Class Notes did indeed marry the love of my life, and our time together has been awesome. When we first met and fell in love, we had a child out of wedlock, who we gave up for adoption. Three years ago though, much to our surprise and utter delight, Kathy found us. After getting to know each other, we wrote a book together, A Daughter Lost and Found. Redbook Magazine just printed an excerpt from it in their December 2011 issue with pictures and all. For the last 25 years, our family has owned and run Portrait of a Bookstore, which is located in Studio City, CA. My husband is also a film producer, as is my daughter, Danielle, and my son, Francis, is a writer/director. We also lease our house out for television series and commercials. For the last four years, our house has been the home of Ari Gold on the series Entourage. We have two West Coast granddaughters, Martha, 18, who is a freshman at Bard, and Irene, 15, who is a sophomore at Oakwood School. We also have two ‘new’ East Coast granddaughters, Amanda, 21, and Kathryn, 15. Kathy is an English teacher in Florida and the head of her department. I loved my years at Agnes Irwin. I loved the teachers and the stories Mrs. Bartol told during Friday assemblies. I loved playing hockey, lacrosse and, for some reason, doing a lot of marching on rainy days. I also loved the daily walks from the Wynnewood train station to school and then back again at the end of the day. I consider myself to be very blessed, not only to have been a part of Agnes Irwin, but also for knowing the girls in my class, all of whom I am so looking forward to seeing again.” Elaine Biddle Whitman ’62 shares that her most recent news of note is becoming a grandmother to Aidan, 2, son of Ellen Whitman Stoddard ’93. Elaine says, “What a delight! Over all the years, I have maintained my love of the outdoors, and exercise is still important to me. Since I no longer play tennis, I have had to settle for walking and mild hiking. My husband, Brad, is retired from an environmental law practice and has reinvented himself as an artist doing woodturning on a lathe. We garden on a small scale and try to take care of our natural surroundings. Our three children have found interesting careers, and we enjoy following their lives as they progress. I am looking forward to our 50th Reunion, but do not believe that many years have gone by.” Kathleen Wright ’62 took a trip in July 2011 to Beijing, China, where she studied the texts of Confucians with Chinese and English-speaking scholars for a month in Qufu, Shandong Province, the birthplace of Confucius. She has been teaching some new courses at Haverford College that incorporate German and Chinese philosophy. Her daughter, Sophie, 18, spent the summer playing violin at Kinhaven Music School in Weston, VT. Sophie will be attending Grinnell College, where she intends to double major in music and another subject. Kathy writes that she is looking forward to the Reunion this year!
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The Agnes Irwin School Magazine :: Spring 2012
:: K athy Wright ’62 with her daughter, Sophie, in August 2011 on the way home from her summer playing violin at Kinhaven Music School in Weston, VT.
Laura Wheeler Golding ’64 reports that she saw Lisa MacLaren, Brooke McInnis Ranck, Millie Clark van Griethuysen and Connie Barnes Haydon at both Lisa’s and Millie’s mothers’ funerals. “While the occasions were sad, it was wonderful catching up with classmates whom I hadn’t seen for many years. Millie has two daughters and continues to live in The Netherlands; Connie has one son and lives in England, while Lisa, with two daughters, is still in Wisconsin. All of them look terrific! Exactly the same! I have also been in recent contact with Gina Rulon-Miller Caldwell, who promises to make her way east from California for a visit this spring. I have been sending out ‘roundrobin’ emails a couple of times a year to everyone in our class who has shared email addresses. It’s been fun for all of us to hear what everyone has been doing throughout the year and a simple way for all of us to keep in touch. Please send me your email address if you have not been receiving them–we’d all love to hear your news! It’s a simple email ‘reply all’ that goes back to everyone. Contact me at laura.golding@verizon.net so I can add you to the distribution.” Christiane Jung-Kallfass ’66 writes, “This summer, I had a big surprise. Lee McIlvaine Manonian came to Berlin, Germany, to see her son, who works as a painter here. Lee
and her husband surprised me right in front of my favorite museum in Berlin, where there was an exhibition of Pergamon. In this museum are the archaeological remains of Uruk, Mesopotamia. It is so beautiful, just like in your museum in Philadelphia where you have the most wonderful remains of the king tombs in Uruk, Mesopotamia. I loved it there. I felt like a teenager being together with Lee and having the atmosphere of our youth at Agnes Irwin in 1966. Then came many emails from the girls in my class to whom Lee had sent a photo. Agnes Irwin was so important for me. I think about the time very often. Greetings to all!” Jessie Disston Watters Brittingham ’67 has taught math and physical education for many years, from 1971-2006, and also coached all levels of field hockey, soccer, basketball and tennis from 1971-2012. She was voted into both the Hall of Fame at Roanoke College in 1979 and at Central Bucks High School in 2006. Katharine Brown Grala ’67 is married and living in Sleepy Hollow, NY. She continues to work as in-house counsel for a community bank and loves her job. Her oldest, Broni, 30, works for the Outdoor Gear Exchange in Burlington, VT, and spends lots of time skiing, hiking and climbing. Meggie, 28, got married in May 2011 and lives in Baltimore, where she is a pediatric resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Nicholas, 25, is an associate at JP Morgan Private Bank – he just climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and finished a 50-mile ultra marathon. She would like to extend a special thanks to Middy Dorrance for keeping us all up to date and informed of everyone’s comings and goings. Deborah Aikens Laverell ’67 (See profile) Debbie retired in 2009 after working for 40 years. She is now busier than ever, pursuing a lifelong passion for photography. She reports, “The real love of my life is my little grandson, Judson, named after his grandfather.” Jud and Debbie celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary this year. They
:: John and Martha “Mel” Lewis Bonder ’67 pictured with their children, Tory, Lindsay and Brooke.