THE KINKAID SCHOOL
Michelle Rogers Rogers for an impromptu reunion at Cyclone Anaya’s and caught up on old times. As for the rest of the column? Hey, we live in a technology-driven society, so I decided to go straight to the horse’s mouth or better yet… Straight to the home pages of Facebook! Hey, you had warning. So, here you have it... Some class news… According to Facebook. It looks like we had a ton of May birthdays including Melissa O’Toole Smith, Waverly White Gage, Marilyn Taylor Phillips, Ania Battlestein Bender, Loueva Halla Hatfield and Mike Curran. Bruce Phillips celebrated his 50th with Marilyn in Vegas… But I couldn’t get much more information because what happened in Vegas, stayed in Vegas. Melisa Billingsley Herring’s dog Tango, also had a birthday and turned 15 years old! That’s 105 in human years, and he has more spunk than most of us do! Carol Attwell Rountree owns a quaint little store in Wimberly, Texas called Shop the Tree House. Carol participates in the Adopt-aHighway program and had a successful cleanup day back in April. Her team of seven volunteers collected 32 bags of trash, found a month-old lost USPS package (and successfully contacted its owner – thanks to Google) and stopped traffic to save a little lost dog that was seconds away from being run over on the highway (and then got her back to her owner thanks to her microchip tags.) Hey, you know what they say… “Don’t Mess with Texas!” Nice work, Carol and team. Heidi Balser Budaj celebrated an eighth wedding anniversary to her husband Jeff, and they are so perfect for each other they actually bought the same anniversary card! Waverly White Gage’s daughter Sara Jane won the Elena Semander Memorial Scholarship at Kinkaid for excellence in art and athletics. It was very cool to get a message from Waverly telling me the news! It’s such a great honor to have Elena’s legacy continue on year after year and really special when the award goes to someone we know. Life in California for me continues to be busy and fun! While many of you are becoming empty nesters, my six-year-old Zane just lost his first tooth! Daniels is going into eighth grade and will spend most of the summer hanging at the beach with his friends. For my 50th birthday? Fred threw me a good ole fashion house party complete with DJ and of course dancing to the wee hours of the night! It was a long weekend filled with old and new friends and lots of laughing. For those girls who didn’t make it (you know who you are!), you owe me a weekend in Palm Springs! I hope everyone enjoys the summer and more importantly your big 5-0 birthday! No matter how you celebrate it just remember… You are still half a century YOUNG! 48
1983 Anthony Brown
The Woodlands, Texas abrowntex@gmail.com
1984 Jackie Fair
Houston, Texas jfair36900@aol.com It was great seeing everyone in April at out 30th Reunion hosted at the lovely home of Wendy Cochran Fatjo. We were well represented with several members of our class showing up for the class dinner. Enjoying delicious Mexican food and margaritas, the crowd included Jeff Allen from New York, Mimi Killinger from Maine, Elizabeth Skidmore from Massachusetts and Julie Tauber Miller from North Carolina; Jennifer Howard Westerman, Lance McInnes and Teddy Terhume drove in from Austin. The evening before, several of our classmates met for drinks at Jeff Vallone’s restaurant Ciao Bello. Among the local attendees were Shayna Andrews, Chris Casey, Anne Chmielewski Kushwaha, Claire Cummins Lorenz, Matt Deal, Tracey Gaedke Smith, Todd Greenwood, Ronnie Jacobe, Tom Jordan, Stephanie Kendrick Morris, Monique Maley, Mallory McKay Callaway, Joanna Semander Nicolaou, Courtnay Tartt Elias and Leslie Holland. Rebecca Leach introduced us to her new hubby and Brigitte Burke brought along her new fiancé. A great time was had by all as we caught up with old friends. We certainly missed those classmates who couldn’t make it; we hope to see you next time. You can check out some of the pictures on our “Kinkaid Class of 1984” Facebook page.
1985 Carolyn Lasater Hodges
Dripping Springs, Texas carolynhodges@marykay.com Hello 85ers! A rumor is spreading that we have a big REUNION coming this next spring – April 25-25, 2015! That would make it a 30-year reunion (now THAT is getting up there). Start the diets, cleanses, hair creams, wrinkle serums (I know where you can get some J), exercise programs... Or just make the appointments with the plastic surgeon! Most importantly – Just come and hang with your ole buds who love you as you are! Nancy Davis Keely wrote that she ran into Heather Heath Grosvenor at the Garden Club of America Annual Meeting in New Orleans (fun place!) Nancy and her sister Debbie Davis Robison ’82 are chairing the biannual flower show at the museum next year, which requires “everything in place now”.
Speaking of Heather, she and her husband Henry have a new baby boy Beau. Cutiepatootie. They live in Memphis. Jennifer Hamelet hosted a garden party at one of her new homes. She said it was fun, and the weather was amazing. With the Spanish house and temperature,e it felt like Santa Barbara and not Houston. Nancy Davis Keely, Stacey Gillman Wimbish and Charlie Henke were all there. Jennifer said it was so great to see them. Jennifer also ran into Catherine Paddock Crain coming out of one of Jennifer’s Mirador Homes construction site. Seems like they caught-up during an impromptu walk of the neighborhood. Jennifer said Catherine “looks amazing!” Otherwise, Jennifer is busy with framing a home in West U, wrapping up another and closing soon on a house on Kirby. She won a 12-person bidding war on a house in Del Monte and is pouring a slab in Afton Oaks behind Joanie Dunlap Filippone ’90 (fs) – Ellen Dunlap Ohmstede’s sister. Though Houston is a super big city, it is a small town in many ways! Jennifer says, “I’m exhausted but very happy to be past the Great Recession!!!” Go Jen! Helen Stovall Gilbert wrote that her son has completed sixth grade (in Austin), and Helen had Ms. Cooney flashbacks about Mesopotamia! Helen said it would make Ms. Cooney proud. (I, too, have a sixth grader. Ms. Cooney’s name came up a lot as I pontificated to my son about the importance of history and good study skills - also that Ms. Cooney thought I was a boy on my first day of school at Kinkaid. I stood up and showed her my skirt) ... Things have certainly changed! As for the Hodges, we are living in the Drip (aka: Dripping Springs), which is a little boomtown for fun things. Distilleries and wineries are popping up all over the place. Our boys, Garland and Thompson, were covered up in lacrosse this past spring (David was an official assistant coach… He was actually in the team pic). I love that sport! Bumped into John David Grisebaum ’79 at a game. David is helping companies brand and rebrand themselves along with his custom exotic skins leather work. I’m living in the Pink Bubble and help organize our local Farmers Market (serious, good food). Otherwise, making plans for the summer! Have a great summer and see you at the Reunion. Hugs to all! PS: Some of you are SO lucky... I just accidentally deleted a “as seen on FB” paragraph I wrote where I listed some of the “crazy” things you’ve posted on Facebook… Consider it a fair warning for next time because I don’t have enough time to recreate and meet this deadline.
1986 Julie Templin Berman
Houston, Texas julie@thelimogeslady.com
Chris Cone is in the oil and gas exploration business in Houston. He is the C.O.O. for Tri-C Resources, LLC. Chris and his wife Susie have a senior, a junior and an eighth grader at Kinkaid. Valerie Khuri Hale has completed her first year as a teacher in a Mother’s Day Out program, and is looking forward to going back to teaching next year. Her husband Trevor is a tenured professor at the University of Houston – Downtown. Her daughter Lauren is completing seventh grade and turning 13 later this summer. Heather Ledbetter Kearney writes that she is happy and has now been living in Houston for several years after living in New York City and Austin, Texas. Her son Jack Faulkner will be a senior at Kinkaid in the fall, and she and her husband Wayne also have a daughter Bridget who will be a seventh grader at River Oaks Baptist School this year. “Although I attended Kinkaid only through the eighth grade, I’ve enjoyed seeing many school friends from my time there. There are several classmates with a student in Jack’s grade, and I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect with them.” Heather owns The Stork Club, an infant and children’s clothing and gift store located in the professional building at Woman’s Hospital. Stephanie and Steven Livitz’s oldest daughter Ashley will be attending the University of Texas in the fall. Their younger daughter Lindsey will be a junior in high school. Andrew and Margaret Witt Neblett are living in London. They have four kids. Margaret says that the kids are growing up fast; two are in New York City and two are in London. Their third child just graduated from high school, and their oldest got married in April. Time flies! Stephen Rogers received his BBA from Baylor University, his MBA from Pepperdine University, his JD from Trinity Law School and his MA/LLM from Regent University. Stephen is Senior Counsel/Manager of Global Compliance and Risk Management at Frank’s International. He is one of three in-house lawyers that serve a 75-year-old oilfield services family business recently listed on the NYSE as FI. Stephen and his wife lead monthly Engaged Encounter (marriage prep) retreats at St. Dominic Village and teach Natural Family Planning for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. Stephen is studying to be ordained as a Permanent Deacon at St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston. Please continue to email news and updates to julie@thelimogeslady.com! Thank you for keeping in touch!
1987 Ashley Brunson Clark
Houston, Texas ashclark2003@yahoo.com Doug Rosenzweig Houston, Texas dougrosez@aol.com