CLASS NOTES
Sculpting History into Gold Medals :: Bill and Sally Latimer Withers ’71 in front of their son’s new home in Lafayette, LA.
event planning in NYC. I get to visit regularly with classmates Randall Taylor-Crave, Sarah Nassau, Rebecca English Kennedy and Nancy Fay ’71 and got to see Kate Ketchem and Lydia Biddle Thomas in June. All is good at 60!” Susan Knorr Gale ’71 tells us, “It’s been a big year before my 60th! Just finished the Kiawah half marathon December 8, after a week’s vacation in California with my family – a pre 60th celebration – a time we could all be together. It was also a year that I received my National three-year officials rating in lacrosse! A good way to stay active as I hit the next decade! I have also been able to visit with some AIS alumnae as I travel to various games throughout the South. I was able to stay with Anne Smith Welch ’73 in Florida before the tournament. I always reflect on Irwin’s ability to have helped us find our talents that can last a lifetime!” Sherril Luff Wingo ’71 says, “I have been most fortunate to see a lot of the world recently and am very spoiled! Ron and I took a cruise in November 2011 from Istanbul to Cairo. We stopped in Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Suez Canal and Egypt. It was fascinating – especially Jordan and Egypt – and we learned so much. In July 2012, we went to Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa on a tented safari experience. The animals, Botswana, Victoria Falls, Johannesburg and Cape Good Hope were highlights. To recover from that trip and bond with my daughter, Megan, I had a relaxing week in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. In February 2013, Ron and I will be on another cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong visiting Cambodia, Thailand and China. Before the ship, we will be in Vietnam, which Ron is especially looking forward to having been in the Air Force there near the end of the war. I’ve been staying more in touch with AIS classmates, especially Wendy Ward Ledyard. Both of our mothers died within one week of each other in April 2012. Ron and I still live in western NC, but I visit Philadelphia to see my siblings and Megan, who is studying at Temple to become a doctor of physical therapy and graduating in May. Elizabeth Montgomery McCollum ’73 and her husband, Duncan, live near Santa Cruz, CA, in a coastal area called Seacliff Beach. They have three children: Angus, 15, Natalie, 19, and Will, 26. Duncan has an expanding chiropractic practice, and Bitsey opened a life improvement center eight years ago. She is
Sculpting is a passion for PHEBE HEMPHILL ’78, and she has forged a prestigious and rewarding career out of a highly specialized field. As a medallic artist at the U.S. Mint , Phebe sculpted the obverse (heads side) of the Congressional Gold Medal that was awarded to Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), including Mary Paul Loomis ’41, in 2010 for their service during World War II. The medal is one of many that Phebe has sculpted for people “famous and not so famous.” She designed and sculpted the obverse of the Congressional Gold Medal presented to the Tuskegee Airmen, as well as the obverse of the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to the Apollo 11 astronauts, who landed on the moon, and Mercury astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth. Phebe studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, graduating in 1987. However, she received her most formative training independently under world-renowned sculptor EvAngelos Frudakis, an “excellent teacher of figure and portraiture.” Phebe has previously worked as a freelance sculptor for a range of companies that marketed small sculptures commercially, including the Franklin Mint. An award-winning fine arts sculptor whose specialty is the human figure, she has had pieces exhibited around the country. Now at the U.S. Mint, Phebe described herself as “… one of only a few of us … who are still working traditionally.” Although traditional skills remain at the heart of her work, she has also embraced digital tools – a “big learning curve for a traditional sculptor,” but one she clearly considers worth tackling. Her enthusiasm for all aspects of her work is apparent as she describes the process by which the clay original of the medal she has sculpted is cast into plaster, scanned into a three dimensional digital file, refined on the computer and used to cut the steel dies from which the metal coins are struck. Phebe looks back fondly on her AIS days, remembering :: Congressional Medal of how nurturing and supportive the Arts Department was. Art Honor, designed and sculpted by Hemphill, awarded to teacher Robert Moss-Vreeland particularly encouraged her Dr. Norman Borlaug for to pursue a career in art, she recalled. – Clare Luzuriaga his work on high-yield, disease-resistant crops.
also active in a variety of community activities (human rights education and awareness, drug education, and gang intervention) and social campaigns (organizations to help homebound
:: Duncan McCollum, husband of Elizabeth Montgomery McCollum ’73, with sons, daughter and friend on a skiing trip.
seniors and children’s cancer organizations). Her artistic passion is film, and she has a powerful true story she is developing into a screenplay, which will be a feature length film in the future. If any alum has a similar passion (or any classmates want to say hi), feel free to contact her at bitseyboo@earthlink.net. Bitsey and Duncan traveled to South America and the Netherland Antilles this year. They also camp and ski in the Sierras whenever they can. Bitsey hikes often along the beach with her faithful Aussie mix, Tallula-belle, hunting for sea glass. She hopes to make it back for the 40th Reunion! Louise Klotz Middleton ’73 says, “I have lived in Delaware for 24 years and raised four fabulous kids – Elizabeth, 35; Constance, 29; Sarah, 25, and Elliot, 24. I have worked for Charter School of Wilmington for nine years.
www.agnesirwin.org
37