Class Notes

It was great to hear from a number of Class of ’79 folks. Leslie Freeman Belcher wrote to say that she retired from the U.S. Department of the Interior as an IT Specialist in August 2015 after over 34 years of service. She added that for now they will stay in northern Virginia, but she’ll be spending time downsizing and traveling to see family and kids.

One of my favorite people in Fairfax County government (she helps me when I have contract or other procurement questions), Mary Regan McMahon said that she will be celebrating her 18th year with Fairfax County in February 2016 and hopes to retire within the next two years. Her husband Brian just celebrated 25 years with the U.S. Postal Service as an electronic technician and in April 2015, they celebrated 30 years of marriage. Their oldest son, Sean, is working and living in Asheville where he is a probation/parole officer trainee for the state of North Carolina. Their youngest son, Zach, is in his fourth year of a five-year program for Forensic Science and Chemistry at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Mary Anne Kennedy Kane also had lots of news to report. She and her husband Brian made the big move back to Colorado and couldn’t be happier! They’ve settled into the Denver foothills and have adapted to the high altitude and the Rocky Mountain attitude. She found a position as PRN Speech Language Pathologist with Genesis Rehab services and finds the work/life balance just right. On a sad note, she lost her beloved mother, Charlotte Kennedy, in September but has a wonderful circle of family and friends that have supported her through these past months. In particular, she was comforted by her MWC friends, Kim Smith, Dorothy Clinton, Pam Frank, Ellen Littlefield, and Carolyn Ocel, who spent a difficult afternoon with her, for which she is eternally grateful.

Caroline Sutton Morris provided a wonderful synopsis of her last 37 years. Every time the UMW magazine arrives, she promises herself that she is going to tell me about her life. And then, life gets in the way! She has been happily married to her husband Fred Morris, a banker, since 1987, and she has had careers in banking, corrugated paper, private schools, hazardous chemicals, and Kraft foods. She likes variety and a challenge.

Since 1993, she and her husband have lived in York, Pennsylvania, where they raised their two daughters. Their first, Anne “Annie” Morris ʼ11, lives in Richmond and works at VCU in the President’s Office. Their younger daughter, Caroline, graduated from University of Alabama in 2014 and works for Frito Lay in Little Rock. Caroline has owned her own business, Kimman’s Co., a gift shop, for a little over 11 years. Her little town is in the midst of a renaissance and she loves working toward making her corner a little bit better. But, she is tired of snow so when retirement comes, which should be just a few years away, she and Fred are giving away the snowblower and moving south.

Caroline’s mom, also a Mary Washington alumna, and sister both live in Fredericksburg, and she gets to town fairly frequently. She was just there recently and thought about how nice it looks and how wonderful that the school has continued to make its mark on the community.

Laurie Dalhouse Saunders wrote that her mom died a couple of years ago and that has been hard, but she and her sister are as close as ever and continue to help each other through the rough patches. On the good news front, her daughter is a pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Atlanta; her eldest son and his wife live in Seattle where he is in seminary; and her youngest son is a freshman at Hampden-Sydney. So she and John are (finally!) empty nesters! John is still working for UBS, and Laurie stays busy volunteering. She’s fallen in love with a class of first graders with whom she enjoys helping with language arts twice a week.

Thanks to all who wrote and I hope to hear from more of you next time!