Class Notes

I became a class agent in July and heard from more than a dozen classmates before the Class Notes deadline. Several months pass between the time you send me your news and when that information is printed, so please keep sending your email and Facebook messages!

My husband, Tom, and I spent several days in July on St. Simons Island, where Tom had an engineering conference. We went whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River in Tennessee, enjoying some of the rapids on the 1996 Olympic course. We celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary with an August trip to St. Lucia, went scuba diving, and explored the reefs near the Piton Mountains. We hiked and camped in the fall with the Atlanta Outdoor Club, spending weekends at Dauset Trails in Jackson, Ga., Cloudland Canyon State Park in Rising Fawn, Ga., and Congaree National Park near Gadsden, S.C. I’ve been active with my homeowners association and as social chair on our board of directors. I planned numerous events and parties, welcomed more than a dozen families to the neighborhood in less than a year, and looked forward to our third annual caroling event.

Jarrod Epps has lived in Prague for 15 years and been married for five. An independent private equity investment advisor, he was starting an online project that began a massive development effort in January. He has visited 53 countries on his quest to get to 100. Last year he ran the London and Berlin marathons. Jarrod, a New Orleans Saints football fan, was getting his private pilot license in hopes of flying to our June reunion. He doesn’t have children but says it could happen soon! He stays in touch with Mark Clark, who lives in Richmond with wife Rene and their five children, and Sean Holcomb, who lives in San Francisco with wife Heather and their daughter. He is commissioner of the alumni-filled MWC fantasy football league. Drew White started a real estate advisory business, Brian Bodson coaches kids’ sports teams, and Brendan Casey, who lives in Chicago with wife Melissa and their four kids, works in Fermilab’s national particle accelerator program.

Kate Stanford McCown and husband John, an international tax director for Walmart, relocated to Bentonville, Ark., in January 2011, and Kate made the transition from working lawyer to stay-at-home mom of Ashlyn Elizabeth, 1, Jack, 7, and Mary Ella, 9. They love living in a beautiful state and looked forward to touring Crystal Bridges, an art museum that opened close to their home. Tevin Chaney of Fredericksburg works in the City of Alexandria’s GIS division in Virginia. He was working on a master’s in GIS in College Park at the University of Maryland, where he plans to pursue his doctorate in remote sensing.

The label Dave Derkowski was with for 15 years, Reprise Records, folded into Warner Brothers, and Dave now has more bands and territory as a company rep. His family’s sport of choice is softball, and daughters Julia, 11, and Lauren, 8, are on travel teams and have started to excel at pitching. The family planned a two-week trip to Australia. Dave and some classmates had a blast on campus in November, visiting Seacobeck which now serves sushi!, touring the dorms, stopping to wish Cedric Rucker ’81 a happy birthday, and hanging out on Campus Walk. The group included Doug Couvillion, who lives in Richmond with wife Shannon Struve and their two daughters; Frank Holleran of Alexandria, Va., who works for the government and travels the world; and Megan Prosser, who lives in Northern Virginia with husband Mike and still cares for her horses. They visited Gordon Dixon, who lives in Richmond with wife Valeta and their two boys, and Kent Romska, who lives in Richmond and works for Clear Channel Radio. The weekend was filled with memories of good times from 20 years ago. Dave, who is active in all things music, still travels to Washington, D.C., for shows and ran into Eric Axelson ’93 at a Fitz and The Tantrums concert.

Marc Tate lives in Centreville, Va., with wife Cemmi and children Marcus and Maddie and is a principal with Booz Allen Hamilton. Mark is set to appear in the winter 2012 issue of InSpire Magazine, which named him among the top 40 inspirers in America because of his contributions to his profession and community. Andy Gustafson, a travel agent for AAA, wife Ivy, and their children, Max and Maggie, have settled into their new Tampa, Fla., home, where they love the weather but miss their Northern Virginia friends. Amy Wilkinson Johnson and husband Jay work for Hanover County and live in Richmond with their two girls and two goofy dogs. Amy has worked for Hanover for 20 years and somehow ended up being a systems administrator despite avoiding computer classes at Mary Washington. Amy and her family are busy with Girl Scouts, horseback riding, Miracle League baseball, and hanging out with friends and family. They were excited about their winter vacation, including trips to Tampa and Jacksonville, Fla., four days on the Disney Dream, and plans to be home by Christmas Eve.

Tim Pohanka, who lives two blocks from Mary Washington, where his son is enrolled, learned what it’s like to come home to a house full of college students using his house as a frat and quickly put an end to it. He has been the operating officer for Pohanka Nissan Hyundai dealerships for three years. Christine Harrison Grant left her 18-year career as a professional fundraiser for local and national nonprofits to start her business, Nonprofit Support Solutions in Raleigh, N.C. She provides individual and group coaching, fundraising consulting, and training services to nonprofit staff and board members. Christine received her professional certification from Coach Training Alliance in 2009 and hopes to continue growing her practice. She recently became engaged to Tom Casey, who she’s dated for more than five years, but wedding plans had not yet been set. Christine looks forward to seeing classmates at our reunion. Sadly, she lost her mother, Nancy, to ovarian cancer in 2010.

I want to close by thanking everyone who sent news about themselves and classmates. In this technological age, we’re well connected in many ways, but I really enjoy keeping up with UMW in this magazine’s format. With University of Mary Washington Magazine in my hands, I can look at current photos, see how much UMW has changed, and read about what we’ve seen and done since graduation. I’m easily transported back in time when I read your names; 20 years slip by fast, but memories rise just as quickly. I can’t wait to relive the good old days at our reunion in June!