1964
Barbara Maly Fish
919-475-8301
barb2fish@yahoo.com

Satchel Paige once said this about age: “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?” A group of women who seemed not to know their ages gathered at Hood for all or part of our 55^th reunion weekend on June 7-9. They included Betsey Covel, Cookie Johnson Bolig, Barbara Strayer Brittain, Connie Heard Damon, Marylou Herrmann Foley, Claire Fulenwider, Flo Sechler Miller, Kate Jenks Powell, Susan “Eloise” Varney Helfenstein Rauth, Sandy Borrelli Ricci, Ann McMillan Shuman, Susan Lyeth Sternfeld, Mary Frances Gaver Trunk, Harriet “Hardie” LeSourd Wise, Althea Bates Travis-McCarthy, Heidi Stephens Whitesel, and me, Barb Maly Fish. Laughter sometimes mingled with tears as we reminisced about those good old days and the happiness and sadness that have filled the years since then. Special thanks go to Harriet Wise for hosting our group at her new home on that Friday night and to Marylou Foley for using her superpowers of persuasion to pull everything together. Too bad more of you couldn’t come. Although she could not come, Gayle Reed Carroll contributed a poem she had written for all of us. She was in Ireland in June, working on an M.F.A. in a joint program run by Carlow U. in Pittsburgh and Trinity College in Dublin. Much of what she saw near Trinity seemed familiar and Gayle vaguely remembered rooming there with Betsey Covel when the Hood Choir made a singing tour of several European cities back in the day. Gayle wants to know if anyone else remembers that trip. Several people had to miss the reunion for less happy reasons. Eleanor Berklite Harris and her husband Alastair have been dealing with treatment for his recent diagnosis of multiple myeloma. In April, he received an autologous stem cell transplant at M.D. Anderson in Houston and the Harrises will return there for follow-up over the next year. Alastair is doing well and they are hopeful that the treatments will add to the quantity and quality of his life. Ed Sneckenberger, husband of Mary “Scottie” Hansbrough Sneckenberger, sent me the following message: “Scottie has been able to recover from the stroke that she experienced on her left side in Minnesota in February enough so that we could return to our senior living home in Morgantown, WV. Unfortunately, after just three week of being back home in Morgantown, Scottie experienced a stroke on her right side. Fortunately, she has not suffered too much mentally from the two strokes and she is able to move her upper body and both of her arms. The hospital assessment for Scottie’s second stroke has found that she has a defect in her heart that will probably need correcting in the near future. This defect could be a contributor to the two strokes that she has experienced and is also a possible explanation for her often being tired.” Ed added that Scottie would love to receive messages from former classmates. Her address is 106 Heritage Point, Morgantown, WV 26505. This column ends with more sad news: Dave Johnson, husband of Pam Wallace Johnson, died on March 28. I send the sympathy of the class to Pam and her family.

Barbara Maly Fish
919.688.9125
barb2fish@yahoo.com,

Congratulations to Karen Kuechenmeister Lehrhaupt who married Ron Kolosek on September 13, after vehemently saying “never again” for years.  She met him while taking one of her usual walks. It turns out that he was living 12 houses away from her, but she had never met him or his late wife. After a brief conversation, they moved on to coffee, movies, dinner dates, etc. and now Karen will be Karen Kolosek as soon as the paperwork is complete. Sadly, just six weeks after the wedding, Karen was diagnosed with cancer and is in the midst of chemo and radiation treatments. I know that we all send good thoughts and prayers to her. Congratulations also to Diana Hoke Smith, who received the National Court Appointed Special Advocate of the Year Award for her work with children in the foster care system. She began volunteering for this group after her retirement from teaching. Husband Joel is also retired, although that hardly applies to a couple who take care of 12 rescue dogs and three rescue cats on their 16-acre homestead in Young Harris, GA. As Diana says, she and Joel don’t travel much! Diana also writes for children and has had some of her poetry published in Highlights and other magazines. Google her! Ron and Kay Starcher Klausewitz are enjoying both retirement and the birth of their first grandchild, Oliver. Both Ron and Kay earned doctorates and worked as college professors, Ron in computer science and Kay in education. The Klausewitzes have retired to South Hadley, MA, where they participate in the Five College Learning in Retirement group. Nancy Hopkins Southard’s husband John retired in December after a 50-year career as a dermatologist. They had a taste of the retired life this past summer when they lived at their lake house while their Winston-Salem NC home was being remodeled. Nancy and John drove back to Winston-Salem twice a week to check on the progress of the remodel, to collect mail, and for him to see patients.  In October, Nancy went on a walking trip to Ireland with a friend. Family vacations included a trip to Block Island with John’s family, Nancy’s trip to Mount Gretna with her sisters, and visits with their sons Tim in Atlanta and Rob in New Orleans. Grandson Kelton is a sophomore at the U. of South Carolina and his sister Lindsay is a high school junior. They are Tim’s children and live in Atlanta.  Connie Heard Damon must not need much sleep. On February 5, she will depart for Kenya for the sixth time. She does missionary work at an orphanage for high school students and over the years has raised funds for them to have a well, a vehicle for emergency transport, cottages, a medical center, security fencing, and a recently completed additional classroom. Connie says, “I have been blessed to be able to send my sponsored ‘daughter’ there to the University of Mombasa where she is a sophomore.” When not in Kenya, Connie still lives at Melody Lane Farm, where she enjoys the company of her donkeys, goats, a horse, and chickens. She is also a Lay Leader in her Methodist church and has been a Hospice volunteer for over 30 years. Scarlett, her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, accompanies her in animal therapy for patients in nursing homes. After over 50 years of teaching piano, she is phasing out that work but still retains several students. She also accompanies two choral groups who give Christmas and spring concerts. On top of all this, Connie loves to travel to foreign countries. She toured Greece this past fall and will visit a friend in Germany in July 2019. She has already planned to attend the Oberammergau Passion Play in 2020, with future plans to go to Israel and Iceland. If reading about these classmates intrigues you, think how much more fun it would be to talk to them in person. Remember that our 55^th reunion will take place on the weekend of June 7-9. I hope to see you there!

1964
Barbara Maly Fish
919-688-9125
Barb2fish@yahoo.com

I send the sympathy of the class to Debby Parker Hamilton, whose husband Tim died on July 2, 2017 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Debby and Tim had been married for 54 years. Another recent widow in our class, Ann McMillan Shuman, has sold her Pittsburgh area home of 40 years and moved to Delray Beach, FL to be more helpful to her daughter’s family. She enjoys being near her grandchildren, Shane 9 and Sadie 7. Ann’s first social activity in FL was lunch with her sophomore French House roommate, JoAnn Winer Sutton, who lives in Boca Raton. Ann’s lunch with JoAnn was not the only recent mini-reunion. Marta Schneebeli Johnson visited Ruth Fredericks Frey at Ruth’s new home in Cambria, CA; Karen Kuechenmeister Lehrhaupt and Debby Parker Hamilton got together at the beach in NC; and Kate Jenks Powell, Darlene “Cookie” Johnson Bolig, Sandy Borrelli Ricci, and I convened in Bay Head, NJ. All of these should whet your appetite for our big 55th Hood Reunion in June 2019. Traveling to SC recently with her yoga group, Lynn Byers Gorz planned to visit Ellie Berklite Harris. Unfortunately, Ellie and husband Al were on their way to England, but they left behind a pass enabling Lynn’s group to have lunch at the Ocean Club on Kiawah Island. Just before the trip to SC, Lynn and her grandson Aaron visited New York City as guests of her daughter and son-in-law. They attended a performance of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which Lynn described as “a wonderful theatrical experience.” Back home in KY, Lynn is busy with taking care of her local grand boys one day a week, plus doing lots of quilting. She has had two successful knee surgeries and is ready for more travel, even though husband Ken says no more travel for him. After living in Chesterfield, VA for 20 years, Martha Grove Whiteside persuaded her husband Steve to move close to one of their daughters. They have been in Gettysburg, PA since 2016 and are loving it. The Whitesides now have easy access to their three grandchildren, one of whom is an excellent soccer player. He is trying out for the semi-pro team that plays at Hood and will go to Sweden with the Frederick Traveling Team this summer. Martha and Steve also own a condo in Fort Myers, FL, where they go in the winter and spend time with their other daughter who works in fashion. Congratulations to Carol Hottenstein Parker, an avid bridge player, who recently became an American Contract Bridge League Life Master. Those of you who play bridge know that this is a very big deal! Carol and her husband are very serious about checking items off their bucket lists: they have visited all 50 of the state capitol buildings and now they are visiting presidential birthplaces, homes, or libraries. My request for news caught Susan Lyeth Sternfeld as she was about to leave for England with her son Brian. To celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, Susan and husband Joe planned a major family reunion in the New Forest. Their cohousing community in Cambridge, MA will celebrate its 20th year of existence this year, which will involve more festivities. Always working to improve their Spanish, the Sternfelds recently visited Cuba and Mexico. Back home, Susan creates landscape wall quilts, putting to good use that 7th grade sewing class she took just a few years ago. While Susan was headed to the U.K., Judi Coombs Creighton and husband Bob were coming back. They spent a week in Scotland with their son Alex and his son Brooks. Alex, an orthopedic surgeon who cares for the UNC football, basketball, and women’s soccer teams, attended a conference, while Judi and Bob entertained Brooks. Judi says, “What a gift of great worth to have time with your adult child and a grandchild whom you do not see very often.” After Alex and Brooks went home, Judi and Bob spent 10 days touring Ireland to try to locate Bob’s ancestral homes in the areas of Lough Neagh and Coleraine. Judi keeps in regular contact with Susan “Eloise” Varney Rauth, who is fine except for some dental repair work. Judi and Eloise very much miss Sue Sterner, who died more than a year ago. Judi advises, “Keep your loved ones close and tell them how important they are to you.”

Barbara Maly Fish
919-688-9125
Barb2fish@yahoo.com

More than 20 of our classmates live in Florida, and Hurricane Irma affected them in various ways. In Fort Myers, Barb Wallwork Reynolds and husband Bill, along with their dogs, evacuated to their daughter’s home in Cape Coral. Barb and Bill were there for eight days, using a generator until power returned to their own home. When they returned home, they found downed tree branches and missing pool cage screen panels. Dawn Rieser was without power for one week in Ocala but had no property damage. At daughter Lori’s insistence, Betsy Beachley Winger evacuated Leesburg to Pennsylvania to get away from Irma. Lori had to stay in Winter Garden because she was required to be on the job at Disney World. Betsy stayed in Pennsylvania and learned that there was thigh high water in her cul-de-sac, with water rising within six feet of her back door, plus a six-day power outage, but no real damage to her house. Gail Casady Macneill and her husband have enjoyed their active retirement in Ponte Vedra Beach. Their home was not affected, but nearby oceanfront properties and the beaches were.  Because they live on a barrier island, the Macneills had a mandatory evacuation, but this has happened only twice in about 15 years and Gail says their lifestyle is worth it. In Arcadia, Cathy Bowman Parrella lost most of the roof off her workshop and barn, but her house sustained no damage. Pam Wallace Johnson says Irma was kind to Naples. From their other home in Massachusetts, Pam and her husband watched on CNN how the eye of the storm went over their downtown neighborhood, but the predicted 14-foot storm surge did not happen. When they returned to Naples in late October, they found broken palm trees and missing pool cage screens. Joanne Hicks Urgese had minor branch and debris damage in Palm Coast and considered herself very fortunate. In 50 years of hurricanes, Irma was only the second time that Anne Goodwin Draper had to board up their barn house in Chattahoochee. Fourteen people, including three generations, six pets, and four college girls, planned to seek refuge with the Drapers during the storm, but stayed home when Irma changed her course. Anne, who says she loves a party, had everything ready: rooms, beds, kennels, litter boxes, food and booze. She missed all the company when no one came. Larry and JoAnn Winer Sutton celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary by evacuating Boca Raton, but Irma spared Florida’s east coast. Both the Suttons are retired, Larry as a Delta pilot, JoAnn as an ESOL teacher. If you watched TV during Irma’s invasion, then you know that the Florida Keys were hard hit. From Key West, Janet Hayes reports: “When I arrived at Hood in 1960, we had just been through Hurricane Donna which took out Marathon and a stretch of US1 in the Upper Keys. One of the first people I met was Snow Philip, my half-sister, who was surprised that my mom and I had been able to get off the island. Snow and I bumped into each other about 35 years later, a few days after she moved to Key West. Our beloved island has lost much of our historic canopy and our flowering tropicals, much of which we will toil to nurture or replace. Snow was traveling to watch her daughter compete in an Iron Man, so she missed the angst of Force 4-5 winds over hours, followed by 10 days without electricity, five days without running water, 15 days without Internet or TV. She also missed the spirit of reaching out to help neighbors and all the behaviors which restore one’s faith.” Janet adds, “Key West will be back in toto within several months, the Lower Keys in a year or so. Marathon again took a hard hit and Big Pine, Sugarloaf, Ramrod, and Cudjoe lost hundreds of homes. Many of the affordable homes and apartments which house teachers, health personnel and service workers are on those islands, so hotels and restaurants are facing employee shortages. Snow’s home as well as mine came through with only garden destruction.” South Carolina residents Ellie Berklite Harris and Mary Jo Sottile Manning reported on Irma’s impact. Ellie and husband Alastair evacuated from their home on Kiawah Island to visit friends in Virginia. Their home sustained no damage. Earlier, their daughter’s family in Katy, TX survived Hurricane Harvey with no damage except flooding within inches of their front door. Mary Jo and Mike live on John’s Island, where the tidal surge left them with a lawn full of debris, but no yard damage that couldn’t be fixed and no damage to their house. Mary Jo says, “The big difference for many of us is that we learned from Hugo, and homes built or redone since then reflect higher standards and a heightened respect for the harmful potential.”

Barbara Maly Fish
919-688-9125
Barb2fish@yahoo.com

Two recent phone calls brought sad news. Ann McMillan Shuman reported that her husband Joe died on March 4. Several weeks later, Judi Coombs Creighton called to report that our classmate, Sue Sterner, died on May 13 of congestive heart failure. We send the sympathy of the class to them, as well as to Jane McLees West, P’88 whose daughter-in-law Jennifer Hustead died last November of bone cancer. Jane is very proud of her son, who is doing a wonderful job of taking care of his three teenagers after his wife’s death. Family graduations fill Jane’s and husband Roger’s schedule these days, one from Bowdoin College and three from high school.  2016 was a hard year for Betsy Beachley Winger, who had several surgeries over a 12-month period. This put a damper on her favorite hobby, competitive ballroom dancing. Betsy’s husband died in December 2013, but she continues to dance with her instructor. Molly Moore Romero is still in Omaha, deeply rooted in her neighborhood where she works at a restaurant that she founded with her business partner in 2003. She also teaches yoga, but no longer works at her art and photography. She very much enjoys her two granddaughters, 12 and 20, and wonders at how different their world is compared to what we experienced at that age. Peter and Carolyn McCurdy Wilson have moved right down the street from the yacht club where they grew up. They still sail and fly-fish, albeit at a slower pace. Four young grandchildren help keep them on their toes. Beth Myers enjoys her retirement from teaching kindergarten and lives in the Westminster MD house where she grew up. She moved there after her parents died in 1978. She conducts two Bible studies a week and her black pug provides exercise. For 28 years, she has had a 29-game plan with the Baltimore Orioles and also follows the New England Patriots. Maine is her preferred vacation destination. Anne Burgess Huffer began teaching when we graduated from Hood and taught for 38 years, 23 in Maryland, 12 in Florida, and 3 in Bahrain. She still does some volunteer tutoring and part-time teaching at Hagerstown Community College and Shepherd University. She and husband Jay spend winters in Florida, where they have made many friends over the years. While they lived in Bahrain, they traveled abroad and now are focused on seeing all of the U.S., with only 9 states left. Debby Parker Hamilton’s husband Tim was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last August. He has completed seven months of chemo and several weeks of radiation; keeping those appointments fills their calendars these days. They have received good support from their Episcopal church and from their daughters. Debby and Tim hope to visit their summer place in upstate New York this summer. Peter and Ruth Fredericks Frey have recently purchased a home in Cambria, CA, where they have spent the past five winters away from the harsh weather of their Colorado home. They plan to live in Cambria 8 months a year, then spend the 4 summer months in Colorado in a home they’ll rent. Claire Fulenwider and her wife Harriet moved recently into a new old house in Santa Fe, closer to downtown. They have enough space to keep their RV on site. Their daughter Nina, grandson Nelson, son Nathan, and daughter-in-law Pam all helped Claire celebrate her 75^th in April. Claire and Harriet will spend the summer at their Wisconsin cabin, grateful for good health, travels, and each other. They are both determined to resist and persist following the lessons that Virginia Lewis taught all of us. Ellen Roberts Glaccum has been in a reflective mood lately, thinking back to events in the early 60s. She and Cathy Kuralt Harris traveled to Washington on a frigid January 20, 1961 to see John Kennedy inaugurated. They climbed a tree to see the proceedings, little knowing that three years later they would be back on Capitol Hill to see the Presidential casket lying in state in the Rotunda. Ellen has also been thinking about her favorite Hood professor and wishing that Virginia Lewis were still alive to help her make sense of the current political situation.

1964

Barbara Maly Fish
919-688-9125
barb2fish@yahoo.com

I send the sympathy of the class to the family of Alyce Burn Sheaffer, who died on April 29, after a 42-year battle with multiple sclerosis. Those of us who saw Alyce at reunions always marveled at her courage and the tender care she received from her husband, Fred. On a happier note, Joanna Miller reports that she is cancer-free five years after being treated for breast cancer. She enjoys retirement and country life in Garrett County, MD, although she fell several months ago and broke her clavicle. She has had frequent episodes of rapid heart rate, which should be corrected by ablation by the time you read this. Charlie and Mary Frances Gaver Trunk celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary in July 2015. In November, Mary Frances had a total right knee replacement, which was completely healed in time for the Trunks’ move to a new patio home at the Homewood retirement center in Frederick. “Living on one floor is especially nice,” she says. Cal and Bobbi Wiley Erdman also celebrated their 50^th anniversary last July. Their three daughters and families (including seven grandchildren ranging in age from 3 ½ to 18) joined the Erdmans for a weekend in Little Compton RI with professional beach photos, a cookout, and presentation of a photo book covering their 50 years together. Bobbi and Cal have lived in Pinehurst NC for 16 years and continue to enjoy the climate, new friends, and golf. Carolyn Clewell came for their 3-day ladies golf member-guest in April and they won their flight. Bobbi continues to take needlepoint courses and learned gold work this year. She also volunteers with the First Tee program in Pinehurst. Ben and Betsy Benson Walker celebrated their 6^th anniversary in May on a 15-day Viking river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest. Betsy says, “Our home, backyard birds, and gardens bring us joy, and our German shepherd and 20 grandchildren keep us active and amazed! Life is good.” Ed and Scottie Hansbrough Sneckenberger have just finished the  overwhelming task of downsizing and moving to a retirement village not far from where they have spent the past 46 ½ years in Morgantown WV. Over the years, their travels filled their home with treasures such as a coolie hat from a Vietnamese rice paddy, a carved piece of bamboo from China, woven placemats from Guatemala, and Russian art from St. Petersburg. The Sneckenbergers’ three daughters have given them five wonderful grandchildren. Hal and Kathie Tatem Brody will celebrate their 50^th anniversary this summer with a special trip to Pittsburgh with their two children and four grandchildren. The Brodys’ children suggested the trip in order to visit the city where they grew up and to show their own children their old haunts. Kathie and Hal look forward to reconnecting with relatives and old friends. Hal still works as a professor at UConn, teaching and doing research. Kathie volunteers with the UConn League and the Tourism Bureau. Their home in Willington CT is big enough for guests and Kathie encourages classmates to visit. Marta Schneebeli Johnson keeps busy with volunteering and traveling.  She had a wonderful trip to Japan last fall and recently visited the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. In alternate years, Marta and her sister and their families get together in Stone Harbor, NJ. 2016 is the year and there will be 21 in the group this time. All of the grands especially enjoy visiting with cousins who live far apart.

Barbara Maly Fish
919-688-9125
barb2fish@yahoo.com

Returning from Hilton Head, SC, Ann McMillan Shuman was stranded in Charleston for two days during the historic rainstorm in September. ”If you have to be stranded somewhere, Charleston is a great place,” she says. She saw Karen Kuechenmeister Lehrhaupt in early August at their 55th high school reunion in Pittsburgh and again in Hilton Head in late September. Christina Santangelo Blenke and husband Henry love to travel and try to go to a new place each year. This year’s destination was Sicily. The Blenkes have five grandchildren who visit often. “Cape Cod has continued to be a perfect retirement spot,” Chris says. “Our days are filled with lots of outdoor fun, kayaking, tennis, biking, and there are a slew of other retirees to play with here.” In March, the Blenkes get away from the cold in Marco Island, Florida. Chris reconnected with Pamela Wallace Johnson through the Hood magazine and now they get together in Florida and in Massachusetts each year. Susan Sterner recently moved to Flagstaff, Arizona and is now much happier and livelier since she got a pacemaker. She was able to go to Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan in April. “It was truly fascinating,” she says. Elizabeth Speed Rich is a retired RN from the Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville; husband Tom is a retired Veterans Administration social worker. Betsy keeps her hand in health care by volunteering at the Kalispell Regional Medical Center. She and Tom moved to Flathead County, MT from Tennessee in 2002 in order to enjoy the benefits of living near a national park. They are the parents of Joseph, who works in international finance at HSBC in New York, and James, an actor, comedian, and writer who lives with his wife Maura in Los Angeles. Tom and Betsy look forward to celebrating their 50th anniversary in November. Betsy says, “The older I get, the more I realize how blessed I have been my whole life. Hood College is certainly a part of that!” Carol (Kelly) Ebert Henderson is enjoying this “passage.” The three Henderson kids have produced five adorable grandchildren, ages 6-11. Kelly volunteers as an historic tour guide at Cairnwood and at the Cathedral in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. She is a member of Questers, teaches two French conversation classes, belongs to two book groups, and practices yoga. In July 2016, they will celebrate their 50th anniversary. Kelly says, “I look back on our reunion with affection for all of you and appreciation to Hood for giving us such a good time that weekend and for a quality education.” Janet Riley Colburn is recovering from a bad auto accident “half a continent from home” and from breast cancer. She is mostly OK now. Bright lights in her life include her five grandchildren, two boys and three girls. Barbara Haun Morris wrote just as she was about to leave for New Hampshire and Vermont to enjoy the fall foliage. She enjoys living in Williamsburg, Virginia and has now visited or lived in all 50 states. All signs of breast cancer are gone, so she feels great and is back to golf and swimming, plus being lots slimmer. Jo Ann Risser Moroz’s husband Pete retired from consulting for Moly-Cop in Chile in April, but they still need him, and October found them back in Santiago. Pete and JoAnn enjoy living in Las Vegas, where their children and three grandchildren live. The oldest two grands are in college, youngest is a sophomore in high school. Daughter Debbie teaches high school and junior college math; daughter-in law-Chary is a special-ed teacher; and son Drew is a computer programmer. JoAnn and Pete volunteer at a local food bank where she does demonstrations and nutrition classes, while he oversees the food distribution. JoAnn had a good visit with Marylou Herrmann Foley in August when Marylou came to Las Vegas for a convention. Judith Coombs Creighton is in the process of downsizing and selling their house. She finds that it is far easier to get rid of her own stuff than the treasures handed down from her mother. Soon she will enjoy a mini-reunion with Eloise Varney Rauth and Susan Sterner. Judi’s son Alex is an orthopedic surgeon at the University of North Carolina. Occasionally, she spots him on TV when he rushes to care for an injured player. Diane McKay Nuner is walking pain free after a hip replacement in February. The Nuner’s celebrated their 50th anniversary on a cruise to Alaska. She and Jim love the sunny Southwest and their home in Deming, NM, but next summer, they plan to make a long RV trip to Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Michigan, and South Dakota. At the end of that trip, they will have visited 48 of the 50 states.

Barbara Maly Fish
919-688-9125
barb2fish@yahoo.com

I send the sympathy of the class to the family of Lynn Marx Silverman, who died on May 8, 2014, after a 15-month battle with pancreatic cancer, and to Sandy Borrelli Ricci, whose husband Renzo died on August 7, 2014. Carol Eisenberg Miller wrote that she was looking forward to attending the Hood-Albright basketball game with the local Hood group in Reading, Pa. (Hood won 71-59). She continues to serve as treasurer on the Pennsylvania State Extension Board and is also very active with Opportunity House, a local charity that includes a homeless shelter, a 24/7/365 day care center, a child abuse prevention program and a job training resource. After much consideration, Margaret Myers Sanders and her husband are moving to Willow Valley, a retirement community in Lancaster, Pa., her hometown. She is looking forward to all the amenities offered at Willow Valley and will enjoy being just an hour away from her little granddaughters. Margaret wonders if there are any other Hood folks at Willow Valley. After 47 years of teaching math, social studies and language arts to middle school students, Mary Cockram Morse retired in 2012. Since then, she has become a snowbird, spending the winter months in Bradenton, Fla., and the rest of the year in Ann Arbor, Mich. She has joined a church in Bradenton and sings in the choir, including an occasional solo. She is also taking private ballroom dance lessons and was recently in a showcase, dancing the tango with her teacher. She was looking forward to going on a dance cruise at the end of February. When she wrote, Carol Smith Mills and her husband had just returned from a wonderful Road Scholar trip to Miami Beach and Key West. She enjoys spending time with their 6-year-old grandson and 3-year-old granddaughter. She also volunteers at a local hospital near her home in Doylestown, Pa., where she delivers menus to patients and will soon work in the new pediatric wing with animal-assisted therapy. Carol and her fox terrier, April, do a reading program at a local elementary school. She finds that first graders love reading to April. The bucket list for Dave and Carol Hottenstein Parker included visiting all 50 state capitals and touring their capitol buildings. They celebrated their 50th anniversary by going to Hawaii, the 50th state. They liked the concept and design of the capitol in Honolulu best of all the ones they have visited. It is designed to represent a volcano and opens into a central courtyard and the exterior columns represent palm trees. The Parkers found the capitol in Harrisburg to be the most opulent, with lots of gold leaf; the high-rise office building in Omaha, Neb., the least interesting; and the one in Pierre, S.D., the plainest. The Parkers are very involved in playing duplicate bridge. Carol directs at their local club and serves as club administrator in January and February when many players leave Ohio for warmer climates. Dave and Carol planned to attend the Gatlinburg Regional Tournament in April in hopes of earning enough points to make American Contract Bridge League Life Master. The Parkers also have three “wonderful” grandchildren that they enjoy greatly.

Barbara Maly Fish
Barb2fish@yahoo.com

Fifty members of the Class of 1964 converged on Frederick for our 50^th reunion and a good time was had by all. We talked, laughed, reminisced, and even shed a few tears as we traveled back to those happy times more than 50 years ago. On behalf of all the attendees, I send thanks to Kate Jenks Powell, Betsey Covel, Marylou Herrmann Foley, and Barbi Haun Morris for their organizational skills. Thanks too to Harriet LeSourd Wise, who hosted all of us in her beautiful garden just a few blocks away from the campus. Kate not only contributed her own talents, but she also volunteered those of her children. Rev. Becky Powell Hoover led the worship service that ended the weekend while Bill Powell played the organ. Becky gave a very moving sermon; if you would like a copy please let me know and I will send one to you. At that Chapel service, Barbi and Joan Emann Whitten read the names of all of our classmates who have died since graduation, 27 names in all. The most recent was Penny Fettner Kopscik, who died in February after a long struggle with ovarian cancer.  Melanie Lathrop Hoffman bravely attended several reunion events, then passed away several days later on June 12, of pancreatic cancer. At the reunion, we also learned that Karen Kuechenmeister Lehrhaupt’s husband, Michael, had died in March. I know that all of you join me in sending the sympathy of the class to these families.

We also learned that Barbi Haun Morris would soon begin chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer. In a recent email, Carolyn Felin Fidler, a breast cancer survivor, posed an interesting question to me: How many women in our class have been treated for breast cancer? Statistics show that 1 in 8 women will have breast cancer over their lifetimes. Is that number valid for our class? I can’t do a totally scientific survey, but send me a message if that diagnosis has been part of your life story. Send me the year, too, if you don’t mind, and I will share what I learn with everyone in the class.

Carolyn also said that she had to miss the reunion because of hip replacement surgery. She and husband Nevin celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary recently with a transatlantic trip on the Queen Mary and visits to Scotland and England. She and twin sister Kathy both have the travel bug. Between them, they have visited all 7 continents and at least 40 countries. Kathy also is a Master Gardener and an Art Smart volunteer in the local schools in Allentown, PA, where she lives.

Another intrepid traveler in our class is Sue Lyeth Sternfeld, who, a week after the reunion, left with her daughter Karen for a 6-week voyage on the sailboat Lord Nelson from Recife, Brazil to Halifax, Nova Scotia. The ship is especially outfitted to accommodate people with physical limitations, such as Sue’s daughter Karen, who uses a wheelchair. Photos on the ship’s website show people in wheelchairs up in the rigging, something which Karen hopes to do.

Family obligations kept Sue Hapgood Satterfield at home in Nelson County, VA instead of at our reunion. She and husband Bob continue to love life on their little farm, in spite of being the sole staff and caretakers for horses, dogs, cats, gardens, and pastures of grass and hay. They lead and organize the hunting year
and weekly rides for Rita Mae Brown’s fox hunt club, while spending as much time as they can with their children, grandchildren, friends and family in KY, NC, GA, and Richmond VA. They welcome houseguests to explore with them the Brew Ridge Trail, which includes dozens of wineries, distilleries, and craft breweries. When she wrote, Sue and Bob were about to embark on a 2-week trip to Spain and France with 14 people (including 7 actors) ranging in age from 2 to 82. The group will explore the food, wine, and art of the Basque and Burgundy regions.

Like Sue, Mary Moore Shoemaker examined the reunion photos sent by the college and asked herself, “Who are all these old ladies?” Mary assures us that she looks exactly the same as she did 50 years ago! She and husband Doug continue to enjoy good health and lots of activities to keep themselves busy. Doug works part-time at Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center, while Mary volunteers with Riverfest, an annual celebration to educate people on environmental issues, and the Center for Coldwaters Restoration, a group that focuses on economic development around the water resources in Waynesboro, VA. All of the Shoemakers’ children and grandchildren live within an hour from their home.

Ruth Kaiser Port and husband Bob recently celebrated their 48^th anniversary. In June, their son Eric, his wife, and two Norwegian friends visited for a week from Norway, where Eric has lived since his marriage in 2008. Their daughter Lorinda and her family visited at the same time. Ruth, completely retired since 2006, participates in several community Bible study groups, as well as riding as often as possible her Kentucky Saddle Horse, Crockett. Keeping up with their grandchildren’s activities also is a priority for the Ports. Lorinda’s oldest in in college, the next is in high school, and the youngest is in middle school. Ruth says that her “spare” time is spent on her hobbies: biking, reading, gardening, traveling, painting, and camping.

Cookie Johnson Bolig plays duplicate bridge 2-4 times a week, accumulating master’s points for ACBL and studies yoga with a 92-year-old role model. She is a serious doll collector who attends several doll conventions a year. She and husband John travel to New York City and Key West regularly and plan to go to Paris and London in the spring. Cookie’s various groups––book, craft, bridge and theater “are always doing something.” After retiring from Frederick County Public Schools in 2004, Kate Jenks Powell continued teaching at the local community college and at Hood where she held a visiting professorship, an appointment which expires after this academic year. Kate said she might be ready to retire for good after 43-years in the classroom and looks forward to spending more time with her family, especially her two grandchildren. Sally Erb Soisson is a serious quilter who attends quilting retreats with friends. She and husband Joe will welcome their two sons and their spouses and children home for Thanksgiving. Son Steve works in Germany, which gives Sally and Joe an excuse to visit often. Sandy Borrelli Ricci continues to work part-time as a nurse to maintain her PRN position in wound/ostomy care. Husband Renzo has some serious health issues; Sandy is his primary caregiver. Their children, their spouses and her two grandchildren live near the Riccis’ home in Finksburg, Md. Claire Fulenwider and her wife Harriet are happily retired in Santa Fe, N.M. They spend summer months in their log cabin on the Wisconsin River where they can visit Claire’s son Nathan at his fishing resort. Claire and Harriet travel in their RV and visit daughter Nina and grandson Nelson in Maryland as often as they can. Claire wrote, “Our New Mexico Supreme Court is about to rule on marriage equality in the state, so we are eagerly anticipating a validation of our marriage here 10-years-ago and more generally of our 32-year relationship.” Jim and Marylou Herrmann Foley celebrated her birthday with a black tie evening on the Queen Mary 2, crossing to Southampton. Daughter Jennifer, her husband David and their two children joined the Foley’s for a week in London. Then daughter Heather joined them and they all squeezed into an SUV to do more traveling in England and Wales, including chartering their own canal barge for five days and working the locks themselves. While Jim still teaches and administrates at Georgia Tech, Marylou arranges travel with Joan Emann Whitten and Eleanor Berklite Harris as two of her recent clients. In the spring, Joe and Susan Lyeth Sternfeld visited Bogota, Colombia, where their daughter Karen and her family live. They spent a month in Spain where Susan studied Spanish in a Seville language school in Seville while Joe walked part of the Ruta de Plata, a pilgrim route from Seville to Santiago. Afterward, they went to some of their favorite walking places in Andalusia. In September, they went to a family wedding in Sydney, Australia. Besides being a wonderful family reunion, the trip was also an opportunity to do some walking in the bush. Susan looks forward to our 50th, after which she and Karen will have a sailing adventure, six weeks on a tall ship sailing from Recife, Brazil to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Because Karen uses a wheelchair, the ship on which they will sail is specially fitted for wheelchair users. Flo Sechler Miller enjoys hiking with husband Mike, visiting her son and granddaughters in North Carolina and taking and teaching courses at her local Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. In the fall, she was teaching a course on Hawthorne, which has rekindled her love of literature in general and respect for his genius in particular. During the summer, her entire family including daughter Jenny, son Chris, and granddaughters Sara, 14 and Lindsay, 16, spent a happy week together in London. In the summer of 2014, Flo and Mike will travel to China in celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary. After her husband’s death in 2010, Joan Emann Whitten became very cognizant of making memories. In 2011, her family went to a wedding in Serbia. Since the grandchildren were 5 and 7 at the time, it was mostly a kid-friendly trip that included four countries, four zoos, two aquariums, a joust, many parks, and a lot of good food. This year, Joan and a friend took a knitting cruise to the Baltic. Marylou organized a fantastic tour for them in St. Petersburg, one that they will remember forever. Each one of these women has promised to be at our 50th next June. I hope that all of you will attend, too. And please remember to be as generous as you possibly can in your contribution to our 50th reunion gift. We are at an age where we have all of what we need and much of what we want, so it is time to think about paying it forward.