Class Notes

I received a phone call from Jane Tucker Broadbrooks. She and John have made the transfer the Chatham, Illinois, to be near John Karl, Kathy, and their kids, Tucker (high school senior examining colleges), Anna (high school freshman), Virginia (second grader), and their foster son, T.J., who is eleven. Everyone is happy with the move. John is now using home dialysis which makes things easier. He was hospitalized with arterial fibulation and now has a pacemaker so their decision to move is a good one. Jane passes the news that Molly Bradshaw Clark visited in May. She was in India in February and took her granddaughter to Paris in April. She is considering the option of a retirement home near her son in Charlotte. We have lost Jo Neal Hendrichs Sauley. She had sold her Charlottesville home and moved to Richmond to be near son, Sean, and family. Evan and family are in California. Jane said it was very sudden.

I received a post card from Phyllis Hartleb Rowley reporting on another European cruise in August, a two month trip from the Mediterranean to Norway. Wow, busy girl!

Ann Brooks Coutsoubinas fell and broke her shoulder and wrist. Thank goodness, Anastasia had made the move to Ann’s and luckily was there to help her. She had surgery (screw and two pins). It has been a long haul, but she has finally recuperated and is substituting again.

Irene Piscopo Rodgers wrote of the loss of Joyce Kirby Erlandsen in April. She had three children and eight grandchildren and had settled in Connecticut. She was an active skier and Bridge player after her teaching years. She was also a volunteer driver for special needs people.

Kay Rowe Hayes, Irene, and I met at Kay’s home in Warrenton this past spring for a slumber party. Irene had a UMW meeting and I was the chauffer from the Richmond Airport. Kay was our fantastic cook and story teller. We talked for hours with an amazing view of rolling hills and the companionship of Kay’s Rottweiler, who thought she was one of us girls! Irene is planning a trip in January to Argentina, another trip in April, and then on to Paris and the South of France.

Dorothea “Dodie” Reeder Hruby and Dale made their move from Burkes to Williamsburg in February. They are located in Patriots Colony. The apartment is spacious and the community is populated with retired military. They are now only an hour away from their daughter Taya and her family in Suffolk. They are half-hour from Liz and husband in Ft. Bliss and Elizabeth’s daughter, Mariah, who is a sophomore at Christopher Newport. Dale II, their son, and his wife, Kristen, are outside Dallas. Dodie and Dale accumulated frequent flyer miles; they flew to Colorado for Dale II’s son, Nate’s, graduation from the U.S. Air force Academy. They followed that with a stopover in Dallas to meet the newest grand-dog, Bailey. In April, Dodie’s sad phone call told that Emily Babb Carpenter had succumbed to cancer. The memorial service was held at St. John’s Church in Richmond, where Emily was baptized, confirmed, and married. Dodie, Kay Rowe Hayes, Jane Howard Buchanon, Catherine Deshman Crandall, and I attended. Kitty’s husband, Rev. Harry Crandall, gave the eulogy. Emily was buried in West Point beside her son, Stephen. Dodie and Dale’s Christmas note mentioned attending the funeral of Ed Lee, Diana Treshman’s husband. Kay also came and stayed over a night at the Hrubys. Tom Carpenter, Emily’s husband, was there at the funeral.

Martha Spilman Clark and Paul’s Scripture Union “abandoned boys” in Lima are now adults. The first Sunday of every other month Martha and Paul have get-togethers. They started with eight and at the last meeting there were 22; with wives and children they hit 50. So, though retired, they are very much still involved. Their son Billy is developing a Scripture Union in Ecuador, Columbia, and Bolivia. How wonderful!

Frances Bourke Lirth is planning her annual trip to Chapel Hill in June to see her mother who is 101! Bunky and Roger’s son is married with two children. One of their daughters is married and living is Seattle. Their other three daughters are still fancy free. She and Roger are preparing for a big Christmas!

Maria Phipps Ireland’s back has healed well, and all is fine in New Jersey with her family. Daughter Kristen and her husband, Greg, are fine. Their daughter Caitlin is now 24. Son Nick graduated last spring. Son Kent and wife, Daphne, are all doing well. Daughter Larissa is 16 and Gavin is 11. Gary and Maria and traveling friends took a trip up the Danube. They stayed in Budapest a few days, then traveled to Vienna and Nuremburg, ending with a few days in Prague, and it was beautiful.

Celeste Shipman Kaufman and Alan took some wonderful trips this year. They traveled to Nassaw, Florida, California, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Austin, Texas, where their grandson, Austin (Julie’s son), is working on his Ph. D at the University of Texas. They also went to a family reunion in Lauter, Mississipi. “Pug” wrote that their children are fine and their grandchildren became adults overnight. Luckie (Jeff’s son) graduated from LSU this year and their youngest grandchild, Sarah (Julie’s daughter), will start college in the fall, and Nancie (Julie’s oldest daughter) and her husband, Mike, have added a “great grand-dog” to the family. Smylie (Jeff’s oldest) received his PGA card this summer. He won the Las Vegas tour in October. His card is valid through 2018, and he will play in the Masters and other big tournaments. They are thrilled, and are adding on the miles watching him play. The family was together for Thanksgiving and Christmas found them in New York for another gathering.

Julia Coates Littlefield is happy that her sister, Lucy, has downsized and returned to Lexington from Delaware after 40 years. The children and grandchildren are doing fine. Daughter Bess and her husband Mike’s son, Jack, received his Bachelor’s in Economics and History from UVA in May and is employed by a market consulting firm in Charlottesville. Son Scott and his wife Susan’s some, Chris, is a fifth grader in Augusta, Georgia. He is an excellent athlete in AAU league in middle school basketball and football. Their youngest grandchild, Mary (Scott’s), is seven years old, a budding artist, and a ballerina. There was a Littlefield reunion in September in Portland, Maine.

Mary Massey wrote that she and her husband, Jack Meiners, have kept psychically fit and mentally stimulated this past year with adult education and exercise classes, dog walking, and yard and garden work. They went to Walla Walla, Washington, in June for Jack’s family picnic. In July they attended the biennial Appalachian Trail Conference in the Shenandoahs in Winchester. It was very hot, and they took many indoor workshops, walked in the Virginia Arboretum, and toured Patsy Cline’s home. In November, Mary will have been hiking 45 years, and in December she had volunteered 25 years at the Audubon Naturalist Society (3,000 hours)! She has received the volunteer of the year award. Jack has reached 20,000 miles of hiking since retirement! (Not counting miles of dog walking.)

Barbara Barndt Mieler and husband, Wayne Seeley, stayed January, February, and March in their cabin in New York, with a whole lot of wood cutting going on for the fireplace and plowing for their garden. To celebrate her 80th birthday in March, Barbara’s daughter, Ann, surprised her with a three-day visit. They spent riding, eating, and enjoying the weather. In May, Barbara made a quick trip to Pennsylvania for the Devon Horse Show. They celebrated the Seeley family reunion in Ithaca, New York, in August. Late September found Ann, Wayne, and Barbara vacationing in Ocean City, New Jersey. In the fall, they went back to New York for cleaning up for winter. In October they returned to Pennsylvania for Wayne’s 60th high school reunion. He continues to volunteer at a hospice and Barbara stays involved in church activities. What a busy year!

Eleanor Markham Old’s husband, Arthur, wrote that their grandsons, Parker and Tyler, continue their education at Savannah College of Art and Design. Arthur keeps busy with house projects, routine doctor visits, visits to North Carolina and Leesburg, and attendance at UMW Elder study, civil War Roundtable, plays at UMW and Riverside Dinner Theater, and the community 55 club. Martha and him keep on the go.

Anne Launders Spilman and Bob and all three children and grandchildren are fine.

Sally Steinmet went to her 60th high school reunion and had a grand time. Besides the college choir she joined, she now has joined a church choir. She continues her yoga classes.

Charlotte Wohlnick Wiggs and Archie took a trip to Machu Picchu, Iguazu Falls, Easter Island, and a Mediterranean cruise. During the summer they went with their granddaughter, Anna (Tracy and Andy’s daughter), to France. Molly (Tracy and Andy’s oldest daughter) graduated from MIT in June. Anna is a freshman at Mason High School in Ohio. Charlie and Arch’s son, Alan, and his wife, Dale, are continuing their education at Raleigh.

Lucas, the man in my life, is in first grade, reads well and enjoys learning. He is getting so tall (another Tom?).

As many of us, I’m thinking about who can have a mini-reunion in 2016. We are part of the 1908 Society, so we can attend any time. It won’t be an official 60th, obviously, but I think it would be good to do it. I will send you a letter in the Spring.