class notes recently. • Keep us posted on your travels— sights seen, books devoured, adventures survived, new foods tasted. I ate bird’s nest soup and dried fallopian frog tubes in China. Both were yummy. Can you top that? be
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Correspondent: James R. Macho jmacho71@bc.edu I did not attend our 40th reunion because I just could not miss the 2011 commencement ceremony at Stanford University. On that fine day, my daughter Jenny ’09 received her MA in education. She completed the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP), an intensive program designed to train leaders in teaching who will revitalize the profession and develop curricula that stress inquiry, critical thinking, and problem solving. On the weekend before the commencement, we attended a full-day STEP presentation put on by the graduates. After hearing about their plans and innovations, we came away with the feeling that there is great hope for the future! Jenny is planning to teach English in a northern California high school in the fall. • Susan (Boehler) Montanaro sends her first class note! She lives in Malibu, CA. Susan regrets that she was unable to attend the reunion but her reason was the joyous occasion of the marriage of her son, Jon. On a sad note, Susan writes that her daughter Kimberly passed away unexpectedly a year ago. Kim was a lawyer and an artist. She was a beautiful woman and a beautiful person. Susan wishes that everyone had a grand time at the reunion, and she hopes to be at the next one. • Gary Metzger reports that he has retired from the Travelers Insurance Company after serving for 30 years as their technical director in database administration. He had spent his first 10 years after BC as a high school science teacher and coach. Gary has two children: daughter Kirsten is married and directs her own speech-language pathology business in Washington DC, and son Erik is a chef in Lincoln. Gary and his wife recently purchased a condominium in Naples, FL, so they can now escape the New England winters. Gary is filling his time in retirement with golfing, reading, and participating in local volunteer activities. In addition, he is following all the Eagles sporting events. • If you would like to see some photos from the reunion, be sure to find “Boston College Class of 1971” on Facebook. I hope someone will “tag” the reunion photos so we can know who’s who! • That’s all for now. I hope to provide a full report on the reunion in my next column after I have heard from all my reliable sources. In the meantime, please continue to send news of your accomplishments and milestones. be
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Correspondent: Melissa Robbins melrob49@sbcglobal.net The Newton Class of ’71 was well represented at our 40th reunion. Fifteen classmates and a few spouses attended our class dinner at
Alumni House on June 4. People came from near and far—from New England to New Mexico and Utah. Participating were Mary Lou Duddy DeLong, Anne Duffey Phelan, and Kathy McGillycuddy from the Newton/ Wellesley area. Mary Lou is VP and university secretary at Boston College. If any of you plan to visit BC, perhaps with a prospective applicant, please let her know. Mary Lou and her husband, Jeff, also enjoy a vacation home on Martha’s Vineyard. Anne shared that it’s been nine years since she retired from her position at BC, but she is still active with the Council for Women of Boston College. Anne is the proud grandmother of four. She and her husband enjoy summers on Cape Cod. The really big news is that our own Kathy McGillycuddy is being named chairman of the Board of Trustees of Boston College. She spoke to our group of the wonderful foundation she received at Newton College, which helped all of us grow into the strong women we have become. • Others coming from parts of Massachusetts were Theresa Concannon Trapilo, Eileen McIntyre, Christine Seelig Waindle, and Kathleen Torrance Burgess. Theresa works at Children’s Hospital and has taken on the task of creating copies of memorabilia for us. Eileen and her husband, Roy Harris, live in Hingham. Eileen is senior director for corporate communications with Cubist Pharmaceuticals. Since the youngest of their three sons left the nest last fall, Eileen and Roy are beginning to think about retiring. Eileen and Theresa are also exploring the possibility that they may be related. Eileen’s mother attended our brunch on Sunday, telling us that she was a Concannon with ties in Dorchester. Small world! Christine and her husband, Roger, are from Burlington. They are in preretirement, have five children and seven grandchildren, and are hoping to move to Punta Gorda, FL. They’ll be summer “dock rats” in the North. Kathy lives with her husband, Chris, in Hanover, and they have two children and five grandchildren. Kathy wants you to know that she’s “at home,” relaxing, doing as little as possible! • From greater distances in the Northeast we were joined by Mary Jo Dolliver Taddie from Old Town, ME; Susan Killory Lea from Poland, ME; Cathy Brienza from New York City; Linda Wertheim Graydon MBA’77, from Farmington, CT; and your correspondent, Melissa Robbins, from Stonington, CT. Mary Jo is summering in Maine but recently purchased a home in Largo, FL, and plans to head south in the fall. Susan is teaching. Cathy is also representing Newton College as a trustee of Boston College. She is still working but looking forward to retirement when she’ll travel more and visit friends. Linda has a 16-year-old daughter attending Miss Porter’s School and a 20-year-old son at BC. Hailing from the “Heartland” was Madeline Finnerty of Ashland, OH. Madeline has “gone to the dogs”: Her passion is springer spaniel rescue. In the last year, she has been able to find foster homes for 100 dogs. • Completing our trip across the continent are Dorothy Houlihan Soklaski from Sandy, UT, outside Salt Lake City, and Stephanie Burns from Tesuque, NM, just north of Santa Fe. Dorothy’s family landed in Utah due to her husband’s position with Chevron. She has written a math curriculum and taught it for the past 10 years at the school her three sons attended. They are now ages 20, 23, and 26. Stephanie made the decision to move west 12 years ago and loves life in New 16 15 class class notes notes
Mexico. She’s involved in horticulture and graphic design. • Conversations were lively as we reminisced, sharing memories of professors, classes, outings, drastic changes in rules and regulations, and student demonstrations. After all, it was the 1960s! be
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Correspondent: Lawrence Edgar ledgar72@gmail.com I think our class may have a unique distinction: During our years at the Heights, BC athletes faced opponents who went on to be the two leading coaches in career wins, both in basketball and in football. In basketball, the Eagles faced Coach Bob Knight and player Mike Krzyzewski of West Point in 1969. In football, BC opposed Joe Paterno of Penn State from 1968 to 1970 and Bobby Bowden of West Virginia in 1971. • This is one more column in which I’m saluting the medical doctors in our class. Among them are three Gold Key Society members: Vice President John Zelem is a general surgeon who practices both in Milford, CT, and in Booneville, MS. He is a graduate of Boston University Medical School. John Wiles, husband of Sue Casioppo Wiles, is a general surgeon in Cheektowaga, NY, and a graduate of SUNY Buffalo Medical School. Joe Stankaitis is an internist in Rochester, NY. • There are two classmates who practice medicine in Puerto Rico: Luis Hernandez-Cott is an ophthalmologist in Bayamon, and Henry Rodriguez Ginorio is an obstetrician-gynecologist in San Juan. • Brian Van Linda is a gastroenterologist in Avon, CT. A graduate of Georgetown Medical School, he also holds an MBA from the University of Connecticut. Kenneth Vito is an anesthesiologist in Arvada and Lakewood, CO. He went to medical school at Boston University. Charles Wolf practices family medicine in Tacoma, WA. He is a graduate of Temple Medical School. Nicholas Spirito is a general surgeon in Lowell, MA. He attended medical school in Padua, Italy. Robert Rzewnicki practices rheumatology and internal medicine in Cleveland. He is a graduate of the University of Connecticut Medical School. • I met another Gold Key Society member who works in the field of medicine: Jim Fallon ’73, the president of Apnea Sciences Corp. in Laguna Niguel, CA. His company makes products for those afflicted with sleep apnea. He stays in touch with our classmate Bob Mandell, who is a periodontist in Tyngsborough and a resident of Reading. Bob has a daughter who attends Boston University Dental School and a son who is back from a tour of duty in Afghanistan. • There are no recent obituaries for our class, thank God, but I was sad to learn of the passing of Joe Battipaglia ’76, who had a great career as a television commentator on investments and the economy. be
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Correspondent: Nancy Brouillard McKenzie newton885@bc.edu Our annual Newton College spring tea for alumnae in the Washington DC–Maryland–