If you prefer to submit Class Notes by mail, send to:

UMW Magazine – Class Notes
1301 College Ave.
Fredericksburg, VA 22401

1968

Meg Livingston Asensio
meglala@aol.com

Donna Gladis sent in a few notes about her classmates:

 Kris Peterson Hamill married Paul Hamill in 1996 and gained a wonderful merged family of 6 kids, along with their partners, and 10 grandchildren. All are doing well in their careers. One daughter has been adapting the works of Jane Austen for the stage and was recently named one of the top 20 produced playwrights in the U.S. Kris and her husband moved from Ithaca NY to Charleston SC in 2012 following a year in Romania for Paul’s Fulbright Senior Fellowship. After a long career as a publicist and fundraiser, Kris has followed her bliss and recently started a Swedish and American baked goods business called Svenska’s Culinary (in honor of her grandmother who emigrated from Sweden to become Nelson Rockefeller’s cook). The Hamills keep in touch with Susi Sears Shiriak (a retired Spanish teacher and linguist fluent in 4 languages), Kris’s children’s godmother, as well as Betsy Witmer Roberson, a former high school principal in Richmond who has spent years as a consultant helping distressed schools earn their accreditation, and Barbie Bennett, who manages an art gallery near DuPont Circle in Washington, DC.

Jill Robinson Burkert retired after 12 years at the University of Alaska, crawling into small planes to visit special education teachers in Alaskan villages. She left Juneau right after our 50th reunion and drove with her daughter and 2 dogs (dodging massive wildfires along the way) to a new abode in Bend, Oregon. She is still adjusting to living in an area with more than one store. Jill is working on a book of stories about the incredible teachers she worked with and the challenges of working in extremely remote schools. Her grandson graduated from the University of Alaska in Environmental Science and Outdoor studies and now does his part to show visitors the impact of climate change. Jill urges us to travel soon to the Mendenhall Glacier, which is rapidly disappearing.