1983

Mary Townley
804-307-3608
hoodmlt@aol.com

It is my pleasure to share news from several Class of 1983 graduates. Ruth Ravitz Smith writes, “I relocated to Wilmington, NC, and am working for New Hanover County as the chief communications officer. It’s nice to have classmate Laura Schauer here too. We are planning to drive up and crash the class of 82’s reunion next May. I was talking to the news director of our local NPR station this week, and she asked me about something I said when I brought one of my female colleagues to be interviewed on her show a few weeks ago. I said I wanted to show off one of our women (versus the man she originally invited). I think that comment startled her. My “upbringing” at Hood taught me to help develop women leaders. It is what I am most passionate about and where I like to dedicate my energy to benefit the future.” Ruth also shared about our classmate, Nancy Hoffman Hennessey, who has now become an Episcopal priest. Nancy now serves as rector at Sherwood Episcopal Church in Cockeysville, MD. Congratulations, Nancy! Finally Ruth shared news of another classmate, Gretchen Smith Coviello. Gretchen launched her own business called Gretchen’s Homemade. Ruth shared that Gretchen “ships homemade jam, cookies, etc. Her pepper jelly is amazing!” Suzanne Williams Johnson writes, “I met my old roommate Sharon Williams DePamphilis ’82 and her husband, Phil, and son Devin at Lehigh U. in the spring, and my daughter, Elizabeth, showed Devin around campus. It was so much fun to catch up! I’ve been staying in contact with Angie Sievers ’82, Ruth Ravitz Smith, Gretchen Smith Coviello, Cindy Stearns Price, and Sarah Hoover Dietrich. We’re hoping to get together again soon!” Mary Linger Posey, M.A.’92 shares a lot of wonderful news. Says Mary, “I am in my fifth year of subbing in Frederick County Public Schools only for special education instructional assistants or pre-K assistants. I don’t sub every day and rarely all day but enough to exercise my talent in working with elementary-aged children. I have 17 schools to go, and then I will have subbed in all of our 40 elementary-level public/charter schools in this county. Our daughter, Sayre, is a first-year ninth grade history teacher in Baltimore City. She is loving every minute of it and was very well prepared for the challenges as she volunteered in the city much of her four years at UMBC. Our daughter, Julianna, is a sophomore at UMBC majoring in mechanical engineering. She is working very hard as this is a tough academic major. Our son, Garrett, is a junior at Middletown High School. He is doing fine and has many interests. He is still a year-round tennis player competing in the junior circuit with USTA and maintains a nice ranking in MD, VA, WV and DC. My husband, Rich, still works for the FAA in DC and plans to continue there for a few more years.” Our family continues to do well. My nonprofit, the Next Move Program (www.thenextmoveprogram.com), is moving forward. We provide internship experiences and education to young adults with special needs who are transitioning out of high school. We have several Richmond businesses serving as host sites for our interns. In addition, we just signed on with Wells Fargo. Our daughter, Emily, is a freshman at Roanoke College in Salem, VA. She is gradually settling in to college life. Recently she was asked to do a TEDx Youth talk here in Richmond regarding her role in our marriage equality case. So proud! You can watch it on YouTube. Take care, everyone! Mary