class notes

class Zoom on Jan. 18 but was recovering from a case of COVID at the time.

Mary Ann Powell Howard and her husband, Henry, thoroughly enjoy family get-togethers. Last summer, they traveled with their daughter Christy and her family to Florida and were awed by the Kennedy Space Center. After a wonderful Christmas together, the entire family celebrated son Walter’s completing his LPC (licensed professional counselor) certification with a huge party in Travelers Rest, South Carolina, complete with an oyster roast! Mary Ann is also an avid fan of Atlanta United and her grandsons’ soccer and is a regular at the Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary with her youngest grandson, Jack, where they are both on a first-name basis with favorite sanctuary residents such as Hank and Bluebeary.

Marian Berman decided that age 72 was too young for retirement and started a new business called “Living in Place Solutions.” Her partner, who came from the construction industry, joined Marian to help people remain in their homes. They provide safety assessments and detailed reports with recommendations and contractor referrals, as well as project management. Marian recently added concierge services to her company’s offerings. As Marian says: “We are seniors helping seniors.”

Pam Arnold Milhan and her husband, Randy, have stayed very busy for the past 15 years raising their grandchildren. In 2022, their household increased from four to five grandchildren when their teenage grandson returned to live with Pam, who describes herself as a “grandma Mom,” and her husband. The children’s school groups span pre-K through high school. Though Pam’s unique life is not what she expected as a sociology major at Agnes Scott moving on to a master’s program in family relations at Florida State University, she is fully involved in her grandchildren’s lives and is amazed by the technology of cellphones and their apps. She writes of life made more manageable with cellphone sports apps, a family-shared calendar, banking apps and a location app that allows her to keep track of her brood! While Randy still works as a controller, Pam retired almost five years ago to become a stay-at-home mom.

Sandra Smith Harmon and her husband, Paul Young, visited daughter Heather in Medford, Oregon, this past September. While there, Sandra and Paul enjoyed some glorious West Coast scenery by driving up to Crater Lake and then down the Pacific coast of southern Oregon. After retiring from a medical career that kept her occupied indoors for decades, Sandra took up birding during COVID as an appealing reason to be outdoors and get some exercise. Sandra and Paul divide their time between south Florida and northeast Georgia, which provides the opportunity to see both wetland and shorebirds, and Appalachian songbirds and migrants. Paul and Sandra visit Snowbird Mountain Lodge in Robbinsville, North Carolina, and go birding with professional guide Emilie Travis. Sandra and Emilie are planning a trip to Colombia to participate in a program called “Salsa Rhythms and Sexy Birds”! In support of Cuban and African missions and their programs, Sandra and Paul are also looking forward to traveling to Zambia, with a visit to Victoria Falls and a cruise of the Zambezi River.

Mary Beaty Watkins writes that she and her husband, Jim, enjoyed a winter vacation during the most recent of numerous visits to Love City, which is two-thirds national park, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Mary invites anyone who is interested in visiting Love City to contact her for information.

Belita Stafford Walker is convinced that “no news is good news”! However, she does enjoy collecting book and podcast titles, binging eclectic series, discovering hidden treasures while decluttering her house, and spending as much time as possible enjoying family, friends and church. She had good things to say about our first post-50th reunion Zoom on Jan. 18. Belita also included news about Montie Smith Acuff, who is away with her husband, Steve, on their annual dental mission to Belize.

Lane Ervin Lotspeich and her husband, Rick, happened to be in Denver, Colorado, for a family Christmas during one of the worst snowstorms in memory.

Jeannie Kaufmann’s health has improved.

Anne Kemble Collins writes that 2022 was a year to remember. Winter brought a back problem that sidelined Anne for a while. Spring was a busy time, with preparations for an amazing 50th reunion for the Agnes Scott class of 1972 in early June. Late summer ended in sadness due to the loss of a beloved pet. At last, fall arrived, and with it came the happiest of events, a long-awaited visit from first grandchild Odhran (“Oran”) Alan Yang Collins. Older son, Stuart, and daughter-in-law, Goree, traveled with Odhran from South Korea to spend two wonderfully hectic weeks in Atlanta. Younger son, Penn, came home from New York City to join the party, and Steve was able to host a small gathering of Georgia Tech classmates on the occasion of their 50th reunion.

Patricia “Pat” June Austin tells us that since her retirement, writing has been her focus. She is having two books published this year. “Tales From a Teaching Life: Vignettes in Verse” and “Butterfly of Joy,” a collection of poetry for children, will launch in spring and fall 2023, respectively. “Tales” describes teaching experiences Pat had at Agnes Scott. During her first year, Pat assisted in a class tutoring children with learning disabilities, and as a sophomore, she trained at Agnes Scott and taught in the Laubach Adult Literacy Program. She would love to hear from other Scotties who may have been involved with the Laubach program. She says that 20 years have elapsed since her first children’s book, “The Cat Who Loved Mozart,” was published, so she is excited to have her two recent works about to be released!

Sharon Jones Cole writes that she is very excited to be on a fabulous trip to Egypt and South Africa accompanied by her husband, Matt.

Susan Landers Burns passed away on Jan. 14, 2023. Sidney Kerr Mize has kept in close contact with the family and attended Susan’s funeral on Jan. 23. Susan’s obituary was posted in The Birmingham News. Susan Williams Gornall also provided news of Susan’s death.

Nancy Thomas Tippins ’ mother, Virginia Mason Thomas McLean, died Jan. 17, 2023, at the age of 99. Her obituary can be found at greenvilleonline.com.

’73

Janet Joiner janet.b.joiner@gmail.com

Andy Hankins Schellman and her husband, Jim, enjoyed an August cruise to Turkey, Greece and ports along the Adriatic coast, a trip that made up for the one that was COVID-canceled in 2021. Just as meaningful was a Thanksgiving gathering with their children’s families, the first time they had all been together since 2014, when the group was much smaller.

Marcia Krape Knight has enjoyed several trips with family and friends to Gloucester, Massachusetts, to visit her brother; to Highlands, North Carolina, with Janet Bolen Joiner to visit Lynn Ezell, ’74; and on a beach trip with her daughter, with whom she is working in their interior design business. Currently, they are collaborating with a nonprofit — Furnish with Love — on a fast-track project to furnish a home for a family transitioning from homelessness. She’s also working with 1973 classmates Ann Cowley Churchman, Carolyn Arant Handell, Janet Jackson and Mary Paige Lucas on our 50th class reunion, coming up this May.

Janet Bolen Joiner enjoyed the visit to Lynn Ezell ’74 with Marcia Krape Knight in August for a luncheon with Scotties in western North Carolina. While there, they brainstormed ways to resurrect the programs of the Atlanta-area alumnae, which had been mothballed during COVID. First up: In October, Marcia and Janet cohosted the Annual Fall Luncheon with a record 75 alumnae attending, many of whom raised their hand to engage in the Renaissance of our traditional programming. Janet is now chairing the Steering Committee for the Atlanta-area Alumnae Chapter and is thereby ex officio on the Alumnae Association Board of Directors.

’74

Ann Elizaeth Clites annclites52@gmail.com

In November, Mary Jane Kerr Cornell and her whole family had a two-week journey to South Korea to celebrate son Glen’s marriage to his wife, Alison, with Alison’s family. The ceremony in Seoul was beautiful, and many of the celebrants wore traditional Korean hanboks. After a week in Seoul, Mary Jane and her husband, Gary, visited Busan and flew to Je-Ju Island, where they explored the Seongeup Folk Village.

After many years of living in Atlanta and practicing pathology there, Lynn Ezell retired a few years ago and moved this past May to her hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina. She’s living in an older neighborhood in a home built in 1926 while continuing to spend about half her time in Highlands, North Carolina. Lynn says, “It’s great being near friends of long standing, many of whom go back to my years of elementary school. It seems that in some cases, anyway, you can go home again!”

Cindy Goldthwaite Hames is teaching in person and virtually at a local charter high school. When she’s not teaching or doing research at the University of Georgia for a novel based on her family’s history, Cindy finds time for testing varieties of garlic for winter survivability and making molds for pouring beeswax candles. She reports that one of the joys of living on the family