Class Notes

Barbara Bishop Mann and husband Robert took an 8-day trip in July to Nashville, TN, Hattiesburg, MS, and Greensboro, NC, initially for the DKG Society International Convention in Nashville. Robert visited his college roommate and Bobbi browsed through Hattiesburg to find genealogical information about her great grandmother, then stopped in Greensboro to visit her brother. The Bishop clan gathered in Boone, NC, for Thanksgiving and the Mann family spent Christmas together in Huntsville, AL. Bobbi reported that Ambler Carter had moved to Philadelphia early in December and was scrambling to get settled before Christmas. Ambler sold her home of many years and moved to a condo close to daughter Margaret and her husband. Bobbi also shared news from her freshman roommate, Christine Brooks Young, that their friend, Charnell Williams Blair, had recently lost her husband, George. Charnell and George had known each other since 8th grade, shared a long, devoted life together, and are both

well-known and revered in Suffolk, VA.

Carolyn Eldred generously donated a family heirloom mirror to UMW to hang in Brompton, the president’s home. The top of the mirror depicts the wedding of John Rolfe and Pocahontas, a significant event in Virginia history. It has been in the Eldred family for generations. When Carolyn downsized and moved to Fredericksburg she decided that the mirror

would benefit Mary Washington and worked with Jan Clarke (planned giving) and Mark Thaden ’02 (alumni affairs) to have the mirror properly conserved by Rusty Bernardo in Ashland before displaying it. In November Carolyn, Jan and Rusty visited Brompton to see the mirror in its new location. Kelly Paino welcomed them and mentioned that the students

were all familiar with the Pocahontas story because of Disney! The history of the mirror itself is a mystery even to the conservators at the museum in Yorktown because its gilt-covered casted lead form is unique. It is a fitting addition to the historic home of the president of Mary Washington. Carolyn also mentioned that she is enjoying sessions of MW ElderStudy at

the nearby Stafford campus.

Nancy Shackelford Jones attended husband Jeff’s 50th Yale class reunion in New Haven CT in June. She and Jeff also watched their daughter Ali Jones Thorpe’s graduation from Harvard Business School in Cambridge. Nancy and Ali then flew to Cuba to see the colonial architecture plus Hemingway’s charming home and famous boat. Later they spent a week sailing the North Channel, Lake Huron, with dear friends and a New York Yacht Club fleet.

Jana Privette Usry spent much of the summer recovering from a total left knee replacement. Her energy level reached a peak in time for fall yard work and holiday decorations. Jana continues to sing with One Voice Chorus plus its Ensemble and enjoys the musical performances, especially the holiday ones at Westminster Canterbury Retirement Home and “The Messiah” with the Petersburg Symphony. Jana attended a reception in Richmond honoring UMW’s new president, Troy Paino, and his wife Kelly, and vouches for their charm and authenticity. Jana also still serves as a court mediator, though she has cut her workload from seven courts back to five. She recently resigned from serving as the Schools’ chair for the UVA

Richmond Club and is using the extra free time to attend more UVA football and basketball games. She spent Thanksgiving in Richmond with cousins; Christmas with her sister in Indiana, PA, and hopes to do more traveling in 2017.

Katie Green toured two weeks in Wales visiting her son and family in Cardiff for Thanksgiving. Because of her infant granddaughter they limited themselves to day trips and cooked a “typical Southern USA” Thanksgiving dinner. Katie’s favorite spots were St. David’s Cathedral, Pembrokeshire, first built in 1181, and Caerphilly Castle, the largest one in Wales. One last stop was Tintern Abbey, a very impressive spot despite the wind and the cold.

Ann Kales Lindblom, husband Steve and pup Dewar enjoyed a three-week 6500-mile November road trip from VA to CA and back. The fall scenery, cool temperatures, low-volume traffic and delightful visits with family and friends made the trip especially appealing. They spent time in AZ with their USMC son and his wife, then toured the Harry S Truman and the George W Bush libraries and museums, visited ancient American Indian ruins in NM. In Birmingham, AL, they were moved by the sights of the early civil rights demonstrations, then returned home to Alexandria for the holidays with more family and friends.

Susan Roth Nurin writes that her retirement days in New York City are filled with meaningful volunteer activities. Her love of languages is satisfied by being a multilingual tour guide in midtown Manhattan squiring foreign tourists around sites such as the iconic New York City library, Grand Central Terminal, Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Plaza

Hotel, Central Park and Trump Tower. Susan also enjoys working with senior citizens, helping with paperwork if their eyesight is bad, keeping them company when needed, offering a steadying hand while walking. Susan is an unofficial usher on final rehearsal days at the Metropolitan Opera when hundreds of school children are invited to attend. She acts as a liason between school and opera by sitting with assigned classes while watching some magnificent opera performances. Soon Susan will become an aide to Holocaust survivors, to interact with them socially to alleviate their loneliness and painful memories “which none of us can come close to imagining.”

Joan Cuccias Patton traveled to California after our reunion for her annual family reunion in Newport Beach, then remained quiet until a December trip to NYC. She visited the 9/11 museum, kicked around Manhattan, attended “Fiddler on the Roof” and the Radio City Music Christmas show. She finished with a tour of the botanical gardens and dinner with friends

before returning to Virginia for the holidays with her family.

Emily Cosby Dieter has been enjoying the activities of her five grandchildren, two in high school, three in middle school. She is “back in school, too” volunteering in the middle school and her daughter’s primary center. Emily hosted her brother and friends in November for the Notre

Dame-Virginia Tech football game and had a wonderful time. Then she took to her “winter hibernation work” of researching family history, concentrating this winter on a rewarding project: tracing the history and family of husband Tom’s mother, who was a young orphan in New York City.

Marty Spigel Sedoff went to NYC to see “Hamilton” and raved about it. After her September mid-foot fusion surgery she spent three months using a knee scooter, then finally replaced the cast with a removable boot and graduated to a walker for a few more months. (That ended her tap dancing activities!) In October Marty chaired the AAUW “Humor Focus Day”

featuring a Pulitzer-prize-winning newspaper cartoonist; an educator, writer and stand-up comedienne; and an author. It was a wonderful day filled with laughter and joy. During her convalescence Marty planned her local high school theater’s student trip to NYC for spring break. This year 50 students and chaperones will attend four Broadway shows and tour the

city in March. Marty and husband Bob enjoyed having their sons, Jim and John, home for the holidays.

Pam Kearney Patrick continues to exhibit her award-winning water color miniatures in places such as Strathmore in Bethesda, MD. She enjoyed a November visit in her Virginia home from Carol Wiley Bingley when she was en route to seeing Pam Hughes Ward‘s family. Pam and TaB were directing a long-distance renovation of the kitchen and master bath in their Cape May, NJ, home with hopes of staying there for Christmas. TaB teaches financial literacy in middle and secondary schools in Fairfax Co., VA. It’s a volunteer program contracted by each faculty and has proved to be very worthwhile. Pam’s summer plans are this: Beach!

Katharine Rogers Lavery and husband Hank welcomed their first great-grandchild in September, plus three grand nieces before Thanksgiving. Now that most of the grandkids are in their 20’s they seem to come in pairs, swelling the number at their Thanksgiving family-only gathering to 35! Early in November Katharine and Hank made their first trip to Cancun, Mexico, for a grandson’s destination wedding at a magnificent resort. It was shocking to leave palm trees and a Caribbean beach to return to cold winds and falling leaves! After a winter of activities with the family, work, church, two senior bowling leagues, senior fitness classes and the rigors of

home ownership, Katharine and Hank plan to return to the Outer Banks of NC for a relaxing beach vacation.

Sandra Hutchison Schanné enjoyed a stay-at-home Christmas this year. Daughter Amy traveled from Denver; son Brandon came from Texas; son Ricky came from the next county and they brought spouses and all nine grandchildren. Sandra and Richard’s fears that the cousins would be absorbed in electronic devices were unfounded – they had a wonderful time playing and being together! Added joy came when their other grandfather, aunts and uncles came to visit, carrying on a well-established family tradition of all gathering together.

Lois Rucker Scott excitedly reported that her younger daughter, Holly, became engaged to Tim Sullivan of Detroit and has moved from California back to Virginia. Now the whole Scott family lives close and Lois and Sam enjoy having their daughters and three grandchildren nearby. In June they all attended Lois’ family reunion in southern Virginia, the first occasion in

many years that all four siblings were present and could meet the grandkids. Holly and Tim brought too many pets with them, so Lois and Sam adopted their large, black cat, who now loves being the “only pet” in quiet surroundings. Since both Lois and Sam are fully retired they enjoy

watching their grandkids’ numerous sports events.

Terry Caruthers created a clever, imaginative page of “Memory Ornaments” as her holiday letter, complete with a rhyming commentary. There was a picture ornament for each grandchild and various memorable events of the passing year. Husband Don traveled to China while Terry

nursed her ailing-heart health and spent a weekend at our 50th reunion, where she displayed her fabulous collection of slides of all our classmates, past and present. Terry keeps very involved with the Golden Girls Club and its activities; Don enjoys his boat, meditation and playing in the community band.

Anne Powell Young wrote that our reunion was a high point in her year. She and Betty Birkhead Vickers drove together from Tennesee and cemented a close friendship. Anne reported that Betty’s family survived the Gatlinburg wildfires without any lasting damage, but that five of their employees lost everything. Betty is active with Rotary Club projects plus

frequent visits with her seven grandchildren. Anne mentioned that she helped with a huge holiday party for disabled children, whom she calls her “little people” since many of them are in wheel chairs. Their Christmas pageant focused on “kneeling Santa.” Anne’s husband continues to do much contracting work in Mexico but was able to join her in a Virginia holiday visit with their grandchildren.

Cathe Cantwell Luria is now “la señora mexicana” because she and Eric sold their northern Pacific home and relocated in Ajijic, Mexico., about 45 minutes from Guadalajara. Since their daughter remains in Portland and there are direct flights back and forth Cathe and Eric are not completely distant from their grandchildren. They are both very active in a traveling choral group, a community chorus, teaching English country dancing plus taking lessons in voice and Spanish. Cathe, a noted nurse practitioner, started a sewing group called “Days for Girls” to make reusable, washable feminine hygeine products for distribution to middle and high school students. More than 700 kits have been issued locally this year and coordinators are seeking young women who are not attending school to include them in the program., which is active in over 80 countries, including the U.S. (www.daysforgirls.org) Cathe also became a pioneer in a group trying to start a hospice, using her nursing expertise to best advantage. Eric enjoys kayaking on Lake Chapala, playing pickle ball, and membership in a ukelele men’s group. Their house includes a casita, guest quarters, which Cathe invites any of you to come try out.

Eileen Goddard Albrigo announced the arrival of their 13th grandchild in November, the 7th child of son Todd and wife Carrie. Now it’s imperative that they buy a bigger van for their family! In September Eileen spent a nice time in their beach home in Hilton Head SC, luckily before hurricane Matthew hit. Eileen, her sister and brother-in-law, revisited in December to assess the damage and select new flooring since the skylight was blown out and rain and debris came in. Their Thanksgiving “feast” was frozen Bertolli pasta and a lot of gratitude. Eileen rushed back to Virginia to see sister Kathleen Goddard Moss and husband Tom depart for Florida, the next leg of their journey west.

Kathy and Tom sold their house in May and Kathy declared herself “homeless” at our reunion. Then she and Tom spent two months in Spain with daughter Ellen’s family, including several days at the beach in Galicia. Next they spent two months driving through New England,

Canada and the upper Midwest, sightseeing, visiting friends and family, especially son David in Cleveland, daughter Cheryl and grandson Quentin in Dayton. The World Series was an added bonus! After a short visit with their Virginia relatives Kathy and Tom set out for Florida, stopped in southern Texas to visit a 97-year-old uncle, allowing at least three months to tour the U.S before landing in a retirement community in Oakland, CA, near their son’s family. Somewhere along their journey they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary a bit late (it was in June) and while waiting for their apartment application to be finalized, Kathy and Tom planned excursions through Oregon, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Nevada. (See Facebook for details!)

Condolences to Charnell Williams Blair on the loss of her husband, George.