Class Notes

Fredericksburg.com posted a recent article on Barney Reiley, CEO of the Rappahannock Area YMCA. After graduation, Barney taught history for a year at Colonial Beach High School. From 1982 to 1984, he was sports coordinator for King George County Parks and Recreation. In July 1984, he went to work for the Y full time. He became executive director in 1993 and oversaw its growth from 15,000 to 100,000 square feet, making it Virginia’s largest YMCA, with additional branches in Spotsylvania, King George, and Caroline counties. Wife Kim teaches in Stafford. They have daughters Meaghan, 28, Devlin, 27, and Erin, 18, plus two sons-in-law and three granddaughters.

In May, I earned a master’s degree in executive leadership from the University of San Diego School of Business Administration. I enjoyed the program, but after 22 months of going to school and working full time, I’m happy to be finished.

As a member of UMW’s College of Arts and Sciences advisory board and part of the Mary Washington First fundraising campaign, Susan Leavitt sees Karrie Nelson Ferguson and Marcia Guida James. At 52, Susan spent the winter training for her first triathlon.

I visited Teresa Childers Petersen and husband Mark over the winter holidays at our place in Pompano Beach, Fla. They’re doing well in their jobs and planned a summer trip to Taos.

Jennifer Davidson was excited to receive her first University of Mary Washington Magazine in 15 years. She’s lived in Cape Town, South Africa, since 2002 and, before that, in Nairobi, Kenya. Jennifer recently earned a master’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Cape Town.

Russell Berry sells real estate in Texas. He’s director of the Texas Association of Realtors and on the executive committee of Dallas’ MetroTex Association of Realtors and the board of directors for the National Association of Realtors.

Jennifer Seamon Wise and husband Jim work for the Department of Defense, where Jennifer sees Kathleen Goeller Booth and Renee Allen Kuntz. The Wises have children Laura, who was to graduate in May from Mary Baldwin College, and Aaron, who just started college. The family toured Fredericksburg in 2001 while on leave from Germany.

I (Monique Gormont Mobley) still work with ELL students in K-12 in Wisconsin and was recognized as a staff member of the quarter. My husband was finalizing his doctoral dissertation in military history, our daughter was to graduate in May and hopes to teach elementary students, and our son works for the Boy Scouts in the Seattle area.

From Kim: I recently graduated from Leadership Lawton-Fort Sill and learned a lot about leadership and the city I’ve called home for the last 21 years. Our class project was to raise money for elementary school playground equipment for special needs children. I teach four yoga classes a week and love watching beginner students grow and learn. Our computer company has been in business 18 years, and Ken and I were to celebrate our 21st anniversary in June. Find me on Facebook under “Kim Jones Isaac” or email me. I’d love to get lots of updates for each edition.

As an early 50th birthday celebration, Julie Magness planned an August trip to Alaska, where she was born. She planned to visit Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage, Alyeska, and Seward, cruise the inner passage, and end in Vancouver. Julie’s parents met in Alaska in the early ’60s, when her father was stationed there as an Army helicopter pilot and her mother was teaching elementary school. Her mom was driving when the 1964 Good Friday earthquake hit and was in several newspapers, including The Washington Post. Julie’s younger brother, a certified helicopter and fixed-wing pilot, is retiring from the Army.

Nancy Powell Sykes ’62 informed us of the October death of her cousin, Kathryn Irene Ward Dickinson, after a long battle with cancer. Kathryn was a school speech-language pathologist in Spotsylvania, Va., where she lived for 17 years. She’d worked previously in New Kent and Bristol, Va., and received many awards for excellence during her career. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communication disorders from MWC and a master’s of education degree in speech-language pathology from U.Va. in 1989. Kathryn is survived by her husband of 24 years, Charles Dickinson, and her parents, John and Kaye Ward of Newport News, Va.

Annice Hirt van der Sluis hadn’t written anything for Class Notes in 25 years, while she worked, traveled, learned Spanish while living abroad, and explored different careers. She earned a master’s degree in early childhood education and spent the next several years working in Alexandria, Va., where she developed a bilingual preschool special education program. She married Howard, a violinist, in 2006. They have daughters Fiona, 7, who Annice homeschools, and Sophie, almost 5. A part-time early childhood education consultant, Annice reconnected with MWC alumna at her 25th reunion.

Jay Immel ’89 moved to Iowa in 1993, taught a Western civilization course at Des Moines Area Community College in 1994, and earned a master’s degree in history at George Mason University in 1995. In 2003, he taught a history class at Grand View University in Des Moines. Jay has had poems published in the Iowa Poetry Association journal, Lyrical Iowa, for four years.