Class Notes

Greetings, Class of 1991. I hope everyone is doing well.

After thirteen years in Singapore and three years in the US, Charlie Gullo and family moved back to Southeast Asia.  He started a job in Hanoi, Vietnam to help build a new medical, nursing, and residency program for a Vietnamese company, called Vingroup.  His six year old son loves travelling and is learning to speak Vietnamese in his international school.  Charlie and family are adjusting to the language and customs barriers and enjoying the adventure. He would love to reach out to any possible UMW alumni in Vietnam.

Susan Gray Herring’s son, Mark, graduated from UMW in May, 2018 with a BS in Economics and double major in English with a concentration in Creative Writing.  He is looking into a variety of job options. Susan’s daughter, Laura, graduated from Rappahannock Community College, Summa Cum Laude, and began VCU School of Nursing in the fall.

After 20 chemotherapy treatments, a bilateral mastectomy, and reconstruction surgery Nicole Laporte Parker is cancer free!  A routine mammogram in February, 2016 found the two masses and saved her life.  The love and support of fellow ’91 graduates Amy Rose LaPierre, Cathy Pond Guillena, Dia Quillen Hablutzel, Laurie Johnson Chidlow and Karen Clegg Blocker meant the world to Nicole, who is living every day full of gratitude.

Please continue to send updates. It is always great to hear from you!

My husband Tom and I are staying in Mobile, AL, for now and hope to have moved out of our apartment and into a Midtown home by the time you read this. We had a great Mardi Gras season, attending five balls and lots of parades. In March we participated in a 5K, and in May we went scuba diving in Aruba. We continue to travel to Atlanta and Gulf Shores frequently. I also I lost my step-grandmother. Please email your Mary Wash memories and personal and professional news.

Linda Kelly Hadley ’92 has been in Apex, NC for 19 years. Her husband Jeff is a technical director with Charles Schwab, and she’s currently working on expanding her hobby of handmade cards and stationery into a business. Anna (15) and Will (12) finished their first year of high school and middle school, and they’re spending a good part of this summer at the beach. They took an amazing trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons last year, and they’re currently planning a big trip to Europe next summer. This summer they vacationed in north Myrtle twice and the Outer Banks once.

Helen Mosher ’92 moved to Annandale VA and started a new job as Vice President of Communications for the National Active and Retired Federal Employees in May.

Marc Tate 92’ was elected to a two-year term as Vice Chairman of the SkillSource Group Board of Directors. The organization provides a wide range of free employment services to businesses seeking to hire and retain qualified workers, and to jobseekers searching for employment to support themselves and their families.

Rachael Crout wrote, “We have had a very busy year. We had the honor of hosting a foreign exchange student, Marie, from Berlin, Germany for a few months. She is now considered a part of our family as a daughter and sister. We miss her greatly and are happy that she is planning to visit us this fall and possibly during Christmas as well. Our daughter, Heather, will be heading to Berlin for a month this summer to stay with Marie and her family and travel to France, Austria, and possibly Italy. Our older daughter, Anna is working almost full time and has been taking classes to eventually become a physician’s assistant. My husband Eric and I are doing well and just celebrated our 24th anniversary.”

Mary Trocchia Rasa graduated with a masters of library science degree from Clarion University in May.  She works for Harford County Public Library in Havre de Grace, Maryland.  She lives in Perryville, MD with husband Anthony and daughters Christina, 13 and Beth, 10.

Stephen Dawson graduated with his doctorate in strategic leadership in May 2018 after completing his master’s in business administration in 2014, earning both degrees while attending Regent University. He is now an Adjunct Professor with Regent in addition to serving as an Executive Strategy Consultant in his private practice since 2001.

Michael Cerami is doing well almost 25 years post MWC. He has been married for 20 years to Melissa Keyser Cerami (Mary Baldwin ‘94) and works for the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) working in sales and traveling globally in the military trade show industry. They have three children, 2 girls and a boy. Their oldest daughter is going to JMU in fall 2018, a daughter in high school and son in 8th grade. He hopes to see many of you at the 25th year reunion in 2019.  Reach him on Facebook or via email At mcerami23@gmail.com

Colette Epple, her husband David and daughter Hannah live in Cleveland, OH where Colette is a professor. Colette insists that “Cleveland Rocks!”   Fannie Davis Gray and family live in New Jersey, and they travel the world in their free time, avoiding political discussion in an effort to remain married. Karen Mesich James recently moved to Charleston, SC, where she is now working for Google’s data center, and Karen’s oldest, Abby, begins at Appalachian State Univ this fall.

As for me, I can’t believe our 25th reunion is coming up in June! I’m still down in Austin Texas, but I’m planning to make the trip and hope to see lots of familiar faces there.

Deborah Shelton, Class of 1994, was promoted to the Benefits Specialist for Manassas City Public Schools Virginia in November 2018.

Communications Specialist Kelly J. Barnes wrote that she is working for the US Army Corps of Engineers, “(but yet using my Art History degree to promote ‘art / creative’ skills that I learned at Mary Washington to develop more than just a photography exhibit.) This is one that has MEANING beyond the beauty of the images.”  Let’s inspire change!!”

She included the following profile about her involvement on ‘Women, Water, and Wells’ photography exhibit (photos by Mr. Gil Garcetti):

USA Today Profiles IWR Employee for Promoting Water Availability Issues via Photography Exhibit

 Kelly J. Barnes 

Intergovernmental & Communications Program Specialist

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Institute for Water Resources

Kelly J. Barnes has been an Intergovernmental and Communications Program Specialist with the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Institute for Water Resources (IWR) since 2006.  Ms. Barnes was recently featured in the USA Today special edition USACE 2018 for her work on the ‘Women, Water, and Wells’ photography exhibit (photos by Mr. Gil Garcetti) which “helps publicize the need for preserving the world’s most valuable resource: water.”  As an art history major in college, she uses her creative skills to help the public understand why this is such a crucial issue.

“A photo can immediately command attention and capture the spirit of the issue,” stated Ms. Barnes.  “We hope that viewers will have an emotional response to the photos, which in turn will hopefully inspire change.  Water availability is an issue that affects our world, from Cape Town, South Africa, to Sacramento, California.  Access to clean drinking water is a huge issue for many populations, and what better way to bring this issue to the forefront than with strikingly beautiful photos.”

Amanda Neptune Bridges and her family lived just outside of St Louis, in Southern Illinois, for the last two years. Desperate to get back to their former lives in Rhode Island, her Colonel husband is retiring from the Air Force after 23 years of active duty. They’ve bought a house in the quaint island town of Jamestown, Rhode Island, and look forward to getting back to beautiful scenery, sailing, kayaking, and lots of friends. After nine moves in six states and two countries as a family, they are thrilled to be planting roots! Amanda hopes to get back to teaching and her husband is plans to fly for the airlines… unless he finds something he likes better. Their three kids, Kate (13), Nick (11), and Will (8) are real troopers and are eager to get back to the state that feels most like home to them.

Christine Rollins Ragan completed her first half marathon at the North Face Endurance Challenge at Wachusett Mountain, a whopping 13 months after full ACL tear surgery. She and her family spent a week in June with Rebecca Giles Malin ’96 and her family at Lake Champlain. Other than that, my business, CMR Transcription Services Inc. is still going strong and loving life.

Julie Newell Leslie traveled to Tokyo and Seoul this spring. She was in Chicago in June, where she and Friar Patrick Daniel Tobin had a chance to catch up and explore the Windy City’s culinary scene. Friar moved from Minneapolis to take a new assignment in Chicago.

I visited my 6^th continent with a visit to Morocco. Highlights included glamping in the Sahara desert, taking a couscous cooking class, and randomly running into a childhood friend in Marrakech at the Jemaa el-Fnaa square.

Jen Carter Tsimpris writes that she is still working full-time as the Social Services Manager at Cedarfield Retirement Community in Richmond’s West End and is also the full-time mom of two adorable children, John Landon, who is six and a half, and Anne Kathryn, who is two and a half. She and her husband Basil are looking forward to bringing the kids to the 20th class reunion and hope to see lots of friends there!

Jen also added that she keeps in touch with Michelle Ayers (who lives near Fredericksburg), and Cat Cogut, whose parents now live in Richmond, so we can more easily get together in person. College friends are so special!