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!