1953

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

Sincere condolences to Judy Rank Loposer on the passing of husband Ken this past June. Mary Jane Baldwin Scherer proudly announced the birth of her third great-grandchild—Emma Lou. Mary Jane had ankle surgery in March, and this led to her move into a retirement home, and it is working well. Thanksgiving was spent with daughter Leslie and family. Margy Brown Barati wrote that they have given up their Florida home, sold the Pittsburgh home and are getting used to apartment living. They have good neighbors who are friendly and willing to share their own fascinating lives. Nancy Brown Kohlheyer and John were in Belgium this year as they commemorated March 22 [22/3 as they refer to that date]. One of her former students had been injured in the bombing and was told it will take a year before he can walk again. The metro stop bombed was across the street from the entrance to the European Commission. She and John also had a chance to visit the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, PA. Traveling farther south to Virginia gave them a chance to have dinner with Buffie. I received a lovely note from Hooley Chidester Ball’s daughter Laurie Bunch. Hooley has Alzheimer’s and now lives in an assisted living facility. Her health is good, and she does know her daughters and enjoys their visits, but her memory is very poor. She does enjoy reading the Hood Magazine and anything that is sent from Hood. Shirley Dana Few’s big news was the announcement of her oldest granddaughter’s engagement. She will be married Easter weekend 2017. Her other grandchildren are either still in college or out on their own. This past Thanksgiving saw everyone come home, and they had a chance to play catch up. Penny Fradd Vahsen, P’77 attended four weddings this past summer—Boston, San Antonio, St. Thomas and Portugal—she combined a two-week river cruise with the trip to Portugal, going on to Bruges and Basel. Sounds wonderful. Jerry Griffith Macomber celebrated her 86th birthday in Seattle—with her three daughters—they saw “Man of Lamancha,” spent time in St. James Cathedral enjoying the quiet time, and her daughters drove, while Jerry was the willing backseat passenger, enjoying the freedom from responsibilities, along with her oxygen cannula. Pat Lloyd Fordham and daughter Leslie, along with their five dogs and two cats, are just fine. She and Leslie keep active walking or biking the Colorado River trail that is close. Leslie has a black belt in taekwando and may be seen practicing on their back patio. They had Thanksgiving dinner with friends and two of the dogs. Bim Mayer Werle had a good summer—18 months post knee replacement she was able to garden, and even walk slowly, and in mid-summer she had her cataracts removed. Jerry had his hip replaced in November—life is good. The highlight of the summer was a family gathering for a grandson’s graduation and the birth of their first great-grandchild. Barbara Morris Harrison wrote of the passing of husband Mike and son Michael. Son Peter owns a restaurant in Circleville. Barbara doesn’t drive anymore, but friends do stop in to visit. Judy Rank Loposer’s husband passed away this past June, but her family is close by and is a great deal of help. Judy continues work at her church and in the community of Walla Walla. Bev Rosenberg Sager spent Thanksgiving with her children in San Diego, and then on to another visit to Paris with her daughter. She will spend February in the Turks and Caicos. Sheila Seigal Asher is now living in Florida permanently, as her husband is limited in his activities, and Florida offers more for him than Kiawah Island. Their two grandchildren are high school seniors, and they are all waiting to know where they will go to college. Margaret Church Smith-Loeb visited Canada this past summer and enjoyed the Shaw Festival. She still takes courses at Fordham U., and thinks of NYC as the City for Seniors. Katherine Sponsler Patten took her last cruise this past May, and went up the New England coast as far as Halifax. She and her little sister from Hood, Chucky Reed Hall, are in constant email touch—they have known each other since Chucky was 14 and Kathryn was 16. Brief note from Alice Ungethuem—She spent August and September in Cape Cod and is now back home. Now it is back to garden club meetings and arranging tours of historic gardens. I received a sad note from Bill Cody, a friend of Jane Van Fossan. Jane had passed away peacefully in November, and a nice service for her was held. Hal and I are fine—we are both fully “retired” (whatever that means) but manage to keep busy—our Tauck trip this year was to northern New Mexico—we visited Las Alamos, and this tied in with several of our ship reunion trips—Hal was delighted—saw pueblos, a wonderful old church called the “Lourdes of the United States” and visited with a sculptor whose works were beyond belief. It was a good chance to visit with my sisters as well. Take care and be well—Jo