CLASS OF ’69 NEWS – Fall 2017

First to check in was Susie Holtzmann Richardson with the exciting news that after living the single life for 25 years, she’s getting married! She’s known Hal for over 40 years – his deceased wife was a dear friend of Susie’s. Sarah Jane Snyder Raffety and Clyde will welcome a new grandson in November. Their other grandchildren (ages 15 and 12) live far away, but this little guy will be considerably closer. Now that Marty Silcox Hankins has retired from teaching, she and Ken were finally able to travel in the fall, taking a 2-week, 2000 mile trip in a camper all through Nova Scotia. She keeps busy with Shiloh Pottery and “Master Gardening” in Carroll County, MD. Carolyn Cantagalli Dumaresq just acquired a new puppy to add to her pack of three Border Collies. Kip says she’s “fully involved in puppy potty boot camp.” She is paying it forward with four Doctoral candidates from Immaculata Univ. Kip wonders if anyone knows how to contact Leslie Van Backer? Margaret Dunkle’s most dramatic recent event revolved around attending the Association of Community College Trustees annual meeting in Las Vegas. She got to visit Hoover Dam and catch a couple of shows before heading back to Maryland – just 24 hours before the mass shooting! Her hotel was only 2 blocks away. She said “the event felt eerily like 9/11 when I was scheduled to fly from LAX to DC and got a call from the car service, saying they weren’t going to pick me up because the airports were closed.” The twin towers were being attacked. Betsy Seele Gotta celebrated turning 70 with a dinner party for several close friends in October. Then her square dance club surprised here with a dance/party attended by 120 dancers from all over New Jersey. Betsy and Roy recently visited Branson, MO, then stopped to see Jill Stanley and Adam in their new Indiana home. Speaking of turning 70, these girls did it right! Susan Taylor Shoch, Barbara Hoagland Ziegler and Rick, Betsy Rudolph Lustenader and Jim, Deborah Dick Holbert and Woody celebrated with a magical tour of Greece in late September. Their tour guide was Chrysanthe Papayani Koumas and George Manos. They visited Athens, the seaside village of Nafplio and cruised to Mykonos, Ephesus, Patmos, Rhodes and Santorini. Betsy and Jim flew to Rome before heading back to Hanover, NJ. Susan stopped in VA to see Sue Korff Hammer and her Alpaca Farm. Susan, Barb, Deb and Chrysanthe all “winter” in Florida. Peggy Jackson Wyckhouse and her husband are still among the employed, primarily because they continue to support their 39 year-old medically disabled daughter. But Peggy has reduced her teaching load drastically. Last year’s spinal fusion still gives her problems. Pat Warren Carlson works part-time in the doctoral program in Educational Leadership at Delaware State University, chairing or co-chairing 17 committees – and graduating 17 doctoral student this year. Pat and Michael have 3 grandchildren – a grandson who is a freshman at Boston College, and 2 granddaughters, ages 4 and 8. They each share their grandmother’s love of golf. Pat won low net in both her overall and senior club championships. The Carlsons will celebrate their anniversary with their annual trip to Punta Cana in December. Carole Downing Staton and Roy welcomed granddaughter Quinlynn in June. She is little sister to 6 year-old Austin. After several years of planning the Statons took an Alaskan cruise in July. Words, Carole says, cannot describe the wonders of that part of the world. Life is about to take a drastic turn for Dave and me, Sayre Roney Steere. We’ve decided to chuck our idyllic Florida lifestyle and move to Seattle to be closer to our 2 daughters and 3 granddaughters. Our house is on the market and we’ve contracted to build a new home in a “55 and over” community about an hour south of the city. We’re aiming for a spring move. Meanwhile we continue to travel, spending 3 weeks in Seattle this summer, a week in Maine, another week in Branson, MO, and finally a 7-day Caribbean cruise, which got extended to 10 days thanks to Hurricane Irma. From day to day we had no idea which ports we were going to hit. After 25 years in one spot, Dave and I are definitely “needed” in many organizations. It will be hard to break ties – and seek out similarly rewarding “purposes” in our new life.