Class Notes

Sad news first—then the good stuff.  As of January 2019 we have 96 Classmates on our memoriam list.  Since we are all 80 or approaching it, that list is sure to increase, but some of us are still pretty active.

Good news:  Jan Latven Allnutt recently met with Emy Steinberg Hyans and Cathy Lerner Cuttner’61 in New York City to celebrate their significant birthdays and have dinner together. Nancy Rorabaugh spent her birthday in Athens, Greece, and Carol Dixon Yonan visited the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.

Deanna Merrill Albright reminded us that turning 80 is like turning 27 in Celsius.

Penny Engle Burkhardt is full of excitement as she turns 80 and watches her family grow and thrive. She celebrated her 80^th birthday with her whole family, attending a “kiddie festival” first, and then dinner after with them all.

Bobbie Garverick Olsen wrote, “First, I don’t know if you’ve been told Mona Allen Spilo died late summer, 2017.  We saw quite a bit of each other in her last years.  She fought ovarian cancer for 20 years and was just amazing

“My husband David died 9 years ago. I live primarily in Vero Beach, FL, but also have an apt in New York and a house in Salisbury, CT. I also rent a house on Spruce Head Island, ME for a month in the summer.  I support many organizations, but my primary focus is theatre. I’ve served on several boards, currently Manhattan Theatre Club and Riverside Theatre in Vero.

“David and I were fortunate to travel the world and there are just two left on my bucket list (which I probably won’t get to for political reasons).

“My son is usually a professor at UC Santa Cruz, but is currently consulting in Bogotá, Colombia.  My daughter and her family live in Glen Ellyn, IL.

“I will spend my 80th in April with my son in Nashville. I love country music!”

Jane Denslow McCrohan and Ed enjoy their home on Puget Sound watching the cruise ships heading to Alaska.  And Syd Collson Chichester, although she enjoys her winter life in Florida, is ready to stay in the north and enjoy the cold and snow.

Pat Garvin Dyke is still somewhat active, having survived 5 hip and back surgeries.  Her husband, John, is takes care of her, and is still involved in the “Trout in the Classroom” program in local schools, for Texas U.  Pat fills her day cleaning out her “accumulated stuff”,  selling the stuff on eBay, and she keeps up with the doings of their daughter and 6-yr-old granddaughter.

Jody Campbell Close had a season of misadventures:  first she broke her foot and hobbled around all summer; suffered a mild heart attack, then was diagnosed with breast cancer, had a lumpectomy and radiation.  She seems to have beaten them all and celebrated her 80^th birthday in January with a big party planned by her daughter.  Although she is no longer chairwoman of two genealogical groups, she is planning to go to Salt Lake City this April to do genealogical research, then on a road trip from there to see old friends.

Karen Larsen Nelson and Darrell made a spring camping trip in our tiny teardrop trailer to parks in New Mexico and west Texas, spent the summer at resort in Show Low, AZ, and in September toured around the Yellowstone area, Telluride and Ouray, CO before returning to Mesa.  We celebrated my 80^th birthday and Thanksgiving with our daughter, 3 granddaughters, 5 great-grandkids.  We stay busy with our church which meets in an assisted living facility, love working with special needs people again.  In April we planned a week of camping in Big Bend National Park—with no hookups! For a couple of 80 year olds, are we crazy or what?