Aldan T. Weinberg is now a Professor Emeritus of Journalism. He is still teaching (one course, the senior seminar) and advising the radio station, but essentially retired from Hood after 30 years. He moved from his home in Braddock Heights of 43 years to Worman’s Mill. His fiancé, Connie Schlee, sold her historic house in Frederick and they are now under the same roof. Moving after all those years was a full-time job in itself. Now he wonders how he ever got anything done when he was working. Grandchildren Claire and Nora moved from Silver Spring to Pittsburgh, where mom got a position with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center as a pediatric cardiologist and assistant professor. Son Rob will continue his law practice in Pennsylvania, while daughter Casey practices law in Rockville.

On May 11, 2015 Sue Shorb-Sterling received her Doctor in Ministry degree from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D. C. Then on May 19, she received the gift of double total knee replacements. She is now walking well and is pain free! Currently, she is in her seventh year serving as pastor at Salem United Methodist Church in Brookeville, MD.  Also, her fourth grandchild was born in January. Her name is Ashley Ellen Sterling. Three weeks later, Ashley was involved in a car crash and rushed to Johns Hopkins PICU with a brain bleed. She came home on her one month birthday. Ashley is now doing everything that she is supposed to being doing for her age and has been released from her doctors. We are very grateful.

Debbie Wagner Shawen’s biggest news is birth of her first grandchild Samantha Rose who is a pure joy and lives outside London with her parents, so they are hopping across The Pond whenever they can. Michael and Debbie downsized to condos in Rehoboth Beach, DE and Sarasota, FL. They bike, hike, and kayak as often as possible and go out West to their favorite national parks. When in Baltimore they live on their sailboat. Debbie’s work as an Educational Consultant (helping families who need a therapeutic program or LD school) can be done from anywhere – and she loves it.

Arlene Russo Bujese is still serving as Curator in Residence at the Southampton Cultural Center, NY, and has just completed the 15th Annual Boxart Benefit Auction for East End Hospice (EEH); it is her 13th year as Chairperson of the event.  She serves on the Board of Directors of EEH, and is working on securing works of art for the soon to be completed East End Hospice patient residence in Quioge, Long Island, NY.

Jackie Testa Ciminera is happy to share that her first grandchild, a beautiful girl named Ella, was born in April to her son Bill and his wife Amanda.  We’ll be watching facebook for some pictures.

Von and Anna Kluth vonLindenberg have been retired and living at the Beach in West Fenwick, DE for 3 years. They are both in good health, and still very much enjoying boating and all outdoor activities, although they increasingly escape the winter cold. Anna has become involved in promoting mindfulness in their daily routines to ease the burden of increased human impact on their beautiful inland bays. They have 3 beautiful grandchildren. Her sister, Kas Kluth Rohm,’77 and her husband Greg whom she dated while at Hood, have a part-time residence here as well. Anna sends Hello to all.

I hope everyone had a wonderful summer and remained safe throughout the extreme weather conditions.  It looks like we’ve made it through another summer of wild fires in California.  And if they’re right about El Nino, we may even get some rain and snow this winter.  We could really use it. Wishing you and your families the best for the remainder of 2015!  Debbie Page Rath

Deborah Page Rath
530-891-4975
drath@nhhicks.com

Can you believe it has been 40 years since we graduated?  Our 40th reunion weekend was enjoyed by all and here are some of their experiences. Ann Thomas Phillips shared how great it was to see familiar faces from 40 years ago, especially Rachael Nisley Mock, P’01 and Pam Balch Ewell who she had not seen in decades. She said it was great to talk with classmates even those she did not know well while at Hood. She’s looking forward to our 45th and hopes that more classmates will come back and share their old memories and make some new ones. Priscilla Munkenbeck Cherrin had a fabulous, fun filled time. She said the campus and surroundings look magnificent and the hospitality was endless. She is convinced that Hood’s campus is the fountain of youth. “The food was terrific and tasty. They did a wonderful job. President Volpe was as cheerful and pleasant as always and will be missed by all. The best of all was seeing our classmates. Everyone looks great and as friendly as ever. So happy we all attended and will continue to be friends. Thank you all.” Marcia Ritter Doiron said, “the reunion was great; cannot believe it was 40 years! Lisa Oller Kennedy traveled from Texas, Ann Shackelford Silva from Maine, me from Massachusetts, Lynda Strasser Brooks from North Carolina, Fran Vogler Groves and Ellen Bosek McMahon from North Jersey and Cill Munkenbeck Cherrin and Laura Lee Hickman from Delaware…that’s the Memorial Gang! Pam Balch Ewell traveled from Germany! It was fun for all, food was great and the campus looks beautiful!!” Ellen Bosek McMahon added that “Saturday’s luncheon was very special and the speakers and tribute to Dr. Volpe was memorable. I’m so glad to have been there. Reconnecting with everyone was such fun.” It was definitely a great reunion from Laura Lee Hickman. “The campus was beautiful and food delicious…especially the Maryland picnic on Friday night. It was so nice to re-connect with the gang of Meyranites as well as Cherilyn Widell. We all had a blast at Shriner dorm both nights with gatherings that went late into the evening! We are looking forward to the next!” I personally want to thank everyone who donated during our 40th reunion year. The class of 1975 reached and exceeded our 40% participation goal with 41.54% making a gift to the college. The total amount donated from our class was the highest ever at $15,456. Although I was unable to attend this reunion, I hope to see everyone at our next reunion. Have a wonderful and safe summer! Debbie Page Rath

Deborah Page Rath
530-891-4975
drath@nhhicks.com

Can you believe it has been 40 years since we graduated?  Our 40th reunion weekend was enjoyed by all and here are some of their experiences. Ann Thomas Phillips shared how great it was to see familiar faces from 40 years ago, especially Rachael Nisley Mock, P’01 and Pam Balch Ewell who she had not seen in decades. She said it was great to talk with classmates even those she did not know well while at Hood. She’s looking forward to our 45th and hopes that more classmates will come back and share their old memories and make some new ones. Priscilla Munkenbeck Cherrin had a fabulous, fun filled time. She said the campus and surroundings look magnificent and the hospitality was endless. She is convinced that Hood’s campus is the fountain of youth. “The food was terrific and tasty. They did a wonderful job. President Volpe was as cheerful and pleasant as always and will be missed by all. The best of all was seeing our classmates. Everyone looks great and as friendly as ever. So happy we all attended and will continue to be friends. Thank you all.” Marcia Ritter Doiron said, “the reunion was great; cannot believe it was 40 years! Lisa Oller Kennedy traveled from Texas, Ann Shackelford Silva from Maine, me from Massachusetts, Lynda Strasser Brooks from North Carolina, Fran Vogler Groves and Ellen Bosek McMahon from North Jersey and Cill Munkenbeck Cherrin and Laura Lee Hickman from Delaware…that’s the Memorial Gang! Pam Balch Ewell traveled from Germany! It was fun for all, food was great and the campus looks beautiful!!” Ellen Bosek McMahon added that “Saturday’s luncheon was very special and the speakers and tribute to Dr. Volpe was memorable. I’m so glad to have been there. Reconnecting with everyone was such fun.” It was definitely a great reunion from Laura Lee Hickman. “The campus was beautiful and food delicious…especially the Maryland picnic on Friday night. It was so nice to re-connect with the gang of Meyranites as well as Cherilyn Widell. We all had a blast at Shriner dorm both nights with gatherings that went late into the evening! We are looking forward to the next!” I personally want to thank everyone who donated during our 40th reunion year. The class of 1975 reached and exceeded our 40% participation goal with 41.54% making a gift to the college. The total amount donated from our class was the highest ever at $15,456. Although I was unable to attend this reunion, I hope to see everyone at our next reunion. Have a wonderful and safe summer! Debbie Page Rath

Since retiring in June of 2011 after 36 years of teaching, Marcia Ritter Doiron has been volunteering in her community and loves it. She drives the elderly and volunteers at the Historical Association and the Community Center. She’s also the proud “Mimi” to four grandchildren under the age of 6. They all live nearby so her husband of twenty years, Bill, and her see them often!

This year their Memorial group traveled to Maine to Ann Shackelford Silva‘s lovely home, full of antiques and her dad’s wonderful artwork. They had such a wonderful time out at Owl’s Head State Park and eating lobster! Joining on the trip were Lisa Kennedy Oller, Fran Vogler Groves, Ellen Bosek McMahon, Priscilla Munkenbeck Cherrin and Lynda Strasser Brooks. They missed Laura Lee Hickman who was busy with her artwork in Bethany Beach.

Jackie Testa Ciminera re-connected with Libby Miller, who lives not far from her. Libby found Jackie on Facebook, and they’ve enjoyed getting together for some catching up. Bill and Jackie are preparing for two weddings: their son is to be married in mid-July, and their daughter is getting married in March 2015. A busy time for them!

Beverly Nester Jefferson met Debbi Ramsey Wilson ’70 in her own backyard of Seattle through an organization of which they were both members: Achievement Rewards for College Scientists. They Co-Chaired the Seattle luncheon last year to raise money to provide financial awards to academically outstanding graduate students studying to complete degrees in science, engineering and medical research. They had a blast working together and sharing great memories of Hood. It turns out both love to fly fish!

After 34 years, Barbara Baird Rogers is retiring from Benchmark School. Her entire career was spent there raising money and serving bright children who are not reaching their academic potential. She will miss it but it’s time for the next chapter. Jim and Barbra are very happily married and feeling very blessed with their three grown sons and their growing families. Currently, all three of their daughter-in-laws are pregnant. Their oldest son and his wife are expecting their first in September, their second son and his wife are expecting their third child in October and their youngest son is expecting their second baby in December. By Christmas, they will have doubled their grand babies from three to six.

Anna Kluth vonLindenberg sent greetings from their new home on the eastern shore. They’ve escaped Maryland. They are loving retirement, and having plenty of house guests. Her sister, Kas Kluth Rohm and her husband Greg have also purchased a home at the Delaware beach.

Susan McKendree is well into her book about Meher Baba’s Blue Bus Tours throughout India in the late 1930s and early 40s and very excited to be flying to Meherabad in September for a three-month visit to conduct research in the archives there. The journey is also a pilgrimage to her teacher’s Samadhi, or tomb-shrine, and an opportunity to spend time with other pilgrims from around the world.

In June Val Kremer Reeve met up with Kristi Mathias while visiting Washington, DC with her teenage daughter. Kristi is now back in downtown DC living with a huge loveable bulldog. She’s happy, healthy, still an artist and works at the Hirshhorn Museum. Val continues to be an artist, and also a writer of short stories. Just returned from a group hike/bike trip to Italy followed by a week of looking at museums and churches with her husband. They are blessed with 2 wonderful daughters: Bridgit, a junior at Lafayette, and Laura, a junior at The Stony Brook School. She’d love to hear from you – email her vreeve1@msn.com.

Cheryl Cuddeback started her own computer training business. Currently she’s teaching two courses at a local CUNY Facility among other consulting gigs. She’s keeping her love of her neighborhood, Forest Hills Gardens, alive by taking photos for Terrace Sotheby’s Realty as well as creating calendars sold via lulu.com. She’s still married to Norman and their daughter is 20 and a junior at Hunter College.

Marita Stup Loose has retired from Frederick County Public Schools after fifteen years as executive director of communication services. Through LinkedIn, she was offered a job teaching Business Communication at Frederick Community College. She’s back at Hood as well, on a freelance basis consulting with the Grad School office. She recently visited one-time apartment mate Darlene DeMay ’72 in the Tampa area and look forward to her visit in August.

Thanks to everyone who took to time to share. Take care!

Hello all! After 22 years as a fundraising professional, Fran Vaughan left her last post (vice president for advancement at Hilbert College) to start her own business. She is now president of FMV Tax Professionals doing taxes for individuals, small business and nonprofits. She lives in Holland, N.Y., outside of Buffalo. So if you are in her neighborhood, please let her know. Her two daughters are in their 30’s, one living in Hawaii taking care of her parents, the other is close by and married with one child, her grandson, age 13. Debbie Deasy lost her dad Bob Deasy, a World War II aviator and former communications manager for Westinghouse in February 2013 at age 89. Thanks to her Dad, her family was transferred to Washington, D.C. during the 1960s where she saw a lot of history and fell in love with Maryland, which ultimately led her to Hood. She is preparing to buy her first house, her late parents’ townhouse, where she already lives. Ellen Bosek McMahon and other ’75 classmates that lived on 4th floor Memorial enjoyed a special and bittersweet weekend in June in Harpers Ferry. Marcia Ritter Dioron coordinated a tribute to Cindy Robel June ’75 and BJ Schuler ’73, both passed from ovarian cancer, with a tree and plaque in front of the Chapel. In attendance were Ellen, Marcia, Fran Vogler Groves, Lynda Strasser Brooks, Lisa Oller Kennedy, Priscilla Munkenbeck Cherrin and Laura Lee Hickman. Ann Shackelford Silva was missed in absentia back in Maine but remembered all weekend. Susan Mumma McKendree has been living near Asheville, N.C., for the past 24 years. In January 2012, after seven years in community service, she decided to take a leap of faith and pursue her work as a collage artist, building shrines and traveling altars dedicated to her spiritual master, Meher Baba. She is also writing a book about a phase of Meher Baba’s work in India called the Blue Bus Tours, which took place in the late 30s and early 40s. Her biggest challenge is keeping her kitties from lying on her open books and parading back and forth in front of the computer screen–a small price to pay for the pleasure of being a writer. She also traveled to India twice since 2004 and has published two chapbooks of her poetry in the past seven years. Diana Beck Walters lost the love of her life Lee Walters on January 5. Peggy Hosky is living in the Washington, D.C. area with sequestration, government shutdowns and the political atmosphere has many for a tense year. Their oldest daughter Monica has moved to Charleston, S.C., with friends and their middle kid Claudia finished her master of business administration degree at Marymount Univ. John the youngest is still in college. Their company and work continue to give them great pleasure, especially the collaborative efforts with colleagues at George Washington Univ. center for excellence in public leadership. Tom and Peggy celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary in August. Ann Ely is still living in and loving Vermont! Kids and grandkids are doing well. Carol Fleck Whetzel and Mike just celebrated their 37th anniversary. Life is good. Mike is still working as a systems analyst. She enjoys being home working on crafts, sewing and needlework. She also plays Mah Jongg with the neighborhood ladies. Mike and Carol both totally enjoy being grandparents with their little guys ages 3, 6, and 7. Anna Kluth VonLindenberg’s husband Von has retired and they have recently moved to Delaware beach. They have a beautiful wetlands vista, great for kayaking. They are moving their boat to Cambridge on the Eastern shore and look forward to bike riding around the sleepy surrounding towns. They also visit with their son and his family weekly and are entertained by their three fun-loving grandchildren. Life is good! In the last year, Cherilyn Widell was honored to consult on some very fun and interesting projects. She researched the national significance of the 1100 acre Woodlawn Property in the Brandywine Valley of Delaware which became Delaware’s first national park, First State National Monument, when it was declared a national monument by President Obama last March. She just completed a project for the U.S. Department of Defense which owns over 100,000 buildings 50-years-old or older. The study compared reuse of pre-World War II masonry building with new green construction. Now she is working on preserving Alexander Graham Bell’s House in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. She is still living in Chestertown, so please stop by sometime. I wish everyone the best and please keep in touch.

Hello all! I am excited to make my first report for the class of 1975. It was great to make contact with a few of you and I look forward to hearing from many more. As for me, Debbie Page Rath, I am living in California about an hour north of Sacramento. I am married and have a son age 24. Since graduation, I have been working in the retirement plan industry on 401(k) and pension plans. Life has been great except for one hurdle. Eight years ago I fell, which left me paralyzed from my hips down. It took some adjusting to be wheelchair bound, but I returned to work and my normal activities within a year. We all deal with what life throws us and I believe I have become a better person because of it.

Debbie Wagner Shawen is an educational consultant and works with families whose son or daughter is struggling with a mental health issue, addiction or a learning disability. She helps them find the appropriate therapeutic program or treatment center. She helps young adults as well, and enjoys traveling around the country visiting all of the programs she recommends. In her spare time, she enjoys Rehoboth Beach, Del., sailing, tai chi and keeping up with her husband Michael and their three grown daughters. Peg Yanarella Hosky and her husband, a veritable bevy of cats, three 20-something children and all their associated friends lead a somewhat riotous life in Washington, D.C. They own a small business and enjoy the freedom to struggle through economic ups and downs with a sense of being the masters of their own fate. She is still a techno-geek with active twitter followers @peghosky and @fedInsider as well as a management blog with 30,000 subscribers.

Aldan T. Weinberg is still a professor of journalism and director of the communications program at Hood. He teaches in the fall and administers the program year-around. His news is mainly about his kids. Both are lawyers practicing in the metro Washington, D.C., both married their college sweethearts, and his son made him “Pop-Pop” when first grandchild Claire was born in January 2011. He and his fiancé Connie Schlee spend January and part of February in Sarasota, Fla., and would be delighted to visit with any Hood alums down there. Their “baby” is a 9-year-old Shih-poo named Punky who loves to travel to Bethany Beach, Del., in the summer. Anna Kluth VonLindenberg is retired and enjoys all of the freedom that gives her. Von and Anna have one son and daughter-in-law, and three young grandchildren who light up their world! They all share a mutual love of the water, and spend a lot of family time boating up and down the East Coast. Anna and her husband are actively planning their retirement years. They have purchased a home on the Delmarva Peninsula and will be transitioning there over the next three-years. Her younger sister Kas Kluth Rohm ’77 and her husband are transitioning there as well.

Susan McKendree (Sue Ellen Mumma) has been living in and around Asheville, N.C., for the past 23 years. About 10 years ago she began a search for spiritual connections that led her twice to India and to a spiritual master Meher Baba. In 2005, she discovered a new passion. She is now a writer and collage artist, making shrines, traveling altars, altered books, cards and other 3-D paper creations. Her poetry has been published in a regional magazine as well as five regional anthologies. She lives on her own (with three companionable cats) in a lovely sanctuary of a home outside of Weaverville, Calif. When not in her studio, she is reading, hiking or walking, tending a year-round organic garden, and volunteering with her spiritual community. Deborah Deasy is still working in journalism covering municipal news in north suburban Pittsburgh for the weekly Pine Creek Journal and The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. She said, “That helps pay the boarding bill for my new horse, a 24-year-old Arabian mare that I shipped last winter from Green Bay, Wis., to Western Pennsylvania.” She has never married or had kids, but has a longtime beau Andy who used to collect her tolls when she commuted to work on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Val Kremer Reeve is still married to Foster Reeve, and they will be celebrating their 20th anniversary soon and share two lovely daughters, ages 18 and 14. She enjoys their local small-town life, is active in the Presbyterian Church, and continues to be a painter and writer of short stories. She has been doing well, except she learned she had breast cancer about six months ago. “It was and continues to be pretty serious, but I feel hopeful and glad for everything nonetheless. I have strong faith and I am truly blessed with a wonderful, loving family and friends,” said Val. When you have time, send me an email with your current contact information and let me know what you think about a Class of 1975 Facebook page. I would love to hear from more of you.

Class Reporter: