1963
Mary-Verdella Wagner Nelson’s husband Paul passed away on Thursday, May 30, 2019. We offer our sincere condolences to Mary-Verdella and the entire Nelson family.

Dottie Snyder Engle

301.371.5170
dengle3699@aol.com

Bobby Campbell Rickman contributed to the RLEEF(Resident Life Enrichment Endowment Fund) which is to provide experiences to residents at Homewood, a retirement community in Frederick. She gives money and also time spreading sunshine and delivering mail.  Jo Cissel Doyle‘s beloved husband Jim died suddenly February 2018.  She is slowly adjusting to “singledom” and contemplating life’s changes. Jo is still active with activities and organizations in Salisbury and has the support of family, but they are not in close proximity. Marcie Smith White and husband, Derek, were downsizing and ready to move into Pennswood, a retirement community in Newtown, PA, after years of being on the waiting list, when Derek died suddenly in December of 2015. Marcie left their home since 1977 and moved on and has found friends and worthwhile issues in which to be involved including peace, social justice and continuing learning. Their one son, a twin, died of pneumonia at age 45 and the other twin got married to a gal whose mom is a Hood alum. Marcie keeps in touch with Mary Batten Preston who lives in Wilton, CT, and Verna Larson Lyons. Verna reports that they found a condo (2900 Redmont Park Circle, #200, Birmingham, AL 35205). They have traveled to Perth, Australia and Indonesia, Lake Tahoe, Chicago, New York, and spent Christmas in Redondo Beach, CA, with their son. Sue Colton Gibbons has settled in Norwood, MA, with her daughter and three grandchildren. Her title is Granny Nanny which involves transporting, shopping, cooking, laundry and delightful times. She’s active in church, teaching ESL to two adults from Brazil, and home schooling one of her 11 year olds. She would like to catch up with others in the Boston area. Kathy Anderson Houchens and Dave attended our 55th Hood reunion in June 2018, and visited family and friends up and down the East Coast. First stop after Frederick was WV to see Kathy’s sister and husband for a mountain top experience on Lookout Ridge. Then on to friends in Wilson, NC, and on to Durham, NC, with a visit with daughter, Janet, and Ed.  In August, they had a lovely trip to New England and in September were in San Diego where they caught up with Brenda Eklund Pearson.  Then they traveled back to DC, for the Prostate Conference.  Nancy Craven Jacobus sold her home in Elon. She is still near the Elon campus and her old activities. Her main activities are yoga, quilting and trying to help her retirement center get their computer websites up to date and into the modern age. She and her family really enjoyed the Christmas festivities. In June, our class celebrated our 55th reunion, and like the past several reunions, everyone was invited to the Engle Inn for Friday evening dinner on the deck and catching up. We had about 20 in attendance, sadly missing our host, Ron. Gail Kloeblen Spertzel was about to take a 14 day cruise when the apartment beneath her caught fire, and she had to deal with smoke damage.  She was able to get her travel stuff out first and while she was away, the apartment got cleaned.  Cindy Klopp Butler, flew down from Ottawa and spent six nights with me during the reunion before I delivered her to her brother who met us in Annapolis. Cindy and I visited Lin Chait Solomon and her family at a brunch where we got to meet her children and sister Jo. Her one daughter had already had two kidney transplants and was awaiting another. Her granddaughter also was on the transplant list.  Dottie Hussennetter Ritz came and spent three nights, overlapping with Cindy.  I see Diane Lawson Hadermann once a month at our high school dinner. Lois Baumgardner Spurrier has been having a lot of health problems and looking for a retirement placement. Mary-Verdella Wagner Nelson has many challenges due to Paul’s declining health and other matters, but handles all with grace and is buoyed up by the love of her three fantastic grandsons. Zabbie Huff Quinn reports that the riots in Paris have been close to them, but not on their street.  They were off to London to have Christmas with their two daughters and their families.  Sarah Schaeffer Morse is busier than ever helping her middle sister who had complications from knee surgery and a broken leg where she had been living in NC.  Sally gets help from other family members and her sister is now in a full care unit near Sally.  A new granddaughter will enter the Morses’ lives in February, 2019, and will join her brother thanks to daughter, Ellen. I, Dottie Snyder Engle, recovered from my broken right hand and elbow that I incurred in January 2018 and a shattered vertebrae in July, so that Robin and I were able to go on a 16 day trip to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland.  Great trip, but I feel it was overshadowed by our trip to southern AZ in September.  We flew into Phoenix, spent four days there including visiting Scottsdale, Taliesen West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home then drove to Tucson for six days visiting all the national parks, botanical gardens and driving within seven miles of Mexico to see the organ pipe cacti at Organ Pipe National Monument. We plan to go back one spring and hope to find the cacti blooming, See America first! On December 14, 2018, the basketball court at Middletown High was officially dedicated to Ron with his signature on both sides of the court.  I have sent the remarks that I made, a video and some news articles to some of you who knew him best. If anyone else would like any of these, let me know. He spent a great amount of his time there and loved almost every minute.  We had a joke that he loved basketball more than me, and he said, “But Honey, I love you more than track.”  Stay upright, out of hospitals and keep on truckin’.

Dottie Snyder Engle
301-371-5170
dengle3699@aol.com

What good news, mostly connected to me, Dottie Snyder Engle and my travels. In June, Robin and I went to Paris and while there visited Nancy “Zabbie “Huff Quinn. Zabbie met us and bought us dinner.  Zabbie worked in an art museum in NYC and decided she needed more French and felt the only way she would learn it was to be immersed, so went to Paris. While becoming proficient, she met an Englishman. They got married, had two daughters who grew up and went to French schools. The Quinns thought their girls should be better English speakers, so they were sent off to England. One met and married an Englishman, the other an Aussie. Both are living in London where the Quinns keep an apartment so they can visit (and cuddle the grand kids) whenever they want. I thought it would be a great birthday treat for Robin and a once in a life time experience to eat at the Jules Verne Restaurant at the top of the Eiffel Tower. I got a reservation, instructions in French and a sample menu with the main menu offering veal. I thought I had paid 380 euros for dinner, but that was to hold the reservation. The main course turned out to be pigeon and after seeing all those on statues, Robin said, “No way.” It ended up that we got two small bottles of lemonade, a few small cheese biscuits, asked for the bill for two dinners and to be shown the way to the stairs. That was 480 euros!  Robin was happy to be able to take lots of photos from the top to level one.  Did I mention my hip was killing me since I had fallen and was hospitalized 4 days before the trip due to low sodium? Then it was on to Copenhagen to visit our Danish family for six days at a more leisurely pace.  On the last day, we walked to the nearby amusement park where they have the only wooden roller coaster in the world, then through the Kings’ Forest (8k).  In September, we went to Pittsburgh by way of Falling Water, the Frank Lloyd Wright house built for a wealthy family in Pittsburgh.  After touring the city and visiting a minute clinic for my infected thumb, we stopped to visit Karen Beck Gould who was Zabbie’s roommate and a co-chair with Brenda Eklund Pearson, my roommate, for matching us with little sisters. Karen sang at our wedding, though she doesn’t remember it, and I can’t remember what songs she sang. William Sprigg, who taught music at Hood, was the organist. Karen has a daughter who lives nearby, a daughter who is an LPN in New Jersey and a son in NYC.  Karen is living in assisted living and is trying to improve her walking so she can go to the Pirates games with less assistance. Bobby Campbell Rickman and I were supposed to go visit Jo Ann Twilley Plichta in West Chester, Pennsylvania, but Bobby was sick and we postponed.  Mary Ann Holloway Ford and Gail Kloeblen Spertzel were able to visit Jo who is happy in her mobile home near her son’s family but missing her friends. Speaking of Gail, last fall she traveled through Russia and Siberia on the Trans-Siberian Express to Lake Baikal then boarded the Trans-Mongolian Express.  She hired a driver and guide who took her around the Gobi Desert, staying in yurts for four nights.  She and a friend took a trip to France, staying in Paris a few days, and boarding a river boat on the Rhine in Lyon. This past February, she took a tour of Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Gail says Hanoi is just like Bangkok was when she lived there in the 60’s.  Bangkok has changed a lot in the last 50 years.  She bought lots of gems to use in her jewelry making classes in Frederick. In June, Gail took her daughter Jody’s family to Peru for two weeks. Then she had to take the other to Bergen, Norway, sailing back to Montreal on the Viking SKY via Iceland, Greenland, ending in Montreal.  This daughter is now in Kuwait working for four months before retiring. Gail’s latest trip is a 114 day Grand World Cruise cruising out of Fort Lauderdale.  She had to make many adjustments like having someone drive her Prius to keep the battery charged, get a tax extension, get four months of meds from Medicare, banking matters-and she is traveling solo! She is coming to the reunion!  Bobby was horrified at the letter you received from us about the next reunion. See you at my house on June 8, 2018.

Dottie Snyder Engle
301-371-5170
dengle3699@aol.com

Hey sisters! Happily, I can report that I had replies from long silent Sheral Kniffin Malloy, says she left Hood after two years, went to law school at Tulane, has practiced law since 1981 and is almost retired. She is married to her second husband Dan, her childhood sweetheart.  They spend winters in South Padre Island, Texas, and summers on Lake Ontario, NY, where they grew up.  She has two sons now in their 50’s and Dan has a daughter, all of whom live in Texas.  Judy Martinka Ericson reports that her husband died three years ago, so she is keeping busy with a lot of traveling, having visited four continents and by now has had a trip sailing along the Dalmation Coast and hiking in the fall in Southern England with Road Scholar.  She says she’s blessed with great children and grands, but as they don’t live close. Jo Ann Twilley Plichta, M.A.’86 has moved to Pennsylvania to be near her son and his family and is happily living in a lovely mobile home in a quiet development.  Life sounds exciting for Carolyn Matusiewski Cannava, P’87 who lives in Alaska but has been back and forth to Kona with her children so they can enjoy snorkeling and swimming.  She was in Kona for her last birthday with 26 kids and grandkids for a Hawaiian celebration. Then she went to her son’s wedding in White Fish, Montana and declared the scenery breathtaking. Mary-Verdella Wagner Nelson’s oldest, Adam who is going to Bryant in Rhode Island and scored some scholarship help. Another grandbaby for Sally Schaeffer Morse set to make his arrival, maybe, while Sally and Al are on a cruise to celebrate their 50^th anniversary.  They will be sailing on the Queen Elizabeth through the Baltic countries to St. Petersburg and back to Southampton. Life is busy for Verna Larson Lyons who is very involved in her Presbyterian Church with a large congregation as well as a board member for a church retirement community. She and her son took an amazing trip to Thailand, Myanmar and Laos seeing the interesting cultures, good food and very friendly people.  Sue Colton Gibbons is happily living with her daughter in the Boston area and after being far from the kids, is enjoying being granny/nanny/housekeeping/chauffeur/homework helper/cook and errand girl. They moved into a new house which also gave her more work to get everything in shape.  Ann Carpenter Lindau-Martin is enjoying retired life meeting new people and traveling living in Florida full time with her husband even though most of their families still live in New York.  Bobby Campbell Rickman, M.A.’75, P’96 has moved from her bungalow into an apartment at her retirement community and is busy all the time.  Pat Taylor Santelli spent the winter in her house on Amelia Island, Florida.  The raging fires in the Okefenokee Swamp sent a lot of smoke Pat’s way. She is doing renovations but going nuts conforming to the Historic District codes. She and Jim still have their house at Oyster Bay where Jim works as a dentist at Nassau County Jail.  Glad to hear that Jim is recovering from his stroke. As for me, I am doing very well after Ron’s death.  I have Robin, who lives with me and son, Ryan, lives nearby.  Robin and I are set for our birthday trip in June to Paris and Denmark.  Nancy “Zabbie” Huff Quinn lives in Paris and will meet us one afternoon. Last time I was in Europe, Zabbie was in London at the time and said we could get together; I just answered that, six years later?  Then Robin and I are going on to Denmark to visit our exchange student and family.  Lin Chait Solomon M.A.’84, M.A.’95 wrote that some of her children and grands are suffering with kidney disease like Joe did.  Lin retired seven years ago and is enjoying book groups, theater outings and tutoring. She is grateful that her family lives nearby.  She has been vacationing with her sisters, Johanna Chait Essex ’53 and Muriel Chait Durbin ’56, P’81, and brother-in-law being “wowed” by the beauty of the US Southwest.  Brenda Eklund Pearson has traveled Vietnam, as well as other countries in Southeast Asia. Mark your calendars for June 8, 9 and 10, 2018.  Our reunion dinner will be at Dottie’s on Friday, June 9.  Until then, keep me updated and I’ll see you in June.

1963

Dottie Snyder Engle
301-371-5170
dengle3699@aol.com

Dear classmates. Sorry for such brief news, but I have heard from very few of you. Joanne Cissel Doyle says that she and Jim paid their annual visit to their son’s family in Texas. She also informed me that Jo Ann Twilley Plichta, M.A.’86 has moved to West Chester, PA, and that Jo’s husband, Dave, died recently. While we are speaking of deaths, in case you haven’t heard, my dear Ronnie has also left us. He hadn’t been feeling well, but felt well enough to go to a football game at the University of Maryland on Oct. 15 with several friends. He enjoyed lunch and camaraderie but fell over as he passed through security and could not be revived. I am being philosophical because we had frequently talked about what a great life we had; he wanted to go first and quickly. Oddly enough, I was not totally surprised. (He just didn’t want to do all this paperwork.) We had an amazing “Celebration of Life” for him with more than 500 people in attendance. This was going to be his last year of coaching, at least as a head coach. At least that’s what he said! The good news is that the deck has been repainted, and although the host will not be here for the next reunion, the deck is ready for you, so plan on being here!

1963

Dottie Snyder Engle
301-371-5170
dengle3699@aol.com

Sisters, do I have news for you!  First, our sympathy to Gail Kloeblen Spertzel on the death of her husband, Richard, who had a storied career with the federal government in any number of roles including leading teams into Iraq to look for weapons of mass destruction. He and Gail traveled the world over, partly because of his job and she worked for a travel agency.  After putting out several  messages about our mini reunion for June 10, I received very few responses, but heard from Karen Beck Gould whom I hadn’t heard from since she sang at our wedding.  Unfortunately, Karen’s husband died 14 years ago and she has been in a nursing home in Pittsburgh for the past 13 with a back injury.  Pat Lytle Frost called to say she has Parkinson’s, but with the help of her husband Nick, still gets around.  They had lived in Montana, Nantucket, her favorite place in the world, and now on Cape Cod.  Rude person that I am, I paid a surprise visit to Elena Koch Flom and her very kind husband, and at lunch time, too, when I was visiting friends in Cocoa Beach, FL. We had a lovely chat over lunch, and I learned of all the degrees she had gotten and the places she had taught including Suriname.  She, too, is having some health issues including declining eye sight.  Sadly, my roomie, Brenda Eklund Pearson did not attend  reunion because she was going to be in Europe for 25 days.  How could she!  Jo Ann Twilley Plichta, M.A.’86 reports that she and Dave are in the process of moving to PA to be near their son’s family. She said that she, Mary Ann Holloway Ford, M.A’79, and Joanne Zink Markey, recently visited Helen Buss Mitchell and husband Joe at the Mitchell’s lovely home in Ellicott City, MD.  Cindy Klopp Butler and husband Keith spent a few months in CA with their daughter and, this summer, went to England where their son was teaching at Cambridge.   As usual, Kathie Anderson Houchens and Dave had many happy trails but none better than to Alaska.  They engage in more activities than I can mention. Marilyn Monson Baldi  is a real world traveler.  She has recently been to Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, taking lots of photos.  She enjoyed the colorful, interesting cultures and will be going to the Arctic with National Geographic on an expedition for more photos.  She thinks age is getting to her as she is minding the long flights, and although she feels she is aging gracefully, she says gravity is taking its course. Check Marilyn’s websites at www.imagerybymarilyn.com and www.torchegalerie.com. As for myself, Dottie Snyder Engle, I always have an exciting life.  In addition to my usual activities with local seniors, I have a disabled friend who moved here from Sante Fe.  She has no one to help her but me.  She has no use of her right arm, right leg is off at the knee and lots of other issues.  She is on her third prosthesis and is hoping to be able to get out of the wheel chair.  She wanted out of the house where she was living and my son and I deposited her in a motel that she had arranged.  She wanted a service animal, so I bought her a fighting fish. Our family entertained our Danish exchange student’s in-laws for two weeks in May and had a wonderful time with them.  They now think all Americans are just plain nuts, but like it!  We had one day of normalcy after they left, then got a frantic message from our friend at Virginia Beach with whom we had spent five days in Cocoa Beach, that his wife was gravely ill, so we rushed down to visit them.  Lung issues!  She seems a bit better.  Thank goodness my family is well and all are active.  Son Ryan is back East in WV.  Robin and I are poised for a big trip down south and will see Nancy Craven Jacobus in Elon, NC, when we are returning.  We had a mini reunion for the Hood class of ’63 here at our house and everyone declared it a success.  Twelve Hoodlums attended and seven spouses.  Thanks to Bobby Campbell Rickman, M.A.’75, P’96 for showing up hours ahead to help and to my husband Ron who puts up with me and helps me through all my endeavors.  Next reunion:  June 2018, our 55^th.

Greetings Hood Sisters of ’63.  Thanks for all your news.  It seems we are at the traveling stage in life.  Jane McCann Walsh has been a cruising gal.  She and a friend did a riverboat cruise in Southern Europe and topped it off with a few days in Paris.  She also cruised the British Isles, visiting major cities and spending some time in London.  She also cruised from Barcelona to Lisbon with several days stays on both ends.  Go Girl!  She says she has developed new appreciation for Jack Davis’ Art Appreciation lectures.  Ann Carpentar Lindau-Martin reported that her husband, Roy Lindau, died in 2009, she has married Jim Martin and these two retirees are getting used to their move from NY to Florida-Lakewood Ranch near Sarasota.  They are looking forward to their upcoming trip to France and Italy. More trips from Verna Larson Lyons,  include a great one to New York to visit a cousin and attend a Buddhist wedding of a Tibetan friend, then on to Boston where they rented a car and drove all over Vermont, Montreal and Quebec City then back to the US by way of Maine and New Hampshire.  She and her husband also went to her niece’s wedding at Lake Tahoe after visiting their son, Matt, in Redondo Beach, met up with son, Tim, and had a family reunion with their whole family at Squaw Valley while in the area for the wedding.  Our class representative at the inauguration of Hood’s new president, Sally Schaeffer Morse, and Al, had a wonderful river cruise out of Amsterdam.  She still spends lots of time doing church activities and helping with her grandchildren and their pets as she did recently while the parents took a trip.  She’s looking forward to seeing all of us next June.  I love getting replies from Pat Taylor Santelli who always sends lots of news and is funny as heck.  She never has a dull moment. They sold their sailboat and bought a cabin cruiser so she can get over to CT where two of her children and five of her grandchildren live.  She and those offspring spent a lot of time on the water visiting several islands and sucking up some vitamin D.  They visited a lot of places along the coasts of CT, RI and NY and spent some not so quiet time in beach bars. I wish I could tell details!  Pat also had a brief visit at her home in Oyster Bay with Alix Rockwell Hill Jacobs, her partner in many Hood crimes, and a friend of Alix’s who lives in the Moroccan Atlas Mountains on an oasis.  They had a tour of Teddy Roosevelt’s house, Sagamore Hill, the restoration of which cost $11 million, Pat says, wasted money.  Pat is suffering from wanderlust and has a big list of places she must see, like I do, before time runs out.  MaryVerdella Wagner Nelson and Paul spent a great deal of time at their cabin in Rangeley, Maine, where their son, daughter and her husband and three boys, descended on them whenever they could get away from their homes near Boston.  They also spent their regular week at a condo on the Vineyard where they annually meet up with a lot of friends.  Back in Boston, their visitors are non-stop.  Bobbi Sterling Kemmerling is so excited because her oldest son is making her a great grandmother come January.  As for me, Dottie Snyder Engle, I’ve been a travel hog.  In June, daughter Robin and I flew into Denver, just missing Brenda Eklund Pearson,  and had a brief visit with Linda Myers Gray, her husband John, son Jeff and granddaughter, Gracie.  Jeff was there from SD getting a new prosthesis.  Linda gave us a snack and took us shopping.  After leaving the Grays, we drove to meet son Ryan for dinner.  Then I drove Robin 3000 miles around the Southwest visiting many national parks and other great places including Moab, Sedona and the US Air Force Academy. Our funniest experience was stopping at a little, closed motel in the dark, miles from nowhere, borrowing a key, using a bathroom, leaving a tip and a thank you note.  In August, Ron and I had our annual beach trip to the Outer Banks of NC with four other couples, and in September he and I flew to Seattle and toured some of Washington and Oregon.  We had a great dinner with a former next door neighbor gal who lives in Newcastle, east of Seattle, and her whole family, who lived here, was there for a reunion.  We planned to surprise George Raveling, a former assistant basketball coach at the U of MD who is the Global Marketing Director for Basketball of Nike, in Beaverton.  The surprise was on us, as he now works out of LA.  Cindy Klopp Butler and husband Keith had a great visit with us in September.  Cindy said they had the best Canadian summer ever.  She was able to spend time with her children and grand children.  After visiting us,  they went to VA and PA.  Our son moved back from CO to MD this fall, after 15 years and had nothing but bad luck with housing and jobs.  The last blow was that his former live in girlfriend of five years was killed in a motorcycle accident in OH in September.  No wonder I dye my hair!  I’m looking forward to seeing you at our house  on June 10, 2016.  Let’s make it memorable!

Dottie Snyder Engle
301-371-5170
dengle3699@aol.com

Congratulations to those of us who outlasted the awful winter. Special thoughts go to Mary Verdella Wagner Nelson and Paul, near the waterfront in Boston, who endured over nine feet of snow in a month. They were house bound, but fortunately did not need to get out for work. Paul even happily filled in as the concierge to accept deliveries to the building. Nancy Craven Jacobus enjoyed a fabulous trip to Paris and the Normandy beaches where she took beautiful photos. Our sympathy to Nancy on the sudden dead of her brother Bob who lived in California. Speaking of photography, please visit Marilyn Monson Baldi’s wonderful albums and galleries at www.imagerybymarilyn.com and www.torchegalerie.com. Marilyn, an avid traveler, has been to 30 countries in the past few years. Jo Ann Twilley Plichta, M.A.’86 and Mary Ann Holloway Ford-Naill, M.A.’79 visited Helen Buss Mitchell and her husband in Ellicott City, Md. Helen is still teaching women’s studies and updating her philosophy books. Gail Kloeblen Spertzel has become quite an artist and photographer. She and her husband have moved to the retirement community of Homewood where Bobby Campbell Rickman, M.A.’75, P’96 lives. Condolences to Dianne Lawson Hadermann whose beautiful mom died at age 97. Since Dianne and I had attended school from third grade through Hood, and because I liked her mom, I decided to go to the visitation. I was so sure of where I was going, but went to Ridgeville Road in Mount Airy instead of Ridge Road in Damascus. So I missed by about eight miles, I think. I even had the obit in my purse. Why do I shim? Condolences also to Joanne Zink Markey on the death of her husband.  Dottie Hussennetter Ritz and husband Bob had a trip of a life time to Italy arranged by Bob’s priest. The highlight was being in a position to almost touch the Pope as he came by in his Pope Mobile. Pat Taylor Santelli and her husband had her first trip to Hawaii to visit their USN officer son and do some sightseeing. They spent time on Oahu and the big island. She also had her first time in the Bahamas snorkeling for lobster and conch off their friend’s fishing boat. She lost her only beloved sister to cancer after Claire had fought a three year battle; our condolences Pat. As for me, Dottie Snyder Engle, we suffered some losses, too.  My 97-year-old brother passed last spring and Ron’s 90-year-old brother in August. My biggest event was a treadmill accident. A member at our gym left his running while he went to the bathroom. I didn’t see the track turning and stepped on it to retrieve a TV remote to hand to daughter Robin. When I stepped on with one foot, I got hurled at four miles an hour into a wall about three feet behind hitting my head and shoulder. I was fortunate, because as badly as that hurt, I only had a sprained shoulder and finger and a cut below my eyebrow and a big hematoma above. Four days later, we were having our 55th high school reunion, so I went to a salon and got my hair done and a makeup job that had me looking red carpet ready. The day after the accident, Ron took me to my local doctor. We sat on chairs with a little table between me with my very bruised and battered face. People would glance at us and then away. Wonder what they were thinking? Domestic Abuse? Did I mention that we are pretty well known in our community? Life seems to be filled with deaths, operations, grandchildren and trips. I vote for more of the last two. Who is up for an unofficial reunion the weekend of June 10, 2016? A Friday evening dinner at the Engle’s and weekend activities as you chose. More information will follow. Recently, Bobby Campbell Rickman’s husband Charlie slept out of this world at home in bed in the middle of the morning. Charlie asked that there be no visitation, funeral or memorial service. Instead, he asked that all you who wish to honor him will do a service for someone in his name. He was very much into service himself. Bobby said there will be a celebration, “a party” in the spring. His obituary appeared in the Frederick News Post on February 27. Bobby is always right there sending cards for every occasion. Since she has been our Hood Reunion chairman forever, please send her a card: Barbara Campbell Rickman, 7351 Willow Road #11, Frederick, MD 21702.  Phone number is 240-629-1960. She is doing very well. I, Dottie Snyder Engle, made a surprise visit to Pat Pinto Tawes and George in Crisfield and found they were moving to a waterfront condo, also in Crisfield. George is still recovering from a stroke and Pat finds that she cannot keep up their present waterfront property.

1963
Dorothy Snyder Engle, P’96
dengle3699@aol.com

Kathie Anderson Houchens reported that she and Dave had a relaxing trip with good weather to England staying out of cities and visiting places like Stonehenge, the Cotswolds, Lake District and Bath. She said that driving on the left took two of them, one to steer and the other to call out directions. They stayed at B and B’s and met lots of interesting people. Big news is Katie has retired! Lin Chait Solomon, M.A.’84, M.A.’95 said she cannot believe it has been more than a year since our 50th reunion. Lin is enjoying having the time to read, lunch, tutor and volunteer at the school where her daughter teaches. Lin’s taken several trips on the Mississippi and a wonderful enlightening trip to Central Europe. She visits grandchildren in Maryland, Virginia and Connecticut. Sue Oster Robinson and Dave have moved from New Windsor, Md., to a retirement community in Pennsylvania. Dottie Hussennetter Ritz and Bob are enjoying their new home that they built to accommodate six children and 12 grandchildren when they all descend at the same time. They stay busy with golf and keep up with their clan. A trip was in the works for Helen Pinckney Schafer and Bill as they spent several days in London before picking up their Princess Cruise for the sail around the British Isles. Mary-Verdella Wagner Nelson  and Paul have a wonderful one-bedroom condo in the north end of Boston not far from the water. They stay busy with their three grandsons and the rest of their family and loads of friends who visit them there and at the cabin retreat in Maine. Paul plays a big role in the management of their condo building. Sue Colton Gibbons traveled to Germany with her church choir to perform concerts, following the steps of Luther, Bach, Handel, Buxtehude and on into what was East Germany. This brings back memories of Sue’s trip with the Hood Choir doing a month of United Service Organizations shows. More military activities for Pat Taylor Santelli as her oldest grandson is off to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Carolyn Matusiewski Cannava, P’87 said the fire in Alaska that burned over an area twice the size of Manhattan was away from her. She visited daughter Tara Cannava ’87 in Seattle and then to Maryland for a visit with her Hood roommate Kathy Roach Hoff  . Carolyn traded Alaskan king crab legs for Maryland crab cakes and found Maryland colder than Alaska! Courtney Womack Pilgrim   reported that Denny, her husband of 52 years, died peacefully at home under Hospice care on April 30, 2014. He fought Myelodysplastic syndrome, a disease of the bone marrow that resulted from previous chemotherapy. As for me, Dottie Snyder Engle, P’96, I’m always busy. Bobby Campbell Rickman, M.A.’75, P’96, Sally Schaeffer Morse and I attended the alumni luncheon to hear that the class of ’64 had raised $87,000. When Dr. Volpe heard this, he said he did not like uneven numbers, so he pledged $13,000. In May Ron and I took a road trip to visit Dottie Hussennetter Ritz and Bob, and experienced their wonderful home and hospitality for several days. We left and arrived at West Point just in time for the last one hour tour of the day. We then traveled to Boston to visit Mary-Verdella and Paul after a great picnic with their daughter’s family and friends. The next trip was a Collette tour in Italy for daughter Robin’s 40th birthday. Heading south, we toured Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri then on to Florence. We visited the Boboli Gardens, the Ponte Vecchio, Gates of Paradise and had a quick trip to Pisa and another short visit to Verona to see the supposed home of Juliet. We loved Venice for the canals and gondola ride and the trip to Murano Island to the glass factory. Our last overnight in Italy was the beautiful Stresa. While there we took a short trip into Switzerland to Locarno and then it was back to reality. To all of our sisters who are suffering from falls, illnesses and other reasons for pain and sadness, we are holding you to our hearts. If I missed any messages you sent, misspelled anything or reported false information, credit me with literary license. We had a suggestion to, perhaps, have an “in between” reunion. I am up for that. Let me know if you are interested.

Dorothy Snyder Engle
dengle3699@aol.com
301-371-5170

Class News For 1963

Well, Ladies of ’63, there is some good news and some bad, so I’ll start with the bad.  We learned of the death of Marcia Kerr Quill, a staunch Hood supporter, married to Jerry, (from Frederick) for 50 years.  She was also the mother of Kevin and Shannon and grandmother of two.  Early on, Marcia used her lit degree from Hood as a copywriter.  Most of her life, however, was devoted to philanthropic endeavors such as raising funds for the William Penn Charter School, organizing art exhibitions, singing in choirs and playing some excellent tennis with the Philadelpia Cricket Club. Jerry wrote a tribute to Marcia in which he said she treated everyone as her equal and was greatly loved.   I know she and I would have had a lot to talk about, so I’m doubly sorry that I did not call her about the reunion.  Our sympathies, Jerry.  Lots of news from Katherine “Kathy” VanTine Harford. Kathy says,  “Geoff and I have been married for 46 years.  Our son Jarred is a professor of finance at the University of Washington inSeattle, is married to Katrina, and they have two sons.  Justin owns a contracting company here in State College and was married to Ashley last August.  Geoff and I retired 10 years ago from Penn State where Geoff was the senior director of admissions and I was an event and conference planner for hospitality services.  Unlike most contemporaries who are down sizing, we upsized. We had been in a townhouse for 42 years, and in 2011, son Justin, the contractor, convinced us to build a house.  We love the change and the extra room.”  (I thought I had done well to buy a $1000 vacuum cleaner from my son.)   According to Carolyn Matusiewski Cannava, Alaska had a warm and sunny summer bringing lots of visitors including daughter Tara ’87, and her twins who live in Seattle,  son James, a pediatric dentist in Whitefish, Montana,  and friends of her late sister Teddy ’61.   Carolyn was kept busy with nine grandchildren, seven of which attend the elementary school where Carolyn was principal for 18 years.  Sounds like a legacy! Wow! Sally Schaeffer Morse and Al took the Queen Mary II to Southhampton, England, and then spent a week in London in September, a lovely trip.   Sue Olpp Remsberg wants to say one more time what a great reunion weekend we had and to thank everyone once again for your monetary contributions.  Sue Coulton Gibbons enjoyed an amazing trip to Israel and plans to visit what used to be East Germany.  She’s keeping her girlish figure by exercising and loving the vegetarian life.  She is still  a volunteer coordinator  (800 volunteers) at her very large church.  Brenda Eklund Pearson has traveled to India for three weeks with her Friendship Force group.  I hope they missed the floods. Pat Taylor Santelli always has interesting news. Unfortunately, Pat has lost her job as an independent contractor after 32 years.  She’s hoping for a part time job soon “to keep her out of trouble”.  Her youngest son, a USNA grad, James, returned from his third deployment on the USS Florida, a guided missle sub, then got reassigned to shore duty in Hawaii  with Naval Intelligence Ops.  In September he and his bride, Carla, were married at the USNA and had the pomp and pagentry of exiting under the sword arch.  Their wedding was attended by many guests including Pat’s other three children and their families. James and Carla have a two year honeymoon in Kaneohe, Hawaii.  Gee, we know where Pat’s next vacation will be!  As for me, Dottie Snyder Engle,  we had our annual trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and I visited son Ryan in California for ten days, where he and I took a two day trip to Big Sur. Love that gorgeous Pacific Coast?  Robin won a dispute with the state over having her schedule changed.  She claimed extreme OCD and that, according to the Americans With Disibilities Act, she should be given a resonable accommodation, one half hour difference in her schedule, same one she had for 15 years.  She and I had a fruitful shopping trip to NYC where my credit cards got canceled since I hadn’t notified  them that I’d be traveling.  After being torn up for three months, the kitchen floor is ready for the next reunion and so am I.  Keep your news coming.