Class Notes

Happy New Year to all of you as we draw closer to our 50th reunion! I hope to see as many of you as possible in 2020 for our big celebration.

After our 45th reunion last spring, I had a mini reunion in Williamsburg in July with Deb White Orsi, Susan Johnson Gillette, Judy Cunningham Dotson, and Lee Howland Hogan. Bettie Brooks Reuter was our wonderful hostess at her home and we laughed and shared stories for hours! Lee wrote that she met Donna Accettullo DeNyse in New York City this summer. She also met Kathi O’Neill in Delaware and went to Longwood Gardens. Lee skied in Colorado, went to Ecuador and the Galapagos, drove the Pacific Coast Highway, and went to Normandy and Brittany in June. John and I went to Alaska in August and to the Italian and French Rivieras in October and November. With two trips to Phoenix to see grandchildren in the fall also, Christmas came too quickly for me. Thanks to Sharon Arthur Spencer, I finally was able to get in touch with Lucia Smithey Bushway. Lucia has been teaching Math at the University of West Florida for the past 18 years. Before that she worked for the local drug and alcohol council for eight years. She and Jeff have two daughters and two grandchildren.

Our previous class agent Carole Lamonica Clarke has undergone a significant change in her life. In the fall she and Ted visited Colorado Springs and loved it. She also found out that living in Georgia was horrible for her allergies so they listed their home there and it sold on November 3; their new home will be ready in January! She is very excited about the move. I also heard from Lynn Amole Horng. She worked this summer at a community garden growing produce for a local food pantry.  Also, she is a trainee in the Penn State Master Gardener class, and hopes to be able to pass the required test at the end of the course. She would like to share her love of gardening with people. She has also joined a wonderful quilt guild and is slowly increasing her skills. She and Albert have been married for 41 years!

I also heard from Faye Carrithers Roberts. Since retiring from the Florida Library Association, she has started a new career as a freelance editor. The adjustable hours and ability to work from home provides the flexibility to care for her husband and mother-in-law in Lake City and to visit their grandchildren who live in the Atlanta area.

I do have some sad news to report. In December, Elizabeth “Betsy” Newton Ellis was murdered in her home here in Fredericksburg. She had retired from Stafford County Schools and the Central Rappahannock Regional Library. She is survived by her three sons and her two grandchildren, Sophie and John, who were her greatest joys in life.

Please send more news! Just send a couple lines to let everyone know what is going on in your life. Your classmates would love to hear about you!