Class Notes

Exciting things going on with our indefatigable classmates, starting with Jenifer Higgins Clark.

She and her husband, Dane, a marine meteorologist, met 38 years ago. They live in Dunkirk, Maryland. After working for NOAA focussed on climate, oceans, weather and coasts for 30 years, they started their own business in 1997 called Jenifer Clark’s Gulf Stream (Webpage is jcgulfstream.com). They were the ocean and weather support for Diana Nyad who swam from Cuba who swam from Cuba to Florida when Nyad was 64.

They also routed Erden Eruc in his around the word row. (He was the first person in history to row around the world. She helps Coast Guard with search and rescue. She loves her “hobby” turned business and will never retire.

Two other tireless ageless women in our class are competing with Jenifer to see who works the longest! Beth Ball Townsend has her security business in Richmond, Va. with a large staff keeping people and their homes and businesses safe. Beth has moved to a special area in the city of Richmond called Church Hill, leaving the suburbs behind, finally and loves it. Downsizing to a historic townhouse has been a positive experience for her….from 2800 sq. Ft to 1600sq. ft.  She feels so much better in her more compact home, instead of getting lost and hiding out in her big tomb of a house in Mechanicsville. She loves the diversity of people in the city and somehow feels more connected to the outside. And she is still working fulltime running the company she started. She is a very happy grandmother as well.

The other tireless woman is Lyn Howell Gray. She is still in Liberia, Africa and her husband Jim is working full time heading up research at Cuttington University. They live 3 hours from Monrovia, now because rent was so high. While Lyn is being paid for a part time job now and calls herself “semi retired”, she of course is doing the work of a fulltime woman by starting her newest career ( all volunteer) in teaching primary school reading as a director of “Liberia Reads”, which was started by a Peace Corps volunteer in 2009. Lyn now trains and coaches Liberian teachers in 24 schools, soon to be 29 schools. They own a house in Blacksburg, Va. and plan to retire there when health or other factors make them to decide to leave.  The small house they have built in Liberia has a generator they run 3 hours a day for electricity to keep food cold and lights, and charge their computers. I don’t think they have running water. Lyn gets the class of ‘69 camping award!

Pam Hogan Baynard has news that her son Nathan and his husband adopted a baby boy last November. The adoption process was a roller coaster..two failed. Third time is a charm. Luca is a delight to be a grandmother to. Pam feels she should get the award for being the oldest first time grandmother in our class.

Karen Ralston has moved from Memphis to Melbourne Beach, Florida.  They found a perfect spot to build on, looking at the setting sun with dolphins cavorting and birds flying, not to mention the alligators and manatees. Their daughter lives there as well. They have a second home in Colorado to be near their son and grandkids…so Colorado for summer and Florida the rest of the year. Karen tells a harrowing story of breaking her neck last year on a cruise in the Mediterranean. She has fully recovered, but it took 5 months. She had a Parkinson’s related nightmare that threw her head first out of the bed onto the floor. The travel insurance covered the huge expense to get her from Santorini to Athens to Miami to Memphis. Her advice is to always have travel insurance that covers the cost of getting you back home and repatriated. Bonnie & Roger Hoopengardner stopped to visit them in Florida

On their way to Port St. Lucie. She also met with Linda Alderson’s hubby and some of the Mets staff for dinner. She is off to Lake Como for a visit with old friends. She gets the resilience award!

I, Iris Harrell, am consulting for two families affected by the Santa Rosa firestorm last October. One couple’s house in my neighborhood of 3000 homes burned to the ground and the other one had severe smoke damage. They needed help with insurance claims, getting a designer and contractor and acting as owner representative in their absence.

One couple had not even moved into their new home but fortunately had not sold their existing home two hours south of here yet. The other couple is loving in their second home in Nantucket this summer until their damaged home has been renovated. I am also chair of the  Building Committee here in my 3000 home HOA. There are 3 recreation centers and and auditorium, athletic courts, etc., half of which need major updating. (What’s a girl gonna do?) i am playing. Lot of pickleball, some golf, regular yoga classes and personal gym training, along with performing and leading a 4  person folk music band called More Joy. I am enjoying “retirement” and getting the most out of everyday I am still alive.

I got to visit this winter with classmate Sharon Dobie in Seattle while Ann and I were visiting her last surviving uncle who lives there. Sharon and I both were American Studies majors at Mary Wash. I had not seen her since college. She looks great!

On the retirement theme, Charlotte Padgett Duis sold her nursery several years ago and she has adjusted quite well to not working every day at the business next door. She is free to travel whenever she feels like it. She and her husband volunteer for various nonprofits.

Her main joy is her family. They go to lots of musical and sporting events. She loved watching the royal wedding and hopes that lots of folks heard the message for all of us to love each other.

Regina Sneed is enjoying living in her continuing care senior community in San Francisco. She says it is much like being on board a cruise ship, too much food, wonderful lectures and cultural performances and exercise classes. And the best part: no more housekeeping! She is a museum guide for public tours at San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art. She is still active in protesting all the same injustices that we protested in the 1960’s but with a 70 year old body. She asks “Is that really fair?”

Linda Disoway reports that Mary Pat Tull Jenkins passes]d away May 4th. She was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma and died within a month of her diagnosis. We have lost too many of our classmates from cancer. Linda is looking forward to our 50th class reunion.

Marianne Zentz  has a first grandchild in her life…born February in Houston…so she beats Pam Baynard at being the oldest first time grandmother of the class of ‘69! Any other competitors in this race?

Nancy Yeager Allard does her volunteering in her local library and church and occasionally babysits for the grandkids. She and husband went to Mary Wash for two of the Great Live Lectures. Last year she did a cruise in the Mediterranean and the Far East, which included South Korea, China and Japan, which had lots of cherry blossoms.This year she is traveling to Alaska and the British Isles with her sisters and spouses. She has completed her three part pledge for our class of ‘69 scholarship! She hopes the rest of you who can are participating in our class scholarship in some small way.

Ann Witham Kilpatrick and Jeanine Zaveral Fearns will be together on Memorial Day weekend. Jeanine is coming to visit Anne to see the Greenville Highland Games with lots of men in kilts and bagpipes…cute! Susie Winterble and Toni Turner Bruseth will meet in October for their annual reunion. These four get the faithfulness award for our class. They have been best friends since college and continue to deepen their relationship each year.

Hopefully I will hear from more of our classmates real soon!

Linda Gattis Shull reports she just had a knee replacement of a prior knee replacement from 11 years ago, so she is working on physical therapy and pain management. (I am sure she will be dance ready at our 50th reunion next year!)

MW roommate and best friend for life Barbara Burton Micou came to Charlotte, NC from Virginia to help her get through the first few days. Barbara was recruited back to work out of retirement by Chesterfield County public schools due to her experience in helping children with unstable home situations. She accepted the opportunity to help out.

This past spring Linda met our new UMW President, Troy Paino and feels our alma mater is in good hands.

Gloria Gibson reports she is looking  forward to seeing everyone at our 50th reunion in 2019. She is finally using the “r” word (retirement?) but admits it took her a while to get used to the idea of not doing her consulting work. She is now enjoying reading, yoga, exercise and just being in the zen moment. She has recently been in Coast Rica , New York City and is heading to Iceland next. I declare her formally adjusted to retirement.

Phyllis Newby Thompson is living in ‘Silicon Valley”, California and has a son living in Minneapolis and a daughter living in New York City. Her husband John Thompson says he will retire from his personnel search business, but he is really good at it. She has two golden retrievers that she adores, works many hours each day in her garden of maples, rhodies, conifers and lots of other plants. She writes about life occasionally, but only lets her dogs read it. (Her dogs are exceptional and well educated.) She hates the heat and has a bit of physical stability issues, but she does not let that stop her. They just sold their Hawaii condo and are looking for suggestions for another warm location to invest in.

She is counting the days until our 50th reunion next year. She wants to get to know each of us better.

Three more entries for the most currently famous ‘69ers…

(Fyi-some classmates don’t read the whole magazine, just the class notes. I want to get the ones who had write ups mentioned specifically in the class notes-

Dr. Marilyn Shull Black spent her career in chemical and environmental sciences, specifically  measuring indoor air quality and its impact on children’s health. Her studies show 75% of environmental exposure to contaminants for adults comes from the air they breathe. Marilyn established a fellowship in science at UMW named after her influential Mary Wash Chemistry professor, Dr. Bernard Mahoney, who retired from Mary Wash in 2007. Marilyn obtained her PHD from Georgia Tech. She is currently VP and Senior Tech advisor for UL Underwriter Labs.

Dr. Cathy O’Connor Woteki has rejoined the faculty of Iowa State University in the Dept. Of Food Science and Human Nutrition. She previously served as dean of the Agriculture and Life Sciences. She was recently inducted into Kappa of Va., the UMW chapter of phi Beta Kappa. Her prior job was chief scientist and undersecretary for research, education and economics at the US Dept. Of Agriculture.  She is also a member of the National Academy of Medicine. Kathy is matching funds for all of us who contribute to the class of  ‘69 scholarship from now on that will be celebrated at our 50th reunion by meeting its first recipient! Let’s go big!

I am surprised to report that I am being inducted into the BusinessnHall of Fame at the University of Mary Washington in October.  Who knew American Studies majors could be entrepreneurs!

See you all in 2019….which is so close!

Iris F. Harrell
Class of ‘69