1944

V. Jean Wheatley Hilchuk
407-767-6863
jhilchuk@aol.com

Hood sent me the names of thirty of us for me to contact to see what we are up to doing these days.  Thirteen of us were able to respond.  Most of the phones rang but there was no answer to my call.  The only phone call that had been discontinued was that of Emma Vonderheide Rhoderick.  Marilyn Barnett is still living in New Orleans.  She reported that she really didn’t do much of anything.  But at least she knew what she was talking about.  Betty Lee Daubenspeck Carl does play gold and bridge.  Janet Louise Coblentz Cover is living in Frederick in a retirement center.  She says she is in the assisted living section.  There are several other Hood grads that she has met there.  Gertrude Flagg Dalzell is still living in her own home.  She continues to attend meetings and does quite a bit of reading.  Anne Schwab Dulabahn is also in a retirement center.  She uses a walker and does not drive anymore.  She wishes that her daughters lived nearby, but they live in D.C. and California.  Margaret Traver Emery lives in her own home and has a son, Nelson, living with her.  She is planning a trip to Texas and then to New Jersey to visit her family.  She then intends to sell her home and settle someplace else.  Mildred Geiple Hufnagel lives in her own home.  Her son lives with his mother.  She keeps busy with the usual activities.  Annabelle Sunderland Kepler still drives and lives in her own home.  That seems to be quite the thing for one of our age.  Betty Jane Black Newport lives in her own home too.  She has meals on wheels delivered to her.  Way to go Betty.  Phyllis Carts Searle has a caregiver with her to see her needs.  Mary Alice Knobloch Smith is one of our active ones.  She plays duplicate bridge.  She has family near her which is great.  Mary Lou Chorley Touart is in a retirement center also.  She has retired from the job she had as an editor of their paper.  Her family keeps in touch with her.  Gladys Reinert Aungst called from Newport News.  She still lives in her home.  Her daughter is staying with her.  She no longer drives and uses a walker to help get around.  Well, that is the classmates I heard from.  Hope it brings you up to date.  As for myself, I am living in a retirement center which is near where I lived on the golf course.  I am unable to walk with the exception of walking to the pool which I do daily.  So I ride these long halls in my electric scooter.  The three members of our class that died this past year are: Mildred Easterbrook Patzig, Marilyn Jane Fowler Orth, and Helen Jacqueline Wright. 

1972

Cynthia Clifford
415-563-5273
cynthiaclifford999@gmail.com

Thanks for the wonderful response to my call for news; unfortunately, I had to edit heavily with a limit of 750 words, so please also post often at https://www.facebook.com/groups/124118741026202. Nancy Leigh Williams Bishop and Dan are happily retired in Malibu. Daughter Sam and son-in-law Joel live in Australia; he will compete as goalie on the Australian Water Polo team at the Rio Olympics. Carol McVey Burke, M.S. ’80 and her husband recently attended the wedding of the daughter of her Hood roommate, Gretchen VanWhy Gowen, P’08. Sarah M. Gowen ’08 is the third generation to attend Hood; her grandmother is Margaret Hope Whitehead VanWhy ’45. Marianne Taylor Strittmatter continues to run the family business in York, PA; she enjoys gardening, traveling, writing memoirs, and time with her children and four grandsons. Helen De Leonard writes that since retiring from teaching, she has finally been able to perfect living in the present moment! She volunteers with her church, including as a Stephen Minister. Last summer, she visited Gini Procino Hartmann and Tom at their new home in Watchung, NJ; and joined Robin Shaw Leto and Ken in San Francisco for their daughter’s wedding in Golden Gate Park. Linda Cumber Gifkins and her husband enjoy life in southern Vermont, and frequent visits in Brooklyn with kids and grandkids. She continues to work full time at the travel startup Routehappy. Last summer, they had a delightful surprise visit from Darlene DeMay and Jim in their fabulous RV; they hope to visit Betsey Briddell Kipp and Deryl in Boothbay, Maine. Robin Shaw Leto and Ken celebrated their 40^th anniversary with a Panama Canal trip in April with their family; son Jason works with the MA Teachers Association in Boston and daughter Dara continues post-doctoral studies in molecular biology at Stanford. Sue Gorelick Marlenga reports that both daughters married in 2015—Sarah in May and Ashley in November. Mary Jane Scully Bauer was in Boston for Sarah’s wedding but in Israel during Ashley’s. Sue’s been in touch with Joan Leslie Wadsworth, who’s retired from teaching; she and George look forward to their son Greg’s July wedding. Sarah Sonne O’Donnell continues to teach high school biology. Her father passed away March 26 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but had enjoyed photos of his new granddaughter, born three days earlier. Helen-Mae Reisner joined the U. S. Postal Service in ’09 in Philadelphia and was recently appointed to a senior leadership position at Headquarters in Washington. She is in North Bethesda and was delighted to discover that Carol Lipson Fivozinsky and her husband live in the same building. Becky Riehl enjoys retirement in The Villages, FL, including water aerobics, bridge, golf, and riding in her golf cart.  She also travels to Nashville, TN, golf tournaments in Las Vegas and Myrtle Beach, and cruises on her pontoon boat. This summer, she plans to see Cindy Land Humphries ’74 and Lucia Grabenstein Kline. Marti Murray Robinson retired this spring from Ulster County Community College as a Professor Emerita after 25 years of teaching English. She’ll travel this summer to the Galapagos Islands and then to Ireland with the Hood alumni travel program this fall and continue her studies through the Jung Society of Washington, DC. Connie Dawley Seeley reports that she is very happily engaged; she and Karl met online in 2014. They live in Clarksburg, MD, close to Hood and will be married in August. They often see Linda Wicks Crites and Bob; Connie and Linda attended reunion weekend, and shared lunch with friends from ’71 celebrating their 45th: Mary McMunigal Burland ’71, Edith Purdie ’71, and Betsy Cooper Pizzolato ’71. Recently, Linda and Bob joined Marsha Kraft Brick and Jim in Rhode Island for brunch; they continue to enjoy retirement and have added Tai Chi and Senior Aerobics to their weekly schedule. Danise Simpson Simmons and Bruce relocated to Aurora, IL, when their son-in-law accepted a transfer to the Chicago area; and he and their daughter, Sarah, invited them to go with them. Their new address is 1286 Church Court, Aurora, IL 60502. Kathy Stewart remains gainfully retired in Harrisburg, PA, enjoying gardening, birding, and screen porch life with an orange fuzz ball named Sparky. She had a great time at the wedding of Jane Chaisson Blake‘s daughter Heather; stays in touch with Kathy Martin Belikoff, who’s exploring the country via RV with Larry and their German shepherd; and has invited me to visit when I’m back East this August. Barrie Parsons Tilghman and Mat much enjoyed a trip to England and France to commemorate the D-Day invasion—the most meaningful trip of their lives. Barrie was reminded of Dr. Bragdon’s American History course, just as she had recalled Dr. Latkovski’s classes on an earlier trip to Latvia. Barrie recently had lunch with Barb Cox Bisset, who’s busy with five grandchildren and a part-time position at Goucher College “and looks just like she did the day we left Hood.” Janice Williams Martin and Al took a cruise to Mexico, and continue to enjoy 4-H and their farm with plenty of animals.  Deidre Jean Wright is proudly taking her oldest grand nephew, Chase Wise, to Lowell, MA, for the 2016 Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders on 29 June. Then she’ll become Quartermaster for VFW Post 8696, Palm Coast, FL; she’s also proud to serve as a speaker for “Veterans in the Classroom” with the Flagler County school system. Allison Zack/Jeffrey Hagerich and Mike divide their time between Rochester, NY and Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, FL—the best chapter of their lives yet! She volunteers with environmental programs; this year, they travel to Chautauqua, Sicily, Singapore, and China, and then to California to visit their daughter. Jane Hively Zarfoss left York, PA in 2012 and moved to West Palm Beach, FL with her 90-year-old mother; she also spends time in the San Francisco Bay Area with her two children and three young grandsons—visitors are welcome in Florida or San Francisco! This column is dedicated to our classmate Kris Vasey Smith, who enjoyed a successful career with Hawai’i Pacific University and passed away September 25, 2013; Mahalo, Kris. Save the date for our 45^th reunion: June 9–11, 2017!