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

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

1982

Tara Corrigall
corrigallt@gmail.com

We are almost a year into the pandemic as I write these notes. Our everyday lives may include a slipper collection, improved baking skills, and the repeated use of “Zoom” as a noun, adjective, and verb, but we continue to cherish our college days and reconnect with friends and roommates. 

Varna Boyd moved back to Fredericksburg in 2018 to take a position with Dovetail Cultural Resource Group, an alumni-owned cultural resources management firm headquartered in Fredericksburg. Dovetail now has a scholarship program with the university, and the firm was highlighted in the University of Mary Washington Magazine last year. 

Varna shared that Margaret “Peggy” Frahm Smith was to welcome her first grandchild, a boy, in early spring. 

Eric Olsen is serving his third term as commonwealth’s attorney in Stafford, Virginia. He has been working in the area since 1989 and still plays Frisbee. Well, if the next reunion celebration gets out of hand, we know who to call for legal advice. 

In January 2020, Monica Peterschmidt Ettinger became director of operations for Bioenergy DevCo, which uses anaerobic digestion to recycle organics that otherwise would be incinerated or sent to landfills. Also in 2020, she and her husband, married 31 years, adopted a COVID puppy, Chai. They and their daughter had COVID, but their symptoms were mild. All were recovered by the holidays, and they were able to see their son and Monica’s 96-year-old mother-in-law, who lives next door. 

Jenifer Blair and I recently caught up with Trenda Powell Jacocks. She is married to Jake, who many of us remember for his romantic marriage proposal at our graduation ball. They spent 2020 with family at home in Fairfax Station, Virginia. Jake did his medical work and clinical work remotely, and Trenda served a congregation as associate pastor via Zoom and remained a pastor on call. Their elder daughter and her husband temporarily relocated to their home from Manhattan, Trenda’s 83-year-old mom joined the family bubble from March to September, and Trenda’s younger daughter and family were with them in June and July. 

Trenda and Jake traveled quite a bit in 2019 for their 60th year – to Hawaii for work and play, to Alaska, and to Ethiopia on a mission trip, with a side visit to Morocco. 

Ginger Deane Bushman’s daughter married her longtime sweetheart in September after a pandemic delay from May. They are now settled with a puppy, a cat, and baby on the way in July. Ginger’s husband, Scott, was to retire in late April, and they planned to relocate to North Carolina. The pandemic ended her contract work supporting students struggling to meet minimum standards, and she misses the kids but looked forward to new challenges. She keeps up with Ginger Wagner Pugh, Tad Gillie Stanley, and Laura Wong Dolloff ’83. 

Stay in touch, and remember that our 40th reunion is in 2022.