Class Notes

Kathy Peake writes from Tucson that she has her own business, The Peake Financial Group, as an Independent Financial Advisor. She recently attended the International eWomen’s Network Conference in Dallas, Texas, connecting with other women in business all over the U.S. Her daughter Erin recently graduated with honors in Neuroscience from the University of Richmond and now resides with her husband in Denver, Colorado. Son Sean “made me a grandmother in 2013, but I don’t get to see my grandson, Parker James McDaniel, very often since they live in Wichita, Kansas.” Kathy’s second oldest son Jarrad is a senior in college, and Kathy’s mom lives with her and is very active in politics and in the community. Kathy writes that she would welcome any alumni if they come to town and would be happy to give them the scoop on places to see and visit in Tucson.

Vicky Wilder and hubby Marty Wilder celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on The Star Clipper, a 150 passenger, 20 sail ship. They began their journey in Istanbul, Turkey, and sailed to Greece, Montenegro, Croatia, and concluded their travel in Venice, Italy after almost four weeks. They were able to revisit the hotel in Skiathos, Greece, where they spent their honeymoon and were reunited with the hotel owner, Michalis. He was moved to tears, thrilled that they remembered him and welcomed them back with open arms. Both said it was an amazing trip and were fortunate to have good weather and fair sailing all the way.

Alison Roedy Mack wrote that in October 2014 she and MWC friend Anne Miller spent time hiking and camping in Utah’s National Parks Capital Reef, Dinosaur, Escalante, Canyon lands, Dead Horse and Arches NPs. Anne, an avid camper and former park ranger, was President of UMW’s Outing Club in 1980.

An all-girls UMW reunion with Vicky Prescott, Martha Williams Locke and Beth Murray Patterson was planned at Alison’s home in Venice, Florida, for early November.

Alison and her husband retired to Venice, Florida, in June after raising two children in Northern Virginia. Their son is at the University of Tampa on a USAF ROTC scholarship and is working on his pilot’s license. Their daughter is a summa cum laude 2013 graduate of Virginia Tech.

U.S. Ambassador Rose McCartney Likins visited UMW in October to meet with students interested in careers in diplomacy or foreign service. Rose served as ambassador to Peru (2010-2014) and El Salvador (2000-2003). In 2005 she was UMW’s commencement speaker and the winner of the Outstanding Alumnus Award.

Mark Ingrao was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame for lifetime service as a wrestling official in Virginia. He has also been selected for the Amateur Softball Association Hall of Fame (Class of 2015) for his service as an umpire. Mark is the President and CEO of the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, and serves on the UMW Board of Visitors.

In September, a group of us who lived on Willard Second Back freshman year met for what has become an annual get-together, this time on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Karen Snyder Boff flew in from Atlanta, Pam Clapp Hinkle from Plymouth, Massachusetts, Babette Thorpe from Idaho, and I from San Diego. Nancy McEntyre Kennefick and Ellen Stanley Booth came from Northern Virginia, Elisa Devorshak Harvey from Sandy Spring, Maryland, Katie Kulp Jones from Roanoke, Patty Churchill Shippee from King George, and Colleen McCahill Turley from Fredericksburg. We missed Bobbie Dwyer Leon, who was in New York for son Michael’s final play/third year project before getting his MFA, and Katrina Ray Landis, whose father had recently passed away.

Farah Maynor Marks and family are doing well. Daughter Marilyn got married on September 28, 2014. Marilyn is living in Cleveland, playing in several regional orchestras, and working as orchestra director at St. Ignatius High School. Farah was able to visit with Terry Sckinto Hogan at the reception. Their son Sam is a junior at Hampden-Sydney College. Farah continues to work in development at Randolph College. She and Dudley are working hard and enjoying the empty nest.

Monica Schaefer Baughman sent a note for the first time! Monica started with the class of 1983 but graduated with the class of 1984; still, she wanted to post her news. She is busy with life and work and has been with Gannett Co., Inc. in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia, for 25 years now, working in IT supporting the publishing system. Monica and husband Mel love to travel and cook, so they combined the two in a couples baking class at the King Arthur Flour Company in Vermont. When not traveling, they keep busy at home with yard work and local fishing and birding trips. Monica sees Beth Padgett and Sherri Snyder on Facebook from time-to-time and meets up with Carol Wilson now and then.

Scott Hampton Harris has been busy leading the James Monroe Museum through a great series of public programs this year, covering topics like the War of 1812, James Monroe’s Welsh roots, and even pirates! Scott coauthored an article in the journal White House History on Monroe’s role in rebuilding the executive mansion that included pictures of many artifacts in our museum’s collection. In June 2014 Scott attended a leadership seminar at Northwestern University sponsored by the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries, a trip that also allowed him to take in his very first Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field! Their family sadly dealt with the passing of Scott’s father in March, though they had wonderful memorial service for him at the farm. Wife Diann Davis Harris ’81 and children Jeff and Becky are busy with work and educational pursuits, and they all had a nice summer vacation in Nag’s Head and took in one of the Washington Nationals’ last home games with M.C. Morris Moncure ’82.

Cathy Cooke had an eventful summer when she flew into Hawaii two days ahead of a hurricane and was awakened the first day by an earthquake. Cathy joined Clinical Associates of Tidewater, a private practice very close to home. Cathy is enjoying teaching psychosocial aspects of healthcare to third year doctoral students in the department of Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine at ODU. She is also teaching Lifespan Development to undergrads, the first webcast course with students across the country and in Japan. Cathy visited with Becky Hobbs Shermer a few times this past summer.

s for my update, Tom and I vacationed in Budapest during summer 2014, as our middle son was doing in internship for an internet start-up. I’m now splitting my time between Detroit and Philadelphia working for CHE Trinity Health. I had the opportunity to meet with staffers at the White House in July to discuss health care reform. Our oldest is now in D.C. teaching math in a private school; he’ll start grad school at American in the spring.

Delois Branson Clarke lives in Tappahannock near the Rappahannock River. She’s worked for 28 years at the Naval Service Warfare Center Dahlgren and currently is the Acting Head, Special Technology Integration Branch. Her husband Stanley is the Sheriff in Essex County. He runs for reelection this spring. Their daughter Ashley graduated from UVA with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and works for the Department of the Navy.

Patricia Reinhardt lives in Wayland, Massachusetts, with her husband Tom and children Adam, 14, and Sarah, 11. Adam recently founded STOKES, a company that produces all natural fire starters sold all over New England, including all Whole Food Markets. Pat provides him business support while still working in the consulting field. She attended a silent meditation retreat at the Garrison Institute, a new challenge. This past summer they spent three weeks Italy visiting Maremma, Umbria and Venice.

Martha Shears Smith and husband James are pleased to report that their Green Man Gourmet specialty grocery store in Florida is now open and they are quickly getting their “retail legs” in good shape.

Kent Rice and his wife Karen live in Pennsylvania and celebrated their 22nd anniversary. Their oldest daughter Morgan attends a discipleship program at Miracle Mountain Ranch in Pennsylvania, and their youngest is a sophomore in high school. Kent voluntarily took a half-time ministry position to expand the work of the East Petersburg Faith Outreach, a non-profit organization he founded last year.

After working with Logicon since graduating from MWC, Theron Keller recently transitioned to SimVentions, a Fredericksburg company that employs a number of UMW graduates. Also, construction is well under way on Theron’s new house, being built in downtown Fredericksburg just a few blocks from campus. He enjoys living near campus and watching the campus grow through the years.

Shirley Onderdonk recently retired as the church organist at the Fredericksburg Baptist Church. She started MWC at the age of 45 and graduated at 50 with a BLS (music emphasis.) She still lives just two blocks from campus and enjoys walking through the grounds.

Kathleen O’Rourke writes that she worked as a photojournalist for the past 20 years, and has recently switched careers. She is now the Director of Marketing and Communications at King, a Pre-K through Grade 12 independent day school in Stamford, Connecticut, and is living in Rowayton, Connecticut, a small coastal town in Fairfield County.

As for me, this summer marks ten years of living in Wisconsin and five years of working in our public schools. It’s been a great experience! Our son still works in Seattle for the Boy Scouts, and our daughter is an elementary school teacher closer to home.

Your class reunion organizers Renee Kuntz, Lisa Taylor and Abas Adenan are excited to see you May 29-31 at our 30th year reunion. Call the Hyatt Place Fredericksburg if you need a room. You can get updates on the festivities and schedule at alumni.umw.edu/reunionweekendand the MWC Class of 1985 Facebook page. Hope to see you there!

A big shout-out to Jane Carroll Wilson, who was honored by The Advisory Board Company and Working Mothers Magazine as one of the Top 100 Working Mothers of the Year Award! Jane looked fabulous at the red carpet event held in NYC in October.

Lisa Harvey met up with Kris Kabza and Doug Bronski on an impromptu trip to Fredericksburg this summer. Kudos to Kris, who last year won the National Championship coaching UMW’s women’s rugby team! Irene Thomaidis Roberts and husband Curry recently took up part-time residence in downtown Fredericksburg.

Beth Kelly, DemeAnn Kotselas and Susan Allen celebrated their 50th birthdays together at the Salamander Resort in Middleburg, Virginia; they have remained close throughout the years, and each of them sent their first born off to college this year too.

Kelly Suda White, Lisa Harvey, Kristi Williams McCune, Mina Holden Horn, Brenda Their Evans, Michelle Runge and Tracy Greener Cunningham celebrated their collective 50th in Virginia Beach. On the road trip, Michelle, Brenda and Lisa stopped by MW to check out the changes to the campus and snap a few photos. Not surprisingly, Brenda ran through campus telling everyone she encountered that we were from the Class of 86! Kristi and her daughter Eleanor travelled to Boston in the fall and joined up with Lisa for some great food in the North End. Cindy Smith Waller, Anna Kelly Hanback and Donna Metzger Lantagne celebrated their 50ths together with a dinner in Richmond. Donna reports that she is back to work running her family business, Lantagne Legal Printing.

Russell S. Sayre, co-chair of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP’s Litigation Practice Group, has been designated in the 2014 edition of Chambers USA as a leader in Litigation, General Commercial Practice for the state of Ohio. Russell has been selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America® 2015 for his work in the following practice areas: Appellate Practice, Commercial Litigation, and Litigation – Banking & Finance. Additionally, the publication has designated Mr. Sayre as Cincinnati “Lawyer of the Year” in Appellate Practice. Russell has been recognized by Best Lawyers since 2006.

Condolences go out to: Mina (Holden) Horn who lost her brother Sam, Lori (Brubaker) Morales who lost her husband Elam, and Michelle Runge who lost her Mom.

From Kim: My life continues to be crazy as I run two businesses and teach yoga. I took a break over the holidays from teaching Yoga 101, which is our beginner’s class, but I am happily teaching it again. I love starting people on their yoga journey and seeing how they react when they realize that they can do the poses no matter their age, body type, gender, or disabilities. In September we added a new member to our family when we rescued a Border Collie from the pound. Her name is Sadie and we estimate that she is two years old. She is a total love pup, and has completely bonded with Sasha and captured our hearts. She came into our lives at the perfect time because Sasha had a real health scare in October. She suffered from a tick-borne disease and was in the hospital for two weeks. I am happy to report she is getting stronger every day.

Eda Spivey Price and husband Don still live in Glen Allen, Virginia. Eda is enjoying her freelance business, Eda Price Editing. She specializes in editing and proofreading for self-published authors, as well as corporate business writing projects. Olivia is 9 years old and Patricia is 11 and adjusting to the demands of middle school.

Susan Mulligan Miller lives in Herndon, Virginia, and works a second career teaching special education. She has a son in college, one in high school and one in middle school. In her spare time, she enjoys sitting on the couch and petting her dog (ah, the good life!). She still sees Janine Cogger, who lives up the street from her.

Jane Ellen Brennan Herrin reports that Anna Grace is 9, in the fourth grade, and just did her first play at the Cookeville Performing Arts Center. She was a Neverland animal in Peter Pan. Jenna is 8 and in the third grade. They’re both doing great and are exceptionally sarcastic, which pleases Jane Ellen since you just can’t teach that. She and husband Jim celebrated 21 years last October. She cannot believe that they have lived in Cookeville (Tennessee) so long that their house is almost paid off – the same house they moved into on their “honeymoon.” Jane Ellen is still working as an independent contractor for social media, personal branding, and some ghosting. She works a great deal with Nat Geo photographer Joe McNally, but she doesn’t just work with his marketing team. He has also pulled her back into doing make up and styling for some of his shoots. Locally, she does social media marketing and event planning with the award-winning DelMonaco Winery and Vineyards.

Margie Diane Sanfilippo has been at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, since 2000. She is now the Associate Dean of Faculty (students call her “the mean dean”…sigh.) Margie’s older son is 19 and a junior at Eckerd. Her younger son is 15 and a sophomore in high school. Margie reports that life in Florida is good.

Julie Magness is still working with the City of Greenbelt’s Recreation Department at the Aquatic & Fitness Center. She loves hearing the kids tell her what they did in their swim lessons and seeing how much they have learned. She is also involved in some fun special events – an Underwater Egg Hunt held in various sections of the indoor pool, and a version of pool polo using a greased pumpkin. Never a dull moment at her job! She and Kathy visited Alaska for Julie’s birthday in the summer of 2014 and loved it. She will happily share the zillion photos they took with anyone who asks!

Thank you to everyone who contributed updates to this issue. It’s great to hear from so many alumni! Remember, you can find me on Facebook under Kim Jones Isaac, so keep those updates coming!