class notes to communicate via email or other social media. Talk centered around retirement, grandchildren, and the growing trend of spending winters in warmer locations. There was the joy of breaking bread together at our class dinner party and the sadness of remembering (at the alumni Mass and at our special tribute) the 170 classmates who have passed away since our Commencement Day, so long ago. There were stories to tell and to listen to and pictures to be shared. It was like opening a time capsule. Special thanks to the Reunion Committee: to its co-chairs, Charles Benedict, MBA’70, and Dick (F.) Powers, and to Al and Cindy (Rae) Butters, MaryAnne (Woodward) Benedict, Fred Faherty, Bob Galibois, Dennis Griffin, Jack Keating, John Keenan, Don MacDonald, Leo McHugh, Marty Paul, Bill Risio, Fr. Nick Sannella, John St. George, Norm “Butch” Welch, and Paul White. The Reunion Committee first met in April 2011 and concluded with an after-action report meeting, in early June 2012. It was good to see many veterans return to campus for recognition and a reception. • Next year will be the sesquicentennial (150th year) since the founding of Boston College, with many events planned, including a Mass at Fenway Park on September 15, 2012. For many of us, it will also be our 50th anniversary of graduation from high school! Another great reunion to look forward to. We will be having some Class of ’67 events throughout the next few years as we work toward our 50th reunion, which will be here before we realize it! • Because these notes are due at the time of Reunion Weekend, we will use future issues of the magazine to tell the wonderful stories we heard at our 45th reunion. Enjoy!
You’ll always be
counted for the class of
NC 1967
Correspondent: M. Adrienne Tarr Free thefrees@cox.net 3627 Great Laurel Lane Fairfax, VA 22033-1212; 703-709-0896 Words of wisdom from Sandy McGrath Huke: “’67 we were, 67 we are. The sun and moon have aligned for our 45th!” It was a fantastic first weekend in June celebrating what the past 45 years have wrought in our
lives! Over three days, 55 of us—give or take at the different events—talked, laughed, found former friends, and made new ones. • Beginning at the beautiful home of Michele Mastrolia Talbot with a delightful buffet on Friday evening, memories of life at Newton kept everyone smiling—including many of the husbands, who had their own stories to tell about their dating days at Newton in the mid-1960s. Apparently, Mary Feldbauer Jansen proved to have been a successful “matchmaker” for several and was there from California to see evidence of her efforts. “Do you remember...?” was the most asked question. Classmates came in from Europe, California, Florida, the Midwest, and around the Middle Atlantic and New England states. For some, including Jill Shipway Roy and Elyse Demers, it was their first, and hopefully not last, reunion; some stalwarts have been coming since 1972. Others couldn’t attend but sent greetings: Faith Brouillard Hughes was in Brooklyn tending her family after the early arrival of Finnegan Atwood Prober Hughes the week before. (Granddaughter Nora wanted a baby, but Finn isn’t the same as her baby dolls.) Pat Curtis Beirne was traveling in Scotland, while Kathy Flanigan Asmuth was in France, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Susan Nunlist Smyth was moving a friend from Ohio to California. Nancy Sheiderbauer Mahoney was visiting her ill sister. Kate Mahony Adams was probably at a meeting in Thailand. Ginny Saviano Ayling (in Oklahoma) and Maria Metzler Johnson (in Texas) were preparing for family trips this summer. Donna Shelton from Virginia was recharging between trips with her husband, having been in the Netherlands with family and in eastern Europe on a Road Scholar trip that included two weeks as a volunteer at a Romanian orphanage. She then headed to a 100th birthday party in New York City. Sue Egan Giannelli and Mary Onie Jackson Holland were at their spouses’ college reunions. • After reconnecting during the reunion, continuing these contacts is our new goal. A list of email addresses was created for sharing, but we want to include everyone. Please email me for the particulars if you want to join in. (Since this is personal information, your agreement is needed if you wish to be included.) • Such is Part One of the reunion story. With limited column space it
The William B. Neenan, S.J., Society Named in honor of BC’s beloved administrator, the William B. Neenan, S.J., Society celebrates and recognizes Boston College’s most loyal donors—those alumni, parents, and friends who have made a gift, at any level, for any purpose, to the University in two or more consecutive years. To find out more about securing your role in the Neenan Society, the benefits of being a member, and more, please visit www.bc.edu/neenan today.
13 class notes
will take several issues to tell; more will come in three months. Meanwhile, send your news and prayer requests. Enjoy fall!
You’ll always be
counted for the class of
1968 reunion year
Correspondent: Judith Anderson Day jnjday@aol.com The Brentwood 323 11500 San Vicente Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90049 Joy and sadness share this column. First the joy: Last year, Ken Hackett, H’06, retired as president of Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services. What a legacy our classmate established after nearly 40 years with CRS! In a recent issue of the Catholic Review, Bishop Gerald Kicanas, chairman of the board of CRS, described Ken as “the face of CRS, which is a tremendous emissary of the church’s outreach,” and as an example of the emerging lay leadership of the church. Ken guided his model organization of 7,000 employees in more than 90 countries based on the social and moral teachings of the Sermon on the Mount. Since joining CRS, he has commiserated with popes and Mother Teresa and also lived and toiled in the remote fields and war-torn villages of the world’s most destitute. Ken and his wife, Joan, a former CRS employee, live in Rodgers Forge, outside Baltimore. Quite a remarkable journey for one of our several classmates who helped establish lacrosse as a club team at BC. Over the decades, I have cited so many of our classmates as “saints who walk amongst us.” We salute you, Ken, and Joan, too! • And now the sorrowful news, as it creeps more frequently into our lives. Barbara Spera informed us sadly of the loss of her beloved sister and best friend, Charlotte A. Spera, CAES’82, on February 18. Charlotte was an educator in the Revere Public Schools for 39 years. This year we have also lost classmates Bob Geisel of Greenfield, NH; Cheryl Murphy Mitchell of Braintree; and Trudy Maroney Schoenmann of New York City. God bless each and all.
You’ll always be
counted for the class of
NC 1968 reunion year
Correspondent: Jane Sullivan Burke janeburke17@gmail.com Susie Derry Hughes continues her professional career working with the elderly, while husband Jim ’67 remains engaged as a financial planner. They are the proud grandparents of two granddaughters, with an expected September arrival of a third granddaughter. Speaking of threes, Susie and Jim’s triplets—Michael, John, and Sarah— and third son Matthew have all launched their individual careers. Michael lives in the Boston area and works for a start-up company. John is a Presidential Management Fellow working at the State Department in DC, and Sarah is a nurse practitioner in Boston and the mother of one of the granddaughters. Susie loves her weekly opportunity to babysit Sarah’s daughter. Matthew is a foreign service officer currently stationed in Kathmandu, Nepal. Susie and Jim shared a two-week visit with Matthew and his family this past February in Thailand and were looking forward to