’85 and Chris Lamm ’85, just returned from a Mary Washington Alumni Trip to Great Britain.  It was a small group of 13, and included Professor Michael Spencer of the Historic Preservation Department who richly enhanced all of the tours with his historic preservation knowledge and expertise.  Other alumni from various years included:  Mary Donovan, Grace May, Suzannah Carretto, Linda Cranston (and husband Craig), Suzette Hodges (and husband Jim), Martha Jo Walters (and friend Linda Serrett), and Meganne Lemon.   The trip was top-notch, and one that should be repeated.  All tour members agreed that future trips with the UMW alumni groups were inevitable!

Katherine Spivey works for the federal government and co-chairs the Plain Language Action and Information Network (PLAIN), training federal agencies and presenting at national and international conferences. She’s also continuing her historical reenacting, as seen in last year’s Monroe Inauguration bicentennial reenactment at Monroe Hall.

From Kim:

Kevin Sautter and Linda Milton Sautter recently celebrated their 30^th wedding anniversary. Kevin retired from the Marine Corps as a Naval Aviator after 27 years and is now flying international routes for Atlas Air in a Boeing 747. Linda stays busy on their horse farm in Virginia.  Son Daniel, daughter April, and granddaughter Phoebe are all doing well.

Congrats to Kevin and Linda! Another successful and happy Mary Washington couple.

Toni Moore Milbourne is leaving the public library after a year and a half and will be working at the local Senior Center. She is very excited about the new job and reports that her main responsibilities will be finance. However, her job will involve all aspects of the center including day-to-day interaction with some great folks. Toni’s husband Tom retired from Lowe’s this year. Their youngest daughter, Samantha, graduated high school and is attending West Virginia University majoring in History and Pre-law. Their daughter Maggie is serving in the intelligence unit of the 82^nd Airborne US Army at Fort Bragg, NC.  Their other children Allen and Polly are living the grown up life. Toni wonders where the time has gone since our days at Mary Wash. Excellent question!

Julie Magness still enjoys her new career and brags that she is the number two person in the City of Greenbelt’s HR Department. Of course, it’s a department of two, so at least there’s room to move up! She and wife Kathy spent two and a half weeks traveling around Ireland in July. While Kathy drove, Julie’s job was to navigate and holler “left side of the road!”.

 As for me, there are big changes in my life. After 22 years of owning a computer services company, we have opened a laser engraving business called Engraved With Style. It’s been a pretty big learning curve and a really scary change, but the time had come for a change. Thankfully, we’ve had a lot of great support and encouragement from the community. In addition, we’ve gotten a lot of advice from Lee Boyce Moretz, ’86 and we are truly grateful for her help. In June, my Mary Wash roommate, Lisa Onucki, visited Oklahoma City, which is only an hour from my house. We got to spend a few days together and had a blast running around Lawton and Oklahoma City!

Keep the updates coming! Remember – not everyone is on Facebook and people want to know what their classmates are up to.

From Class Agent, Jay Bradshaw:

Our class had a very good turn-out during reunion weekend!  I was honored to co-chair the class reunion with Anna Hudson.

Over 45 classmates attended at some point over a very busy weekend. Many of you brought your spouses or children. Kalnen Inn (Trench Hill) was the site of our class dinner in Friday night.  Thunderstorms canceled  the class tents in Ball Circle on Saturday, but we had a fantastic time at the All Class Party with cocktails and dancing in the  student center on Saturday night. Thank you also to our classmates that submitted updates!

From Luci DeShazo

I retired from the Federal Government in December 2016, after 29 years of service. I’m enjoying spending more time with friends and family, hiking and biking, and volunteering in the community.  My daughter will start her second year at Western State Colorado University this fall, majoring in Accounting. I am marrying a wonderful man in August 2018, and plan to remain in Canon City for many more years to come.

From Cathy Hill Pearson:

It is hard to believe it has been 30 years since we graduated! I am living in Virginia Beach with my husband of 29 years and my youngest (of my four children) who will be a Senior in high school this coming year. This will be my 24th year of homeschooling and I definitely put my education to practice. I am now a grandmother of 4 (one in heaven, one due August 31st and 2 precious girls I get to love on.) This summer my 16 year old and I are driving from Virginia to Niagara Falls, across the top of the United States into Canada, down to San Diego and back home. It should be quite the adventure and make for a lot of memories! Besides homeschooling, I teach Chinese kids online each morning and am a pastor’s wife. I have tutored and taught many children other than my own and am thankful for the education I received at MWC.

From Don Appiarius:

Here in semi-Big Sky in Wyoming.  Vice President for Student Services.  Also received my doctorate last year in Organizational Management.  All is well!  Hope to be back on East Coast in about 5 years. Our daughter, Na-Lee turns 11 this year and Vivian is still doing great work as an NP in Pediatric Neurology.  She even tries to treat me saying I am just like a child (Peds) and have a few screws loose (Neuro) 🙂

From Christopher Simi:

After MWC, he received a MS degree in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins. He was a physicist at the US Army Night Vision Lab at Ft Belvoir as well as a research scientist at NGA. Chris and his wife of 31 years Sherry, have four children.

Cathy Hill Pearson wrote, “It is hard to believe it has been 30 years since we graduated! I am living in Virginia Beach with the my husband of 29 years and my youngest (of my four children) who will be a Senior in highschool this coming year. This will be my 24th year of homeschooling and I definitely put my education to practice. I am now a grandmother of 4 (one in heaven, one due August 31st and 2 precious girls I get to love on.) This summer my 16 year old and I are driving from Virginia to Niagra Falls, across the top of the United States into Canada, down to San Diego and back home. It should be quite the adventure and make for a lot of memories! Besides homeschooling, I teach Chinese kids online each morning and am a pastor’s wife. I have tutored and taught many children other than my own and am thankful for the education I received at MWC.”

Kristin Wenger [1988] received her Masters of Arts in Teaching from UVA in 1992 and then never left Charlottesville. She currently works as the Education Coordinator for the Blue Ridge Poison Center. She is also an avid instructor and competitor in west coast swing, a contemporary type of social dance.

Jim Czarnecki has volunteered to be agent for the Class of 1989. He takes over from former class agent Leah Wilson Munnis.

Lisa (Barley) Collins reports having finished the college admittance process with her oldest child.  Having been a tour guide, It was really fun to take the official Mary Washington campus tour and see all the enhancements that have been made.  My daughter was accepted at Mary Washington, but ultimately her first choice was William and Mary. I have another chance with my second child in a couple of years!  I also report that I just celebrated 25 years with my employer which does not seem possible.  I recently attended an Alumni Event in Purcellville, VA with Robin Carrier (’89). This was the first Alumni event to be held in Loudoun Co. I am hoping for more in the future.