Class Notes

Caroline Jarvis Gee still lives in London with her husband Alex. Several Mary Washington friends attended their January wedding. Recently Caroline and Alex traveled to Jordan and are looking forward to moving to the London suburbs, where they will finally have space to have a barbecue!

Lauryn Blevins Ihle lives in New Hampshire, where she teaches high school biology and environmental science. She and her husband Jay have three children: 3-year-old twins Estella and Reese and 2-year-old Cooper. Their family enjoys snowboarding, hiking, and camping. Lauryn keeps up with many of her friends from MWC and loves hearing how everyone is doing!

Congratulations to Stacy Weller, who married Robert Fairfax at the Hotel Thayer in West Point, NY in July.

Melissa VanZile has practiced family law since 2004 and is a shareholder with Barnes & Diehl, P.C. in Richmond, VA. She has been ranked in the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Virginia by Super Lawyers®. Melissa was named a Leader in the Law by Virginia Lawyer’s Weekly in 2016, has been listed in Super Lawyers® as a Virginia Super Lawyer for Family Law from 2013-2018 and as a Rising Star from 2011-2012.

Michelle Carr Young finished her 17^th year in Prince William County Schools. She was promoted to Instructional Coach in January 2018 and now works in two high schools as well as the central office. She lives in North Stafford with her husband Jay and soon to be 8-year-old child Emileigh.

Kathryn Weller is the Director of Education at the New York State Museum. This spring she enjoyed coaching her daughter’s lacrosse team for the second year in a row. After playing lacrosse for four years at Mary Washington, she is thrilled to teach a new generation to play!

Madelyn Marino married Michael Walker in June. Reverend Jennifer Amore officiated the ceremony and I, Annie Johnston, read a sonnet. Jason Cobb, Jason Lane (’03), Val Quartararo Roy (’02), and Jamie Darcy Nevitt (’02) also attended. We had a blast catching up, reminiscing, and dancing like it was Winterfest 1998. Madelyn and Mike enjoyed two honeymoons: first traveling to South Africa and Mozambique and later driving across the country from Oregon to New Jersey, where they now reside.

Stephanie Lee (Scheibe) Barb – Computer Science , 2001:

Stephanie recently was promoted the Supervisor IT Specialists with the Library of Congress at the Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation in Culpeper Virginia. Stephanie is now the on-site IT supervisor for the NAVCC managing the IT Services and activities for the Campus.    The NAVCC digitizes and stores all of the Moving Image and Audio Visual collections for the Library of Congress.

John Cyrus ’03 and Sara “Katie” Eskridge ’03:

After graduating, John and Katie got married in 2005 and both earned M.A.s from VCU; John in English and Katie in history. John went on to earn a M.L.I.S. from LSU in 2009 and now works as a biomedical informaticist at VCU. Katie earned a Ph.D. in history in 2013. She currently teaches modern U.S. history courses at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia and works as a full time writer at William & Mary. Her first book, Rube Tube: CBS and Rural Comedy in the 1960s, in coming out with University of MIssouri Press this fall. John and Katie have two boys, Thomas and Elliot, as well as an elderly dachshund beagle named Mac.

Sarah (Smith) Elliott – Sarah is happily married to her husband of 3.5 years, Matthew Elliott. They live in London, UK, where Sarah is Managing Director of the American European Business Association and Chair of Republicans Overseas UK. In October 2017, they welcomed their first child, Charlotte Elizabeth Elliott.

Aaron Layman works as an OS Specialist III for Wells Fargo in Roanoke, VA. He also serves as Marketing Coordinator for the city’s Local Colors Festival which celebrates southwestern Virginia’s diverse ethnic heritages. He recently served as best man at the wedding of his friend Zach Zuro ’07 this past October.

Jennifer Zoebelein graduated with her PhD in History from Kansas State University this past May.

Cara Stout will marry Steven Wilkinson on November 3, 2018.  She continues to work as an Account Executive for Edgenuity, Inc. and her fiancé is an Information Security Officer for Algebraix Data.

Lauren Benere married Michael Forder on March 24, 2018 in a ceremony for immediate family. Mike’s daughter Kelsey served as flower girl, and the family resides in the Richmond area. Lauren continues to teach high school English, but currently is branching out and getting a post-Master’s Certificate in Instructional Design from the University of Wisconsin-Stout.  Kimberly (Pittman) Gordon and her husband, Shamus Gordon ’06, welcomed daughter, Brenna Davis Gordon, on July 16, 2018. Brenna joins big sister, Tierney, who is 2.

Adrienne Hagen has accepted a tenure-track teaching position in the Classics Department at Monmouth College in Monmouth, IL.

Kristen Borkoski Fulcher and her husband Ryan welcomed their second son, John Clark, in December 2017.

From Jay:

Jay Sinha is an Information Security Attorney at Verizon Enterprise Solutions in Arlington, Virginia.

Marcella Cavallaro (class of ’07) and husband, James, welcomed their first baby, Christian, in mid March. They are so in love and can’t wait for all the adventures with him. Marcella continues to serve on the College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Board. She looks forward to returning to work at Esri, a mapping software company, following her maternity leave. Marcella is also so excited to be a bridesmaid in Leanne Shannon’s (UMW class of ’06) wedding in Santa Fe in June! 

Maureen (Murphy) Kieffer and her husband, Leonard Kieffer, a graduate of the University of Maryland, celebrated the birth of their first child, Leonard James Kieffer, on June 5th 2018.

From Sarah:

Marcella Cavallaro (class of ’07) and husband, James, welcomed their first baby, Christian, in mid March. They are so in love and can’t wait for all the adventures with him. Marcella continues to serve on the College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Board. She looks forward to returning to work at Esri, a mapping software company, following her maternity leave. Marcella was also so excited to be a bridesmaid in Leanne Shannon’s (UMW class of ’06) wedding in Santa Fe in June!

Maureen (Murphy) Kieffer and her husband, Leonard Kieffer, a graduate of the University of Maryland, celebrated the birth of their first child, Leonard James Kieffer, on June 5th 2018.

Elizabeth Liskom married Gray Boynton on April 28, 2018. They currently live in King George, VA.

Christine Chapman (’08) and husband Colin Deyman (’09) welcomed their third daughter, Genevieve Julia, in March. Christine continues her work as an R&D scientist at IDEXX Laboratories in Westbrook, ME.

Chaplain (MAJ) Lynn Burriss Webler retired from the United States Army/Reserves on June 01, 2018. She began her military career shortly after graduating from Courtland High School. Lynn joined the US Navy in October 1985, where she served for 101/2 years. After a break-in-service, Lynn enlisted into the US Army Reserves in November 2007. She commissioned into the Army Chaplain Corps in March 2009.  Lynn is a Gulf War Veteran, and a 2008 graduate of the University of Mary Washington. She is the daughter of Cora Wormley of Spotsylvania County, and the late Frederick M. Burriss.

Lynn Webler has published Managing Grief: 5 ways to stay Resilient after a friend or loved one dies.

“Even when we know a loved one is dying from a long-term life-threatening illness; the reality of that death can still be jolting to our emotional equilibrium. Immediately, we are transported into a world of grief for which we are most likely unprepared. This book gives you 5 strategies that will help you remain resilient when grief invades your life.”

Rebecca Fenwick recently co-authored an Integrity and Conditions Assessment of Savannah’s National Historic Landmark District for the National Park Service (NPS). The pilot project was developed for the NPS southeast regional office. Rebecca currently lives in Savannah, Georgia and is the Director of Preservation with Lominack Kolman Smith Architects.

Whitney (Packett) English and her husband, Richard, welcomed their second son, Samuel Claybrook English on May 4, 2018. The couple resides in Warsaw, VA and Whitney is a CPA for a local accounting firm.

Johannah O’Keefe (’09) and John Schell (’10) were married on September 8, 2018 in the Shenandoah Valley. Maria Kipreos (’10), Andrew Welsh (’10) and Calvin Chan (’10) were in the wedding party. They live in Arlington, VA where Johannah works for the Consumer Technology Association and John works for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Brianne Doura ‘09 is proud to announce her engagement to Chief Petty Officer Elias Schawohl of the United States Coast Guard. Brianne is the Director of Policy and Communications for the MA Council on Compulsive Gambling.