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.