Patricia Rosner Kearns
kearns.patricia@gmail.com

Deborah Aldrich says she loves to read about our classmates is having a good year. “I’ve just lost some major weight and feel so much better. Walking every day in beautiful Newburyport. Coming up on the five year mark breast cancer free which is great. My daughter just went through a much more difficult bout with it. I added two wonderful kittens, Jethro and Findlay McDoodle, to my cat house.” Gail Witham Pohl writes: In May, we took a wonderful cruise on the Elbe River going from Berlin to Prague, and in July we took a driving trip through some of western U.S. and Canada (over 5000 miles). We’re still involved in square dancing and volunteer work, and I lead a Bible study group. The grandchild count is now 20. We are blessed! Johanna Van Wert Thompson say, turning 70 has been great fun with a family Caribbean cruise, there were 22 of us! Michael and are very active in Bruton Parish and working with the homeless. We even have a therapy dog and Michael takes him to a retirement home as well as a women’s shelter, to interact with the residents. One thing that has come to fruition in this 70th year is a scholarship at Hood which my two sisters, Punkie Van Wert VanAs ’69, and Susie Van Wert Loustaunau ’72, and I have established. The Virginia Munson Hammell ’67 Trading Room was constructed in Rosenstock Hall over the summer and is now open for classroom use. Kristina Campbell Joyce says she is planning to stay in their house in Massachusetts for life if possible, so did some work around the place this summer.
“Our grandchildren Emma (13) and Ryan (11) are growing up fast. Our daughter teacher is in Boston so we see her often. BJ and I traveled to Iceland and Greenland for my art and teaching–Artic Art theme and that was an adventure. BJ is still in the family business for printing and drafting supplies and is happy working as I am too.” Ruth Conger Crespi writes from Rhodes, Greece, “at the end of a great two-week trip here. I return October 1….to the wonderful man in my life, who I dated in New York in 1968. Life can be so unpredictable, especially at 70! … I had a nice visit from Susan Starr Bracken, who was traveling back to North Carolina after a month in the northeast. While she was here we joined Cynthia Newby for lunch. I see my cousin Mary Starr Smith Adams (Class of ’54) from time to time at her home in Newtown, Connecticut. I look forward to visiting Kristin Muller (MS, Class of 2014) this fall at her studio in Dingman’s Ferry, Pennsylvania. (Kristin was a ceramic student of mine at SCSU many years ago.) … My daughter Louisa has been living and working in Tokyo for the past 14 years. Daughter Jodie is a chiropractor in Davidson, North Carolina. She and husband Mike Silver have two children. Son Scott, his wife Becky, and their three children live near me in West Hartford. They are both chemical engineers. Life is good.” Ann Goodhart and husband Jim Delgado just returned from a cruise in the Canadian Arctic and along the coast of Greenland. It was an amazing experience full of dramatic landscapes, cold and ice, warm local people and not much wildlife. Marjorie Mumma Ohman & family have been in their Arlington, Virginia house 37 years now. The only message she has is– I hope all who can, will come back to Hood for our 50th Reunion. The campus never looked lovelier, and there are so many new developments in the college curriculum. Sometimes I half-wish I could go back again and study something new there now. It is always a pleasure to return. Patricia Rosner Kearns Finally, your class reporter has transitioned once again. I spent the winter in Connecticut taking care of my mother who passed away in March at 90. In June, I joined a small local nonprofit as executive director near my home focused on getting homeless families out of shelters and into permanent homes earning a living wage. The kids continue to fly the coup. Oldest son Josh, moved to Sonoma County but still works in DC; youngest son Neil moved to Louisville, Kentucky, and son Max is still in North Georgia. Grandkid count is four, 3 boys and a girl and I don’t get to see them enough!