DEVELOPMENT
DEVELOPMENT
hope to talk to her again soon. Marilyn Fairfax Glazebrook is still in Richmond, Virginia. One of her big volunteer activities (since she retired from her job at the Virginia Assembly) is answering the telephone at her church. We all know how valuable that service is! Marilyn says she doesn’t travel a whole lot anymore, but I’m hoping she’ll find her way to SC soon for a visit with me. We’ll get some other Coker folks together for a cup of coffee. Marilyn’s husband Bob passed away about four years ago. Her email address is Glazebrookbob@aol.com. I had a lovely rainy morning visit with Joan Griffin Burpee. She was in Tennessee where she lives about half the time. The rest of her time is spent in Tampa, Florida. She was focused that day on getting her fish pond repaired. We chatted about her children, her involvement in the arts in Tampa, and about her cat! She is in good health, still painting, still traveling, and sounds wonderful. We threatened to get together sometime soon. What a joy that would be! If you have access to email, send one to Joan at joanburpee@ msn.com. Joan told me that Joyce Barton Toole’s husband passed away about two years ago. Joyce is still living at the retirement center where she and her husband lived. I should have gotten an address for Joyce. Maybe some of you can help me. Miriam Powers Jordan and I have dinner together on the third Monday night of every school month. That’s when our local Woodmen of the World lodge meets, and we all enjoy a meal prepared by someone else. Miriam and Chubby are doing well. They, like the rest of us, have a few challenges brought on by the calendar, but, all in all they are fine. They are great grandparents now, with another one on the way. The Jordan’s sons and daughter live in the Columbia area with their families, so they get to see each other regularly. Miriam and Chubby are great cooks, and enjoy putting together a meal for the family bunch. They also “put together” the best peanut brittle I’ve ever tasted. Electa Anderson Small ’85 and Joe took me to Alaska for two weeks in May and June to celebrate my big 80th birthday. It was absolutely splendid!!! Weather was cold, and I wore the same fleece slacks over and over! Layers of clothing and an old fashioned knit hat on my very gray head. We went on a combination cruise and land trip and did some exciting things: float plane tour, whale watching tour, sea lion search, and my favorite – dog sledding. Can you imagine a trip like that at 80? Of all the trips I’ve taken (and, like many of you, I’ve done my share) this one ranked right at the top! It was not my first trip to Alaska --- I loved it years ago, and I loved it again. If you haven’t been to that magnificent place, you need to make a plan. Electa Anderson Small ’85 is serving her second year as president of the alumni association and is loving it. She has the opportunity to serve on Coker’s Board of Trustees, and that is a joyful experience for her. Joe’s job keeps him in Tulsa, OK, most of the time. Electa is at their home at Debordieu Colony helping Joe’s mom as she is a dialysis patient. Electa and I would love to see more participation from the Alumni around the world. Many of us have friends with whom we’ve lost touch, and if they are our Coker buddies, then now is the time to catch up with them. We’re hoping that every alum will be reached through the Commentary. If you know someone who has not had a printing of the newsletter from the College, please call me at 803-776-0926, or Dee Pierce at 1-800-652-6537 or 843-3838014, and make available the address and phone number for that alum. Bushes are being beaten, stones are being turned over, and a major search is underway for everyone who has been a Coker student. PLEASE HELP!! Speaking of HELP, I’m making a plea for every one of you to plan to come to our 60th reunion in 2014. That seems a long way off, but we know that, with blinking of the eyes, it will be upon us. I’ll be in touch, of course, before then, but this gives you a chance to set your plans in stone now. I’d really like some early ideas. Would you like to have a dinner the night before the official reunion day? Casual? Dressy? Slumber? Just say so!! Let me hear from you! Much love, Lois
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2013
A L U M N I I S S U E
1956
Peggy Cantey Gardner Post Office Box 42 Manning, SC 29102 803-435-6862 Barbara Ward Mishoe 154 South Main Street Greeleyville, SC 29056 843-426-2591 | tnmishoe@ftc-i.net News for Class of 1956: Greetings to all and here’s hoping that everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. I’m sorry that we didn’t have any news in the last 2 issues of the Commentary, but I didn’t have enough time to get it in. However, I have heard from a few of you and I’ll gladly share! I’m sorry to say there were only four of us who made it to the reunion last year. Lib Plowden Anderson, Della Revels Hartis, Maxine Locklear Amos, and I enjoyed a weekend in the dorm! Much has changed, but much is still the same. Wish more of you could have made it. Maybe next time???? Sylvia (Claudette) Lockee Taylor had planned to be at the reunion, but her husband fell backward on the dock at the lake and broke and fractured his back in several places. He was in a difficult brace and Sylvia didn’t feel she could leave him. Hope everything is all healed now! Sylvia sends the cutest emails which, of course, I enjoy. Polly Tedder Howle writes that she and Blaney have been happily married for 55 years, live in the same place and same town (Florence), and except for battling ovarian and breast cancer, she is terrific! Polly is still on the music staff at her church, Immanuel Baptist, where she plays for all services, and she and Blaney both sing in the Adult Choir. On August 5, 2012, she was asked to speak for her family in the ribbon cutting and dedication of a new elementary school, LUCY T. DAVIS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, off Hoffmeyer in Florence which was named for her sister, Lucy Tedder Davis ’45 (deceased). Her sister was older than Polly, but graduated from Coker top of the class. She also has a niece, Sandra Tedder Lee ’66. Polly was the youngest of eight children! She and Blaney have three beautiful daughters and four wonderful grandsons. Polly has bought herself a three wheel adult bike and is thoroughly enjoying it! She worked for Florence Public Schools for 42 years, and then helped to open a Charter School in Florence called CHOiCES where she worked with divergent learners and bad discipline problems for five years, but loved every minute of it! She also expressed her love for Coker and so many of her teachers there. I know what she means!! Elizabeth “Liz” Degenhardt Campanile let me know about her trip to Australia in the winter of 2011-2012 where she spent three months!! She visited her daughter Lisa, and son-in-law Giorgio, who are both there on a work assignment in Melbourne. Liz saw all the eastern coast of Australia and also saw New Zealand. She says it was quite an adventure and she loved every minute of it. Liz’s son, Paul, who works as a pharmacist at Duke was married to Gina, a nurse at Duke, in October, 2012, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Liz’s sisters, daughter, and son-in-law all flew in for the festivities! Liz’s plans were to go to Paris at the end of October, then to England in January. Then she plans a theater binge with a local college group—12 plays in 12 days. It is a full saturation for theater lovers with a few days to sight see. Classes are run for them with some of the actors and directors. She says it will be a great experience!! Liz is also President of the local Historical Society. They run many community programs as well as run a museum. She finds it satisfying work, but working with an all volunteer group is a challenge. Liz also took a southern trip last summer stopping by Greeleyville to see Neil and me and then on to Beaufort to visit another classmate, Peggy Rogers Neighbors, and then on to her sister’s in Atlanta. She says she is still trying to get used to being retired! Barbara Joyce Chambers and I also exchange emails quite often and I’m always glad to hear the news. Barbara’s husband, George, is 81 and had to give up driving about a year ago because of bad eyesight. However, the VA issued him a “thing” that looks like a TV with a large base. George
can put the paper, a magazine, pictures, etc. on the base, turn a knob and the print becomes large enough for him to see. They are really excited about that!! They see their son, Maxwell and his 9 year old daughter, Mary Maxwell who talks all the time, quite often. Maxwell is divorced, but has a friend. Their older granddaughter, Anna Edward, is 17 now and doing quite well. She is a senior this year and wants to major in psychology when she gets to college. She is the daughter of Barbara’s deceased daughter. Barbara talks to Christina Savvas Homer and Shep Porter Wallace periodically and emails Maxine Locklear Amos. Barbara is still actively involved in her many activities and loves it. She likes to stay busy and George cannot get around as much. However, he still delivers the papers at the hospital every Tuesday afternoon, and she takes him to the College BBQ where he gets something to eat and socializes. Way to go, Barbara! I exchange emails with Idalyn Stoll Brown, and keep up a little with Della Revels Hartis on Facebook. She is on the go! I talked with Lib Plowden Anderson who went to the Scandinavian countries last summer and stays active. I also talked with Joyce Johnston Utt who lives just off Hwy 501 between Conway and Myrtle Beach and has traveled to Louisiana recently to see a great grand. I talked with Anne Blake Townsend who is still in Wilmington, NC, when she isn’t visiting with one of her children. Neil and I are still in Greeleyville and stay quite busy feeding chickens, horses, etc. We like to watch our grandchildren play ball and participate in plays and other activities. They come to visit whenever possible.
1957
Lynn Williams Oates 3417 Oates Highway Lamar, SC 29069 843-332-3040 | lwoates@roadrunner.com Dear Class of ’57, Time for class news and I have none—AGAIN!!! Maybe because my email address has changed to: lwoates@roadrunner.com Now, send me some news!!! The only classmates I ever see are Ann Gay Blakeney Duvall and Almena Gainey Galloway. Ann Gay has retired from the Florence Library and is enjoying her retirement. Mena is still recovering from her husband’s death and a very bad fall—she is glad to finally be back home. I had 3 wonderful trips last Spring. I went to Holland/ Brussels, Turkey/Greece, and inland Alaska. Saw lots of awesome and interesting sights. Hope all of you are well and happy—let me hear something from somebody!! Love, Lynn
1958
Susan Holroyd Shumaker 315 West Meade Drive Nashville, TN 37205 615-352-5732 | susan.Shumaker@comcast.net Dear classmates: Can you believe it has been 55 years since we graduated? What an adventure we have all been on since then! Please come to our reunion April 12-13, 2013 on the campus of our beloved Coker. We have so very much to talk about. Linda Gause Connor and Hazel Johnson Nichols, our reunion co-chairmen, are working very hard to get everyone to come and share a perfectly wonderful weekend together. Hazel Johnson Nichols and her husband Jim had lunch with Linda Gause Connor and Neuman en route to North Myrtle Beach where they got together with Helen Kolb Chambless. Their condos were just a few blocks apart. Helen had just been with Betty Barnes Walpole and her sister Lucy and Lucy’s husband. Helen said that her kids called her the “migrant” worker. She doesn’t do housework, but she has an unending job of yard work at her home in Conway, her beach house, an empty lot at Murrell’s Inlet, and her home in Jacksonville, NC. Hazel Johnson Nichols and Jim timeshare regularly with family and friends. They have five grandchildren ages
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