CLASS NOTES
Al Ormond ’51, Kathy Ormond, Carol Miller, and Fred Miller ’51, at the Millers’ home in Glen Ellyn, Ill., last November
and Bob Owen, junior year roommates at Mt. Hermon, who have been good friends ever since. Bob reports: “In 2011, we agreed a good bucket list item to celebrate our 80th birthdays would be a skydiving day together. “On a sunny day last October, we each flew up to 10,000 feet, in separate Piper Cub airplanes. With some pushing from the jump master (a 280-pound Brazilian attached to Bob’s back), we leaped into Mt. Hermon history. “Cape Cod and the Atlantic Ocean rose up before our eyes as we were going 125 mph before the parachute opened, raising us up three stories. Floating down after that was the fun part. Pulling legs up was important so they would not be broken as we skidded on our tails to a stop on Mother Earth. I truly believe this event has not ever been done in the history of Hermon,” Bob concludes. Leif lives in Chatham, Mass., which Bob says has one of the best skydiving airports in New England. Bob has lived in Germantown, Tenn., since ’71. Both Leif and Bob are three-year Hermonites. Bob was (is) class president and reported he has a granddaughter at Rice University in Houston and a grandson, who is a plebe at West Point. Leif is retired from real estate endeavors.
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JULIE TAYLOR CLEMENS 2258 Lamberton Rd Cleveland Heights OH 44118-3552 jtclemens@cs.com BRUCE G. HOLRAN 80 Sycamore Dr, Apt 313 Elizabethtown PA 17022-3016 (10/1–5/31) PO Box 293 Lake Clear NY 12945 (6/1–9/30) bruceholran@comcast.net
From Julie: Many holiday letters, emails, and cards included news of the class of ’52. Here are a few of the messages, consolidated due to space. For full class news sent through the NMH e-blast system, make sure your scribe has your email address so that more timely news can reach you between magazines. Dave and Anne Webb Burnham ’44, our Northfield class teacher, sent a picture from their 6oth anniversary celebration. Thanks for all the times you have shared with us, Anne. Nan Stewart Roberts and Brad have moved to a managed care facility but have kept the same
email address. They are near family and friends and find the new surroundings comforting. Nan loves hearing NMH news and getting notes and calls from classmates. Mary Merin Tinkham wasn’t able to make the 60th, but she found Sybil Benton Williamson in Portland, Ore., visiting two daughters who live there. Mary has an active life in the community. She sent news that Carol Kiger Allen’s husband, Leland, died in the summer of ’12 from Alzheimer’s. Four classmates spoke of their long years in book clubs: Leanna Young Brown says most of the same members are present after 50 years (in New Jersey). Nan Stewart Roberts referred to her 50 years in the same Connecticut book club last year, and your scribe has been in the same club (in Ohio) for at least 50 years. Ann Washburn Samuels mentioned her book club, but not the number of years. Does that mean that some of us haven’t left the same area for more than 50 years? Can we share some of the best books read recently? Your scribe, Julie, suggests The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal, an accomplished ceramicist who researches his family history through the passage of a special collection of netsukes (247 small Japanese sculptures) from the early 1800s through WWII. Other classmates have been involved in longtime singing groups, including Lucy Jackson deMonchaux (and Frank), Julie Taylor Clemens (and Drew), Mary Merin Tinkham (and Mike), plus others, certainly. Let us know if you are still singing in a church choir or a community group. Thanks to Al Raymond for teaching us to value the ability to make song during our years at NMH. You will want to be aware that Leanna Young Brown has survived a long year of happenings. She took a granddaughter to a conference in Morocco, spent some time in Aruba with Stan, was saddened by the loss of her daughter-in-law, missed the 60th reunion, and then sold their longtime New Jersey home so that Leanna can move to an apartment in March. She writes: “Suffering from dementia, Stan now resides in King James Nursing Home in Chatham, N.J. He appreciates visitors and cards.” That’s quite a year, and it ended with Leanna breaking a hip in a fall. She could finally drive again in time for Christmas. From their Masonic Village home of four years, Bruce Holran and Barbara appear to be very involved and content. Bruce is leading a discussion group on current events and is active on the advisory council and in educational programs. Summers continue to be a pleasure at Lake Saranac in the Adirondacks. Still active in the world of college counseling, Arlene Bailey Leinbach Prince (in Seattle, Wash.) plans to join a tour of Vermont colleges with a group of counselors next April. At that time she will visit her daughter, Michelle Leinbach ‘85, and family in the Boston area. A marvelous long letter and page of pictures came from Dottie Peck Foster. Her husband, Stan, plans to retire as professor of global health, and she will end her teaching of ESL. Much of their travel and outreach has been involved with
the Guatemalan Mam Christian Women for Development. They have traveled to Guatemala, helped with relief and rehab after serious earthquake damage, and plan to return next year. To get the whole picture of their tremendous involvement, contact Dottie at dp1foster@menc.net. Part of their summertime is at the Shanti in Northfield, where they hosted some of the 60th reunioners last year. Marcia Ottey Raushenbush and John took a journey of a lifetime last year to Botswana and South Africa. It included tours of Soweto and the Apartheid Museum and then lots of wildlife in Botswana and a reserve in the Kalahari Desert. Jan Larson Mikkelsen live in Corrales, N.M., with her husband, John, and pets. Two daughters live in Massachusetts and New Jersey, and her sons are in Virginia and Austria. Jan is a ceramicist and has her own studio . She couldn’t make reunion but wanted all to know that she sent her best (never too late). Many of the holiday news and letters will be old news by the time this arrives, so much has been edited out. Let’s just say that we enjoy keeping in touch with the NMH classmates who share so much. As Dottie remarked: “As we all get older, we realize how precious our time with each other is, and we pray for health, happiness, and peace in this tumultuous world.” Questions about the next October minireunion should be addressed to Mel Smith at melskee@ comcast.net. It’s usually the third weekend (Thursday through Saturday) of October. Take care and keep in touch.
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WILL LANGE 1309 Towne Hill Rd E Montpelier VT 05651-4143 will@willemlang.com ABBY “AJ” NICHOLSON HODGES 2300 Totem Trail Minnetonka MN 55305-2242 ajhodges@comcast.net
From AJ: Our daughter, Betsy Hodges, is in the last year of her second four-year term on the Minneapolis, Minn., city council and is running for mayor in next November’s election. A very busy rest of ’13 is in the offing. Happily it coincides with my retirement from the organic fertilizer business I was part of founding 18 years ago. Morry and I plan a cruise of the Greek islands in April to celebrate. After 10 years of running a B&B in Amherst, Mass., Merylees “Molly” King Turner and her husband are selling the business and retiring to a smaller house near Amherst College with summers at their vacation home in Calais, Vt. After retiring as full-time organist, June Mellor Newsham sings in her church choir and is a periodic substitute organist in area churches. She also plays for weddings and funerals. This leaves her time for reading, swimming, and traveling with husband, Ed, who has retired from teaching chemistry
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