Class Notes

We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful, sunny weekend in May 2015 to celebrate our 15 year anniversary. As to be expected, the campus looked stunning and brought back so many cherished memories of time spent there with all of you. A big “thank you” to Mariah Butler Vogelgesang for volunteering with me and helping to rally the troops. It was wonderful to see so many of you face to face and catch up in person—Chris Nowell, Beth Jarrett, Eve Sledjeski, Kerry Layne Adam, Angela Zosel-McCormick, James Mirabello,  Betsy Burton, Michelle McChrystal Allen, Jennifer Greven, Joy Barnes, Sunshine Evans, Jenna Robinson, and Elaine Murray Strauss, to name just a few …

Blake Mitchell wed Joe LaPointe at the Publick House Inn in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, on April 26, 2015.  It was a beautiful ceremony and gathering of friends and family. It also turned out to be a mini Virginia Hall reunion, with Susan Wolf, Eve Sledjeski, Jackie Herr, and myself in attendance.

On July 4, Maylian Pak got married in Eugene, Oregon, to Matt Shapiro. In attendance were Michelle Kelly Schuchardt, Joy Barnes, Beth Geiger Wolly, Jessica Bonanno, Rachael Dorsey McGowen, Erin Piemontesi, Aaron Davis ʼ99, Jennifer Greven, and Greg Greven.

Jennifer and Greg welcomed baby Penelope Kate in March of 2015. Jack and Lily have been an amazing big brother and sister! Jennifer continues to teach elementary music in Stafford County Schools. She wrote to let us know that John Rock married Bijal Patel in Charlotte, North Carolina, in October of 2014.  It was a beautiful weekend with many MWC alumni in attendance.

A friend of Kelly Wagner Amen wrote to share sad news about her. As many of you know, our beloved Kelly is facing a recurrence of her cancer, which has now moved beyond breast cancer and spread to other areas of her body.  For those of you who have not heard the details of her latest challenge, you can find out more through her own inspiring words on her blog at www.kellysagainstthegrain.blogspot.com. If you can help and support our classmate in any way, please do so!

While traditional medicine is limited in her case, she is bravely undergoing a cutting-edge stem cell therapy in California that, combined with traditional approaches, will seek to eliminate the cancer once and for all. Kelly’s treatment is costing more than $1,000 dollars a day for six weeks, and she will also need to continue to travel to California indefinitely to continue treatment. We are launching a fundraising drive to raise $25,000 by next March to support Kelly’s path to healing, and we already have more than $5,000 towards our goal! Please consider contributing whatever amount you can to help us reach our goal. You can visit Kelly’s donation page at https://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/kelly-s-conquering-cancer/174646.

If you would rather send a check to Kelly, please make it out to Kelly Amen and send it to her home address, 1074 Lakeland Avenue, Lakewood, OH 44107. We will be sure to reflect your donation towards our goal on her fundraising page. Thank you!

Jennifer Thomas recently went to visit some college friends in the Northern Virginia area including Becky Rink Brown, James Cessaro, Reena Desai, Andrew Salmon, and Meredith Lydon. She also visited the campus, which she reports looks very different than when she went to school. She is still living in Charlotte. Her environmental consulting practice, JennTec, continues to be successful.

Kristin Bombard Green and her husband Matt welcomed their first child, daughter Emmeline Ruth Green, on October 13, 2015. They currently reside in Kent Island, Maryland, where Kristin is a public service librarian.

Gayle LaVallee Yanez, was recently promoted to Human Resources Director at Free Lance-Star Publishing, LLC in Fredericksburg. She previously held the position of Employment Coordinator from 2010-2015.

Stefanie Moore Miller is living in a small town just outside of Raleigh, North Carolina. She received her MA in Counseling, specialty in Career Counseling, and has a private practice. Stefanie has a three-year-old daughter, Madison, and welcomed her second child, Tyler, in April.

Christi Kramer got married in June. She and her wife Annie now live in Estes Park, Colorado, where Christi is the Director of Public Allies at Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center.

Mark Sturm launched an intriguing web comic called “In the Boat,” which can be found at www.intheboatcomic.com.

Nora Cronin was appointed the State Coordinator of Human Trafficking and Unaccompanied Minors Programs for New York State after having previously served for two years in the Office of Public Safety for Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. The position is based out of New York City. She’s really hoping to do good work for some of New York State’s most vulnerable citizens.

In January, Patrick Hiltz celebrated one year working as a Business Manager & Realtor with Long and Foster.  Before that he worked for seven years at the Virginia Department of Taxation.

Brandon Cox and Laura Castello Cox are living in Southwestern Virginia where Brandon practices family medicine. Laura enjoys schooling their five children at home and is expecting their sixth in January of 2016. They think of their happy times and wonderful professors at MWC often.

     Grant Matthews is still enjoying life in Richmond, Virginia, and taking advantage of alumni events and all the culture Richmond has to offer. The river is great in the 70-degree December temperatures. He is continuing his environmental endeavors with ERM. He sees Travis Bjorklund ʼ02, Daniel Guptill ʼ03, and Scott Baker. They took a two week trip to Kenya this past year to see friends, explore the country, experience Nairobi, and visit some national parks. It was incredible and they talked about moving there. Luckily they stayed safe.

Kristen “Kiki” Skove King and her husband Jesse took a weeklong kid-free trip to the Caymans in the fall to celebrate their 11th anniversary. Their twin boys turned four in December. Kristen earned a promotion to Manager of Virtual Solutions for her company, and is going back to school online this year to pursue her MBA. In the fall, she started volunteering and teaching parenting classes at a local homeless shelter for single moms with small children. The best way to reach her is via email at kk@kristenking.com.

I was able to take a trip to Iceland in March with Rob Bowen and other friends to observe the northern lights, hike, dive, and befriend the locals as well as partake in a west coast road trip with Tyler St. Clair this past summer. We traveled through Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Canada, and we were able to visit Theresa Callaghan along the way.

David Voth and his wife Stephanie are living in Richmond, Virginia, where David is a second year dental student and Stephanie is a practicing periodontist.  They have four chickens and a cockapoo named Bowman.

Mario Alfaro and his wife LeeAnn Alfaro ’07 welcomed their second child, Isaac Andres Alfaro, on September 1, 2015. His sister, Katie Grace, is now two and a half. Mario is still working in the merchant services industry and LeeAnn is a teacher. They also own an Amway business and work locally with a leadership mentoring team.

Tori Miller Liu was promoted to Vice President of Technology and Strategic Initiatives at the Global Cold Chain Alliance, a trade association in Alexandria, Virginia. She also earned her MBA from George Washington University in May of 2015.

Grant Lahmann married Kelsey Knowles ʼ05 on August 8, 2015, in the San Juan Islands of Washington State.  Fellow UMW and Mothers Rugby alumni Chris Ridge, Chris Parks, and Adam Cash ’07 served as Groomsmen, while Lauren Roan-Parks ’05, Peter Geres ʼ04, and Lauren Goor Geres ʼ04 were there to keep them in line. Grant and Kelsey appreciated the Mary Wash friends traveling all the way out for the wedding and had a great time partying with them.

Rebecca Kruse Wueste was promoted to Director of Web Operations and Strategy at the American Society of Civil Engineers, and continues her volunteer work as Web and Social Media Director for the DC Shiba Inu Rescue (DC SIR).

Jay Sinha is currently a Cyber Privacy Analyst with Booz Allen Hamilton, where he uses his legal and privacy expertise to assist federal government clients. He was appointed to the UMW Presidential Search Advisory Committee in the fall of 2015, and to the Steering Committee for the UMW Affinity Groups Initiative.  He lives in Arlington, Virginia.

Steven Grillo was elected councilman in the Borough of Sayreville, New Jersey, in November. He will serve a three year term beginning on January 1, 2016.

Jennifer Wagar recently became engaged to Dustin Fulford in November 2015.  They celebrated their engagement with a relaxing trip to the Bahamas and are planning a wedding for late May 2016 in Northern Virginia.

Jenna Doolittle currently lives in Los Angeles and is a working actress. She recently starred in an episode of “Scandal” on ABC and had scenes opposite Scott Foley and Joe Morton. Heavy Magazine said, “Keep your eyes peeled for this rising star.” You can keep in touch by visiting www.JennaDoolittle.com or following her on social media @ThatDoolittle.

Marcella Cavallaro married James Wallni, a 2007 Radford graduate, in July in San Francisco, California. Bethann White ʼ06 and Leanne Shannon ʼ06 were bridesmaids and kept the party alive! Classmate Deana Zornow also made the trip out west and danced all night long. Marcella and James honeymooned in Belize. They reside in Burke, Virginia.

Sarah Eckman began a new job as an analyst in American National Government for the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress. She and Shaun Sargent ʼ03 are engaged and recently purchased a house in Arlington, Virginia.

Megan Hayes Joyce got married to Chris Joyce of Powhatan, Virginia, on November 21, 2015, in Richmond, Virginia.  Colleen Kelly, Suzanne Davey, Sarah Murphy, and Maureen Murphy were all bridesmaids, and Tori Kuhr was in attendance.

Elizabeth Phelps Kelly married Michael Kelly on April 11, 2015, in Kansas City, Missouri. Elizabeth’s Mary Washington roommate, Sarah D’Antonio, was maid of honor. Donald Phelps ʼ12 was a groomsman. Tempa Klinegores Peters danced the night away at the reception. Elizabeth is an editor at Andrews McMeel Universal. She and Mike, an attorney, live in Roeland Park, Kansas.

Mary Caitlin Young earned her master’s degree in library and information science from Louisiana State University in May.

Isaac Kassock works at Saint Michael the Archangel High School in Fredericksburg. Normally a teacher, neat circumstances have elevated him to the position of Interim Principal for the rest of the school year, helping him to learn all sorts of interesting things about human nature as found in students and the teaching body.

Brittany Cooney is a contractor recruiting for Johnson and Johnson in Horsham, Pennsylvania. She is engaged to be married to Anthony Wiencek. They will wed in April of 2016 in Pennsylvania.

Hilary Lufkin Lambert is living in beautiful Salt Lake City, Utah, and working as an elementary teacher and outdoor education instructor. She and her husband Patrick rafted the Grand Canyon last year, and enjoy getting out on their raft with their puppy Scout whenever possible!

Kathryn Carter Esworthy and Jack Esworthy welcomed a baby boy in January of this year and are living in Richmond, Virginia.