1953

Rebecca “Becky” Spitzer Harvill
becbub@earthlink.net

One of Carolyn Keck Redic’s daughters was a June bride in Carolyn’s backyard bower, marrying a man she met at his mother’s yard sale. Quote from the bride: “You never know what you’ll find at these sales.” Another daughter flew to Fargo, N.D., with Carolyn to celebrate Carolyn’s 80th birthday.

Barbara White Ramer lived in Fredericksburg, attended Mary Washington freshman and sophomore years, transferred, and earned a master’s from U.Va. She spent 45 years in Fredericksburg as a teacher and guidance director and started a school for emotionally disturbed children. She moved to Roswell, Ga., to be near her daughter and two teenage grandsons. As assistant director of a small private school, she works with students with learning differences. Barbara has fond memories of Fredericksburg and Mary Washington. Her relatives attended, probably in the late ’20s and ’30s; her aunt was in charge of the dining hall while we were there; her dad owned Santee Restaurant; and she enjoyed working with Mary Washington student teachers as head of Walker-Grant Middle School’s science department. Nell McCoy Savopoulos wrote about the typical doctors’ appointments and medications. Ginny Kinniburgh and John are delighted they moved to Falcons Landing 11 years ago. Ginny had gall bladder surgery but was feeling great. She still directs the choir, and John’s photography keeps him involved with the Falcons Landing News. They met Kitty Garland Obenshain and husband Ray in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., for a January lunch at their condo overlooking the ocean.

Since husband John died last year, Honey Kerrins Friel and her tiny terrier-Chihuahua mix have shared her home with younger son Chris and his pit bull.

To celebrate her 79th year, Irene Maliaros Mathas traveled to Greece with son Ted, president and board chairman of New York Life, who had to be in Athens for an international conference, and his family. Later she traveled with son Tom and his family to Huntington Beach, Calif. Her sons hosted a November family reunion for her 80th. Barbara McFarland Carper and husband John joined them.

Deigh Renn Simpson prefers to think of 80 as “four score” and celebrated her birthday with a sleepover with a dozen women, a backyard fire, music, food, and the harmonious sharing of a single bathroom. She still lives in the small cottage by the river, where she grew up, and the annual get- togethers remind her of Marye. For a nostalgic kick, she suggests seeing Julia Roberts in Mona Lisa Smile, a virtual visit to a women’s college in the early ’50s. Deigh planned to see Barbara Faxon Stout and husband Hal.

Ginny Bailes will likely be harvesting from her garden when you read this. She celebrated her nephew’s February birthday in South Carolina and still hears from old roommates Kitty Obenshain and Betty Buck. (Kitty and Betty, will you please put me on your correspondence list?)

Peggy Hopkins Johnson and her sister spend weeks on the Keys in February and March. She loves her condo, with great people and activities. Nancy Melton Miller broke her leg, and her daughter and son-in-law welcomed her to their home and were spoiling her, waiting on her hand and foot. Having Nancy as a dear friend is one of the great blessings of my life!

My son Matt and his family arrived for an overnight visit in February just as snowflakes began to fall. Well before dark, we had about 6 inches! Matt had brought four sleds and had a ball with the four kids. I talked with Garnett Bell Crawford after our Madison was accepted at Salisbury University, on which she was set after learning about their great education program.

In April, our daughter, Lindsey, was to marry a great guy on the patio at Keswick. The next day our extended family was to celebrate Bub’s and my 60th anniversary and my 80th birthday with lunch together and an evening with a popular Charlottesville band. Bub and I planned a bus-group trip to Gettysburg and later an extended tour of the Canadian Rockies. Our granddaughter was to graduate high school and our first great-grandchild was due to arrive in Richmond in July!

It’s neat to get your messages! I wish I were more computer literate, but I do my best with help from a husband who spent his career dealing with the monsters.

1954

classnotes@umw.edu

The Class of 1954 currently has no class agent. If you would like to volunteer for this role, please contact the alumni office at alumni@umw.edu

1955

Christine Harper Hovis
chrishovis@aol.com

Thanks to all who wrote. It’s nice to hear from those who don’t use computers, as I still have mixed feelings about mine.

Fran and Sally Hanger Moravitz’s home was spared during a microburst last summer, but trees fell and they ended up with lots of firewood. Their son, Mike, received a doctorate in history last May. One of their grandchildren was a UMW freshman. Sally’s niece and her family visited from Sweden, and she and Fran went to Portland, Maine. They traveled to Puerto Rico and kayaked, hiked, snorkeled, and night swam in the bioluminescent bay. Sally attended a Friends of Dance fundraising concert at UMW’s Dodd Auditorium. She and Fran stayed with Ann Strickler Doumas, and the granddaughters of both Sally and Ann joined them for dinner and the concert. Sally saw many Sacred Dance Guild friends and said those who are UMW graduates worked hard to put the concert together.

Anne Lou Rohrbach Culwell of Oklahoma took an October bus tour through the Smoky Mountains and saw a lot! She has four grandchildren, about 16 greats, and a great-great- grandson, Jax, was born the day after Thanksgiving. Ann still works but planned to visit London and travel through the Chunnel.

Bee Melillo Shanahan said John had always brought her coffee and sometimes breakfast in bed, paid bills, and pumped gas, and she was adjusting to doing these things herself. During Hurricane Irene, daughter Betsy and her spouse helped when the cellar flooded, ruining everything inside. She looked forward to going to Florida after Christmas. Hang in there, Bee! Mary-Margaret Papstein Carter invited Mary Kate Bird Dellett of Arizona to lunch at her winter home in Scottsdale. Mary Kate was in the middle of the busy tax season; she volunteers to prepare taxes for the elderly. She took time off to fly back to Oregon to see oldest daughter Katherine receive Oregon State University’s distinguished alumni award. Her daughter also gave a speech about her work as assistant secretary of the Army. Carole Kolton Bryson, who related the sad news of Harry’s death in February, was coping and keeping up with activities. Long ago, she started a book about the days at Mary Washington and thought she might get back to writing that. Dotty Booth Sanders and Dewey travel a lot so he can run marathons. He had run 58, with more planned this year. She’s the cheerleader and driver and said it’s hard enough to drive the 26.2 miles much less run them.

Jim and Jackie Whitehurst Hertz had a tough year. Jim was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and had bypass surgery. Jackie had been caring for him when she was diagnosed with cancer. She had extensive surgery at Johns Hopkins in October, and received follow-up chemo and radiation. Jim was in assisted living while she recuperated. Ann Strickler Doumas and Bill took a Caribbean cruise on the Queen Mary 2 during the holidays. They enjoyed the sights and warm temperatures but came home with cracking coughs. She likes University of Mary Washington Magazine and said each issue gets slicker. She and Bill attended inauguration events for Richard V. Hurley, and Ann made sure the Anderson Center seat the Class of ’55 bought reads as Carol Cooper instructed.

Laura Milster Orville of South Dakota lost husband Harry in June, following a progressive illness, and moved to Westhills Village in August. She knits, sews, does crossword puzzles, and belongs to a writing group. She walks a little farther each day – to keep her muscles toned. She agrees with me that being a little old lady has advantages. She said that if you’re old enough, you can flirt with anyone, and she thinks her doctor is starting to treat her like his grandmother.

Sally Wysong Puckett lost 19-year-old daughter Valerie in 1981 and is alone now after husband Ralph passed away in January 2011. She’s taking it one day at a time, lives on 10 acres in Pylesville, Md., and stays busy. She mows eight acres but has help. Her Jack Russell, fox terrier, and basset hound keep her company.

Jean Wiley Everly was at Mary Washington for two years, then married. Her husband went to George Washington, worked in the family funeral home, and was in the Coast Guard and Coast Guard Reserve. They bought a log cabin and a farm with ponies and horses in Shenandoah, intending to live there and vacation at their waterfront home in Callao, Va., but ended up doing it the other way around. They have three children, 13 grandchildren, and six greats. Jean wants to know about her Mary Washington roommate Charlotte Leavell.

1956

Ann Chilton Power
acpower125@gmail.com

I enjoy winters in town but retreat to the family farm, 14 miles away, April through December. I’m best known now for my Out of the Attic column in the local paper, and I volunteer at the Fauquier Community Food Bank and at the county’s historical society. I would love to hear from more of you. Note my new email address.

I received word of the death of Mary Gale Buchanan. MG had an effervescent personality. One of many Navy Juniors to attend Mary Washington, she was a devoted fan of alumni reunions. Mary Gale lived in Annapolis, Md., served as a Naval Academy tour guide, and worked at the Robert Crown Sailing Center.

Anne DePadro Bloom, who joined our class senior year, remembers attending Mass each Sunday with MG and stopping for cinnamon buns on the way back to campus at what was once a Civil War munitions factory. Lee Richmond sent sympathy from Baltimore, and I heard from Beth Poteet Pollard and sister Navy Juniors Susie Heap and Mickey Foley McDaniel.

Mary Ann Bing Strayer lives in Hilton Head, S.C. Her husband, an orthopedic surgeon, was a longtime rowing coach and Hilton Head ferry service captain. Their daughter is an attorney in San Francisco; she was on the 1988 U.S. Olympics rowing team. Mary’s son has a doctorate and is at Cal State. Dorcas Ann “D.A.” Hickox Channell of Daytona Beach, Fla., left Mary Washington after three years and married Ensign Channell, USNA class of ’55. Before retirement, they lived all over the world, most memorably in Moscow, most favorably in Hawaii. Afterward, they lived for 16 years in the San Francisco Bay area, where D.A. owned a catering business, In Good Taste. They have two sons and two grandchildren. She keeps in touch with Helen Wilkins Obenshain, Anne McCann Collier, and Marian Minor ’55.

Nancy Hanna Stone and Perry volunteer, travel, golf, and enjoy their maintenance-free Williamsburg home. Between them, they have five artificial joints! Meg White Fary and Frank travel to Florida to escape the Blowing Rock, N.C., winters and to Quantico, Va., thanks to Frank’s Marine Corps days.

1957

Joan Callahan Frankhauser
mahlonandjoan@verizon.net

Joe and Evelyn Nitti Ewald of Orlando are close to the University of Central Florida, so they attend orchestra concerts and plays. They planned to visit Joe’s 92-year-old mother in Iowa and see their grandchildren perform with a local ballet group in Ohio.

Nancy Hallett Guest was awaiting another storm to add snow to the mountain. Mary Montague Hudson Sikes had an April book signing at the College of William and Mary Barnes & Noble for her latest novels, Jungle Jeopardy, about a journey into the Guatemalan jungles where secret ruins lie hidden, and A Rainbow for Christmas. She had a May opening for her art exhibit, The Incredible Maya Ruins of Central America, which features large acrylic paintings inspired by visits to the ancient ruins and runs through early July at Gallery One.

1958

1959

Edna Gooch Trudeau
ednanewkent@verizon.net

Lucas is 3 and keeps his grandma on her toes. He loves going to bounce houses, his favorite character is Lightning McQueen, and he is so good for a cookie or cupcake!

Jim and Phyllis Hartleb Rowley took a world voyage, following the coastline from Montevideo, Uruguay, to Sydney, Australia, with about 30 ports in between. John and Jane Tucker Broadbooks planned to spend Christmas with Jon Karl, Kathy, and three grandchildren in Springfield, Ill. Molly Bradshaw Clark was with her daughter’s family for the holidays. Marcia Phipps Ireland and Gary took a June cruise from Boston to Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and down the St. Lawrence to Quebec and Montreal. They spent Christmas with their grandchildren, ages 6 to 20. Kristen’s daughter, the eldest, attends Villanova. Kent’s 12-year- old daughter plays ice hockey.

Ann Brooks Coutsoubinas’ Anastasia was job hunting, and Gregory continues his paramedic career. Ann, who seldom subs these days because of school budget cuts, is corresponding secretary for her church.

Alan and Celeste “Pug” Shipman Kaufman visited friends up to Maine and back and enjoyed a long, non-football fall weekend in New Orleans. Alan coaches men’s golf at UAB, ranked 26 in the nation. Pug travels with the team and volunteers with a palliative care unit.

In October, Julie Coates Littlefield and her sister visited their father’s birthplace in Goshen, Ind. Julie and husband Moe traveled a lot by train, including visits to Delaware and Philadelphia. They visited son Scott and family in Augusta, Ga., and daughter Bess and family in Mechanicsville, Va. They also visited Moe’s family and attended his 50th reunion at the University of Maine.

Joan Whittemore Loock and Jim visited Mexico this year, traveled through Italy, and visited Kristie’s family in Wisconsin. Son Kurt and wife Peggy spent several weekends at their summer house in Nags Head, N.C. Daughter Mardy’s Virginia Beach restaurant, The Blue Turtle, was doing well.

Mary Massey and Jack Mears hiked in the Blue Ridge Mountains and participated in the “Hiking Oregon’s Central Coast” Elderhostel program while visiting Jack’s family in Oregon. Mary volunteers walking dogs for the Washington Animal Rescue League, and she found the perfect dog, GiGi, part Chihuahua and part papillon. Jack, 92, gardens, walks dogs, and, having logged 18,000 miles in the past 30 years, believes that hiking relates to his longevity.

Barbara Barndt Miller and Wayne Ceeley married in August in Leicester, N.Y., and had a September church ceremony in Pennsylvania. In May, Barbara and daughter Anne presented the Ralph D. Miller memorial trophy for a champion Pennsylvania-bred horse. Barbara fox hunts and raises fox hounds for the Genesee Valley Hunt. She and Wayne planned to spend the holidays in Pennsylvania.

Eleanor Markham Old’s husband, Arthur, wrote that son Jim is a senior assistant with Booz Allen Hamilton, wife Beth manages a healthcare office in Norfolk, Va., and sons Parker and Tyler are in high school. Parker will be a fifth-generation Hokie when he enters Virginia Tech. The boys camped out with Arthur and Martha during Hurricane Irene.

Priscilla Brown Wardlaw retired in September and was elected junior warden of her church. Sons Chris and Rob visited for New Year’s. Rob was to marry this spring. Pete’s mother celebrated her 100th birthday in January. Audrey Dubetsky Doyle, who was using pool therapy for a pinched nerve in her back, was with her family for the holidays. Sally Warwick Rayburn and Jim moved into a new house in North Fort Myers, Fla., and still travel by Winnebago. Last year they visited family and friends in Virginia and North Carolina, and Sally visited son Steve and family in Greensboro, N.C. Son David and family visited for Thanksgiving, and they expected Steve, daughter Jenny, and grandchildren for the holidays.

Charlotte Wohlnick Wiggs and Archie sold their antiques store and reached their 50th anniversary. Sally Steinmetz attended the party their children gave them in June. Son Allen and wife Dale are still in Raleigh, N.C. Daughter Tracy and husband Andy returned from Vietnam and live in Mason, Ohio. Their daughter, Molly, is a freshman at MIT, and Anne is a sixth- grader. Charlie is active with United Methodist Women and Meals on Wheels.

Katherine Rowe Hayes broke her left arm. Martha Spilman Clark’s husband, Paul, started training in January as a Scripture Union minister. Son Billy took care of things at home while they were away from Peru for four months. Barbara Gordon McNamee of Williamsburg coaches swimming at the College of William and Mary. She attended the Guadalajara Pan American Games, attended the UANA Pan American Age Group Championships in Montreal, and was the judge evaluator for the U.S. Open in Hawaii. She and Bob were in Washington, D.C., for a 40th reunion with family and took their annual beach trip. They have 16 grandchildren.

It’s always sad to share a loss. Patricia Gray Proulx passed away in February, leaving behind Dan, daughter Pam, son Gray, and three grandchildren. Marianne Carrano Raphaely also died in February, leaving behind Russell, sons Chris and James, and five grandchildren. Pat and Marianne had continued the friendship they began at Mary Washington and traveled with their husbands. Pat enjoyed gardening, church, genealogy, and needlework. Marianne, the consummate volunteer, served on many boards. One of her proudest accomplishments was establishing the Please Touch Museum for children. We lost them both to cancer.

1960

Joanne Campbell Close
jodycampbellclose60@alumni.umw.edu

Karen Larsen Nelson
karenlarsen60@alumni.umw.edu

Did you notice the pull-quote about Dean Whidden in the Fall/Winter 2011 edition of University of Mary Washington Magazine? Sandy Phillips Conklyn ’61 was thrilled to read that her beloved freshman year English professor was still with us at 106. She’s often thought of him and her other favorite, Professor of Chemistry Earl G. Insley, with appreciation and affection, and would like Dean Whidden to know how glad she is to have taken his class. He helped her grow, and both her children said they appreciated her “red penciling” their English papers through high school.

In our monthly email newsletter to classmates, we’ve been sharing memories of professors, classes, and college life. Unfortunately, space doesn’t permit printing them in the magazine, but if you want to join the fun, send your email address to Jody or me.

How many of you spotted the picture on page 35, also in the fall/winter magazine? Jan Latven Allnutt of Maryland recognized herself on the left, Susan Cramer Drouin of California behind her, and Joey VanTol Goetz of Florida, who’s clapping. It’s the beanie-shedding ceremony, but we can’t remember why we were clapping and holding pots and pans. We also think the other two girls in the picture look familiar but aren’t sure who they are.

Jan has been in contact with Joey, Susan, and Betty Bruce Shepard of Virginia. They consider themselves original UMW suitemates and still make each other laugh as if they were in their 20s. Jan was looking forward to a visit with Emy Steinberg Hyans. Jan and her husband planned to visit western Africa, Dakar, Banjul, and Guinea-Bissau by passenger boat.

Bonnie Davis Hall reported that her dearest friend, Deborah Mallett Cressall, died peacefully in her sleep in February of multiple fast-growing cancers. Ross and Bonnie visited her in January and had the honor of being her caregivers for four days.

Since selling their beloved “River Boulders” home, which they built and had for 11 years of fun, friends, and fly-fishing in New Zealand, Judy Davidson Creasy no longer dashes there for vacations. Liz Hill Heaney of North Carolina enjoys her garden. Bob skis each year, tuning up in North Carolina and heading for more challenging slopes in Utah. Two of their grandchildren were graduating from college, one was entering college, and two are in high school. Liz had health issues this year but was back in the swing of things. Sue Smith Goodrick took a Panama Canal cruise, with stops in Aruba, Columbia, Costa Rica, and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. She also took a road trip with her daughter and son and their families, including her two grandsons, from her Wilmington, N.C., home to Washington, D.C., to tour and visit where their grandmother grew up.

Pat Voelker Donnell of Missouri City, Texas, had an interesting time at the first annual Old Dominion potluck event for graduates of Virginia colleges who live in the Houston area. In her career at small building-industry engineering and architectural companies, Pat served as personnel manager and bookkeeper. She loves visiting the Y. Her son lives in Dallas, where he manages some of his father’s properties.

Sandy Poole is active in church and leads morning prayer at a state chronic care hospital. A friend asked Sandy to accompany her mother, an energetic 80-something, on a spring trip to Cape Town, South Africa, and Sandy expected to have a hard time keeping up with her. Ten years ago Carole Lingo Brown retired after teaching public school in Virginia Beach for more than 30 years. She enjoys bridge, church, exercise groups, and visiting her three grandchildren in Florida.

Gray Dodson is a professional artist and has a website. Joyce Neil Krost of Cleveland, also an artist, said blogging about her work is entertaining. Joyce enjoys Gray’s website and has been in touch with her roommate, Jan Rutan Wright of Washington State, who expected her first great-grandchild in March. They went to high school together.

In July, Jan lost her husband, who had been in a coma for many years. Jody Campbell Close called, and we sent condolences and words of respect for the 14 years Jan cared for her husband after he became paralyzed and unable to communicate. Jody’s quick call to Jan turned into hours of laughter and memories of Mary Washington. We count on seeing her, her sister, Susan Rutan Joehnk ’63, and former roommates Emy Steinberg Hyans and Joyce Neil Krost at our 55th reunion.

Jody also talked to Bayla Goldberg Manis of Memphis, Tenn., who received a Christmas card from suitemate Marietta Jo Ames Steinberg, with a picture of her grandson. Jody is in touch with Pat Voelker Donnell, and they’ve discovered that their lives have followed similar patterns and that they’ve practically been neighbors several times.

Jody’s eldest son returned to Afghanistan this spring. She looked forward to a March visit with Bonnie Davis Hall and Ross during a winter vacation in Florida, and she hoped to take a road trip to call on classmates from the East Coast to Texas. Jody was about to conduct another genealogy merit badge workshop for the Scouts. Genealogists from other states have expressed interest in copying her program.

Recently widowed, Iris Hall Newton sold her home of 25 years, moved to a senior apartment in Fredericksburg, and was ready for a new life. The skilled crafter comes from a long line of talented quilters on both sides of her family, and she cherishes her many heirloom quilts. Iris stays in touch with Jody and Billie Bushong Boyd. Betsy Watts Haskell moved from Wadesboro, N.C., to a senior apartment in Keller, Texas, to be near her son. Intense physical therapy has improved Gaye Roberts Olsen’s mobility. She enjoys church and visiting friends, appreciates hearing about classmates, and still has her purple walker.

Jayne Linton Ely still loves hanging out with the girls and has three sets of girlfriends. Her “Birthday Girls” group has been together since 1974, when they all moved to Knoxville, Tenn. They started playing tennis and bridge; after their children were in school, they went to work and got together for birthdays. Most no longer play tennis, but they do play “new bridge,” have brought in new girls, and travel together. Jayne is in touch with Barbara Ashburn Rodriguez of California, who married Ron Rodriguez, USNA class of ’59. Jayne and I (Karen Larsen Nelson) share many memories of freshman year in Betty Lewis.

Darrell and I traveled to Florida for the May graduation of one granddaughter from high school and another from junior college, then returned to Show Low, Ariz., to enjoy summer activities. Do you remember the once-a-month concert series, where after dinner we dressed up and filed into GW to our assigned seats (with roll call) for professional theatrical performances? The most memorable for me was Mark Twain Tonight with Hal Holbrook. I saw his performance again here in Mesa, Ariz., a few years ago, and it brought back memories. Jody’s best memories from the series are hearing John Gielgud and meeting Margaret Mead.

1961

Connie Booth Logothetis (A–G)
connielogothetis@gmail.com

Renee Levinson Laurents (H–Q)
arjle@aol.com

Lynne Williams Neave (R–Z)
lyneave@aol.com

Please send news to the designated Class Agent according to the first letter of your maiden name.

From Connie: As some of you know, I was hospitalized for several days in January due to a lung condition. It had gone on for about four years, and I could function without supplementary oxygen, but now I’m on oxygen 24/7, and my lifestyle is curtailed. We aren’t traveling much, and I’m being treated here in Wilmington, N.C., and at Duke, an excellent center for pulmonary diseases. Our little house in the historic district dates from 1916 and was to be on the April Azalea Festival house tour, so we were doing projects to spiffy things up. I love hearing from you and thank those who have contacted me.

Carolyn Barnette Wright visited Mary Washington in January for the first time in more than 30 years and was amazed by the new buildings. She was sorry to miss the reunion and seeing everyone. Ellen Grumbly deGail finished work on one of two family trees. She has traveled to Ireland for information and to meet cousins. Her grandparents immigrated to the U.S. in 1907 from County Longford in Ireland’s central farming area. Ellen was born Helen Lynch, but her name was changed when she was adopted. She never met her birth mother, who died, but she has met two sisters and a half-sister.

Clarence and Clara Sue Durden Ashley plan to stay in their home in Great Falls, Va. Their four sons and 14 grandchildren are scattered from Washington, D.C., to St. Augustine, Fla., to Dayton, Ohio. The Ashleys visited Wilmington on their way home from babysitting for Dennis’ family in St. Augustine.

Last year Dee Doran Cairns and Doug of Montgomery, Ala., celebrated 50 years of marriage, and they marked 50th reunions at UMW and the Air Force Academy with Patty Cairns Hourin and Jim, who was Doug’s classmate. Grandson Christopher graduated from Auburn University in December, and they visited Doug and Patty’s mother, Doris, who is 95 and well. The Cairnses spent Christmas 2010 and the New Year in Naples, Italy, with son Rob and family. Patty and Jim’s three sons are married with careers and children. Michael and Katrina live in Mississippi, Bill flies the 777 for Delta, and Scott and Lisa live on the Oahu North Shore near Haleiwa, Hawaii.

Ellen Gotwalt Willing and Bill, of York, Pa., made it to our 50th reunion. After colon cancer surgery, Bill was doing well enough for their annual Auto Train trip to Naples, Fla., for the winter. They visited Ocean City, Md., in September and attended an October wedding in Lynchburg, Va. Ellen’s only grandchild, Andrew, is in seventh grade. Bill’s grandson, Ryan, visited before being deployed to Iraq.

Eleanor Knight Jensen and Cliff took a relaxing cruise from Florida to New Zealand, spent 10 days in Auckland, and continued to Kauai, Hawaii, to find torrential rains in March.

Jean Ryan Farrell and Frank had a fun-filled year of travel with dive trips to the Cayman Islands and Curacao, ski trips to Park City, Utah, and adventure trips to Turkey and Vietnam, with a side trip to Singapore to visit son Bobby and family. In July, Jean and Frank celebrated 50 years of marriage with all three sons and their families at Lake Lanier, Ga., where they bought a house. It’s all about Kentucky basketball until early April for Lynn McCarthy. She finds the online bald eagle cams educational and fascinating and is still into genealogy. They’d had 65 inches of rain so far in 2011; Lynn said it’s like living in a rain forest.

Last year Sarah Leigh Kinberg celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, her 50th reunion at UMW, and Tom’s 50th from USNA. Finnish exchange son, Pekka, came to visit with his wife and three daughters. Tom Jr. and Christi live in Oregon, and Sarah Leigh lives in France. The grandchildren are grown.

Barbie Upson Welch was to finish her pilot’s instrument training this spring and give up managing their retirement community’s gift shop. Husband Chuck weathered back surgery, and they took their first cruise in February to the Eastern Caribbean with Barbie’s sister and husband. They planned to visit her son, Bob, and family in Portland, Ore., in January.

Patsy Whitehead Towle passed away Dec. 26, 2011, after six difficult years. Daughter Heather wrote that she had fought hard to stay with them through the holidays, but she had thankfully let go. We extend our deepest sympathy to Heather, Stephanie, and their families.

My roomie, Janie Riles, has had some art showings in Florida. She and hubby Jim Dietz spent the winter there, and they were in France in February to sell Jim’s studio apartment. They planned a May trip to Morocco. Mary Hatcher, who is on the Friends of the Library board in Wilmington, N.C., was doing physical therapy after knee surgery. She planned a trip to the Williamsburg antiques show.

From Renee: Memories of reunion continue to make me smile. I’m busy with classes and animals. With the political season heating up, I’m devouring the news and plan to volunteer with the campaign. I planned a March cruise to the Panama Canal with Syd Collson Chichester ’60, with whom I’ve been friends since I was in kindergarten in Washington, D.C.

Peggy Howard Hodgkins left Maine in early March and planned to return in mid-April, after the muddy season. She traveled to China and took a Caribbean cruise with 13 of her mother’s family members. She visited Pat Scott Peck in Florida and planned to visit a friend in Arizona, then meet up with Pat again in San Antonio to visit Aggie Welsh Eyster, then head to Georgia to see Jean Ryan Farrell and attend a horse show. She also planned to visit Omaha with Lloyd Tilton Backstrom and Art.

Bobbie Brookes Nation lives in London. Her 98-year- old mother passed away at the Richmond home of her other daughter, Pam Brookes Weiseman ’63. This summer Judy LaRoe Hare and MJ Giles Stearns hoped to visit Jan Murphy Riefler at her Cabo San Lucas home. In April, Judy, who plays competitive tennis, planned to attend the Family Circle Cup tennis tournament in Charleston, S.C. Judy is a Lowe’s flooring specialist, handles international sales for My Pool Pal, and still plays competitive tennis.

Donna Henninger Henderson is retired but works in an antiques shop and does volunteer work with drug and alcohol prevention and education, promotion of the arts, conservation, neglected children, and mentally disabled adults. Sylvia McJilton Woodcock wrote that Marcia Minton Keech’s husband, Bill, was treated at Johns Hopkins for cancer but has recovered. Sylvia’s husband, Stuart, was recovering from hip surgery and was to have more knee surgery. They visited Palm Beach, Fla., in February and March.

Becky Paris Spetz has been scanning into her computer slides from their early years through 1987 to make DVDs for their four children. Nancy “Pepper” Jacobs Germer is going back to work part time for a friend who owns Arkansas jewelry stores. She and Hank planned to go to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and to Pepper’s June high school reunion. She gave a tea for eight friends, and they wore mink stoles and gloves and hats that Pepper’s mom made in the ’50s. She used her mother’s and her own china and made tea sandwiches, scones, chocolate-dipped strawberries, and more. Pepper participates in Special Ministries at church. My thanks to all who took time to send news.

From Lynne: We had a marvelous, mild winter in New York City. Sandy and I went to Florida in February, and part of the time it was colder there than in New York. We’re looking forward to a June cruise from London to Copenhagen.

In February, Jim and Carolyn Spell Robertson visited with her brothers and their wives at their North Carolina beach house and planned to attend Jim’s 50th dental school reunion at the Medical College of Virginia in April. In the fall, Kay Slaughter is to teach with Semester at Sea for U.Va., traveling to Europe, Africa, and Ghana, then back across the Atlantic and up the east coast of South America, including Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil. Kay still writes and posts copies of her essays on her blog. She wrote her first novel and takes a fiction writing class at U.Va. She loves retirement and is active in local politics and local and statewide environmental issues.

Marcy Trembath Pitkin and Steve sold their ancient lakeside cottage, which was bittersweet, since they’ll miss their family and friends. Eleanore Saunders Sunderland took a post- Thanksgiving, pre-Christmas trip to Milan, Italy, with all her children. Daughter Jude has lived there for 10 years, and she found places for everyone to stay. Eleanore’s twin, Judy Saunders Slifer, was responding well to the latest medical treatments and was to continue with monthly follow- ups. We admire your strength, Judy!

Sue Wilson Sproul and Dave took a September trip to the Tetons and Yellowstone. He went out before sunrise to a field of boulders overlooking Yellowstone Lake to take pictures. As it grew lighter, the boulders began to groan and rise up on four legs – the bison just ambled off. The Sprouls spent a snowy Christmas in Grand Lake, Colo., with Sue’s older son, Ted Boling, and his family, with an old-time melodrama at the playhouse and New Year’s fireworks over the lake. In January, they drove to Morro Bay, Calif., stopping in Death Valley. Returning, they went from 100 feet below sea level there to 10,000 feet above in Beaver Creek, Colo., in just 10 days. This year they plan to visit with three children and three grandchildren in Virginia.

Judy Youngman Wigton of Omaha expected Peggy Howard Hodgkins and Lloyd Tilton Backstrom and Art to visit for the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting there in May. They planned a mini-reunion with Charlotte Howard Austin and Hank, who live 20 miles away. Judy, Lloyd, and Lynda White ’71 were setting up a scholarship in honor of our beloved art history professor, Pauline Grace King. They feel study abroad is valuable for art history students, and the scholarship is to fund a semester or more for each recipient. They encourage other alumni to donate, as well. Lloyd and Art plan to travel to Diecimo, Italy, just north of Lucca, with a group in September.

1962

Kathleen Sprenkle Lisagor
klisagor@yahoo.com

Jane Walshe McCracken
janemcc@cox.net

Joan Akers Rothgeb
erothgeb@earthlink.net

1963

To avoid a boring column, please sit down at your computer and dash off a few lines to me for the next edition. Give information about careers, volunteer work, children, grandchildren, activities, travels, and contact with classmates.

My husband, Jonathan, and I participated in a memoir-writing workshop this winter. One week I wrote about Josiah P. Rowe, former publisher, owner, and editor-in-chief of The Free Lance- Star, because he was an important mentor to me when Leah Headley Samuelson ’63 and I were co-editors of The Bullet. He celebrated his 85th birthday and has retired from the paper. If any of you has memories of Joe, The Free Lance-Star, or The Bullet, please send me a line or two to include in a paper I’ve written for him and the next edition of this column.

Ann Reardon Crowely Rowe and husband Mack are happy in their round wood house nestled in the Virginia mountains near the college town of Charlottesville. Annie continues work on her novelization of a haunted house in her home city and had a great year selling books on Amazon. Mack enjoys honing his watercolor skills, and he’s hosting a show of his creations, Rowebots. Annie’s younger daughter, Jeannie, visited Ecuador this spring. Annie’s friend of 50 years, Charlotte Hudson, known to friends and family as Sue, died in the fall. Sue and I shared a small apartment at Bailey’s Crossroads, Va., after graduation. Annie hears from Nancy Pida Remmers of Florida, who participates in art shows. Daughter Debbie recently won third place for a color monotype at Florida’s Flagler County Art League.

Carolyn DeCamps Dunaway resigned as supervisor of technical services at Chesterfield County Public Library in 2005, and over time became interested in Biblical archaeology. She has participated in excavations in Jordan and Israel, and planned to return to Jordan in January for her third season at Tall el-Hammam, an immense mound northeast of the Dead Sea believed by some to be the site of the ancient city of Sodom. She is pursuing a master’s degree in Biblical archaeology and is active in her church, with Bible study, and with friends and her two stepdaughters.

Mary Russell, Alice Eckenrode Alkire, and I continue our occasional mini-reunions. Cynthia Whitaker Finnelly and Dan Weinrich plan to join us when they travel from Cary, N.C., to a concert at Wolf Trap in Vienna, Va. In November, I visited gardens in Argentina and Uruguay, where I lived in the ’80s. I plan to take lots of short family trips this summer and a garden tour to South Africa in November.

That’s all for now. Don’t forget to send news for the next issue.

1964

Victoria Taylor Allen
vallen1303@aol.com

Ruth Pharr Sayer and I had our long-planned reunion this winter. We met in the entry hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on a rainy February day and had lunch at a Madison Avenue restaurant. We chatted for two hours about college memories, our present lives, and mutual acquaintances. Ruth looks fantastic and keeps busy with real estate work, her family, her life in Princeton, N.J., and summers on Nantucket. As I wrote this, she was traveling in Paris. We hope there will be more mini-reunions and ask anyone in the New York area to join us.

Beverley Jackson Johnston and Jim, married 44 years, have lived in Fort Worth, Texas, since 1979. They spend several summer weeks at their home in North Wildwood, N.J. Children Anna and Jamie are grown, so their dog and cats accompany them to the Jersey Shore. Beverley is a prize- winning amateur photographer. Tennis, travel, and college courses keep the Johnstons busy.

Betsy Moseley Garrard works in Lynchburg, Va., at a foundation supporting the Mercy Care Centre school in Nairobi, Kenya, where she’s taught twice. Once a primary school, a high school was added and three classes have graduated. E.C. Glass High School in the U.S., where Betsy taught for 30 years, is Mercy Care’s sister school, and students raise about $5,000 each year to support the Kenya school in one of Nairobi’s poorest areas.

Jean Rhodius Austin and husband Tom have lived in the San Francisco Bay area for 25 years, but they travel to Nantucket in the summer. Children Tommy and Karen graduated from Stanford University, married native Californians, and each have two children. Jean was in the medical technology field, then took business and computer courses and became office manager for a start-up company in Palo Alto. After she retired, she and six other women decided to explore some of the world’s more exotic areas. They’ve visited Tibet, Bhutan, Borneo, Thailand, Indonesia, India, China, Sikkim, and West Bengal. Tom works for Clarks of England shoe company. They live near award-winning home designer and contractor Iris Harrell ’69.

Sally Clay Crenshaw Witt and husband Sam were expecting to be grandparents and enjoyed furnishing baby’s guest room at their Richmond home. My former suitemate, Sharon Haythorne Stack, had lunch last October with Helen Clarke Calhoun, Linda Frederickson Boudman and her husband, Jean Sheehan Boucher, and Carole Sue Shelton Lattimer in Hampton, Va. A few days later, Helen, Carole Sue, and Sharon drove to Charlottesville and tailgated with Sharon’s daughter, Ann Stack Harrison ’86, to cheer on U.Va. against Georgia Tech. On her way to San Antonio for an aunt’s 90th birthday party, Sharon thought about Ann Dunman Mewborne and husband Bruce. She looked up, and there were Ann and Bruce, on their way back from South Padre Island, Texas.

Helen Vakos Standing and her husband spent the winter at a Panama City, Fla., golf community. They visited with Becky Spears Wright and husband Nick, who were also in Florida for golf. Helen talks often to Sue Parker Burton, who has lots of grandchildren.

Don’t forget to email me for the next edition of Class Notes or send a note to the Office of Alumni Relations for forwarding. We love to hear from you!