Class Notes

From Karen: We have made it through 2020 and are now partway through 2021. Many of you have written beautiful notes for your electronic birthday card. Thank you. And our news is that each of us is working hard at keeping our body, mind, and soul active and healthy. 

[Editors’ note: Class agents Jody Campbell Close and Karen Larsen Nelson also submitted notes for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.] 

Believe it or not, ladies, we received some news even with the COVID-19 quarantine, and here’s the common thread: Staying near home. Taking walks. Church activities on Zoom. Missing family members. Being bored. Doing an exercise program. Enjoying puppy dogs. 

Those were the activities shared by Pat Garvin Dyke, Gretchen Squires Best, Jan Latven Allnutt, Gray Schaefer Dodson, Sarah Forsyth Donnelly, Janet Spang Hess, Emy Steinberg Hyans, Anne Butler Hyde, and Jeanette Meyer Juren. 

Marilla Mattox Haas can’t remember what day of the week it is now that she is not rehearsing with five different church groups every week. Read more about Marilla on page 28. 

Sue Smith Goodrick had to cancel a river cruise. Judy Davidson Creasy’s family surprised her with a garden party for her 82nd birthday, and she took a short trip to Sedona, Arizona, for a friend’s birthday. Sherry Farrington Green adopted a kitty. Gail Mooney Grobe was delighted to be able to buy toilet paper. Joanne Lister Jacobs did her own hair for a while and said she looked like Brunhilda from The Valkyrie. 

Tina Baensch Raver lives in New York City, but during lockdown she and her hubby quarantined at their home on Long Island. 

Janet Garriss Lewis has moved to a custom-designed, accessible apartment attached to her son’s home. She has finally parted with most of her lifetime collections, saving just enough mementos for her grandchildren. 

Sally Brown VanDuyne wrote they had tried twice to go to Vermont but hadn’t made it yet. 

Joyce Neill Krost did not make it to Spain last winter because last August she broke her neck and caught pneumonia, landing in a rehab center. Gaye Roberts Olsen can escape outside on her scooter chair if she stays where staff can see her. Sandy Poole goes to virtual church and helps Barb in her home office. Lucy Wu Wang and Jimmy were stuck in their Palm Springs, California, apartment and couldn’t travel to Shanghai. 

Penny Engle Burkhardt shared a story about an encounter with rabbits while riding her bike, and Penny, Jody, and Karen had a hilarious exchange about it. 

Jean Eubanks Holland had heart surgery last fall, followed by pneumonia. While recovering, she sold her townhouse and bought a new apartment. Nancy Cleaves Blaydes had glaucoma surgery. Syd Collson Chichester had Mohs surgery for skin cancer she attributes to her sun-worshipping days on Mary Washington dorm balconies. Syd is proud of daughter Holly Chichester, who is landscape and grounds manager at Mary Washington and lives near Syd in Fredericksburg. 

Darrell and I, Karen Larsen Nelson, have spent part of each week in our little trailer, “mooch docking” at our friends’ cabin in the cooler mountains in Arizona. I’ve also discovered I can hike again a little – if I stick to old logging roads, which are fairly level. Our great-grandbaby No. 6 arrived in early May, but by late summer we had only seen pictures. 

Jody Campbell Close lives alone, so doesn’t consider herself fully quarantined because if there is an errand to be done there is no one else to do it. But masks do not encourage long, witty conversations, and distancing 6 feet or more doesn’t help the hard of hearing. She stumbled on her father’s World War II diary, written as a young lieutenant and Pearl Harbor survivor. She was able to print a booklet for each family member of his firsthand accounts of naval engagements in the South Pacific and in Alaska. 

[Editors’ note: With this issue, we thank retiring class agent Connie Booth Logothetis for her long service to her classmates and alma mater.] 

From Lynne: 

I had hoped that by the time I submitted this, the dreaded virus would be history. Sadly that isn’t the case, but we do appear to be moving in the right direction with immunization. Maybe by the time you read this we will have received the vaccine. 

I had also hoped that the transition from Connie Booth Logothetis to Renee Levinson Laurents and me, Lynn Williams Neave, would be smooth, but Renee had computer issues and was not able to communicate with classmates A-L. I did hear from quite a few in group M-Z. Here goes! 

Pat Kenny recalled thinking that as a well-rounded human being, one should live in New York City for at least two years. But after living in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, she got her dream job at the National Institutes of Health and settled in Silver Spring, Maryland, without ever living in NYC. As for the pandemic, she wrote, “The sooner we all listen to the scientists, the sooner we will all get through this era on Planet Earth together.” 

Lloyd Tilton Backstrom and Art spend half their time in Hertford, North Carolina, with their two pups. They meet up with friends – masked and outdoors – about once a month on the grounds of a museum in Richmond, Virginia. They mentally replay past trips and look forward to working on their travel bucket list once it’s safe. 

Marcy Trembath Pitkin lives in a 17th floor apartment in Philadelphia. New cat Butterscotch keeps her amused. 

Jane Riles will stay in San Diego until the virus calms down. 

Graham Walker Burns sadly lost sister Ann Walker Abney ’58 to COVID in September 2020, and that made her very scared and careful. She has enjoyed more family time, not less, since the pandemic began. Son Jim and family came from London, England, to Lookout Mountain for four months during lockdown. Daughter May and family have moved to Lookout Mountain from New York. Now five of her seven children live near her. Graham has continued to work as a real estate agent, but showing houses has been a challenge. For Christmas, Graham lit her 100-foot-tall dawn redwood tree with 1,200 lights. She says, “Just call me Clark Griswold!” 

Debbie Phinney Stoke is following masking and distance guidelines and volunteers with her local food pantry packing boxes and answering the phone. She misses contacts with clients. She also misses tennis. Two grandchildren virtually graduated from college last spring, and two more were to graduate this spring. 

[Editors’ note: Lynne Williams Neave and Renee Levinson Laurents also prepared notes for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.] 

Connie Booth Logothetis fractured a vertebra and spent time in a hospital and rehab, sometimes in pain. She couldn’t have visitors, so she and Andy communicated by phone. 

Sadly, Jean Ryan Farrell passed away May 22. She is survived by her husband, Frank, and three children. Jane Riles’ husband, Jim Dietz, passed away Feb. 13. 

From Connie’s group (Lynne Williams Neave reporting): 

Clara Sue Durden Ashley and Clarence had a visit from son Park and his three oldest children. They looked forward to a summertime visit from son Dennis and family, visiting from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where Dennis works for the Navy. Soon after that visit, the Ashleys planned to drive to Beavercreek, Ohio, for granddaughter Anwyn’s senior recital – originally scheduled for spring but delayed by coronavirus. Anwyn and another granddaughter, Abby, graduated from high school in 2020.

Pepper Jacobs Germer and Hank were fortunate not to have been touched by a category 3 tornado in March that flattened 600 homes, a mall, and an airport in Jonesboro, Arkansas. They were obeying COVID rules and actually enjoying staying home. 

The pandemic curtailed Jeri Barden Perkins’ travel plans for Italy, Mexico, and Greece. She stayed home but enjoyed Zoom classes, especially those from UMW. She wrote: “The pandemic has offered me the opportunity of using my voice for my community, the university, and NPR. It has taught me that I can live with less and have even greater appreciation for what I have. During the AIDS epidemic I was on the front lines seeing patients in a free clinic. During this pandemic I was afforded the opportunity of using my voice and the importance and power of messaging.” 

Maddy Contis Marken cleaned the refrigerator, scrubbed the shower stall, and baked bread. “Now that those chores are done, I probably won’t do them again for a long time,” she wrote. She took up sketching, reconditioned her bike, and has worked part time doing telehealth. 

From Renée: 

Mary Hatcher shared some pandemic and mask-wearing observations: “You have not lived unless you have had your hair cut wearing a mask, but it can be done. If you wear hearing aids, as I do, taking them out is the only way to wear both a mask and sunglasses at the same time.” On a much sadder note, she lost a sister-in-law to a non-COVID issue, and was heartbroken that her brother was not able to be with his wife while she was in the hospital for nine weeks. 

Margaretta Kirksey Bir was glad her Alabama county was requiring masks. Both of her daughters have autoimmune diseases, and her son-in-law and son’s oldest daughter have severe allergies. She was angry that mask-wearing had been turned into a freedom of speech issue, and that the U.S. hadn’t been able to devise strategies to contain the virus. “Once Americans went to the moon; now we can’t even go to Europe,” she wrote. 

Residents of Marcia Minton Keech’s retirement community in Winchester, Virginia, decided to grow vegetables in cottage gardens and on balconies as a way of coping with quarantine. Now they all have plenty of fresh vegetables, and the dining chef is thrilled! Marcia and Bill were faring well but missed seeing their children. 

Sandra Judkins Armitage was at Mary Washington for just two years but enjoys reading our class news. The pandemic brings thoughts of her grandmother, who lost two children to the 1918 flu. 

Betty Pace Rose attended Mary Washington for a year and loved living in Trench Hill even though the distance from other residence halls made it difficult to meet many people. 

Like many of you I, Renée Levinson Laurents, am finding quarantine just not easy. I read a lot, watch TV a lot (including Hamilton – Lin-Manuel Miranda is beyond gifted). My book club now meets on Zoom. A friend since junior high school lives nearby in Santa Monica, and I visit her and her husband in their large backyard, sitting 10 feet apart. I also escape these four walls by taking a drive-through lunch to the ocean and gazing out at the Pacific. My cats help a lot. 

Sadly, in May my cute little rescue dog ran out as I got the mail. A huge husky attacked her before I could get to her, and even with surgery the emergency veterinarian was not able to save her. The attack happened one year to the day after my dog Buddy died. The universe is telling me not to get another dog, I guess. 

From Lynne: 

I have been extremely fortunate during these hard times to escape New York City for a place in northern Connecticut. There are marvelous places to hike, plus I have great neighbors for occasional distant socializing. 

Sue Wilson Sproul, husband Dave, and dog Cooper returned to Virginia to be near three children and three grandchildren. They moved to a continuing-care community on the south side of Richmond in January and barely got to know other residents before the shutdown in March. Sue observed Richmond’s removals of Confederate statues with interest. She wrote, “Yes, Monument Avenue was ‘lovely’ to our eyes, but we have been insensitive to what [the statues] represent to so many others. Time marches on.” 

Lynne Wilson Rupert started 2020 with a cruise to Mexico to celebrate her 80th birthday and thought it was going to be a great year. She wrote, “Well, it has certainly turned out to be a memorable one!” 

Janie Riles doesn’t leave the house for anything. She plays online bridge and signed up for a Cornell Lab of Ornithology online class to learn about the birds in her garden. She enjoys Zoom sessions with artist groups. And she’s finally cleaned out her garage. 

Elizabeth “Bitsy” Wright Coxe has used her pandemic confinement to watch operas streamed from the Met Opera and art history lessons via the Frick Museum. She’s been reading a book a week, tending her orchids, cooking more than she has in years, and walking every day in her country neighborhood. 

Polly Updegraff Champ’s husband, Dan, had a hard 2019 with vision, hearing, and health issues, and they didn’t go to Florida for the first time in 22 years. They stayed in Connecticut and have had a lot of help from Polly’s stepdaughter, Theresa. 

Eleanore Saunders Sunderland had to learn how to walk again after a broken pelvis and two surgeries on the same hip. Daughter Jane moved in for a time to help and still comes once a week to do Eleanore’s shopping, though Eleanore is now comfortable alone. As for Eleanore’s other children, Jude, who lives in Milan, had come out of lockdown but still couldn’t travel. Willard was able to be with family in Cincinnati while doing grant-funded research on 18th-century Russian history. 

Peggy Howard Hodgkins had completed a 14-day Panama Canal cruise and was in Palm Springs visiting a niece when the pandemic forced her to cut her winter travels short and head back to Maine. In May son Greg and his wife joined Peggy in her lake house for two months of quarantining together. They had weekend visits from grandchildren and great-grands. Peggy’s sister Jean and family spent time in July at her camp next door, and sister Joanne and her husband visited for two weeks.

[Editors’ note: Kathleen Sprenkle Lisagor prepared notes for the online-only fall/ winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.] 

Dear classmates. Just how are you doing? Your news is so scarce! 

For our happy 80th birthdays do you often feel like the 1960s era has come again? We were living such a world of events as a vaccine for polio with sugar cubes, the ongoing struggle for civil rights, the Cuban crisis, traumatic assassinations, and Vietnam. At least we were heartened by the Space Age and Neil Armstrong on the moon. 

Let us not forget the invasion of the Beatles singing Yesterday and I Want to Hold Your Hand! Music was a great part of the spirit of the ’60s, and much of it has a haunting revival with our youth today, especially with their technical skills. 

Just think about those folk song lyrics and the emotion in Bridge Over Troubled Water as well as Yesterday, When I Was Young, and Elvis singing “but I can’t help falling in love with you.” Music knows no borders, and it heals also. 

A fascinating message has just arrived by route of Joan Akers Rothgeb and Marcia Kirstein Fitzmaurice. Kathleen Crothers Terrell and her husband live in Stephenville, Texas, and manage a cattle ranch, the Great Southern Ranch. They have three daughters and four grandchildren. One daughter lives on the ranch. As I recall, Kathleen majored in Spanish at Mary Washington and lived in Spain our junior year. I can imagine they are familiar with Eddy Arnold’s Cattle Call. 

Patricia Mackey Taylor was in Philadelphia for the birth of a granddaughter, the child of her youngest son, Daniel, and his wife. 

Pat also shared the news that she lost her sister Martha Mackey deMontpellier ’71 unexpectedly in September 2019, for which we send our heartfelt sympathies. Sympathies also to family and friends of our classmate Carolyn Livingstone, who passed away Sept. 10, 2020. 

As emails and correspondence seem especially tough on us now, I want to reflect on our MWC days. 

I still cherish those seated dinners and can just imagine the beautiful choir and orchestral concerts. The majestic sounds of the great organ pipes in George Washington Hall were just fantastic for the entrance of Dr. Simpson and staff! As a piano and organ music major, I truly appreciate the unique experiences and professors. 

My career has allowed me to share with many, including my talented daughter, Amy, and granddaughter, Kelly Burcher. This spring Kelly was voted the middle school teacher of the year in Manassas, where she has taught for six years while completing her master’s degree. They both have helped me to tackle FaceTime teaching with my students, also. 

I’m looking forward to seeing some ol’ faces and our 60th reunion. 

In the meantime in this crazy world, think on the winning words of Louis Armstrong: 

I see leaves of green, red roses too 

I see them bloom, for me and you 

And I think to myself 

What a wonderful world.

Linda Gulnac Steelman sent sad news of the loss of husband Bill on Feb. 4, 2020, after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. They had planned to move to a continuing-care community in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania; Linda did move there in June. She likes the community and beautiful wooded campus, and has been able to join book groups and a bell choir that practices outside. 

I am so sorry for your loss, Linda, but I, Linkey Booth Green, am glad you are close by me. Perhaps we can get together once the COVID issue ends. 

Mary A. Settle Johnson, my freshman roomie, had a recurrence of her cancer but had successful treatment. She still lies in Panama City Beach, Florida. 

[Editors’ note: Linkey Booth Green also prepared notes for the online-only fall/ winter issue. We republish a shortened version here.] 

Betty Caudle Marshall shared the sad news that her husband, Tom, passed away April 29, 2020. Some UMW friends called him “Precious Tom.” Last fall Betty and Tom had hosted some of his friends from elementary school who were also Mary Washington alumnae, including Anne Marchant Long and Betsey Burke Christian. Betty also heard from Betsy Chamberlain Hartz and Virginia Walker Jarvis. 

Elizabeth “Ibby” Le Sueur retired from teaching and lives in Louisville, Kentucky. 

I hope you are well and like many of us, coping with the isolation, social distancing, and mask-wearing to stay safe. I, Susan Rowe Bunting, feel fortunate to be retired and living in a rural community where folks check on and take care of one another. It’s amazing how long my husband and I can now last on the groceries we have in our home without the usual weekly shopping. We look forward to warmer weather and vaccine availability for all. 

After living for 30 years near the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, Margaret Goode Watkins downsized to a condo in Alexandria, Virginia, last April. She is closer to her son and his family, and closer to Mary Washington roommates Jane Showker Capehart in Winchester, Virginia, and Betsy Johnson Rule in Richmond. 

Susan Armistead Evageliou and Harry live in Ellington, Connecticut. Susan enjoys tutoring and challenged herself to manage online teaching. Susan and Harry look forward to resuming community theater musical productions once things get back to normal. They were in rehearsals for Mamma Mia when COVID shut down the production. The pandemic forced son George to temporarily close his New York City business, Urban Homecraft, but he’s been able to reopen. Son Nick is a pediatric oncologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. 

In Northern Virginia, Patti Jones Schact feels fortunate to live on a small lake where she can see wildlife. She has used the pandemic time for reading; long, lazy naps; and catching up with friends via phone, Zoom, and FaceTime. Sadly, she shared news of the January 2020 passing of classmate Susan Jonas. 

Victoria Taylor Allen has lived in Westchester County, New York, for 50 years and downsized to a condo there in November 2019. Though much of New York’s cultural life shut down due to COVID, she notes that many museums were open by appointment. Victoria writes, “We New Yorkers are very faithfully following the mask mandates. You are not allowed to enter our shops without a mask and can be fined a great deal of money if you don’t wear it.” Victoria keeps in touch with Sally Crenshaw Witt in Richmond, Virginia. 

Judy Trevvett Lair and husband Bob of Columbus, North Carolina, moved four miles to a continuing-care community in December 2020. The Lairs, married 58 years, are active in their church via Zoom and in the local Rotary Club. They also support their local hospital. 

[Editors’ note: Susan Rowe Bunting also prepared notes for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.] 

Melinda Watterson attended Mary Washington for two years but went to Oklahoma University for her junior and senior years to be with her high school sweetheart, Chuck. They married in 1963 and had a wonderful 42 years together before Chuck died unexpectedly in 2005. In 2007 Melinda met John, a widower, and they married four years later. They have a blended family of three daughters and sons-in-law, four grandsons, and a granddaughter. Melinda would love to reconnect with roommates Francine Zuzzolo Taylor, Diane Smith, Martha Moore Townsend, and Verna Carlson Hawk, and riding buddy Carolyn Kendall. 

Barbara Ioanes has continued her work on community service art projects, including refurbishing of the Marilyn Monroe mural in northwest Washington, D.C. 

Kay Pannell Howe shared sad news of the death of her husband, Norton, of cancer. Our sympathy goes out to her and her family. 

Phil and I, Susan Rowe Bunting, recently adopted a 6-year-old boxer dog, Hettie, who has added excitement and interest to our self-isolation. Thankfully, I am now forced to take walks many times a day – sorely needed.

[Editors’ note: Former class agent Phyllis Cavedo Weisser submitted notes for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish them here.] 

This is my last submission as class agent. I, Phyllis Cavedo Weisser, have enjoyed hearing from so many of you over the last almost 20 years. If you would like to serve as class agent, or to share news or notice of a death of one of our classmates, write to classnotes@umw.edu. If you have news to share directly with me or those on my mailing list, please continue to send those to me at pcweisser@yahoo.com. 

Like many others, Felicity Hallanan was disappointed that we couldn’t visit campus for our 55th reunion. She noted that 2020 will be remembered for events in our lives that did not happen, as well as those that did. 

In summer 2019, someone drove through three rooms of Lee Smith Musgrave’s home. The car went through the garage door and the mudroom and came to a stop in the guest bathroom – all while Lee was in the house. Her home was declared uninhabitable until a structural engineer declared it safe for repair. She took refuge with a neighbor for 11 days. 

In November, she and a neighbor enjoyed a Caribbean cruise, a welcome relief from the home-repair chaos. But summer 2020 brought more strife. Lee stepped off her scale and her femur cracked. She had surgery that day, and a rod and two screws were inserted to hold the bone together. She hoped to go home from rehab in mid-August. 

Janice Helvey Robinson and Rob are still in the Atlanta area, with their children close by. Their weekly visits are now driveway visits or Zoom meetings. They decided several years ago to travel in the United States and have been to Jackson Hole, Vail, Mount Rushmore, and Glacier National Park. Their last outing was a New Orleans-to-Memphis cruise on the Mississippi River. No more travel plans until we get a vaccine! Meanwhile they play bridge online and record their church choir pieces individually, to be put together into a virtual performance. 

Linda Patterson Hamilton has been cancer-free for nearly two years, and she and husband Austin celebrated their 53rd anniversary in June. She’s participated in a weekly Zoom meeting of Tremble Clefs, a Parkinson’s disease singing therapy that strengthens vocal and swallowing functions. She is also writing a novel set in Virginia. 

Carol Meese continues to paint and exhibit. Her latest body of work was done during the stay-home phase of the pandemic. 

Margaret Cobourn Robinson and Kenny spent January to March in Vero Beach, Florida. Margaret’s brother passed away June 16, but they were blessed to fly out to Seattle to see him the week before. 

Kathie Drake Burgess practiced family law for 20 years and specialized in helping victims of domestic violence. Cheryl Gonzales Yancey just retired for the second time. 

On a sad note, we have lost several classmates recently. Sara Rieger Trub sent news that Phyllis Eure Rodrigues passed away on April 17 due to complications from COVID-19. It was very sudden, and her family was relieved that she did not suffer a prolonged illness. The nursing home director said she was wheeling around and being her funny, warm, and friendly self that very morning, and the staff was shocked and heartbroken. 

Saralyn Judd Pinson passed away in December 2018. Gertrude “Trudy” Kitchin Kohl passed away Oct. 6, 2019. Margaret Cobourn Robinson and Trudy were roommates sophomore year, and Meg was able to see Trudy a few days before she passed. Ed Amsbury wrote that Carole Dirling Amsbury passed away July 30, 2020. 

Barbara Bishop Mann and husband Robert celebrated Christmas quietly at home with a carry-out turkey dinner from Wegmans. Bobbi has traveled nowhere during the pandemic. Her only outings were trips to the gym to work with her personal trainer, who has taught her to do a 30-second plank. 

Carolyn Eldred has witnessed a burst of creativity and cooperation with ten months of Zooming – ElderStudy sessions, meetings, social events and even an occasional theater performance, all online. Carolyn is a member of The Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, which held its 50th annual Christmas Candlelight House Tour thanks to a cellphone app, digitalized information, and an exterior-only tour of decorated historic homes. Carolyn looked forward to a Zoom-free 2021. 

Mary Kathryn Rowell Horner and husband Charlie spent most of 2020 in Florida on COVID lockdown, returning to Alexandria, Virginia, in October. While hunkered down in the condo, Mary Kathryn sorted out old photos from our college days and posted many of them on our MWC 1966 Facebook page. Anne Meade Clagett was going out and about a wee bit more often in Fauquier County, experiencing less stress than last spring. Her two pods of local girlfriends managed outdoor lunches every month. Anne wrote, “I don’t know how to use TikTok, but I can write in cursive, do long division, and tell time on clocks with hands. So there’s that!” 

Catherine Cantwell Luria spent six months living near her daughter’s family in Portland, Oregon, before she and Eric returned to Mexico at the end of September. The weather in their Mexican village is nice enough for outdoor dining year-round. Daughter Sacha, a teacher, and her three children all did their schooling by Zoom. 

Sandra Hutchison Schanné had a houseful for Christmas. Son Brandon and his family traveled from Texas to spend the holidays with her, their first visit in two years. Daughter Amy, a nurse practitioner, stayed in Denver and carried on with virtual schooling for her three children. 

Anne Powell Young collects Nativity sets, and the newest addition was a canine Nativity with a miniature Schnauzer like her doggie, Meg. Anne and Virgil planned a quiet, Zoom-only family Christmas in the woods in Stafford, Virginia. 

Pam Kearney Patrick had sequestered at home since March and depleted the honey-do list. She and TaB connected with friends and family on FaceTime but had to cancel a surprise 50th birthday party for their son. Two of Pam’s watercolors sold during the limited summer season before all the art shows went digital for the rest of the year. Pam met Ambler Carter at the Philadelphia flower show in March, before everything shut down. 

Anne Kales Lindblom and husband Steve sailed their yacht from Northern Virginia through the Chesapeake Bay and along the Intracoastal Waterway to winter lodging down south, returning home in time for the holidays. 

Elaine Gerlach McKelly and husband Tim returned from two weeks in Key West shortly before the pandemic lockdown began. Their retirement community has walking trails and indoor swimming, but the campus was closed to visitors because of COVID. They got together with their children and grandchildren, masked and distanced, in a nearby park. Two grandchildren graduated from college in May without ceremonies; the other five returned to college with many online classes. Their youngest granddaughter is at Mary Washington and loves it. 

The staff of Tom and Kathy Goddard Moss’ conscientious California retirement community provides Zoom exercise classes, writing groups, and chorus. Meals are brought to their door; van drivers do their shopping; and they can visit (masked and distanced) or listen to music in the courtyard. They did leave the grounds to drive their presidential election ballots to a dropbox! In September, when sister Eileen Goddard Albrigo broke her hip (no surgery required), Kathy tested negative for COVID then flew to Virginia to help out with the Albrigo clan’s busy schedule and enjoy some “twin time.” 

Susan Hanes Chaney and Bill concentrated on caring for their home, garden, and animals, and focused on all the positive aspects of their quiet life in the Northern Neck of Virginia. For Bill’s birthday they took a sightseeing flight over the area, remarking on how much beautiful water there is, though vulnerable to climate change. When the library closed due to the pandemic, Susan purchased a Kindle and enjoyed reading many good books. 

Annette Maddra Horner used COVID time for her landscaping project of removing and replacing invasive plantings with native trees, shrubs, and perennials. Two nieces started a group text including Annette, two sisters, and adult children. Annette made field trips to visit her sister, a master naturalist who shares her country acres, beaver pond, and knowledge. Annette also participated in Zoom chapel and masked and distanced patio parties with neighbors and family. 

Yvonne March and husband Chris were spending the holidays at home with virtual family connections. Yvonne, Betsy Chappelear Tryon, Katharine Rogers Lavery, and Susan Roth Nurin were saddened to learn of the April 2020 passing of their Spanish House housemate, Carolyn Corwin Thomas ’67. 

Diana Hamilton Cowell had an eventful 2019 and a reflective 2020. In October 2019 she and Dan traveled to The Dalles, Oregon, to which her father’s ancestors had emigrated along the Oregon Trail in 1846. Now that she has hearing aids, Diana has discovered she is no longer surrounded by mumblers. In 2020, she and Dan enjoyed experiences in “the best little beach in Delaware” and looked forward to more joyful times ahead. 

Terry Caruthers had both knees replaced, caught COVID in the hospital and shared it with her sister (both recovered well), and did an oil painting of Don’s saxophone with a sheet music background for his 80th birthday while he was quarantined in their basement. Once COVID-free, Terry flew to Chicago to visit her daughter. Terry self-published Brother Steve Stories, about her older brother’s eventful life, and published Mystical Pieces of Me about her own experiences. 

I, Katharine Rogers Lavery, and family rescheduled our Outer Banks beach vacation to July 2021 and stayed home all of 2020. Hank continued managing a small office building in Falls Church while I tutored geometry, precalculus, and trig on FaceTime and occasionally recorded trumpet music for our church’s online services. We welcomed a new grandnephew in August and a great-grandson in December. Calls, messages, and occasional porch visits with family and friends were great, but we all hope COVID restrictions will be lifted and togetherness can be restored. 

[Editors’ note: Katharine Rogers Lavery also submitted notes for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.] 

After waiting five years for a San Diego retirement community to be completed, Dee Dee Nottingham Ward and Nat finally moved last February. They adjusted to the change from the large house they had for 46 years to a 1,400-square-foot apartment. 

In March 2020 (pre-shutdown) Mary Kathryn Rowell Horner attended a luncheon hosted by Mary Grace Wright Day with President Troy Paino, Kelly Paino, and other Mary Washington alumni. 

Joan Cuccias Patton managed to stay isolated during a kitchen renovation and carefully disinfected everything each evening, per her children’s instructions. 

In May, Midge Meredith Poyck and family conducted a backyard graduation ceremony for a granddaughter who was headed to college last August. Midge wore her academic regalia, awarded a makeshift diploma, and hosted a Zoom party. 

Marty Spigel Sedoff and Bob were staying isolated. They looked after Bob’s mother, who lives nearby in her own home. 

Ginny Bateman Brinkley used her quarantine time to write poems for kids, published in May by BellAire Press. Granddaughter Brittany Hewitt performed her senior recital at Juilliard in February 2020 with 17 family members in attendance – the last performance before the pandemic. 

Judy Wells Clark has continued playing music for church and teaching piano, in person or through FaceTime. 

While working at home, Jana Privette Usry completed at least eight mediation cases via conference calls, fax, and computer. Sally Souder missed her annual lunch meeting with Gerry Sargent Habas, with whom she keeps in close touch. 

Winnie Woodson Stribling researched patterns for face masks and made them before it became a requirement. She and husband Brad sheltered in place. Daughter Sarah lives with them and runs necessary errands. 

Yvonne Hutchinson March managed to visit her son and daughter-in-law in Columbus, Ohio, in March 2020, just before all flights were canceled. Yvonne kept in touch with Susan Roth Nurin, who was feeling restricted in her NYC apartment, missing concerts, arts activities, and bilingual tours. 

Betsy Chappelear Tryon’s son, Frank, shares her townhouse and does the shopping and errands. Daughter Maureen lives nearby with granddaughter Maddy home from college doing online classes.

Kitty Down Gregg and husband Don stayed isolated at home, disappointed that son Chris and his fiancée had to postpone their wedding. 

Pat Lewars Pace and Linda Glynn Hutchinson had planned a trip to Germany to see the once-in-every-10- years Oberammergau passion play. The trip was postponed until 2022. 

Katie Winn Green visited her son and family in Cardiff, Wales, last Christmas before they moved to Sydney, Australia, in February. Unable to visit them in Australia this year, and with her choral group concert canceled, Katie picked up her acoustic guitar and practiced enough to build up finger calluses. 

Caroline Hogeland Ruppar and husband Allan flew to South Africa in February for 10 days including a safari and embarked on a scheduled 28-day cruise up the east coast of Africa and across the Indian Ocean. But the pandemic closed ports, and the 1,000 passengers and crew spent two weeks on the ship. They finally departed from Muscat, Oman, knowing that they were safe because they had been quarantined aboard. Caroline and Allan traveled 38 hours through four international airports to get home. 

Genie McClellan Hobson spent much of her quarantine time sewing masks for the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, writing postcards to voters, and Zooming with family. Genie was able to keep working as a Realtor while she and Don quarantined. 

Linda Mitchell Spiers retired as rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Collinsville, Connecticut, and traveled for the fourth time to Israel and Palestine. In August 2019 Linda was appointed interim priest-in-charge at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Essex, Connecticut, and continues to serve full time. Worship services continued via livestream, with meetings and programs via Zoom. 

Eileen Goddard Albrigo opened their home pool at the end of May, a welcome antidote for the COVID doldrums. The grandkids visited in shifts and mostly stayed outdoors, social distancing. Husband John continued his medical practice, doing only urgent surgeries and seeing patients who needed his physical presence for treatments. 

I, Katharine Rogers Lavery, spent the summer working on the house, yard, and garden, keeping a close eye on the bird feeders, four fox kits, and twin fawns living in the backyard. A magical huge stand-up Happy Birthday sign appeared in the front yard the morning of my 75th birthday, and Hank and I celebrated our 25th anniversary with a dinner of home-caught crabs from our son’s river house. 

Tyla Matteson and husband Glen stayed home for months. She kept busy with Sierra Club meetings, all virtual, and worked on local races in Hampton and Newport News, helping to elect several environmental champions. Tyla and Susanne Landerghini Boehm stay in touch. Susanne also heard from Kate Ginman, who had spent many years traveling abroad working with the armed forces and is now retired. Kate relayed the sad news of the passing of her roommate, Linda Johnson Williams, from ovarian cancer in May 2020. 

We heard from Cherie Wells Brumfield in the summer and were shocked and saddened to learn that she passed away Sept. 6, 2020. We also remember our classmate Barbara Ann Green, who passed away May 6, 2020. And we send condolences to Sandra Hutchison Schanné on the loss of her husband, Richard, on June 6, 2020. 

Christine Brooks had cataract surgery in fall 2020. She’s enjoyed taking pictures of the lakes in Reston, Virginia, during her daily walks. 

Ginger Blackwell Rigsby and John had planned 2020 travel to China and Russia via the Silk Road. Though the pandemic postponed their trips, they were able to escape to their boat on the St. Johns River in Florida. 

Sadly, Doris Smith Parrish passed away in July 2020 from leukemia. Wilhelmina Endicott Perrine passed away in January 2020 after five-year struggle with ALS, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease. 

[Editors’ note: Mary Beth Bush Dore also submitted notes for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.] 

Sarah Nabstedt Barnes and her husband live in San Diego and enjoy lovely weather and the mighty Pacific. 

Laurie Newman DiPadova-Stocks and Hugh relocated from Parkville, Missouri, to Gilbert, Arizona, where Laurie is assigned to her university’s new branch campus. Together, she and Hugh have six children, 16 grandchildren, and as of June 26, seven great-grandchildren. She spoke recently with Florence Bishop. 

Once local COVID restrictions eased, Yvonne J. Milspaw and husband Douglas Evans were able to visit in person with their 3-year-old grandson, and Douglas took him flying in his private small plane. Yvonne was at work on arrangements for a planned fall 2021 meeting of the American Folklore Society in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 

Charlotte Gregg Morgan’s poetry chapbook Time Travel was published by Finishing Line Press in August. The memoir Are You Gregg’s Mother? was to be published by Legacy Book Press in 2021. 

Alexis “Lex” Ball Smith is mom to two and grandma to four, and she anticipated the arrival of her first great-grandchild in August 2020. 

Gayle Atwood Channel and husband Warren drove from Portsmouth, Virginia, to visit while I, Mary Beth Bush Dore, was in rehab in Beaufort, South Carolina. We had a wonderful dinner visit. 

Daughter Ginger Dore Marshall ’94 and I met with UMW Development Officer Elizabeth Waters Hunsinger ’01 to find out about the new things happening at Mary Washington. 

Husband Casey and I have stayed at home as Ginger and the governor of South Carolina wanted us to do. Ginger took family leave to care for Casey after his back operation and me as I prepared for another hip operation. 

[Editors’ note: Sally Monroe Kelly submitted notes for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.] 

Frances Rodgers Bryant shared the sad news of the death of husband Julian on July 14, 2020. Besides Frances, daughter Jennifer Bryant Langdale ’91, son William, and four grandchildren survive him. 

2019 was a banner travel year for Susan Morris and Don, with trips to the Panama Canal, Amsterdam, and London. 2020 began the same way, with travels to Atlanta and south Florida, and a Caribbean cruise. They went into lockdown in mid-March. “Really glad Don and I actually LIKE each other!” Susan wrote. 

Dale Saunders Kalkofen’s extensive travels have included two long pilgrimage hikes: El Camino de Santiago in 2016 and a hike through Scotland to England’s Holy Island in 2018, both with small groups from her church in Richmond. She enjoyed this past summer in isolation on Shadowland Farm in Powhatan County, Virginia, where she has lots of flower beds and an excellent vegetable garden. She has been drawing in pastels for fun but nothing like her dear friend and artist Mel Wittig Neale, who has been a prize-winning exhibiting artist since our Mary Washington days. 

Julie Deane Webb lives in Connecticut. She and husband Rick miss daughter Mary, who lives in the Seattle area with her husband and two boys. Son Josh and family live in the Boston area. Julie had hip replacement surgery in October 2019 and by spring was able to lift and squat in her garden like she used to! She remembers our 50th reunion with affection and hopes we can get together again soon. 

Leneice Wu writes that shortly after our 50th reunion, she and husband John Thomas (married in 2013 after both being widowed in 2005) moved to a continuing-care community in Northern Virginia. It was not a minute too soon, as John needed skilled nursing care after his third surgery to repair a broken kneecap. She bought a condo in Vermont to continue downhill skiing as long as possible and to be closer to her son and his wife and her only grandchild, 4-year-old Lucas. Daughter Emily lives in California and was an unemployed pandemic Equity stage manager with an employed husband, which is good! Leneice says moving to a small community of 2,000 is a little like starting college. It does take a while to get used to all the rules! 

As your new class agents, we shout out huge thanks to Linda Eadie Hood and Iris Harrell, who have so ably taken on this responsibility in recent years. We now know how much fun it is, but it does come with some effort! 

Jean Polk Hanky was thankful to isolate with her husband of 48 years in a downsized house near all of their eight children, from whom they received lots of drive-by visits during the pandemic. 

Alec and Betty Olander Adams moved from their farm of 22 years in Maryland to a new farm in Fauquier County, Virginia, last October. “Totally different lifestyle, but glad Alec achieved his dream retirement.” 

Betty’s MWC roommate, Chris Phillips Farhood, and her son, Nick, caught COVID independently in New York City. Nick recovered well, but Chris experienced lingering exhaustion and has shifted her psychotherapy practice to an all-Zoom format. She’s finished her home painting studio and calls painting and cooking her COVID-vanquishers. 

It’s no surprise that Iris Harrell has been busy during the pandemic. She’s on the building committee at her 3,500-home retirement community in California, and they recently completed several major projects. Iris and wife Ann Benson, who will celebrate their 42nd anniversary in May, bought a second home six hours north in Ashland, Oregon, (home of the Shakespeare Festival) to have a place to escape to during the fire season. 

Maria Canizares Daski and Lyn Howell Gray both checked in with us and promised to share in a future issue. 

Debbie Morrison Gibson and husband Frank celebrated their 25th anniversary in 2019. Debbie had a 38-year career as a flight attendant with Pan Am and Delta, and Frank is a retired pilot. Last year Debbie and Anne Hoskot Kreutzer, freshman and sophomore MWC roommates, reconnected. Debbie lives in Arlington, Virginia, a block from where Anne’s family lived when she was in college. 

Dianne Johnson Clover married a Marine and has lived in Texas for 51 years. She retired from teaching, and husband Carl retired from law practice. A planned 2020 cruise to the Baltics was canceled, but they were able to take four of their five grandchildren to Lake Buchanan, in the Hill Country of Texas, for swimming and exploring. 

Pam Hogan Baynard found Roman Art and Architecture while cleaning out her bookshelves during the pandemic. From the inscription “E. Watters, Mason 120, Ext 485,” she realized she’d had roommate Chibba Watters Miller’s book all these years. Chib’s not been looking for it, but she is missing her MWC yearbook, which she thinks she left at a reunion. Anyone have it? 

Carol Greenwood Trejo shared that monthly Zoom mini-reunions have been the thing for classmates Cheryl Ulmer, Tanya Belt Nickson, Judy Farrell Bechtold, Loretta Horgan Nagle, and Jan Desmond Melluzzo. Initiated by Doralece Lipoli Dullaghan ’70, they’ve also included Beverley Clare Coates ’68 and Class of ’70 members Anne Howell Wood, Kirsten Mackey Fleisher, and Darlene Greenhalgh Hines. 

Nancy Yeager Allard and husband Paul moved to the Greenspring retirement community in Springfield, Virginia, close to friends, church, and longtime doctors. Besides downsizing from their home of 42 years, Nancy has volunteered at her church since it reopened and read stories to their 6-year-old grandson via FaceTime. 

Budget cuts took Clare Burke Ardizzone’s job with the campus architect’s office at the University of Illinois at Chicago, but she’s found retirement rewarding – aside from her own bout with COVID. Free time has allowed her to learn more about vocal music and streamline 50 years of possessions. She took a New Year’s trip to Costa Rica with her daughter and son-in-law and the grands. 

Linda Eadie Hood has had a most difficult year, with a long recovery after breaking bones in her leg and foot in a February 2020 fall. By January 2021 she was finally able to walk by herself, but her ankle was still swollen and she was not allowed to drive. Eadie, we know everyone joins us in the sincere hope that by the time you read this in the magazine, you are fully healed. 

Nancy Gleason has done graphite drawing and oil painting for the past six years. During a safari in Africa in October of 2019 her group visited Tanzania and Rwanda, where they saw gorillas in their natural habitat. Nancy and Gary, her partner of 18 years, got in four weeks of skiing out West in February and March 2020, getting home just a few days before Virginia shut down. 

Carolyn Bauer LeJeune and Dave are doing OK but had to cancel a planned trip to the Rotary International Convention in Honolulu. Carolyn was finishing her first year as regent of her DAR chapter. They were hit by two hurricanes this past season, one downing many big trees. They had to go to their daughter’s house for a week. 

Lou Myers Daly and husband Andy got their first COVID shots in January – lucky them! They are amused by the role reversal they are experiencing with their two adult sons, but appreciate the boys’ concern. Lou had a shoulder replacement in late September. Ow ow ow. She hoped to be back on the golf course in March or April. 

Patti Boise Kemp sends love and well wishes to all as we endure the pandemic. “We were fortunate to have our only grandchild, who now lives in Texas, spend nearly seven months with us. Emily came for the summer and stayed to do her first semester of 10th grade virtually. It was a blessing having her with us!” 

Ruth Jones Pierce was in the Class of 1970 but finished a year early with our class. She and her husband have lived in Chesterfield County, Virginia, since 1969. Ruth retired in 2003 after a 33- year career teaching special education. They have two sons and two wonderful grandsons. 

Carol Hewitt Guida reports that her family is safe and well in Canberra, Australia. She keeps in touch with U.S. friends by email, has lots of Zoom meetings, and reads The Washington Post and The New York Times every morning. 

Cathie O’Connor Woteki says she and husband Tom are utter failures at retirement. She remains on faculty at Iowa State University and as visiting distinguished professor at the University of Virginia’s Biocomplexity Institute, and Tom heads Virginia Tech’s new graduate program in data analytics and applied statistics. Cathie serves on Dean Keith Mellinger’s advisory board for the College of Arts and Sciences at UMW. Since the lockdown began, Cathie and Tom have been at their small farm in Rappahannock County on endless Zoom meetings. 

It was great to hear from French House housemate Martha Wilbourne Cummings, who’s been able to spend time with most of her nine grandchildren. She plays tennis and pickleball and goes on careful outings with her Garden Club friends. She and Mike planned to celebrate their 50th anniversary in June with all the kids at an oceanfront house in Virginia Beach. 

Linda Medica Martin teaches art history part time at Purdue University and struggles to keep up with online components in COVID-era classes. 

Catharine Rossi Mannering and husband Jerry live in Comfort, a town of about 2,000 people in the beautiful Texas Hill Country. Both retired last year from the Comfort Independent School. They closed their bed-and-breakfast after 23 years and sold their longhorn cattle. Now every day’s a holiday, and every night is Saturday. 

Jenifer Higgins Clark is known as the expert on the Gulf Stream’s currents. In the mid-’90s she left NOAA and started a company that provides real-time information for sailboat racing, rescuing, navigational needs, distance ocean swim support, and commercial fishing needs. 

Jeanine Zavrel Fearns spent most of 2020 at home in Fairfax, Virginia, but the lucky lady did get a new kitchen put in. Her favorite hobby, choral singing with the Reston Chorale, became virtual. Jeanine spends many weekends at her family cabin in the mountains of West Virginia. 

Anne Witham Kilpatrick cleaned closets, replaced wallpaper, added pullout shelves to kitchen cabinets, put lights in pantries and closets, trimmed bushes, put up new outside lights, rearranged the living room, washed windows, organized the pantry, put together a 56- page book for her woman’s club, joined in many Zoom meetings, participated in virtual choir productions, and took part in Wreaths Across America at two local cemeteries. Whew! 

Former Virginia poet laureate Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda has relied on Zoom and Google Meet to conduct poetry workshops, readings, and presentations. One was a reading to promote her recent book, River Country: A Poem-Play, co-authored with Robert P. Arthur. Carolyn conducted online writing workshops for 500 seventh-graders at Falling Creek Middle School in Chesterfield, Virginia. 

Shirley Myers Sorrentino and Kaye Lowe Reynolds visited Barbara Mangels in Black Mountain, North Carolina, where Barbara lives after retiring from her speech therapy business in Los Angeles. Kaye, husband Alan, Shirley, and friend Richard Robbins toured Virginia’s Smith Mountain Lake in October. Shirley has lived there for eight years since retiring from teaching and real estate careers in the Fredericksburg area. Kaye and Alan recently returned from living overseas, where Alan worked in international banking and Kaye tutored. 

Betty Wade Miles Perry and her husband were able to have a family Christmas at their Virginia Beach home since their two daughters, UMW grads in 2000 and 2003, and their spouses had early, mild cases of the virus. 

Barb Crickenberger Hall and husband Bob started 2020 by traveling with friends to Bogota and Cartagena, Colombia. Then they went to New York to celebrate Bob’s 80th birthday, and in February went skiing in Telluride, Colorado. And then … lockdown. Barb continued her nonprofit board work and added a new role as chair of her Washington, D.C., co-op’s energy conservation task force. 

Sissie Burnette Orris was a chemistry major and lived in Stafford County, Virginia, near Fredericksburg. Now they live part time in Bluffton, South Carolina, and part time in Citrus Hills, Florida. 

Kent and Teri Thibodeaux Cueman planned to move from Yorktown, Virginia, to Fredericksburg in May. Teri and Kent have weekly Skype visits with Kathleen Hill Marks, Debbie Blythe Weise ’70, Gail Shifflet Astor ’70, and their husbands – all Randolph-Macon College graduates from the Class of ’69. 

Barbara Macon Sacha and Barbara “Bobbie” Amos Roessler reconnected after 50 years. They found they had both been living in Winter Park, Florida, for more than 20 years. 

Two years ago Bill and Cece Smith Riffer moved to Patriots Colony in Williamsburg. She thinks she may be the queen of quarantining, but they’ve been able to enjoy happy hours in their building and play computer bridge with a couple from their old neighborhood. 

Cece sent sad news of French House amie Joan Mueller Goertz, who passed away Jan. 13, 2021, after a diagnosis of colon cancer. Husband George predeceased her. She leaves a daughter, Jennifer, and a son, Jonathan, a priest who was with her for the last couple of weeks. 

Susan Seay Ledbetter sadly shared that her husband of 38 years, William Ledbetter Jr., passed away in October 2020. He was a retired circuit court judge in the Fredericksburg area. We send our condolences. 

At the request of our children, Tom and I, Anne Hoskot Kreutzer, have isolated for most of the past year in southern Virginia. If not for FaceTime, our 2-year-old twin grandsons in San Diego wouldn’t have a clue who we are. 

I’m also grateful for close contact with MWC roomie Marianne deBlois Zentz. Marianne happily agreed to take on the class agent job with me, sent out a lovely note soliciting your news, and immediately caught COVID! She was fortunate to participate in a monoclonal antibody study, got an IV infusion of Eli Lilly’s bamlanivimab (I swear) and felt immediately better. 

Marianne has kept up with Linda Gattis Shull, Patti Boise Kemp, Betsy Crews Neilson, Betty Wade Miles Perry, Barbara Burton Micou, and Christie Wineholt Warman. 

Linda and Barbara objected to an “unflattering portrayal” of Mary Washington in a University of Virginia alumni magazine article about the history of coeducation at U.Va. Their response, which the magazine published, quoted the article’s author saying Mary Washington had “gone on to become a full-fledged university.” They added, “And a darned fine one, at that!” 

The Class of 1969 has three scholarship recipients. Cedric Anash ’21 and Cathryn Puglia ’22 received the Laura V. Sumner Memorial Scholarship endowed for our 25th reunion. Morgan Bates ’21 received the 50th reunion scholarship.