Class Notes

1946

Richard Battin writes, “Just celebrated my 93rd birthday. All is well. A status report to all ’46ers who may remember me: I graduated from the New York State Maritime Academy, sailed as Mate and Captain in the Merchant Marine, served two years of active duty with the United States Navy, attended the University of Connecticut on the GI Bill and received a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering, worked in Florida on the Space Program (“a rocket scientist"), was a DTM member of Toastmasters International, and am now am retired in sunny Florida. Wow! Love to hear from any of my classmates.”

1950

Greetings from Elayne Hawkins Duarte, Judith Elmer Love, and Mary Lou Dorrien Montuori. The trio has remained friends throughout the years, getting together at least once a year. They would love to hear from any other alumni from the Class of 1950, if possible. The photo below was taken in 1998 on one of their safaris. (Editor's note: Sadly, we learned of Mary Lou's passing after receipt of this note. Our deepest condolences to her friends and family.)

1951

Beverly Stevens Prakelt writes, “I am still in my Burlington, Vermont, condo where I have lived since 1983. Thankfully, I remain well and have survived the pandemic. Somehow, I keep busy! My most recent news is that I am now a great-grandmother to a darling baby girl. This is the fi rst time there have been four generations in my family in many years. We have lost many of our class. I would enjoy hearing from other 1951ers. I have happy memories of my four years at Cushing and would enjoy keeping in touch.”

PENGUIN NATION

Please send your news, notes, and photos to be included in the next issue of Cushing Today. Professional milestones, family news, fun facts, mini CA reunionslet your fellow Penguins know what you’ve been up to!

Email your submissions to alumniprograms@cushing.org.

(Be sure to include your full name and class year!)

Margery Van Keuren Winter writes, “I am living with my husband, John, in a retirement home in Wichita, Kansas. We are celebrating our 66th wedding anniversary this year. Cushing was great for me, and I have many happy memories.”

1958

Kenneth T. Wheeler Jr. writes, “I am still alive and well in The Villages playing softball and pickleball. I am still writing my memoir; it is about a thousand pages and only covers up to 1968. Hope all my classmates are coping with the virus.”

1960

Christopher DeAngelis writes that his mother, Margaret Thomas DeAngelis, passed away in June 2021. To view her obituary and photo collage, please visit his Facebook page.

1963

Elliot Lowenstein writes from Pinecrest, Florida. He is a certifi ed public accountant and a partner at AbitOs, PLLC, an international professional tax and consulting organization. During the past two decades, his concentration has been in international tax cross-border transactions, immigration tax planning, and structure coordination with families and persons of wealth. He has been extensively involved in his community and profession and enjoys music and football in his spare time.

1969

Robert Young was delighted to spend some time with fellow Penguin Nate Berkus '90 following Nate's keynote speaking appearance at this summer's Nantucket by Design conference on August 5, sponsored by the Nantucket Historical Association. Click here for more information.

1970

Ward Woodruff writes, “I sold my business and retired in March after 48 years at the company. Sailing and travel are the new focus.”

1975

Alastair Browne has published his fi rst book on space development titled Cosmic Careers. It tells of the future development but with a twist. As it narrates the future, it also tells of what careers will be available

for any person interested in venturing and working in space, not just as scientists and engineers. This will be the fi rst of three books on space development, published internationally by HarperCollins, and co-authored by Maryann Karinch. Alastair recently submitted another book for publication, unrelated to this. You can fi nd his book on the internet or at your local bookstore. “My time has come!”

Russell Fig writes, “Hello, guys. I would like to hear from all Cushing alumni especially from those residing in Florida where I hope to move when the coronavirus ends. Feel free to reach out; I will be happy to hear from you.”

1991

Google recently hosted Kate Bradley Chernis, CEO at Lately.ai, on That Digital Show podcast to discuss the convergence of social marketing with artifi cial intelligence.

1998

Beth Achille Lambert writes, “I live in Fairfi eld, Maine, with my husband, Greg, and daughters, Lillian (17) and Paige (10). I am the director of Innovative Teaching and Learning at the Maine Department of Education and am pursuing my doctorate in public policy. I also make time to direct and perform in local community theater productions each year.” John Napolitano writes, “I live in Calabasas, California, with my wife, Casey, and our three kids, Siena (5), Gemma (3), and Jack Finn (1). I've been working at Yahoo since 2013 in advertising sales. During COVID, we spent three and a half months on Kauai where they had strict quarantine rules but very few cases. We got to enjoy a pretty normal life on the island, and our girls even got to attend preschool there. I also became good friends with Dave Lavine ’94, who lives in Los Angeles too, and we ride mountain bikes every once in a while.”

2002

Steve Sanders writes, “Earlier this spring, I drove across the country to California with my family. Having some extra time, the need for a workout after the long drive, and wanting to see some old Cushing friends, I met up with Chris White ’01 and Mike Woodford ’01 at Chris’ new Tae Bo and Hapkido studio he owns. What a class! If anyone is in the Santa Ana, California, area and looking for a sweat, I highly recommend it!”

2004

J.R. Butler writes, “I joined an early-stage start-up with fewer than 50 employees in Boston in 2013 as an account executive. Over the next seven years, the company grew 100% year-over-year, and we raised money through fi ve rounds of funding. Throughout that time, after being promoted to a sales director, I held various leadership roles, culminating in leading strategy and operations for the sales organization. In May 2021, the company announced their sale to IBM for $2 billion. I recently took a new job as chief revenue offi cer at a new software start-up based in Arizona called Pillir and have started a separate company around technology sales recruiting. The new company, Shift Group, focuses specifi cally on helping elite athletes (professional, Olympic, and D1) transition from an athletic career to a career in technology sales.”

Yasuyuki Goto writes, “I just published my fi rst book in Japanese called The Best Asset Allocation in Finance (最強の外資系資産運用術) that explores how retail investors should think about their investments in Japan, particularly in the post-COVID era with Japanese companies in great position. I also participated in a discussion, hosted by Eileen Maio ’05 on her YouTube channel, which allowed me to reconnect with fellow Penguins as well.”

2005

Codeye J. Woody recently joined the Southern Education Foundation (SEF), a nonprofi t organization dedicated to advancing education equity and opportunity in the South, as director of Government Aff airs and Advocacy. In his role, Codeye will develop the organization’s legislative agenda and work with policymakers and other stakeholders to advance evidencebased policies to achieve education equity and opportunity in the southern states and beyond.