1971
Mindy Wilcox
619.823.6230
mlwilcox3@gmail.com

Judy Ashway is enjoying her new home in Arlington, MA and has been busy traveling to see her children and grandson in some very interesting places. In February she visited son Dan and his wife in San Francisco where Dan is working on his PhD in psychology.  Judy enjoyed the city very much particularly the many beautiful gardens throughout the city.  In March she traveled to Costa Rica to visit daughter Hannah and her grandson and enjoyed the warm weather and the pool.  Judy sees Maylun Buck-lew who also lives in the Boston area a few times each year. Candace Dudden still works full time in San Antonio as a nurse-case manager for Medicare members, mostly elderly or physically and mentally challenged.  She assesses their needs and arranges for them to receive all necessary services.  She is able to work from home and doesn’t think she will retire because, as she explained, “I can do this job until I fall out of my chair!”.  In February she and husband Jim Schweitzera, retired Air Force Colonel and retired teacher, enjoyed a trip to Kauai, HI to whale watch and were getting ready for a trip to the Calgary Stampede in the summer.  At home they have 2 chiweenies, a cat, and 8 honeybee hives.  Candace ended her email by stating “I hope all my classmates are well and happy.” Sue Montag Wood wrote to say that in November 2018 Nancy Loader Calabretta came to Australia via New Zealand to visit her daughter and family who were house sitting in Brisbane.  They were able to spend a week together at Sue and Peter’s home in Wollongong just doing everyday things, which included making small mince pies, an Australian specialty. They then drove up to Brisbane via the Blue Mountains where Nan has a good friend from her library days who runs an Airbnb.  In Brisbane they shared a town house close to Nan’s family and cooked a delicious Thanksgiving meal together.  All the old favorites – turkey, sweet potatoes, and, of course, pies!   Sue also said that Alice Kleiner Meckley is coming to Australia to visit this summer. In June she and Peter are going to the US to meet up with friends and family as well as to do a bit of sight seeing. Nancy “Nan” Loader Calabretta wrote to say that four members of the Class of ’71 met for a mini-reunion in Hudson, NY, from June 18 – 21. The reunion was planned to coincide with Sue Montag Wood and husband Peter’s visit to the US from Wollongong, NSW, Australia.  Sue and Peter met up with Nan and husband Anthony in Collingswood, NJ.  Traveling together, they stopped for lunch and a tour at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park NY.  Upon arriving in Hudson, NY they were greeted by Alice Kleiner Meckley, husband Gus, Nancy Ludder Koberlein and husband Al. The days were consumed with eating, drinking, talking, laughter, and exploring the area. In short, it was the best of all possible times!  They are already plotting for a repeat reunion, possibly on the West Coast or Hawaii. They are hoping to see lots of our classmates at the 50th in 2021. Sarah Wilcox lives in the small Tidewater community of Gloucester, VA.  She spent the last 12 years managing the Wild Things Museum Store at the Virginia Living Museum (an incredible institution – sort of a combination zoo, gardens, aquariums, and education – all native to VA), and just retired in February. She is adjusting to retirement very happily, and has returned to some old loves, watercolors, cooking, and baking.  She and her husband of 42 years, Al Heist, are contemplating short trips to Virginia historical sites they haven’t seen yet, but mostly they are just enjoying their newly found time together.  They have two grandchildren, Courtney, 14 in Houston and Tyson, 16 in Tampa.  She keeps in touch with Audrey “Beau” Earle Villecco.  Linda Rosengarten reports that she is now a South Carolinian. After a divorce several years ago she took back her maiden name.   Last year she retired from the government and moved from Baltimore to Conway, SC, near Myrtle Beach, to live near her sister. Her daughter and husband live in northern AZ and both work in Glen Canyon National Park. Linda traveled to Iceland this past winter just before WOW airline went out of business. More travel planned for the future but now she just enjoying retirement. Mary and I are grateful to all of you who replied to our requests for news.   If you haven’t written in a while, please do!

Mary McMunigal Burland
610.733.4009
maryburl5@gmail.com

Mindy Laighton Wilcox
619.823.6230
mlwilcox3@gmail.com

Janice Letts Utsch completed her 44th year as a Library Media Specialist at Lower Cape May Regional School District and states that retirement is not in her near future. Janice and her husband Ernie live in Cape May where Ernie runs the family marina on Cape May Harbor.  Since Janice works during the school year and Ernie works all summer, her vacations consist of sitting in her back yard on the Cape May Canal with a good book!  She visits her daughter, Rachel Utsch ’11, in Baltimore and reports that Rachel still travels to Frederick every week to sing with the Frederick Community Choir and to sing the Messiah every year. Cynthia Chabot Tencza retired in December of 2014 after almost 28 years as a children’s librarian. After 20 months of retirement, she and her husband Bob started a new “full time job” – day care for their 6 month old grandson, Sawyer. He is now 2 years old, and they have him 3 days a week this year.  Their son Nate, 41, died tragically on April 25, and their daughter, Gretchen, 37, gave birth to their second grandson, Callan, on April 26, joining his big brother Sawyer. Cindy says that Gretchen and her family will help keep them going, giving them joy, as they grieve and remember their son. Diane Wooding Burgess and her husband Ed were Nate’s godparent.  Our sincere condolences to Cindy and her family. Jane Darling Spratt, formerly known as Jed, went to Canada to finish her degree after she left Hood.  Since she is Canadian, she said it made sense.  She settled in Toronto after university where she met her husband.  She dabbled in a couple of different fields and eventually went back to school earning a diploma as a library technician.  She finished off her working career in the library of a very large Canadian law firm.  She has four children, and three grandchildren (with another one coming soon!). She and her husband, Rob, spend winters in Florida, summers at their family cottage, and the in-between times in Toronto.  They try to squeeze in a trip during the spring or fall.  This fall they will be doing a river cruise from Budapest to Prague. Mary McMunigal Burland and Bill recently welcomed the arrival of two grandchildren. Brendan and Kristina’s daughter Shelby was born in November, 2017 while Patrick and Kate’s son, Matthew, was born in May 2018.  That brings their total, so far, to 3 granddaughters and 1 grandson.  They both are still busy substitute teaching and are looking forward to summer when they can spend more time on Kiawah Island.  This is the 48th year of teaching for Mary, which she finds hard to believe. Mary and I are always very glad to hear from you.  Please send us your news any time and we will include it in the next issue of the magazine.  We would love to publish news from all our classmates.
Pam Borden Heckert and Clark have sold their home in Delaware and are now permanent Colorado residents. Clark has published a novel titled Sudden Storm which is available on Amazon and Pam is working on one of her own to be ready this spring.

1971
Mary McMunigal Burland
610.733.4009
maryburl5@gmail.com
Mindy Laighton Wilcox
619.823.6230
mlwilcox3@gmail.com
Janice Letts Utsch is completing her 44th year as a Library Media Specialist at Lower Cape May Regional School District and states that retirement is not in her near future. Janice and her husband Ernie live in Cape May where Ernie runs the family marina on Cape May Harbor. Since Janice works during the school year and Ernie works all summer, her vacations consist of sitting in her back yard on the Cape May Canal with a good book! She visits her daughter Rachel, Hood ’11, in Baltimore and reports that Rachel still travels to Frederick every week to sing with the Frederick Community Choir and to sing the Messiah every year. Cindy Chabot Tencza retired in December of 2014 after almost 28 years as a children’s librarian. After 20 months of retirement, she and her husband Bob started a new “full time job” – day care for their 6 month old grandson, Sawyer. He is now 2 years old, and they have him 3 days a week this year. Their son Nate, 41, died tragically on April 25, and their daughter, Gretchen, 37, gave birth to their second grandson, Callan, on April 26, joining his big brother Sawyer. Cindy says that Gretchen and her family will help keep them going, giving them joy, as they grieve and remember their son. Diane Wooding Burgess and her husband Ed were Nate’s godparent. Our sincere condolences to Cindy and her family. Jane Darling Spratt, formerly known as Jed, went to Canada to finish her degree after she left Hood. Since she is Canadian, she said it made sense. She settled in Toronto after university where she met her husband. She dabbled in a couple of different fields and eventually went back to school earning a diploma as a library technician. She finished off her working career in the library of a very large Canadian law firm. She has four children, and three grandchildren (with another one coming soon!). She and her husband, Rob, spend winters in Florida, summers at their family cottage, and the in-between times in Toronto. They try to squeeze in a trip during the spring or fall. This fall they will be doing a river cruise from Budapest to Prague. Mary McMunigal Burland and Bill recently welcomed the arrival of two grandchildren. Brendan and Kristina’s daughter Shelby was born in November, 2017 while Patrick and Kate’s son was born in May 2018. That brings their total, so far, to 3 granddaughters and 1 grandson. They both are still busy substitute teaching and are looking forward to summer when they can spend more time on Kiawah Island. This is the 47th year of teaching for Mary, which she finds hard to believe. Mary and I are always very glad to hear from you. Please send us your news any time and we will include it in the next issue of the magazine. We would love to publish news from all our classmates.

Mary McMunigal Burland
610-733-4009
mburl5@verizon.net

Mindy Laighton Wilcox
619-462-6230
mlwilcox3@gmail.com

Sue Montag Wood and Peter were headed for Japan when she reported from Australia that this has been a year of family trips.   She and Peter took their 12-year-old twin grandsons to Dubbo to the Open Plains Zoo.  Their cottage for the night had a view of giraffes and other African animals.  In July they took their son and another grandson who had just turned 18 to Uluru to experience the majesty of this amazing rock in the middle of Australia.  (Uluru is the indigenous name for Ayers Rock)  In January their fourth grandson and his mother will travel with them to the Australian Open in Melbourne, Sue’s favorite city.  Sue can offer many sightseeing ideas for any classmate traveling to Australia! Ruth LaBrie-Wilcox and Ken split their time between Portola Valley and San Francisco, California.  They were spared from the fires in northern California except for the smoke but know many people who lost their homes and all their belongings.  Both of her married sons and grandchildren Oliver, Chloe and Roman live in California.   She volunteers at the San Francisco Botanical Garden as a Children’s Walk Guide and a trustee.  She and Ken are active with the Asian Society and the Asian Art Museum and they travel to China at least once a year. Pam Borden Heckert and Clark moved to Redstone, CO in August leaving their Delaware home of 32 years for sale.  Their two youngest children, Anneliese and Peter, live near them while the other two are fending for themselves on the East Coast.  Last spring Pam had a long phone chat with Anneliese Smola Peace ’70 in Westminster, CO; they have not yet met, but Pam wanted Annelids to know that her younger daughter was names after her, the first runner Pam ever saw at Hood!  Pam and Kate Healy Drummond hope to continue their tradition of meeting for a mutual birthday lunch in the fall when Pam returns east to visit. Betsy Cooper Pizzolato joined the grandma club on June 27 when daughter Karen and husband Richard brought Eleanor Jane Heine into the world.  She and husband Tom are crazy with joy over her.  Karen just returned to work so Betsy and Tom are the Tuesday caregivers.  They drive about an hour on Monday, spend the night with the new family and take care of the baby all day Tuesday which, she reports, is pure fun. Mindy Laighton Wilcox and Bill traveled to Normandy last summer on a Hood Alumni sponsored trip.   Marj Menchey Berkheimer ’70 and husband Phil were also part of the group consisting of Hood College and Northwestern University graduates.  Both Bill and I, Mary McMunigal Burland, have been busy substitute teaching this fall.  He’s at our local middle school, and I’m teaching art for 3 months at the school where I taught for 35 years. This has been an interesting experience as my art skills are mediocre at best!  We did manage to squeeze in a week at Kiawah Island after Hurricane Matthew went through, fortunately, we had no property damage, but the dunes were severely eroded.  Now that November is here, I am looking forward to the holidays and the arrival of a new grandchild in a few weeks. Mindy and I hope all is well with all of you!  We’d love to hear from you!

Mary McMunigal Burland
610-733-4009
mburl5@verizon.net

Mindy Laighton Wilcox
619-462-6230
mlwilcox3@gmail.com

Nancy Fisher Henderson wrote that she and John continue to enjoy retirement in Chestertown, Maryland, their home for the past five years. Nancy loves retirement life and the opportunity to have time to do the things she enjoys most, which include reading, knitting, music, sailing, and anything with John. They are active in their church choir and bell choir and enjoy the National Music Festival each June.  The warm weather finds them very busy sailing, particularly in the spring and fall, with John racing their sailboat while Nancy serves on the Race Committee. Their big project for 2016 was the addition of a new room for their cottage, which serves as a model building, and train room. Donna Mikulak Strawser has lived in Bremen, Maine for the past nine years.  Her daughter Allison, her husband, and their three sons live nearby while her son Nathan and his two sons are still living in Tennessee.  Donna’s husband Dan still is a woodcarver, although that has become more challenging as he has developed Parkinson’s disease.  Fortunately, it is being kept somewhat at bay.  Donna retired from teaching in 2008 and now works part time online for PEDSTest.com.  She also does a lot of gardening, quilting, exercising, and grandmothering!  She keeps in touch with Cynthia White Gilbert, and they manage to get together every now and then after not seeing each other from 1975 until 2014! Elizabeth “Betsy” Cooper Pizzolato, Alice Paul McGinnis, and Mary McMunigal Burland met for lunch in Havre de Grace, Maryland in March.  It was a delightful afternoon as they enjoyed good food, wonderful memories, and the opportunity to reconnect after so many years. Mary and I are always grateful to those of you who send us news or respond to our emails and letters.  Please, please drop us a line and tell us what you have been up to especially if you haven’t written in a while.

1971

Mary McMunigal Burland
610-733-4009
mburl5@verizon.net

Mindy Laighton Wilcox
619-462-6230
mlwilcox3@gmail.com

Debbie Walton Sheaffer wrote that, after many years of teaching remedial reading, she decided to return to the classroom. She was offered a kindergarten position and found her favorite grade! Debbie retired in 2012. She and husband Ray have been married for 45 years. Son Scott lives outside of Ocean City, MD, and loves being at the beach. Son Chris and his daughters, Alexa, 16, and Caylee, 13, live with Debbie and Ray. Five years ago, Chris’s wife died of cancer, and he and the girls had a really rough time. Debbie and Ray were happy they wanted to move in with them and that she finally gets to help raise girls! They take turns driving the girls to dance, helping with homework and helping to parent. They camp with the family as often as they can. She said they wouldn’t trade it for the world and life is still fun! Diane Miller Jackson reports she is still “blissfully happy” in retirement. She and Drew moved from PA to a home they built in ME and are getting to know more people as they settle in. They marvel at their view of the mountains of Acadia National Park and the lobster boats passing by. She says they are still quite active and that Santa brought them snow shoes this Christmas. Daughter Jennie and her husband will spend Christmas with them. Alice Paul McGinnis wrote to say son Drew and his wife, Kris, had their third son last April, born at home. Also last spring, Alice and Richard traveled to Scandinavia visiting Norway, Sweden and Iceland. They spent a month in ME last summer, and in the fall took a 7,000-mile road trip out west which included stops in CO, ID, WY and Glacier National Park. In October they attended the wedding of Steve Dukenski, son of the late Carolyn Perry Dukenski. Serendipitously, the daughter of Nan Loader Calabretta was also there as she is married to one of Steve’s best friends. I, Mary McMunigal Burland, have had an exciting, busy year. In May, Bill and I took a Viking River cruise from Amsterdam to Basel with friends we had met on a previous river cruise followed by a week at the hotel our friends own in a ski resort in the Austrian Alps. Our biggest event was the wedding of our son, Brendan, and his wife, Kristina, in Philadelphia at the end of August. It was hot and humid as Philly tends to be in August, but everything was lovely. Once again, I must close with a request for email addresses so that Mindy and I can contact you. Without your news, there is no column!

1971

Mary McMunigal Burland
610-733-4009
mburl5@verizon.net

Mindy Laighton Wilcox
619-462-6230
mlwilcox3@gmail.com

Mary McMunigal Burland attended the reunion and reported the following:  “On a beautiful weekend in June, the class of 1971 returned to Hood to again find “a place in the sun for 71” at our 45th reunion!  It was a three-day celebration that featured good food, great company, and endless conversation.  We were a small, but enthusiastic group of 16 alums and one brave husband!  Some of us have attended many reunions while others like Cathy Moon McClure and Betsy Ziegler were attending their first one.  Betsy Cooper Pizzolato, Diane Miller Jackson, Cathy Moon McClure, Betsy Ziegler, Janice Butz, Sharon Brown Vejvoda, and I once again enjoyed the joys of dorm life in Shriner.  On Friday evening we had a wonderful Maryland themed picnic in Coblentz Dining Hall.  Saturday began with Hood’s new President’s first state of the college speech followed by the Alumni Luncheon in the Volpe Athletic Center.  Edith Purdie, Connie Dawley Seeley ’72, and Linda Wicks Crites ’72 joined us for the luncheon. We were very proud of our classmate, Dr. L. Martha Thomas, P’99, P’09, who received the Distinguished Alumni Award!  Saturday evening we were joined by Gail Haulenbeek, Nancy Sword Hollyfield, Lynn Patterson Jacobs, Barbara Hasbrouck Murphy, Marlene McGibbon Santucci, Lucinda Tyson, and Jan Renn as we enjoyed the all class dinner in the Volpe Athletic Center.  I am sure no one will be surprised to learn that our class was still celebrating after all the other classes had left!  Sunday began with the traditional favorite, Strawberry Breakfast, followed by a chapel service before we all went our separate ways.  Although we all had a marvelous time, it was a bit disappointing that so few classmates were able to attend.  One of the best things about reunion weekend is the joy we share in talking with classmates who we did not really know well during our student days.  Each time I return from a reunion, I realize that I spoke with some classmates more in those few days than I did in our four years at Hood! All of us who were present for our 45th want all of our classmates to be present for our 50th (!!!) in 2021!  What a party that would be!” Janet Schultheis Plitt married the love of her life, Calvin, just after graduation. They discovered their fondness for road tripping, and have explored 48 states. While traveling, they scout antiquarian bookstores in search of readable collectibles for their home library. Janet’s 102-year old Dad, who still talks about Dad-and-Daughter Weekend, Calvin’s parents, three children and their spouses, and eight grandchildren all live locally, so they spend many days with family.  Calvin retired from cardiology practice in 2015, just as their son, David, began his cardiology career.  Daughters, Claire and Laura, enjoyed teaching careers and now practice their craft “at home” raising their children. She says she is filled with gratitude to God for His faithfulness in times of joy and challenge as the seasons of life move forward and cherishes those grand Hood memories. Roslyn Glantz Trojan retired from the U.S. Army as a Colonel after almost 30 years of service.  As one of the first female officers to be integrated into the regular Army from the WAC Corps, she saw a lot of “firsts” for females in combat and leadership positions.  After the Army, she spent several years on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee specializing in Homeland Security and Defense.  She then worked for private industry and became a Senior Vice President with Michael Baker Jr. Engineering specializing in large program management projects.  Moving west to Colorado and then New Mexico, she opened her own management consultant firm with clients across the country and volunteered for ten years with a Veteran non-profit organization.  Roslyn is married to Hans-Georg Atzinger a retired German General Officer.  They met in 1991 in the US Army War College where Roslyn was Hans’ foreign student sponsor.  Friends for over 25 years, they married in 2014 after the deaths of their spouses.  The two couples were great friends in spite of living on two different continents.  She is now semi-retired and maintains a household both in Germany and in Albuquerque. She is stepmother and “Oma” to three grown children and three grandchildren.  She has been in touch with her roommate Elaine Alexander and with Donna Eaton Mahoney both of whom are doing well and busy in their own semi retirements.  She would love to hear from Hood friends and can be reached at rglant0310@outlook.com.

Mary McMunigal Burland
610-733-4009
mburl5@verizon.net

Mindy Laighton Wilcox
619-462-6230
mlwilcox3@gmail.com

Nancy Ludder Koberlein retired in May 2014 as a Family Nurse Practitioner at a rural community health center. Since that time, she and her husband have been doing a lot of traveling. The day after she retired, they left in their motorhome for a two-month trip out west. In November 2014, they took a cruise to Antarctica and this past summer they took another two-month motorhome trip to the Canadian Rockies. They have now become snowbirds, spending the winter months traveling around Florida. They also enjoy visiting their daughter, Alice, who lives in Alexandria, Virginia and works in DC. Catherine Moon McClure sent a wonderful letter to catch up. After graduation, she spent two and a half years in Botswana with the Peace Corps followed by six months of travel through Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Japan before returning home in the fall of 1977. She then taught social studies in Vermont and New Hampshire, then worked as a reading specialist in junior and senior high schools. Her favorite job, principal in a K-3 elementary school in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, followed that. The last 15 years of her career were spent as assistant superintendent in Manchester, NH and then superintendent of schools first in Litchfield, NH and then Bennington, Vermont, where she retired a little over a year ago. Cathy’s daughter, Jennifer, is a registered nurse midwife at a hospital in the Seattle area. Cathy and her second husband, Steve, enjoy hiking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing. She stays in touch with Elizabeth Ziegler who lives in Plainfield, Vermont, and they plan to travel down to Frederick for our 45th reunion. Mindy Laighton Wilcox and husband Bill flew their small plane from San Diego to Brunswick, Maine to attend an airplane convention this past July. They spent four weeks traveling out and back and stopped to visit Elizabeth Cooper Pizzolato, Alice Paul McGinnis and Carol McVey Burke ’72 along the way. Nancy Loader Calabretta and Anthony visited her Hood roomie Susan Montag Wood and husband Peter in Australia in September 2014. They had many adventures ranging from farm sitting on a real farm to snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. After several weeks of traveling around Australia, they returned to Sydney and spent their last week with Sue and Peter at their condo in Wollongong. Nan retired as Assistant Director of the Medical Library at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in April 2015 after 42 years working as a medical librarian. Her retirement began with a 21 day trip to Greece and Turkey! They were able to spend two weeks with their entire family in the Outer Banks, North Carolina in September and are looking forward to a three week trip to Costa Rica in January 2016. Frances Heck Darrow and Bill have retired and are living in Vienna, Virginia. Bill retired as an engineer for the government about seven years ago and returned to work about three weeks later as a consultant working with the same government people. Fran is working as a preschool teaching assistant three days a week. Fran enjoys her book club, knitting group, and her water aerobics class. They enjoy traveling and spending time at their condo in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Their daughter Beth and her Australian husband Rob live in Wilmington, North Carolina with sons Ian and Tristan. Rob is an assistant professor at UNC-Wilmington, and Beth is preparing for her PhD dissertation. Fran’s son Tom is in his 11th year teaching high school history in Manassas, Virginia and is working on his second master’s degree. He and his fiancé, who is a psychologist for the Army will be married in May. Mindy and I hope you are enjoying our columns, but we need some help. We have discovered that many of the email addresses that we receive from the college are incorrect so we are asking you to make sure Hood has your current email address so we can contact you for your news. We hope to see many of you at our 45th reunion on June 10-12, 2016.

Mary McMunigal Burland
610-733-4009
mburl5@verizon.net

Mindy Laighton Wilcox
619-462-6230
mlwilcox3@gmail.com

After a long, cold winter here in Pennsylvania, it is encouraging to write this column for the summer edition of the Hood Magazine. Thanks to those classmates who chose to send unsolicited news. It was wonderful to hear from you!  Judy Ashway is living in the Boston area and is working part-time as a therapist with children, adolescents and their parents. Judy sees Maylun Buck-Lew several times a year and hears from her former roomie Janet Schultheis Plitt at Christmas. Judy is in the process of adjusting to life as a single woman as she is going through the process of a “collaborative divorce.” Debbi Hamlin Hitchings shared news of a March mini-reunion in Tucson, Ariz., hosted by Jean East who is on sabbatical from the Dept. of Sociology at the Univ. of Denver and is writing a book on leadership. Debbi is director of congregational care at the Congregational Church in Camden, Maine. Classmates Edie Fletcher Flynn, who is retired, from Rhode Island, Laura Tonkel Romesburg, retired Air Force historian, from Ohio, Helen Pierce Whitley, ESL teacher, from Florida, and soon to be retired Susan Fuller from Denver were present to celebrate 48-years of friendship with great food, fine wine, tasty margaritas, explorations of the Sonoran Desert and lots of conversation and laughter. Laura, ever the seamstress, presented everyone with beautiful, quilted wall hangings to commemorate their reunion. Wendy Scott McDonald and Marsha Bissell ’72 were unable to make the journey and were greatly missed. Last summer, Darcy Bevelacqua and her husband Charlie Becraft enjoyed a two-week Alaskan vacation. The first week was spent in Anchorage and Denali where they luckily were able to see all the animals and the Denali Mountain, while they spent the second week on a cruise down the inland waterway.  The rest of their summer was spent at their lake house in upstate New York where they were visited by Nia Lourekas and her husband Mark Kaplan. Darcy is still running her own business focused on customer experience consulting for large firms such as AARP and Ritz-Carlton, and is still running five-miles-a-day! She spent the winter in Bradenton, Fla., where she welcomed her Hood roommate Pamela Russell Bell who is living and working in Austin, Texas. After working 44 years in retail, Diane Miller Jackson retired this past February. Except for vacations, she only took off nine months after her daughter was born. Impressive! Diane and husband Drew plan to sell their home in the Philadelphia area and are building their retirement home in Surry, Maine. Their daughter Jennie was being married May 2015. After celebrating my “Medicare Birthday” in December, I guess that I am now officially old! I’m not exactly sure how this has happened so quickly, as I still feel quite young, but the numbers do not lie! I celebrated my 65th in Kiawah Island, S.C., and had a lovely week there with Bill, my younger son Brendan and his fiancee Kristina who both ran in the Kiawah Half Marathon. We are looking forward to their wedding sometime next year, but first are anxiously awaiting the birth of our older son Patrick and wife Kate’s second daughter this summer. Finally, next summer, our class will have our 45th reunion. Those of us who have attended reunion have always had wonderful times. The only things missing were so many of our classmates who we would love to see. So, if you have never attended a reunion or have not been to one recently, please make plans to join us in Frederick in June 2016. I always come home feeling so very impressed by the wonderful women of the Class of 1971!!! Mary Barton Freeman died May 11, 2015 while traveling on the Isle of Wight. The cause of death was complications from cancer which she had battled since 2012. She is survived by her husband of 43 years, Varel; children and their spouses: Thomas (Katie), William (Beth), Joanna and by her sister Elizabeth Barton.

1971
Mary McMunigal Burland
mburl5@verizon.net

Mindy Laighton Wilcox
mlwilcox3@gmail.com

We are deeply saddened to report that Rev. Carolyn Perry Dukenski passed away on March 6, 2014, from a stroke. Carolyn was an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Connecticut where her gift for pastoral care will be sorely missed. Our sincere condolences to her husband Ron and sons Jay and Stephen. If you would like to read her obituary and see a current picture of Carolyn, please email me at mlwilcox3@gmail.com. Edith Purdie reported that she continues to live at a fast pace doing proposal consulting and a little traveling. May 2013 was a whirlwind of graduations—her niece Alice graduated from high school, her youngest daughter Patty earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Mary’s College in Maryland, and her oldest daughter Jenny earned a master’s degree from the Univ. of Maryland. Betsy Cooper Pizzolato said she is lucky to have a cousin with a beautiful home in Puerto Vallarta where she and Tom visited to escape the January cold. They have taken a couple of tours to Canada and to the Pacific Northwest. Daughter Jane visited them in San Francisco at the end of the Pacific Northwest tour. Daughter Karen is engaged and Betsy and Tom visited Karen’s future in-laws in Wyoming where Betsy rode ATVs and shot shotguns, both out of character for her! Tom will retire from the Univ. of Delaware at the end of the year after 38 years of teaching. Alice Paul McGinnis continues to enjoy retirement with a lot of traveling and volunteer work. She recently purchased a rebuilt Steinway grand piano and really enjoys practicing on it. Allyson Washburn has lived in San Francisco for 30 years and loves the rich cultural life, the restaurants and the liberal politics. She is currently a psychology/gerontology professor at National Univ. teaching all her classes online. Her son Ben and his wife Christy are both physical therapists and live across the bay with daughters Raya and Olivia. Her daughter Alyssa and husband Ray live in Oakland where Alyssa is a defense attorney and Ray teaches eighth grade history. They are expecting Allyson’s third granddaughter.  Allyson is able to see all of them frequently. Mary McMunigal Burland said that after a horrible winter in Philadelphia she is especially enjoying summer. She and Bill have been to Kiawah, S.C. They spent the fourth of July on Cushing Island, Maine, a private island in Casco Bay where there are no stores, no cars and no golf carts.  It is a beautiful place where you can do absolutely nothing and enjoy it. They are planning another trip to Kiawah in September and a river cruise to France, Germany and Switzerland next year. I, Mindy Laighton Wilcox, and my husband Bill went on a Hood sponsored river cruise in Holland and Belgium in April. There were nine other Hood graduates on the trip including Wilma Diehl Robley ’74. Her sister Chris Diehl ’69 was in our big sister class. It was a great trip and fun to get to know all the other alumni from all different decades. Mary and I were disappointed not to have heard from more of you this time. I know many of our classmates look forward to hearing what everyone has been up to when the Hood Magazine arrives so even if you have never sent news before please drop us a line to check in. You do not need to write volumes, just tell us what is going on with you now. We would love to know.