Nancy Ludwick Warrenfeltz ‘76

nlwfeltz@hotmail.com

Thanks for all the updates!

Gail Lippert Ebersole: 2013 has been a busy year for my family! In January, our oldest daughter Lindsay had our second granddaughter Nora, who joined her 2 1/2 year old sister Lena. Lindsay is a wedding photographer in St. Croix, USVI. Then in May, our youngest daughter Lauren got married. She works as a sonographer at Johns Hopkins Hospital. In other news, in 2010, I retired from 34 years with Baltimore County Public Schools (20 years as a teacher and 14 as a middle school assistant principal) when my husband Brad became President of Washington State Community College in Ohio.

Lynn Furtek Eubanks: How many times have I sat down meaning to update my Hood news, but life seemed to get in the way! Anyway, a lot has happened this year, particularly with our grandchildren. Jacob (grandson #2) graduated college in May and began a youth ministry job in Michigan.  Carly (granddaughter #1) graduated high school and has begun college in New York.  The next two granddaughters have moved on up to the high school and middle school. Rilee, the “baby”, started kindergarten this year! The years have flown. And let’s add that my nephew was married in May; he is the son of Emily Gibbs Furtek, ‘75. As for us, Jack and I finally started working on our bucket list trips, taking a cruise to New   England, Canada and the St. Lawrence Seaway followed a month later with our trek to Machu   Picchu and Lake Titicaca. If you get a chance GO! I don’t think we’re doing this bucket list “thing” right, though; every time we check something off the list we add two more things to it!  We are living in Tennessee near the foothills of the Smokies…still teaching…for now! And next year promises to be even more eventful.

Debbie Huff Nicholson reports: My son Justin married Lydia Cross in August.  They had a beautiful garden wedding on Cape Cod–it was a picture postcard day.  Sue Transue Hoge and her husband Phil were there and a fine time was had by all.  The wedding photos of us all out on the dance floor reminded me of our Hood party days–some things never change!  The newlyweds are living in Rochester, NY where Justin is working on his Phd in political science. Back on the home front, Norm and I are moving to the Portland area of Maine in January 2014 (yes, that’s right, moving north in the winter!).  He wants to retire shortly, but I’m not quite ready for that yet, so I’m on the job hunt. Can a Jersey girl make it in Maine? Well, we’ll see!
Torie Hoveman Seeger: I have two bits of news.  The first is that my husband Geoff has retired.  He found a part-time “gig” at the local Home Depot, which suits him just fine.  Enough to keep his whole day busy (part-time in morning, then attending to home stuff and his Mom in the afternoon.)  It seems to keep him out of trouble and he is no longer dealing with bureaucratic issues, which pleases him.  Secondly, our son Ben has volunteered for overseas duty again.  He is currently in Texas and will, at some point, leave for Kuwait for the remainder of his one year contract.  He is with the Army National Guard and I would ask all alums to say a prayer, or keep a thought for all service men and women still in harm’s way and serving in our country’s military and diplomatic corps. God Bless our Military!

Linda Fox-Jarvis: David & I are looking forward to grandkids, as now both Stephanie and Brian are married.  Stephanie got married in June and was a beautiful bride.  It was a really big wedding with ten bridesmaids and ten groomsmen.  Her husband Tyler is a local  accountant.  Funny, they actually grew up in the same neighborhood and had mutual friends in college (went to different colleges) but never knew each other.  I am so excited that Stephanie has joined me in my real estate business.  It is so great teaching her the ropes and knowing I can pass along my business of 30+ years to her eventually.  Brian and Amanda are doing well in Fairfax, VA.  They both are working at Azure Blue, a computer engineering company.  My husband David is still working for BAE Systems and supervises the Norfolk and Jacksonville operations.  We hope to retire in the next 5+ years but who knows.  When we can vacation, we enjoy our cabin south of Charlottesville and our shared home in Normandy France with our two dogs – Wiley the Westie and Izzie the Schnoodle.

Barbara Woolmington-Smith: Craig and I are continuing to work—our retirement was pushed back because of the recession these last five years. But we work out of our home office and can work short days, so it actually works out fine.  We are planning to close up the business in about three years and possibly move to Asheville, NC.  We have purchased some land back there and Craig’s family all live in South Carolina.  If any Hood classmates know the area or live in NC, I would love to hear from them because I am still ambivalent about moving to a new community after spending our entire married life in California. The kids are living at home at the moment but both are working. They came home to live temporarily and have stayed on.  It is time for them to get their own places.  Harrison wants to move to San Francisco where his job is located—unfortunately it is very expensive to live there… I see roommates in his future.  Alisha works at the local veterinary office and does lots of pet sitting so she is rarely home.  It looks like she may move back to Oregon—where she went to college—and get settled up there.  Our health is great and we enjoyed a vacation to Kauai in Nov 2013.

Hi from Kurt and Libby Crouter Holter: We are having a busy year. I have gone back to Hood for my Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and Kurt stays busy with his commercial and college photo work. Our son Andrew is on a Fulbright Scholarship, teaching English to students in Kyjov, Czech Republic, for a year. Our older son, Colin, is teaching music composition and theory at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, with his wife of one year, Jessica Narum. We are so happy that both of our sons and daughters-in-law are having wonderful adventures. We plan to visit them soon!

Larry & I are doing well. We have vacationed at the Outer Banks twice this year. Once in June for my family reunion and then in November for the OBX Marathon with our son Jim & his family. Jim ran this race and placed 3^rd in his age group and received a special pin for his medal. He ran his best time ever & qualified for the 2015 Boston Marathon. We love spending time with our grandchildren. Jim & Liz have 2 girls: Madeline is 5 years and Chloe is 2 years.  Our daughter Lindsay & her husband Nathan live in Seattle. We visit them about twice a year. They are parents to our grandson, Jacob, who was 1 year old this past October.

Please email me your Hood news. We love hearing from all of our classmates!

Keep the news coming! It is always great to stay in touch. I am just an email away. Some of us are staying in touch through Facebook, too. Thanks to Torie and Barb for sending their news. Torie Hoveman Seeger is still enjoying her work at the Research Foundation for The State Univ. of New York as program manager for childcare subsidy and licensing training projects. New York is working on a number of quality initiatives for child day care. The one she is involved with is the review and upgrading of the approval process for distance learning courses for child day care providers. Torie is on the board for the New York State Association for the education of young children currently serving as the recording secretary. The Seegers are working on retirement in the next year or so. That has been another learning experience in their life together as a couple; all for a positive outcome and well worth the challenges! Torie wrote, “With my Mom’s passing after Christmas last year and my second granddaughter’s birth just days later, this Christmas will be unique.”

Barbara Woolmington-Smith reported that their lives were turned upside down earlier this year when Craig ended up in the local intensive care unit with the flu and then double pneumonia. He was very, very sick, but due to being strong and healthy, he recovered fully and went back to work within 30 days. “We call it the local miracle! It was tough trying to make sure his needs were met, along with running the business by myself, but all my family and friends pitched in and helped me to the max. When they say, ‘it takes a village,’ I know the full meaning of the phrase! I have not been doing much modeling this year because of Craig’s illness and working longer hours at our management business.” Barb has been keeping up with her Etsy.com shop for hand knitted boutique baby clothes. Anyone who has a grandbaby please check it out: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BabywearbyBabs. Barb and Craig were planning a vacation in Key West this February to give them some time off to relax a little. The Smiths are hoping for retirement, but it is still a few years away. Larry and I visited Scott and Lois Vandermark Moore in November. Their daughter Sandy married Danny Ferucci in May 2012. It was a beautiful beach wedding on the Eastern Shore in Cape Charles, Va. I am busy with being second vice president of The Krewe of Les Gals in Pensacola, Fla. We celebrate Mardi Gras with a tea in January to welcome the newest members. The Les Gals Ball will be held in February 2013. It is so much fun! I am also a member of Pensacola Impact 100. It’s a philanthropic group of women who make an impact locally with grant money. Pensacola has the largest Impact group in the United States. Our daughter and son-in-law had our first grandson Jacob Lawrence Koppes on Oct. 5. Larry and I flew out to Seattle, Wash., for the happy occasion. We met up with Mike and Megen Mack Opsahl ’77 for lunch at a restaurant on Lake Washington. It was fun catching up on all the years after Hood with Megen and Mike. Our son and daughter-in-law are in the process of adopting our second granddaughter Chloe. She is darling and a very happy baby. As I write this column, my husband Larry is facing his third amputation of his right leg. He had surgery scheduled in early December 2012. Hopefully when this issue is published, Larry will be healed and getting fitted for a new leg! Wishing all the best in 2013!

Class Reporter: