Class Notes

Would you ever in your wildest dreams (or nightmares) have imagined the events of this year, 2020?

This COVID-19 pandemic has brought heartbreak and change. We must be patient and have faith. We will see a light at the end of this tunnel as has been witnessed throughout our history if we will just let go and let God!

Juney and I have faithfully followed the guidelines for our quarantine experience, a must at our ages. Our 70th wedding anniversary included a surprise meal delivery and more than 100 cards, organized by our granddaughter Kelly. Our church organized a 60-participant drive-by to share anniversary wishes.

Our great-grandsons Liam Prunczik ’24 and Garry Lewis ’24 are first-year UMW students and started classes online. Great-grandson Lucas Prunczik ’20 graduated from our alma mater in May with no fanfare, so different from our experiences!

Carol Bailey Miller no longer rides (her horse, Buddy, has a new, loving home) but has been involved with her local 4-H horse program and has enjoyed activities with these young people.

Miriam “Mim” Sollows Wieland lost her husband, Earl, soon after their family Thanksgiving gathering in 2019. Family members were able to spend time with him in the hospital. She is in full quarantine at her retirement community and missed her grandson’s May 3 pandemic wedding as well as a second ceremony planned for late July.

Virginia Felts Brown of Mount Holly, Virginia, passed away Jan. 25, 2019. She was a past president of the Mary Washington College Alumni Association. She was a former president of the Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Society and edited the society’s magazine for many years. The Brown family grave marker inscription appropriately reads: “To Live in Hearts We Leave Behind Is Not to Die.”

Nan Riley Pointer and her husband still live in Gloucester, Virginia, under strict quarantine. Nan reads, knits baby hats for the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk, sews dresses for the Dress a Girl Around the World project, and works jigsaw puzzles. Their youngest grandson is a junior at William & Mary and was taking classes online. They took a 14-day Caribbean cruise in January, before the pandemic. She shared this positive message: “I send my prayers for all of my classmates that they will stay positive, well, and safe. We are not alone – God is with us, and He is in control.”

Kathryn “Kay” Smith Majeski ’66 shared the sad news that her friend Margaret “Peg” Penn Hutchins passed away March 20, 2020. Kay wrote that both her husband and Peg’s graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and that the couples saw each other on many occasions.

“Undoubtedly there are still alumni who remember Peg because she was very active until the last few years,”
Kay wrote.

Tom Augherton wrote that after his wife’s death in 2011 he moved next door to his son near Phoenix, Arizona. He completed a bereavement course, became active in his church, and has spent the past eight years counseling others. He and his late wife, Betty, enjoyed the Road Scholar program, and Tom has continued in the program with his son.

Tom’s friend and fellow World War II veteran student Alford “Al” Taylor married Tom’s sister Charlotte just after graduation, and they passed away within two months of each other in 2017.

Tom meets monthly with 95 other World War II veterans in Carefree, Arizona, for lunch and speakers. He wrote, “Arizona continues to be very good to me, with good health that permits a very active lifestyle for which I am thankful.”

Our 70th class reunion has been delayed but not forgotten. We plan to celebrate May 14-16, 2021! Make your plans now to come together and remember our time at dear Mary Washington!

My calls to you classmates elicited similar responses. Many of you were sheltering in place because of the pandemic but staying busy and productive.

Susan Hutcheson Jurgens was disappointed that her barge trip to Alsace-Lorraine was canceled. She continued weekly, properly distanced Scrabble games, enjoyed organic veggies provided by her neighbors, and was joyous about the birth of great-granddaughter Taliyah, an Arabic/Jewish name.

Betty Litton Kilgour, after retiring from a career in education, lives in Leesburg. Having married an Army engineer, she traveled extensively in Europe and had a scary time in Anchorage, Alaska, when an earthquake shook things up. Her five children are in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

Suzanne Branner Kessler lives at Westminster Canterbury in Richmond. She remotely attended her granddaughter’s wedding in Cary, North Carolina, this summer. She’s an ardent Washington Nats fan and is concerned about the future of her favorite sport.

Charlotte Adams Harrell lives at the Westminster Canterbury in Virginia Beach. Husband Bob celebrates his 100th birthday this year.

Nancy Stump Motley of Roanoke had a heart attack recently but seems as upbeat as ever. Her two daughters and a son fill in the gaps since Nancy no longer drives. Nancy and I, Rita Morgan Stone, reminisced at length about our trips to midwinters at Tech when we hired Hilldrup taxi to transport us.

Nancy Moxley Stone enjoys her view of the mountains in Elk Creek, Virginia, and spends her pandemic time exercising, doing puzzles, and reading. She particularly recommends David McCullogh’s Pioneers.

Mary Lou Finney Boyd was addressing 300 cards urging folks to get out the vote. A granddaughter adds decorative touches. Mary Lou swims three times a week and writes thank-you notes for MetaVivor donors, honoring her daughter who is a breast cancer survivor.

Peggy Sherman of Augusta, Georgia, recalled the interesting classes at Mary Washington but especially the fun weekends and visits to boys’ colleges and universities.

Lilly Longo Bilmond retired as an English teacher at Midlothian High School; she and her husband live in Richmond.

Marie “Weege” Attianese Harlow enjoys life in a community retirement center in Bridgeport, Connecticut. When the pandemic ends, she plans to resume bridge gatherings and other activities. Her children are in Florida and Delaware, but when they come for vacation in Nantucket, she goes for a visit.

Khalida “Kay” Showker has an exciting life, splitting her time between Sarasota, Florida, and New York. Kay began her career with Travel Weekly but went out on her own and has done 15 travel guides. Her most recent ones featured cruises. Kay has traveled all over the world and is on YouTube.

Shirley King Buchanan lives on the family farm in Chesapeake, in a home she built with her late husband, a physician in the area. She enjoys a huge backyard, visited by all sorts of animals. Shirley focuses on butterflies and birds. She was active in the medical auxiliary and is well-known to local politicians. Daughter Beverly lives with her since her husband’s death. Daughter Sherry Buchanan ’75 is a Mary Washington alumna.

Joyce Long Moore has filled her pandemic time with reading, even some textbooks she wishes she had read more thoroughly in college. She recently celebrated a birthday at Nags Head with four generations in one house for a week.

Ginny Orkney Philbrick of Bedford, Virginia, wrote that adopted daughter Betsy located her birth father and his family in California through the Ancestry website. Her half sister Amy of Raleigh, North Carolina, has visited the Philbrick home, to the delight of everyone.  Ginny’s grandson holds a doctorate in nutrition and works at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Corley Gibson Friesen and Ernie are settled in their retirement spot in Colorado and look forward to resuming fun activities after the pandemic is over.

Jean Amis Hill lives in Martinsville, Virginia, and has recovered from her broken hip. She sees her daughter and family frequently.

Mary Ann Jones Beard and husband Billy, who had a stroke, have lived in an assisted living complex in Virginia Beach for the past eight years. One of her children is in Carmel, California, and the other is in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Maryanne Heatwole Cox of Fredericksburg misses her friends, bridge club, book club, and many family gatherings, but keeps busy with the computer, reading, knitting, and painting.

Elaine Nader Powell looks forward to her grandchildren resuming their college sports schedule at William & Mary and Virginia Tech after COVID is over. Then she and her husband may resume cheering.

Claire Sindlinger DeGroot and husband Ward live in Arlington, Virginia. Daughter Gretchen had many connections with our Mary Washington classmates. Carol Edgerton Cooper introduced her to her husband and even helped her choose her wedding gown. And when Gretchen lived in Lexington, she connected with Bobbie Burgess and Sissy Davis.

Anne Hart Martin attended a service at St. John’s Church in Washington two years ago, and her family albums have many childhood photos of her playing in Lafayette Park. She was disturbed to see such turmoil in that beautiful part of the city.

Selma Friedman Fink of New York wrote that her son-in-law is an anesthesiologist, and her granddaughter works in critical care at a hospital that had COVID patients exclusively for months. At 7 o’clock each day, residents opened their doors and applauded in gratitude for medical personnel. Selma, like so many of us, was concerned about the divisions in our country.

Katherine Wells Ball of Tullahoma, Tennessee, lost husband Ted last year after 67 years of marriage. His life as an Air Force pilot provided the family with interesting travels. One son lives in Tennessee, and the other is a doctor in Northern Virginia. Kitty was named Volunteer of the Year in Tullahoma.

Maxine Haley Hazelgrove lives in Ashland, Virginia, and remains in close touch with Susan Jurgens. Maxine’s granddaughter Abigail is a first-year student at William & Mary.

Gwen Amory Cumming’s children are attentive and live nearby.  Not having church services leaves a big gap in Gwen’s life.

Betty Montgomery Handy and I celebrated my birthday with a lovely brunch, gifts of honey, and a flower arrangement created by Betty, a master gardener.

Bobbie Fowler Childs has moved to a senior community in Olympia, Washington, after selling her home on Hartstine Island. She and Richard were married for 65 years before his death three years ago.

It’s been a pleasure having phone visits with so many of you. When you have news that you think would be of interest to our classmates, please share it. Stay well and stay happy.

Ralphie (the springer spaniel) and I, Roberta Linn Miller, are enjoying the cool morning on the terrace while listening to the birdsong in the woods, seeing the many colors of the phlox and other flowers in the garden, and watching the doves having their morning snack. It is July and will get very hot later, so I will go inside the house and check in with some very nice people.

Talked to Jean Brumback Hickman in Reno, Nevada. She doesn’t leave the house much but did go on a trip to the doctor. We talked about our love of cats; we both have black kitties.

Patricia Seibert-Siegel has lived in San Diego for six years. She has three daughters and five grandchildren who are in their 20s. Patricia was an elementary teacher and her husband was an architect before both retired. They plan to move into an assisted-living facility.

Christine Harper Hovis, also in California, lost her husband two years ago. She has a son in Maryland and a daughter in San Francisco. Chris does a lot of exercise, which probably keeps her in great shape.

Polly Stoddard Heim lives next door to a daughter in Idaho. She has another daughter and two sons. Polly is a fortunate grandmother to seven grandchildren.

Betty Fox Mapp transferred to Mary Washington from William & Mary after her first year. She was married in 1956, and they built their house in Virginia Beach in 1965. She and her husband have two sons and a daughter. Two of their grandsons graduated from college this year, and the other two grandsons are first-year college students.

Charlotte Fisher Klapproth married a year after graduation and worked in a lab at Hopkins. She and her husband live in Delaware, and he does all the errands and a lot of the cooking. They have a son and a daughter.

Marjorie Webb Wolfrey lost her husband to pancreatic cancer in December and is now in independent living in Charlottesville. She was a compensation manager at Sperry Marine. She and her husband had three daughters and a son. She has six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Mildred Haney Sandridge, also in Charlottesville, retired after 40 years as a trust officer in a bank. Since her husband is diabetic and uses a walker, they are thinking of going into a retirement facility. They have a daughter who works at the University of Virginia, one grandchild, and two great-grandchildren.

Catherine Walton Hutchinson has lived for 30 years in Sapphire, North Carolina, and before that in Florida, where her husband practiced medicine. A son and his wife live in Milton, Georgia. They both went to the University of Alabama, and now a grandson is in his third year there. Catherine reads and walks and says she is fabulous for an old 87.

Anne Lou Rohrbach Culwell of Norman, Oklahoma, emailed that she is trying to stay safe but does go out some. She reads, does puzzles, and plays mahjong. Maybe she will make the reunion if all goes as planned.

Ann Strickler Doumas sent a note with news of her vegetable garden and how well it was doing but also with sad news about Beatrice Carver Clark, who passed away in June. She is survived by her husband and four children. Ann says the Clarks ran a big dairy farm in the Shenandoah Valley for years, and Bea taught school as well. Bea’s mother-in-law, Mrs. Clark, was Ann Doumas’ piano teacher for many years.

Another loss was my roommate and good friend Anastasia “Buttons” Petro Molitor, originally from Morristown, Tennessee, and then from the Seattle area. She had three sons, and one sent me an email with the sad news of her death after a short illness. He had her ashes, at her request, scattered over Puget Sound.

Minnia Rainey Mayberry sent me a note with news of the loss of my former neighbor in Charleston, S.C., a Navy rear admiral.

I am looking at our commencement booklet. Many events took place in the Sylvan Amphitheatre. Graduation was on Monday morning, May 30, 11 o’clock, with Colgate Darden Jr., chancellor, presiding. But why does the governor of Virginia pop into my head? The address was by Alvin Duke Chandler, president of the College of William & Mary. Do you remember?

I hope those of you who receive our class notes will contact me in the future. I write from The Virginian, a continuing care retirement community in Fairfax County, Virginia, where Marge Uhler Adcock and I reside. My youngest son, Stephen, and family have moved to Dallas. My eldest son, Ted, is retired and lives in Des Moines, which leaves son Tom waiting on me during this period of social distancing.

I phoned Betty Davies Morie to check on our classmates at Westminster Canterbury in Richmond. Angela Walton Barksdale,
Turner Christian Richardson, and Connie Hook Felvey also have apartments there, although Connie has retreated to her home in Kilmarnock during this pandemic. When I have tried to contact others, the numbers or email addresses were no longer in service. I hope you will contact me so we can keep this column going another 64 years!

[Editors’ note: Longtime class agent Edna Gooch Trudeau regretfully resigns as class agent with this, her final submission. We wish her all the best and thank her for her service to the Class of 1959 and Mary Washington! You can send future 1959 class news to classnotes@umw.edu.]

Ann Brooks Coutsoubinas was in Florida last Thanksgiving. In 2019 she and 17 members of her family vacationed in England and Scotland, where a family christening was held. I heard from Ann again in 2020, and despite the pandemic she was taking things a day at a time. Daughter Anastasia was working for a local drugstore, and every day was hectic with old people demanding their pills.

Lois Gaylord Allen’s son, his wife, and six red-haired grandchildren spent last Christmas with her. She has reduced her volunteer work at the local humane society. She has four cats and two dogs of her own. She dearly misses Howard.

In 2019, Joan Whittemore South and Jim spent a week at a resort in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, for his birthday. September found them in Wisconsin visiting Jim’s daughters, Sarah and Kristin, and grandchildren, Logan, Mary, Hunter, Emily, and Ashley. They attended two University of Wisconsin Badgers football games.

Joni fell, broke her right arm, and spent eight weeks in a hard cast and several more in a soft. She also planned to have shoulder surgery.

2019 was a year of changes for Mary Massey, who left her house of 35 years and moved to a senior citizens community two miles away. She loves her grand apartment and access to grass, trees, space, and privacy. Mary was volunteering for three organizations, taking an exercise class, and joining friends for activities. Last September, she and her sister visited Lake George, New York, with family members.

Barbara Gordon McNamee and Bob had a mostly good 2019. Barbara is a longtime administrator and judge of synchronized swimming competitions and was busy with that work until, on a judging trip in California at Easter, she fell and fractured her pelvis and tailbone. Son Howard Crabtree and his wife, Margie, took her to the ER and cared for her till she was able to fly home to Bob. She was recovered and back to work in eight weeks.

They had visits with Chris and Youngmi, Karen and Tony, and Rob.

Barbara Barndt Miller lost Wayne on June 25, 2019. He had several problems and hospital visits but passed peacefully. They had moved to Pennsylvania toward the end of 2018 and stayed with her daughter, Ann, until their new home was ready. Family members, her church, and the community into which they moved have been very supportive.

Arthur Old, widower of Eleanor Markham Old, wrote his usual humorous and newsy letter. He’s doing well.

Irene Piscopo Rodgers had a lot of company in 2019. She took a river cruise and kept up with house repairs.

Barbara White Ellis was preparing a birthday party for a friend, with a limited guest list because of the pandemic. Yes, 10 is the magic number. Babs has had two hip replacements and was doing well but had not been able to ride, so no horse shows. A friend had been exercising her horse for her. Babs was still on her farm.

Frances Bourke Firth had cataract surgery and hip replacement surgery in 2019 and was unable to attend reunion. Her youngest child was getting married, and she and Roger had planned a trip to Egypt, pre-pandemic.

Sally Warwick Rayburn lost Jim in February 2019. Jim had experienced several strokes, so they decided to sell their home in Florida and return to Greensboro, North Carolina. Jim picked the apartment. Sally returned to Florida to pack. Jim was moved to skilled nursing care after a few weeks. Sally returned to join Jim, but he passed away the day she arrived. She is doing OK. She likes the apartments, has made new friends, and has renewed old acquaintances.

2019 flew by for Kay Rowe Hayes. In May she attended the UMW graduation of grandson Matthew Hayes ’19 (who went on to earn a master’s degree from William & Mary’s Mason School of Business in May 2020). Matthew’s twin brother, John, graduated the same day from Christopher Newport University. They are the sons of Kaye’s son Tom and his wife, Tracy. In August, Kay visited sister Susan Rowe Bunting ’64 and Phil in their lake cottage in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.

Kay’s oldest, Kathy, loves living in Chula Vista, California. She volunteers at the animal shelter, serves on the county rescue team, and received a gold medal as the 2018 volunteer of the year in San Diego County. Kay’s daughter Karen and husband Harry enjoy life outside Atlanta. Tom and Tracy welcomed their college graduate twins back home while one attended graduate school and the other prepared for a new job.

Kay called with an update in February 2020. She was recuperating from pneumonia and downsizing. In the book department alone she had enough to start her own Barnes & Noble.

Gloria Winslow Borden’s news from 2019 included the wedding of a granddaughter in California, another granddaughter’s college graduation in Phoenix, a family trip to Oahu, and World Series games with a grandson and other relatives.

Jane Coates Littlefield and Mo said son Scott, his wife, Susan, and their children, Chris and Mary Graham, fill their house with much activity and joy. Chris was a senior in Stuart Hall in Staunton. He was enjoying scholastic and basketball success and was college-hunting. Mary Graham had done well in elementary school and was looking forward to Maury River Middle School and sixth grade.

Scott and Susan continued to manage the laundry pickup and delivery service business they were trying to sell in Augusta, Georgia.

Out of the blue, a call from Fay Jessup Young, my first-year suitemate. Sadly, she lost Avery two years ago. Two of her children live close, which is a big help. Her oldest granddaughter was touring the Netherlands when the coronavirus showed up, but she arrived home safely. Where are Carol Noakes Robinson, Eugenia “Jean” Ellis Perkins, and Patsy Peterson Griffing? Unfortunately, I could give no answers.

Although quarantined, Jane Tucker Broadbooks and John really enjoy their senior apartment. John had some health issues but was doing better. Jon Karl drives his dad to weekly kidney dialysis. Jon Karl’s son Tucker is a college student, and daughter Virginia was finishing high school. Jane and John celebrated their 60th anniversary June 25. (Trivia – so do Marcia Phipps Ireland and my daughter, Virginia Trudeau Rogers. How about that? And it is my mother’s birthday.) Jane said Molly Bradshaw Clark is in a senior apartment and still living in Florida.

Well, my dears, it is hard to believe we have known each other since August 1955. We were all at the beginning of our new lives, and none of us knew what would happen next. Fortunately, we turned out to be an outstanding group of women with exciting careers, good husbands, lovely children, and for some, single, rewarding livelihoods.

Thank you for all these years. It has given me great joy to share your stories, read, and write about you. (I tried not to talk about myself, but when Virginia and Lucas arrived, I had to write a sentence or two.)

Here it is, my 53rd year. My brain’s wishes do not coincide with my body’s decisions! My macular degeneration is at the point that it is extremely difficult for me to read and write, and I feel I can no longer serve as your class agent. It breaks my heart. It seems I do not have a choice. Please accept my resignation as class agent for 1959. I love you all!