Class Notes

Susan Akley Schneider’s mother, Lillian Akley, 90, passed away in February. Susan and her brother took care of her at their family home on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. They reminisced about their visits to Mary Washington and seeing their friends (and Susan’s chemistry professor) Dr. and Mrs. Earl G. Insley and Ms. Loreeda Jones (“Jonesey”) from the Campus Christian Center. Susan’s mom supported every aspect of Susan’s life, and Mary Washington was special to both of them.

Kathy Behringer Dayton was to complete a post-master’s advanced graduate certificate in educational leadership at Stony Brook University in December and be certified in school building and district administration. She teaches middle school art on eastern Long Island. Vacation plans included a Christmas family reunion, camping at Cinnamon Bay on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Mary Ruth Burton of Richmond enjoys work, and her children have graduated and are employed. She spent a summer weekend at her Irvington house with Dawn Hill, who was in our class but transferred to UNC at Chapel Hill, and husband Hal Hiemstra.

Donald Mulcare regrets missing our 35th reunion. After graduation and a stint in the Peace Corps, he began work for NOAA and has worked in 49 states and overseas. He spent a decade in the Washington, D.C., area, then divorced, accepted a transfer to Texas, retired in Corpus Christi, and started teaching undergrad courses as an adjunct professor in the GIS program at the local campus of Texas A&M University. He travels to English-speaking locations, especially Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. Last year he spent two weeks in Thailand and Cambodia and hopes to take a biking tour of Vietnam next year.

Eva Marie Grace of Silver Spring, Md., has worked 12 years at the American College of Cardiology in Washington, D.C. Husband Brett is still with DoD, and son John, a high school senior, was applying to colleges. Her parents moved a couple years ago from Portsmouth, Va., to an assisted living facility in Williamsburg, near Eva’s sister, Ellen Grace ’70. A few years ago Eva noticed a sign in Bethesda, Md., that said, “Patricia F. Long, Music Therapy.” Sure enough, it was her sophomore roommate, Patty, a flautist who transferred to Temple and had moved south from New York.

Helen Taylor Salter lives in western Colorado. Stepdaughter Rachele, a nurse in Denver, is pursuing a master’s to become a nurse practitioner. Stepson Jeff is a high school AP chemistry teacher in Salt Lake City. Helen continues to deal with chronic illness but was cheered by a recent move to a new home in Grand Junction. She stays in touch with dear friends Judy Clark Hays, Lundy Baker Updike, Patti Jo Anderson, and Debbie Dawson Troy.

Debbie Schutte Bryan’s daughter, Kelsey, is a UMW freshman and loves it, and Debbie has enjoyed visiting the old and discovering the new on campus. Her eldest, son Chase, a JMU grad, is a junior accountant at a Richmond firm. Her youngest, Cole, a high school sophomore, is driving, so Debbie no longer has to chauffer! Debbie and Bill have been married 33 years and live in Richmond. After years of staying home to raise children then teaching part time, Debbie now teaches pre-kindergarten full time. Bill, an independent insurance salesman was disabled in an auto accident, but they keep plugging along. Cathy Kroohs has been with the Alexandria Fire Department in Virginia for 25 years. She participated in Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, a seven-day, 454-mile ride, and raised funds for an AFD medic who had a lung transplant.

Marsha Blosser Barley spent two years at Mary Washington then transferred to Shenandoah Conservatory, where she also earned a master’s in music education. She married in 1974, but her husband was killed in an accident three years later. She started teaching in Frederick County, Va., in 1978, has taught choral music ever since, and is in her 12th year with Winchester Public Schools. In 1988, she married Dale Barley, who had open-heart surgery last year. Now they get up every morning at 5 to exercise before work. Her 40-year-old stepson, Brad, is in the Coast Guard and lives in Wilmington, N.C. Her 22-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, is a senior at Bridgewater College, where she’s student body president.

Alison Haworth Regan and husband Don have lived in Grand Junction, Colo., for 12 years. Alison does needlepoint projects for a Texas shop, and Don is a seasonal park ranger at Colorado National Monument. Alison moved her mom, who has moderate Alzheimer’s, from Houston to an independent living community near them. They’re bonding after Alison lived so far away for so long. Alison and Don plan trips next year to Yellowstone National Park in February and to Canada in September. They have a 21-foot trailer they use for most of their travels.

Lundy Baker Updike had Jane Reese-Coulbourne, Fran Patton ’05, and Ellen Beste ’11 at her home in November to meet a prospective UMW applicant. Lundy was amazed to learn how much she and Jane had in common with the younger grads. She encourages anyone with the opportunity to get together with younger alumnae to do so! Karen Sullivan Iseman wanted to come to our 35th reunion but her older son decided to get married about the same time and that took priority!

Patti Jo Anderson, a project manager for Verizon, enjoys decorating her house and planning weddings. Her niece, Berkley Schmidt ’15, daughter of Cynthia Anderson Schmidt ’79, is a UMW freshman and one of 15 bloggers for Seventeen magazine. Madelin Jones Barratt, husband Henry, and daughters Ellen and Anna were to be in Shanghai for Christmas for the wedding of son William, who works at a Chinese company there.

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