1956

Muriel Chait Durbin, P’81
310-395-4389
msmuz@aol.com

The campus looked beautiful reunion weekend-it was a lovely time to reconnect with classmates.

We were able to catch up on news. Helen Ward Wheeler is now a great-grandmother, She and Jack live in a retirement community. Sue Peters Roetzel Wirths, M.A.’79, G’13 also lives in a retirement community and enjoys its benefits and many Hood connections. Becky Eppers Byrd, P’84 “still kicking and loving my retirement home, thankful for good health. Proud of grandson Matthew who graduated with honors from the Univ of MD”.  Nancy Gunnet Tyler “never dreamed I’d be returning for my 60^th reunion. It is wonderful to introduce Hood to my daughter.” Barbara Tovell Tennant and Bruce “drove 11 hours to get to Frederick. It was a marathon trip but well worth it.” They enjoyed spending three nights in Shriner. Mimi McConnell Milheim and Irv are moving from Montana to a new retirement home in PA. Linda Kelly Gleysteen, M.S.’84 and Dirk enjoyed seeing the beautiful campus and was impressed with our new President. Kathy Crook Heidelbach, G’15 keeps busy in her retirement community and is now secretary of the resident association. Two of her grandchildren have graduated from college, Sarah from Hood in 2015, Amanda is doing graduate work in Ireland. Lindsay and Bailey are both undergraduates. Barbara Hanna Pour is spending the summer in Cape May with friends and family. She is very proud of her grandson who won high honors at his high school. Jane Gallup Canning traveled to reunion from England. She has two great grandchildren. In Canterbury, they have downsized and have moved across town. She had to audition in order to sing with the University of Kent chorus-was successful and is delighted to be singing with them. While in the states, she will be visiting her family. Carole Oswald Carter, P’80, P’85, Mera Braungart Coblentz, Ginny Turnbull Hecklinger, P’81, G’08, Mary Ann Howe Mauzy, Mary Lu Urban Walker, and I – also made it to reunion weekend. The consensus from all of us is that we were happy to be there and to visit with each other. Betsy Bigelow Abruzzo wrote that her daughter, Angela, passed away after a long bout with cancer, a year and a half ago. Betsy is now in her own apartment and has stayed close to her grandsons, both of whom are doing well, Betsy’s daughters and other grandchildren are also doing well. She spends time playing duplicate bridge and takes part in tournaments. In May. Betsy had knee replacement surgery, it was successful. Anne “Cokey” Lanoue Weber now lives in a retirement community in Santa Barbara and is happy that she doesn’t have to cook dinner anymore. She spends a lot of time volunteering, “life is good”. She says hi to all our classmates. Ann Helfenbein Bohnet, P’83  writes “ three years ago she and husband, Richard,  moved to The Village at Orchard Ridge in Winchester, VA. They are active in their resident association and volunteer in a nearby elementary school. They love their new community. Cynthia Bromberg Rogers “Greetings to all from Wellington, FL” She and Joe keep busy with many social activities. “I still walk three to four miles on the treadmill five times a week-it’s not as easy as it used to be.” Her family is well. She sends her best to everyone. Cynthia Sternberg Schein will be traveling in the fall to see the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore. She had a wonderful surprise when her son, Jimmie, sent her a photo of himself and a woman in his shop in San Francisco. It turned out to be Carol Elsener Muller ’58, her Little Sister, who she hadn’t seen since graduation. Thanks to the Hood Bulletin news, Carol stopped in to see Jimmie at his shop and tell him she was from Hood! Helen Yinger Reed, G’16 has exciting news. “Our  granddaughter (Lauren) just graduated from Hood.  That makes five of us – my mother, myself, my sister, my son (Masters degree), and now granddaughter number one.  Hopefully, granddaughters Alason (age 12) and Arianna (age 9) will follow.” As for myself, Muriel Chait Durbin, P’81, I am still working as a travel consultant—had the fun of planning the honeymoon for third generation clients-I’ve been in my house fifty years- so now I’m working on some  refurbishing –so keeping busy.  In the fall, I’ll be in Philadelphia taking part in the Komen 3 Day walk, my son, Jon, will be walking in his 15^th event. My family and I have been crewing and walking in this event since 1999-I’m grateful for the research that has benefited from these events.