A Legacy of Friendship – Class of 1965 Words by the Class of 1965 and Judy-Ann Quilliam
Above: Back row – Colleen Wakefield (nee Smerdon), Denise Lloyd, Maggie Forehan (nee Grigg), Robin O’Connor (nee Coghlan), Anne Ryan (nee Coghlan), Rose-Mary Serong, Catherine Tabban (nee Wimpole), Annette Mullany (nee Rice). Front row – Jan Stephen, Prue McCarthy (nee Arundell), Liz Blake (nee Feery).
Mother Gonzaga Barry said, “paint pictures on your memory walls…” and 57 years later, the girls of Loreto Abbey, Mary’s Mount, Class of 1965 are still doing that together - albeit that some of those pictures in more recent times have been created via Zoom! The friendship bond created by the Class of 1965 all those years ago has been strong enough to withstand the test of time, distance and a global pandemic. For these women, time may change things however, in their hearts and their place in the Loreto archives, 34
they will always be girls of Loreto Abbey, Mary’s Mount. The class started with only 12 students in Form 1 and grew to approximately 36 by the time they graduated in Matriculation (Year 12) in 1965. After their 20th year reunion in 1985, they decided to meet every two years, and Jan Stephen took on the role of organising the bi-annual gettogethers. Then in 2016 the Class decided to meet each year, on the same date at the same venue, as following the death of one their Class members, they all felt time was too short to not try and meet annually. Since then, the annual reunions have become a highlight on their calendars and they each find it interesting how their lives are continuing on.
Throughout the pandemic, the Class continued their meetings via Zoom. In October 2021, in the midst of our second year of the global pandemic, 12 of the Class members caught up once again via Zoom. Jan Stephen shared, “To have 12 (from the Class) on screen and apologies from five others was fantastic. And we were all so much better with our Zoom manners this year. The difference was palpable, we have all learned so much (about Zoom meetings) in the last 12 months.” Maggie Forehan (nee Grigg), Ornella Michelini, Liz Blake (nee Feery), Denise Lloyd and Jan Stephen shared their thoughts and memories and hope to inspire other Loreto College classes to keep in contact and do the same.
