Alison Drum Althouse, P’12
804-814-0470
alison.althouse@gmail.com

Hello, my 1986 HoodLums.  I have very little news to share this month, but I would be remiss if I didn’t start with the most difficult. It is with a very heavy heart that I convey news of the death of Leslie Shapiro Fippinger’s son, Scott Fippinger, while he was on a Mid-January break in Mexico. Leslie, her husband Eric, and their daughter Rachel are still mourning the sudden loss of Scott and appreciate everyone’s thoughts and prayers on their behalf. Elizabeth Shimer Murphy’s mom, Judith Washko Shimer ’63, P’86 died in her Pennsylvania home on February 26, 2014 after a 7-year battle with ovarian cancer. Elizabeth and her family appreciate the thoughts and prayers they have received over the past year and hope that all women listen to their bodies and be pro-active in their own healthcare. Christie Nicodemus Bailey, P’16, P’18 wrote to say that her daughter Samantha Bailey ’18 just started her freshman year at Hood, so she is part of the class of 2018! She is a thrower on Hood’s track and field teams and having a great first indoor season. Congrats to you all, Christie! Stacey Robins Baum shared that she and Frank sold their business and after 37 years of employment, she’s now retired! Can’t wait to hear all about your retirement, Stacey, although it’s also fun to see photos of all the HoodLums you find along your travels! As for me, Alison Drum Althouse, P’12 my husband and I have moved to Harford County, Md., as Michael now works for PayPal in Timonium, Md. Older son Drew Althouse ’12 is finishing his master’s degree in athletic training at Shenandoah Univ. and younger son Evan has been working for a research firm in NOVA since his graduation from UVA in May 2014… the empty nest life is getting more and more comfortable! If anyone wants to share news of kids, family, job changes/searches or general updates, please know you can reach me anytime. My home address is now 292 Kitty Court, Forest Hill MD 21050.  My email (especially for Hood news) is alison.althouse@gmail.com and my cell is 804-814-0470. If you’re coming to the Northern Baltimore area, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Just an additional update, for those of you who actually read this message online:  I will always do whatever I can to get you in touch with classmates and friends from our HoodLum years.  I’ve had a few people who have reached out to me because of this article and would be so glad to connect more of you to one another!  I’ve included my email and cell phone for a reason… as your class reporter, I believe it’s important for us to continue to keep in touch with one another, support one another, and befriend one another.  I’m here… just let me know how I can help!

Mary McMunigal Burland
610-733-4009
mburl5@verizon.net

Mindy Laighton Wilcox
619-462-6230
mlwilcox3@gmail.com

After a long, cold winter here in Pennsylvania, it is encouraging to write this column for the summer edition of the Hood Magazine. Thanks to those classmates who chose to send unsolicited news. It was wonderful to hear from you!  Judy Ashway is living in the Boston area and is working part-time as a therapist with children, adolescents and their parents. Judy sees Maylun Buck-Lew several times a year and hears from her former roomie Janet Schultheis Plitt at Christmas. Judy is in the process of adjusting to life as a single woman as she is going through the process of a “collaborative divorce.” Debbi Hamlin Hitchings shared news of a March mini-reunion in Tucson, Ariz., hosted by Jean East who is on sabbatical from the Dept. of Sociology at the Univ. of Denver and is writing a book on leadership. Debbi is director of congregational care at the Congregational Church in Camden, Maine. Classmates Edie Fletcher Flynn, who is retired, from Rhode Island, Laura Tonkel Romesburg, retired Air Force historian, from Ohio, Helen Pierce Whitley, ESL teacher, from Florida, and soon to be retired Susan Fuller from Denver were present to celebrate 48-years of friendship with great food, fine wine, tasty margaritas, explorations of the Sonoran Desert and lots of conversation and laughter. Laura, ever the seamstress, presented everyone with beautiful, quilted wall hangings to commemorate their reunion. Wendy Scott McDonald and Marsha Bissell ’72 were unable to make the journey and were greatly missed. Last summer, Darcy Bevelacqua and her husband Charlie Becraft enjoyed a two-week Alaskan vacation. The first week was spent in Anchorage and Denali where they luckily were able to see all the animals and the Denali Mountain, while they spent the second week on a cruise down the inland waterway.  The rest of their summer was spent at their lake house in upstate New York where they were visited by Nia Lourekas and her husband Mark Kaplan. Darcy is still running her own business focused on customer experience consulting for large firms such as AARP and Ritz-Carlton, and is still running five-miles-a-day! She spent the winter in Bradenton, Fla., where she welcomed her Hood roommate Pamela Russell Bell who is living and working in Austin, Texas. After working 44 years in retail, Diane Miller Jackson retired this past February. Except for vacations, she only took off nine months after her daughter was born. Impressive! Diane and husband Drew plan to sell their home in the Philadelphia area and are building their retirement home in Surry, Maine. Their daughter Jennie was being married May 2015. After celebrating my “Medicare Birthday” in December, I guess that I am now officially old! I’m not exactly sure how this has happened so quickly, as I still feel quite young, but the numbers do not lie! I celebrated my 65th in Kiawah Island, S.C., and had a lovely week there with Bill, my younger son Brendan and his fiancee Kristina who both ran in the Kiawah Half Marathon. We are looking forward to their wedding sometime next year, but first are anxiously awaiting the birth of our older son Patrick and wife Kate’s second daughter this summer. Finally, next summer, our class will have our 45th reunion. Those of us who have attended reunion have always had wonderful times. The only things missing were so many of our classmates who we would love to see. So, if you have never attended a reunion or have not been to one recently, please make plans to join us in Frederick in June 2016. I always come home feeling so very impressed by the wonderful women of the Class of 1971!!! Mary Barton Freeman died May 11, 2015 while traveling on the Isle of Wight. The cause of death was complications from cancer which she had battled since 2012. She is survived by her husband of 43 years, Varel; children and their spouses: Thomas (Katie), William (Beth), Joanna and by her sister Elizabeth Barton.