70 class notes
The Class of 1980 at Reunion 2015
1980 Dana DePuy Morgan danamorgan@mac.com
We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the spring and even-numbered in the fall. Look for your class notes in the fall issue!
1981
Marisa D’Amico marisad111@hotmail.com I was so excited to recently speak with Laura Lyon Gaon! She is as smart, funny and bubbly as ever! She is still on the Board of Trustees at Santa Catalina and has a daughter, Gracie (12), who will be attending soon! She lives and works in Sacramento at St. Michael’s School in Carmichael (along with Laura Farrior Stanley). Her oldest daughter recently returned from Scotland, where she attended and graduated college, and everyone is so happy to have her closer to home. Laura sees many Catalina alums, including Leslie Walker Burlock,
Molly Hogan Vatinel, Laura Farrior Stanley, Mimi Willoughby Santry, Brooke Meyers Hamilton, Jen Hately Ash, Johna Ramos Ward and others. Joumana Fahim-Ganjuei: “I live in Dubai, but spend five months a year in France. My son Ryan lives in Nevada and my son Keyan lives in London, so I am waiting to see where they will settle after their universities so I can move closer to them. I am partner in a company in Paris, which does summits in innovations in communications. I am hoping that my boys will settle in California and we can all move back to Palo Alto.” Teri Booth: “2015 is a year for beginnings, given that we’ve all reached 50! I ready myself for the challenges, experiences, opportunities and successes yet to come. I am thrilled that more Catalinans have been connected via Facebook and always enjoy the random personal encounters—like running into Dorothea McFarland in Whole Foods Market in Napa a couple of times! I also saw Jennifer Burns (and “little” sister Dr. Stephanie Burns ’83, who is a professor at Napa Valley College) put her beautiful canines through their paces at trials in Dixon at “Herding 4 Ewe” and then sharing this with those who are tens of miles or thousands of miles away via Facebook. The most heart wrenching ‘Oh my gosh, when did I get old?’ moment so far was meeting the beautiful kids of Sabina d’Agliano-Luna —Montana looks
just exactly like Sam did in high school! 2015 has carried me back to S.F., still as a litigation paralegal with an Atlanta-based firm. I have found myself surrounded by an eclectic group of friends who have helped me recover the joy that had been missing in my life. If you’re a Facebook friend, then you’ve seen the posts.” Johna Ramos-Ward: “Steve and I are doing great! I am a lucky woman to have such a funny and wonderful husband. He is still the tennis director at Crow Canyon Country club. In fact, we are heading down to Palm Springs for a tournament so I will be able to see Debbie Lee. I can’t wait to see her and meet her new husband! Steve and I now have two wild and well-loved fur kids. The newest is Cody, an almost three-year-old Blue Heeler, who was a sweet gift from Steve to help me through the loss of Gage. For those who never meet Gage, he was my constant loving companion for over 17 years. Our second one-year-old fur kid is Pita. Steve named her; it means “Pain in the a**”!” We are so glad we rescued her. We think she is part cattle dog and part nuts, but what a loving dog! We moved from Livermore to a small town called Mountain House, CA. My father came to live with us about two years ago, so having a one-story home is perfect for him. It has been an emotional time having my dad back in my life, while still an honor being able to take care of this 91-year-old. I am lucky to see Laura Farrior Stanley, Laura Lyon Gaon, Louise Diepenbrock Baker, Molly Hogan Vatinel, Brooke Meyers Hamilton, and Erin Eggerman Romer about once a year and sometimes more. La La and I email each other so I can live vicariously through her oldest daughter’s amazing adventures. I got a chance to see Judy Wray Nelson and discovered that her husband is the amazing ‘Treehouse Master’ from the show on Animal Planet— is that too cool or what?! I saw Jen Hately Ash as well. She is back to helping people with her counseling. What a perfect job for her kind heart. For over 10 years, I have worked with my client who has special needs, teaching independent living skills. Sad to say, I was released from that job due to lack of funding. But we still keep in contact and do our movie dates. I still do photography but more with my new partner Tammy Hughes. As some of you know, we have been friends since birth. We are happy to announce that we will be opening up an Esty store together in 2015. It will highlight our design skills for stationery products. Please check out