Karina Schless is still working at Shire Pharma in HR Ops, riding her quarter horse Angus (now 21 but doing great) and off to Jackson Hole for ranch holiday. In Tenn., Gina Spangler Polley and husband David are doing fine with their carpet business. Gina is starting to show her Jack Russell Terrier in rally obedience classes. She got her therapy dog certification and is taking her dog to schools and nursing homes. Gina and David will take a river cruise in China next Aug. Susan Verbridge Paulson is still the principal at Ranch Creek Elementary School in Colo. Springs, and is awaiting the birth of her first grandchild in Nov. Sue Walton Klaveness retired from The Coca-Cola Company after 25 years! Susan and husband Mike are making travel plans, beginning with N.Y.C. then Ireland. They still enjoy ballroom dancing, Indie movies and their cats OK and Thomas. Mary Woodford has been in Pinehurst, N.C. for 2 years. She works part time and on her golf game. Mary’s 2 stepdaughters continue to impress; one has completed her Ph.D. in history from Yale, the other is working on Ph.D. in public health at Berkeley. Mary and husband Jim were to connect, albeit briefly, with Sally Crickenberger Brady and husband Gordon at their son’s wedding in June. Gail Ann Zarwell Winkler continues her job in sales management for Doncaster in Neenah, Wis., while husband John works for the Small Business Development Center for Wis. Daughter Laura is back from graduate school in Wales and working on her thesis in event management while son William is in his second year of business school at William and Mary. And I, Cissy Humphrey, continue to work in Dallas and occasionally have dinner and fun times with Beth Bates Locke, Tennessee Nielsen and Kay Ellisor Hopkins. Keep sending me your news and notes!
1977
Sally Bonham Mohle 5039 Lewisetta Dr. Glen Allen, VA 23060 SallyBonhamSBC77@aol.com
Reunion was fun! Vivian Yamaguchi Cohn made SBC and our class proud as National Reunion Giving Chair. If you didn’t get an email from me soliciting this news, please send me your email address. Ebet Little Stevens: “Sad to report that my mother (93), who lived just a few miles away in Chapel Hill, died in June. Daughter Liz and her family, including baby Libby who was born in Jan., are still in Houston. Daughter Anne and her husband have moved back to N.C. to Raleigh. Son Rob is off to Madrid for a semester. Reunion was a lot fun.” Barb Bernick Peyronnet: “I enjoyed a fun time at our 35th Reunion. We’re planning a Nov. wedding for Maggie and searching for colleges for Annie!” Linda Guardabassi Michael: “Some of us had our own mini-reunion in Delray, Fla., at Kari Shipley’s (’76) house. In attendance besides Kari and me were Cindy Webb, Angela Scully, Paula Brumm Hennessey, Janet Williams and Vera Blake Thiers. Vera wins the prize for coming all the way from Germany. This spring Doug and I
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picked up our youngest, Krista (21), from her semester abroad in Barcelona. After her program we flew to Milan and traveled between there and Amsterdam. Best of all, we visited Vera’s home in Frankfurt.” Vivian Yamaguchi Cohn: “We took a family trip to Japan to visit son Cliff (23) who is working for Rakuten in Tokyo. Oldest son Clay (25) trades options in L.A. Youngest, twins Charlie and Will (18), are heading to Colo. College and U. of Denver this fall. Stu and I will celebrate our 30th anniversary in Sept.” Dee Hubble Dolan: “I enjoyed seeing everyone who attended our 35th Reunion. I still work in sales and marketing at Brandermill Woods Retirement Community in Midlothian, VA. At home, I still take in rescue animals until a foster home is found.” Debbie Koss McCarthy: “It was great seeing a small but stalwart group of classmates at Reunion. The Augustine Literacy Project continues to thrive and grow. David and I have a new grandbaby: Miles David, born in June, joining sister Anna Grace (3). Alex has met a special girl.” Ellen Sellers McDowell: “We had a great time at Reunion and wished for more classmates to attend. After Reunion our family took a trip to France to celebrate Mary Susan’s graduation from TCU. We stayed with Jill Steenhuis ’80 who gave us an artist’s tour of Provence to see where Cezanne and Van Gogh painted. Then we met my sister Susan Sellers Ewing ’71 in Paris with her daughter Caroline. Emily and Mary Susan are working in Houston, Ginny is working in Dallas and Kate is a junior at Samford in Birmingham, Ala. I enjoyed having lunch with Lochrane Coleman Smith ’76 and Eve Jackson London’ 78 when I was in Birmingham.” Missy Flanigan Clark writes that her daughter and husband made her a grandmother this year thanks to baby Isabelle. Gay Owens Gates: “Bob and I are finally in the same residence again after 3 years. Lily heads to Westfield State U. on 9/2 majoring in special education. Lauren graduated in May and is juggling different theater jobs in Philly. Seeing Lisa Carangelo ’80 soon, can’t wait!” Roxane Clement: “I’m working on the Obama campaign and will be going to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte next month.” Sarah Bruce Kelly: Last winter, my historical novel, “Vivaldi’s Muse,” won an international literary award. I’m still teaching music and Latin at St. Michael Catholic School as well as courses at Coastal Carolina U. Last Nov. I was invited by the university to lead a student trip to Italy. Frank came and we celebrated our 32nd anniversary. Mary Catherine is married and living in Bethlehem, Pa., and Frankie is in San Diego. Pete and I, Sally Bonham Mohle, took our first overnight trip in 4 years in July. Drove up through New England, flew to Nova Scotia, all to see friends and family and eat lobster…then turned around and came home. I really enjoyed Reunion in May.
1978
Suzanne Stryker Ullrich 820 Waverly Rd. Kennett Square, PA 19348 suzullrich@aol.com
1979
Mary “Robbie” McBride Bingham 2044 Murdstone Rd. Pittsburgh, PA 15241 Bingham123521@yahoo.com
1980
Phyllis Watt Wilson
3939 Livingston St. NW Washington, DC 20015 phylliswjordan@hotmail.com
Fran McClung Ferguson 1917 Maylin Dr. Salem, VA 24153 franferguson@comcast.net
We send out requests for notes by email: if you didn’t hear from us, then Sweet Briar doesn’t have your email address. Please send your news to either of us! Felecia Bernstein and John live near the ocean in a small N.J. town. Son Sam (29) lives in Sonoma Valley, Calif. Felecia works as a surgical coder and has launched a nonprofit called Rose’s Fund for Animals (rosesfund.org). Lisa Faulkner O’Hara took daughter Evan to Paris. Next spring, her son Bud will graduate from Boston College and Evan will graduate from h.s. Lisa works in advertising. Karen Black Meredith continues to love being a real estate agent in Santa Fe, N.M.! Catherine Mills Houlahan works 2 parttime jobs in Newport News and Hampton, Va. and is a full-time single mom. She enjoys her jobs as a course administrator and a paralegal at a software company while waiting for one to hire her full time. Her eldest is in college 6 states away. She has one daughter in h.s. and one in middle school. Amy Campbell Lamphere’s son graduated from Nebr. Wesleyan U. Daughter Sarah is at KU. Amy and Jim celebrated 25 years last Nov. She dances, teaches Nia and baby ballet/tap, and writes. “Business-y” trips have given her a chance to see Mary Cowell Sharpe, Eithne Broderick Carlin, Ann Connolly Simpson, Mimi Walch Doe, Ashley Wilson Brook, Beth Blair McKinney, Megan Coffield Lyon and Catherine Flaherty. Eithne Broderick Carlin writes from Cape Cod where she’s building DJ’s Family Sports Pub #2 in Falmouth. Her husband and children (a senior and a junior) love life. Eithne got to visit with Amy Campbell Lamphere, Mary Sharpe and Missy Gentry Witherow. Carolyn Hallahan Salamon enjoys living in Frederick, Md. Her son (13) and daughter (11) are both in middle school. She works in IT in project management. Phyllis Watt Jordan saw Lisa Ward Connors and Kevin, and Flo Rowe Barnick this year. Phyllis works as a communications consultant for nonprofits and foundations to get children to attend school and learn to read by 3rd grade. (Her kids, 8thand 10th-graders, read just fine.) Lisa’s last child left for college this fall. She works for World Education Services in N.Y. Barbara Wesley Bagbey teaches preschool in Richmond. Her daughter is also a teacher and her son is in his second year at Clemson. Her husband is back from Iraq, Italy and Germany.
True Dow-Datilio’s sons have gone to school in Kent, Ohio and Lake Forest, Ill. True has left her job of 12 years for a new career path in the arts. Brooks Cunningham Dykes’ 3 boys are all in college, one at SCAD, one at Tulane and the youngest in school in Colo. Pam Koehler Elmets’ twins have graduated from college and are employed! Her youngest, Caroline, is a h.s. junior. Pam enjoyed a visit with Missy Gentry Witherow this spring. Missy’s eldest daughter, Somer, graduated from h.s. and is a freshman at Skidmore. Both of Fran McClung Ferguson’s children graduated from college in the past year. Robert is an educator at Discovery Place in Charlotte, N.C. Carol graduated from Sweet Briar and is now studying at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Va. Jill Steenhuis Ruffato’s book “Art, Soul & Destiny” is available on her website (jillsteenhuis.com) and the SBC Bookshop. She’s still painting and having shows and still with Serge, now a full-time sculptor and lithographer. They had a show in Paris and in Aix in 2011. Jimmy Lee is a h.s. senior, Sergio graduated from SCAD, and Alexander is married to Erin and does marketing for semis-Paris.com. After many years in D.C./Bethesda, Mary Jane Young Thistlethwaite and family moved to rural Ky. Mary Jane is a founder of the Museum of American Music in Helena, Ark., serves on the Advisory Council for the Governor School of Arts, is finalizing 2 screenplays and writing music. Bill (W&L) is a surgeon. They have 2 sons: Taylor (26) works as an American specialist with Case Antique and Auction in Knoxville. Clay (17) is a junior at Glasgow HS. Betsy Thomas Rook’s husband Roger had prostate cancer last year, but has been cancer free since March 2011. He is a retired actor and president of the Southwest Herpetological Society in LA. Son Wiley (18) attends community college in Salt Lake and works as a nursing assistant. Son Kirby (14) is in h.s. and big into sports. Betsy is writing and auditioning, and will be participating in “Monologue,” a show on Pasadena public access TV similar to “America’s Got Talent.” She enjoyed seeing Susan Boline Thompson and Myth Monnich Bayoud in Dallas last year. Laurie Newman Tuchel’s eldest son graduated from Emerson College (Boston) in May and is relocating to LA. Her youngest has entered his final year at the U. of Edinburgh, Scotland. She and Chas have a home in the Bahamas and one in Edinburgh. Sandra Rappaccioli Padilla and husband Max live in Managua where Max is a full-time coffee grower. Their eldest son Max Carlos works in Atlanta. Jorge graduated from SMU and is back working in Managua. Sandra Lucia is studying culinary arts at Johnson and Wales U. in Miami. Violeta just started her freshman year at Villanova. Felipe is a sophomore in h.s. Anne Secor and husband live in the Laurentian Mountains north of Montreal and have opened a store called TECHSPA, which specializes in technology. Anne also started a new full-time job in Jan. as art & design director for a community newspaper called Main Street (themainstreet.org). Her twin girls, Romy and Naia (6), are now first-graders!