Here’s a look at the class of 2012! Drew Althouse is finishing up first full year at Madonna University working as an athletic trainer in the NAIA.  He is getting married on July 6th, 2018 to his fiancé Kristen Baker! Briana Becker works as an LCSW in a collaborative health setting, providing mental health services to underserved populations. Jes Garshell was married to Ryan Van Newkirk and started a new job at the Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Specialty Hospital. Adrienne Gladden started a new position at Laureate Education Inc. as a Student Support Coordinator for Walden University students, and started her own business called “Crowned By A.Reneé” specializing in wig making and other hair services. Lauren Hagan started a new job as a digital marketing strategist at Immersion Active in Frederick, MD. James Hammond attended the University of Baltimore School of Law after graduation and is working as an Assistant State’s Attorney in Baltimore City. Jess Henry graduated with her PhD in Chemistry from the University of New Hampshire and lives in Boston, MA. She works for PPD doing analytical development at a pharmaceutical company. Jillian Jones works as a Secondary Education English Peace Corps Volunteer in north-west Sierra Leone, West Africa. She lives and works in a tiny village of less than 500, with no running water or electricity. Michelle Kuehl and her fiancé, Dane Randolph were recently engaged. They are planning their move from Georgia to Maryland with their two cats and Italian mastiff.  Bern Lee accepted a pre-doctoral internship position at Henry Ford Heath Services Center in Detroit and published a first-authored peer-reviewed paper on PET imaging in professional athletes at risk for CTE. He gave his first formal research talk at the American Academy of Neurology Conference in L.A. Eric Leviton has been serving in the US Air Force and lives in North Dakota. He is scheduled to serve overseas in Europe for the next 4 years. Nathalie Lewis graduated with an MBA in Accounting from Hood College and enjoyed seeing some fellow 2012 alumni at the 5-year reunion! She currently works for Nymeo Frederick Credit Union in Frederick, MD. Lauren McGrane and her husband welcomed their son, Victor, into the world! Marisa Mitchell-Flack will attend the PhD in Immunology program at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine this fall. Kelli Nord recently graduated (May 2018) with her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction with a concentration in designing digital literacy from George Mason University. Cori O’Donnell is a mom to a beautiful boy and is active in the fight against the opiate epidemic, helping to organize awareness events in the Carroll County, MD area.  Molly Poling graduated with a Masters in Heath Science with a concentration in Gerontological Studies from Boise State University. She has been working in Boise as a recreation assistant at an assisted living facility. Zach Roberson moved to the greater Boston area and started a new job at Walnut Hill School for the Arts as the Director of Community Programs. Drew Roderuck is a herpetologist for the National Aquarium in Baltimore. He works in the Australian Department with reptiles. Kenneth Rupert recently published three books; Simple Wealth Building Strategies, The Plan, and God-I Was Wondering. He also attained the rank of Senior Brown Belt in Hap Ki Do from the Global Martial Arts in Hampstead, MD. Kasey Smith is teaching in Frederick County at Woodsboro/New Midway Elementary as a Special Education Teacher, has bought a house, and is working on her Masters of Educational Leadership at Hood College. Maria Smith recently completed her MA in Intercultural Communication with a concentration in French Language and Francophone Studies from UMBC. She also moved into a new role as the lead dormitory parent for her building at the boarding school where she teaches middle and upper school French. Kristina Southwell is an attorney living in Tacoma, Washington and has fully embraced the Pacific Northwest lifestyle by hiking regularly and drinking lots of coffee. Last year she started a new job as a civil litigation associate with Gordon Thomas Honeywell. Stephanie Toone was married to her now husband, Lucca Santineli. Laura Voelker and her husband, Bruce, are moving to the D.C. area this summer. Katelyn Vu graduated summa cum laude from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 2015, and was sworn into the Maryland Bar. She is now a litigation attorney working for Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, LLP, in Baltimore, Maryland.Taurean Washington earned a solo exhibition at the art gallery of Frederick Community College on June 8th 2019. Also he now works for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and was just promoted to a Project Specialist within a year of being employed. Haley Webb celebrated the marriage of her college roommate, Megan Coulbourne on May 19th.

Hello, hello! Thank you to those who heeded my last-minute shout-out to share their news this round. I’m in personal awe of two of our classmates with FULL houses: both Robin Deniker Morgenstern and husband Chad who welcomed baby girl #4 into their lives February 11, 2017; and Amy Markowski Best and husband Tim who, after three years as their foster parents, finalized the adoption of Micah Daniel Gioni (age 4) and Bridget Lynn Wynter (age 3) on April 16, 2018. They join siblings Mason (12), Levi (10), and Ava (7). A special congratulations also goes out to Christine Acquarulo Wheeler who married Tre’Veon Wheeler April 14, 2018; she is now officially Christine Wheeler! Lastly, a very belated but BIG thank you to Jen Stange Knieriem for keeping our class connected via Facebook; she was kind enough to post on all-call last fall en route to her honeymoon! Keep your great news coming via email, Facebook, or otherwise. Holly and I enjoy hearing from you even if just to say hi.

Arlene Russo Bujese is again chairing the annual East End Hospice Boxart Benefit, their 18th year.  In addition, she is curating the art for the Project Most benefit to be held this coming June. This is a wonderful after school program for children whose parents work later that the time school lets out. They learn many things: art, growing food and cooking for families, etc. Arlene received the award for Best Work on Paper at the annual Guild Hall Museum members’ exhibition.

Ann Ely is retiring at the end of June. For the past 17 years she has been an administrative assistant at Rock Point School, a small, private high school in Burlington, VT. It’s been a good run but she’s ready to have other adventures. Her husband Tom will be retiring next year, probably in the fall. They are both looking forward to spending more time with their daughters and their families (3 grandchildren between them:  14, 11, and 18 months), and traveling.

Peg Hosky continues to thrive as co-founder and owner of a media firm, FedInsider, with 80,000 subscribers. Please take time to check out their website www.fedinsider.com. All six of her brothers and sisters have retired, but she enjoys working with government and industry technology leadership engagements too much to throw in the towel

Susan Jeanne Mertz invites us to look at her Facebook page. She has been busy visiting over 40 countries and the rest of the US, since retiring six years ago from a successful business. Susan also became a grandmother. Her life is excellent!

Dory Barrows Smith is enjoying her 2nd year of retirement and life keeps her busy! Her Dad at 93 is still independent at his retirement community but the visits have increased. Her granddaughter Aidyn just turned 12 and is a delightful young lady. Dory still hopes Aidyn has some teenage drama in store for her daughter as Moms love paybacks! Her husband Steve recently had his first grandchild, Everette, and they visit when they can but Los Angeles is far away from Laurel MD. Face time is a godsend for family that doesn’t live near them. One of the things she wanted to do when she retired was travel – and they have! Some has been accompanying Steve on his business trips and they tour old houses and check out breweries where ever they go. This spring they went for 2 weeks to Santiago and Easter Island in Chile and visited with friends near Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Dory has been fascinated with Easter Island since she first heard of it while at Hood. It was awesome to see it all in person. In the last few years she have seen some Alums – Trish Emery Call ’74 in Tucson AZ and Beth Kline ’75 on Cape Cod.  They had great visits and she only wishes they could do it more often.

Life is good for Carol Fleck Whetzel. Dennis (aka Mike) continues to work from home and loves it. Carol makes frequent trips to MA to visit with her 95 year old mother. Her visits with the grandsons in PA and NC brings out the kid in them! She tried out the trampoline recently which was a little scary at first but not bad. No broken bones. Riding adult Big Wheels is an absolute blast that Carol cannot get enough of. She wonders at what age she’s supposed to grow up. Don’t we all!

Thank you to everyone who shared their news. I continue to work designing the retirement plans for small businesses, and because the economy has improved, I am extremely busy. My son Matt got engaged to his longtime girlfriend Samantha and we are planning a wedding for early next year. Wish I had more time to write, but unfortunate I’m running up against the filing deadline for this article. Hope everyone is having a wonderful 2018. Wishing you, your families and friends the best! Debbie Page Rath

Class of ’69 News – Fall 2018 edition

Retirement is suiting Marty Silcox Hankins quite well. Last Fall she and Ken travelled in their “slide-in camper” on the back of their pickup to Nova Scotia. She remains busy with Master Gardening and Shiloh Pottery, in addition to visiting children and grandchildren in Houston and Baltimore. Another Master Gardener, Pat Etzel Parker, is delighted that her husband Dowell has recovered sufficiently from orthopedic issues, that they can take their first cruise – to Alaska, this summer. She also has an animal watching expedition in Kenya planned for October. She and Ellen Kiel continue their birthday tradition of getting together for a day at the spa. Ginny Monaco Hatfield wrote from beautiful Lake Tahoe where she has a small cedar home. She says it’s like “living in a tree.” She’s anticipating knee surgery in the near future. She’d love to hear from former roommate, Ellen Fogler Greenberg. Sarah Jane Snyder Raffety checked in from steamy Texas where temperatures have topped 100 degrees. She says “hi” to 69’ers and sends sisterly love. As an active member of the League of Women Voters, Margaret Dunkle strives to get high school students registered to vote at age 16 so they can cast their ballots when they turn 18. Margaret was recently honored by the National Women’s History Project under the theme, Nevertheless She Persisted. She also participated in the “March for Our Lives” event led by students from Parkland High School in Florida. Carole Downing Staton can once again breathe a sigh of relief as son Andrew safely returned in January from his 4th deployment. He and his wife reside in Texas. Carole and Roy take great delight in their grandchildren, Austin (6 ½) and Quinlynn (1). I will quote from Marianne Handy Hraibi (St. Johnsbury, VT.) “I doubt if any of you remember me at all. I was at Hood only for our freshman year. I transferred to the Boston Conservatory as a Dance Major sophomore year. At Hood I lived in Coblentz, top floor. My roommate was Martha Gyorik-de-Salanky. Years ago in Hanover, NH I was friendly with the mother of my son’s good friend. We found out quite by chance that we had known each other at Hood. Shahrnaz Safavi from Iran! Nazi had spent a year in Belgium with her husband. While there she received her issue of Hood Magazine. She was astonished to discover I was the same “Marianne” that she had known at Hood 1965-66. When she returned to Hanover, we both were in awe! Neither of us had asked maiden names and had only known each other by our married names. It is such a small world!” Since Debbie Dick Holbert’s retirement, she’s trying to visit all the international cities that she didn’t explore while flying for United before they merged with Continental. She’s making headway! Christine Diehl wrote from Connecticut where she just finished the Spring Semester at Gateway Community College, teaching Developmental Math to students of all ages. It’s rewarding, she says – and helps pay the taxes in Connecticut! Trips into NYC and Cape Cod will highlight the summer – before returning to college in the Fall. Chris keeps in touch with Marya Rusinak who lives in Cincinnati, OH. Nancy Roe Hebdon and Fred are the proud grandparents of a third-year law student at George Washington Univ. in D.C. They recently traveled to Europe, Scandinavia, Egypt and China and have an upcoming cruise around Iceland. They are happily retired and live on the water in Cambridge, MD, not far from Marty Mulford Gray and her husband. For me, Sayre Roney Steere, it’s been a tumultuous few months. The decision to leave all we’ve known for 26 years in Panama City Beach, Florida and move to Seattle WA. was huge. But “family” has a very strong pull. We downsized to the max, sold our precious home (it was a tearful goodbye), drove the Tesla back across country, and as of May 16th moved into our new little abode in a “55 and older” community called Tehaleh in Bonney Lake, WA right at the base of Mt. Rainier. We’re slowly getting acclimated, but certainly love being closer to our girls. Now we can actively take part in our granddaughters’ lives – already we’ve been to a track meet, a dance performance, a Triathlon, an oboe recital, swim practice and soon an elementary school graduation. Turns out Jill Stanley has family nearby – may even see her one day!