2011

Megan Dancause
717-682-5267
mdancause@comcast.net

The five years since the class of 2011 graduated Hood College have flown by, but we haven’t wasted any time in accomplishing many things! Kayla Murphy Caw and husband Mat welcomed a baby girl, Elizabeth Murphy Caw, on Nov. 2! Katelyn Horn accepted a biologist III positon with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at the Okaloacoochee Slough WMA. Kathleen Grombacher-Irwin married Daniel Jurek in a private ceremony near their home in Seattle on July 30. The couple plans to settle in the Pacific Northwest after living in four cities across the country over the past three years. Morgan Lyons Kelley is currently teaching art to students with profound, multiple disabilities within the Baltimore City school system. She is expected to graduate in the spring from Johns Hopkins School of Education with a Master of Science in Special Education with an emphasis on severe disabilities. Morgan is also the mother to two little boys and she and her husband recently celebrated their one-year anniversary! Alexander McDuffie is teaching fifth grade science at Mater Academy of Nevada. In his spare time, he is coaching fifth and sixth grade flag football, where his team made it to the championships this month. He is also an adviser for the student council where he oversaw a trip to Washington, DC, to speak with senators about funding. Over the summer, Alexander has plans to travel to Ndola, Zambia, where he will volunteer with Northrise University in their Impact Ndola program. Dana Martindell Perry and husband Gregory celebrated their first wedding anniversary in August. Dana also started a new job as an MDS coordinator at Meridian Nursing and Rehabilitation in Shrewsbury. Emily Cucchi Raines moved back to Frederick with her husband this past spring. Emily also started a new position as marketing manager for Cetrom; a local cloud solutions provider. Kelsey Blackwell Roberts, MBA’13 and her husband welcomed a son, John James “JJ” Roberts, on March 17. Kelsey was recently promoted to marketing and business development manager at A2LA where she has worked since 2012. In her spare time, Kelsey is volunteering on several committees with Celebrate Frederick! Meghan Tomlin celebrated five years at United Healthcare and recently bought a house with boyfriend Andrew Bush.

2008

Megan Phillips Rosier
megankrosier@gmail.com
mkp11@hood.edu

Sarah Haney Koons
240-520-6523
sjh6@hood.edu

Sierra Bair Rhodes and husband Michael Rhodes ’06, MBA’09 had their second child, Ryker Wayne Rhodes, in July. On July 25 Amanda Rutten Aung and Min Zaw Aung were married at Strong Mansion at Sugarloaf Mountain. Steve Delaney made a career change, switching from teaching 11th grade English to becoming a middle school guidance counselor in Burlington Township Schools in New York. Addi Lucas Davis, M.S.’16 and husband Christopher Davis welcomed their first child, Theodore, born July 1, 2016. Steven Delaney reported, “In June 2016, after eight years of teaching 11th grade English at Woodbury High School (NJ), I was hired by Burlington Township Middle School as a 6th grade school counselor. I serve more than 300 students and love having a daily impact on their lives. (The 40-minute commute as opposed to my former 7-to-10-minute commute is a bit of a bummer, though!) Additionally, I was an instructor this summer for Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth; I taught a writing course, Heroes and Villains, to 5th and 6th graders at their Bristol, RI, site. I also had a busy wedding season including the weddings of Samantha Bear Lang ’09, Katheen Irwin Jurek ’11, and Ashley Cooper Thumma.”

2006

Sharia Barksdale
301-449-5891
rdy2xplore@yahoo.com

MJ Swicegood ’13 married Geoff Huntoon ’17 on Sept. 30, 2016, in Clarksburg, Md., at Seneca Lodge with friends and family. Geoff works as a development intern at Mosaic Power in Downtown Frederick, and MJ just accepted a position as evaluation manager at Lonza in Walkersville, MD.

1999

Anne Hambrick-Stowe Rankin
717-945-4585
annehambrickstowe@gmail.com

I want to start with a shout-out to Amy Countryman Stavely who was our class reporter since we graduated 17 (gasp!) years ago! Thank you! And, for now, I am happy to take this over; if you have updates, feel free to email or text them to me for future class notes! Speaking of Amy, in February, she returned to work as the financial secretary/office manager at Nichols-Bethel UMC in Odenton, MD. While it has been rewarding for her to be back at work outside the home, it has been a real adjustment. She is also serving as vice regent for the Anne Arundel Chapter, NSDAR in Crownsville, MD. She and her husband are actively working to preserve the c. 1753 historic farmhouse/tavern that they own. She says it has been an eye-opening experience learning about everything involved in historic preservation! Marissa Deener, M.S.’05 married Major Scott Brocious on June 4, 2016, at which point she became an instant mom to his three sons: Isaac, Noah and Luke. Marissa is beginning year 18 of teaching for Washington County Public Schools, MD. Jessica Palazzi lives with partner Tony and their two children in North Bethesda, MD. Son Henry turned 6 around thanksgiving, and daughter Molly turned 3 in the fall. Both are happy (but sometimes naughty!) kids that keep them on their toes! Jessica is still employed by Booz Allen Hamilton where she is now an intelligence analyst. This will be Jessica’s 18th year with the firm. She and her family love to travel and most recently have been spending long summers in Taiwan and Japan where the children get the chance to spend time with their paternal grandparents, who live in Taipei. Heather Howell married Timothy Wescott on Aug. 13, 2016, in a beautiful outdoor ceremony in Parrott, VA. Angela Foshee ’00 was maid of honor. Heather and Tim currently reside in Seattle, WA, with beloved dog Stitch. Congratulations, Heather! Congratulations are also in order to Kelly Poltrok-Germain who had her first son, Noah Ryan, on July 22, 2014, and recently had her second son, Owen Kelly, on Nov. 22, 2016. She and husband Ryan live in Dumont, NJ, outside on NYC. Megan Reehee will be Owen’s godmother when he is christened in 2017. In spring 2015, Marissa Vigneault accepted a tenure-track position as assistant professor of art history at Utah State University. She is now living with husband Bill and daughter Harper in lovely Logan, UT, surrounded by amazing national parks and the best winter skiing! Sounds like she’s living in prime vacationland! Helen Libby enjoyed being back on campus this past summer, and has been busy publishing a book chapter in “Injury Models of the Central Nervous System.” She guided a blind triathlete at the World Championship, Australia, and the Japan International Triathlon Union races and at U.S. Olympic Paratriathlon Development Camp. She is also scheduled to guide a blind runner at a Houston marathon in January 2017. Whew! As for me—husband Chris and I were married in 2014, live in Lancaster County, PA, have 3 kids (Zachary Ruslan, 9, Rachel Sunshine, 7, and Andrew Malachi, 11 months), and stay busy with running the older two to sports practices and games, music and dance lessons, cuddling with the younger one, as well as with church activities and with my work as a parish administrator. If you didn’t receive an email from me for this magazine asking for your news, please email or text me so I can get your updated contact info; I look forward to receiving your latest updates to include in the next magazine!

1996

Jewel K. Smith
703-969-0050
jewelsmith@hotmail.com

It is with great sadness that I report that two of our classmates passed since my last report. Abigail Acland passed away Nov. 9, 2016. Her memorial service was Dec.10 in Kennet Square, PA. The family requests that in lieu of flowers (Abby hated cut flowers, they always made her sad), donations be made to the Washington Area Clinic Defense Task Force or Doctors Without Borders. In addition, Jennifer Przychodzen passed away Dec. 6. Funeral services were held in Washington Boro, PA, on Dec. 10, 2016. In paraphrasing Winnie the Pooh—how lucky we were to have had their friendship, we had something that makes saying goodbye so hard. Tracy Wiser continues to be “bivocational,” working full time and as the part-time pastor at Monocacy Church of the Brethren in Rocky Ridge, MD. Tracy and her family still live near Hood! Jennifer Wolfe Pupa is excited that she has turned her research passion into real-life work, and she has gotten involved with Young Living Essential Oils. Jen has been spending a fair amount of time over the past two years studying how essential oils have a positive effect on the body and can be used to help balance health and maintain wellness. On her list of things to do is take classes toward an aromatherapy certification, but that is a project for when the kids are just a little bit older. We wish Jen the best of luck on her new endeavor! It has been a busy fall! I recently had lunch with Jacki Resop Amato ’95 and her daughter and future Hood alumna, Julianna. I met some newer Hood alums at the Hood alumni reception at the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC, on Dec. 10. I started a new job in December as well. I am the new director of operations at the Generic Pharmaceutical Association. I am excited to start another adventure— life seems to be full of those lately!

1995
Jacki Resop Amato
jresop@yahoo.com 

Hello, Hoodlums! I hope everyone had a healthy and safe 2016! Nothing can keep Jennifer Barbieri ’98 from getting married. Her original wedding date was Oct. 5, 2016, on the Carnival Victory, but Hurricane Matthew had other ideas. After Port Canaveral was shut down and everyone had to evacuate inland to Orlando, it finally came together on Oct. 8, 2016. She married Shawn Casey! Congratulations to the lucky couple! Finally, I got to see my Memorial girl, Jewel Smith ’96, after her return home from CA. We had a great lunch and visit, as always. Please feel free to email me anything throughout the year with updates!

1994

Sanya Cleary Wolstenholme
215-338-8627
lilmackvic@comcast.net

Hello, Class of 1994! Unfortunately, I do not have any new updates from Hood alums. I have heard about a lot of wonderful events happening in your lives, but unless you give me the okay, I cannot report it. Please reach out with a quick email. I would love to hear from you! As for my own family, a lot of memories were made when we traveled to Hawaii this past summer. It was nice to be together as Mackenzie begins her senior year and Tori her freshman year in high school. I am so happy they will have this year together. Rich and I are also a bit nostalgic…Mackenzie began applying to colleges—she has been accepted to all that she applied, now comes decision time. Hard to believe that we were all in her boat 23 years ago. I can only hope she will make lifelong friends and memories as I did at Hood. I hope to hear from you soon! Enjoy the season and stay warm!

1987

Marcie Kendall Gibboney

801-583-2434
mkgibboney@gmail.com

Greetings to the Class of 1987! Apologies that it has been a while since our last column. Work and two teenagers are a bit of a challenge! At this point I hope everyone has received information for our upcoming30th reunion in June. I know everyone always says this, but it is ridiculous to think it has been 30 years. Seriously? I only received a few updates, so I’m open to ideas for the best way to collect news. In addition, if anyone else would like to take on the job as class reporter for the next 30 years, I’m open to that as well and please send me an email and let me know if you are interested. Molly Reeder Chamberlain wrote that her family recently relocated from Washington, DC, to Newport, RI. Her husband, Doug, recently accepted a position as a professor at the Naval War College in Jamestown, RI. Her family, including her twin boys, age 9, are happy to be in New England and look forward to skiing this winter. Pamela Barres Fusco gave updates on her awesome kids: “My oldest son, Rob, 24, will be getting married next July in Newport, RI. He is quite a catch! He graduated from UCA San Diego with a chemical engineering degree three years ago. He is now pursuing a master’s in chemical engineering at UMass. Her daughter, Molly, 22, worked on the Marco Rubio campaign last year. She is now a project manager in Manchester, NH. She graduated from American University in DC in only three years! My youngest daughter, Emily, 21, is completing her senior year at UNH. She traveled to London last year and successfully completed a semester. She came home in May. She returned in July and was enrolled in an English literature course at Cambridge. She plans on studying at Cambridge for her master’s degree. My youngest child, Sam, is now in fifth grade and loves to help other kids in his class if they have problems, especially math problems.” On Nov. 3, Pamela had a total hip replacement. It was great to hear from Kathleen King Kinsey who provided her first update ever! She married her college sweetheart, had three daughters and moved all over the US and lived in Europe twice, played on a CA lacrosse team, raced triathlons and bike raced in Sicily, Italy. They settled in the Sacramento region after returning from Europe in 2011. Along the way she worked sales and business, left her career to raise three girls (3.5 years span for all of them) and stayed involved in community events in the places they lived. The marriage dissolved after almost 30 years, and the girls, now 15, 16 and 18, all live with her full time. Her oldest, Greta, is in the middle of a gap year between high school and college and is working with AmeriCorps City Year to mentor and tutor middle school students in a high-need school in Sacramento. Her middle daughter, Hallie is a junior in high school. She attended US Swimming’s Olympic Team Trials meet in Omaha in June 2016 for four races and is looking at colleges and universities all over the country. Her youngest, Annika, is also a swimmer and recently started playing lacrosse. Kathleen turned her passion for sports into a nonprofit youth swim team called the Folsom Wahoos Swim Team and she still swims, cycles and exercises daily. Please look her up if you find yourself out west kathleen.king.kinsey@gmail.com. Thanks to everyone for sending updates. If you have any news, please feel free to email me anytime at mkgibboney@gmail.com.

1986

Alison Drum Althouse P’12
804-378-7541  alison.althouse@gmail.com

Sue Auger Manory wrote, “I had a great time at the reunion last June—catching up with Lynne Davis Anderson and all my other classmates! We had a great time exploring campus and Downtown Frederick. The winery tour and class dinner were so much fun…wish you all could have joined us!” Jane Brophy Martinez says, “Our daughter, Hadden, returned from Burkina Faso, Africa, completing her two-year service in the Peace Corps. She secured a job with InsideNGO in Washington, DC. Now waiting to see where Nate heads for his college adventure. Life is good, and we are so very blessed!” Josie Espino Calix shared, “This year, 2016, has been one of many challenges and many blessings. I lost my husband of 31 years, I have a new granddaughter on the way, and I am now facing breast cancer. I have been blessed with wonderful family and friends who are lifting me up and taking care of me. And above all, I have a Heavenly Father who loves me, knows me by name and is very aware of all of my needs. I am truly thankful for my blessings and my trials. I know that families can be together forever; what comfort these sweet words bring.” Paige Flory wrote to say that she is divorced, lives in Lancaster County, PA, has one adult daughter in Chicago, one son studying chemistry in college in Philadelphia, and a recently adopted a 4-year-old boy that came into her home via foster care. Currently seeking to re-enter professional communications, sales and marketing career after being at home doing foster care. Never too late to put a good Hood education to work! Judi Glaser Shaw said, “My husband, Steve, and I moved to Redondo Beach, CA, in 2013 for his work. We just celebrated our 27th anniversary this summer. Our oldest daughter, Dana, earned her master’s degree at USC film school last year and was married in MD this summer. Our youngest daughter, Megan, is studying for her master’s in Irish literature in Dublin right now. So we are big-time empty nesters! We love to travel and have spent our free time traveling around the west coast and going to Hawaii, which we hadn’t done before moving here. I am self-employed as a healthcare consultant, and have been since 2001, which involves completing and filing a lot of paperwork for nursing facilities. I love it because I can work anywhere and without any specific hours, so it is very convenient. That’s about it!” Chrysti Hogan, who coaches her school’s bowling team, is very proud of the fact that this fall, they beat a rival school for the first time in the 15-year history of the program. Once again the team is headed to the state tournament in January! Go Turkeys (the school mascot)! Christie Nicodemus Bailey, P’16, P’18 says, “My oldest, Katie Bailey ’16, now a Hood alum, graduated in May and for a year she is living in Paris working as an English teacher assistant through the French TAIF program. I was lucky to be able to spend a couple days with her in Paris in September. My second daughter, Samantha Bailey ’18, a junior at Hood, has spent this semester in Florence, Italy. She has been having a great time and looking forward to seeing her friends back on campus in January. I can’t wait to be down there myself when she gets her Hood ring!” As for me, my husband and I love living in MD and being so close to Annapolis. My older son, Drew Althouse ’12, just accepted an athletic trainer position with Madonna University in MI so he’ll be moving north soon. My younger son, Evan, lives in Arlington and works for JD Power as an analyst. Both boys are happy and doing what they love…what more could a mom want for her kids? Note: I apologize for writing such a cut/paste article this time, but my mom died this morning (Dec. 15, 2016)… I’ll do my best to put more of an effort into the next article. Thanks for your understanding.

1985

Sue Povich DelConte
732-549-2445
ahoodlumof85@hotmail.com

Hello, Class of 1985! Marsha Evans met up with Deb Crawford-Reynolds at Hood for Homecoming weekend festivities, enjoying a meet-and-greet photo with President Chapdelaine and a walk down memory lane around campus. Marsha and Deb also met up with Krista Stone Steiding for dinner in Downtown Frederick that weekend. Always a fun time when Hood besties can get together! Amie Jamison Sweren added: “Life here is good. The boys have graduated high school, and have just completed their first term at Drexel University. Even though they are at the same school, and their dorms are across the street from each other, they rarely see each other. It’s been quite liberating for them. Over the summer, the four of us did a driving tour in Europe, hitting Germany, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, France and Luxembourg. It’s been quite an adjustment to life being only Scott and me. I have forgotten how to shop and cook for two people—lots of leftovers! Anyway, the bottom line is that we are blessed, we are healthy and we are happy.” Kimberly Kieffer Brown reported…“Nothing! No graduations, no weddings, no retirement…in between major life events right now!” Sounds like the calm before the next wave! I envy you! Margie Murphy Weaver realized a 30-year dream this year and finally lives in historic Downtown Frederick, literally yards from Carroll Creek Linear Park and within a mile of the Hood campus. She sees Hood alumni all over town and is loving life (sounds like I need to split this column with you—seriously!). Margie is picturing Dr. Virginia Lewis spinning in her grave at the current state of politics in our nation and is ever grateful for her teaching…Maggie Rose Montez, P’18, aka Mrs. Rose’s daughter, graduated in ’85. She adds: “the craziest thing is my son, John Montez, born and raised in Palm Springs, CA, is now in the middle of his junior year at Hood. He would only look at east coast colleges, but Hood was his first choice. We would walk the campus when we visited his grandparents at our family home on Elm Street. Mom moved to assisted living in FL and passed away in 2007. My children asked to visit Frederick a few years later, and John proclaimed that Hood was where he was going. And he did just that. Say hello to him at Chrisafulli’s Cheese Shop where he works. A pretty cool legacy!” Margaret Oliver sent in some news: “I do enjoy reading about Hood and lives of the Class of ’85. I went to nursing school in London a couple years after graduation. After working in intensive care nursing for 17 years, I am now working in nursing homes looking after people with dementia. I am living in Warrington Cheshire, England.” My (Sue) mother suffers from dementia and has been living with us for about 10 years now. Margaret, I applaud what you’re doing and know what challenges you face daily! I wonder how many of our class are not firmly planted in the middle of the family sandwich and are also dealing with the issues of aging parents…Andrea Malone Redden’s oldest son was married in October, and the photos show a beaming mother of the groom! Congratulations! Wendy Alling sent a quick update although she felt there was nothing particularly newsworthy: “I’m still in NC (and have been since graduation). A few twists on the career path but am currently a data analyst with Community Care of NC. And officially an empty nester as of September.” I am a few years away from that empty nest and both dread and crave it! My final news comes from Becky May—she and partner Bobbi are now living in Sarasota, FL. Becky is the resident program director at an assisted living community and has already found a chorus to sing with. Becky is an ordained interfaith chaplain (since 2010) and is available for weddings, memorial services and other ceremonies. If you visit the Sarasota area, she’d love to connect! Let me know if you would like to contact Becky—I will send a message along! And finally a little from me: I became a grandma for the second time as our son and beautiful daughter-in-law added a son to their family. Add to the mix a college freshman and high school senior, and you have a busy family! Retirement looms ever closer and to help with the next phase of our lives, my husband has applied to Italy to have his dual nationality recognized. This will help us travel and hopefully split our time between locations once we are ready. As the pressures of parent care and work consume me, I would like to add a plea from help with the column! If you would be able to help split the responsibilities of writing, please let me know. It is wonderful to share news, but I think it is time to get a fresh perspective from another Class of ’85 alum! Please consider sharing the load!