Alumni Notes

FPD Golf Tournament

First Place Winners, Gross

First Place Winners, Net A beautiful spring day welcomed everyone to the 21st Annual FPD Golf Tournament on April 5, 2021. Thirty-two teams competed at the sell-out event hosted at Idle Hour Country Club. Congratulations to the winners! 1st Place: (Gross) Charlie Pelt, Steve Sumner, Lee Gerdes, and Justin Pyron. 1st Place: (Net) Jimmy Intorcia, Tyler Alford, Joe Allen, and Larry Mullis. Thank you to everyone who participated and for all of the volunteers and sponsors who made it possible.

Save the date for next year: April 4, 2022

Day School Society

Reception & Dinner

Member of FPD’s Day School Society enjoyed a beautiful reception and dinner catered by Macon’s Fountain of Juice at the home of Ryan and Brigitte Terrell. The Day School Society is FPD’s annual giving club for donors who give $1000 or more to the FPD Annual Fund or who have contributed a lifetime total over $100,000.

Thank you to everyone who helped ROW THE BOAT for the 2020-2021 FPD Annual Fund. Through generous gifts, FPD was able to surpass the campaign goal of $600,000. Viking Nation friends and families gave over $1.6 million to this year’s fund. The new elementary playground is complete, while other projects including the preschool playground and new entrance and exit corridors are in process. Campus improvement projects on the horizon include the STEM Lab and baseball grandstand.

Goal: $600,000 Raised: $1.6M

ALUMNI NOTES

1976

Sissy Swann Ivey retired in June 2020 after teaching the deaf/hard of hearing for 39 years. She’s enjoying her grandchildren and traveling.

1978

Lauren Geddings Halvorsen is enjoying her first grandbaby, Emmy. Lauren notes, “She brings much joy to our lives, and we are so happy that she and her parents live only ten minutes away.”

1981

David Lilliston

recently accepted the position of Senior VP Financial Advisor with The Avenue Wealth Management Group of Raymond James in Watkinsville, Georgia.

1983

Ellie Jones Farriba and her husband, Mark, (FPD coach from 1979-1997) are proud new grandparents to Cooper Jones Farriba.

1987

Deborah Holland Melnick is a Senior Prosecutor with Fulton County. Her son, Alexander Melnick, graduated with honors from Mercer University. This fall he will attend Emory University School of Law, Deborah’s alma mater. Her youngest son, Joshua Melnick, graduated with honors from The Walker School in Marietta, Georgia. Joshua accepted the Zell Miller Scholarship and will attend UGA this fall.

Hope Hahn Shields’ daughter, Ella Wade, graduated fifth grade at FPD. She received all A’s for the year, placed third in the math competition, and was chosen to receive the Citizenship Award. Ella is pictured with her grandmother, JoAnn Hahn. Amy Bassett Sturtevant and her husband, Kyle, live in Cumming, Georgia with their three children. Her oldest, Cason, is graduating this year from The University of Georgia with a degree in business and marketing. Her daughter, Anna Lindsey, attends The University of Georgia and is pursuing a degree in advertising. Her youngest, Calder, graduated from high school this year and will attend Georgia Southern in the fall. Their family loves to vacation with her parents, and her sister Ansley Bassett Brown’s (‘89) family.

1991

Bill Ponder enjoyed returning to FPD’s campus to watch his daughter, Kate, compete in the Regional Track Meet this spring. Kate is a freshman at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School in Atlanta, Georgia.

Neal Suit was named the General Counsel and Chief Risk Officer for Green Brick Partners, Inc., a publicly traded residential homebuilder and land development company with operations in Texas, Georgia, Florida, and Colorado. Neal lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife and two daughters.

1997

Patti Laurens Downs and her husband, Justin, welcomed their daughter Mary Margaret Downs on November 9, 2020. She joins big brother Jeffrey. Patti notes, “She’s a happy, healthy 5-month-old and we are thrilled to have her in our lives.”

2006

Alex and Suzanne (‘07) Thigpin welcomed their second son, Warner, on March 11. Their oldest son, Daniel, is 17 months old. The family of four resides in Macon where Alex owns and operates State Farm Insurance offices in Macon and Byron. Taylor Floyd began working at Tidwell & Hilburn Insurance as an agent alongside fellow FPD alumni Cole and Rusty Tidwell. He manages the company’s Augusta office, covering property and casualty insurance.

2009

Matthew Smith completed his pediatric residency at the Children’s Hospital of Georgia at the end of June. He begins a three-year fellowship in pediatric critical care at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. He and his wife, fellow FPD alum Christine Boddy Smith ‘10, will move to Little Rock, Arkansas, in July. She will continue to work remotely for Chicago-based public relations agency, Edelman.

2010

James Brittain married Ashley Smith on June 20, 2020, in St. Simons Island, Georgia. James is a civil engineer at the Robins Air Logistics Center, and Ashley is a registered nurse in the NICU at Atrium Health-Navicent Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital. Joseph Brittain earned his Professional Engineering license in Georgia and South Carolina in 2020. He is a Professional Engineer with Hodges, Harbin, Newberry & Tribble, Inc.

Chelsea Smith Dozier ‘10 and Trey Dozier ‘11

welcomed their first child, Richard Smith Dozier. “Smith” was born March 5, 2021.

2011

Anna Gainey Spinks and her husband, Matthew, welcomed their second child, Deckard Matthew Spinks, on October 27, 2020. Their daughter, Charlie, just finished her first year at FPD.

2012

Megan Childs serves as a nurse in the PICU at Scottish Rite Hospital in Atlanta and is also working on her Doctor of Nurse Practitioner degree. She was recently presented with the Daisy Award, a recognition given by the Daisy Foundation for nurses who provide extraordinary service.