1984

Susan Flanders Kleinschmidt, M.S.’92
609-771-0642
susankle@comcast.net

Ellen-Marie Samsen Knehans, P’18
760-371-2353
emknehans@mchsi.com

Greetings from cold NJ! Hope everyone is managing to stay warm! I heard from several people who would love to share their news with their Hood family. Claudia Nichols Nealley reports in that her son is a senior at Carnegie-Mellon University this year. He just finished his football season playing right tackle, and Claudia and her family enjoyed traveling to every game to see him play. Claudia even got the chance to see CMU play Chicago the weekend of the Cubs World Series parade and shared Chicago with 5 million happy Cubs fans. Claudia’s daughter is attending Frederick High and hopes to play lacrosse in college. Claudia is busy chairing the Frederick Cadets Care 4 Kids Charity event where they supply toiletries and gift cards to 100 needy students at the high school. Joy Kelz Woolley reports in from IL that daughter Sarah just graduated from Navy Helicopter Pilot training in Pensacola, FL, and will be flying the SH-60R out of Hawaii. Joy and Jim are looking forward to visiting her in Hawaii. Paris DuChesne Niesterowicz reports in from MD that she and husband Chris have purchased a horse farm in Finksburg, MD. The farmhouse was built in the 1800s, and part of it is a log cabin. Paris works as an emergency room nurse. Paris and Chris currently have two German shepherds, a horse and a foal on the way. Rachel Baker Beard reports that she has had some health issues this year and is hoping 2017 brings better health. She and her husband celebrated the marriage of their youngest son in May. Barbara Rothermel reports that she was just the second student from the US to be awarded a Ph.D. in museum studies from the University of Leicester, UK. She is currently the director of the Daura Gallery and associate professor of museum studies at Lynchburg College in VA. She was also recently elected vice president of the University Museums and Collections Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM-UMAC). Peggy Smith Bacon reports in from Northwest Houston where she has lived for the past 12 years. They are nearly empty nesters! Her youngest daughter is a freshman at the University of North Texas. Peggy’s oldest daughter is a pediatric dietitian at Baylor Scott and White in Waco, TX. Middle daughter is set to graduate in spring 2017 from Sam Houston State University and will be employed as a child counselor or other work related to victim studies. Peggy and husband Graham are looking to relocate to the downtown Houston area to shorten Graham’s daily commute. Peggy and Graham are looking forward to celebrating their30th wedding anniversary in March 2017. Peggy is a member of the Pearl Fincher MFA Guild and has been a member of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas for close to two decades. Mindy Brown reports in from Pittsburgh, PA, that she had the chance to get together with Amy Connor Asman, P’16 and her daughter, Erin. They attended a Pittsburgh Penguins game and spent the weekend sightseeing in Pittsburgh. Ellen-Marie Samsen Knehans, P’18 reports in from California. She had the chance to attend a Hood gathering in Dana Point, CA. She enjoyed meeting President Andrea Chapdelaine as well as seeing Nancy Gillece ’81 and Martha Hearn Shimano ’86. Ellen also brought a prospective student to the Hood gathering. I had the chance this fall to catch up with dear Hood friends at a mini-reunion in Lewes, DE. Thanks to the hospitality of Laurie Draper Carter we were able to stay at her beach-side house in Lewes. Even though the weather didn’t cooperate, we really enjoyed reminiscing and catching up on each other’s lives. Jenny Welles Green and I drove in from NJ. Lori Hobbs Stiles ’83 drove down from VA and Pam Platt, Jeanne Thomson Dinterman, Karen Curtis-Craney, M.A.’93 and Karen Reardon all drove down from MD. Traveling the farthest were Lynn Davis and Diana Proia Romeo traveling from FL and WI, respectively. We were also able to catch up with Bonnie Sell Crowther who, along with Laurie resides in DE. Lots of good food, good laughs and wonderful memories were had. I highly recommend Lewes as a vacation destination. Can’t wait to go back when the weather cooperates! I just celebrated 25 years with the same company, Zeus Scientific, currently director of quality assurance, and am busy raising an eighth grader! Time sure does fly! Best wishes to everyone for a wonderful 2017! Please send news for the next column!