Hood College Class of 1978 Grreat in ’78!

Hi all, I have taken on the role of class reporter, you can reach me anytime at klsandman2002@yahoo.com. You can also “check-in” on fellow classmates on our Facebook page or our Hood College site page.

I have been as you all- amazed at how time “Flies” weren’t we all just standing and throwing up mortarboards yesterday?!? I am back in hometown- Waynesboro, PA. After a career as MSW-family therapist I have traded in one desk for another at the Construction office beside hubby Herb. Son, Brian (Virginia Tech) is married with one darling baby girl, self employed, in Indiana. Son Matt (Academy of Art) is married with adorable 2 y.o. son and self employed in San Fran area. Daughter Katie (JMU) is a nurse in Roanoke; very happy and beautiful! Although some may call Herb and me “empty nesters” we have 2 horses, 3 labs, and 2 cats that disagree.

I have heard from a few of you and hope to hear from more by Winter Issue.

Jo-Ann Bourguignon shared some sad news- I just learned that my Hood roommate, Eileen Rafferty Lebherz, passed away on May 6, 2015, from breast cancer.

Please keep her family, husband Joe, and Luke, Emma and Jane in your prayers.

Suzanne Bohn Richardson sadly reported that her mother, Catherine Bohn died March 12, 2015; our sympathies are with the family.

Martina (Crum) Martin identifies that “I am back in college J As an official empty-nester I decided to get my ECE Teacher Certification in California. I am enrolled at Folsam Lake College her in northern California and will have completed my first semester on May 19^th. I am enjoying all my classes; but had forgotten how much work is involved!” Martina writes that she’ll receive her certification in thin December2015

“Hal and I are adjusting to life sans enfants!” She had a visit to Sausalito to celebrate birthdays and met up with friends for high school to hike the Muir Woods and “general tomfoolery” including a visit to Chateau Montelena (made famous in the movie “BottleShock”).

A foodie group from Sacramento ‘Farm to Fork’ movement is following the careers of the Voltaggio brothers (Michael here in CA and Bryan in Frederick) “we have bragging rights with them because of Hood College in Frederick near Bryan’s restaurant ‘VOLT’.”

She sends greetings to all and an invite to stop by if visiting West Coast.

Lynette (Cuthbertson) Smith informs us: Last June I retired from public education after a  36 year career as an educator.  During that time I taught first grade, third grade, and was a reading specialist for a K-6 elementary building in the Parkland School District in the suburbs of Allentown.   Next I worked as an Elementary Curriculum Coordinator and Language Arts Coordinator for grades K-12 in the East Penn School District.  I ended my career as an elementary principal in both the East Penn and Parkland School Districts.  I was so blessed to have such a rewarding career!  In the fall, I began to volunteer in the Allentown School District two days a week providing intervention instruction for 4 groups of primary students.  I also began a second career as an instructor in the Education Department for Penn State Lehigh Valley, teaching Language and Literacy courses.  I will continue my work at Penn State Lehigh Valley full time next year as an instructor for freshman composition and rhetoric courses.

My husband Mark and I will celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary in September.  Lauren (Wagner University), our oldest, has recently started a social media marketing business in Allentown, PA called Eleven Eleven Social and our son Alexander, who recently graduated from George Washington University is working in commercial real estate in Manhattan. Mark continues his work in real estate development in the Allentown area as well as in Manhattan. He is currently on the Board of Directors for MANAR, the Manhattan Board of Realtors, Mark and I are fortunate to have time to travel , and also spend time in Manhattan and Seabrook Island, South Carolina.

I see my Hood roommate, Susan Dornbusch Sohn, a few times a year.  Susan is also retired from a career in education and travels extensively.  For the past few years she has traveled to Nicaragua with her church to teach Bible School to young children and in May of this year, she is traveling to China to teach English to college students.  Susan’s daughter Betsy, teaches third grade in  Baltimore County and her son Andrew  graduated from St. Mary’s College and lives and works in St. Mary’s City, Md.  with his wife, Jessica and their two beautiful young children, Grace and Luke.  Susan substitutes regularly for the Baltimore County School District and spends a lot of time at her home in Ocean City, Maryland.  Susan and I have met up with another Hood graduate, Linda O’Connell Fansler, in Ocean City and in Frederick on a few occasions.  Linda, her husband Rod, and her daughter Grace live in Columbia, Maryland.

Tonya Finton shares: I retired from the Federal Government last April and am loving my new life!  Keeping busy with volunteer work, house projects and travel.  We spent Christmas in Florence Italy with our youngest son who is doing his Junior Year Abroad there, had a fabulous time.  I will get to see him again in London in April for his spring break.  Enjoyed a wonderful trip this past year to Palm Beach, Florida and San Francisco with husband.  I’ve been up to Hood recently and enjoyed seeing Nancy Gillece ’81, and have seen Linda Crites and Carol Lipson Fivozinsky for dinner with our husbands.  Life is good.

Earl ‘Frank’ Miller communicates from Florida:  My major was economics with a lot of “electives” in many other areas, from several law courses to one in home econ. I wanted to get a very wide variety of exposure. My major and position when I retired don’t quite mesh.  After almost 31 years with “the company”[IBM] my position was Advisory Engineer/Scientist and my job was (ready for this title?)  Personal Systems Entry Systems Division Engineering Change Manager. Too long to put on a business card, so I dropped the title, besides, I couldn’t bank or eat the title. Having started a family rather late, my third grandchild presented himself last December, bringing the total to two grandsons and one granddaughter.  I try my best to spoil, and be involved with them.

Nancy (Newman) Thevenet sends greetings and lets us know: Rick and I lived in Rye, N.Y. and Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y. before moving up to Lenox, Mass. last July.  Being ”Empty Nesters”, we decided it was a great time for a move.  Rick has a wonderful new job with Berkshire Bank and we love this area of the country.  I am still in touch frequently with Lisa Muran, Margaret Harrison and Priscilla Graham.  I share news at Christmas with Maggie Lindsay and Bev Greenwood and am on Facebook with a few ”Hoodies”.  Our three children are doing well – no marriages yet.  Sadly, my father passed away in 2009 and my mother passed in 2012.  I miss them dearly.  Love to all!!

Kathy Reichbach shares: We had a great 35th reunion in 2013, and missed those classmates who were unable to attend.  It was so much fun to catch up on each other’s lives and talk about how our perceptions of others at the time we were at Hood were not necessarily true.

I finally realized my dream of attending law school, graduating from Washington University in St. Louis in 2004.  I stayed in St. Louis after graduation.  I’m licensed in Missouri and Illinois, and have had a variety of legal experience ranging from clerking in federal court to private practice.  Currently, I’m working for a small firm doing insurance defense work, which is way more interesting than it sounds.

Susan (Dornbusch) Sohn was in St. Louis for a conference in July 2013 and we were able to arrange to meet for dinner one evening.  I would love to see anyone else if you find yourself here for any reason in the future.

Social media has made it so much easier to stay in touch with far flung friends.  I look forward to the next reunion and finding out where we will all be in 2018.  I truly treasure the memories of my Hood years and am grateful beyond words for the education and friendship that began in Frederick.

Lori Rehrer Garonski informed me that we do have a Hood College Class of 1978 Facebook page so let’s “keep in touch” there too, post those pics!!

Susan (Smith) Smith shares: ‘My husband Darby and I  love living in Hagerstown, MD after a recent move. It is close to Frederick, but without the taxes. There is a lot to do here and we have been to several performances at the MD Theatre. Our son Darby and his wife Dawn are living in San Antonio, TX and love it. Our daughter Catherine is a NICU nurse at Bethesda Naval hospital, she amazes me everyday. Our niece Anna has been accepted to Hood, has visited the campus and is hopefully making her decision soon.’ It would be great to have her go to Hood, although they don’t consider it a ‘legacy’ unless it is a daughter or grand daughter (at least not in terms of tuition help).

Sue (Stillwell) Tyng updates that she and husband Rick have moved to Kent Island, Md., to boat and golf. She is working part time with a Builder in their area as a Selections designer. Their daughters are married and Sue has 2 grandchildren.

Patricia Zigler-Wachter sends: Here’s my latest news:

My son, Thomas, has a Criminology and Criminal Justice degree from UMD, College Park.  He is a specialist in the US Army.  He is stationed out of Ft. Gordon, GA and is currently deployed to Kuwait.  I’m hoping he’ll be able to make it home to visit sometime in the fall.

My daughter, Kirsten, has a Business degree from UNC, Wilmington.  Her husband, Sgt. Randall Teal, recently returned from Iraq, his fourth deployment.  She is an assistant manager for Reed’s Jewelers in Wilmington, NC.

Since the passing of my husband in 2013, I continue to live in our house in Frederick, with my two dogs, Kota and Kam, a lab/cur mix and a plott hound, great companions.

Friends and I get together for dinner occasionally, including Lois Roney, ’76, our big sister class, who lived in the same dorm, Shriner.  For the classmates who don’t live or visit Frederick, the campus of HOOD has changed tremendously.  They should take a look.

Thank you all for sharing.

Kathie (Brownie) Sandifer