ADVANCE news you'd like included in future editions of The Commentary. Kindly, Donna Farrell Mosser
1991 Hello Class of 1991 - Can you believe that in February we will be celebrating our 25th reunion?? Where did the time go?? Wasn’t it just yesterday we were going to soccer and basketball games, going to the Cobra Den on the weekends, and hanging out with each other??? Time has flown by, but the best part of being a Coker graduate is that when you come back, you get to re-live ALL the fun!!! Please mark your calendars for February 5th-7th and come back to Coker!!! There will be lots more information coming out soon with details, but go ahead and mark your calendars to attend! Please let me know what going on with you, either email (helenm.allen@cms.k12.nc.us) or text (704-575-1314). I’d love to hear from you!!!
1992 Greetings to Class of 1992! It is difficult to believe that we have been away from Coker for almost 23 years. I hope that the years have been good to everyone. A little update - I am in Baltimore, Maryland practicing law as a Project Director for the Women’s Law Center of Maryland. Our project serves foreign born victims of domestic violence, human sex trafficking and sexual assault with immigration benefits. It is very rewarding each day. I never would have guessed I would be doing this kind of work when I sat in Professor Quilty’s business classes with Dale P. Leatherwood and U. Rikard “Rik” Alemo. Just returned from a trip to Costa Rica, such a lovely country and a nice getaway from the cold. I also keep in touch with Mary Lahr Carson Cain who lives in the Raleigh area of North Carolina. I am so thankful to Coker for the introduction of so many wonderful people and ideas. Keep in touch! Make it a great day! Suzanne Bailey
1998 Despite my best efforts (email, facebook, etc.) the only news I have been able to glean is that Coyt “Trent” Johnson’s daughter, Kayla, recently married.
2003 I was able to hear from a few classmates who shared with me what they have been up to since graduation or just in the past couple years. Kimberly Mallard Decell has recently moved from the town of Lexington to the country! She and her husband, Grady Decell ’04, bought 11 acres and built a house in Leesville, SC. They live there with their 2 sons, Cole Sullivan, who just turned 5, and Payson Graham, who was born in August of 2015. They are enjoying the country life and have even grown a garden and are raising chickens! On the job front, Kimberly is still teaching 4th grade at Lexington Elementary School where she has been for the past 13 years. In between school and home, she still enjoys watching soccer, especially the Lexington Wildcats that Grady helps coach that went to the state championships a couple years back. Life is good, but she still can’t believe we have been out of school for so long! It seems like yesterday! Adam Hensley and his wife Summer are living in Aiken with their 4 year old son Samuel. He is still with Enterprise Rent A Car, working as an Area Rental manager covering 11 locations in the Augusta, GA market. Summer stays at home with Samuel who keeps them both very busy. Sam just started soccer
3 3 | WINTER 2016
and is actually pretty good. Adam said they are looking forward possibly to baby #2 in the next year or so.
from home. The lack of commute, flexible schedule, and new challenging work are all a very positive change!
After graduating from Coker, Zelda Gassaway completed a Master’s Degree in Organization and Management from Capella University, while continuing to work for the federal government at Fort Jackson, SC. She moved from Columbia, SC to Arlington, VA in 2014, to join her husband Robert (Retired Army Veteran 30 Years) who works with Veterans Affairs. Zelda is enjoying new opportunities working with the Defense Contract Management Agency. Zelda and her husband are looking forward to revisiting Hawaii in 2015 and spending time with their daughter Lauren Gassaway (2013 Coker Graduate) who is stationed in Hawaii with the U.S. Army.
If you didn’t get a chance to send me an update for this Commentary, please make sure the Alumni office has your most recent email address or feel free to email me directly at emilymarovich@yahoo.com or our other class rep Wes Daniels at wesdaniels@ hotmail.com and we will be sure your update is included the next time around.
Kasey Newman Spicer lives in Lexington, South Carolina. She’s married to Rob and has two boys Evan (9) and Grayson (1). She’s teaching at the South Carolina Virtual Charter School as a special education teacher. This spring, she was accepted in the Master’s of Educational Administration program through the University of South Carolina. Shalonda Belin is currently residing in Marion SC. She has three beautiful children and three wonderful grandchildren. She is currently employed with SC Vocational Rehabilitation and is loving the type of work that she does. Since graduating from Coker College, Shalonda has been very busy with providing community, and therapeutic services for those in need. She has had some major changes occur (death of spouse, relocating, career change). However, she said she is thankful to God, family, friends and experience while attending Coker. Shalonda’s experience at Coker has provided the tools needed to persevere through obstacles! One of my besties from Coker and still to this day, Courtney Smith has been working with Daktronics, in the Sports Marketing dept., for 8 years. She covers the Southeast area and travels two to three weeks a month. She resides in South Florida with her longtime boyfriend (Mike) Geiger. She loves anything beach/ sun, Gamecocks, and fun! She spoils her 4-year old niece, and loves hanging out with friends and family. If you’re ever in Charleston SC or South Florida she says to give her a call! My old roommate and best friend, Erin Earle Owen, is still residing on the Gold Coast, Australia with her husband Gary and two children Cooper (Girl, 5) and Brody (Boy, 1). She is currently the Director of Allied Health for the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services State-wide. This job allows her much flexibility to continue to live an Aussie lifestyle of morning surfing and afternoon plays at the dog beach with the kids. Her last visit home was in 2011, but given her parents moved to Australia in 2013 and her sister visits annually, she hasn’t rushed back. Erin and her family continue to enjoy the Australian way of living with feeding the koala’s and possums whilst camping to avoiding kangaroo on the golf course. They continue to island hop visiting Vanuatu and this year Fiji for a holiday (much closer from Australia 2.5 hour flight). Their favorite past times are scuba diving and surfing and have started the kids in surf training (nippers) already! Erin is always hoping for visitors to Australia so let her know if you are heading down under!
All the best, Emily Marovich Tupper
2005 It seems that the class of 2005 is extremely busy…I have posted my rant in our Coker Class of 2005 group on Facebook. Hopefully everyone will have a chance to update us in the spring. Curtis ’02 and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary with a Disney Cruise. We are also now Disney Travel Agents with Key to the World travel. I have also been homeschooling our daughter, Tori, for the last year and a half. It is looking like she will be receiving all A’s on her first official report card! Remember to add SmileRainmaker@aol.com to your inbox, so you can receive my updates and reply with the exciting events of your life. If you are not already a member of our Coker Class of 2005 group on Facebook, please e-mail me so that I can invite you into the group. Wish you well, and remember that we would really like to hear from you. You can also find me on Facebook and Instagram under Jessicalloydsmusic. Jessica (Brill) Lloyd
2009 I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful fall weather! Tailgating, football games, pumpkin patches.....it really is a great time for friends and fun! I am proud to announce that my husband and I welcomed our first child, Owen in July. Boy is time flying! I know there are several others in our class out there who are also expecting, so congratulations! We can't wait to meet your little ones! Karl N. Ankersen is currently serving in the US Navy and is stationed in Norfolk, VA. He is an Ensign and completed his first deployment, a six-month cruise down to the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific earlier this year. Thanks for your service Karl and best wishes for safe future travels! If anyone is not getting the Commentary or any other alumni news, the alumni office needs your current information! We want to keep in touch! You can contact me directly or the alumni office! Sincerely, Shannon Crouch Bowers
As for me, Emily Marovich Tupper, I am still living in Plano, TX which is a suburb town just north of Dallas. I have been here with my husband Greg almost 3 years since leaving Southern California. My son Jackson turned 2 in September so I am enjoying being a mother of a talkative and fun toddler! I still work for Accenture but since having Jackson I was lucky to get a new position which requires 0 travel (quite a change from 100% travel pre-child) and work almost 100% W W W. C O K E R . E D U