Scattered Saints
The Bell began keeping up with alumni in a feature called Scattered Saints as early as 1963. All the written updates are grouped together by year, followed by the Class Reunion photos. Lifetime Events photos are located on p. 73.
1954
1969
Eugenie Ricau Rocheroll is still a professional composer with many published works for piano solos, duets, trios, and quartets. A new composition is “Crescent City Connection,” named for the New Orleans bridges, which is a commissioned work for piano, oboe, and bassoon. You can check it out on YouTube. She also has seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, with another on the way.
Clay Spencer reports that he is doing well. After finishing Tulane Engineering in 1973 and receiving his MBA in 1975, he joined an engineering and construction company based in Houston. Clay moved to Iran in 1976, and met Stephanie when she visited there before her senior year at William & Mary. They married in New Orleans, then relocated to Indonesia in 1977. Over the next eight years, they moved to Bahrain, Houston, Belle Chasse, Wimbledon, and Houston. Other assignments took Clay to Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Saudi and UAE oil fields, Paris, Korea, and Pilsen--plus Port Hueneme, San Bernardino, Dearborn, Payson and Mojave Indian lands, Waxahachie, and Bethpage. They moved to central Florida in 1994 to run an equipment manufacturing company. Finally they returned to New Orleans, where he has owned an industrial equipment repair company for 24 years. Their daughter, Ginger, is married and an engineer for Shell in New Orleans. Both sons are former U.S. Marine Corps officers, married, and are back in New Orleans now, with Clay’s business. At last count there were seven grandchildren, ranging from eight years to three months old.
1962 Bob Merrick, philanthropist and business leader, was awarded the Times-Picayune Loving Cup in February of 2020. The Loving Cup, which celebrates civic activity in the preceding year, has been awarded since 1901 to men and women who have worked unselfishly for the community without expectation of public recognition or material reward.
1964 Charles Grubb, with classmate and lifelong friend Richard Schmidt, traveled with their spouses to Key West on the latest of their annual vacations together. Over the years they have cruised and visited such diverse places as Canada, Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, Costa Rica, and Santa Fe.
1965 Charles Nelson was honored as a Pillar of Scouting by the Boy Scouts of America Southeast Louisiana Council during a virtual gala in July 2020. He currently serves as an officer on the Executive Board for the Southeast Louisiana Council of Boy Scouts of America.
1967 Cathy Hovland Winters finally retired from being a teacher and school administrator, and moved to Clearwater, Florida. At 71, she now has time to complete her Ph.D. The theme is Empowerment: Creating a one-week retreat program in Maine designed to empower women over 65.
1972 In January 2020, Harry Mayronne was interviewed by Karl Lengel of “All Things Considered.” The piece aired that same month and focused on BrechtFest 2: Works of Bertolt Brecht, a benefit for Innocence Project New Orleans. The event was held in February 2020 to commemorate the 122nd birthday of German playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht. The performance of music, spoken word, and puppetry features Mayronne and others.
1977 Mary Beth Pendley Ray of Washington, DC and New Orleans has launched a leadership coaching business, MBR Coaching + Consulting for Growth, LLC. Building on her background as a lawyer, former elected official, and nonprofit founder, Mary Beth’s coaching focuses on
deepening self-awareness and increasing emotional intelligence. She works with both individuals and organizations on issues such as leadership development, communication, team dynamics, and diversity and identity in the workplace. As a career changer herself, she also specializes in retirement options and encore career coaching. Visit mbrcoach.com.
1980 After ten years in digital innovation for Adidas, Jon Werner co-founded KOYA, along with his wife, Cherie, and two of their daughters (Caryn and Courtney) to create a mobile app making it fun and easy to pay it forward and spread kindness between family and friends. Jon and Cherie celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary in June and their youngest daughter, Cayley, is a freshman at Samford in Birmingham, Alabama. The family has resided in Austin, Texas since 1991 except for a three-year stint in San Diego between 1995-98.
1982 The Class of 1982 has a new class agent! Betsy Fox has taken over for Patti Micklin. Thank you, Patti, for your service to keep your class connected with the school, to increase alumni understanding of the current state of the school, and to advance alumni support of and participation in the ongoing efforts of the school. And thank you, Betsy, for moving into this role. In early 2020 a group from the class had a mini-reunion when they went to see Steve Wulff play music at The Upper Quarter in New Orleans. He had no idea his classmates would be there, so it was a great surprise. Turn to p. 74 to see a pic.
1996 Christopher Bowman married Jessica Nicole Sellers on October 10, 2020. They reside in Alexandria, Louisiana, where Christopher practices law.
1998 In November of 2019 Dr. Rebecca Tuuri, University of Southern Mississippi Associate Professor of History, was presented with the Julia Cherry Spruill Spring/Summer 2021 | 71
