Class Notes

(The following news from Joan Akers Rothgeb was inadvertently omitted from the fall/winter issue of University of Mary Washington Magazine. Sincere apologies to Joan.)

Jane Brungart of Alexandria retired after 38 years with the government printing office. She’s a volunteer English teacher, plays piano at church, and is on a retirement center vestry team. Jane’s in touch with Julia Shumaker Bailess. Mary Douglas Christian Townsend of Fairfax, Va., and her husband were working on her New Kent County family place, built in the late 1700s. Her three children live in Vermont, New York, and Fairfax.

Elaine Clements Gardner of Chester, Va., a military wife working on genealogy dating to 1640, plans to write a story about her family. A granddaughter is a UMW historic preservation major. Elaine’s two children live in Elizabeth City, N.C., and Albany, Ga. Lynn Gourley Farrell has lived in Virginia Beach for 40 years. Her husband has a home building company. Mary Jane Howard Pattisal took a river cruise in France with her husband when he retired as a judge in the Roanoke, Va., area. They have four children. One of their granddaughters was on an internship in Russia.

Patricia Darneille Tennyson of Arlington, Va., retired from the D.C. State Board of Education and sells real estate. Her husband, retired from the Air Force, has a computer business. Adrienne Ames of Nashville held a faculty position in Vanderbilt’s nursing school in the clinical area and administration. A former family nurse practitioner, she is a senior nurse consultant for Vanderbilt’s Executive Nursing Administration.

Retired speech pathologist Nancy O’Neil Robinson of California, on the East Coast last summer, visited Ann Tench Huml at Emerald Isle, N.C. Jeanne Craig Gough and Joan Akers Rothgeb met in Albuquerque last spring. Jeanne shared pictures from a winter dig near the Dead Sea. She reported the death of Carolyn Dunaway ’63, who participated in Tall el-Hammam digs. Biblical Archaeological Review said of Carolyn, “With all the violence and madness in the world today, it is a shame to lose a representative of the best that mankind has to offer.”

In August 2013, Jane Walsh McCracken, on her annual trip to Virginia to visit a relative, planned to meet Emily Lewis and Joan Akers Rothgeb for lunch. Jane’s granddaughter was to play on the University of Maryland’s nationally ranked lacrosse team. Sue Grandy Farrar, director of the Christiansburg, Va., historical museum, arranged for Rosalie Alico Turner to speak at the library there last spring. After promoting her last book, March With Me, on the East Coast, Rosalie returned to Angel Fire, N.M., with husband Frank for summer. The Turners met Joan Akers Rothgeb for lunch when they were in Virginia. Gale Taylor Drew and husband Louis have two children and visit Wintergreen.

From Kathleen: Greetings, ladies! As I wrote our news, another snowstorm was coming and trees were falling here and at our Lewisetta family cottage.

Myrtle Lee Dean France of Montross, Va., retired from Dahlgren, keeps up with Northern Neck friends. She and Billy have two children and two grandchildren in King George. Lillian Ann Dix Smith and Vanelia Oakley Gallagher, who transferred to U.Va.’s nursing school junior year, live in Warsaw. Garnette Lewis Doggette of Yorktown, a retired teacher, told Myrtle that Lorraine Huffman Firestone died of cancer. Our sympathy goes to her family.

Suzy Booth Thurber of Alabama has two boys and seven grandchildren, and teaches continuing education classes. Her husband runs a business mentoring small companies. Suzy said Emily Riker Seaver lives in Colorado with her ski instructor husband, quilts, and has three children and one grandchild.

Bonnie Booker Kinzer lives in Southport, N.C., where my brother, JT Sprenkle, and his wife were moving. Husband Joe retired from the Army, and Bonnie volunteers using nursing skills earned at U.Va. They traveled to Israel with Joe and their Baptist minister, who’s fluent in Hebrew and Greek. Bonnie said Barrie Ruth Jones Tydings, with the nursing group that transferred to U.Va., passed away. Our condolences go to Ron and their family.

The oldest of my eight grandchildren, Kelly Burcher, was to graduate from JMU on the president’s list in May. She gave a piano recital and was student teaching at Waynesboro High School and traveling with them to perform in Puerto Rico. We’ve earned the right to brag, so catch me in Fredericksburg and share news.