Class Notes

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As I wrote this, Thanksgiving was right around the corner and most of us had turned 70 or soon would. When did we get so old? My two children tried to soften the blow by taking me on a wine-tasting getaway in Paso Robles, Calif. Both families planned to be with me for Thanksgiving, then my son and his family were headed to Oberammergau, Germany, for three years, while he teaches at the NATO School. I planned to join them for Christmas.

Sue Wooldridge Rosser, Carolyn Shockey Moore, and Linda Cline Holden got together in October to celebrate their 70th birthdays.

Ophelia Baker Crowley of Richmond and Sonja “Toni” Algren Schuyler of Jericho, Vt., visited Missy Bush Shives at her Salisbury, N.C., home in October. They reminisced, caught up on each other’s lives since their last rendezvous at our 45th class reunion in 2010, visited the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, and took in Salisbury’s 38th annual October Tour of Historic Homes. One of the homes on tour belonged to Anne Rasmussen Lyles ’63,  whose family renovated an 1892 Italianate-Victorian house. In 25 years, they’ve restored nine historic properties and helped revitalize an important older neighborhood in Salisbury.

Last year Penny Partridge Booth took a 10-day tour of three Canadian provinces, visiting the Bay of Fundy. When her daughter unexpectedly lost her nanny, Penny spent part of spring in the Boston area, becoming the new nanny and soccer grandma. She also went to Indianapolis and returned to Boston in November for a family event. Penny planned a 10-day river cruise between Paris and Prague with her sister in May. She quilts, takes long walks, and does water aerobics.

After living in her childhood home for years, Lee Smith Musgrave moved to Blacksburg, Va., to be near one of her daughters. Margaret Cobourn John drove to Monument, Colo., for a September reunion of the 46th Army Engineer Battalion, but Kenny didn’t find anyone he knew from Vietnam. Going and coming, they toured nine state Capitol buildings, including ones in Nashville, Springfield, Des Moines, Cheyenne, Denver, and Topeka. They’ve seen 25 since 2011. The others are on Kenny’s bucket list, and Margaret agreed because they’ll have to go to Alaska and Hawaii again, darn it!

Louise Stevens Robbins helped conduct a workshop in Kaili, Guizhou Province, China, in July; visited family and friends in Virginia in August; and took a food, music, and art tour to Italy in September. She co-edited Libraries and the Reading Public in Twentieth-Century America, published by University of Wisconsin Press last summer.

Alice Funkhouser Flowers’ husband, George, retired from teaching but was called back to teach four summer courses in engineering. Alice still works year round on publications, archiving, and public relations for St. Christopher’s School. They took a three-week trip in March to celebrate their 70th birthdays, visiting Hawaii, Australia, and New Zealand. Their five grandchildren live in North Carolina and Maryland.

UMW dedicated a lecture hall in honor of civil rights leader James L. Farmer Jr., during a November ceremony. Georgia State Sen. Nan Grogan Orrock delivered the keynote address. Nan has served in the Georgia state legislature since 1987, including service as House majority whip and committee chair.

Her engagement with public policy dates back to her college days, when she participated in the 1963 March on Washington. See the cover story about Nan on page 14.