Class Notes

Brooke Molyneux Shepherd is living in Temple Terrace, Florida with her husband, Jason, and two children, Gavyn (10) and Keegan (6). Brooke is an Emergency Medicine physician at a local hospital and Medical Director for Temple Terrace Fire Department. She recently had lunch with Maren Valentino and Elsaris Zambrana Reifkohl in Orlando when Maren was in the state attending a work conference. Brooke said it was great to sit and talk and remember all their Mary Washington memories.
Ken Allen is an Assistive Technology Specialist for a school district in Portland, Oregon. In 2018, Ken joined the board of directors for The Portland Fruit Tree Project, a local nonprofit organization that promotes food justice by harvesting local fruit trees and giving it to the needy. When not tending apple trees, Ken can be found backpacking Pacific Northwest trails with his wife, Katie, and their two boys.
John Larison and his wife, Jennifer Braunstein, recently celebrated their second anniversary. They have three lovely pets, two cats, Wataru and Mooch, and one rabbit, Cornchip. John has been working at the Savannah College of Art and Design as a Professor of Sequential Art for 19 years now, in Savannah Georgia. He fondly remembers his UMW professors Lorene Nickel and Steve Griffin who helped inspire him to teach.
Susanna Fisher Parker and Rick Oppedisano ’96 spoke at a Mary Washington Alumni Event in June at the Olde Mecklenburg Brewery in Charlotte. They were promoting the UMW MBA program, with Susanna speaking on making the jump from employee to entrepreneur and Rick on Artificial Intelligence.
Life recently took me through Fredericksburg, where I got to catch up with Dean Cedric Rucker ’81, visit campus, eat dinner at Sammy T’s, get a giant cone at Carl’s, and sleep at the Kenmore Inn. My job at Surescripts has me in Virginia often, and it’s been great catching up with classmates over coffee and cocktails.