passed away in April after a brief illness. Like so many of us, Dave attended law school, graduating from Suffolk in 1974. He practiced most of his life in the Somerset/Dartmouth area until his appointment in 1994 as an associate justice of the district court, where he served until his retirement in 2012. He is survived by his wife, Mary; daughter Caroline; and two grandchildren. • Larry Watts passed away at his home in Ashland in February. He is survived by his wife, Gloria, and son, Jonathan, also of Ashland. Larry had worked for a number of years in payroll processing at ADP in Natick. • Peter Malatesta, a graduate of the New England College of Optometry, passed away in May. He and his wife, Madeline, had lived in Melrose until the early 1990s, when Peter moved his practice to Florida. Besides Madeline, Peter is survived by his son, Craig; his mother, Mary; and his brother, Paul. • Thankfully not all of the news is sad as we do have a couple of classmates earning kudos this time. University Chaplain Fr. Tony Penna, MDiv’74, MEd’75, became a Facebook sensation when a talk he gave at the Class of 2016 Senior Toast went viral after being posted by the Campus Ministry. His talk, based on the true story of a fighter-pilot’s life being saved by a parachute, reminded the graduates that none of them have gotten there alone; there were many people along the way who had packed their parachutes and prepared them for the life ahead. • John Bronzo, JD’74, retired from his law practice, is enjoying life as an author with the publication of his novel, Mary Bernadette, Secrets of a Dallas Moon, in August 2015. Best of luck in the new career, John! • Let me close by again asking you to take your thoughts back 50 years and pass along one vivid memory from the first few months of your life-changing journey at Boston College. Correspondent: Dennis Razz Berry mazzrazz1@aol.com
NC 1970 It seems it’s the season for replacements: Joan O’Callaghan is getting a new hip; Kathy Sheehan is recovering from a new—or reconstituted—ankle; and, after cataract surgery, I have what my daughter calls a “new eye.” How wonderful to live in a time when science and medicine make these miracles possible! • Joan O’Callaghan hosted a lovely luncheon for DC alums. Susan Zapf, in town for the summer, is enjoying retirement after League of Conservation Voters fundraising. She lives near Del Ray, FL, and volunteers for the local library. After retiring from the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Clare Cuddy taught the Bill of Rights to high school students at DC’s Newseum, then retired anew to provide support for her mother. Lanie Odlum is thrilled her daughter is returning from the West Coast to attend Georgetown’s business school. Kerry Kilcullen Carter plans to visit Tempe, AZ, where her daughter is a museum geologist/curator. She hopes to take a “spirit tour” of Native American sites. Meg Finn sells real estate in Takoma Park, MD, in conjunction with son Daniel. Marcia McGrath Abbo enjoys dividing her time between DC
and Florida. Soon we hope to see Katchy Clarke-Pearson, when she visits DC for a conference of the American Academy of Pediatrics. • Harriet Mullaney enjoyed touring Ireland, especially Ballymullen where in the 11th century her surname originated: “It was a beautiful spot, and the sun even came out for a bit!” she writes. • Karen DiSalvo Bachman, MAT’74, retired from clinical social work in public schools, finds herself busier than ever. She lives in West Hartford, CT, where she volunteers, supervises new social workers, and sings with the West Hartford Women’s Chorale, a non-audition, community chorale she cofounded 11 years ago for 70 singers of all ages and backgrounds (whwchorale.org). She and husband Jim traveled to Australia, New Zealand, and Iceland and took a Baltic cruise to Scandinavia and St. Petersburg. They also spend time in Naples, FL, and Bay Head on the New Jersey Shore. Both children are close by: Andrew is a successful arborist and landscape business owner, and Carolyn works for Northwestern University in Manhattan. No weddings or grandchildren yet! She stays in touch with Mary Connolly, Mary Beth McQueeney, and Chickie Villano, who returned to the bench part-time to help with backlogged juvenile cases. • Please pray for Rita Houlihan’s mother, who passed away: “On her last day, concerned about hate in the world, she told her family: ‘Everybody be good to everybody.’” A good thought for all! Correspondent: Fran Dubrowski dubrowski@aol.com
1971 Thanks to Mark Holland for providing the following details of the reunion events. On Saturday evening, June 4, the Class of 1971 celebrated its 45th anniversary with a smashing dinner party held at the magnificent Irish Room in Gasson Hall. Just a few years ago, Gasson was beautifully renovated, and it was the perfect venue for our reunion party. Approximately 70 classmates and guests were in attendance, dancing the night away to the “greatest hits” of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The party was a tremendous success thanks to the hard work of the Events Committee chaired by Donna Henderson-O’Brien. Assisting Donna were committee members Peter Cardia, Barbara Lucas Delutis, Jim Engler MS’76, Helen Walsh McCusker, Michael Power, Joe and Mary (Keefe) Rull, and Kathy Cooney Sasonoff MS’92. • Earlier on Saturday evening, Fr. Leahy hosted the 1863 Society reception, which was attended by all the reunion classes. Mark Holland, chair of our 45th Reunion Gift Committee, announced that our class had secured 334 gifts, amounting to $9.5 million, representing a 27-percent class participation rate. Supporting Mark in this successful fundraising effort were a collection of tenacious committee members, including Tom Burke MBA’81; Dave Castiglioni; Mike Costello; Brian Curry; Jack Finning; Bobby Foley; Chris Gorgone; Bobby Griffin; Donna Henderson-O’Brien; John LaMattina; Jim Lozier; Bobby Maguire; Dave McAuliffe; Steve McParland; Frank O’Hara; Donna Qualters; Bill Reilly; Don Ricciato MEd’73, PhD’00; Bob
Sartini; and Bob Sliney. The Gift Committee reached out to classmates using snail mail, email, Facebook, telephone, and smoke signals. They did a fabulous job. • Much earlier in the day, the Alumni Association held a 5K Fun Run. Rumor has it that Bill Reilly won the race “going away.” The only problem was that Bill changed the finish line from St. Mary’s Hall to the Tam O’Shanter Lounge! Another reunion morning event, the Yoga Hour, kicked off at 9 a.m. I am pleased to report that two members of the Class of 1971 were selected from all of the returning alumni to lead the class. Congratulations to Bobby and Janet (Pierni) Griffin. Participants told me that Janet looked terrific in her lululemon yoga pants, and her “reverse lunges” were picture-perfect. However, most agreed that Bobby’s “angry cat” could use a little work. • Thanks to all of our classmates who volunteered to make our 45th so special. Next on the agenda is the 50th, our golden anniversary. Go, Eagles! • Tom Henneberry MBA’74, John Mashia, Russ Pavia, Charley McBride, Joe Collins, Vin Costello, and Gregg Sees had their own reunion in Newport, RI, in mid-May. Everyone stayed at Tom’s summer home. Activities included cookouts, area tours, cocktails, and dining at Tom’s favorite restaurant, the Clarke Cooke House. The group closed the evenings with vigorous competition playing Trivial Pursuit. The group hopes to get together again in the not-too-distant future. • Marisa Labozzetta’s collection of linked short stories, Thieves Never Steal in the Rain, about love, loss, and the supernatural, is now available on Amazon.com. Marisa is a two-time Eric Hoffer Award winner and a John Gardner Fiction Book Award finalist. Her other works include the novels Stay with Me, Lella, and Sometimes It Snows in America, and the shortstory collection At the Copa. Visit Marisa at marisalabozzetta.com. • My thanks to the classmates who have sent emails. Please send me a quick update by either emailing me directly or posting online at bc.edu/alumni. I look forward to hearing from you and my best wishes for the holidays. Correspondent: James R. Macho jmacho71@bc.edu
NC 1971 To all the women who attended our 45th NCSH reunion, I extend a heartfelt “thank you!” I am sure there are many good reasons why folks don’t attend reunions, but if yours is a simple, “I won’t know anyone,” scratch that out right away. Graduating from Newton College of the Sacred Heart created a bond that you may not know exists until you arrive on the Newton Campus and feel the flood of memories cascade through your consciousness. From the Saturday morning group discussion chaired by Eileen McIntyre and Jean McVoy Pratt, titled “Reboot, Rediscover, Reinvent,” to the class dinner held at Putnam House, and Sunday’s special Mass in Trinity Chapel, followed by brunch in Stuart, Reunion Weekend was a wonderful renewal of friendships. In this modern era of social media we all vowed to keep in touch and plan more frequent, casual gatherings. 57