Class Notes

Hello to Class of ’69 classmates! What are you doing during this pandemic to move through the world safely? Does it currently feel more like the late ’60s in our nation at this moment in time?

Linda Eadie Hood, our current scribe, was stuck in a cast in a recovery center and asked if I, Iris Harrell, would gather our class news this one time. She had a fall that broke her ankle, and surgery included screws and a plate on her foot. Ouch! She was pretty sick of not being home, especially during this 2020 pandemic. She would love to hear from you all. Her husband has been a saint during her recovery. Angel wings waiting for him.

Bev Holt and wife Deb Alpert sold their home in the Raleigh-Durham area in 24 hours after putting it on the market! They moved to their beach house at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Deb retired July 1. Bev bought a BMW convertible, and Deb bought a Boston Whaler boat. They were living their retirement dream, with masks and hand sanitizers to boot.

Oceanographer Jenifer Higgins Clark and her meteorologist husband, Dane, were the support planning team for Pablo Fernandez’s century swim in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Florida. In July 2019 Pablo set the fastest solo nonstop ocean 100km swim in history with a time of 12 hours, 21 minutes, and 14 seconds. What a job to have, Jenifer!

Carol Hewitt Guida in Australia was busy with philanthropic, non-income-producing projects – writing, drawing, weaving … you know, the fun, creative stuff! The pandemic means her husband runs his architectural firm from home now, and his computers and drawings have taken over the dining room. Carol keeps up his spirits with a kiss and a hug as she passes through the clutter doing her fun things.

Anne Witham Kilpatrick writes a tale of what she is not doing due to the pandemic. She is not seeing her Mary Wash roommates and suitemates this year. It was going to be a girls’ week out in Charleston, South Carolina.

Also not happening for Anne: A trip back to Scotland with husband Roger and several of his siblings. The Daughters of the American Revolution national conference was held virtually, and family gatherings were via Skype. Anne’s granddaughter’s graduation from boot camp in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, was to be livestreamed. Anne was getting lots of yard work and indoor projects accomplished while waiting for the pandemic to lift.

In October 2019, Jeanine Zavrel Fearns and daughter Erin spent a wonderful week in Rome. Jeanine, Anne Witham Kilpatrick, and suitemates Suzy Bender Winterble and Toni Turner Bruseth were together in November 2019 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Toni has a second home. Jeanine hopes to resume her travel hobby ASAP once there’s a COVID vaccine.

Regina Sneed was sheltering in place and thriving in her senior living community in San Francisco. She Zooms with her North Beach coffee klatch, with fellow docents of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and with a local lobbying team that works on peace issues. She listens to lectures and watches theater, opera, and jazz performance – things she used to see live as a volunteer usher. With all these activities, she was seriously behind in her reading, as her pile of books grew taller.

In January, Nancy Yeager Allard and her husband took an 18-day cruise from Buenos Aires to Santiago. Since the start of the pandemic, they had increased their prayer life, including livestreaming daily Mass from their parish. Nancy helped organize two contactless food drives for the parish. They connect with family by using Apple’s magical FaceTime. She does a weekly FaceTime storytelling with her 5-year-old grandson.

Betty Olander Adams paused a move from Maryland to Virginia because of COVID-19 concerns. She recommends reading The Widow Washington for insight into Mary Washington and son George. Betty was in touch with Chris Phillips Farhood, who continued her therapy practice while quarantined in Manhattan with her pup, Enzo. Chris had redone her bathroom, set up her art studio, and done volunteer mental health counseling.

The pandemic forced woman of action Lyn Howell Gray to slow down. She and Jim have moved from the African country of Liberia to Blacksburg, Virginia, and were unpacking stuff they hadn’t seen in 20 years. They talk to their son daily remotely. She was trying new drugs for her fibromyalgia (chronic pain and nerve sensitivity), and coping with side effects.

Cece Smith Riffer reports that Ann Simpson Brackett had a virtual wine tasting happy hour via Zoom together with French House roommates to keep in touch during the pandemic. Besides Cece and Ann, participants were Donna Cannon Julian and Lyn Howell Gray. Cece’s oldest grandchild was starting her junior year at William & Mary.

Ann reported that Betty Jo Shoemaker Polk has had multiple sclerosis since she was in her 30s and lives in a nursing home in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Betty’s son, Chris, is now 50!

Ann Benson and I, Iris Harrell, celebrated our 41st anniversary quietly at home. We were hunkered down in Santa Rosa, preparing for the annual fire season by painting the exterior of our home with an additive called Flamecheck.

My golf club has just broken ground to rebuild the burned-down clubhouse from the 2017 Santa Rosa Tubbs fire. I serve on the club board as a steering committee member for the construction. I also volunteer on advising and hiring for improvements of the public area of our 3,700-home community.

Our band, More Joy, is on sabbatical until the pandemic is over and concerts are safe again. Ann does volunteer work, but her joy is her incredible garden and fruit trees in the backyard.