Catherine Beyer Meredith
410-252-1947
alto1cat@aol.com

Emily Kilby
443-485-7443
erksome44@verizon.net

Reunion weekend was an uncommonly beautiful time in Frederick and on the Hood campus, with perfect weather except for a brief flirtation with thunderstorms on Saturday afternoon and the campus in vivid bloom. The spotlight events for our class occurred throughout Saturday and on Sunday morning. Our weekend was historic for multiple reasons, as it was outgoing President Volpe’s final event as head of the college, the introduction of incoming President Andrea Chapdelaine and American Pharoah’s Triple Crown triumph in the Belmont Stakes, an event we got to watch on a big screen at our reunion dinner. Our deepest appreciation to committee members Joslin Cook Ruffle, Lexie Horn Bickell, Jamie Barr Gartelmann, Libby Fletcher Sturm, Kathie Cribbs Tromble, Eva Sayegh Hardy, Cathie Beyer Meredith and Carolyn Hammer for creating a wonderful gathering for 46 of us to rediscover, yet again, how enduring are the ties that have connected us since the first days we joined the Hood community. It was a joy to resume conversation with our forever-young cohorts of yesteryear. For proof of the vibrancy still among us, take a look at the reunion photo collection at this link: http://photos.hood.edu/Other/2015-Reunion-Weekend/. Now for the class news, which, unfortunately, starts with a report on the deaths of three classmates (in addition to Marsha Schmidt’s passing reported earlier) in 2014. One of the fourth floor Meyran crew during our freshman and sophomore years, Mary Grace Covey Pickett, 70, of Powhatan, Va., passed away September 9, 2014. She was preceded in death by her husband, Edward G. Pickett, Jr., and is survived by two daughters and a son, a brother and seven grandchildren. The obituary tributes indicate that Mary Grace was deeply involved with her family, a library support group, horseback riding, a riding program for the disabled, outdoor adventure, travel and just generally living life to the fullest. M. Stewart Minter Manasse died in Durham, N.C., on September 13, 2014, leaving behind husband George, son Daniel and a legacy of social and political action. According to her obituary, Stewart “earned a Master of Social Work from NYU’s School of Social Work. Until Daniel’s birth, she was a psychiatric social worker in the South Bronx. Stewart loved traveling, art, cinema and music, especially jazz. However, her life was dedicated to her family and social justice. In 2012, she was invited to the White House Christmas Party for her help in passing The Affordable Care Act. In North Carolina, her time in working to register voters was overwhelming.” Georgette Wasserstein Levis died February 6, 2014, in Manchester, Vt., where she had been running the family’s historic forty-room Wilburton Inn since 1987 while, at the same time, she and her psychiatrist husband Albert were raising four talented, accomplished children to adulthood. In addition to her husband, two sons and two daughters, six grandchildren survive. Georgette was the last surviving sibling of five children born to Polish immigrant parents in Brooklyn. Her brother Bruce was the late CEO of Lazard Frere, her older sister Sandra Meyer was a pioneering corporate marketing executive and her younger sister Wendy was the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright whose The Heidi Chronicles, The Sisters Rosensweig and other plays portrayed versions of the Wasserstein women, most notably, Georgette’s stage persona Gorgeous Teitelbaum, a role that brought Madeline Kahn a Tony award. Now, back to the living/lively classmates of ’65 who returned to Hood June 5 – 7. Paula Adler Williams of Baltimore just celebrated her 50th anniversary with husband Ken. “It was nostalgic to pass R. Paul Smith Hall living room,” she wrote, “because that was where we crowded in to watch J.F.K.‘s funeral and where my husband proposed.” Paula put her early childhood education major to good use mothering three children and four grandchildren and as longtime coordinator of a before-and-after-school program. Despite her great devotion to community college education, Jan Apetz Tarbuck is happy to be retired from her extensive career as an English instructor and chair of the Department of Humanities at Kenebec Valley [Maine] Community College. Her husband Heywood is also a retired educator, and they have four children and nine grandchildren. Jan leads an active life in Readfield, Me., quilting, gardening, playing tennis with other seniors and volunteering with the Born to Read Program and the community library. Jan says, “Come visit Maine!” Jamie Barr Gartleman says she could use some new knees but she stays involved in the family horticultural business in Schooleys Mountain, N.J., when she’s not enjoying away time with husband Peter at their auxiliary homes in North Carolina and Maine. They have three sons and six grandchildren. As a reunion committee member, Jamie planned and executed a lovely chapel service during which she shared the story of her own spiritual journey that included lessons in faith learned during setbacks in her academic career and difficulties with an addictive son. The service was a moving and very meaningful close to our time together. Diana Beers Lobdell, with homes in Jupiter Fl. and Park City, Utah, says she may have lost some hearing but she still loves to dance. She and husband, Ralph, a Naval Academy graduate she met while at Hood, have two sons and five grandchildren. Both sons’ families live on the West Coast and Ralph’s parents are in Arizona, so the Utah home is the central location for being with family. Diana is proud of all her ’65 classmates—”all smart, fun, beautiful women.” Cathie Beyer Meredith and husband George are in constant contact with four children and six grandchildren in their family compound in Cockeysville, Md. Cathie still volunteers and sings Handel’s Messiah every December with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. “Life is good,” she says. Bonnie Bolway Nuzum, Ph.D, now of Lyme, Conn., may be retired from the academic side of education (teaching at Columbia University and president of Empire Learning Services, Inc. in New York), but she hasn’t stopped learning. “The most remarkable aspect of life now is how much I have learned in later life,” she writes. “My tennis is improved. I ski better with better technology and a bit of yoga. I have taken up gardening and become a Master Gardener. I have learned to be a more patient committee member. And I find great joy in my children (Courtney, Jonathan, Kimberley and Leah), grandchildren (Carlos, Isa, Jake, Milo, Ruby and Stella), family, old friends and budding new friendships. I am lucky to have children who survived their chaotic upbringing in Brooklyn with two working parents, who loved parenting but who also were renovating their Victorian brownstone. They all have successful, stimulating careers, contribute to their communities and are loving, creative parents of my six (and counting) very adventuresome grandchildren. After a stint in the corporate world following graduation from Hood, I returned to school to develop skills to advocate for improved educational outcomes for children of New York City. A daunting task! I worked as a researcher, college instructor at Teachers College, Columbia University, an advocate, an after-school program director, school board president, etc, often all at the same time! I have spent time in Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Vietnam providing educational input. Politics is a fervent interest, too. It is a fascinating time, and I still hope to effect change! Good health and love to you all.” Regina Bonn Wade delights in her three grandsons living near her in Columbia, Md., and a new granddaughter in Boston. She retired from teaching Music Together to parents and their infants and toddlers. According to the website, the program guides “you and your child . . . to play musically each week under the guidance of one of our early childhood music specialists. During class, you will sing and move to songs and rhythmic rhymes in a variety of meters and tonalities by participating in activities that include small and large movement, instrument play-alongs and community singing. These fun activities are presented as informal, non-performance-oriented musical experiences that are developmentally appropriate for children and easy for parents and caregivers to participate in regardless of their own musical ability!” Regina wrote, “If you have grandbabies, I recommend Music Together. It’s wonderful.” Reg was accompanied at the reunion by daughter Amy, one of her six children. Living in Hilton Head, S.C., Connie Boyer Holbrook, M.D., writes that “life is good.” Connie’s experience as one of only 14 females in her U. of Md. Medical School class was “life changing,” including bringing her together with her first husband, Pete Archambault, who was the roommate of the dental student she had been dating (“the stinky feet one,” she adds). She spent the next 25 years in Connecticut as the only female in the household. For ten of those years, the family worked on restoring a a Queen Ann Victorian home in Meriden. Connie’s son Matthew is a Gettysburg College graduate and Mark a Johns Hopkins grad, so they weren’t far from their mother’s Alma Mater. Connie was widowed at age 49 when Pete was poisoned at work by a chemical solvent, and a few years later, Connie left the pathology lab for good. She remarried to engineer Robert Holbrook 1995, and 12 years ago, they moved to Sun City on Hilton Head, S.C., which she finds to be a great place to keep active. She is currently involved in four singing groups, among other things, and, after a right-knee replacement, she took on the starring role as Rizzo in Grease. Retired librarian Peg Carpenter, of Grosse Pointe, Mich., keeps busy with church work that address the food needs and urban blight in nearby Detroit. Her twin, a ’65 Wellesley graduate, lives nearby. Peg has always been a faithful reunion attendee, and she did not hesitate to make the solo drive to Hood yet again, though she did spread the drive over two days this time. Barb Casey Ruffino, of Chevy Chase, Md. (sometimes), writes, “My husband Russ and I are what you call ‘faux retired.’ I am continuing to do part-time consulting in the D.C. area to keep my mind sharp and pay for travel and ‘body parts and repairs.’ The rest of the time I am in Italy with my husband who was a retired Episcopal priest, but the Church of England found him, and he has been serving as interim vicar at a number of parishes for the Church of England in Italy for the last six years…since he ‘retired.’ We have spent three to six months or more a year in Orvieto, Milan, Naples, Palermo and currently (for the 2015 summer) in Cadenabbia on Lake Como. It would be an understatement to say we are enjoying it. My daughter Jane, Hood ’99, is currently living in Stockholm after more than 12 years in Ireland. She completed her Masters in Archeology at University College, Cork, then went on for doctoral studies at University College, Dublin. While she still stays involved in archeology, most of her time is spent as marketing manager for digital startups, as a communications consultant for large and small companies, as writer of a business column for the Irish Sunday Business Post, and as producer of radio documentaries on historic events and places. To say we are proud of her would be another understatement.” The Ruffinos also have a son Michael, a rock musician. Joslin Cook Ruffle, of New Vernon, N.J., is a retired social worker now volunteering to help the homeless and the hungry. Her recent volunteer efforts produced an amazing one-year class donation exceeding $124,000! “It is a joy to be back at Hood for our 50th,” Joslin wrote. “Those of you who couldn’t make it are missed. The other joys of my life are my family [second husband John, Joslin’s daughters with first husband Jim Leondardson, Suzanne and Anne, and four grandchildren], my church family and my volunteer activities.” During the reunion events, Joslin was busy recording memories to share with Lynn Reagan Johnson, whose sudden health problems at home in Bethlehem, Penn. prevented her from attending the reunion. We surely hope Lynn is back on her feet! Kathie Cribbs Tromble, of Finksburg, Md., a retired high school English teacher, has produced four highly accomplished children—two lawyers, a doctor and a teacher—with husband Bert, also a retired English teacher. Their youngest daughter, Alice, moved with her family to Little Rock, Arkansas, where she heads the burn-surgery unit at University of Arkansas. Daughter, Kate, moved to D.C. to take a job as Social Justice Coordinator at Holy Trinity Church at Georgetown. Along with all these career accomplishments, the children have provided the Trombles with nine grandchildren. Kathie’s most recent great co-production was the fabulous 50th reunion yearbook, which includes photos of the good, old days and all our reunions along with classmate updates. What a wonderful keepsake for all reunion attendees! Deborah Demmy Thomas and husband Gary, of Altoona, Penn., attended the reunion not long after returning from Germany where they had met up with their daughter and son-in-law, who are with the U.S. State Department in Berlin. The four of them enjoyed a river cruise together. The Thomases’ second daughter and her family of three children live in Altoona, and Debby babysits her granddaughter Caroline five days a week. Not entirely retired from her nursing career, Debby works four or five days monthly at The Grier School, a private boarding school for girls. She also volunteers with the Women’s Club of Altoona and is active in her Lutheran church. Carol Devereaux’s part-time job with the Maryland Office of Tourism pays her to “tell people where to go.” She and Bruce, the new man in her life, are having fun traveling and providing transportation to seniors in a volunteer program called Neighbor Ride in Howard County. Her sons are in Colorado and Michigan with three grandchildren in Ann Arbor. Carol recently enjoyed a trip to Kilby Cream in Colora, Md., operated by Emily Kilby’s family. Music major Dee Dunning McStay is “still singing and loving it—music keeps me sane!” She is a retired program manager for ATEX Media Solutions who lives in Mashpee, Mass., on beautiful Cape Cod with Marshall, her husband of 43 years, and their “incredibly bright poodle, Kaido.” Daughter Betsey is a veterinarian in Plymouth, Mass, and son Scott and his family, including the McStays’ two grandchildren, live in Kent, England. “They are great kids,” writes Dee, “and we feel so blessed with a wonderful family.” Lynn Farnell, of Auburndale, Mass., would ditch her property-management job in a minute, if only she could afford to do so, but she loves her archival research, primarily in the John F. Kennedy library. Lynn has been involved in the preservation and storage of moving images since her days at the PBS station WGBH and is one of the founders of the Association of Moving Image Archivists. Additionally, Lynn is very active in St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Newton, Mass. Libby Fletcher Sturm, the other half of the reunion-book production team, is retired assistant superintendent for the Upshur County (W.Va.) Board of Education. She lives just over the Potomac in Shepherdstown, W. Va., and stays busy with grandchildren and volunteer work with the local library. “Seeing all the ‘65ers has been wonderful,” she says. Utmost gratitude to Libby and Kathie for putting the updated yearbook together. Retired realtor Carol Anne Ford Kent had to miss multiple board meetings in Norfolk, Va., to attend the reunion where she enjoyed sharing memories of the “best and most carefree times” of her life at Hood. Carol Anne and husband Tom have two sons and four grandchildren. Jackie Fox O’Neill keeps her Bowie address but relocates to Florida for the winter months and travels a great deal of the time, as well. She’ll be traveling to England and Ireland this fall. Jackie “really enjoyed seeing all her classmates and catching up on the latest happenings.” She and her husband Terry have a daughter and son and two granddaughters. In Potomac, Md., Ann Fulton Warren has regular after-school care of granddaughter Emma, the child of nearby son Jim and wife Christy. Caretaking has become a regular part of Ann’s life, as her father spent the last years of his life with her and Tom after the death of Ann’s mother. The Warren’s daughter Jessica, her banker husband and three children remain in Hong Kong for his work. Sue Gailer Schuler, retired from Wake County (N.C.) libraries, “really enjoyed being with classmates who were so much a part of the most important years of my life.” Upon revisiting the campus, she missed the stables and horses that have been replaced by Hood’s new athletic center, where the reunion lunch and Sunday morning strawberry breakfast took place while the Coblentz dining hall was undergoing renovation. For the first time since graduation, Ann-Marie Golab Soika, a mostly retired family nurse practitioner in Davis, Cal., returned to Hood for the 50th reunion. She is widowed with three adult children. Her 98-year-old mother continues to do well in Arizona. Ann-Marie was “impressed with the energy and spirit present in the form of her fellow classmates”. Also a first time “reuner,” Lynn Guenter Steel, of Bloxom on Virginian’s Eastern Shore, traveled to her return to campus in 50 years with her daughter, Rowan Job. “First reunion!” Lynn wrote, “Daughter Rowan (class of 1995) convinced me, and I’m so glad. Great to see so many familiar faces! Rowan lives in Hnover, Pa., and James and I moved to the Eastern Shore south of Chincoteague ten years ago, as many D.C.-area retirees have done. Now we are ‘downsizing’ and looking for a smaller home closer to Ro and to libraries and medical facilities, like so many others. I’ll spare you all my long life story [which includes a decade living in Devon, England with a previous husband], but I find that things are better every day. I love the Episcopal Church and its community. I’ve been keeping busy, including doing book reviews (on Facebook) for the Accomac County Library System.” When Lynn learned of the death of Stewart Minter Manasse, she recalled a chance encounter with her on the streets of New York City not long after graduation. Retired from teaching French in the Columbus, Ohio, area, Lexie Horn Bickell volunteers with the Oleio Village Living History Museum which puts her in costume to interpret for the museum visitors. She is also active in her church. She and her husband William have a son and a daughter and five grandchildren. “What a wonderful opportunity this weekend was for us,” Lexie wrote. “it is so comforting to be back among my Hood friends—those I knew well and not so well. All of us just seemed to take up where we left off back in ’65. I feel so lucky to be part of this group of fabulously talented and beautiful young women. We will stay young at heart. I hope we can get together soon again. Since my retirement, I am enjoying exploring new activities and new adventures, and there’s never a dull moment.” Earlier this year, Nancy Hoveman Schultze moved to a new senior community in Marriottsville, Md., where the elves come along and do all the property maintenance work that had been her worry at her Olney home. Now fully retired from Montgomery County Public Schools, Nancy spends her time traveling, visiting her sisters, reading, playing bridge, decorating her new home and enjoying special time with her children and grandchildren. HannahJane Hurlburt, of Greenwich, Conn., is still singing. “Not as much as I once did, but I still enjoy it.” HannahJane had a second bout of cancer in 2003, which was quite serious but which responded well to treatment. Her goal now is to stay healthy and avoid ever having to undergo chemotherapy again. Now that she’s retired from office work in New York City, she travels to the U.K./London/England any chance she gets. Emily Kilby cared for her mother for the nine months preceding her death at age 97 this past February. The two of them shared the small two-bedroom, one-bath rancher near Elkton, Md., that Emily bought in 2011 when she decided it was time to move back closer to family. Her mother had been relatively healthy and able throughout most of her stay, even resuming her oil painting and being delighted in having her first/only one-woman show at the county arts council. The monthlong show was in progress at the time of her death, so the old girl went out in a blaze of glory. Since then, Emily has adjusted to solo living and is grateful to be free to pursue her preferred outdoor activities, primarily hiking with her two Jack Russells on the nearby Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area and other delightful parkland in the Maryland/Pennsylvania/Delaware region. During her time in the area, she has researched and become an expert of sorts concerning the forgotten history of the Fair Hill area where one hundred smaller holdings were merged into a 6,000-acre estate by William du Pont, Jr., that then became state property after his death. For more than three years, Emily has been attending yoga classes and tai chi instruction, which, for the most part have cured what ailed her, though her stiff hips continue to complain with every every pigeon pose and happy baby posture. Speaking for us all, Nancy King McNamara, a retired hospital volunteer coordinator from Riegelsville, Penn., regretted that Kathy Kahn Rusk had to miss the reunion because she was hospitalized in Seattle with double pneumonia. Nancy and her husband, John, a retired economics professor at Lehigh University, have three children and two grandchildren. Nancy McAdams Baggett keeps on cooking in Ellicott City, Md. where she has produced her latest cookbook, The 2 Day a Week Diet Cookbook. You can see Nancy in action by Googling her, then going to the various YouTube videos demonstrating her cooking techniques. Nancy has her own website (http://kitchenlane.com/) that includes a detailed bio and listings of her many accomplishments in culinary publishing. She and husband Charlie have a son and two grandchildren. For Jane McKenney Ingrey, a retired realtor, Silver Bay on Lake George, N.Y. is not just her mailing address. It is also her spiritual home where she and husband Paul work to fund the YMCA’s Brookside Community House and Trinity Spiritual Life Center. As a Hood student, Jane was a summer worker at Silver Bay, and it was there that she and Paul met. They have three children and seven grandchildren. Jane shared the story of her spiritual journey at the Sunday chapel service, and it was a lovely testament to the urge to be a positive force in the world that so many of our classmates share. “How amazing we women are at reconnecting and sharing our life stories with each other!” Jane wrote. “It has been amazing to be here again—how fortunate we were to be at Hood when we were, but now we can be so proud of the fine college it is currently. I would love to come back and take advantage of what is available now.” Sue Morgan Carton, of Florham Park, N.J., had a chance to catch up with her roommate Sarah Lane Howell in California not long before the reunion. Sue and husband Kevin have three children and four grandchildren. She enjoyed seeing old friends and reminiscing about our days at Hood. Priscilla Obreza, an administrator for Weight Watchers, says that life is good in Guelph, Ontario. She enjoys her work and traveling and has special memories of Hood friends. Mary Lew Penn Sponski, of Locust Dale, Va., and her husband John have celebrated 51 years of marriage and have three daughters and six grandchildren. She is active with gardening, a local music society and serving on the board of the Boys and Girls Clubs in her region. She and John hope to travel the world while they can. Chris Plankenhorn Tischer and husband Joe moved to a new, smaller home to downsize, then turned around and put on an addition that made it bigger! Their son Matt and wife Heather who live in Hagerstown have their challenges as Heather has progressive MS. Chris’s calligraphy business continues to be quite busy, and she loves going to her studio. Her recent big project was making a 36-page book of memorial gifts for a church in Buckeystown. She still puts together the workshops for the Washington Calligraphers Guild (of which Cathie Meredith is a member). Chris is grateful for her good life and loves seeing her 8-year-old twin granddaughters who live in New Jersey. Retired as a perinatal nurse specialist at Morgan Stanley Childrens Hospital of N.Y.P.H., New Yorker Kiki Rosasco remains an active member of the hospital’s Pediatric Ethics Committee. Kiki travels at every opportunity, most recently to Nova Scotia, New Hampshire and the Finger Lakes. When Eva Sayegh Hardy went to the podium during the reunion lunch to receive the Excellence in Service to Hood College award, she turned the honor around to say that we, her classmates, had made her the woman she became. Eva, a native of Egypt, had been in the United States only three years before entering Hood at age 16, and she claimed in her brief, heartfelt acceptance speech that we fellow students had shown her the way to be a strong, smart, independent woman. Eva’s influence in the political and private sectors of the Commonwealth of Virginia was summed up in HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 6065 honoring her upon her retirement in 2008: “Working first in the public sector, Eva Teig Hardy began her career as a teacher and then worked her way up through the ranks in both local and state government; her service of almost two decades in government included work as an urban planner for the City of Portsmouth, director of economic analysis and information in Portsmouth, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry under Governor Charles S. Robb, and Secretary of Health and Human Resources under Governor Gerald L. Baliles, where she was ranked as the most effective woman state official and was an instrumental member of the Virginia-Israel Commission; and WHEREAS, a gifted executive, Eva Teig Hardy then moved to the private sector, serving as vice president of government affairs at Virginia Power; she moved through the ranks, ultimately becoming senior vice president for external affairs and corporate communications at Dominion Resources where numerous former and current members of the General Assembly have relied upon her expertise in the complex issues of electric utility restructuring.” Today Eva still does some consulting, but mostly she volunteers and travels the world with her husband Michael Hardy, particularly enjoying annual visits to different Greek islands and, most recently, touring the whole of Morocco. Jo Sether Bowes remains perpetually busy in Lock Haven, Penn., and beyond with volunteering, bird watching, travel and granddaughter love. She and Ron moved to Lock Haven after his retirement from teaching in Montgomery County, Md., and Jo quickly became involved in Clinton County Historical Society and various city preservation groups. She’s active in the bird club and the garden club, as well. In the past few years, Jo’s son Lee has made her a grandmother with the births of daughters Carmen and Raquel. Still working in the Indiana regional library system, Lissa Shanahan, of Fishers, Ind., returned to Hood for the first time for the 50th. Lisa is the mother of three children and grandmother of two. She found catching up with old friends to be a wonderful thing. Kathy Lu Shimer, retired kindergarten teacher from Laurel, Md., cheered on American Pharoah as he won Belmont Stakes to become the first Triple Crown Winner in 38 years. Retired home ec. teacher in Omaha, Neb., Sandie Smith Hanna, particularly enjoyed connecting with classmates who’d not been in her original Hood circle. Widowed for two years, Sandie is blessed with five children and 13 grandchildren, most of whom live nearby. Radiobiologist Diane Stewart Flack wrote of the big changes that retirement has made in her life: “When my husband decided he wanted to retire to Charlottesville, Va., in 2003 I was at the peak of my career in Washington and had no interest in abandoning my own career. After six months of commuting between Washington and Charlottesville, I decided to retire after going off the road too many Friday nights. Despite the fact that one of our daughters and our only grandchildren also live in Charlottesville, I spent several months in tears while I decided what the next phase of my life would be. With three degrees in biological sciences and 33 years of working to protect the public from radiation exposures, what was I going to do? I eventually found my ‘reason to get up in the morning’ in the world of cancer. I am a cancer survivor and lost both my father (lung cancer) and son-in-law (age 25, pancreatic cancer) to cancer, so I have always been interested in both the causes and treatment of cancer. In 2006 I started to volunteer with a not-for-profit that provides emergency funding to patients who can no longer work because of their cancer. We get referrals from hospital social workers and step in to prevent these patients from being evicted, having their utilities turned off, etc. Can you imagine not even having enough money to take the bus to your chemotherapy? It has been immensely gratifying to help these patients. Two years ago I became a member of Patients and Friends, a research committee at the Emily Couric Cancer Center at the University of Virginia. Through this committee I am able to keep abreast of the very latest advances in both cancer detection and treatment. I need to dust off the cobwebs and draw upon my three biological sciences degrees to understand these advances. It is almost like being in graduate school again to understand the talks! It is a very exciting time in cancer research, and the advances we will see in the next ten years will be amazing! Between my cancer activities, I love to spend time with my two daughters and two grandchildren, the older of whom, Kristen, just completed her first year at the University of Virginia and Meg, who’ll be a high school sophomore this fall. They are all so precious to me! Our favorite vacations are yearly trips to the Caribbean to snorkel and scuba dive. It was a wonderful 50^th reunion, and I hope to see some classmates before another five years. We have four guest rooms in our house sits on a ridge with views of the Shenandoah Mountains and would love to have any of my classmates visit.” Rae Utz Watson and husband Bruce will head out from their Bedminster, N.J., home in August for a Viking River Cruise in celebration of their 50th anniversary. Rae rode to Hood from New Jersey with Sue Morgan Carton and had a wonderful time reminiscing. Rae spends “retirement days” keeping busy volunteering at a thrift shop, transporting grandchildren (her son and daughter have two children each) and attending many sports events. Art major Barb Volker Pomar puts her talents to work as a hat designer in Manhattan and shares her life with husband Joseph, a sculptor. Barbara reports that she checks periodically on classmate Carolyn Hammer, a retired teacher with Alzheimer’s who lives solo in Yonkers, N.Y. Gretchen Walter Pinkerton is enjoying retirement with husband Charles after a long career as a middle school librarian in Bradfordwoods, Penn. She enjoyed visiting with beloved 1965 alum “buddies.” On reunion Saturday, she was rooting for American Pharaoh to win the Belmont Stakes along with most classmates and the husbands who had gathered at the reunion dinner. Margaret York Gladish, a retired school administrator in Huntingdon Valley, Penn., wrote, “What a joy to see so many of you and reconnect with you over memories, life stories, sometimes joyful, sometimes sad. Overall, life has been good. I am blessed with a loving, extended family, including my deceased husband’s four children and 11 grandchildren. My life path is not something I could have imagined, and I am grateful to Hood for giving me opportunities that prepared me for a varied and challenging career in education and education administration. Now that I have retired as principal of the Academy of the New Church Girls School in Bryn Athyn outside Philadelphia, I continue to sing in two groups (the Philomusica Chorale and the Bryn Athyn Church Choir) and work on various committees in my community and church. I travel with my friends and in-laws, and make keeping fit a top priority as the years pass.”

 

Now a bit about those who were with us in spirit: Laurie Collins Yates lives on a farm in Union, W. Va. with her psychiatrist husband and has two sons. She sent her regrets via email before the reunion: “I am on vacation and writing to wish everyone a fabulous reunion. I am sure we are all is a little shocked that we graduated 50 years ago, but it’s true! I knew I couldn’t be there, as we are on the beach in North Carolina, however, I did want to write and say hello to all the class and especially Cathie Beyer, my sophomore roommate, and others who were in art classes and friends. Have fun!! I am living in WV, and have been on our farm for 35 years now. We love it, and just hope we can keep it all going. I am doing art things as part of the Greenbrier Artists and have just had a one-person show and am totally enjoying my life! I also have my first grandchild, a granddaughter, and Barry and I are thrilled!! All is well. Perhaps my little news thing can go into the next newsletter or something. I was very sad to hear of the deaths of my dear roommate Stewart Minter Manassee and Georgette Wasserstein Levis. Annie Oliphant Smith and I are trying to catch up with one another. And so the good and the sad news continues on . . . seems to be the way of life.” Bev Gibson intended to be at the reunion, but, she wrote, “God stepped in and adjusted my plan. On May 15, 2015 my daughter was rear-ended on Rt. 195 in Richmond City on her way to work at 6:30 a.m. Her car was totaled and she was lucky to have survived life-threatening injuries. As a result, I spent 16 days in Richmond helping her get back on her feet. At the start of June, I returned home to my work as a realtor for Long & Foster in Crofton, Md. I had clients I had to address the weekend of the reunion so could not be with you except in spirit. I attended the 45th reunion and had a wonderful time, and our 50th is a real milestone event!” Mary “Pixie” Fell, of Corvallis, Ore., and Barbie Hyde Sands, from Bernville, Penn., had looked forward to being part of the 50th celebration, as well, but before they knew the reunion dates, they booked a Russian river cruise vacation for early June that overlapped with the Hood event. We missed seeing them all.

 

The wonderful updated yearbook that we received when we registered for the event is dedicated to the memories of our deceased classmates, who are listed below in the order of their deaths:

 

1967

Caroline Clark

Barbara Schaeffer Atlee

 

1976

Helen Knorr

 

1982

Cindy Evans Hedrick

 

1987

Jill Staudinger Dowd

 

1994

Doreen Curran Patch

 

1997

Alice Aubry Olsen

 

1999

Mary Dann Claus

 

2001

Sherry Scott Yurkovich

 

2002

Sandra Stender Kaufman

 

2003

Marilyn Fritsch Kyak

 

2004

Wendy Astley-Bell Fisher

 

2005

Jane Garrahan Phelps

 

2006

Arlene Rubin Raven

Joanne Vicinus Manley

 

2009

Rebecca Harris Koon

Patricia Kienzle Ross

Elizabeth King Eaton

Susan Schaefer Sauntry

Alma Strauss Vande Vrede

 

2010

Karen Carbaugh Dunn

 

2011

Edna Himmer Davies

Penny Lima Newhouse

 

2012

Linda Chase Heimbach

 

2013

Olga Boriakoff Johnson

 

2014

Mary Grace Covey Pickett

Stewart Minter Manasse

Marsha Schmidt

Georgette Wassertein Levis

Once again, the column begins with losses: First is the death of classmate Olga Boriakoff Johnson on August 10, 2013 from complications following a stroke. Olga was one of our most international classmates, a Russian national who came to Hood via Argentina. When last she reported her news, she’d retired from teaching, lived with her husband in Henderson, Nev. and took pride in her two accomplished children. Sandra Smith Hanna wrote from Omaha, “I want to let my Hood friends know that my John died this June just as we were completing our 47th year of marriage. He was 85. Apparently, his body had been shutting down all spring without our truly knowing it until we made a trip to the ER after he had a fall, which didn’t break any bones or bring on any new ailments. He desperately wanted to be at home, and with the help of Hospice that happened after six days of hospitalization. He lived just 10 hours at home, but time enough for all five children to say goodbye. They are taking great care of me this summer, which means it is noisy, exhausting and wonderful in my Nebraska home!  Four of our five now live within twenty minutes of the house, and the fifth still gives me a family stop in Chicago whenever I travel east or west by train.” Our sympathies to you, Sandie, and admiration for having raised such a loving family to support you through the most difficult of times. We co-reporters [Cathie Beyer Meredith and Emily Kilby] wanted to gather news from classmates who’d been absent from these pages for quite some time but had only mixed results. Karen Ayersman Smith was one of the good respondents even though her tenure at Hood was just three semesters our freshman year. “I’ve lived in Harrisonburg, Va., in the heart of the lovely Shenandoah Valley for 41 years,” she wrote. “My husband taught at James Madison University, and I worked in several elementary schools for 30 years. Now retired, we’ve enjoyed many trips abroad as well as in the States. Our son now lives nearby after living in Georgia for 23 years, and it’s wonderful to spend more time with him. We have no grandchildren, but thoroughly enjoy our two grand-dogs.” Mary/Pixie Fell says she doesn’t have much to report from Corvallis, Ore., but a monthlong visit in September with her former in-laws whom she calls her “Italian family” near Lucca, Italy, sounds like a pretty good nothing much to me. She planned the visit so she could attend the fourth and first birthday parties for two new grandnephews (technically her second husband’s). More quality family time will take place at Christmas with a visit in Newbury Park, Cal., with a very close friend and her three children, 15,12 and 9, all of whom “I’ve cuddled, diapered and fed over the years.” Pixie reports that New Yorkers Marcia Schmidt and Bonnie Bolway Nuzum plan to attend the reunion in 2015, as do she and Barbara Hyde Sands, followed by a river cruise in Russia. Everyday retirement in Corvallis, finds Pixie playing bridge and mentoring two newer players, volunteering at a preschool and local animal shelter, leading a book group and spending time with friends and her delightful kitty Bianca. Susan Gibson Bennett, another good soul to respond from her home in Strasburg, Va., after long silence, retired after 30 years of teaching 5th grade. Then she took nursing classes to work in eldercare. More recently she was “slowed down” by complications of multiple joint replacements in both knees. Staph infections set in after the first implants and again after the second, and Sue was finally sent from Virginia to Johns Hopkins Hospital for the third try. She spent eight weeks there and the next 10 months at home in a wheelchair before she was back on her feet. Water aerobics now help her maintain her mobility, and she volunteers at the local library and her church helping at the homeless shelter and food bank. Sue has one grandson and five step-grandchildren. Barbie Hyde Sands and I [E.K] both attended a Hood alum event at Longwood Gardens in early September. Barbie looked marvelous even though she’d only recently retired from full-time work teaching anatomy and physiology at an area community college following an earlier stint in clinical nursing. Her retirement will include additional travels as well as continuing her musical interests and family activities. She also regularly attends basketball games with two other Hood alums when the Blazers play at nearby colleges and roots for the Blue and Gray. Mary Kathryn Kahn Irvine Rusk lives a busy “retired” life in Kirkland, Wash., keeping up her registered dietitian license to work as a health coach for the likes of Microsoft and consult as needed at a psych hospital, five assisted living homes and a childcare center. “But I always make time for my children and seven grandchildren aged 4 to 14,” she writes. Kathy’s son, Robert Irvine, co-authored a book, Fallacies in Education, which was published several years ago and has a second ready for release, title not yet decided. Kathy is also a co-author of a recipe book, Saving With Salmon, that combines her nutritional wisdom with the recipes of chef Fred Becker. Kathy would love to have classmates visit when they’re in the Northwest, as was the case last summer with Nancy King McNamara, whose daughter lives in Seattle. Sandra Jean Kline Devorss, another Northwesterner, left Hood after sophomore year. She attended Katherine Gibbs School in New York, where the hat-and-gloves dress code prepared young ladies for the then-real-world life as big-city secretaries. Sandy Jean went on to work for McCall’s magazine in the city but eventually married a med student, James Devorss. The last years of his med school took them to Burlington, Vt., after which they moved on to Kansas and finally on to settle in Salem, Ore., where James practiced cardiology. He is now retired, enjoying woodturning, and Sandy Jean plays tennis weekly and volunteers with the Assistance League. The Devorss have two married daughters in their early 40s—Cathy, admin for the manager of Nordstrom, and Caroine, a book-publishing agent—son John, 37, a tennis pro. But no grandchildren.

With just two years to go, our 50th Reunion Committee has started to  communicate and share ideas. Joslin Cook Ruffle, our reunion gift chair, sent this personal note to classmates: “Please plan a trip back to Hood in June, 2015!” She and Lynn Reagan Johnson celebrated the advent of their seventh decade with a five-day trip to Savannah and Charleston. They focused primarily on the cities’ history and homes and enjoying the local cuisine. Jamie Barr Gartelmann wrote that nothing much was happening in her life, but with three homes and associated activities up and down the East Coast, the Gartelmanns certainly couldn’t have many empty hours to fill. Their two married sons, Jesse and Chris, and five of their grandchildren, age 5 to 12, keep them busy when at home in New Jersey, and there’s still the “farmie” thing, which includes producing some flowers, cutting firewood, mowing, trimming and gardening. “But we do get a winter break in our home near Wilmington, N.C., which we love for the golf and the beach,” Jamie wrote. “Peter’s friend of 60-plus years and his wife visited us there in February, and we picked up right where we left off and laughed for a week. We’ll visit them in New Orleans next year.” Jamie was reporting from Maine, where they were putting in Peter’s sailboat during a stretch of unusually warm late-May days, but they had to return home for the primary election on June 4 for Jamie’s election-supervisor duties. Diana Beers Lobdell reported a similarly satisfying “no-news” life. “I am now Grammy to five grandchildren, who, by the end of 2013 will be ages 8, 6, 5, 3 and 3,” she wrote. “That’s right, a pair of twins at the end!” The Lobdells’ two sons are “great fathers,” with one living in California and the other in Oregon. Florida is home base, but the Lobdells spend summers in Utah with visits to the sons’ families as well as trips to Arizona to see Ralph’s mother and to Oregon to visit his dad. Catherine Byers Meredith had unanticipated triple-bypass surgery at Johns Hopkins on April 26, but by early June she announced that she was fine and did her part of this class news report. Barbara Casey Ruffino and Russ have spent the last four years dividing their lives between Italy and Washington, DC, with occasional stops in Stuart, Fla. Actually, Russ has been in Italy almost full-time, and Barb has traveled back and forth while still working as a management consultant for government contracting firms in D.C. area. Russ, an Episcopal priest,was sent on a three-year assignment to Orvieto, Italy, after retiring as a parish priest in Rhode Island. He was there to set up a mission church, a challenging but ultimately successful effort. They had a small apartment in a 17th century palazzo right in the middle of the medieval part of town. Now Russ is doing a six-month assignment in Milan where Barbara recently spent five weeks. Daughter Jane, a Hood graduate, went to Ireland for her Masters in Archeology in 2001, then stayed for an ABD at University College, Dublin, and hasn’t come home since. She has been a freelance journalist, radio guest journalist and is now a marketing director for a technology company. Son Mike is in the Hollywood Hills writing and composing music for several TV shows. Ramona Elbin attained a unique status in our class when she married Bob Kissner between our sophomore and junior years. The fact that the talented music major from Houston continued to matriculate as a married student was quite remarkable in that long-ago era. Ramona and Bob are celebrating “50 years of wedded bliss” this summer by taking their two sons and one son’s girlfriend to England and then on a river cruise in France. The Kissners moved to Sun City in Georgetown, Tex., 10 years ago and have found it to be a very friendly, active community, conveniently located about 150 miles from their oldest son and two grandchildren. This fall their grandson will be starting Southwestern University in Georgetown. “We’re so happy about that,” Ramona wrote, “but we keep reminding ourselves not to smother him with too much attention.” Though retired, Ramona continues substitute conducting for two choirs, which allows her the pleasures of making music without the drudge work. The first months of 2013 brought a major change to Ann Fulton Warren, who was enjoying the last days of a trip to Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Hong Kong, where daughter Jessie and family are currently living, when she got word that her mother was ill in Florida. The Warrens headed to Jacksonville in time to be with Mrs. Fulton for her final days. Mrs. Fulton died on Feb. 3 from complications of the flu, and Dr. Fulton is now living with the Warrens in Potomac, MD. They’re looking forward to having Jessie’s family for a two-week visit this summer. Joan Joice Taylor has been living in Henderson, Nev., for the past 23 years with her husband, Rufus. Joan is retired after a career in education that led from classroom chemistry teacher, through a professional-development specialist for regional secondary science teachers to teaching future and current science teachers at Univ. of Nev.-Las Vegas. The Taylors enjoy traveling to see their children and grandchildren in Virginia. Luke, the youngest grandchild, was 2 in December, while his mother, the Taylors’ younger child, was just promoted to Lt. Col. in the U.S. Army. A mountain vacation cabin in Idaho, about 20 miles south of West Yellowstone, Mont., allows the Taylors access to snowmobiling and fly fishing in that area. Though Joan hasn’t skied for the past two years, she’s recently had hip and knee replacements, so who knows? Carolyn Oldman Gregory’s life in Albuquerque has undergone some changes: A spotted cocker spaniel rescue named Higgins is now in the household, and Carolyn is working with RiverXchange to connect classrooms across the country to the cause of environmental stewardship. She continues to “play with” her friends at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, direct Youth Ed at the Albuquerque Center for Spiritual Living and miss her grandkids and son in Australia. Jo Ann Sether Bowes is busier than ever in Loch Haven, Penn. Last year, while she and Ron were in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji for 30 days, the local historical society ran out of money and the paid staff resigned. As president, she took over to keep the programs going, which includes managing four properties and doing taxes, grant writing, zoning applications, advertising, program planning, etc. The Bowes’ younger son lives in Gaithersburg, Md., with a second child due in November when the first will be only 16 months old. In addition to the Australia trip last year, Jo Ann took her older son to Botswana and Zambia, but this year, travel will be limited to a few weekend weddings and a convention in Reno. “I hope to add some more countries to my passport in 2014,” she wrote.