Alumni Notes
Alumni Notes 1950s
1970s
Ralph Danson ’59 takes great pride in being the first class under the Chapel Oak. He and his wife of 50 years, Carolyn, live in Greensboro, Georgia on Lake Oconee. He is the great uncle of Kristin Hodge Jackson ’00 and the great grand uncle of Lewis Jackson ’32.
Tia Apperson Bacheller ’77 has relocated from the chaos of central Florida to life on the Satilla River in Georgia.
After teaching social studies for 40 years, including 4 years at St. Johns, Charles Keisling ’59 has now been retired for about 16 years. He is enjoying retirement and has two children in college at the University of North Florida and Florida State College at Jacksonville. For the past 5 years, he has enjoyed administering a Facebook group called “Historic Sites.” It started out just sharing photos and information about the places he had traveled to, but now it has become so much more than just that. Charles encourages the St. Johns community to check it out.
1960s Elizabeth Towers ’69 was named the first executive director of Florida’s Colonial Dames.
1980s
▲ Lisa Wilson Allen ’93, was elected as a County Court Judge in the 13th Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County, Florida in November of 2018. She took the bench in January of 2019. Lisa’s sister Allie Wilson ’17 and Katie Gibbs Schmidt ’93 traveled to Tampa for her investiture and Marc Peden ’93 was one of her campaign endorsers. She is currently presiding over dockets in the County Civil and Domestic Violence Divisions. If any St. Johns Alumni happen to visit the courthouse in Tampa, Lisa says to please come say “hello.”
▲ Jenny Rainey Edwards ’86 visited campus this past January to speak to the students about her new book, Bumping Down Highways. Michele Evans Sorrell ’88 is living in Pace, FL with her husband, Brent. She works as the Employee Relations Manager for CocaCola United. When she and her husband are not working, they enjoy spending time with their five children, five grandchildren, and four fur babies.
Saumil Oza ’95, cardiac electrophysiologist and chief of cardiology at Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside, was recognized for his work in a wireless pacemaker clinical trial which puts St. Vincents on the map as one of the leading heart centers in the country.
1990s
▲ Members of the classes from ’68, ’69, and ’70 participated in a Zoom happy hour during the coronavirus pandemic. The members included Jan Ritch Bolena ’70, Thornton Lurie ’69, Bobby Knight ’70, Helen Newton Hartung ’69, Mandy Graves Rough ’69, Barbara Fulghum Foster ’68, Michael Harrell ’70, Jim Simpson ’69, and Rudy McKinley ’69.
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▲ Julie Walker ’95 welcomed her second child, Poppy, on January 27, 2020. Poppy’s sister, Vivanne, loves being a big sister!
▲ Traci Peacock Livingston ’90, Beth Guswiler Johnson ’91, and Laura Fisher Proffitt ’92, cheered on the Girls Varsity Basketball team during their district championship game this winter.
S T. J O H N S C O U N T R Y D AY S C H O O L M A G A Z I N E
SUMMER 2020
Caterina Castruccio-Prince ’97 joined the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity at George Washington University as a research program manager working on a grant developing a behavioral health provider tool for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
