Johanna Chait Essex
516-487-1883
johalessex@gmail.com

Condolences to the family of Elizabeth Nicholson Haywood, who passed away this past August. Congratulations to Rebecca Jackson, class of 2017. She is the recipient of the Andrew G. Truxal scholarship. Nancy Brown Kohlheyer had her left knee replaced while in Brussels this summer. She is now our class “Bionic Woman”—with new knees and hips. She is planning to visit Beth McKim Powell this November. Shirley Dana Few’s grandchildren are keeping her busy—two of the seven granddaughters are in NYC, another is at Duke working towards a B.S. in nursing, one is a flight attendant working towards becoming a pilot, and finally, the youngest is a senior in high school—her grandsons are working and in college—no need to say she is one proud grandmother. She is still living in the retirement community and her children live nearby. Joanne Grahame Wade enjoys playing golf, an occasional horseback ride, and traveling whenever possible. She has lived in the same house for the past 50 years and has no intention of moving. She has 10 grandchildren, and will have three college graduations and one high school graduation this coming year. Nadya Klotz Giusi now has five books that are available on Amazon—she now has a caregiver, walks with a cane, but is able to go to church every Sunday. She has “happy thoughts” when she remembers our days at Hood. Patricia Lloyd Fordham’s daughter has moved in with her—she retired from a job in Kansas, and is relocating to Nevada with a “great new job”. Pat has three dogs and her daughter has two—fortunately there is room for all. Barbara Mayer Werle had a wonderful trip in September to Mackinac Island, Ford Museum/Greenfield Village and Corning Glass Museum. They also had a chance to visit with Margaret Brown Barati and Bill in their new apartment in Pittsburgh, and a quick visit with their grandson who attends Cornell—they still are busy, but “at a slower pace”. Janet Peek Clancy had a heel injury while playing tennis but did win the set. She has had the chance to entertain visitors from China, taking them to see the North Carolina Mountains. She was able to go to Seattle and attend her granddaughter’s wedding. The heel has finally healed and she is back to tennis and, of course, bridge. Marilynn Phillips had an eventful summer to say the least—she spent four days in the hospital after a TIA, but nothing was found; attended the wedding of her grandson Tyler, had steroid injections into her knees enabling her to visit her son Chip in Seattle –this has kept her busy, and happy. Kathryn Redelfs Rott is planning to visit her daughter and their families for Thanksgiving and Christmas in Phoenix and Florida—both nice places to visit in the winter. They would like to move, but she is happy where she is, and plans to stay in Indiana as long as she can drive. Her son Ed, who lives in Sweden plans to be in Florida over the New Year’s holiday and she may extend her stay in Florida. She uses an IPad for reading, and keeps a magnifying glass close by due to macular degeneration (she has received injections for this). Johanna Chait Essex I do thank you all for your response to my sos—it is truly appreciated, and I will try to reach out to everyone I missed when the next issue is due. Hal and I are fine—had a great Tauck tour of “The Hidden Gems of New England” this summer—for Hal one of the highlights was an in depth tour of Wrigley field, including the press box—I enjoyed see Mark Twain’s house, and of course the place where Ken Burns puts his marvelous programs together—we saw mountains, farms, the ocean—and of course we ate well. Our kids and grandkids are all doing their thing—whatever it may be, and keeping us up to date via email and Facebook. Take care of yourselves, and have a happy, healthy New Year.