Class Notes

Dodie Tyrrell caught us up on her activities for most of her working career: she recently retired from the California Department of Public Health, completing her 23 year career as Director of their Alzheimer’s program. She retains her position asDeputy Administrative Officer of the California Disaster Medical Assistance Team and works as needed on that team. She says she’ll resign when she can no longer tolerate sleeping on a military cot in an 18-person tent. She also continues her long-time association with the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions and attended the Western Region auditions in Los Angeles and the National Auditions in New York last year. In 2008, Dodie journeyed to Antarctica, and in June 2014, became a “bi-polar” explorer when she traveled again with Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic to the Arctic Ocean, to just south of the North Pole, where she suited up daily for cold, wet-weather trips in a Zodiac raft along the pack ice, hiking thru the Arctic landscape, complete with armed guides for protection from polar bears. In 2013, she signed up for the UMW’s Alumni College’s trip to France. Although she knew that the chances of knowing someone on board were slim, she met one other UMW alumna, a 1968 grad from Maine, married to the brother of Travy Moncure Evans. And while in France, Dodie was treated to ambulance rides to two hospitals, one for emergency hernia repair surgery, and another one, in Monaco, for a head injury complete with black eye. Thanks to the bullet train, she was able to rejoin the river cruise in Lyon five hours after she was discharged from the second hospital, and that evening, hiked in the rain in Tournon!

Jane Denslow McCrohan wrote that she and Ed took a break from volunteering last September to drive across Washington State to see how their grandson was settling in to his freshman year in college. Their other project was to finish the assembly of and paint a huge boatshed that was delivered to their back yard in pieces.

Gaye Roberts Olsen keeps busy with PT and OT programs in her lovely retirement apartment.

Two subsequent visits last year to Johns Hopkins have confirmed for Sandy Poole that her brain dysplasia is gone, although she will need to be checked annually. By the time you read this, Sandy will have recovered from knee surgery and be back at life full-tilt.

Like many of us, Sherry Farrington Green had hip replacement surgery on her second hip, but it hasn’t slowed her down. She visited her grandkids back east soon after, and they gathered on Peaks Island, Maine, where her son and his family live. In October, she headed for Spain where she walked the last 120 miles of the Camino de Santiago, and she was looking forward to trying some good Spanish red wines while there.

Linda Fuller Watkinsretired last year, had a lovely trip to Paris and celebrated her 76th birthday there. She plays a lot of golf and tennis and enjoys her two grandchildren. Her daughter and family live near her. She is still in touch with Ellen Dunne Bresnahan, who lives in Boston, and they get together once a year. Ellen has several grandchildren; her eldest is a junior this year at Harvard. And, she still hears from Teresa Horseman Ammon who lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Teresa Horseman Ammon was finally nudged into writing to us. When she read about suitemate Betty Williams’ passing in 2013, she was reminded that 10 years earlier (in 2003), she and Trish Burke Duke had lunch with Betty in Williamsburg, just before Betty’s health problems required her to move to assisted living. Teresa related that Betty was exactly the same then as when they had lunch with her back in 1959. Teresa also wrote that although she didn’t make our 50th, she and her husband did visit the campus in 2013 right after graduation. They were able to gain entry to Ball Hall, where they met and dated senior year. Her husband’s comment was that he has never forgotten Mrs. “G” (Gochenour), the Head Resident.

Sue Smith Goodrick, and many others, sent us a thank you note for her birthday card, as did Natalie Robins Lehmann-Haupt, who also included a poignant picture of her husband on his 80th birthday with their two year old grandson.

Penny Engle Burkhardt wrote that she and Brad went to Georgetown, Texas, to visit daughter, her new husband and their granddaughter. In June, they attended her grandson’s graduation in Pembroke, New Hampshire, staying at the family cottage nearby and celebrating with a big lake party for all the graduating kids.

Jan Latven Allnutt shared that last summer Susan Cramer Drouin rented a house in Maine to accommodate her UMW suitemates, Betty Bruce Shepard from Richmond, Susan Cramer Drouin, Joey Van Tol Goetz from Florida, and Jan from Washington D.C.) They spent the three days laughing, reminiscing and sharing photos of families and adorable grandchildren. Unbeknownst to them, former President George Bush was celebrating his 90th birthday in the same town. Walking beside the beach one day they witnessed the helicopter rising from the Bush property and joined the excited throngs to watch him sailing downward in his red, white and blue parachute clothing. They’ve all vowed to meet again to celebrate his 95th birthday in Maine!

Rose Bennett Gilbert’s wrote that she is still working, writing a weekly column on lifestyle and design called “Decor Score.”) The column gives her license (and press credentials) to cover whatever/where-ever, including the design markets here and abroad: five bon-bon days in Paris in January, perhaps Europe’s newsiest trade show; the High Point (North Carolina) Furniture Market in April, the Contemporary Furniture Fair in NYC in May, and every designer show house that opens its doors for many miles around. She also writes for the occasional magazine and a twice-monthly e-newsletter for an interesting business-to-business venture called SURTEX – artists and designers who sell/license their work to manufacturers of everything from greeting cards to textiles, wallpaper, and baby pajamas. On the family front, she went to the British Virgins a year ago with son Bennett and his Wee Ones, on a wide and steady catamaran. He captained, and Rose played ballast. Last summer, she had a week on the Outer Banks, a week in Quogue (The Hamptons), an excursion to Salem, Massachusetts, and another to Staunton, Virginia.

Joyce Neill Krost had a series of electronic disasters all at once, explaining that her phone went out, computer went out, printer went out, and when she changed her internet trying to straighten everything out, lost her email address. Her “most exciting and best news” was an extended visit from her sister in October.

Nancy Moncure Deiss is a leader at the National Gallery of Art, and recently managed the accession of over 17,000 works of art obtained from the Corcoran Gallery of Art for the National Gallery.

Karen and Darrell took an extended RV trip to Washington, Idaho, and Montana. One of the highlights of the trip was delightful visit with Jane Denslow McCrohan and Ed at their gorgeous home on Puget Sound across from Seattle. In addition to reminiscing about our MW days and junior year in Marye Hall with roommates Lucy Wu Wang and Jo Knotts Jones ’61, they were honored to be invited to be part of Jane’s birthday celebration with her family. Another highlight of the trip, besides the beautiful scenery on all the back roads, was taking the Red Bus tour along the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, rather than driving it. And in August, three of their granddaughters presented them with three more great grandbabies (now have seven), all three in their daughter’s family, all three in the same town, all three on the same day!

Jody basked in an August family reunion attended by all her children and spouses and all eight grandchildren, a rare treat for this far flung family and the first time in six years they were all in one place together. She had excellent adventures at a family wedding seaside on Key Largo in March, a Very family trip to Stafford and Fredericksburg in May, getting to attend lacrosse games and band concerts and wallowed in the joy of total family immersion. Jody is overcoming four different big ticket health “adventures” this year. She continues to volunteer with the local Historical Village, with local, state and regional genealogy societies, and by the time you read this will have completed another annual workshop as Merit Badge Counselor for Boy Scouts earning their Genealogy Badge.

Sally Brown VanDuyne goes to an exercise class three or four times a week, enjoys friends, and traveling. She went to Mill Valley, California, last year to see her son and new grandson, now has five grandchildren (three girls and the last two boys.)

Jane Choate Lorentz spent Labor Day with Patty Morgan Connolly on Martha’s Vineyard, reporting that they had a good time “messing about and playing cards.”

Iris Hall Newton, our loyal “townie”, sends her regards. She reports that she always checks the MW Magazine for news of old friends and her former student teachers. She mentored 14 of them from MWC and still hears from some at Christmas especially, when they send pictures of their children and now their grandchildren. She notes that it is interesting to hear their news and to observe their march of time from afar.

We’re just delighted you want to read our reports, and you can opt out if you must, but we really want ALL of you to be an active part of our parade, adding your adventures; so we have a HUGE entry in each and every MW magazine while we still can! So as soon as you finish reading this, before doing anything else, please write us a note with pen or computer–we don’t care which. We especially want to encourage those of you who do not use computers to check in. We have been missing you. We also hope you have made plans to be at our 55th Reunion in a few weeks, or that you will do so right now. We are looking forward to this next milestone. It may seem to be a big effort, but it is so worth it to be together once more and to share memories that no one else can share. See you in Fredericksburg!

Please send news to the designated Class Agent according to the first letter of your maiden name.

From Connie: My early responders, as usual, are Kelly and Clara Sue. Kelly Cherry emailed that two books are forthcoming: A Kelly Cherry Reader, sometime this fall; and Twelve Women in a Country Called America, a collection of stories about southern women, in the spring. In November Burke and she went to Madison and Waukesha, Wisconsin, to do a week of readings from A Kind of Dream and a radio show. It was especially wonderful to see old friends and colleagues, all of whom seem to be doing well. They had three days in Budapest this past summer and fell in love with it.

Clara Sue Durden Ashley is one fine, Christian, caring lady, to all living things, including…snakes! She reports that one fine day in October she saw a black snake about two and a half feet long under a bush next to the patio steps. The next day when she noticed that he was still there and caught up in the mesh that her husband puts over many of the plants to keep the deer from eating them. The snake was so entangled in the mesh he could not move. Clarence brought the scissors, and Clara picked up the snake and proceeded to very carefully cut away the mesh which enclosed the snake’s head plus about six inches of his body. The mesh was so tight around the snake it was causing marks on his skin. After successfully cutting away the mesh, she put the snake on the ground and he slithered away never to be seen again. This month brought a special honor from the Ashleys’ church, quoted from their local paper, The Connection. “Clarence and Clara Sue Ashley, long-time members of St. Francis [Episcopal], were recognized with the Franciscan Cross in honor of their decades of service to the church.” The snake tale proves their worth…congratulations!

A most welcome email from Georgie Georgeou Rahnias, in which she says she loves hearing the news about everyone. George had a heart attack in 2012 and underwent a triple bypass. He later developed dementia, so she has become a full time caregiver. She feels blessed by all the years they’ve had and is grateful for all the years they’ve been together. Her greatest joy is that granddaughter Chrisy Gaul is a junior at MW and plays for the tennis team. She was sorry not to be able to attend the reunion, and misses all the good years and friends she had at MWC. Georgie’s husband and my Andy were high school classmates in Thessaloniki, Greece. She sends wishes to everyone for a joyous and healthy holiday.

Carolyn Crum Pannu emailed that she recently met with 30 Mary Washington alumni at Iris Harrell (’69) and Pat Benson’s stunning (all green) home in Portola Valley, about 30 minutes south of Carolyn, near Stanford University. They enjoyed a delectable catered lunch and President Hurley sat at her table. She was looking forward to meeting with five MW alumna for happy hour at a nearby restaurant. She says it’s so much fun to share great college memories as well as find other women who want to socialize. Carolyn still works, and keeps in touch regularly with Pat Scott Peck, Renee, and Lloyd.

I was very sad to receive news from Patty Cairns Hourin that on Oct. 15 her Mother, Doris Wallace, died after a brief illness. She was 98. A memorial service was held at Goodwin House on Nov. 5 and burial will be in several months at Arlington with Patty’s dad. Her son Scott and family are now in San Diego after a glorious year in Stuttgart, Germany. Jim and she are in good health and continue to enjoy life in Diamondhead, Mississippi. My friendship with Patty goes way back to eighth grade in Baumholder, Germany, where our fathers were stationed. Doris Cairns was such a lovely, vibrant, fun-loving lady. She and Patty’s father “Bugs” were good friends of my parents and added much to the life of the Army there.

And from Dee Doran Cairns came news that Doug and she had a lovely two week vacation in California the end of August. They took a break from trips to Northern Virginia and southern Italy to visit very close friends and relatives: Bryce Jones, classmate of Doug’s, at his lush vineyard on the Russian River, Terry Cairns and David and Mimi Brooks on Orcas Island, and last of all very close friends Dan and Renate Connor in Portland and Manzanita. They recently headed north to West Point, New York, for the Army-Air Force game and a small reunion with Doug’s AF Academy friends. At the end of the weekend they stopped in Alexandria for a memorial service honoring Doris [Doug’s mother] and some final dividing up of pictures and treasures.

Ellen Grumley deGail’s brother passed away of a stroke this fall. They were very close. We extend our deepest sympathy to you and your family.

My news ties in with Jerri Barden Perkins, as Andy and I visited her in Hilton Head Island in early September. She has a beautiful house, filled with art and antiques, and lots of photos from her many travels around the world with her late husband Cal. She is still involved with the medical world in clinical trials, and keeps in great shape with yoga, kayaking, skiing, etc. She and Andy played a round of golf while I relaxed by her pool. She is a most gracious hostess and it was fun to reconnect with a fellow chem major! Another short trip Andy and I took in October was to Charleston, South Carolina, which is one of the world’s major destinations, according to Conde Nest! As we were beginning to extend our travels since my lung transplant, Andy had a minor heart attack on November 8 and had double by-pass surgery on Nov. 12. He came through it all with flying colors and came home November 18. He will have to take it easy for a while (hard for him as he has lots of energy!)

From Renee: Cathy Ledner Kuttner says that her news is in the believe it or not category. After living together for almost 20 years, she and her now husband decided to get married. They had a very joyous wedding celebration, surrounded by family and friends on October 12, 2014. She is now a blushing commuter bride. They live most of the time in Cornwall, New York. Cathy has kept her place in South Orange, New Jersey, where she spends a portion of her week. Her new hubby still works at 82, and Cathy keeps busy with some work and volunteers in Newburgh, New York and New Jersey. Socially, she is now Cathy Kuttner Polich.

A late email from Sylvia McJilton Woodcock reports that they had a University of Mary Washington Foundation meeting in November and Stuart and she saw Lloyd Tilton Backstrom and Art and Lynne Williams Neave and Sandy, who all seem to be doing well. The meetings were very informative and well-run. The new student center (meals, activities, meeting rooms) is being built where Chandler was. It is a huge, impressive building with columns that fits well in Ball Circle. Seacobeck will continue to have a faculty-staff dining room. It has not been determined yet how the other three wings will be used. A new Convergence Center has been built next to the Jepson Science Center, which will undergo a big expansion soon. She invites you to come visit the campus – you will be amazed.

My news: sadly, my precious Golden Retriever Gracie died on October 20. It happened very fast. She got sick on a Friday and had to be put down on the following Monday. I had no idea she was sick. She didn’t behave as if she were, and believe me she had regular checkups and all of her shots were up to date. I really miss that fun, silly, wonderful, beautiful, loving dog. Otherwise, I keep busy with classes at UCLA Extension, going to theatre, movies and out to lunches and dinners with friends. I recently had my kitchen and breakfast room remodeled. The clinical trial continues. I have another year and a half of active participation. Then, they just monitor the participants for 10 years. I have no idea whether I am getting the vaccine or a placebo. It is double blind, so my doctor doesn’t even know. I hope all of you are well and happy and have a wonderful holiday season. Here’s to all the best life has to offer now and in the years to come.

From Lynne: Nancy Wright Wright and a friend are spending the winter in The Villages, Florida. They went down in early September and plan to stay until the end of March. They will, however, go back to Virginia for Christmas and New Years and enjoy the grandchildren. Jane Riles and hubby Jim Dietz returned to San Diego in October from a wonderful trip to Southeast Asia: Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. They plan to be in Ft. Lauderdale all winter.

Whenever I read news from Sue Wilson Sproul, I think that she missed her calling and should have written travel books. Therefore I will quote her message: “Summer is our favorite time in Colorado, because of the dry air, blue skies, and gentle temperatures. Consequently, we like to stay at home and play host to those who are escaping heat and humidity. That means Virginians, like our grandchildren, and travel club visitors, mostly Texans. Granddaughter Audrey came out for a week and requested that she be able to do some community service. She and I worked together in the local food kitchen making lunch for the homeless. Grandson Nat wanted to go camping. We traveled to Northern New Mexico to the newly-designated Headwaters of the Rio Grande National Monument. It’s within a short drive to Taos, so we were also able to visit the Indian pueblo there and take in a fish hatchery on the way back to camp – activities that appealed to his eleven-year old interests. Our travel clubs – Affordable Travel and Evergreen – give us the opportunity to meet some interesting people from around the country. I recommend that all our classmates who travel considering joining one or the other. ATC has quite a few members in Europe, too, so it’s not just for domestic travelers.”

Marcy Trembath Pitkin has been through so much in the past couple of years. She said it’s been eighteen months since she began chemo for breast cancer, a year since the mastectomies, and two months since the last of three hospitalizations/surgeries for infections, but she is feeling healthy, although can’t push much. Sadly, Steve’s health has steadily declined and now he is in a close-by nursing home. Marcy is taking some art lessons, running a concert series at church and just survived the use of her home for a staging area for the workers for her local congressman’s campaign, with a stream of young people coming and going.

Art and Lloyd Tilton Backstrom had a wonderful trip to Panama (their twelfth trip with Grand Circle Travel) in late September. They were on land around Panama City, in small towns of the Azuero peninsula, at the Gamboa Resort where some Americans lived while the canal was being built, four days on Gatun Lake in a 105′ catamaran which slept 24 people, nature walks, and nature log canoe rides to Indian tribes. They also had visits with Pat Scott Peck on her travel path from Miami to Maine and again in the fall. Once Pat moves to San Antonio, Lloyd is afraid they will miss that treat! On the other hand, we may receive news from other San Antonians like Candes Parker Chumney, Bitsy Glascock Duperier, and Jill Cusack Clay. Sadly, one of those San Antonians was our classmate Aggie Welsh Eyster,who passed away on August 31.

I am pleased to report that all is well on the home front for my family; we are currently doing some home improvements in New York City, but can still escape to Connecticut on weekends and will spend Thanksgiving in Florida. For 2015, we have committed to the Amazon Cruise in March and Normandy later in the year.

Judy Wolfe Allen convinced her husband Jack to go on a river cruise in Europe to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Having spent two tours on a carrier flying F-8s over Viet Nam, it took some convincing on Judy’s part, but he agreed to go and they flew to Paris and were whisked from the airport to the river boat on the Seine. They soon discovered that over a third of the other passengers were couples celebrating their 50th anniversary of graduation from West Point (Class of ’64.) They had a great time ragging on Jack, Annapolis Class of ’61, and Judy and Jack became known as “Judy and Jack from that Boat School!” Judy walks regularly in the U.K. with several friends also from the U.S.; last May it was Cornwall. Moving to a smaller home near the San Diego beach gives Judy more time for reading, genealogy, and walking.

From Jane: my sister and I made our annual visit to relatives in Virginia in June, and had our annual lunch in Charlottesville with Emily Lewis and Joan Akers Rothgeb. Amazing how our conversation continues easily even though we only see each other once a year. In September my sister and I traveled to Ireland to visit the places our paternal relatives had come from. We started with the library at Trinity College in Dublin, reading some papers written by Walshe relatives from the early 1800s, visited New Ross from where our great grandfather emigrated to New Orleans, and ended our visit in Termonfeckin, where our five times great grandparents were buried. We had a great trip and learned a lot of family history, and managed to also learn that Guinness is really good!

Judy Walsh White and her husband Chris attended a show of Nancy Burch Brassington’s work in the spring, “Life Made Still: The Last Ten Years” at the Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania. Judy added to her collection of pictures by Nancy. Nancy’s work will be on exhibit at the Agora Gallery in New York City during December 2014 and January 2015; Nancy is now represented by that gallery. Judy has one of her plays for young adults, Ariadne’s Thread, now in print.

Gayle Harris Stevens ’63 wrote after seeing news of the death of Carolyn deCamps Dunaway. Gayle and Carolyn were freshmen roommates and had kept in touch. Carolyn had told Gayle of her interest in archeology.

Noel Sipple’s 97 year old mother is living with her. Noel continues many activities, including swimming, museum trips, lunch with friends, and welcoming family and friends to visit.

Marcia Kirstein Fitzmaurice and husband Ed headed to the warmer climate of Florida and now live at Coconut Creek.

Nancy Cheek Mitchell and a friend had a great trip to England with two retired professors from Shenandoah College. Nancy said that they may have seen every church in England! Her son and his family are back in Richmond after living in China. Nancy has a granddaughter who is a freshman this year at James Madison University.

Much sympathy to Donna Floyd Parker, whose husband Scott passed away this past summer. Donna’s dear sister Patra was able to spend some time with Donna and Gale Taylor. Drew and Lewis were also able to be with Donna for Scott’s service.

Barbara Schwab Jesser and husband Bill spent a month at their property in Hawaii in the fall. Bill continues to do interesting research. Joan Akers Rothgeb and Eddie spent a great day with the Jessers at their river home in the Shenandoah Valley.

Diana Copple Smith is looking forward to a wonderful celebration of her dad’s 100th birthday. He lives at Westminister Canterbury in Richmond. Diana continues to teach, and had another visit with Mary Chambers Hodnett Minozzie in the fall of 2014. Mary Chambers lives south of Richmond on property that was once part of the Civil War battlefields. They spent much time looking through MWC year books and reminiscing about MWC friends.

Several classmates were able to meet for lunch in beautiful Nelson County this summer: Gale Taylor Drew, Bettie Stewart Kienast, Emily Lewis, Barbara Schwab Jesser, Joan Akers Rothgeb, Maggie Walker McAlister.

The Austin, Texas, alumni chapter was coming to Bastrop, Texas, in November for a history tour with Lucy Ritter Todd and Janice Tucker Goebel ’76 hosting. A friend of theirs was going to open her grand Victorian home for the group. There are now 14 members in the Austin group. Several years ago Lucy and Janice met each other and discovered that Janice was from the same county in Virginia as Joan Akers Rothgeb and had babysat Joan’s children years ago.  Lucy and husband Frank planned to spend Christmas in Portland, Oregon with Frank’s son and daughter-in-law.

The Class of 1962 Scholarship had a value of $36,753 as of June 30, 2014. Donations in 2014 totaled $5,500. Georgiana Silva, a freshman from Vienna, Virginia, is the first recipient of the $1,220 scholarship. The MWC connections are so special – we would love to hear from more of our classmates.

Betsy Lydle Smith’s daughter gave birth to twin boys just 28 weeks into her pregnancy, so Betsy has been busy helping out with little Carson and Ty. Betsy and Pete are still enjoying life on Bainbridge Island. Hopefully she will have some pictures of her new grandsons to share.

Another classmate from the greater Seattle area is Karen Vandevanter Morrison, who wrote about her latest travels. She and Kent have five children and eleven grandchildren between the two of them. The grandchildren’s ages range between one and fourteen, so they spend a large amount of time visiting each of the groups. Last summer while on the East Coast seeing her son and his crew she was lucky enough to catch up with Carol Van Ness Clapp. Karen and Kent went on a river cruise between St. Petersburg and Moscow. She said it truly was a fascinating trip, one inspired by a history class that she took at MWC. As she looked at signs written in Russian, Karen had memories of Jo Dreher trying to teach her the Cyrillic alphabet. Karen says, “It is such a country of contrasts, just so dynamic and commanding, militarism on one hand and great culture (music, dance, art and literature) on the other.” Karen continues to play tennis and she and her partner participated in the Washington State Senior Games in July. Karen wrote that it was such fun to see active, vibrant senior citizens out enjoying themselves and their particular sport and interest. The senior games are in all 50 states with the Nationals being in Minneapolis this coming July, so perhaps she will run into some of you.

Another world traveler is Linda Gulnac Steelman who wrote the following, who reports the Bill and she spent several weeks in October in Kenya and Tanzania. They were there to see the great migration of Wildebeast and Zebra as they move from feeding grounds in the Masai Mara to the Serengeti in Tanzania. They saw many thousands of these animals, along with all the usual animals one might see on a safari. They were so close that at times they could hear lions lapping water from a water hole or hear elephants tearing the grass with their tusks. They saw and heard lions communicating with the rest of their pride as they set up for a kill, which never took place because of an interloper of an orphaned lion; they saw a female cheetah teach her young how to handle her fresh kill of a baby antelope; they saw extraordinary birds; and they had an amazing balloon ride over the Masa Mara that skimmed trees but also flew two feet from the ground so they could spot frogs in water holes; they saw giraffes fighting with their necks, and visited a Masai village. Not once did they think about Isis or Ebola or wonder what was going on in the rest of the world. It was a true escape. To see these amazing animals in their own habitat doing what they need to do in order to survive was an incredible and spiritual experience.

Betsy and I have heard from several classmates who have not sent news recently. Sheila Holt Wahl lives outside Oregon City, Oregon. She was widowed eight years ago. She is active with her church and family. She currently manages a private drinking water system, loves to travel, quilt and garden. She visited her 99 year old mother in Virginia and spent a day with former roommate, Nancy Cocke Campbell ’64.

Kay Barret Bilisoly wrote that for the past few years she has enjoyed being an artist and painting mostly in oils and acrylics. A painting party franchise (Wine and Design) opened up in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Kay is an instructor there. She says it’s very rewarding to help someone who has never painted go home with their own personal masterpiece. In May 2015 Kay is going with a group to the Costa Brava of Spain for a week of plein air painting. She is really looking forward to this trip.

Courtney Lawson Sjostrom and her husband John married in 1965 and since then have lived in Virginia, Philadelphia, New York City and Winnetka, Illinois. While living in New York City, Courtney worked as a social worker in Essex County, New Jersey. She saw Betsy Evans Manchester (who grew up there and was living in New York City) and Linda Gulnac Steelman and her husband. In 2001, Courtney and John moved to the eastern shore of Maryland just north of Chestertown. They are on the water and thoroughly enjoy being able to kayak from their dock, go boating, hunt for sea glass, garden and enjoy the amenities associated with a college town. They are involved in church work, volunteer for a riding therapy program and a local food pantry and attend adult classes at Washington College. She serves on the board of HomePorts, which is an organization serving the elderly. Courtney’s daughter Anne and her husband Michael and their children, Lars and Siri, live in Durham, North Carolina, where Anne works in admissions for Duke and travels all over the world. Her son Erik and his wife Robin live in Needham, Massachusetts, with their boys, Kerr and Brooks. Erik works for Harvard Health Systems and Robin is taking a year off after working for Accenture and Quintiles since she graduated from the Wharton School. Courtney writes that some of their more memorable times have been volunteering for Rebuilding Together in our own county, doing rebuilding work after Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast twice and in New Jersey after Sandy. They have been to Crisfield, Maryland, three times doing work post Sandy. They even went to Haiti to work, but that was 15 years ago. For fun, they went to Australia and New Zealand in January 2014. It was an early 50th anniversary trip, but since it isn’t until 2015…another trip may be in order!

Chris Dorner Clark wrote that she has just written a memoir titled Letters From Berlin, which is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Chris says, “I tell the story of meeting my future husband, an army helicopter pilot, at a freshman mixer at Ann Carter Lee Hall. He was in Berlin when the Wall went up. So, it is a sort of love story set against the background of the Cold War – how we met, fell in love, and got married.” Thanks, Chris.

Betsy Chamberlain Hartz finally retired in November 2014. During the summer of 2014, Betsy wrote that she and her daughter went to visit a lifelong friend in Toronto, and from there to their cottages on Georgian Bay. It is two hours from Toronto and a half hour ride by boat to get to the island; there was lots of sailing, kayaking, swimming and eating.” Betsy celebrated Sally Tarrant Bernert’s birthday with her and Mary Saunders Latimer, Nancy Lee Leidy and another friend from H. S. The four of them are the Steel Magnolias, and Mary is now an honorary member! At a 55th high school reunion Betsy saw Betsy Loving Robbins and Betsey Bourke Christian.

Susan Palmer Walbridge Davies (who now prefers to go by Palmer) lives in The Villages, Florida. She has been the caretaker for her parents for many years. Her mother died at the age of 98 and her father just celebrated his 100 birthday on June 5, 2014. Palmer and Daisey Doodle (her adorable, dependable, comforting 6 1/2 year old mini Labradoodle) live in their own home about a mile from her father. Palmer has a wonderful traveling companion, duplicate bridge partner, and fellow kayaker, and he too has a mini Labradoodle! Their dogs met at the post office as they happen to live in the same village. She says, “There are 75 Villages and over 100,000 residents plus another 30,000 plus when all snowbirds come down. The largest adult community in the world! Great place to live but I do miss Maine.” Palmer is a new distributor for Juice Plus; she says she has been taking it for over a year and is a firm believer! Palmer also said, “I am still so saddened by Pam Weiseman’s (Pamela Beth Brookes) passing two years ago; we were roomies sophomore year and have been close friends ever since. I was blessed to have the opportunity to see her the week before she joined Jack and her parents in Heaven. We had some quality time together.”

Kathy Friedman Levinson wrote that she and Sandy are going to spend three months this winter in Santa Barbara, California. Their daughter Karin lives in Los Angeles and son David is in Colorado. Kathy is looking forward to exploring Southern California, which will be a change from the golf course in Florida where they usually go for the winter months. Kathy is involved in a study for a trial drug for her Crohn’s disease and she is feeling much much better. Perhaps Kathy will be able to coax some news from Barbara Scherberger Offerman, who lives in Santa Barbara.

I’ve had notes from two of my sister’s (Connie Booth Logothetis) classmates, Bev Carlson Shea ’61 and Lloyd Tilton Backstrom ’61. Bev found one of our missing classmates, Suzanne Blaisdell Grant, who left during sophomore year. Suzanne lives in Upper Nyack, New York, and I hope perhaps she will give us an update for a future column.

Lloyd wrote to be sure that our class knew about the death of Gertrude “Tabbie” Debutts Cain. Apparently, Barbara Elliot Adams and Tabbie were good friends for years. Barbara spoke at Tabbie’s funeral and she is also godmother to Tabbie’s daughter Dulany. Lloyd also shared that her sister Lee Tilton,who left our class after freshman year, lives in Denver, Colorado.

As for me, David and I took our dogs and our camping trailer and headed west in late August. Part of my bucket list is to have visited all 50 states so that was one goal, the other being to see Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore. We did both of those plus Craters of the Moon, Glacier, The Badlands, Crazy Horse and the Little Bighorn Battlefield among others. Unfortunately we did not make it to North Dakota, so I am still missing one state. We had to be back in time to attend my son-in-law’s induction into the Gettysburg College Athletic Hall of Fame. My rescue dog, Mr. MacDoodle (Irish setter, Std. poodle mix), managed to pass his Therapy Dog test, so we are now involved in a Kids Read to Dogs program sponsored by the Carlisle YWCA. As a retired elementary school librarian and a dog lover, this program suits me perfectly. I want to remind you all that we do have a share site on Shutterfly. I set this up after our 50th reunion. Just go to www.shutterfly.com and set up your free account. Then go to “Share” and our site is UMW Class of ’63. If you gave me your e-mail at reunion, you are already listed as a member. This is a great place for us to share our pictures. I know several of you sent pictures to Betsy, but when she forwarded your e-mails to me the pictures did not come through. If you don’t know how to load them on Shutterfly, just send them to me and I’ll do it for you. If you are not a member, please let me know so I can add you. I just need your e-mail address. We also have a Facebook page that was set up before reunion by the Alumni Office. Last but not least, since we had some success the last time, I am posting the names of a few more randomly selected missing classmates: Matilda “Sue” Vickrey Kromming, Elizabeth “Ibby” LeSueur, Marilyn Twiss Liebrock, Pamela Pond and Carol Haacke.

Many thanks to all who sent news; Betsy and I love hearing from you all and sharing your stories with classmates.

After all the excitement of last spring’s big 50^th class reunion we are quiet now, but some news to report. Fortunately, the summer and autumn were free of major storms and hurricanes.

Summer brought a news-filled email from Betty Waller, who reported a big family reunion that she and her friend Sam attended in New Market, Virginia. Part of the reunion was spent celebrating the 150th anniversary honoring the Battle of New Market, a small town located near Lexington. Interestingly, Betty’s grandfather, Robert Waller, was one of the 247 VMI cadets who participated in the battle, which proved to be a great victory for the South. She writes that a movie called The Field of Lost Shoes is to be released this autumn. The film depicts the lives of several of the cadets who fought in the famous battle.

Our sympathy goes to Jackie Williams Towler, whose late husband Horace was buried on August 29 at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors, having served as a Colonel in the Army in both Korea and Vietnam. Their son, John, is the father of one son and two stepsons.

Lou Davis Smith and her husband of 50 years spent part of the month of September enjoying a river cruise that began in Vienna and continued on to Amsterdam. Lou sends regards to our class, having loved the reunion and the very special time she spent with Sharon Belknap Brown and Jeanne Fornes Wendt.

Patti Jones Schacht writes that she and her family attended a large family reunion in August, leaving shortly afterward for a long-awaited trip to Northern Ireland in search of family roots. The trip sounded fascinating and the photos that Patti posted on Facebook were just terrific. I have been to the Irish Republic, which I love, but I must say that Northern Ireland looks gorgeous too! Patti and I are in touch on a regular basis thanks to Facebook.

Classmates Helen Clarke Calhoun and Beverley Sulpice Persell ’62 are two other Facebook regulars whose news I always enjoy receiving. Helen sends hilarious cartoons as well that make my day.

Joanne Crockett Lewis writes that although she and her husband were unable to make it to the class reunion, they were able to get up to Richmond later for a nice visit with Sally Witt and husband Sam, with whom I had the pleasure of staying when I attended the reunion. Joanne and Marvin flew to Norfolk, this summer where they enjoyed a great visit with Mike and Helen Vakos Standing at their home in Virginia Beach. They spent three wonderful days relaxing on Mike and Helen’s beautiful boat before driving up to Richmond to stay with Sally and Sam. The four of them went to lunch with Barbara Humphries Davenport and her husband at their house on Cary Street. That evening, they all celebrated Sally and Sam’s anniversary with a dinner at the beautiful Commonwealth Club in Downtown Richmond. Then it was back to Virginia Beach to visit Florence Young Ballback and her husband, Butch. Joanne writes that she talked herself hoarse, but had a most wonderful visit.

Getting back to Facebook: for ages I resisted it, but finally joined up and just love it! I am always in touch with many former students, classmates and colleagues. Many of my present colleagues and friends from Convent of the Sacred Heart are on it, and people seem to join up constantly.

Okay folks, that’s it for now. Have a beautiful, safe, happy time these next few months, and my warmest wishes to each one of you. Don’t forget to email…your news is always a pleasure for the rest of us to hear.

I am hoping that everyone who reads this alumni magazine will send me their updated contact information so that I will be able to keep everyone up to date through emails on all of our 50th reunion planning! This is the last reunion where we will be separately honored, so it would be great if we have a wonderful turnout! If you don’t plan on coming, you really need to send me your news so I can share it with the rest of our classmates on my mailing list. Although we cannot share pictures in the alumni magazine, if you have some of you (and any classmates), don’t hesitate to send them and I will send them to all my current MWC contacts.

As for me, I spent a week with Susan Spatig Schmidt ’64 at her beach house near Wilmington, North Carolina, in August. We hadn’t seen each other in 33 years, but picked up right where we left off. She was recently widowed and now spends time between her homes in Richmond and North Carolina. We played cards every day, which brought back fond memories of lots of bridge playing while we should have been studying! Sue Wooldridge Rosser and I got together in November to enjoy some wine and stories of children and grandchildren. She gets together annually with Carolyn Shockey Moore and Linda Cline Holden in Kentucky at the horse races, and has promised to try to talk them into coming to our 50th reunion in May. Linda wrote that she and husband Doug were able to go to the football game of his alma mater (MS) when they were playing UK the same weekend as her mini-reunion with Carolyn and Sue. I ran into Cathy May Tyler Findley at the Dunwoody Tour of Homes in October. She and husband Harry are doing well. I’m still spending too much time in the air…flew to California in October to visit my daughter and her family, to Germany in November for Thanksgiving with my son and his family, and back to California for Christmas. In between trips, I play on two tennis teams, am in three book clubs, and don’t plan to slow down for another 10 years!

Bobby Barrett Crisp wrote that she is President of the Woman’s Club of Fredericksburg and says that they serve the community in many ways. Her sister Grace Dahmke ’68 from Florida was there for her 50th reunion, Stafford H.S., and other sister Margaret Hein ’64 celebrated her 50th at UMW. Marianee deBlois Zentz ’69 wrote that sister Lynn (Madeleine) deBlois ’65 is well, has a business called “Pretzelphoria” (seasoned pretzels and chocolate pretzels), working at all of the big craft events from Virginia to New York, Connecticut, Maryland. Lee Smith Musgrave loves living in Blacksburg in the mountains, but has been laying low since she broke her leg in August. She was on a knee scooter for nine weeks and hopes to be walking by Thanksgiving.

Penny Partridge Booth took a Viking River Cruise with her sister and said it was wonderful, beginning with two days in picturesque Prague and ending with two days in beautiful Paris. In between visits to the cities, there were eight days of smooth sailing on the Moselle, Main, and Rhine rivers with guided walking or bus tours for ten cities including her favorites Wurzburg (where her daughter lived for three years while working abroad for Procter and Gamble), Heidelberg, and Luxembourg. The castles and half-timbered houses along the river banks were gorgeous, and the combination of Baroque, Gothic, and Romanesque architecture made for interesting photos. Viking features local fare so the elegant meals featured German food. Although she skipped the brats and potatoes, there were many other choices that complemented the Reisling, whose grapes covered the German hillsides. Viking lived up to its reputation…expensive, but elegant. She and her sister loved the other passengers; all but four of the 180 vacationers were in their sixties, seventies, or eighties. They are now looking to find another adventure to add to her bucket list!

Louise Stevens Robbins and Diane Copty Fadely got together in April in Fredericksburg with Miriam Houston Jones Parsons. They enjoyed a lovely lunch and catching up on life. Sandy Byrum Smith and her husband didn’t leave the country on vacations this year, but enjoyed western USA three times. Mount St. Helens was beautiful with wildflowers in July, though Mt. Rainier still had too much snow to walk over much of it. Olympic National Park was rugged and beautiful. Lake Tahoe in August and Colorado in September were the best trips, since they saw children and grandchildren there. Next May they’ll be in Charlottesville celebrating her 50th reunion from UVA, as well as celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. They stay busy with church activities when they are not traveling, and loving their healthy retirement days in Mayberry!

Janice Helvey Robinson and her husband were in Annapolis for Rob’s 50th reunion at the Naval Academy and they had a lovely weekend except for the football game results! From Annapolis, they headed to Atlantic City for a few days and then on to Philadelphia for another few days where they did lots of touring. They visited with her sister in New Market on both ends of the trip. Last fall, they spent a week in Jackson Hole and another week in Vail. It was their first taste of the west and they really enjoyed it but about got “toured out.” She and Rob will be having their 50th anniversary in January and, to celebrate, they are going on a Viking cruise from Berlin to Prague. They have made several trips to Europe but this will be their first peek behind what they knew of as the Iron Curtain. Felicity Hallanan writes that a Royal Caribbean cruise of the Baltic Sea last spring was an adventure, with stops in Copenhagen, Tallinn, St. Petersburg and Stockholm. With current unrest, she and Evelyn were somewhat relieved to get out of Russia though it was grand, and because of weather had to miss Helsinki, but all in all a great trip. This is the seventh year of producing a 20-page tabloid newsletter, The Blizzard, for the National Assn. of the 10th Mountain Division, and it’s still interesting and a challenge. Beyond that, they are preparing to attend the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Salt Lake City in 2015 and so are active in the local, Diocese of Central NY, as well as keeping up with homes to maintain, and their several families.

Susan Irons retired after 33 years of teaching and is having great fun, but in order to stay busy she still goes back to her former high school to sub for friends and get a “kid fix”…they keep her feeling young! She and her husband Jim enjoy their mountain condo in California as much as they can especially in the months when there are fewer tourists. They enjoy hiking to lakes and peaks in the fresh air under Mammoth’s bluebird skies. They also love traveling and have just returned from three weeks in France and Italy. One highlight was a river cruise from Paris to Normandy and back and another was truffle hunting in Umbria. Their son Tyler lives in California too – not married yet, but they’re hopeful! Missy (Agnes) Bush Shives sent a picture of herself and Ophelia Baker Crowley of Richmond, Virginia, and Sonja (Toni) Algren Schuyler when they all got together at Toni’s home in Jericho, Vermont, in July. They toured Burlington, the State House in Montpelier, and the Shelburne Museum, and they spent a day in Montreal, Canada, where they visited the Olympic Park Biodome, among other places. The three are looking forward to getting together again in May, 2015 for our 50th reunion.

Linda Patterson Hamilton and Austin are still wild about Colorado after three years there. Two of their four children and all of their grandchildren live close by, so they get to be part of everyone’s birthday and school events. In September 2014 she went with the Promise Keepers on a 10-day tour of Israel and found it a beautiful country full of friendly people. There was minimal military presence there, which is not at all like the reports we hear in America. In January 2015, she and Austin are planning their first visit to her birthplace, Key West, Florida, with her brother John and his wife.

Kathryn Burruss Stapleton (Kitty) and husband Dan celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on August 22. They had a busy summer. In May, they spent ten days in Hawaii with their older son, his wife, and their daughters. In June, they spent two weeks at Kiawah Island Resort in South Carolina with their younger son, his wife, and son and daughter. For their 50^th anniversary they went to Europe in August. They visited a former exchange student and his family in Zurich, Switzerland. Then they flew to Dresden, Germany, to see the reconstructed Frauen Kirche, which had been a pile of rubble when they previously visited it in 1990. She wrote that it was wonderful to see that Dresden has been returned to its former glory. After Dresden, they visited two families that they met through the sons, two former East German soldiers that a friend and she had met when they visited East Berlin five months after the Wall came down. Then they went on to Nuremberg to join a Viking River cruise from Nuremberg to Budapest. After extending their visit in Budapest, they flew to Rome for five days before returning to Virginia. Dan is finally retired but Kitty still teaches Adult ESOL part-time for Prince William County, Virginia. That job, church activities, and volunteer work keep them both busy.

Barbara Bishop Mann celebrated her 70th birthday with husband Robert traveling on a short holiday to Iceland. Since she was scheduled for jury duty she could not plan an extended vacation, so their trip was short and fun with long daylight hours. She and Robert rented a car and took day trips from Reykjavik, capitalizing on the Iceland “midnight sun.” In October Bobbi organized an MWC Lunch Bunch gathering at La Petite Auberge in downtown Fredericksburg. Afterwards she posted a lovely photo of the group: Anne Clagett, Jana Privette Usry, Pat Lewars Pace, Carolyn Eldred, Pam Kearney Patrick, Tyla Matteson, Lois Rucker Scott, Lee Enos Kelley, Mary Kathryn Rowell Horner, Sheila Denny Young, and herself. Just after the picture was taken, Pam Ward Hughes arrived. She had attended a meeting that morning, caught a train to Fredericksburg and hailed a cab to the restaurant in time for lunch. Bobbi also posted a photo of the treasured Mary Washington seal, which is still prominently displayed in the entrance of E. Lee Trinkle, our old library.

Jana Privette Usry admitted that the day of the luncheon was actually her 71st birthday, which prompted the group to burst into song. Jana had a major celebration last year to mark her 70th birthday, along with a thank-you gala/fundraiser honoring her devoted cancer caregivers. Jana remains very active with the One Voice Chorus and was eager to announce their upcoming events: the complete Mozart Requiem in November at the Reveille Methodist Church in Richmond, a Valentine’s Day joint concert with the Richmond Symphony Chorus and St. Paul’s Baptist choir in “A Tribute to Duke Ellington”, plus Handel’s Messiah with the Petersburg Symphony in December. Although Jana sings regularly, she recently signed up for voice lessons and is enjoying them immensely.

Pat Lewars Pace shared news of her trip with Linda Glynn Hutchinson and two other ladies. They spent five weeks in Europe during September and October. In Romania they saw about ten churches and monasteries with painted exteriors that are listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The buildings were recently discovered in excellent condition under centuries of dirt and mold. In Croatia the ladies spent many enjoyable moments along the Adriatic coast, then proceeded to Bosnia, where they became aware of the great strides made in recovering from the 1990’s war. Ljubljana, Slovenia was a delightful surprise, followed by two lovely weeks in Italy winding their way through Venice, Tuscany, Florence and Rome. Linda attended the weekly audience with the Pope while Pat absorbed the art and architecture of the Galleria Borghese. Pat, a Latin major, rejoiced at finally getting to see the Coliseum and Roman Forum.

Carolyn Eldred excitedly shared her big news that she is building a house in an active adult community (Celebrate Virginia) just around the corner from the MWC graduate campus. The day before the luncheon she had her “pre-construction meeting” with the project manager. After the new house is completed, probably mid-February, Carolyn will put her Silver Spring, Maryland, house on the market. The girls observed that by the time of the next MWC Lunch Bunch meeting Carolyn should be able to show off her new digs!

Joan Cuccias Patton missed the luncheon this time because she was in Australia! In September she traveled to Mobile, Alabama, for a family wedding, and had the misfortune of breaking her foot. Her party shoes were then “less than elegant.” Nevertheless, Joan continued her travels and enjoyed a grand vacation down under. Joan still enjoys substitute teaching and often subs in her daughter’s neighborhood school, Madison High, so she can combine an overnight with her work.

Mary Kathryn Rowell Horner reported to the Lunch Bunch that she had had a relatively painless 70th birthday with golf friends and neighbors, a lunch treat and a gift certificate for frozen yogurt, which lasted a long time. She really can’t believe she’s actually 70! Mary Kathryn and Charlie headed for Florida right after Christmas to winter there with golfing friends, with plans to return to Northern Virginia this year in April, hoping the cold weather will be finished by then.

Pam Kearney Patrick mentioned that her watercolor miniatures continue to win awards. She sent a beautiful picture of her latest winner, “From a Distance,” which was inspired by six or seven photos she took along the Garden State Parkway near Ocean City. The water tower in the distance is at Avalon, north of Cape May (where Pam and TaB have a summer home), and the marshes filling the landscape are typical of the roadside view approaching the Jersey Shore. Since Pam grew up spending summers at the cape she loves the wildlife, rushes, stunted trees and salt marsh which re-energize her affinity for the scenery, history and mystery of the area.

Caroline Hoagland Stone retired in June after 47 years in education. She has been a classroom teacher, a special ed therapist, Director of Children’s Ministries in a church, Director of Fine Arts and, for the last 13 years, Director of Admissions. Most of her time was spent working in independent Christian K-12 schools. She taught in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Florida, and most recently in Annapolis, Maryland. In July Caroline moved from Annapolis to Jacksonville, Florida, to build a small but really neat house on the lake, right next door to her daughter and family. Two of her ten grandchildren are now next-door neighbors. Caroline belatedly celebrated her 70th birthday with an Eastern Caribbean cruise in November and another Eastern Mediterranean cruise from Venice to Istanbul next June. Caroline would love to hear from other classmates who live in or visit the Jacksonville area.

Marty Spigel Sedoff celebrated her 70th by traveling with her husband to San Francisco to see her son, John Riedlinger, in the play Lasso of Truth at the Marin Theatre in Mill Valley, California. They visited with John and stayed with other relatives in San Francisco. From there they flew to NYC for their annual theater weekend. Every other year Marty organizes a student trip for the Edina High School (Minnesota) theater actors and technicians, and in between just the adults take the trip. Since 2002 the trip has included the Tony-award-winning musical and this year also the Tony drama winner. At home Marty continues to do tap dancing, enjoying the company of her instructor, fellow tappers and the rewarding performances at local nursing homes.

Ginny Bateman Brinkley and Ryan Stewart Davis celebrated their 70th birthdays in Hawaii with their husbands and a number of their children. Ginny and husband, Bill, were also celebrating their 35th anniversary in March. Anne Fortney, a nationally-recognized expert in the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other consumer financial privacy laws, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the College of Consumer Financial Service Lawyers on April 12, 2014.

Sandy Hutchison Schanné and daughter Amy decided to make a special joint celebration of their milestone birthdays, her 70th and Amy’s 40th, with a trip to a “destination we wanted to see but had never visited.” After much deliberation they decided on Seattle, Washington, plus a jaunt to Victoria, Canada. After Amy returned to Denver, Sandy went to Port Townsend to visit her suitemate, Katie Hales Fleming ’65, and the two of them met Ryan Stewart Davis for a long, lovely waterside lunch. Sandy later made plans for an action-packed winter holiday season with her daughter and family visiting from Colorado, son and family coming from Texas plus eldest son and family from Loudon County, Virginia. All nine grandchildren always have a wonderful time with their cousins and it’s a joyful time for the entire family.

Winnie Woodson Stribling combined her 70th birthday celebration with a trip to Europe. In July she and Brad traveled with their church and local high school choirs directed by the same music director on his retirement tour through Europe. They sang in noted venues in London, Paris and Rome, culminating at the Vatican with mass in the Bernini chapel and more singing in the Sistine chapel. Winnie continues her music career with directing several handbell choirs in the San Francisco area. She lives a BART’s throw from the city, Berkeley and the Napa valley. She and Brad both keep busy with church activities. Daughter Sarah is working part-time while completing computer courses at the local junior college, and they all enjoyed the SF Giants’ World Series win!

Kathleen Crawford Hoffman sent the exciting news that in September she took her “first ever trip to Europe!” She traveled through Ireland and England, saw a long list of musts, including the inside of Buckingham Palace. Luckily, Queen Elizabeth was vacationing at Balmoral and the palace was open to tourists. Now Kathleen is finding more new things to do in retirement.

Ann Kales Lindblom celebrated her 70th, although a bit late, cruising on their beloved yacht, Bravo, to the Cambridge Hyatt located on the Chesapeake Bay. She and husband Steve were accompanied by ALL their family: three children, two spouses, five grands, and two family dogs. It was a rarity to have ALL present, since two sons are serving in the military. Kalesy admits it’s been a great and happy year!

Prentiss Davies Murphy was the hostess this year for the annual reunion of the “Fearsome Foursome” at her home in Virginia Beach. Julia Bondurant Freeman traveled up from Summerville, South Carolina, Carol Pettigrew Laylin drove down from Orange, Virginia, and Sally Albrecht Brennan drove over from nearby Portsmouth, Virginia. It was a wonderful reunion as usual, and the four had fun reminiscing and trying to recall the details of their MWC college days. Prentiss is a pro at creating memorabilia masterpieces and had carefully organized photo albums to jog their memories. Their “turning 70 reunion” in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area included a trip to the boardwalk for lunch, an afternoon at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens (the butterfly house was a favorite) and a quick visit to the Hermitage House and Museum on the Lafayette River. Prentiss also took the Foursome to a wonderful Challenge Aerial Park constructed in the treetops of huge old pine trees. They also enjoyed great food: gumbo by Prentiss, breakfast bread by Julie, ham biscuits by Carol, grilled steaks by Sally’s husband Bill in Olde Towne Portsmouth, and local seafood at Blue Pete’s Restaurant in the bayous of Back Bay. There was no lack of great conversation. Most of all, the four ladies loved being together again as suitemates, “just like old times!”

Carole Trent Fletcher admitted she wasn’t especially thrilled to mark her 70^th, except that she is definitely grateful to be “kicking” after another year. Two of her children, who live in Northern Virginia, hosted a weekend family birthday party and two others came from Savannah, Georgia, and New York to join in the festivities, making it all a wonderful occasion. The following weekend Carole and Tom’s other daughter and family traveled from Philadelphia to the Northern Neck for an extended celebration. It was really special because work schedules and distance make it difficult for everyone to get together as often as they’d like. The Northern Neck was humming along with lots of fall activities, including the end of Tom’s gardening season, so he and Carole keep busy with volunteer jobs at the local museum, help with church functions, and Carole sings with four choral groups, all of whom have Christmas concerts. Carole and Tom make time for visits to his siblings in western and northern Virginia and last summer they hosted Carole’s sister and family from Texas for a delightful two weeks – their first visit in 14 years!

Clair Golihew Cosby wrote that in June her daughter gave her a 70th birthday party at Clair’s home and Clair was glad to have cleaned her house at least once every 70 years! The house and gardens looked as she had always known they could, so that all 67 of her close friends who dropped in for open house wound up staying all afternoon. They filled the sunroom, family room, living room, dining room, kitchen and screened porch. Clair loves to entertain but had not tried anything on this scale since her husband died four years ago. She added that “as far as blooming at our age” goes, she is very happily involved in many activities at church and leads two grief support groups each week.

Diana Hamilton Cowell continues to thrive in South Bethany, Delaware. She began the year with the January 1 Eskimo Plunge at Bethany Beach when the water was 44º and the air was 45º, a great but chilling experience with many participants. Diana’s second knee replacement makes it possible for her to keep up with her swimming and other outdoor activities. She sent a photo of herself at the dedication of a new monument which commemorates the deaths of 72 American soldiers in a battle to liberate Periers, France. She attended the town’s 70th anniversary celebration of its liberation by the Americans of the 90th Division on July 27 this year, where she read the names of each soldier at the dedication ceremony. Several years ago Diana was involved in making Periers a sister city with Bethany Beach, and she was selected to represent Bethany at this event. She carried greetings and gifts from the mayor of Bethany Beach to the citizens of Periers and from the Bethany Beach Fire Company to the Periers Fire Department. She also presented a letter of greeting from the President of the University of Mary Washington plus an American flag from U.S. Senator Carper of Delaware. Diana and her husband are hosting a student from Brittany, France, this year, Pierre, now a senior at Indian River High. Pierre was nominated Homecoming King and Diana thinks that is the beginning of his joining a long line of French kings! To fill her spare time, Diana has taken a part-time job with the Census Bureau doing interviews related to the unemployment index. She passed the Homeland Security check and is now “worried” that they know everything about her and may use her new government laptop to track her every move.

Cathe Cantwell Luria prepared for her 70th by defeating early breast cancer followed by the installation of a pacemaker to enable her to keep exercising. She was fine by the time she turned 70! She did her first 5K “Run Like a Mother” race in Portland in May; she came in first in the 70+ group (admittedly a small group). Cathe’s daughter Sacha joined her in the race, making it a truly memorable Mother’s Day. Cathe has exchanged her flute for voice. She sings soprano in two local choruses and her husband sings bass. She recently joined a 48-voice Episcopal choir in a church where the services are “high masses” in which practically everything is sung. Their organist is professor emeritus of the University of Puget Sound, who composes many wonderful works for his choirs. Cathe has subscribed to voice lessons to meet the challenge and enhance her enjoyment of vocal music. Cathe took three weeks last summer to study Spanish in Guatemala but was assigned to stay with a family who spoke mostly Maya. It wasn’t until Spanish-speaking Sacha and her family joined her that Cathe learned the real reason she was unable to understand her host family. Sacha is a bilingual teacher with six years’ experience and has taught her three children to speak Spanish as well.

Susanne Landerghini Boehm and husband Ralph are enjoying the slower pace of retired life. Ralph, in his third year of retirement from public school music education in Prince William County, Virginia, continues to give private lessons in violin, viola and cello. Susanne’s musician referral business has slowed considerably but is still active with bookings for weddings and parties. Their two sons, who live nearby in Arlington and Alexandria, visit their Vienna home frequently, especially during weekends and holidays. Neither is married yet and there are no grandchildren yet, but there is still hope. Susanne celebrated her 70th birthday in April with a party at home for which her sons prepared/provided the food. Karl favors dishes from his favorite pho restaurant, and dessert was Susanne’s favorite cake: red devil layer cake with vanilla icing.

Midge Meredith Poyck was surprised with a 70th birthday party given by her daughter and son-in-law. A good friend from South Carolina also flew out for the event. Midge keeps fit and limber with a variety of outdoor activities. Most of her time there in Oro Valley, Arizona, is spent hiking, when temperatures allow, with a special trip in March with gal pals at the Grand Canyon. They have plans for a Utah hiking excursion in the spring.

Eileen Goddard Albrigo and Kathleen Goddard Moss shared a twin sister 70th birthday at Clyde’s at Willow Creek in Ashburn, Virginia. Their husbands and children organized a family brunch in a private upstairs room where the eleven adults and eleven children could freely enjoy the moment. Kathy’s wide-spread children in Spain, Ohio and California were there in spirit. Eileen’s husband, John, turned 70 in August with another family brunch, this time at their country home in Upperville, Virginia. Daughter Liz enhanced the occasion by announcing the anticipated March arrival of grandchild #12.

Kathleen Goddard Moss and husband Tom are planning to be fully retired from their part-time jobs by next summer and have already begun the daunting task of thinning their possessions and preparing the house for sale. They plan to spend several months being “footloose and fancy free” for traveling before they relocate in a retirement community. They want to explore the San Francisco area possibilities because it would be favorable for them and their children if they could find something near their California son and make “just one more move.”

Susan Roth Nurin invited four of her Spanish House amigas to visit New York City for an extended combined 70th birthday adventure. Yvonne March flew from Tampa, Florida, and Betsy Chappelear Tryon flew from Redondo Beach, California. Their first stop was Washington, D.C., where Katharine Rogers Lavery met them and drove them home for a family birthday dinner and overnight visit. After a short drive through the city to jog their memories (both Yvonne and Betsy once lived in the D.C. area) they traveled to Wilmington, Delaware, to meet Barbi Barriga Rowe. Susana completely surprised them by accompanying Barbi to the train station to meet them. Then the three amigas spent the night in The Temperance Inn, Barbi’s 1827 home in the village of Unionville, Pennsylvania. Historically it was an inn during the 1840’s, housing drovers and cowboys. Barbi escorted the ladies to other historical sites such as the 1714 London Grove Friends Meeting House, 18th century villages of Blow Horn and Doe Run, the Laurels Preserve Buck and Doe Trust lands and the 1836 West Chester Friends School, where Barbi works as Director of Admissions. After a stop at the Brandywine River Museum to see the Wyeth Art Collection Yvonne, Betsy and Susana continued their journey to NYC, where they stayed several days in Susana’s tiny apartment overlooking Central Park. They hiked around the 9/11 World Trade site, Chinatown, Greenwich Village, Little Italy, the four-hour Central Park Walk, the Broadway Walk, ate in exotic restaurants and attended the Santa Fe Ballet at the Joyce Theater. They ached all over from walking and their sides hurt from laughing all the way! Betsy continued north to Providence to meet her cousin Kathy. After a tour and overnight there, they drove to Kathy’s home in Lexington, Massachusetts for more visiting. Betsy and Yvonne both soon returned home with a promise to come see the rest of us at our 50th reunion.

Judy Wells Clark wrote that she will be touring Japan with four great musicians Oct. 29 through Nov. 8. She will accompany the Classic Strings Duo (Kevin Matheson, violin; Bryan Matheson, viola) and two opera singers (Amy Cofield Williamson, soprano; Scott Williamson, tenor) at the Yamaha Concert Hall in Tokyo November 5 and in Yokohama November 6. Other concerts are pending. These are truly fine musicians and will represent Virginia well. If anyone is interested in a concert on “home soil,” please let Judy know.

Katharine Rogers Lavery celebrated several 70th birthdays with classmates and friends but has yet to reach that milestone herself. She and Hank are expecting three grand-nieces/nephews a few days before her birthday and one grandson just announced his engagement for an October 2015 wedding. Katharine continues to tutor math, knit, sew, play her trumpet at church and weddings, participate with Hank in the Pentagon Sailing Club activities, and enjoy a myriad of family events and gatherings. One special event was a November evening reception at the British Embassy honoring the U.S. and U.K. veterans, marking the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day. There were five WWII veterans in attendance, numerous uniformed veterans plus many cadets from service academies such as VMI, the Citadel, Annapolis and West Point.

Frances McDonald Mary Washington reports that her mother, Jeanne Veazey McDonald, who graduated from Mary Washington in 1946, died in January.

Sheri Gates Brindle writes that after 10 years without a fixed land base and over 17 years after they moved from their last house, they closed on a house in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, in October 2014. They have spent the last 15 years living first on their boat and then in an RV, so this is quite a change. Lake Havasu is a dammed lake along the Colorado River System, about two hours south of Vegas and about two hours north of Yuma. They have loved the desert southwest for many years and finally decided it was time to settle down out here. Their older son and his family live in San Diego, so they are close by without the expense and hassle of living in Southern California. Their younger son and his family live in Germany, so there was no moving much closer to them. Lake Havasu is quite a boating mecca, especially for the Californians who flock there every weekend. The big tourism feature is London Bridge, as in the last London Bridge built over the Thames in London in the early 1800s. London was going to take it down so the founder of the city bought it for $1.00 and then paid for the cost of dismantling it and reassembling it in Lake Havasu.

As the new class reporter for 1969, I have gathered much interesting information about your colleagues by threatening to print make believe things that would not be pretty…

Jean Polk Hanky wrote in to thank our Reunion Committee for our wonderful gathering of so many 1969 classmates. The campus KNEW we were there! Winning the best class tent decoration, the outstanding alumni service award (Patti Boise Kemp), the outstanding Alumni award (Iris Harrell) and the greatest number of participants in contributions to Mary Wash and its programs…could it have been any better, girls?

Jean mentioned how wonderful the new Hyatt Place Hotel was for gatherings, convenience of shuttle buses and walking to campus. When you come to the 50th reunion, you are definitely going to want to stay there!

Marianne DeBlois Zentz went to the reunion and LOVED it. She has since taken a birthday trip to Los Angeles to see her son, took a ferry to Santa Catalina Island and kayaked in the Pacific waters. She also plays a lot of tennis. As can be determined by her activities, this woman is in great physical shape!

Anne Hoskot Kreutzer and her husband Tom celebrated their 45th anniversary (got married right out of college) and retired from their plumbing business in 2006 and sold it. She has four sons and seven grandkids, none of which live locally so she travels to see them. All are healthy, employed and “life is good”. She visited with Lyn Holmes Gray, Marianne DeBois Zentz and Christy Wineholt.

Betty Wade Miles loves the Outer Banks in N.C. She finally did a tourist type trip there looking for wild horses (found 29), seeing all the light houses, the Wright Brothers Memorial, and took a free ferry that left them on Ocracoke for a couple of days. She has a renewed appreciation for the National Park Service and a more intense worry for the fragility of the barrier islands. She had a weekend in Chincoteague and loved the Nature Preserve there. She lives in Va. Beach and enjoys being with her grandkids every chance she gets.

Betty Olander Adams LOVED the reunion (there is a recurring theme here!) Her life consists of her law practice, her Dorsey Rock Farm, friends and family and dreading the winter!

Jane Jackson Woerner came to the reunion and LOVED it. She has moved her aging mother to Florida so that she is only eight miles away, instead of 800. Her mother’s memory is fading but she is quite feisty at times. Jane can now see her often, which is a mutual blessing. She had a brief visit with classmate Connie Hinson, who has moved back to Kilmarnock, Va., from Warsaw, Va.

Carole Phipps lives in Los Gatos, California, just down the road from me, Phyllis Newby Thompson and Suzanne McCarthy Van Ness. She is an adjunct professor at San Jose State University after leaving her corporate job three years ago. She now teaches organizational behavior in the Business School. Her life partner Paula Hundley is a consultant who helps teachers how best to use computers in their classrooms for instruction. Both of them love to golf and have great senses of humor.

Suzanne McCarthy Van Ness went on a 12 day Mediterranean cruise with her Mary Wash roommate from senior year, Barbara Macon Sacha. They spent time in Venice, Italy. Barbara and husband Tom live in Winter. Suzanne also visited Sue Farnham Piatt ’68, who is visiting her son, Jeff in Berkeley. Son Jeff and his wife Rajaa boht have PhDs and are teaching at Berkeley.

Bev Holt, my roommate, came to our 45th reunion. Then she and I drove down to visit her mother in a retirement home in Richmond, Va. Bev’s mother “Willie” just turned 90 and visited Bev and her partner Deb in their Raleigh-Durham home to celebrate. Bev is a docent at one of the local museums (she still loves history!) and her partner Deb is still working selling printing equipment to local businesses.

Anne Witham Kilpatrick had a visit with UMW roomie Jeanine Zavrell Fearns in a West Virginia mountain cabin owned by Jeanine’s son. Next year they will have a gathering with their two suite mates Susie Bender Winterble and Toni Turner Bruseth in Austin, Texas. Toni and archaeologist husband Jim co-authored a book called “From a Watery Grave” about the exhibit of an 18th Century ship LaBelle he discovered in the Gulf of Mexico several years ago, now available at amazon.com.

Jeanine Zavrel also went on a wonderful two week trip to Alaska in June and will be visiting her daughter Erin in early 2015 at Disney World.

Donna Cannon Julian went to a very moving Catholic pilgrimage to the Holy Land. She says the scriptures will never be the same, after walking in the actual Biblical places. She loved the 45th reunion as well.

Chibba Waters lives in Temple Terrace, Florida, with two rescue dogs. She is a merchandiser for American Greetings Cards. She also tutors elementary school student, goes to the beach too often, and “plays” in her art room. She actually makes greeting cards using different mediums…watercolor, acrylics, collage, photos, etc. She is an hour from Disney, 10 minutes from Busch Gardens and an hour from the beach. Her two daughters are quite accomplished. One is Director of Career Development at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and the other is a producer for Anderson Cooper’s show, AC360.

Pam Hogan Baynard, Chibba’s old roommate, lives in Suffolk, Va. Her son Nathan and his partner Robert got married this month in Los Angeles, with their daughter as the maid of honor. She spent time in Texas this summer and visited Nancy Stevenson Leeper and her husband Bob; they ate together at the famous Salt Lick BBQ in Austin. Laura Tee Johnson Atherton and her family came to visit Pam and husband Chuck at their home in the Outer Banks, N.C. Laura Tee has a granddaughter. Chib, Nancy and Laura Tee have PROMISED to be at the 50th reunion, which is now only 4.5 years away, girls!

Barbara Black retired in 2012 from 29 years of teaching at a small Virginia liberal arts college named Bridgewater. She took students to France and the Caribbean while teaching them French. She is now rekindling her passion for duplicate bridge. She spent a baseball weekend in DC and NYC and loves cruising on the big ships. She has gone to Quebec, Puerto Rico and Guadeloupe. She is no longer married but remains good friends with her ex-husband.

As most of us know, Lyn Holmes Gray is in Liberia with her husband Jim, as they have been for many years. They were evacuated for a couple of months to DC during the Ebola outbreak. As soon as they were “cleared to go back” they returned to help with the serious epidemic that has thrown the country into chaos. Prayers for their safety and control of the virus would be welcomed. Lyn is very devoted to her life’s work there in Liberia.

I, Iris Harrell, am the new class reporter. My news is that President Hurley and his wife Rose came to my home on Nov. 1 for the first official meeting of the Mary Wash Alumni chapter of Northern California. We had almost 30 people here with ages from class of ’59 to class of 2013! I recently decided to recapture my childhood that was missed while growing up, since I was the oldest kid in charge of all my siblings. I recently retired as CEO and full-time employee of my remodeling firm that I founded 30 years ago. The company is now 100% employee owned by all 43 employees and the new leaders have been with the company for many years. My sense of play has been restored by playing golf. My spouse Ann and I have traveled a lot in the last 18 months: Italian Alps, south of France, Kenya and a Best of Europe tour by Rick Steves in September. I had forgotten how fun it was to be a kid! We are staying in the US of A in 2015 or we will lose our “homebody” status.

The Class of 1969 Laura V. Sumner Memorial Scholarship had a value of $70,693 as of June 30, 2014. Freshmen Megan Garvin, from King George, Virgnia, and Cheyenne Johnson, from Goodview, Virginia, received scholarships.

Let me hear from you for the next news…or I may get creative and make something up. If your life is boring, we still want to hear about it. Boring is what the goal was at this age…stability and repeated fun activities are the goals of a happy retirement! Send the info to irish@harrell-remodeling.com