Classnotes

HITTING THE ROAD

These past few months President Baxter and college leaders have been connecting with alumni in a series of hometown get-togethers. Thanks for the welcome! If we missed you, a few events remain. (Check out the dates below.) And if we can’t meet face-to-face, send a message with your latest news to alumni@lagrange. edu. There’s nothing better than catching up on what great things you’ve been up to.-MARTHA PIRKLE DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS

Rome: Thursday, April 11, 5:30 p.m. – home of Joe M’20 and Rebekah Montgomery

Marietta: Tuesday, April 30, 5:30 p.m. – Glover Park Brewery

Carrollton: Thursday, May 16, 5:30 p.m. – Local Ties Brewery

Athens: Wednesday, June 12, 5:30 p.m. – Bitty & Beau's Coffee Shop

Wesley Methodist Church provided a Soul Food lunch for the Spiritual Life Center. Students were treated to Taste of Lemon poppyseed chicken along with homemade cookies from the Wesley hospitality committee. LaGrange College alumni assisting with serving were Bonnie Funderburk Dudley ’75, M ’83; Mary Wells Conway ’72; Carolyn Mitchell Wynens ’69; and Elaine Laster McCook ’84, M’88.

1950s

1957 Sylvia Cook Odum of Blackshear remains active in the sewing group The Piecemakers, which provides lap robes, bibs, etc., for nursing homes.

1960s

1966 Stacy S. Storer Jr. of Douglasville is retired from the Georgia Power Company. He has been enjoying traveling and helping raise his granddaughter.

1970s

1975 Dr. Karen F. Bullock M'77 of Peachtree City is a retired educator who now volunteers with the Fayette County Teacher Resource Center helping make instructional materials, posters and visual aids for Fayette County Teachers.

1980s

1980 Gail Lee Gordon of LaGrange was chosen to be a member of the 2024 Leadership Troup Class, a LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce program.

1980 Wesley Long Jr. '80 and Wesley "Trae" Long III '12 of LaGrange have made the decision to rebrand their company under a new name—Long & Long—after decades of serving the community under the name of Gay & Joseph.

1981 Lee Crowe of Savannah continues to teach traditional hand-drawn animation at Savannah College of Art and Design. She traveled from Savannah to Los Angeles on behalf of SCAD for the CTN Expo in Burbank, California. There she moderated a panel on the pros and cons of using artificial intelligence in animation and animation education.

1986 Glenn Yates Jr. M'81 of LaGrange has been named the new Sales and Marketing Manager at Specification Rubber Products.

Wesley Long Jr. '80 and Wesley "Trae" Long III '12, center, of LaGrange, have rebranded their company under the new name Long & Long.

1990s

1992 Anise Morrison Bell of University Heights, Ohio, is a teacher at Hathaway Brown School in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

1992 Stefanie Fuller Easterwood M'15, Ed. S.'17 of Newnan accepted a position as principal of Arnall Middle School.

1992 Greg McLeory of LaGrange was cast as Cinderella's father in the

1996 Rusty Evans of Newnan was awarded the Brian Snitker Award as the 2023 Youth Coach of the Year.

1998 Patrick Bowie of LaGrange has been appointed City Manager of LaGrange by the LaGrange City Council.

1999 Reverend Dr. Matthew Mitchell of Madison is the senior pastor at Madison Methodist Church.

Jennifer Beedy Booker ’90 (center), Alumni and Development Coordinator, took home the chili cook-off win for LC at Advent Lutheran church’s inaugural chili cook-off. She won best out of 10 by LC student judges Sandra Nambo ’27, left, and Ja’la Williams ’27 and tied for the people’s choice award.

2000s

2002 Alexander O. Harris of Tampa, Florida, released the single "Millionaire" on all digital platforms.

2002 Tony Watkins M'06 of Syrma is the athletic director and head JV women's basketball coach at Holy Innocents' Episcopal School.

2003 Reverend Michael R. Davis of Valdosta is the owner of Ace Handyman Services, principal at Mike Davis Coaching LLC, member of South GA LEADS class of 2023, member of Leadership Lowndes Class of 2024, and Chaplain for the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office, in addition to an honorary commander at Moody Air Force Base.

2004 Nigel Walker Ph.D., M'06, Ed.S.'11 of LaGrange was chosen to be a member of the 2024 Leadership Troup Class, a LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce program.

2005 Rob Dicks of LaGrange is the head athletic trainer at Callaway High School and district EDAC representative. He was named the Parker Resources 2A Athletic Trainer of the Year 2023 and received the Georgia Athletic Trainer's Association Athletic Trainer Service Award.

2005 Olivia Swanson Jern M'06 of Jesup was named to the "40 Under 40" list for Wayne County's Young Professionals.

2007 Reverend Julia Mercer Norman of Macon is an ordained deacon in the United Methodist Church and director of development for the nonprofit Macon Volunteer Clinic.

2007 Shaun O'Hara of Columbus spoke with LaGrange College students about his legal career, including working on the NFL concussion lawsuit.

2007 Nichelle Ortiz-Seman of Peachtree City was promoted from homicide detective to sergeant for the Atlanta Police Department.

2008 Kristin Pike Hays of LaGrange was chosen to be a member of the 2024 Leadership Troup Class, a LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce program.

2008 Sarah Schanche of LaGrange was cast as the Witch in the Lafayette Society of Performing Arts rendition of "Into the Woods.”

Aaron and Sarah Synder Keating ’00, along with sons Anderson and Harrison, explored campus and the city of LaGrange.

Reilly-Kate Davis, right, daughter of Steven ’98, left, and Meghan Henry Davis ’01, is joined at an LC Preview Day with Director of Alumni and Community Relations Martha Pirkle.

Sam Cotton ’83, left, has been involved in basketball either as a player or coach in the LaGrange community for over 40 years.

2010s

2011 Mike Coburn of LaGrange has revived the boys varsity soccer program at LaGrange Academy. He also coaches a club team called UMA out of LaGrange and Valley.

2011 Britt Gaylor M'13 of LaGrange is LaGrange Academy's director of middle school. He's been awarded the F.C. Johnson III Scholarship from the Troup County Archives and Legacy Museum on Main.

2012 Kamren Clark Gatens of Greenville was chosen to be a member of the 2024 Leadership Troup Class, a LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce program.

2012 Wesley "Trae" Long III and Wesley Long Jr. '80 of LaGrange have made the decision to rebrand their company under a new name—Long & Long—after decades of serving the community under the name of Gay & Joseph.

Rachel Samples Jones ’08, right, an aerospace sciences student at University of North Dakota, spent 24 hours underwater at the Jules’ Undersea Lodge off the coast of Key Largo, Florida. During the stay, she completed the first-ever underwater ham radio call. She is joined in the photo by student David Mateus, left, and Professor Keith Crisman.

2013 Lindsey Hull Perkins of LaGrange was recognized as a 1st place recipient at the Georgia Hospital Association's Quality and Patient Safety Summit for diligent and collaborative work in reducing surgical site infections with Wellstar West Georgia Medical Center.

2014 Taylor Wynn of Macon is the golf pro at Idle Hour Golf & Country Club.

2015 Tyler Eady of LaGrange is coaching the inaugural weightlifting team at LaGrange High School. He is also the head strength and conditioning coach.

2015 Loishirl Hall of LaGrange is an associate attorney at McCabe, Weisberg & Conway LLC.

2015 Madeline Sain of Newnan was cast as the baker's wife in the Lafayette Society of Performing Arts rendition of "Into the Woods.”

2017 Emily Arnold M'18 of Gulf Breeze, Florida, is the dean of students at her alma mater, Gulf Breeze High School.

2017 Dr. Hank Barnes of Salem, Alabama, received a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Auburn University. He is a senior R&D chemist at Afton Chemical in Richmond, Virginia.

2017 Alex Orellana De Leon of LaGrange was chosen to be a member of the 2024 Leadership Troup Class, a LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce program.

2017 DeLion Lance of Atlanta was cast as Cinderella's prince/wolf in the Lafayette Society of Performing Arts rendition of "Into the Woods.”

2017 Adam Terrinoni of Roswell is an accounting supervisor at Sparus Holdings LLC and came to campus to speak to students about career readiness.

2018 The Reverend Garrett Wallace of Dunwoody has been approved by the Board of Ordained Ministry and will be commissioned as a provisional elder within the United Methodist Church. He is an associate pastor at Dunwoody United Methodist Church.

2019 Leigh Anne Hamlin Hoes of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, is teaching Voice and Guitar at The School of Rock York (Pennsylvania). She is playing Margot in the longest consecutive run of "The Diary of Anne Frank" at Open Stage in Harrisburg, and she is playing Juliet and Benvolio in Gamut Theater's educational touring production of "Romeo & Juliet."

2019 Kelton Hunt of Hogansville was cast as Rapunzel's prince in the Lafayette Society of Performing Arts rendition of "Into the Woods.”

2019 Melanie Green Taylor of LaGrange is an account manager at Talon Aerolytics and came to campus to speak to students about career readiness.

Fiona Waters Westmoreland ’00, Sarah Synder Keating ’00 and Ashley Davis Harman ‘00

End-of-semester stress was eased by survival gift bags provided by the Wisteria Garden Club. Delivering the treats in the photo are, from left, Donna Harman M’77, Marjorie Steis Bowling ’58, Bonnie Funderburk Dudley ’75, M’83, Brenda Spradley, Ann Blackwell, Genie Sutton, Alesia Nixon, Debbie Massengale, Amy Davis, Harriet Wigley, Elaine Howard and Suzanne Countness Cook ’92.

Abigail Young ’20 is a performer at Tokyo Disney Resort.

Michele Striplin Bedingfield ’93 spoke to the LaGrange Lions Club about the domestic violence shelter and program at Harmony House. She is seen here with Lions’ President Brandon Adams.

Landon Baize ’08 and his daughter, Emily, deliver “Baize boxes” to Alumni and Community Relations Director Martha Pirkle for the Wilkinson Family Servant Scholars to distribute to those in need.

2020s

2020 Michael Bleimeyer of LaGrange has received his MBA with a concentration in accounting. He is a senior accountant at Majors Management LLC.

2020 Chad Kollert M'20, Ed.S.'22 of Concord has been named principal of East Coweta Middle School.

2020 Abigail Young of Decatur is a performer at Tokyo Disney Resort.

2021 Lincoln Anderson of LaGrange is regional manager with Equis Financial in LaGrange.

2021 Savanna Hicks Hunt of Hogansville was cast as Little Red Riding Hood in the Lafayette Society of Performing Arts rendition of "Into the Woods.”

2022 Mena Yacoub of Fayetteville is a sales manager at Equis Financial. He came to campus to speak to students about career readiness.

2023 Gracie Brunel of LaGrange is the assistant coach of girls basketball at Troup County Comprehensive High School.

2023 Dee Hare of Calhoun is a video producer for Peavine Baptist Church in Rock Springs.

2023 Rebekah Powers of Cataula worked on the production of Lifetime's "My Professor's Guide to Murder" that was filmed on the LaGrange College campus. She has gone on to work on more features and gained two art director credits on QVC+'s “The Recipe Files" and Fox Nation's "Christmas with the Foxes.”

2023 Maria Riera Soriano of Atlanta has accepted the position of Admission Counselor at LaGrange College.

Births

To Emmie Trull Cass ’12 and her husband, Lucas, a daughter, Charleigh Jo, on November 6, 2023

To Tavin '17 and Meg Middlebrooks Thompson ’17, a daughter, Merritt Helen, on December 15, 2023

To Kaitlyn Fogle M'23 and her husband, Josh, a daughter, Charlotte Nicole, on January 17, 2024

Engagements

Wesley "Trae" Long III '12 to Holly Winner on November 30, 2023

Weddings

Michael R. Davis '03 to Amy Alexander on May 20, 2023

In Memoriam

Mrs. Carolyn Thomason Sharman '50

Rev. John H. Ozley '52

Mrs. Joyce Lynch Tracy '53

Mrs. Joan Hall Pruitt '54

Mr. Fred Lamarr Allen '57

Mr. William Forrest Wheeler '58

Mr. Richard Carl McClurg '59

Mr. James "Jimmy" R. Matthews '65

Mrs. W. Jacquelyn "Jackie" Reaves Brackman '66

Mrs. Sandra Carey Jackson '67

Mrs. Verona Brown Hill '69

Dr. Lemuel "Lem" M. Johnson '70

Mr. James Lee "Jimbo" Welden Jr. '72

Mr. Ernest Anthony McLeroy '74

Mrs. Julie Clifton Watson '76, M'09

Mr. David D. Blount '77

Ms. Connie Gay Bennett '78

Ms. Susan Anne Lewis '83

Mr. LaKevin "Kevin" Ralpheal DeBruce '24

Dr. Michael Bishop H'01, former faculty

Mrs. Sandra W. Dennis, former staff

Mrs. Sylvia Strickland Malone, former faculty

LC alumni and faculty performed “Into the Woods” at the Lafayette Society of Performing Arts. Standing, from left, are Sarah Schanche ‘08, Gregg McLeroy ‘92, Assistant Professor of Mathematics Dr. Beth McClanahan, Madeline Sain ‘15, DeLion Lance ‘17, Savanna Hicks Hunt ‘21, and Kelton Hunt ’19. Kneeling are Carol Howington Cain ‘82 and Braeden Martin ‘27.

VERONA BROWN HILL ’69

Verona Brown Hill ’69, the first Black graduate of LaGrange College, passed away on February 21. Hill graduated with a degree in social work while her husband was deployed in Vietnam.

Her 40-year career in social work included being a support coordinator and probation supervisor, serving in several counties in the state of Georgia. She was celebrated with special recognition by the Board of Trustees of the college in 2019.

In 2019, Hill met with LC students to share her story.

“All I ever wanted to do was help people,” she said. “This college gave me the opportunity to do what I wanted to do with my life.”