Fall 2021
A Winning Season | Outstanding Alumna Kat Gordon ’00 | Class of 2021
In This Issue Fall 2021 3 A Winning Season Built on Teamwork, Trust 9 Outstanding Alumna Kat Gordon ’00
Recaptures Her Vision in Uncertain Tmes 12 Congratulations to the Class of 2021 20 Campus News 26 New Trustees 2021-2022 28 Welcome Back 30 Making Their Mark 32 Public Servants
Alumnae
36 Alumnae Weekend 38 Class Notes 56 Milestones On the Cover: Varsity lacrosse bring homes the state championship.
Director of Communication Jennifer Parris | jparris@stmarysschool.org Assistant Director of Communication Ainsley Willis | awillis@stmarysschool.org Director of Philanthropy Carrie Vaughan P’20 | cvaughan@stmarysschool.org Director of Alumnae Gigi Gould ’70 | ggould@stmarysschool.org Director of Admission & Financial Aid Nicole Hernandez P’26’27’33 | nhernandez@stmarysschool.org Photography Lisa Buser P’14, Karen Pulfer Focht Design Gabrielleschi Creative, Jerry House Class Notes Editor Courtney Taylor Humphreys ’01 P’32’34 Contributors Courtney Shove ’96, Katherine Whitfield Letters to the Editor: Please address all correspondence to: Jennifer Parris St. Mary’s Episcopal School 60 Perkins Extended Memphis, TN 38117 jparris@stmarysschool.org (901) 537-1426 Lower School students experiment with the effects of water on sugar in science class. Our faculty believes students learn best through hands-on experiences and experimentation. We encourage students to question their findings as they explore new concepts.
The mission of St. Mary’s Episcopal School is to provide a superior educational experience for girls which will encourage and enable each student to reach her individual potential.
HEAD OF SCHOOL Albert L. Throckmorton
BOARD OF TRUSTEES Timothy E. Davis, Jr. P’20’22, Chair Wendy Pritchartt Ansbro ’79, P’09, Vice Chair Jeffrey Block P’24’26, Treasurer Mary Katherine Stout P’29, Secretary James H. Barton, Jr. P’25 Allison Garrott Braswell ’88 P’22 Susan Roberts Colpitts ’75 Mikara Davis P’28’32 Brooke Dishmon, D.D.S. P’24 Brian Fowler P’21’25 James R. Jenkins P’25 Lawrence Jensen P’05’10 G’32’34’36 Roberta Nevil Kustoff P’24 Stephanie Linkous P’21 Andrew Mathes P’21 Julia Chesney McDonald ’96 P’31 Anne-Morgan Brookfield Morgan ’99 P’29’32 Elvira R. Ormseth P’24 Joelle Rogin P’25’27 Monica Skipper P’21 Jennilyn Jennings Utkov ’77 Kendall Visinsky P’26’29 Hallie McNeill Ward P’25
At Large Members Linda McNeil William Orgel P’17 Floyd Tyler, Jr. P’24
Ex Officio Members
The Right Reverend Phoebe Roaf Bishop,The Diocese of West Tennessee The Reverend Alexander H. Webb II Rector, Church of the Holy Communion Elizabeth Simpson Alrutz ’82 P’15, President, Alumnae Association Board Robert F. Fogelman II, P’29, Former Chair, Board of Trustees Stephen W. Maury, Senior Warden, Church of the Holy Communion Albert L. Throckmorton, Head of School
Trustees Emeriti
Thomas M. Garrott III P’83’88 G’08’09’15’22 Barbara R. Hyde P’17 Brooke A. Morrow ’74
ALUMNAE BOARD
Elizabeth Simpson Alrutz ’82 P’15, President Elizabeth Middlecoff Allen ’91 Essie Arrindell-Williams ’98 P’26’29 Morgan Beckford ’06 Jenay Gipson Boggs ’06 McKenzie Aiken Crisp ’85 Madge Logan Deacon ’69 Elizabeth Cashman Dickinson ’86 Amina Dilawari ’95 P’34 Elizabeth Brown Dunn ’79 Whitney Baer Foster ’00 Sudha Nimmagadda Ganguli ’83 P’21’30 Hayley Bower Gerber ’01 Grayce Gordon ’10 Gigi Gould ’70 Celeste Bailey Herburger ’91 Angie King Keesee ’72 Sharlene Sidhu Keithley ’96 Lida Kruchten ’13 Corinne Friese McLaughlin ’76 Tabitha Francisco McNabb ’78 Katie Broer Parr ’98 P’30 Polly Klyce Pennoyer ’02 Patti Person Ray ’65 Lisa Breazeale Roberts ’85 P’12’18 Anna Snyder Rojas ’01 P’32 Jordan Upton Schieffler ’12 Courtney Shove ’96 Kate Metcalf Sullivan ’01 Abby Yandell Talbot ’03 P’36 Falconer Robbins Warren ’05 Katie Zanone Webb ’93 Jan Valentine Wiygul ’76 P’05 Lizzy Holt Yatsula ’08
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Dear Friends, Loving our neighbors is at the core of St. Mary’s. It’s been woven into our story. In 1873, the sisters of St. Mary’s came to Memphis to run the school and were confronted with the first wave of the yellow fever epidemic, the worst of which followed in 1878. Not only did they care for the students, they ministered to the whole community by sacrificially serving during the darkest days of our city. This legacy of caring for others continues to sustain St. Mary’s during challenging times. Last school year, this commitment to caring for others allowed us to enjoy a full school year despite the COVID-19 pandemic. We performed more than 11,000 COVID tests that year, and today, more than 90 percent of our community that is eligible is fully vaccinated. We continue to wear masks to protect the most vulnerable in our community. Over the last year, we’ve seen countless examples of resilience in our community. We have seen it from our varsity lacrosse team. A hard loss to a national competitor early in the year only strengthened the girls’ resolve. They rose to the challenge over and over again throughout the season before earning the title of state champions. We couldn’t be more proud of them. Resilience is a trait that stays with our students long after they graduate. As you’ll read, our Outstanding Alumnae Kat Gordon ’00 remembers a lesson from Ms. Kathleen McElroy’s Lower School art classes: “No erasing allowed. If you make a mistake, you’ve got to figure out what to do and move forward.” Kat showed marked resilience as she reorganized her business during the pandemic. I hope you enjoy reading the following stories about extraordinary girls and women from our St. Mary’s family who are making the world a better place.
Light and Life
Albert L. Throckmorton Head of School
by Katherine Whitfield
Varsity lacrosse team brings home state championship
T
heirs was a season seven years in the making,
Varsity Head Coach and SMS Athletics Director John
and a championship won with only 17 seconds
Bartholomew says their tenure as teammates fostered an
left on the clock.
atmosphere of leadership and chemistry on the field.
For the seven seniors who helped clinch the 2021
“These girls tended to get stronger as the game went
state championship
on and wore down
for St. Mary’s
their opponents,”
Episcopal School
said parent volunteer
varsity lacrosse,
Jeffrey Block, whose
their final season
daughter Josie ’24
of play reflected
was on the team.
the girls’ strength,
“Most importantly,
determination, and
they were mentally
mutual trust as a
tough in knowing they
tight-knit team.
were never out of a
Most of the seniors began playing lacrosse together in sixth grade, and
The varsity team celebrates the school’s first state championship in lacrosse.
game and would pull together when down.” According to the players, dedication
FALL 2021 | 3
Wellness Center was a game-changer. “It was not lost on us that the first year we had an indoor practice space and on-site strength training and conditioning equipment was also the year we brought home the state championship,” said Susan Jones, mother of Grace ’23. Susan and her husband, Will, have seen all three of their daughters On Senior Night, St. Mary’s recognized seven players. Above: Athletic Director John Bartholomew, Margaret Saab, Rachel Beem, Ellen Feild, the Mighty Turkey, Rebekah Leventhal, Emily Taylor, Virginia Horton, Faith Preston, and Assistant Coach Thomas Quinlen
and hard work, coupled with teamwork and trust, kept them moving together on the field—and kept them laughing and coming back despite the grind. “I learned how to trust from my teammates, and I learned from Coach Bartholomew and the assistant coaching staff that hard work now means fun later,” said Rachel Beem ’21. “Any game can change in a split second, and it takes a tremendous amount of trust to know that everyone on the team will make the right decisions at the right moments. All the conditioning, in
Turkeys. “The new Athletic
and Wellness Center was critical to our success,” Bartholomew agreed. “Before this season, we would miss substantial practice time due to wet fields, but thanks to the strength and conditioning center, during rainouts we spent our afternoons lifting weights or practicing stick skills on Linkous Field.” In April, Bartholomew arranged for SMS to square off against Florida’s IMG Academy, one of the country’s top teams. While the players were understandably
the beginning, gave
unnerved to face such a fierce competitor, the
us time later to really
opportunity to sharpen
enjoy the game and,
their skills and hold their
as we would say,
own against a national
’start schemin’.’”
powerhouse helped
In addition to
bolster the Turkeys’
the team’s resolute
collective confidence in
efforts, the new
their abilities.
donor-driven indoor
“Although we lost
training facility at
against IMG, we played
the Athletic and Coach and Athletic Director John Bartholomew was named Lacrosse Coach of the Year by The Commercial Appeal and The Daily Memphian. 4 |
play lacrosse for the
a very good game, and it was at this moment that our players realized how good we were,” said Bartholomew. “We didn’t lose a game after that.” And on May 15—just two days before the seniors would celebrate their commencement—the Turkeys defeated the Harpeth Hall Honeybears for the state
“Any game can change in a split second, and it takes a tremendous amount of trust to know that everyone on the team is there for a reason and will make the right decisions at the right moments. Every single person stepped up in the moments that mattered.” Rachel Beem ’21
The whole school celebrated the Lacrosse team’s victory with a parade through campus. FALL 2021 | 5
championship title. Down by one with less than a minute
even sweeter by the knowledge that Davis was cleared
remaining in the final quarter, two-time all-American
to return to competitive play only two months earlier
midfielder Virginia Horton ’21 secured the tying goal to bring the score to 5-5. With just moments to go in regulation play, All-American
following an accident that
“These girls tended to get stronger as the game went on and wore down their opponents.” Jeffrey Block, SMS parent volunteer and Memphis University School Lower School lacrosse coach
jeopardized her athletic career. After multiple surgeries and a gradual return to rotation, Davis’s recovery— strengthened by the steadfast support of her teammates—
Rebekah Leventhal ’21
led to what was, according
passed the ball to
to many, the proudest and
Carrington Davis ’22, Academic All-American, who
most rewarding moment for the Turkeys in a season
scored the winning point and clinched the victory for
filled with wins.
St. Mary’s with 17 seconds left on the clock. It was a powerful moment for St. Mary’s, made
“I am incredibly proud of the class of ’21 for their resilience,” said Bartholomew. “We have been building
Students in the Lower School were especially excited to celebrate the lacrosse team’s big win. Several players served as coaches for St. Mary’s Lower School lacrosse team.
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this program for years, and our victory was made sweeter knowing that we didn’t cut any corners and we didn’t rely on lucky breaks.” Bartholomew was also quick to acknowledge the breadth of individuals who made this championship season possible, from the parent volunteers and assistant coaches, Thomas Quinlen and Caryn Welsh, to the school’s athletic trainer, Bob Dunaway, and strength and conditioning specialist Claire Betti. Bartholomew also extended a heartfelt shout-out to Coaches Christine Mudalige and Tricia Dewey, who led many of this year’s seniors to win a middle school lacrosse championship in 2016 as 8th graders. “This leadership and winning experience trickled down to their younger classmates, particularly the class of ’22 who were
Carrington Davis ’22, Virginia Horton ’21, Rebekah Leventhal ’21 (above), Amelia Quinlen ’22, and Emily Taylor ’21 were named Varsity Lacrosse All-Region Players.
instrumental to our championship this year,” said Bartholomew. In addition to the state title, Bartholomew
“We have been building this program for years, and our win was made sweeter knowing that we didn’t cut any corners and we didn’t rely on lucky breaks.” Coach John Bartholomew
took home Coach of the Year accolades from The Daily Memphian, The Commercial Appeal, and Tennessee’s chapter of US Lacrosse. Horton was named the female
Two-time All-American midfielder Virginia Horton ’21 was named The Daily Memphian’s female Player of the Year.
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Player of the Year by The Daily Memphian and The Commercial Appeal. As for the future of
The challenges and growth that come with team play have been good for them. Both winning and losing help to develop one’s character, and hopefully, these lessons will impact how the players react and treat others as life presents them with winning and losing moments.”
Susan Jones, parent
“We are always building and looking ahead to our future,” said Bartholomew. “The consistency of SMS lacrosse is very important to me, and that
lacrosse at
demands taking
St. Mary’s,
a wide-lens view
Bartholomew remains heavily involved in the
and making sure all players get opportunities. This
development of players from junior varsity, middle
model was part of our success this season, and I believe
school, and even grades 3-5.
it will benefit us greatly in 2022 and beyond.”
The Turkeys celebrate a regular season win over Hutchison School.
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Outstanding Alumna Kat Gordon ’00 recaptures her vision in uncertain times
K
By Courtney Shove ’96
at Gordon’s knees were still knocking as she and her husband got in their beach-bound car after Alumnae Weekend. She was in disbelief.
Photo by Cole Creasy
Her name was now listed on the very same plaque as retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Nora Wingfield Tyson ’75. Gordon received the 2020-21 Outstanding Alumna Award. “She might be the first person I think of when I think of an empowered woman,” Gordon said of Tyson, who emailed her a personal note of congratulations. “I completely freaked out, and I had to send her the picture of me with the plaque. So, there’s a picture of me, grinning like an idiot, holding the plaque and pointing at her name and my name.”
FALL 2021 | 9
kindergartner struggling to make it through the school day without a nap. With a 14-year tenure, she certainly qualifies as an SMS “lifer.” Gordon happily renewed her connection with
St. Mary’s after college as a volunteer in the philanthropy office. Since then, she has served as the Alumnae Board president and gained three sisters-in-law who are fellow Turkeys:
Photo by Ashleigh Peak
Now, with what are sure to be dozens of fangirls of her own, Gordon is the owner of Muddy’s Bake Shop, which she opened in 2008. Twenty years prior, she was a St. Mary’s
Kat Gordon ’00 leaned on the lessons she learned at St. Mary’s as she refocused her business model during the COVID-19 pandemic. 10 |
Ginny Robinson Burbank ’93, Betsy Robinson Ordoñez ’96, and Elizabeth Summitt Gordon ’07. Gordon has also taught Muddy’s staff training and visioning classes to St. Mary’s students, faculty, and alumnae. Needless to say, her ties to SMS are deep. “I’m not sure how it occurred to me to volunteer, but I’m pretty sure I got a mailer from the school and thought, ‘I bet real humans have to seal all these envelopes; I should offer to go help sometime,’” Gordon said. “And the next thing I knew, I was on the Alumnae Board.” For as many lessons learned as a small business owner, she continues to draw on those from her days at St. Mary’s, where she became rooted in her values and learned to think critically and creatively. In 2020, Gordon made the difficult yet right-for-her decision to shrink her business. Since the pandemic, she went from three locations with 50 employees to one location with 14. “There’s nothing like an emergency to really reacquaint you with your priorities,” Gordon said. But her longing to downsize began in early 2018, long before COVID struck. In her acceptance speech during Alumnae Weekend, Gordon recounted the time she bawled in her car while listening to a podcast in which her friend Shawn Askinosie talked about meaningful work. It was then that she realized how far she had strayed from her original mission and vision. “I mistook my vocation as attempting to please everybody and
make everybody happy. That’s not the vocation that I was called to at all,” she said. “Essentially, I took on more risk and more responsibility and spread myself thinner. There was literally no reward for it other than people thinking that I had a successful business.”
something, we needed to find another way to communicate our message,” Gordon said. Without knowing it, Ms. McElroy and Mme. Quinn imparted the same lesson: When you get stuck, work around it, and use what you know to find a creative solution to your problem. Gordon credits St. Mary’s with instilling in her the ability to wade through uncertainty and to accept that there is often more than one right answer or path. “I think that is something that St. Mary’s has always done ’00 well: teaching girls to own their experiences,” Gordon said. “Nobody’s going to do it for you. People are there to support you, help you, and give you the resources.” Gordon and her small team at Muddy’s still craft whimsically delicious baked goods, albeit on a limited scale. Downsizing has allowed Gordon’s vision to reinhabit the singular location on Broad Avenue, where she is able to love and serve customers face to face. Balancing work and life is something she and her staff are committed to, and they enjoy working as full versions of themselves instead of stand-ins who are spread thin. “You come to a certain point (in life) when: If it’s not an enthusiastic yes, then it’s ‘no,’” Gordon said.
“I think that is something that St. Mary’s has always done well: teaching girls to own their experiences. Nobody’s going to do it for you. People are there to support you, help you, and give you the resources.” Kat Gordon While spending all her energy making Muddy’s seem cozy and special, she became disconnected from the people she had aimed to love and serve. She tried to re-engage, but as the business grew, she felt farther away from the homey atmosphere she created for her customers. As she considered the path ahead, Gordon remembered an important lesson from Ms. Kathleen McElroy’s Lower School art classes: “No erasing allowed. If you make a mistake, you’ve got to figure out what to do and move forward.” In that spirit, Gordon wrote four plans, or visions, for Muddy’s: 1) shrink the business, 2) sell it, 3) close it, or 4) grow it. Ultimately, despite a fair amount of pushback, she went with option 1. Gordon also reflected on what she learned from the late Madame Nannette Quinn, who made learning French about so much more than memorizing vocabulary words. “She pushed us to understand that if we lost the exact word for
Courtney Shove ’96 is a marketing specialist at Confluent Strategies in Memphis. A Spirit of St. Mary’s Award recipient, she enjoys traveling, going out to breakfast, taking walks through the city’s many parks, and coercing friends into playing board games. She has an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Missouri –Columbia and a B.A. in Spanish from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
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Congratulations to the Class of 2021
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The 72 members of the Class of 2021: Earned acceptances to
134 colleges in the US and abroad.
Matriculated to
47
different colleges in
21 states, DC, and Canada.
Earned college scholarships
$15 million.
totaling over
86% are attending out-of-state colleges.
FALL 2021 | 1 3
class of 2021
Cathedral Award Fraser Johnston
Alumnae mothers with their graduating daughters: Margaret Craddock McLean ’91 with Meriwether; Amy Rhodes Johnston ’87 with Fraser; Hester Shipp Mathes’92 with Neeley; Allison Wellford Parker ’83 with Ellen; Margaret Frazier Gardner ’85 with Miriam; Sudha Nimmagadda Ganguli ’83 with Sadhika; and Laura Osborne Moody ’83 with Lizzie
Baccalaureate speaker Reverend Mimsy Jones with granddaughter Miriam Gardner and daughter Margaret Frazier Gardner ’85
Anjali Shah and parents Drs. Samir and Namrata Shah
Tabor Novak Award Caroline Gramm
Spirit of St. Mary’s
Faith Preston & Jennifer Ruffin 14 |
Graduates with their alumnae sisters: Maya and Jordan ’19 Gurley; Allie ’19 and Fraser Johnston; Saanya Srivastava and Swarna Sakshi ’16; Rebekah and Olivia ’17 Leventhal;Virginia ’11 and Faith Preston; Rachel, Sarah ’17, and Anna ’13 Taylor; Jessica and Jenna ’18 Joshi; Ellen, Annie ’16, and Katherine ’14 Parker; Margaret and Carmen ’15 Saab; Maddie ’14 and Sophie Droke; and Catherine and Emily ’20 Ferguson
class of 2021
Board of Trustees with their graduating daughters: Stephanie Linkous with Kathryn, Monica Skipper with Ansley, Brian Fowler with Evie, and Andy Mathes with Neeley
Mary M. Davis Loyalty Award Jessica Joshi & Madison Owens
Ellie Bridges Greenfield, Rachel Beem, Sophie Droke, Madeleine Lee, Kate Kiameh, Evie Fowler, Chloé Webster, Lizzie Moody, Ansley Skipper, Margaret Couloubaritsis, and Miriam Gardner
Hazelhurst Gold Cross Hallie Anderson
Ellen Feild Todd ’81 Award Ellen Parker
Faculty and staff mothers with their graduating daughters: South Campus Nurse Caroline Williams with Mary Caldwell, Director of Counseling Allison Wellford Parker ’83 with Ellen, CFO Lynn Isaacs with Laura, 5th grade teacher Stephanie Anderson with Hallie
Ellen with Porter Feild, Jane Feild, Erika Ross ’23, Josie Block ’24, and Isabella Tamburrino ’25 FALL 2021 | 1 5
class of 2021
Ellen Feild and flower girl Lillian Hedgepeth ’34 Junior Kindergarten teacher Lake Bailey with daughter Julia Scott ’34
Laura Yakoub, Lily Cloud, Caroline Gramm, Kate Floyd, Assistant Chaplain Rainey Ray Segars ’05, McKinley Gilmore, Chloe Young, Kate Shackelford, and Fraser Johnston
Kate Kiameh and Rachel Beem
Laura Yakoub and Rachel Taylor with flower girls Mary Knight ’32 and Caroline Knight ’33
Alumnae moms with their flower girl daughters: Susan Hearn Morgan ’90 and Evelyn ’33, Anna Snyder Rojas ’01 and Jane ’32, Anne-Morgan Brookfield Morgan ’99 with Mary Brooks ’32, Ashley Edge Adams ’08 with Kyser, Catherine Smith Denman ’06 with Adelaide ’33, Grace Jensen Knight ’05 with Mary ’32, Sudha Nimmagadda Ganguli ’83 with Sarada ’30, Courtney Taylor Humphreys ’01 with Annie ’34, Louise Chandler Biedenharn ’01 with Dorothy ’33, Murff Oats Galbreath ’95 with Mary Abby ’33, and Jenny Jones Savage ’99 with Maddie ’33, Alexia Fulgham Crump ’93 and Catherine ’34. 16 |
class of 2021
Faith Preston and Kate Weller with flower girl sister Liza Weller ’30
Sophie Droke and Jane Rojas ’32
Front: Kyla Kendrick and Madison Owens Back: Kalen Ingram, Daja Lee, and Jennifer Ruffin
Lane Wackerfuss and flower girl Ellen Gilless ’31
Emily Rogers, Lily Curlin, Anjali Shah, Ria Patel, and Laura Isaacs
Sadhika Ganguli with flower girl sister Sarada ’30 Lizzie Moody and Rachel Beem with flower girls Adelaide Denman ’33 and Mary Brooks Morgan ’32 FALL 2021 | 1 7
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Hallie Claire Anderson
Rachel Hannah Beem
Cecilia Carmichael Boswell
Destiny Petrice Brooks
Ruth Sorrells Callicott
Lily Jane Cloud
Kathleen Alexander Floyd
Genevieve Grace Fowler
Sadhika Nimmagadda Ganguli
Miriam Barr Gardner
McKinley Reese Gilmore
Suzanna Christian Ginn
Lily Claire Hanissian
Olivia Shannon Hankins
Madeleine Royer Hays
Virginia Aldrich Horton
Kalen Christine Ingram
Laura Sophia Isaacs
Madeleine Olivia Lee
Makenzie Jane Lester
Rebekah Kathryn Leventhal
Kathryn Penner Linkous
Olivia Marie Longsworth
Cornelia Jane Mathes
Rose Yasmin Rezaee
Emily Lauren Rogers
Jennifer Reece Ruffin
Margaret Mary Saab
Katherine Douglass Shackelford
Anjali Samir Shah
Lane Rose Wackerfuss
Emily Anne Weatherly
Chloé Evlyn Webster
Sydney Nicole Weiss
Katherine Falls Weller
Caroline Gardner White
Class of 2021 Margaret Anne Couloubaritsis
Lillian Morgan Curlin
Sophie Reed Droke
Louise Watkins Eubank
Ellen Miriam Feild
Catherine Elise Ferguson
Donna Grace Goodfellow
Sydney Dawn Graeter
Ashley Lynn Graflund
Caroline Beckham Gramm
Ellie Bridges Greenfield
Maya Rhea Gurley
Mary Fraser Johnston
Jessica Gerdes Joshi
Kyla DeAnna Kendrick
Kathryn Genevieve Kiameh
Amelia Rachel Kreher
Daja Mariah Lee
Margaret Meriwether McLean
Elizabeth Osborn Moody
Madison Shunte Owens
Ellen Wellford Parker
Ria Vikram Patel
Carolyn Faith Preston
Ansley Claire Skipper
Saanya Suchi Srivastava
Emily Eve Taylor
Rachel Michel Taylor
Ella Page Trotz
Ansley Claire Turner
Mary Caldwell Williams
Jada Katie Marie Williamson
Laura Yakoub
Rachel See-Kei Yeung
Tiffany Hojin Yoo
Chloe Lauren Young FALL 2021 | 1 9
CAMPUS NEWS
Early Childhood
2020-21 Student Awards and Honors
Senior Kindergarteners share a special memory or lesson learned from the school year at graduation.
Lower School Lila Phillips Gould Award: Mamie Bush ’28
The class of 2028 celebrates completing the 5th grade.
The class of 2025 is ready to join the Upper School.
Middle School Joyous Christian Living Award: Addie Dombroski ’25 and Elle Fowler ’25 Carmine B. Vaughn Service Award: Isabella Tamburrino ’25 and Mollie Wexler ’25 Gilmore Lynn Christian Service Award: Eshaal Hassan ’25 Anne Westmoreland Garrett Award: Erin Dambrie ’26 20 |
Ellen Feild Todd ’81 Scholar: Celine Kim ’26 Geoffrey C. Butler Honor Prize: Kate Wolfkill ’25 Vicki Ladyman Athletic Award: Claudia Ribeiro ’25 Mary Paoli Award: Lily Mirza ’25
Upper School Patti Person Ray ’65 Citizenship: Amsey Liebenow ’24, Sofia Arbelaez ’23, Lucy Nassif ’22, and Evie Fowler ’21 Betty Lou Stidham Service Award: Kyla Kendrick ’21 Community Service Award: Fraser Johnston ’21 Donna Osborne Bradley ’74 Award: Kate Kiameh ’21 Vicki Ladyman Athletic Award: Laurel Lund ’24 Lawrence Lobaugh Sportsmanship Award: Hallie Anderson ’21 and Faith Preston ’21 Sumner Baker Athletic Award: Lizzie Moody ’21 and Emily Taylor ’21 Best All-Around Athlete Award: Virginia Horton ’21 and Jessica Joshi ’21 12-Season Athlete Award: Kalen Ingram ’21 Award of Excellence: Maggie Kustoff ’24, Naisha Gaur ’23, Arden Miller ’23, Mary Claire Carney ’22, and Hita Mohan ’22 Drs. Raghavia and Indira Nimmagadda Intellectual Curiosity Award: Ansley Skipper ’21
St. Mary’s welcomes 39 new inductees into the National Honor Society. The organization recognizes students who excel academically, serve their communities, and lead by example. In April, we inducted new members into the Cum Laude Society, the most selective organization at St. Mary’s. New members include Mary Claire Carney ’22, Carrington Davis ’22, Maggie McFadden ’22, Audrey Mirth ’22, Ellen Feild ’21, McKinley Gilmore ’21, Ria Patel ’21, Margaret Saab ’21, Anjali Shah ’21, and Rachel Yeung ’21. Membership is granted to students who have achieved superior academic records.
86 juniors and seniors who have exhibited outstanding achievement, character, service, and leadership were inducted into the Beta Club.
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CAMPUS NEWS Athletics Track & Field
Varsity Track capped off a great season as the runner-up champion in the DII-AA region. The season was full of incredible performances by team members including Lizzie Moody ’21, who broke the school record in the 3200 meters with a time of 11:26.
Emmie Infeld ’24
Mia Soefker ’23 and Mila Szatkowski ’24
Cross Country
Jessica Joshi ’21 made school history with a record setting 19:00 5K. Jessica will continue her impressive athletic career at Rhodes College where she is signed to run cross country and track.
Lacrosse
Tennis
Varsity Tennis enjoyed a great season. Claudia Ribeiro ’25 showed that the team has a bright future ahead.
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Congratulations to Varsity Lacrosse for winning the first-ever lacrosse state championship in school history. The team was recognized for their outstanding season by multiple media outlets. Virginia Horton ’21 was named the Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year by The Commercial Appeal and The Daily Memphian. Coach and Athletic Director John Bartholomew was named Lacrosse Coach of the Year by The Commercial Appeal and The Daily Memphian. Carrington Davis ’22, Virginia Horton ’21, Rebekah Leventhal ’21, Amelia Quinlen ’22, and Emily Taylor ’21 were named Varsity Lacrosse All-Region Players. Middle School Lacrosse had an impressive showing at the West Tennessee Girls Lacrosse League Tournament, finishing in 2nd place.
Preparing girls to change the world
For 175 years, St. Mary’s Episcopal School has helped girls discover their strengths, develop resilience, and explore what’s possible. Today, our alumnae are making the world a better place thanks to the skills they learned here. When you support the St. Mary’s Fund, you’re helping girls reach their highest potential.
The St. Mary’s Fund ensures that each girl has all she needs to learn, grow, and thrive. Your gift provides our girls with things like:
$250
costumes to encourage imaginative play
$400
class set of leadership books
$750
professional development conference for one teacher
$800
lunch for one student for the entire school year
$1,000
hands-on tools for learning math skills
$3,000
all-day visioning retreat for seniors
and so much more!
Give today. stmarysschool.org/giving FALL 2021 | 2 3
CAMPUS NEWS
Faculty and Staff
2020-21 Awards
Nanette Quinn Outstanding Teacher: Patti Person Ray ’65, US History/Government Teacher Gold Cross Award: Sallie Harris, Interim Head of Early Childhood Apple Award: Rachel Davis, Bus Driver & Facilities Coordinator and Marisa Smalley, US Spanish Teacher Fannie Warr Award: Cindi Younker, Director of Programs, Buckman Center Gilmore Lynn Award: Katherine McQuiston Bush ’93, Chaplain & Director of Religious Studies Ellen Feild Todd ’81 Staff Award: Amanda Hendren, Accounts Payable & Payroll Manager
Retirements
We said goodbye to five beloved St. Mary’s faculty and staff members who retired in May. We appreciate their dedication and contributions to school over the years. They will be dearly missed and forever part of our St. Mary’s family.
Kathleen Cousins 4th Grade Grammar & Language Arts Teacher 18 years of service
Debbie Kuykendall 3rd Grade Teacher 38 years of service
Middle School history teacher Andrea Zimmerman received the Creative Teacher Award presented by the Alumnae Association.
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Beverly Peterson Administrative to Head of School 24 years of service
Marisa Smalley US Spanish Teacher 24 years of service
Josie McNeely Walker ’76 US Spanish Teacher 37 years of service
St. Mary’s welcome 20 new members of the faculty and staff.
New Faculty & Staff
We are excited to welcome 20 new faculty and staff members to our St. Mary’s family. This impressive cohort of colleagues has a diverse array of experiences and backgrounds. Please welcome:
Brandy Brown, Upper School French Teacher
Mason Brown, Assistant Director of College Counseling
Beverly Brooks, Director of College Counseling
Lauren Cannon, Early Childhood Art Teacher
Alison Ederle, First Grade Teacher
Jauna Ellis, Early Childhood Music Teacher
Courtney Gillespie, Freshman Biology Teacher
Grady Harbor, Upper School Spanish Teacher
Leanne Hinkle, Middle School French Teacher
Sarah Kerst, Upper School Spanish Teacher
Briana Morrow, Auxiliary Programs Coordinator
Mary Jensen Nease ’10, Health Center Nurse
Jessica Osias, Fifth Grade Teacher
Jennifer Parris, Director of Communication
Crystal Spillyards, Middle School English Teacher
Elizabeth Ray Third Grade Teacher
Carrie Vaughan, Philanthropy Manager
Reed Vergos, Pre-Kindergarten Teacher
Ainsley Willis, Assistant Director of Communication
Claire Zagrodzky, Middle School English Teacher FALL 2021 | 2 5
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SUSAN ROBERTS COLPITTS ’75 Susan Roberts Colpitts ’75 recently retired from a career as a CPA, financial advisor, and entrepreneur. She lives in Norfolk,Virginia, as well as the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Colpitts is the Board Chair of the Virginia Humanities and the Norfolk Department of Social Services Advisory Committee and volunteers for Hampton Roads Community Foundation and United for Children. She is the founder of Signature Family Wealth Advisors as Chief of Client Experience and an expert in the technical areas of financial, tax, trust, and estate planning. Research magazine recognized her as one of five members of the 2012 Advisor Hall of Fame; she was also honored as the 2011 Volunteer of the Year by United Way of South Hampton Roads and as a 2009 Woman of Distinction in Finance by the YWCA of South Hampton Roads. In 2004, Worth magazine identified Colpitts as one of the 100 top wealth advisers in the country. In 2021,Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities recognized her with their Humanitarian Award. Colpitts and her husband Norman are the parents of three adult daughters.
LARRY JENSEN Larry Jensen is Chairman and Principal of Cushman & Wakefield Commercial Advisors Partners. During his 40-year career in commercial real estate, industry peers recognized him as Commercial Broker of the Year, Office Broker of the Year, and Office Leasing Broker of the Year. Jensen currently serves on the National Board of Directors for Ducks Unlimited and as a trustee of the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation for Tennessee. Jensen served on the St. Mary’s Board of Trustees from 2008-2012 and as Vice-Chair in 2011. He also served on the University of Memphis Board of Visitors and the Fogelman College of Business Board of Advisors. He was President of Memphis Tomorrow, Chair of the Methodist Healthcare Foundation, and the University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences Chancellor’s Roundtable. Jensen spent over 10 years on the founding Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee of Shelby Farms Park Conservancy, where he served as Vice-Chair and Committee Chair for park operations. Jensen and his wife Leesa are the parents of three children: Grace Jensen Knight ’05 (St. Mary’s Events Coordinator and mom of Mary ’32), Luke Jensen (dad of Lila ’34), and Mary Jensen Nease ’10 (Health Center Nurse and mom of Nora ’36).
ROBERTA NEVIL KUSTOFF Roberta Nevil Kustoff has practiced law since earning her Juris Doctor in 1998 at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. She now serves as a board member for the State of Tennessee Board of Parole. Kustoff is the Corresponding Secretary of the Purdue Center of Hope, Liaison for the Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary Board, and is a member of the Congressional Club Museum and Foundation. Kustoff also serves on Parents Associations for both St. Mary’s and St. Dominic Schools. She is a member of the Tennessee and Memphis Bar Associations, the Association of Women Attorneys of Memphis, and the Memphis Estate Planning Council. She has also volunteered through Subsidium. Kustoff and her husband David are the parents of Jake and Maggie ’24.
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FLOYD TYLER Floyd Tyler, Ph.D., is President and CIO of Preserver Partners, LLC, an SEC-registered alternative asset management firm based in Memphis. Previously, he was a Partner and Director of Research at Gerber/Taylor Capital Advisors. He served as an Assistant Professor of Finance at The University of Memphis and Instructor of Economics at The University of Tennessee. Tyler holds a B.B.A. in Economics from The University of Tennessee and graduate degrees from Carnegie Mellon University (M.S. in Public Management and Policy) and The Florida State University (Ph.D. in Finance). He received the Chartered Financial Analyst designation (CFA Institute) in 2000. Tyler is a former board member of Tri-State Bank of Memphis, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, LifeBlood Foundation, Methodist Healthcare Foundation, Le Bonheur Foundation, Sickle Cell Advisory Council, BRIDGES, and Gestalt Community Charter Schools. He has been active on the University of Tennessee Alumni Board of Governors, University of Tennessee Martin Business Advisory Council, Memphis/Shelby County Community Redevelopment Agency, Memphis Shelby County Growth Alliance, and the Christian Community Foundation. Tyler is the father of Rian Tyler ’24.
JENNILYN JENNINGS UTKOV ’77 Jennilyn Jennings Utkov ’77 is Vice President Community Outreach for Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare. After receiving her nursing degree, she began her career at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital Emergency Department. She has 25 years of experience in healthcare marketing and communications in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. She returned to Le Bonheur in 2005 where she led the hospital’s marketing and communications efforts for 10 years. Utkov assumed responsibility for Methodist Le Bonheur’s community programs in 2015. Utkov is an active member of The Church of the Holy Communion, a member of St. Mary’s Alumnae Board, and the Junior League of Memphis. She serves on the boards of Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital Foundation and Methodist Le Bonheur Community Outreach. Utkov has two adult sons, George and Nathan.
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! k c a B e m o c l We
h ary’s 175t M . t S e t a d r ok forwar d to celeb o l e t i e c x W . e s e u r We a r on camp e h t e ions and g t i o t d a r r a t e e y h l t schoo y’s ating in e St. Mar d a to particip m e v a es that h to lear n s l r i g r u exper ienc o l place for a i c e p s a such . and thr ive
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FALL 2021 | 2 9
Making Their Mark Junior Georgia Carls
and Jean Jackson ’17 recognized for short films
Touch, a Love Story As long as Georgia Carls can remember, she’s been
the school’s video publication. The simple homemade videos have morphed into polished short films. Carls’ short film, “Touch,” will
creating videos. It started with short films featuring her
be recognized by Indie Memphis Youth Film Festival
family using her iPad. Then she moved on to creating a
on Sept. 18 at the Malco Paradiso. In August, she
YouTube channel and working with St. Mary’s Bella Vista,
premiered the film at the Buckman Performing Arts Center on campus. WKNO host Christopher Blank hosted a Q & A with Carls afterward. “Touch” is a love story about a man and his wife as they age from young children to adults. “It’s a story of love, loss, and continuing. I was inspired by Daft Punk’s song ‘Touch.’ Whenever I would listen to it, I could see this vivid story in my head I felt the need to share,” Carls said. “I hope people feel all the emotions I put into this project. I hope they feel the love between the two characters, the grief of the man, and the acceptance between both of them.” Carls says the support from St. Mary’s faculty and staff pushed her to explore her passion. “Ms. Bielskis ’89 [Bella Vista sponsor and Upper School English teacher] taught me a lot about creating on a team and working with deadlines,” Carls said. She also interned with St. Mary’s Philanthropy Office last school year. “This
Junior Georgia Carls’ film premiered at the Indie Memphis Youth Film Festival at the Malco Paradiso.
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gave me the opportunity to hone my skills and meet people who could help me learn and grow. Because of St. Mary’s, my journey with film and videography has been successful, and I am so grateful.” Carls hopes to study film in college. Follow St. Mary’s Facebook and Instagram pages to see Carls’ short film when available online.
The Nest, a Gentle Call to Action Jean Jackson ’17 says St. Mary’s nurtured her confidence. She funneled that experience into a short film, “The Nest,” about taking a leap of faith. Jackson was recently honored as one of four emerging filmmakers by Beats By Dre for the Black Futures Program, an initiative that highlights black creative voices and art. “‘The Nest’ is a gentle call to action to take a leap of faith even if it is scary. When we have the courage to venture into the unknown, the freedom that comes from that is often so fruitful and so full of beauty,” Jackson said. “We can choose to stay where we are, in a space that is comforting yet stagnant, or we can explore whatever else is out there and grow into an even stronger version of ourselves.” Jackson says the encouragement she received at St. Mary’s helped her find her voice as a woman. “I grew up in an academic space with so many
Jean Jackson ’17 was honored as one of four emerging filmmakers by Beats By Dre for the Black Futures Program, an initiative that highlights black creative voices and art.
amazing, strong, and courageous classmates and teachers. I never really realized how much the sense
Jackson was joined by her family and St. Mary’s
of community I found in the women around me or
friends as she debuted “The Nest” this summer at the
how those relationships bled into the films I make,”
Hattiloo Theatre.
Jackson said. Jackson had the full support of the Beats team
“Seeing as Hattiloo is an epicenter for black art in Memphis, I felt so honored that
from beginning to end as she created “The Nest.” She
my directorial debut would take place here,”
traveled to LA to work on the post-production process,
Jackson said.
which involves editing and sound design. Jackson said it was a treat to have Carmen Freeman ’17 serve as a production assistant during the shoot.
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PUBLIC S E RVA N T S St. Mary’s Alumnae Take on Roles in the Federal Government
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hether fighting for students, negotiating international trade deals, or working to combat terrorism, Jasmine Bolton ’07, Joan Hurst ’83, and Kathryn Morisy ’07 exemplify what it means to lead a career of service. Each woman took a unique path to find a career that allowed her to pursue her passions while committing to serve others and our community.
she applied to work for Senator Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 presidential campaign. “I thought it’d be a cool experience, but I didn’t actually think it would happen,” Bolton said. “Those are difficult jobs to get, and I didn’t know anyone.” Much to her surprise, Bolton was hired as a policy analyst on the Warren campaign—helping to develop the Senator’s policy platform on key issues like criminal justice reform and education. Bolton’s time on a Advocating for Equity presidential campaign led her down in Education a new path and further deepened her interest in policy. Jasmine Bolton ’07, Senior Counsel, Office for Civil Jasmine Bolton ’07 had no When the hard-fought campaign Rights for the Department of Education intention of becoming a lawyer like ended, and the world was experiencing her father. She did, however, desire the devasting effects of a global an associate for a large law firm and as to follow the example of her father and pandemic, Bolton understandably needed a clerk for a judge in Memphis before pursue a career in public service. time off to recover, regroup, and once finding an opportunity to do the work she “People put pressure on me to be again consider what the next phase of had always envisioned doing with the like my dad,” Bolton said. “If you are a her career would be. After a six-month Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in young woman who is smart and articulate, New Orleans. As a fellow with the SPLC, break, she accepted a position with The people expect you to be a lawyer. It’s Bail Project, a nonprofit that covers bails Bolton focused on children’s rights— frustrating because there are a billion for those who need assistance while fighting for educational equity, working different ways to use those skills.” also working to eliminate bail in certain to end the school to prison pipeline, and After considering her options after districts and jurisdictions. A few months protecting children’s access to health and graduating from Harvard, Bolton ended into her new position, she received a mental health services. up right where she vowed she wouldn’t “That was the first time be, in law school. I got to be involved with “I thought about what I like to do, developing policy. Once I got what made sense for me, and how to the bug, I couldn’t shake it,” use my skills. I knew I wanted a career said Bolton. that allowed me to ask questions that are The policy bug piqued challenging and important,” Bolton’s interest in working Bolton recalled. for a political campaign. At Jasmine Bolton ’07, Senior Counsel, Office for Civil Rights for the Department of Education After law school, Bolton worked as the suggestion of a colleague,
“St. Mary’s taught me to push myself. I learned exactly what I was capable of and that I am a smart, capable woman.”
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surprising phone call from President Biden’s transition team asking her to consider joining the Department for Education’s Office for Civil Rights. She was again surprised but thrilled when she was offered the position. The Office for Civil Rights within the Department for Education exists to ensure equal access to quality education by enforcing laws and developing policies that prevent discrimination. The Office protects the civil rights of students of all races, colors, national origins, genders, sexual orientations, and students with Joan Hurst ’83, Director for Agricultural Affairs at disabilities. As Senior Legal Counsel, the Office of the U.S.Trade Representative Bolton says her job is “whatever is University and over ten years of asked of me to support the Assistant experience as a consultant, Hurst “was Secretary. It’s the first job I have ever ready for something different and more had without a job description.” So far, it substantive.” She moved to Washington, has meant leading initiatives and serving DC from the Midwest, and earned a on various subcommittees critical to the master’s degree in public policy with an mission of the Office. emphasis on international trade at George As a St. Mary’s student from Mason University. She joined USDA’s kindergarten to graduation, Bolton Foreign Agricultural Service credits her time at SMS with preparing as an international economist her to take on whatever opportunity or focusing on World Trade challenge she encounters. Even with an Organization negotiations and undergraduate degree from Harvard and a later on China. Hurst then law degree from Columbia, Bolton insists moved to the White House’s that she never worked as hard as she did Office of the U.S. Trade at St. Mary’s until she got her first job Representative (USTR), where at a law firm. “St. Mary’s taught me to she has worked for the last push myself. I learned exactly what I was ten years. capable of and that I am a smart, capable Hurst negotiates woman. My St. Mary’s experience was agreements with trading integral to me developing the confidence to partners on agricultural say that and to live that.” issues. She’s been part of the U.S. delegation to the WTO agriculture Representing Farmers at negotiations and has led specific issue the Negotiation Table negotiations with China, Morocco, and several Middle Eastern countries. Hurst Spending time on her grandparents’ says she reminds herself to pause and farm and leading St. Mary’s Model remember where she’s been. UN delegation were the first steps in “I have been in WTO conference Joan Hurst ’83 journey to a career in rooms in Geneva at midnight hashing out international trade policy. the details of a tariff negotiation, and spent In 2000, armed with a degree many late nights talking to China about in East Asian studies from Brown
agriculture issues. I also spent 12-hour days in Morocco as we hammered agreements for beef and poultry access to Morocco’s market. When I go to interesting places around the world, I hope to find an hour in the evening to walk around, take in local color, and taste the cuisine,” she said. As the granddaughter of farmers, Hurst became interested in agriculture and trade when she was young. “Some of my fondest memories from childhood were watching my grandfather harvest peaches and going to the old farmers market with my grandmother and mother to buy a bushel of purple-hull pink eye peas to shell. As a college exchange student in Taiwan, I met many small business owners interested in trade to better their livelihoods. The best part of my work is solving trade issues that help farmers, like those I grew up with, in the Mid-South and all over the country,” she said.
“Having a strong foundation in the liberal arts allowed me to understand, communicate, and discuss complex issues clearly and with nuance.” Joan Hurst ’83, Director for Agricultural Affairs, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Hurst says her time at St. Mary’s prepared her for the complexities of international trade. “Having a strong foundation in the liberal arts allowed me to understand, communicate, and discuss complex issues clearly and with nuance,” Hurst said. “At St. Mary’s, I had an in-depth science education and developed a love of biology, which has been very helpful, for example, in my negotiations on food safety
FALL 2021 | 3 3
standards. These skills are important for communicating scientific concepts in agriculture to policymakers and informing policies and decision-making.” It was not only the rigor of the St. Mary’s curriculum that prepared Hurst; it was the encouraging environment of SMS where her curiosity was cultivated.
A Well-Traveled Road to Counterterrorism Agency Since her days at St. Mary’s, Kathryn Morisy ’07 has always been a history buff with an avid interest in current affairs. As an Upper School student, her favorite courses were AP History and Global Issues. “My teachers encouraged my passion for global affairs. I felt I could pursue that as a career, even if I didn’t know what that looked like at the time,” she said. Morisy’s passion earned her an opportunity to study and work in Jordan as a Fulbright Fellow during the Arab Spring, launching an interest in international security and counterterrorism. Morisy then began her DC career at an international think-tank before rotating through various government agencies. “I decided to make the most of being in DC and interned for Congress, the State Department, and the Defense Department to try different things. After I finished graduate school, I was selected as a Presidential Management Fellow. The fellows work in different jobs around the federal government to build greater interagency understanding and knowledge.” With a wealth of experiences
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“I’ve applied so much of the knowledge learned at St. Mary’s in my work and life, particularly reading and writing at a high level … Having an early emphasis on language and creating arguments was invaluable to my development.” Kathryn Morisy ’07, Strategist, National Counterterrorism Center
and a strong understanding of multiple government agencies, Morisy knew exactly what she wanted to do in the next phase of her career. She recalled her time in the Middle East that sparked her long-held desire to be a counterterrorism strategist. Her understanding of different federal agencies proved valuable when she began working for the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). At the NCTC, Morisy works to inform and integrate the work of the different departments on
Kathryn Morisy ’07, Strategist for the National Counterterrorism Center
counterterrorism issues in the Middle East. She and her team work with various agencies, as well as the White House, to develop strategies and plans and ensure that counterterrorism efforts are synchronized across the federal government. Morisy attributes St. Mary’s with helping her develop the analytical and communication skills critical to doing her job well. “I’ve applied so much of the knowledge learned at St. Mary’s in my work and life, particularly reading and writing at a high level. Those are skills you’ll continue to hone throughout your career, but having an early emphasis on language and creating arguments was invaluable to my development. I also appreciate that our history classes encouraged us to think critically about how historical events relate to each other and the present.”
GUARANTEED TO THRILL, CHILL, AND ENTERTAIN
Join us for these remarkable shows
Monday, October 25 | Blind Boys of Alabama Friday, November 5, 2021 | Kaki King: Guitar Movement Friday, December 3, 2021 | Nutcracker: Land of Sweets Friday, January 7 to Monday, February 21, 2022 | things we carry: Lauren Cannon and Robyn Gridley Nickell Tuesday, January 18, 2022 | The Watkins Family Hour Sunday, January 23, 2022 | An Evening with Bill Frisell Friday, January 28, 2022 | Matsuriza Taiko Friday, February 4, 2022 | Jonathan Edwards Friday, February 25 to Saturday, April 2, 2022 | Waves of Change: Fused Glass Works by Christie Stratton Moody ’71 Thursday, March 3, 2022 | An Evening with Oleta Adams Thursday, March 24, 2022 | Fairytales on Ice Tuesday, April 12, 2022 | Ailey II Friday, May 13, 2022 | Oh, the Places We’ll Go: a Ballet de Seuss
For details leap to: www.buckmanartscenter.com FALL 2021 | 3 5
ALUMNAE
We connected near and far! Alumnae Weekend 2021 Our time together was a little
different this year, but it was so good to see your faces! Thank you for joining us in person and virtually from around the country for Alumnae Weekend 2021. Elizabeth Schatz Passarella ’95 led a discussion about her book
Senior Class President Jessica Joshi ’21 and Student Council President Jennifer Ruffin ’21 lead the Alumnae Weekend Chapel processional.
Good Apple: Tales of a Southern Evangelical in New York. Outstanding Alumna recipient Kat Gordon ’00 led a Bake-A-Long featuring her deluxe chocolate chip cookies. We’re looking forward to seeing you this spring on campus! Save the date for Alumnae Weekend, March 30–April 2, 2022.
Head of School Albert Throckmorton with Outstanding Alumna Kat Gordon ’00 at Alumnae Weekend.
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Alumnae Weekend committee chairs Lauran Glassman Stimac ’00, Anna Snyder Rojas ’01, Laurin Maddux ’98, Kat Gordon ’00, and Elizabeth Simpson Alrutz ’82.
Members of the Class of 2000 at Alumnae Weekend Chapel honoring their classmate Outstanding Alumna Kat Gordon. Whitney Baer Foster, Lauran Glassman Stimac, Amy Reinhardt Robinson, Mary-Kathryn Millner Herrington, Kat, Carrie Larson Wills, and Lisa Ansley Clapper.
ALUMNAE
Courtney Taylor Humphreys ’01, Jenny Maddux Stenberg ’01, Emily Harris Halpern ’01, and Chancey Thompson show off the cookies they made during the Alumnae Weekend Bake-A-Long.
1983
Beth Shores, Kat Gordon ’00 and David Shores at Alumnae Weekend Chapel.
1986 Members of Class of 1986: Jean Vaughan McGhee, Elizabeth Cashman Dickinson, Irene McDonnell Ayotte, Liz Whitsitt McEwan, and Helen Scheidt Gronauer.
1983 classmates (left to right): Posey Saunders Cochrane, Lela Bellows Simpson-Gerald, Bonnie Bolton Lopez, Liza Johnston, Allison Wellford Parker, and Margaret Jones Fraser.
1996 The Class of 1996 celebrated their 25th reunion. Left to right: Laura Ray Logue, Gwyn Fisher, Courtney Shove, Jamie Cara Mathis, Julia Chesney McDonald, and Catherine Tracy Sloan.
2005 The Class of 2005 gathered for their 15th reunion at Grace Jensen Knight’s house. Left to right: Grace, Faye Kenner Rainer, Sarah Atkinson Ball, Collin Wilson Buckner, Lauren Wiygul Riley, Catie Jane Berger Myers, and Laura Blount.
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CL ASS NOTES
1963
Canon Thomas Hall
J
ackie Whiteleather (CO) is looking forward to hiking and camping this summer and grateful for the vaccinations. Sara Sorsby Dennis (CA) is thankful to have survived Covid and celebrated early April with going out to dinner! Sara is enjoying Spring, her family and walks with her dogs. Carolyn Collier Johnson (MS) happily reports that she has survived this year sitting on her porch, working in her yard, loving her two cats and playing addictive computer games. Jenny Emison Ewing (TN) reports she and her husband were vaccinated early in the year and went to Hilton Head for a great time with family. Jenny is an avid gardener. Donna Lansing Copp (TN) has used her time producing wonderful artwork, especially great paintings of her grandchildren and doing some travel. As for me (Canon Thomas Hall), my husband and I have had our vaccination weeks ago, which enabled us to expand our “bubble” to include our children and grandchildren for which we are so grateful. I assume the classmates that I didn’t hear from are vaccinated and busy getting on with normal life.
1965
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Patti Person Ray
e had a small but enthusiastic group join our virtual 55th reunion party. It was wonderful to see Kathy Sweany Bertram, Ellen Rumsey Bellenot, and Cathy Hoover Allen. Kathy Sweany Bertram is still practicing medicine, but she has reduced her time at the office to three days a week. Even with that, this has been an unusually tough year for her professionally. She plans to return this summer to WY for her vacation as she has done for many years, but was not able to last summer. Ellen Rumsey Bellenot’s creative juices are still flowing as strongly as ever. She is making fantastic jewelry and continues to take classes in her artforms. Also, if you are friends with Ellen on Facebook, you have seen her resident
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possum who now trusts Ellen so much that she will eat out of Ellen’s hand! Cathy Hoover Allen has retired, but retirement has not started off as she planned. She has been dealing with some health issues, with the latest being emergency surgery. She is home now and recovering well. Please send positive thoughts her way for a full and speedy recovery. Joyce Burkett Scruggs wrote to me that she hated missing our virtual gathering, but she was in the Destin area with all the females in her family for a baby shower at the beach to celebrate the upcoming birth of her great-grandchild—a girl! I am still teaching and loving every minute. I still have my graduate school classes, but I am also back at St. Mary’s teaching three AP classes. What a joy to work with these amazing girls in the classroom! I continue to lead the St. Mary’s Alumnae and Friends trips every other year. This year, Cathy Allen will join me (Cathy has not missed one of our trips yet!) as we go with Tauck Tours to Cape Cod and Newport, R.I. in October. It would be so great to have more members of our class go on these trips, so mark your calendars for October of 2023 when we will tour Ireland! I hope everyone is doing well and managing during these difficult times. My best to all of you!
1967
S
Bette West Bush
ince our class valedictorian’s passing in February from non-smoker’s lung cancer, we are all still in shock. Debbie Boehme Salter was such a huge part of our class, having matriculated at St. Mary’s from kindergarten through the 12th grade. Another 13-year St. Mary’s girl, Jeannie Whitman Esdaile, lost her husband Christopher in February. Signe Magnuson Spenser enjoys suburban living with places to walk, family, and a “sweetheart” nearby. She had two of her three daughters and families over for Easter and is still employed at Korn Ferry doing personal and organizational research. Shelley Smith proudly announces not only the birth of her first grandchild, Cora Maeve Gatziolis, to son William and his wife Annie in Briarcliff Manor, NY, but
also the opportunity to visit them and see their granddaughter. Shelley is also brave enough to tackle a total kitchen remodel and whole first floor renovation. As she says, “There’s no fool like an old fool.” Janie Allen Till was able to spend the pandemic in her “family pod” of two sons, their wives, and six of her grandchildren, starting her own little school, teaching 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th grades. She and husband Bob plan to visit their youngest son and family in Minnesota over the summer. Lynn Bledsoe Buhler and husband Jon have a new address, moving to the Woodlands in Memphis after many years in their “old Midtown home.” They now have a “tiny but perfectly beautiful walled garden” and an elevator. Margaret Barton is helping to get the old home ready for sale. Dottie Parish Peterson reports that her only exciting news is having her cataracts removed. Thanks, Dottie, for reminding us of how old we are. Anne Hyde Dale still loves walking the hills and mountains around her home and says that they take a weekly trip to town to the Aldi in Asheville. I have two pieces of news to report: one good and one not so good. My youngest brother Roy and his wife, Cheryl Cape West ’74 had a family wedding in their yard, when their youngest, Cullen, married Daria on April 24. My sister, Marion West Hammer ’65, learned that her oldest grandchild, Caleb (11) has osteosarcoma, which fortunately has not spread (Hallelujah!). He started his first round of chemotherapy at St. Jude on April 23. May God continue to bless us all and be merciful to us.
1971
T
Carolyn Cockroft
he Class of ’71 became proficient Zoomers prior to their quasi-50th class reunion, thanks to Jean Schelhorn and her technical expertise! We completed six virtual meetings, and within five weeks we located ALL but three classmates for whom we continue the quest to find. As one of us observed, “We probably wouldn’t be getting together like this if it was just coming to Memphis for the reunion.” How true! Deborah Abernathy is the executive
CL ASS NOTES director for the non-profit Main Street West Memphis, which falls under the National Historic Preservation Society. They receive grants from the state to help businesses and property owners maintain and upgrade their properties. Carolyn Landsee Dear and husband David live in Pensacola, FL, and head to Destin whenever possible. They served as chairs of the Pensacola Opera Ball. Carolyn also belongs to Impact 100, a group that raises money for charitable causes. David and she work with Public Television sponsorships and events as well. Judi Hoffman and husband Matt moved back to Memphis last August when Judi was appointed to serve as lead pastor at St. John’s UMC in Midtown. They bought their house on-line because it was on the same street (LeMaster) as Judi’s grandparents’ house. Sara Jones has worked for 30 years as a marriage and family therapist in private practice. Except for a small private practice, she has been happily retired for eight years. Her happiest news is that during covid lockdown she decided to give herself the gift of health. She wanted to stay mobile and able to live alone so she joined a medical weight loss program. She lost 65 pounds in six months. Within another year she hopes to lose another 40 to 50. Avery Malone Kaserman began 2020 by listening and clogging to husband Joel’s band at Celtic Crossing, Memphis. Daughter Julia, an adult with special needs, enjoyed riding horses at Southern Reins Center for Equine Therapy. Seeing her ride safely and happily away from her wheelchair gives Avery and Joel great joy. During the pandemic, Avery tired of watching TV and began watching young hawks learning to fly above her house. One morning she observed an adult barn owl perched on a tree close to her window and now she sees him often. Sister Julia Malone ’65 hosted a Fun Murder Mystery Zoom family reunion. Bond Nunn Moore and husband Jim spend time between Memphis and Sea Island, GA. Jim enjoys golfing, and Bond hopes to resume her tennis when she no longer must wear a mask. Daughter Minor Moore ’06 is still in Nashville and teaches 3rd grade remotely. Bond sometimes sees Marietta Canale Haaga and husband Fletcher. Jan Muirhead and husband Larry live in Nashville. She has two stepchildren: Marg, who lives in Chicago and Matt,
daughter-in-law Jess, and granddaughter Madeline, age one, who live in Philadelphia. Jan and Larry hope to visit all of them this summer. After 45 years as a nurse with 25 years as a nurse practitioner, Jan retired at the end of 2020. Larry also retired. They have two 14-year-old Westie dogs. As a hobby, Jan is studying chess online. Jean Schelhorn delayed retirement to continue helping the Ohio State University College Of Veterinary Medicine researchers translate their virology capability, insights and discoveries into COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics into the market. She reports it has been an incredible time to be a researcher and to work on and help with significant global needs. If you want to talk SARS-CoV-2 reach out to Jean. Jenny Jones Wardwell says that Zoom exercise classes and lectures/ presentations and online bridge have “pulled me through this pandemic.” In the summer husband Fred and she will visit northern NY on Lake Ontario, as usual. The whole extended family gathers there—son Jeff with wife and babies and daughter Kate, plus numerous Wardwell cousins. Christie Stratton Moody and her family had an amazing two weeks on Oahu and Maui visiting son Devin and fiancé Nicole. They traveled with daughter Gwyneth, her husband Daniel, and two granddaughters. They enjoyed lots of waterfall hikes and beach time. Like many of my classmates, 2020 was a turning point for my family. Husband Chris had to stop traveling and began working from home. While most of my activities—such as church music, teaching piano, playing with our band and at a retirement home—came to a halt, I still continued my pastoral care ministry as a board member of the Community of Hope International. We established 15 new centers in 2020; obviously there was a need for this type of service during a time of struggle, grief and loss for many people. Chris and I had to cancel a family cruise with my sister Alice Cockroft Oates ‘67 and her husband Jack, we have missed seeing our children and grandchildren; however, we came to treasure our time alone together at home, posting music duets on Facebook, and rediscovering our relationship and what we mean to each other. My wish for my classmates and all SMS women: May 2021 be a year of happiness, harmony and peace!
1973
Olivia Montgomery
Annie Armour Morgret and husband Chuck did the Covid thing and bought a camper in 2020. That year, they visited 18 states and last summer, their plan was to hit the road again going west in June, then doing a 180 and motoring through Maine and the east coast. If they were successful, Annie will have visited every state except Hawaii and Alabama. When not on the road, they foster dogs. Sarah Peeples Hodges became a newly minted YiaYia (grandmother) last year and this year made the pilgrimage to Florida to get a look-see at the little girl, Fiona Elizabeth. While there, she had lunch with Beth Brady Belcher, who lives nearby. Nell Dickerson writes novels and takes pictures. Last June, she completed her fourth trip to Africa and her 13th photography safari. She prays her first novel will be published soon. Nell also participates in endangered species conservation and manages several projects to empower under-represented and/or indigenous people. Please follow her adventures on Instagram @nelldickerson or her website: nelldickerson.com By the time you read this, Anne Atkinson Fields and husband Mark will have traveled to Iceland for their first trip since the pandemic started. They are really excited that they are able to travel again, and plan to make up for lost time. Speaking of travel, also on the road to Montana this fall were Deb Caldwell Halvis and faithful sidekick, Jim. Bron Gayna Schmit spent the first year of retirement in Covid quarantine, reading lots of books and unpacking lots of jigsaw puzzles. After she got her vaccinations, our social butterfly was finally able to get out and see her friends again. She thanks God every day that she didn’t have to lead her school during the shutdown. Harriet McGeorge retired last summer after a very busy year doing landscape architecture during Covid. Seems there were a lot of folks sitting around and wanting something new to look at. After 27 years in Illinois, Ellen Clark Moore and husband Alex moved to Dallas, where they live close to daughter Margaret and her family. This is her last year on the St. Mary’s Board of Trustees. She has loved being actively inFALL 2021 | 3 9
CL ASS NOTES volved with the school again but regrets her last two years were mostly virtual. Judith Jay and husband Kim are enjoying retired life and were full participants in the Covid Seefood Diet (see food, eat it). But since then, they took part in SilverSneakers, a Medicare exercise program, with the goal of erasing their unfortunate success with the diet. Her mother, who turned 101 this year, sends her hello to all the “young” St. Mary’s ladies. Olivia Montgomery and business partners celebrated this year as the 20th anniversary of Dogs Daycare & School. They survived the Great Recession of 2008 and the Shutdown of 2020, and the dogs keep playing.
1977
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Janey Butler Newton
ara Muirhead Shanley’s sons, Michael and Stephen, are both near her living and working in the Dallas area. Sara is celebrating her 5th anniversary with Texas Health Resources where she loves her job and team. She is going through the tough loss of losing her father-in-law. Our thoughts are with you, Sara. Our Student Council President, Molly Townes O’Brien, is still living in Canberra, Australia. She recently shared her love story with us. Molly went to Brown University after graduating from SMS and met Charley Lineweaver there in 1979. They each married different people, each had two children, and then reunited in 2004 (you guessed it—on the internet!) They are both at the Australian National University. Charley is a cosmologist and astrobiologist. Lucy Walt Wepfer has filled in as homeschool teacher for granddaughter Joy during this Covid pandemic. Lucy says her math skills have greatly improved! Joy is lucky to have such a fabulous teacher. Val Hoyt plans to spend more time in Memphis in the future. She has retired from Christie’s and spends most of the time at their place in the Hudson Valley. Lisa Britt Colcolough has the cutest grandson, Tram, son of daughter Cameron and Ned. Cameron is having son #2 this fall. Lisa and John are renovating their house in North Carolina and are not too far from Greenville, SC, where Cameron lives. I hear through the grapevine that Barbara
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Cape O’Brien will join the ranks of grandmother-status as daughter Brandon is expecting a baby this year. Congrats! All our sympathy goes to Palmer Thomason Jones and family at the loss of her wonderful and fun dad this past year.
1979
Beth Brown Dunn
A
nne Beeson Royalty has accepted a grand new position at UNC Greensboro. She will be the Head in the Department of Economics. She is thrilled to be headed back to the Carolinas. She is also becoming very well known in the culinary world. The recipe for “Hawie’s rolls”, her precious Mom’s recipe, has become a very requested treasure. Jan Lettes Zauzmer had written a fabulous book, If You go with Your Goat to Vote. She had some Zoom readings and virtual book readings. It is a nonpartisan, civic book designed to inspire children to become voters. She also has two weddings in her family. Her daughter, Julie and her son, Ben. Julie has joined the Washington Post local government team. Ben is the new Director of Baseball Analytics for the NY Mets! Beth Mayhall Sherr will be opening soon at the One Eye Theatre
Beth Brown Dunn ’79 with Erin Dambrie, the recipient of the Anne Westmoreland Garrett ’79 award.
Playtime. The radio program provides plays for children and adults. Beth is one of the featured artists. Melanie Fisher Rice sends a beautiful article her daughter, Kyra Duffley, wrote for the Mariners ’Blog. She shares her love of Art and Art History. She credits her wonderful St. Mary’s teachers. We can relate to that as we had the best of the best ourselves. Lenelle Morse hosted a wonderful Zoom for our class. We are so blessed to be able to catch up and see each other. Her favorite pastime is to Facetime her precious granddaughter, Nora, who just turned one!
1981
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Katherine Lucas Hall Carey Stanton
t is hard to believe we graduated 40 years ago! It seems with that milestone and the pandemic many of us are experiencing similar activities: staying at home, college graduations and new jobs for our children and enjoying grandchildren! Suzette Turner Coors sums up most of our feelings saying she is happy to be fully vaccinated and ready for the world to get back to some kind of normalcy. Claudia Broeker Egger is in El Paso and looking forward to open borders for travel again. I hope to see her when she visits her daughters in Austin later this year. Ashley Ulhorn Fricano’s youngest daughter, Carter, was studying in Toulouse, France, when the world shut down. Ashely had just visited with her in Europe before Carter had to come home to finish the semester. Carter graduates in May with a degree in Film and Communications. Ripley, her youngest daughter, finished her BSN during the pandemic, and she is now a nurse on the surgical oncology floor at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis. Ashley says it has been great for Ripley to be in Memphis with family. Ashley’s Mom and Dad are still in Memphis too, and they all get together almost every week for Sunday dinner. Hellen Stagg Brown and husband Nick are keeping busy and totally enjoying their three “grandbabies!” Her daughter has a girl (4 1/2) and boy (2 1/2), and their son has a boy (2 1/2). They all live near-
CL ASS NOTES by so the pandemic hasn’t stopped their frequent visits. Mary Tully Dicken also enjoys spending time with her granddaughter Maury and is thrilled to have another grandchild on the way. Michelle Zanone Smith and husband Buz are having so much fun with their daughter Taylor’s children Hiram (3) and Josephine (almost 1). Their daughter Austin and her husband just moved to Willington, NC. Recently Michelle and Margaret Salmon Bright have been able to see each other in Memphis. Margaret and William spend a lot of time in Nashville with their daughters, Annabelle and Ella. Ella graduated early from Belmont and Annabelle is going to graduate school. I recently spent some time with Margaret and Katherine Lucas Hall when Katherine’s wonderful mother, Jenny, passed after a courageous struggle with cancer. Katherine’s daughter Kay is graduating from Clemson in May and her son Luke is in his second year at Clemson. I’ve spent the last year at home in Austin with my husband Matt and my daughter Caroline, who graduated from Loyola Marymount last year. Caroline starts Law School at Santa Clara this Fall. My stepdaughter Lauren graduates with an art degree in May and Jill is a sophomore at the University of Tennessee. It has been fun to go back to Knoxville after so many years. Jill’s roommate and friend is a St. Mary’s graduate! Jill also became friends with Madera Dickerson Beckham’s son, Wesley at UT. I talk to Madera often and she is doing great in Nashville. It really is a small world and our connections to each other help us all come through this past year stronger.
1983 Bonnie Bolton Lopez
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odie Barringer is about to be a mother-in-law! In addition to planning a wedding, she has been very busy with real estate work. Her parents, Betty Jane and Johnny, are doing well, and Jodie gets to see them often. Anne Owen Scarbrough has four children. Son Joshua is married and living in NC and made Anne a grandmother when little Nora was born. Son Charles is studying entomology at
the University of Florida. Daughters Megan and Emily are in a Catholic middle school in Sarasota where Anne teaches religion and language arts. Beauchamp Fontaine Hansen happily reports that Hollywood is back with a vengeance. She recently worked on a film with Jake Gyllenhaal and on a top-secret superhero movie. She is in her second year as a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, so she gets to vote for Best Picture and for Production Design awards. Brandon Garrott Morrison is not only an empty-nester, but all five children live away from Memphis as they pursue careers and graduate degrees. Beth Jennings Kuhn continues to take organ lessons and enjoys playing on her own organ at home. Karen Griffith Sowell got to connect with Eppie Lunsford-Özen when she was in London for work before the pandemic. Eppie’s son Ellis is working in film in New York, and daughter Emily took the year off from school during the worst of the pandemic. Eppie still visits Turkey where her recording studios are still open and supporting new musicians. Cissy Bruce Jackson is so proud of daughter Sarah Francis who started her first job as a second grade teacher in a Title 1 public school in Athens, GA. Therese Kavanagh Despeaux volunteers with a Shelby County organization where she works with three churches and as a DCS Community Representative to support foster families and to protect at-risk families to reduce foster needs. If you would like to get involved, more volunteers are needed. Kathryn Murphy Anderson teaches English at a vocational high school where they are all doing hybrid learning. Her daughter lives about 30 minutes away where she is working from home. She has been using Skype to stay in touch with her mom, but Kathy misses singing in the choir and making music with friends. She still plays the fiddle at home. Bisha Sisk Harrington wrote me from Turks and Caicos while on vacation with husband
Lisi Belz McCarthy ’82, Elvis, and Jennifer Haas Lansky ’82 hanging out in Coronado, CA.
Clay. She is the new Chief of Staff for Thrive, an after-school ministry for at-risk children. Judah Clayton is her first biological grandchild who was born last June to daughter Lauren in Phoenix. Karen Koonce Weesner is the practice manager at Ruch Clinic OB/GYN and never stopped working in the office through the pandemic. One son postponed his wedding from last year to this year due to the restrictions. The other son is in graduate school at Texas A&M. The middle son works in Memphis. Karen loves her farm, the animals, and the peace and quiet. She is in regular contact with Angela Taylor who often texts several paragraphs to Karen who responds with a few words! Ann Carter Burgess and husband Stewart have been married for 32 years with two sons. Carter graduated from Emory, and Shaun graduated from St. George’s and now studies at the University of Memphis. She is VP of Biologics Research and Development at Wright, and Stewart is the executive director at the Children’s Museum of Memphis. They live in Southwind though they are not golfers! Ann isn’t swimming much anymore, but she has run the St. Jude marathon three times and plans on a fourth. Catherine Trippeer Jameson has a new grandbaby, Wilder Elliot Jameson, born to daughter Grace in Nashville. Elise Kilpatrick Atkins appreciates all the support and love that have been sent her way during the tough times of her health setback. She is forever grateful for our amazing class and her comforting Christ-filled FALL 2021 | 4 1
CL ASS NOTES community. Prayers continue for you, Elise. In May, my son, Sam, graduated from The Lopez Family Homeschool with the whole family (Grandmom Alice Bolton, Aunt Beverly, sister Lydia with son Silas from St. Louis area, and brother Phillip and family from southern Louisiana) all present. That’s three down and one left to go! Sam plans to attend Louisiana Tech in the fall. On a recent trip to Memphis I was able to visit with Posey Saunders Cochrane, Margaret Jones Fraser, Allison Wellford Parker, and Liza Johnston on Lela Bellows Simpson-Gerald’s lovely back patio around a nice fire. I am grateful for friendships that endure across the miles and over the years.
1985
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Ivy Wilroy Caravati
he SMS class of ’85 has been grateful for our connections to each other and the St. Mary’s community at large during the pandemic. Our love goes out to those who have been impacted by Covid in so many ways. From Berkley, CA, Trina Traywick Sippey and Michel Sippey, aka “the Sippeywicks” are feeling lucky and grateful after this unbelievable year. Kate is a sophomore at UCLA studying Art History (thank you Mrs. Fisher) and Communications. Caroline is a HS junior and started driving during Covid. Trina is looking forward to traveling again, as is Michael, who has been working at home for a year. Tino Sage writes of the challenges to small businesses during this past year; hers is rebounding as life opens up and in-person events begin taking take place. With travel options during Covid limited, Tino made quite a few crosscountry drives to see her mother, who is improving after battling breast cancer. Tino, Colleen Kavanagh, and Talia Puzantian had dinner at Tino and Kristi’s place just before the pandemic shut things down. Talia, faculty member at Keck Graduate Institute School of Pharmacy (Claremont), teaches neuropsychopharm therapeutics and consults at a local hospital. She heads a mental health and wellness effort for students at all Claremont Colleges. Husband Bruce works as a virologist for
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Pfizer and has been working with his team on the pediatric COVID vaccine studies. Henry (11th) does robotics, and is looking at mechanical engineering programs, and is refurbishing an old car. Oliver (8th) is excited to start HS. Also in CA, Trecia Knapp Tapolsky writes that Zhenya, her youngest, was promoted and transferred by Compass to Hawaii at the beginning of April. Trecia and Bruno are excited to go to Hawaii to visit. In the meantime, they have put in a pool in their house in Sonoma—and invite any of us to come for a dip. From New Orleans, Anne Thrasher Lloyd and family spent Easter 2021 in Sonoma with Trecia. Anne’s son John (11th) attends a magnet charter school, plays football and lacrosse, is on the Chess Team, and has been restoring an old truck with his father. Eliza is in 9th at all-girls school and also will attend the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts in Culinary Arts. Eliza acts, plays drums, and practices Kung Fu (as does her father). Anne’s husband Matt restores historic homes with Portico Construction and is remodeling their own house as well. During COVID, Anne’s catering company joined the Chef ’s Brigade, an organization of over 80 local restaurants and catering companies providing food for those in need during the pandemic. They have fortunately seen Anne’s mother, Mrs. Fisher during the past year. In Memphis, Margaret Frazier Gardner reports that St. Mary’s has done a great job allowing as many of the traditions as possible during the pandemic—Black Friday out on the track, for one! She has managed having kids and husband all working from home and is preparing for Miriam to graduate and head to Auburn in the Fall. Frazier (10th) is still loving baseball. They have said goodbye to Hall’s father, who died (not of Covid) at 92 this year. Margaret keeps in contact with her parents—her father who has roundthe-clock care, and Mimsy, who continues to preach over Zoom. Lisa Breazeale Roberts looks forward to watching Evelyn play her senior year of lacrosse at University of Richmond next year. I look forward to it too. Evelyn ’18 has a marketing internship this summer, and Chandler and Sam celebrated their two-year anniversary and are back in school and working in Fort Worth. Chandler will earn her Dr. of
The Class of 1985 celebrates their reunion virtually.
Nursing Practice degree and become a nurse practitioner. Chandler ’12 and Sam plan to head to Memphis eventually. A huge shout-out to Chandler, who has been on the front lines in the ICU. Lisa writes that new stages and seasons of grief continue to evolve, as Jackson has been gone for three years now and is missed terribly. An hour east of Memphis, Lisa and Ken now own thousands of trees on 285 acres land perfect for hiking and exploring. Hopefully, Lisa will still have time for more stops in Charlotte to see Beeland Dill Voellinger on the way to Richmond. Beeland Dill Voellinger’s son Will (13) attends Fusion Academy, where there is one to one in-person teaching (great for kids with ADHD). Daughter Bee (16) has been virtual since March of last year. Bee is crazy about the film industry, specifically editing, cinematography and production and is looking forward to working and living in NY or LA. Beeland moved her mom from their home (6 years) to a retirement community, where she now draws and paints every day and loves it! David and Beeland are cooking a lot and feeling grateful. It sounds like I may get to see Kara Kilpatrick Preston’s daughter Julia ’18 this summer, as she will be interning in Richmond, VA with the Library of Virginia. Julia’s brother, Thomas (10th), will be in Memphis this summer with his newly minted driver’s license. Meredith Ciscel Milowski has appreciated all the calls, texts, cards, and gifts as her husband Daniel has battled primary liver cancer. He is doing well now, and he has completed his dissertation in history (about Route 66) at ASU and received his PhD. His new position with the educational technology company, Wisewire, is a good
CL ASS NOTES change from the world of academia. Meredith is full time at Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation at ASU. She loves working with nursing students and says it has been especially challenging during the pandemic. Their oldest daughter, Lydia, is a junior at NAU studying Spanish and computer programming. She plans to study abroad this fall and next spring in Alicante, Spain. Their youngest, Aubrey, (HS Sr) plans to move to San Francisco. I am sure our alumni in SFO will look out for her! Our condolences go out to Carrie Mook Bridgman, whose father passed away from cancer in October, 2020. Fortunately, she spent time with him in person last summer and then on video calls. Carrie’s son Ben is working as a Vista volunteer, doing development and social media for a nonprofit. He also assists with clients transitioning from a group residence setting. Their son James works at Macy’s. All are happy to be vaccinated! Julie Graber reports that her girls (Corey, 9th, and twins, Lucy and Eve, 6th) are happy to have in-person learning again. Corey is a soccer goalie for her high school and club team and finds great joy in books and stories. Lucy and Eve have planned Covid-safe soccer and dances with a local dance company through outdoor pop-up performances. At the University of Washington, Danny has been teaching all year online. Julie has worked on a personal photo journal/photo exchange with another former SMS ’85 student, Daphne Minkoff. Julie recently saw her parents in Memphis for the first time since Covid. Colleen Kavanagh said it well—that they have been “expanding and contracting in size during Covid” as different family members moved home for periods of time. Presently, Evie (17), lives with them and is an aspiring opera singer. Liam (23) works at the Chicago Federal Reserve as a research assistant, and Kelsey studies economics at U of Chicago. Colleen writes about the hit small businesses took during Covid, and the pandemic-induced increased awareness about cleaner, healthier food and our immune systems. Jeanne Marie Ray writes that with her twins’ graduations they will be empty-nesters soon. Her mom is living with them now, as she has health issues. Andy and she are planning to see his parents in Atlanta and
Ruffin, will graduate with an engineering her dad this summer for the first time since degree. As for the Caravati family, I have the pandemic. And, they welcomed a new been busy with the farm here in puppy into the house. Nancy Dilts’ Goochland, VA, and continue to try new wardrobe consulting business is in a good methods of raising cattle and growing place after a year that was both financially grass. As for many of you, Zoom has terrible AND one that helped (forced) her become a mainstay, especially when create new possibilities as a business owner. everyone was home. We just recently got Daughter Grace, (11th) is beginning the high-speed internet. My parents are still college search and used her interest in doing pottery in their Florida studio, and politics to campaign for St. Paul Public our entire family got into the act over Schools Board. She’s driving and has a job Christmas. Charlie drove down from tutoring 8-yr-old twins in German. Dan is Nashville, where he works in the music still at the U of Minnesota and has taught industry, and Sid (4th year) and Thomas online all year. Nancy’s dad is declining (3rd year) had an extended Christmas with Alzheimer’s, but they were able to break from University of VA. Sid is a visit him in Michigan and to actually hug Spanish major with Social him for the first time in over a year. Entrepreneurship minor, and Thomas is Heather Kirkpatrick Wheat in majoring in Statistics and Computer Richardson, TX has sad news that she has Science. The boys all love fishing and metastatic, persistent, recurrent, thyroid hunting—and forced family pickle-ball. As cancer and had a second surgery last I heard from so many of you, we are November. She is fighting hard, and we grateful to be vaccinated and hopeful for are pulling for her. Her son, Rory, just the future. Stay safe and well, and keep in completed his sea year requirement for touch! USMMA. He traveled farther north than any US vessel in US history through the Arctic circle! He has his “blue nose” certificate and is now in Houston training with the USCG to be a search and rescue Allison Tonkin helicopter pilot as a junior (2nd class midshipman) in college. Daughter Nealey e must begin with Gwynne Clare heads to Allegheny College in Keathley’s exciting news: “I am Meadville, PA and will study Neuroscience pleased to share that I married Randy and Psychology with a minor in music. Swearer in February this year in San Reagan Grace will be a senior next year at Francisco, CA. In true pandemic fashion, JJPearce and might go into journalism. we had a civil ceremony by Zoom in our Glynn Feild Dean reports that she has apartment. After 4.5 years of a bi-coastal accomplished a ton of work around the long-distance relationship, I had moved to house and on the farm during Covid and has made the most of working from home. Glynn’s husband Benjamin always stays busy with his business, the farm and all the cows. They recently purchased an additional 100 acres. Adam (21) graduated from Ole Miss in November and will begin Ole Miss law school in the Fall. Glynn recently enjoyed catching up with Eileen Ruffin Wood. Glynn reports that Eileen is doing well. Her oldest son Gwynne Keathley ’87 and husband Randy Swearer, Big Cottonwood Canyon, UT. is married, and her youngest,
1987
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CL ASS NOTES San Francisco to live with Randy and start a new job at UC Berkeley. Soon after my move, however, we retreated from city-life and lived in Park City, UT, where despite the pandemic, we thoroughly enjoyed getting outside and exploring the mountain trails for 8 months (much longer than expected)! During that time we were delighted to spend one socially-distant afternoon with Allison, Andras and Chip celebrating Chip’s recent birthday in their backyard, eating pizza, throwing water balloons, and picking plums from their fruit trees! Randy and I now live in Orinda, CA, where we are active and enjoy the unusually beautiful landscape
Halle Nunnally’s Lizzie works on the Health Technology team for global communications firm Edelman. Anna loved her freshman year at TCU! After last year’s challenges treating so many COVID-19 ICU patients, Paula Jernigan is relieved the hospitals are no longer as full. She is concerned about the slow pace of the vaccination process in PA and rising case numbers again. From Bali, Janie Barnett now has freedom to travel and visit her parents with a two-year Indonesian visa. She recommends Cat Wheeler’s Bali Daze: Freefall Off the Tourist Trail to learn more about Janie’s current adventure. For JJ’s senior year Janelle Zarecor Ranieri was thrilled to coordinate again Prom/After Prom, now with reduced numbers and outdoor venue challenges of tents and OH weather. Lucy attended much of her junior college year remotely from Florida locations, most recently spending a month with her grandmother in Naples. With plans for a career in hospital administration, this biology/economics major is interning in Queens with Northwell Health. Missy Huettel Carter’s Horace Antonio and Gail Borod Giacobbe ’87, Lake Wenatchee, WA. has been working from home of the East Bay.” Most heartfelt congratwhile her boys have made the best of their ulations, Gwynne! Margaret Alexander university Covid situations. Joe went back Cone’s Florida horse show winter circuit to University of South Carolina, and Gus thankfully continued safely with strict finished his freshman year at University rules. Now on the road for the next several of Colorado in Boulder. Shearon Barbee months she hopes the shows can continue, Craig is thankful the whole family was including a stop in resort town Traverse able to continue working during the panCity, MI. Palmer graduates Clemson in demic and stay healthy! Vaccinated early in December. Bowers left his position with physical therapy, she is trying to return to beverage management for Marriott events normal life while adjusting to all grownin Florida for one training young jumpup kids, with her youngest now 21. After ers in Lexington, KY. Bowers loves it, but successfully completing a three-year odysMargaret misses her Marriott discounts! sey in jaw surgery, Kim Justis Eikner’s Gail Borod Giacobbe enjoys work as a Brooks has also now graduated Princeton Microsoft General Manager and service with a Film degree. Picking up ukulele as on the Jewish Family Service of Seattle a pandemic pastime, SMS Norah James board. With remote work and school, she ’22 loved playing Diana Morales in the and her family have been spending half MUS show A Chorus Line and was looking their time in the small mountain town of forward to New England college visits Leavenworth, WA, surrounded by snowy with Kim. Flip continues as Academic peaks, alpine lakes, and rivers. She would Dean in his 38th year at MUS. Andras and love to play host for a Pacific Northwest I have been doing well, alternating work adventure! After UNC graduation Laura in the hospitals and from home. Chip has 44 |
adjusted well to his new normal. Thank goodness for the resilience of children. We feel very privileged to have served as Gwynne and Randy’s first and safely conducted pandemic social visit and are so very thrilled for them both.
1989
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Courtney Morris Williamson
he class of 1989 has some exciting news to share and it was so good to hear from so many of you! Kathy Patterson Scogin is doing well as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner in a level III NICU in Columbus, GA and celebrating 28 years of marriage to her husband, Richard. Congratulations Kathy and Richard! They will be headed to the Rogue River in OR to do a little white-water rafting. Mary Pritchartt Muscari is busy working in development at Church Health in Crosstown and with her children Frank and Meredith. Frank’s 5th grade teacher is Mrs. Navarra’s daughter! What a small world! Meredith ’30 is loving her time as a SMS turkey. Ashley Saxon Abraham is making plans for her son Jack’s wedding this summer. Jack will be playing football for another year at Mississippi State and daughter Kate will be a senior at Ole Miss. Congratulations to Ashley as we know that she will be a beautiful Mother of the Groom and a really amazing Mother-in-Law! Maysey Craddock is making lots of art during the pandemic and we know that her works of art will be creative, powerful and mesmerizing. Alice Chuang Ivester is the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at the UNC School of Medicine and a Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, all while raising her two children with her husband Thomas. I don’t know how she does it! Jennifer Brundige is working with the TVA as an Environment Attorney. Her son is now nine years old and they live with her husband in Chattanooga. Lara Babaoglu Reynolds is starting a new job as the West TN Marketing Coordinator for FirstBank. She and husband Michael recently went skiing in Deer Valley and are looking forward to scuba diving in Cozumel this
CL ASS NOTES
Class of 1990 visit during Alumnae Weekend.
summer. Brooks Turley Klepper sent my favorite update of all that I think would be better for me to quote instead of paraphrase: “We survived covid and got vaccinated .... that is about it”. I think so many of us are in that same boat as we are looking forward to the world opening up a bit more since the pandemic began. I invite you to come visit Nashville when you are ready to travel. My husband Hailey and I built a new house and moved after 27 years and our youngest went to college this year. We have an empty nest and are ready for friends to visit. I have moved closer to Erin Moran Lynch and actually ran into her at a local restaurant– masks and all. It was great to see her! I am grateful for the updates and to hear from my life-long SMS friends. Sending my best wishes for health and happiness to our Class of 1989!
1991
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Camellia Koleyni
hope all of you are doing well. I imagine that the past 1.5 years will go down as some of the worst for all of us due to the havoc and misery wreaked by the COVID19 pandemic. Please accept my sincere condolences for any losses you, your families, your friends, or your colleagues might have experienced due to the pandemic. I do hope there have been some silver linings as well. One ray of happiness has been hearing from those of you who had positive news to share. Nancy Austin Patterson is now on
the Board of Trustees for Clinton Community Nature Center. Margaret Chesney moved to Lake Placid, NY in January 2021 after acceptance into the New York Bar. As she winds down her law firm in Memphis, she has been working as counsel at a Lake Placid law firm doing family law and other general litigation. Given the opportunities that Zoom provides during “COVID-19 craziness,” she has been able to handle cases in both NY and TN. Having survived the winter snow of Lake Placid, she is looking forward to warmer weather when she can hike and kayak. About every 6 weeks or so she heads back to Memphis to visit her parents (who are doing well), her sister Julia Chesney McDonald ’96, and her niece Janie McDonald ’31. If you are ever in the Lake Placid region, please reach out to Margaret as she’d “love to see some Southern faces.” It’s amazing how many fun facts there are about Lake Placid; for example, it’s the only US city to host the winter Olympics twice (and has an Olympic museum), it’s where the “Miracle on Ice” 1980 Olympic hockey game happened, it has 46 peaks you can scale, and apparently Halloween is a major event there. Margaret, how’s that for drumming up visitors? Alison Nicole Nooks and husband Kirk welcomed an AuPair into their home this past January to assist with their twins and that has “been a blessing during these unusual times.” In fact, it feels like they have another daughter (she and daughter Anniston are only one year apart and great friends) and given the AuPair is from South Africa, “we are all enjoying sharing our culture.” Anniston
and the twins are doing well. Anniston is the senator-at-large for next year and will be an RA in Alison’s and Kirk’s old dorm. She is a regular on a podcast that focuses on diversity, equity and inclusion. Alison is finishing up (or may have finished by the time this is published) an almost year-long project leading a series on antiracism with two colleagues. She says that though it has been “an awesome journey,” there is still much work to do. Alison, thank you to you, Anniston and your colleagues for the incredibly important work you are doing in these areas. Please keep us posted and share any lectures, videos, podcasts you might have and let us know what we can do to support your work. Given all this hard work, she and her family are looking forward to a vacation (their 1st vacation since summer 2019) which will be a beach vacation. She said they will, of course, remain vigilant on their vacation (even though she, Kirk, and Anniston are vaccinated) to ensure no one falls ill due to COVID-19. Finally, Alison shared that she was finally able to give her father (who turned 85 in December) a hug for the 1st time in over 14 months. Prior to this, no visits or only window visits were allowed. I can only imagine how wonderful it must have been for you to hug him, Alison! Vineet and I consider ourselves incredibly lucky that we have not lost any family members to COVID-19, though unfortunately we have friends and colleagues who did get and/or died from COVID-19. We are thankful for all the hard work being done by so many in so many professions to help us get through this pandemic and feel great sadness for those who have lost so much personally and professionally. I have shifted towards doing more global-health related work (clinical work as well as education and research) and have also become more involved in health equity and health policy issues. Some of this work takes place at Vanderbilt University and some of it with a local non-profit that serves refugees and immigrants. I also serve as a mentor and educator for students and in 2020 became an affiliate faculty member for Vanderbilt’s Department of Medicine, Health, and Society. Overall I am excited about these many opportunities and humbled by all there is to learn and experience. I wish you all the best in the months to come. Please do keep in touch.in touch. FALL 2021 | 4 5
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1993
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Kristen Mistretta Wilson
hat a year! I’m so happy to share some cheerful updates from our Class of 93! Mindy Kronenberg was able to enjoy a wonderful trip to Portugal, returning home March 1, 2020, just days before covid really heated up in the U.S. Her work with children has become much busier during the pandemic. All three Kronenberg sisters (Mindy ’93, Becky ’99, Erica ‘02) recently reunited in person after a long time apart due to covid. Mindy is headed on a vacation to Hawaii in May! Alexia Fulgham Crump’s daughter Catherine ’34 is in JK at St. Mary’s and will be a flower girl at SMS graduation this year. Alexia and her family went to Destin, FL over spring break and are going again in June for a vacation with extended family. Alexia is still at the DA’s office and is currently assigned to Juvenile Court. Anna Scott Thorsen lives in Nashville with her husband, Chris and their two living daughters, Ava (15) and Clara (14.) Anna has retired from practicing law and is now a pro bono dyslexia advocate who serves on the TN Department of Education’s Dyslexia Advisory Council and works to educate parents, teachers and policymakers about dyslexia in Tennessee and across the country. In her free time, she spends time in her garden and is working this year to become a TN Master Gardener. Follow Anna on her website at http://www. dyslexia-untied.com, on Twitter at @ athorsen16 where she tweets about dyslexia and on Instagram at @athorsen316 where she posts about her garden. Melissa Goldate recently started a new job at a cybersecurity company called FireEye, where she does strategy and global partnerships for the consultants who fight the nation-state hackers from Russia, China, and Korea. In addition, during the pandemic Melissa launched a new org called Thraxos. It’s a virtual networking org for senior execs in security. For their next event, Sue Gordon, who was once the #2 person in National Security under Trump, is hosting. The org was supposed to launch March 12, 2020 but Melissa had to cancel the day before launch because of the pandemic. She 46 |
pivoted it eight months later into a virtual networking org. Launching a successful virtual networking org during the pandemic is definitely something she is proud of and we are proud of her too. Melissa also shared that she has a new kitten love named Karl who she describes as a wacky bobble-headed wobbly kitten who walks with a John Wayne swagger due to his physical disability. Karl, Kayla (her other sweet cat), and Melissa are moving to San Francisco (from DC) over Memorial Day Weekend. That’s quite a big move—please keep us posted! Lee Raines Buchmann loves living in Montana and was able to take advantage of all of the pandemic friendly activities available there ... skiing, hiking, mountain biking, fishing! She is looking forward to all of the snow melting (in June) so that they can get back out there and enjoy those mountains! Julie Bhattacharya Peak has been working from home since midMarch of last year, and her company has now made the work from home culture permanent. Litigating out of the basement has its challenges and upsides! Her daughter Shyla (9th grade) and son Seth (6th grade) luckily have been in live school all year. Julie and her husband Judd are approaching their 20-year wedding anniversary in the Fall. Martha Cousins shared the new and exciting news that she will be starting a position at Bank of New York Mellon as a Principal in their Strategic Initiatives Group. She loved catching up with lots of our ’93 classmates last summer (as our Class Agent for fundraising) and appreciates how generous ’93 was during the pandemic. She said it was really meaningful to be close in touch with SMS folks when the pandemic was first hitting. Melissa has spent much of 2020 waiting out the pandemic in Boston with her boyfriend Peyton. And she cannot wait to finally see her whole family in Memphis now that everyone is fully vaccinated. Becky Rafter shared that she graduated from GA Tech’s inaugural Masters in Sustainable Energy and Environmental Management program last summer (she was also one of five Fellows in the program). She is currently wrapping up her first year as a public policy PhD student in the school of public policy, which housed the MSEEM program; and she is a GRA in the Data Science and Policy Lab. Her cats are well and there is a robin nesting on
her front porch. Life is good. Juli Elam Hurdle has enjoyed the downtime this past year with her boys, especially her two freshmen at CBHS. She feels lucky they are in school and they keep her busy with football and soccer. Her son Grady started 4th grade at St. Louis and is in the same class as Angie Reed Tull’s daughter so that is fun! Juli continues to teach Pilates and has learned to be even more creative with teaching during the pandemic. She has volunteered/worked behind the scenes with the Athletic Department at U of M supporting the Memphis Tiger Football team the past two seasons. It’s fun and rewarding as she has always loved working with student athletes since her time as a TA in grad school. Other than that, she has been renovating their home in Central Gardens and loving on their rescued black lab, Cash. Sam Petrie shared that she recently got engaged (!) and started a new job as Director of Marketing at Gundlach Bundschu winery in Sonoma! Alison Simmons Boyd shared that the pandemic of course has been hard but that they have also found lots of moments of gratitude. She has been working from home for the last eight years so that part of things was old hat for her. Mason (9) and Katherine (6) were remote learners from March 2020 through January 2021. They have been back full time since January. They have enjoyed time together and are especially grateful for that. She cannot wait to start traveling again and seeing everyone, especially her SMS peeps back in Memphis! Lisa Bratton Chiles shared that quarantine was crazy—trying to homeschool three children and her husband Brett working from home. They spent a lot of time swimming and at the lake which was a great change of scenery! Luckily Jack and Linden went back to school in person in August. Her daughter Margaret has been virtual all year but finally went back to school at the end of February. Her little ones will be in kindergarten and second grade next year. She is looking forward to seeing people and getting together hopefully soon! As for me, Kristen Mistretta Wilson, my family is doing well in Charlotte, NC. Luckily my boys (ages 12, 10 and 5) have been in school in person for the 20-21 school year. This is great because remote learning with
CL ASS NOTES 3 little boys last spring was a real lesson in patience for me! We’re busy now with the boys’ schedules and sports. Though it’s hectic, I love and appreciate every minute of it. Our situation is not unlike many of yours … after many months apart due to the pandemic, we were happily reunited with my parents and Jake’s parents this spring. Wishing everyone happiness and good health!
1995
W
Carrie Sue Casey
elp. Vaccines are going out and we are slowly emerging from this collective trauma. With a few Class zoom “reunions” under our belts, and ideally, some real hugs from people we love, I hope everyone is beginning to re-calibrate. I was lucky enough to see Tricia Graue during this madness. We masked and waved in my yard as she trekked from NYC to Memphis to be with her Mom, who is doing well. Just clapping eyes on a dear friend was a balm for my soul. Ebony Welch weathered a pandemic-induced furlough from Pure Barre, but business has picked up again thankfully. COVID closures brought son Cameron home from college for a time, during which he turned 21! The Epcot birthday trip did not happen, but he enjoyed a quiet dinner out with his beautiful mother—which makes my heart sing. Guess who is the proud new business owner of Gold Star Bookkeeping, LLC? Natasha Heflin Davis! After years of side hustling, it’s official! To make your head spin, check out her volunteer list: managed her church’s annual fund drive; 4-H farm chores with her girls; and leading Girl Scout service projects that include supporting a pet shelter, a homeless shelter, addressing period poverty, and beautifying a traffic circle. Daughter Amelia’s project is collecting plastic bags to be made into a school bench—so the garage is teeming! Simone Kiersky Coyle wrapped up her first year as a private practice litigator whilst attempting to educate two children with little to no support. You deserve an award. I do not kid. Husband Will kept his small business afloat, too—jazz hands! Simone’s kids returned to in-per-
son school two days a week in March 2021 and she’s proud of how they have persevered. Hopefully we will have all kids in in-person learning asap. Kathryn Wiseman bought and remodeled an (adorable) house in Birmingham. Then it flooded, and she’s still waiting on the fridge she ordered months ago. Thus, the year of 2020—and its jerky younger sister 2021—marches on. Kat, I hope when this publishes you are jetting around the globe (and that I have joined your trip.) COVID made Calder Britt Clark and Chaunce swap Europe for Richmond, VA, for their wedding anniversary trip, so we played masked indoor mini-golf with cocktails. So European. Son Camp (12) is a Latin rockstar, making Calder hearken back to 8th grade Latin (“habere, habui, habitus”). Calder’s so proud of daughter Walton (9) for performing in three sold-out ballet shows. Aaand – Calder is launching a new arm to her design brand: interiors with a focus on commercial projects (think Vrbo). She ran into high school boyfriend Reed Dupree recently, and was reminded of high jinks such as rolling the headmaster. Further, her book club read Good Apple by our very own Elizabeth Schatz Passarella. So without further ado—congrats to our good apple in the Big Apple!!! Elizabeth wrote a best-selling book! I inhaled it and called her—crying of course (vintage drama)— when I read her dedication to her dad. It was a joy to read her life journey and to see classmates’ names throughout. More than once, someone has said to me, “Hey, I read this great book by a woman from Memphis and it reminded me of your high school stories.” I then get to brag that I know her and that once her bad dog Bandit licked me in an undisclosed area while I slept. Featured in the book were newly famous-adjacent (her words) Hallie Bourland Wagner, who writes that despite a wearying year (you’re not alone), she is enjoying her cuddly three-year-old and how her boys love Star Wars. She’s also gotten into middle grade fiction—and I’m here for it. Also in Good Apple: Murff Oates Galbreath, who relishes waving at Lee Davidson Holt and Amina Dilawari in carpool at Moss Hall (please recall that Leigh DeRossitt ’94 thought it was “Boss Hog” as a child), Vanessa Buch, Blair Bobo Geer, and
Courtney Ellis Felts ’96 and Courtney Shove ’96.
Olivia Ralston. Speaking of Olivia, our semi-regular zooms with Dhevi Kumar Broecker, Gabrielle Rose, and Liz Jenkins have been meaningful connections during this time of such disconnect. Oh, and Liz! That LA lady joined the Board of Snap (parent company of Snapchat). This is in addition to her continuing CFO role at Hello Sunshine. I swoon. Morgan Chiapella Roselle took a job at EVERSANA as a pharmaceutical sales rep and enjoys walks with her dog Ellie Mae. She’s navigating Nora’s travel soccer, Brady’s baseball, and Aidan’s job at McDonald’s. Whew! COVID struck, but thankfully everyone recovered (and Elizabeth’s book helped ease quarantine). College visits are on the summer docket for Brady! Morgan also enjoyed time with her dad over Easter. In Rye, NY, Sarah Trosper Olivo has ventured back into New York City for in-person patient sessions as vaccinations have rolled out. She also started pursuing a dream: writing children’s books! She’s loved getting to know a new field. One draft manuscript features a shrimp uprising. Disgruntled crustacean? Sign me “write” up (see what I did there?). I can’t wait to read your stories to my kids. And last but not least, Sonia Torrey was promoted to Intensive Outpatient Program Coordinator at Mental Health Resources. Congrats! She’s been privy firsthand to the detrimental effects of COVID on collective mental health. Sonia reminded me how important self-care and reaching out are during crisis and its aftermath. Thanks for the FALL 2021 | 4 7
CL ASS NOTES important work you do, Sonia. As for me, vaccinations and forsythia lift my spirits. Isabelle (9), Hank (7), and Bertie (3) enjoy making rat faces and bickering. My partner Lucas has worked at home since COVID and I consult for the Veterans Affairs Administration and continue to support non-profit boards and educational institutions with my business OODALOOP. It is weird being in my mid-40s. Every spring that feeling right before we graduated comes back—that sense that everything was ahead of us—and I miss you all. Take care of yourselves. Contact me anytime!
1999
Kelly Buckner Dallas
I
t has been quite the year! It seems that we have all made through this year, with most of us having kids at home at some point and working from home. Kellyn Griffith Kropinak writes
that she is proud to have survived with the help of her quarantined pod. She’s also thankful to be vaccinated and is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Meg Parker Prewitt reports that she is glad to be moving from surviving to thriving again! Her precious little boy just turned one and a half years old which is hard to believe since time seemed to stop this past year. Sidney Hawkins Gargiulo is still in northern CA and is thankful to have moved last year to get a little more space before the lockdown. While she’s enjoyed the extra family time, she is thankful to be vaccinated and able to see her parents after 14 months apart. Ashley Gaillard Clark is still in San Francisco and is excited to see Sidney in the coming weeks! She has been counting her blessings and spending as much time as possible outdoors. She is still enjoying her work with the Libra Foundation, a family foundation that funds social justice community organizing work. Annie McLaren Neufeld is also in CA, in the Los Angeles area, and writes that life is getting back to some sort of normalcy. She’s been thankful for the sunny California weather! Anne-Morgan Brookfield Morgan is looking forward to summer and planning on spending some time in NC. She has also enjoyed serving on the 48 |
St. Mary’s Board of Trustees this year. Thank you for representing us, AnneMorgan! Hilary Dinkelspiel Dona has had quite a bit going on this year! She moved from New York City to Austin, TX where her sister Helen Dinkelspiel Eshed ’97 lives. She also welcomed a little girl, Scout, to her family in March. Congrats, Hilary! Susan Wunderink Mettes moved to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and will be there until fall of 2022. Susan just published a book, The Loneliness Epidemic, which is so timely and will be helpful to so many. We’re so proud of you, Susan! Congrats also to Erica Smith on being promoted to Sr. Advisor of Campaign Architecture at ALSAC/St. Jude—and for keeping up with her busy almost-two year old twin boys. Angela Lam was recently promoted as well to partner in her law firm in Chicago. Congrats, Angela! She writes that she took on a second dog during the pandemic who is going to have a rough adjustment when she returns to an actual office! Courtenay Adams also just took in a new puppy, Luca, and is coming up on 17 years at Dixon Hughes Goodman. As for our family, we also got a quarantine puppy. It is a good thing that he is so cute because it turns out that puppies are a lot of work! My oldest daughter will be in seventh grade at St. Mary’s this fall, which is really hard to believe. I just hope Mrs. Lyttle sticks around long enough to teach her! That would definitely be a full circle moment. I am also very excited to be starting a new job, actually a new career, with Diversified Trust in Memphis as a financial advisor. Hope the rest of you are doing well and that you have a wonderful summer! If you’re ever in Memphis, please let me know!
2001
I
Lauren Anderson Stone
t’s hard to believe that it’s been 20 years since we graduated from St. Mary’s has been! I received fewer updates this time than any of those previous 19 years, surely because most of us spent the year hunkered down at home and do not feel like there is much to report. There have been a few new additions though; some reasons to
celebrate in an otherwise difficult time! Katie Runyan and Patrick welcomed sweet baby Naomi in July and say that she has been a total joy in a confusing (at best) year. Susan Buckner Rose and Cullen had their third child, Lucy, in December. Susan happened to be in town during Alumnae Weekend, and it was so good to catch up! It sounds like Finley and Hayes are excellent big siblings. Sarah Matthews Pietrangelo and Joey also welcomed their third, Genevieve, in February. Big sister, Louise ’32, had a good year at St. Mary’s while middle sister, Margaret, spent the year learning at home. Tanya Sibai Race and John had their third child, Layla, in March. Dudley and Vivienne are in love with their new baby sister! After a four month quarantine in ME last year, Victoria Corder, Tony and three-year-old Charles returned to New York City where she relocated her law office to her bedroom (and her husband’s office to her son’s room) and seems to have slowly adapted and—dare I say almost happily settled into?—a new zoom remote work athleisure life. Which is good since there’s no end in sight for them! Charles started preschool last fall in person, and it’s been so fun to see him explore the world on his own. Courtney Taylor Humphreys, Emily Harris and Jenny Maddux Stenberg had fun following along together at the Alumnae Weekend virtual bake-along with Kat Gordon ’00. Courtney reports that all three of her kids are playing soccer, and she’s enjoyed coaching her girls’ teams for a few years. They love being down the street from Louise Chandler Biedenharn and her family, so much so that Courtney’s youngest, Annie ’34, considers herself the 3rd Biedenharn child at this point. Louise adds that their neighborhood block is full of SMS grads, and they have become so close with all of them. Ginny Robinson Burbank’s ’93 daughter, Blaise ’20 became the Biedenharns’ babysitter/lifesaver when school and camps shut down last year. Louise worked from home for most of the past year, and is so thankful that her girls were able to be in person at St. Mary’s come fall. Her greatest achievement to date is taking the FL Bar Exam in February, virtually at home, during a pandemic and boil water advisory, soon after the insurrection, right after schools had been shut down for
CL ASS NOTES that never ending winter storm, and she actually passed! Louise’s daughter, Dorothy ’33, is on a soccer team with Ashley Ayres Bryant’s son, Cole, and it’s been fun to see her at games. Louise, Kate Metcalf Sullivan, Margaret McQuiston ’02 and I have gotten together on a handful of outdoor, socially distanced occasions this year. Louise and I even recently went out to eat inside an actual restaurant to celebrate her birthday and being fully vaccinated! It was a welcome bit of normalcy after an extremely challenging year. Another bright spot was the local 20th reunion get together hosted by Anna Snyder Rojas. It was so fun to visit with Anna, Jenny, Emily, Joni Gossett Oates, and surprise out of town friends, Saira Mahmood and Susan. We decided to have a bigger celebration next year when more people are able to come in town, so mark your calendars for the first anniversary of our 20th reunion April 1-2 2022!
2003
I
Laurence Goodwin
was so grateful to be able to travel to Memphis from the U.K. over Easter (after being in lockdown for over a year) to see my family and to do some college counsellor visits in Savannah and Charleston. I was lucky to get to catch up with Lizzie and Yakima Nicole Dennis Bremseth and her beautiful daughter Charlotte over lunch and to see Jenny Odle Madden for some much needed drama chat. Great to hear from so many folks from the class of ’03 via email this round including Lizzie Gill Foreman, Audrey Bourland Hurst, Chloe Lackie Zingaro, Allison Jones, Saira Khan, Catherine Fox, Brianna Winsett Chapman, Margaret Ann Klinke Mays, Rachel Bresinger Ashkenazi, Mary Austin Mays Smith, Julia McMillen, Carmen Carson Gorospe, Abby Yandell Talbot, Anne Taylor Tipton Manning, Camille Herman Boyle, Melissa Malone Teague and Suzie Loveless. The general consensus in our email trail was that we all had nothing much to report. But, of course, being St. Mary’s girls, that “nothing much”
included keeping businesses going during a global pandemic, having babies and raising children, moving cross country and even across the world for new and exciting opportunities and keeping all the various plates spinning. Nothing much, indeed!
2005
Sarah Atkinson Ball Lauren Wiygul Riley
R
ainey Ray Segars is masked and distanced but still in the hallowed SMS halls teaching World Religions as the Assistant Chaplain. Son Teddy is a masked and distanced but happy Creative Caterpillar at Grace St. Luke’s. Everything in Rainey’s life is now about dinosaurs, but meat-eaters only, no plant-eaters. Lauren Kennedy Dake reports that life is “as usual over here in Little Rock—full swing of school and sports for all the kiddos.” Grace Jensen Knight enjoyed seeing the ’05 classmates that could make it at the Alumnae Weekend reunion event in April: Faye Kenner Rainer, Sarah Atkinson Ball, Collin Wilson Buckner, Lauren Wiygul Riley, Catie Jane Berger Myers, and Laura Blount. It was so fun to catch up, and she hopes we can gather again soon! Thank you, Grace, for hosting!
2007
E
Caitlin Colcolough Williams
rin Sandefer Meeks is still working for Baptist as a pharmacist. She opened a pharmacy for them, and has been helping with the covid testing site. She welcomed a baby boy on 2/7/21, and he is doing great. Their daughter, Madison ’37, starts St. Mary’s in August which is so exciting and mind-blowing! Kate Smith Mallory and husband Neely welcomed a baby girl named Annie in November! Mary Grace McQuiston Arehart and husband Matt welcomed a baby girl named Ruthie on Thanksgiving day! Zina Kumok is still living in Indianapolis. She and Sam still run their personal finance content marketing company and have also started doing one-on-one money coaching as
Mary Greer Gorman ’08, Estes Gould Hughes ’08, Jenny Guyton ’08, Sarah Wortham Nielsen ’08, and Edie Miller ’08 gather to celebrate Jenny’s bachelorette in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
well (She’s a Certified Financial Health Counselor). Ann Atkinson Schnuerer has been living outside of San Francisco with her family but is moving back to Memphis! Her daughter will be at St. Mary’s this fall. They will split time between Memphis and CA for her husband’s job. Ginni Fischer Larkins welcomed Margaret Jane Larkins December 14, 2020! They love sweet Maggie and are adjusting to being a family of three in a global pandemic. Adrienne Adler-Neal is doing her psychiatry residency at UTSW! She graduated with her MD last May, PhD was in 2018. She is having a ton of fun learning in Dallas, although she misses the gorgeous outdoors of NC! Caitlin Clark is currently finishing up her first of 3 years of critical care fellowship. The first two are in Durham at Duke, and the last are to be determined! Taylor Ragan is currently the face of a national campaign Genesight, and is filming her third commercial for Mowi Salmon next week! Bailey Wilson is currently getting her Executive MBA from George Mason University while working now as an engineer on the Reagan Airport renovation project with her company! Bryson Schaeffer Kennedy has been working as an NP for almost 2 years now and is glad to finally start seeing a sense of normalcy again. She’s started to volunteer for the Arthritis Foundation after her husband’s diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis FALL 2021 | 4 9
CL ASS NOTES this year. They are expecting a baby girl on July 30th! Anna Bearman has a new job as the Communications Manager at Temple Israel!
2009
R
Bailey Bethell Fountain
eagan Bugg got engaged to St. Mary’s own Athletic Director, John Bartholomew, this past December! She and John are getting married October 2 in Memphis. Leah Bearman Pinkston continues to work as a therapist at Mental Health Resources and is expecting her second child with her husband, Matt Pinkston, in May 2021. Melissa Johnson Pippin graduated from medical school in May and matched in Anesthesiology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center for residency. She and Catherine Vaughn Bunker are planning a trip to Nashville to visit Austin Nichols Boukli and have a spa weekendv before Melissa’s intern year begins! Austin, her husband, and daughter are enjoying Nashville after relocating in 2020. Austin is working as an Assistant Attorney General in the Federal Habeas Corpus Division of the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General. Rebecca Schaeffer Anthony moved back to Memphis with her husband and son! Eliza Leatherman will graduate from University of Tennessee School of Nursing this summer. Bailey Bethell Fountain and husband Collin are expecting their first child this spring! Sophie Page Lintner and husband Stephen left Austin, TX and moved back to Atlanta where they bought their first home during the pandemic. Sophie survived hybrid virtual teaching but is thankful to be back in person with a sweet class of second graders. Lindsey Driver Pagni married Joe Pagni on November 21, 2020, in Memphis, TN. Kathryn Waggoner Edwards graduated with an MBA from Emory’s Goizueta School of Business in May. She and husband Pearce will be moving from Atlanta to Pittsburgh in August. Samantha Baumstark Daza has been grateful to work from home full time in sunny Orange County, CA this past year, helping to expand ICU capacities and vaccine rollouts across multiple healthcare organizations, 50 |
most recently at Cedars-Sinai. She married Ryan Daza in November 2020! Wallis Tosi Steiner sold her house in Memphis so is moving downtown with her husband, Josh, and two dogs. She is busy with work at Karen Adams Designs and looking forward to traveling again—hello honeymoon next week! Claire Riley will graduate from her postgraduate course in ESL methodology in June, and is starting a new role as the founder and central travel advisor of Duende Travels. She will continue to be based in Madrid for the time being, and hopes to plan trips for lots of SMS alums as the world begins to reopen! Elise Lasko graduated from Bennington College’s MFA program with a degree in Nonfiction in January 2020. Most recently, her essay titled “Desecrating the Temple” was published in the December 2020 issue of Triangle House Review. Elise is currently revising her first book of memoir essays, as well as volunteering for Asheville Prison Books and Autumn House Press. She is also working on a future project as co-founder of a literary review that will publish work by incarcerated citizens. Elise lives in NC with her Shih Tzu, Boo Radley. Ruthie Morrison continues her Pediatric Cardiology fellowship at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, TX. Jillian Smith is still in Los Angeles working for RIVR Media. She’s excited for her new series, “Breaking Bland” to air on HGTV later this summer. Be sure to check it out!
envisioning the future of the office as a workplace strategist. Teresa Hendrix Daniel is enjoying life in Memphis and working on digital user experience design for the FedEx mobile app. Caroline Frisch is graduating from Harvard Business School in May and is moving to Los Angeles. Eliza Hendrix is wrapping up her doctorate degree in occupational therapy at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, and will complete a 12-week clinical rotation this summer at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, followed by a fall capstone project before graduating in December. Sarah Jemison lives in midtown Memphis, where she recently added a puppy to her life, loves her community, and her job in real estate finance, for which she daily relies on the algebra she learned from Ms. Lyttle and Ms. Bethell. Abby McAtee Gatliff is graduating from Beeson Divinity School with a Master of Divinity in April and she was awarded the school’s highest
2011
Meg Cornaghie Allyson Patterson Dalton
T
he Class of 2011 was sad to have missed their in-person 10 year reunion, but got to catch up virtually and plans to celebrate an 11 year reunion in Memphis next year! Hannah Allen moved to Richmond, VA to start her OB-GYN residency at Virginia Commonwealth. Catherine Bolich lives in Seattle and works for Amazon in advertising. Meg Cornaghie is starting her 3rd year of Orthopedic Surgery residency at University of Arkansas and loves being a homeowner in Little Rock! Allyson Patterson Dalton moved to Philadelphia with her husband and enjoys
Allyson Patterson Dalton ’11, Teresa Hendrix Daniel ’11, and Meg Cornaghie ’11 celebrate at Teresa’s baby shower.
honor, the James Earl Massey Student Preacher Award. This summer she will begin serving full time as the youth pastor at her church, South Highland Presbyterian in Birmingham, AL, where her husband Cort already serves as an associate pastor. She also adores her daughter Eleanor who turns one in June. Tinsley McBride is engaged! She is living in St. Pete, FL and cur-
CL ASS NOTES
Meg Peters ’16, Liz Capocaccia ’16, and Sarah Lowe ’16 have been classmates for 20 years! All three started at St Mary’s together in Pre-K, graduated in 2016, graduated from the University of Mississippi with bachelor’s degrees in 2020, and earned Master’s in Accounting from the Patterson School of Accountancy in 2021.
rently leading her third Free People store opening in Tampa. Margaret McClintock is loving life in Lexington, VA, where she works as the Associate Director of Recreation at W&L. She’s upgrading to a new house in town for the puppy she’s expecting this spring. Mary Peeler started her 4 year residency in OB-GYN at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. She loves catching babies and providing women’s health care! Sarah Phillips Johnson is working as a dialysis nurse at DaVita in Johnson City, TN. She enjoys gardening and refurbishing her home with her husband, Cody. Taylor Simms just started working for a healthcare startup in San Francisco. Erika Steuer spent 2020 spearheading operations for a startup marketing company in Los Angeles, completed her first backpacking trek on the Trans Catalina Trail which took her 40 miles in 4 days with a total 8,000 ft. elevation gain! She is excited to explore more national and state parks this year. Katie Danehy Wagoner lives in Charlotte with her husband and new born son Parker and works as a mental health counselor. Whitney Wortham Priester is currently spending a minimum of 22 hours a day in her DC basement apartment with her corgi, Watson, living and working from home. She is looking forward to getting more sunlight and an apartment when she and her husband, Davis, move to NYC in the summer. Whitney will be starting her PhD in Social Work at NYU in the fall and hopes some turkeys will come for
Olivia Bernabe ’15 and Coral the puppet working on a kids’ talk show.
a visit. Maria Zoccola finally moved back to Memphis, bought a house, and started an exciting new job.
2013
A
Anna Stukenborg Anna Utley
lexa Fila Berard is moving to Munich, Germany in May to start a new job as a Consultant at a financial technology company. Dakota Beasley is working in commercial real estate, and she passed the TN bar and is a secured lending attorney at Glankler Brown in Memphis! Sarah Spiers was named a 2021 finalist for Forbes 30 under 30 in Gaming! She now oversees all programming at IGDA Foundation and won a WIGJ global advocacy award. Sarah launched a grant and scholarship program in collaboration with Grant for the Web to fund projects from underrepresented and marginalized developers. She is working at Studio Drydock as the studio’s producer where she oversees a global team of indie developers who build games for underserved audiences. Caela Rhea Yessick started a new job as the Sexual Assault Counselor at Turning Point in Tuscaloosa, AL and started her own part-time private practice, Caela Yessick Counseling. She and her husband are excited to be first time homeowners! Mashal Mirza is excited to be getting married in July! Francie Saunders is living
and working in Fort Collins, CO after graduating from CO State University where her classmates voted Francie to be the speaker for graduation! Ellie Frances Harrison is pursuing LA School Counseling certification after graduating from Loyola University New Orleans with a Masters of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
2015
Michelle Chu Emma Farris
M
ary Allen has been living and working on the island of Oahu in HIi as a seventh grade, special education teacher. Alongside teaching, Mary works as the grade-level coordinator and the SpEd Co-chair of Wheeler Middle School. She is also enrolled in the Johns Hopkins School of Education and working towards a master’s degree in Education and Ed. Policy. Lynley Matthews is starting her 3rd year of medical school this May at UT. She’s planning to apply to general surgery residency and work in trauma ER at Regional One. Mary Thompson is attending Hunter (CUNY) in NYC this fall to study for a MA in Art History. Emily Shores moved to Greenville, SC to begin medical school and since has gotten a second dog Delta and bought a house. She completed her first year of medical school in which she published her first article in an FALL 2021 | 5 1
CL ASS NOTES academic journal. She is now in EMT training before starting her second year. Emma Farris lives in San José, Costa Rica where she was the 20192020 Princeton in Latin America Fellow and later Program Officer at the Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress. As of January 2021, she has taken on a new role as Assistant to the Chair on Countering Illicit Trade and Combating Transnational Organized Crime at the United Nations-mandated University for Peace in San José, Costa Rica. Mary Jane McCaghren recently moved to Dallas, TX where she continues to work for Mercer Capital in the Dallas branch. Mary Jane will take her second CFA exam in May. Hannah Pfrommer graduated with her Masters in Integrative Physiology from the University of CO in May 2020. Hannah completed her thesis on how sleep disruption increases the risk for T2D in children. Since then, she has been working as a scribe at Orthosouth in Memphis, TN and plans to move to New Orleans, LA to start medical school at Tulane University this fall. Nessa Steinberg is graduating this May with a Master’s of Health Sciences from the Mental Health Dept at The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and with certificates in Gerontology and Demographic Methods. Shortly after, she will move to Boston to work at The Marcus Institute for Aging, beginning a full-time research position focusing on aging and clinical frailty. Michelle Chu
lives in Los Angeles, CA. She recently adopted a German Shepherd-Husky mix, who takes up most of her free time. This April, she started a new position working as an assistant to the Creative Director of the animated production company Bento Box Entertainment, known for producing Bob’s Burgers. Katherine Harwell graduates from Harvard Divinity School this May with a Masters in Theological Studies, focused on religion, ethics, and politics. She hopes to move to Washington, DC soon. Olivia Bernabe has moved into a new apartment in Brooklyn. As auditions are still remote due to Covid19, she has been submitting self tapes for projects, such as the one she most recently finished for a kid’s talk-show in which she played the host’s sidekick, a puppet named Coral. On the weekends, Olivia works at a holistic healing center called MINKA Brooklyn focused on anti-racist training and global spiritual/wellness practices. Mary Caroline Newman graduated from Birmingham-Southern College in 2019 with degrees in Political Science and Business Administration and moved to Washington, DC to be the Front Office Coordinator for Senator Marsha Blackburn (TN). Mary Caroline recently completed her time in the Senate and will be starting at Ole Miss Law School this fall. Carmen Saab graduated in 2019 from Williams College and currently lives in Boston as an environment and climate contractor for USAID. Jane Morrison continues to live
in New York City working for Ernst and Young. Liza Alrutz is living in Chicago and working full time at Northwestern as an event production manager. After graduating in December 2020 with her master’s in Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, Ami Agrawal started work as a Quality Engineer at Rheonix, a company that manufactures rapid COVID19 testing instrumentation as well as providing molecular testing in the food and beverage industries.
2017
Rachel Chin Jean Jackson
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exie Rook graduated from the University of AR with a BSBA in Finance, summa cum laude. She will stay in Fayetteville to start law school Fall 2021. Abby Shutzberg graduated from Elon University with a BS in Statistics. She plans to move to Palm Beach, FL to work for Carrier Global.” Rachel Chin graduated from Saint Louis University with a BS in Communication Sciences and Disorders. She will pursue her MS in SpeechLanguage Pathology at DePaul University in Chicago this fall. Margie Peeler is working on a farm in southern Pennsylvania for a year and will start a Master’s of Divinity in the Fall of 2022.
2019
Faith Bradley Arabella McGowan he Class of 2019 has made the most of an unusual year with exciting prospects this summer and for years to come! In Memphis, Langston Myers will be interning at First Steps Recovery Center with psychologists utilizing group therapy techniques this summer. Karsen Springfield will be working as a retail banker at Independent Bank. As a Biology major at CBU, Karsen was recently elected pre-health chair of the Beta Beta Beta Honor Society. Her photography was also recently published in the UAB Sanctuary Literary Arts Magazine. Claire Pellegrin
T
Annabelle Baer ’17 and Kiara Norris ’18 meet up in NYC to crochet together.
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CL ASS NOTES wrapped up her sophomore year at Centre College where she is majoring in International Studies with minors in Spanish and Political Science. She continues to swim at Centre and just claimed 11th place in the 1000 Free and 100 Fly at the SAA Conference Championships. This summer, she will be working as the Pool Manager at the University Club of Memphis to lead their summer swim program. Lauryn Carr is pre-law at MS State in the Honors College where she is majoring in biomedical engineering and minoring in sociology. Lauryn is also the fundraising chair of the National Society of Black Engineers, the Secretary of Lambda Sigma Honor Society, an SNT Coordinator for the National Society of Leadership and Success, and a Roadrunner, working in the admissions office and giving tours to prospective students. This summer, Lauryn is interning with a federal judge and with Medtronic. At Rhodes, Emily O’Toole declared an education major, and Mary La declared a Chemistry major pursuing the drug design track and pre-medical tracks. Mary La was also recently elected as President of A.S.I.A. (All Students Interested in Asia) and VP of Big Brothers Big Sisters. Also at Rhodes, Hadiyah Qureshi was accepted into Nu Rho Psi, the honor society for Neuroscience majors, and is interning at Church Health in clinic administration. In Nashville, Faith Bradley has continued her study of biomedical engineering at Vanderbilt University and was elected Public Relations Chair of the National Society of Black Engineers. Lindsey Fields will be in Nashville this summer pursuing her EMT license after being accepted into the human biology major at the University of VA. In Knoxville, Maddie Jenks will be working for Congressman Kustoff this summer. Sophie Morrow received summa cum laude honors for sophomores last fall and is in the University of TN honor society. She will officially start at the college of nursing next semester. Merrill Culpepper also starts nursing school at the University of AL this summer. Kennedy Hamblen interned at the University Press of MS and the US Naval Observatory Library in Washington, D.C during her gap year. Abby Utley took a gap semester this spring where she worked on a date farm
and interned with Picture This Post. She is continuing her studies in Multimedia Journalism and her minor in Music at Loyola University Chicago. She also writes for The Gull, which is the school’s satirical newspaper. Chloe Guerra just finished her sophomore year at Saint Louis University as a Civil Engineering major. At school, she dedicates much of her free time to the Women in Engineering club and the American Society for Civil Engineers. For the upcoming Fall 2021 semester, she will be studying abroad in Madrid, Spain. Catie Lockhart is majoring in biology and recently applied to med school at St. Louis University through the SLU Scholar Program at Spring Hill. She also plans on studying abroad in Bologna, Italy during her senior year. Pooja Talati also hopes to study abroad in Bologna next semester to enhance her knowledge of Italian language and culture. She is a second-year pre-medical student at Tulane University, studying International Relations and Cell Biology with a minor in Italian. This summer, Pooja will be working as a research intern with Church Health and looks forward to volunteering at COVID-19 vaccination sites. Also at Tulane, Emma Harkavy is studying psychology with minors in sociology and English. She is involved in her sorority, Sigma Delta Tau, where she currently serves as the New Orleans Child Advocacy chair, and Alpha Phi Omega, an international community service fraternity. This summer, she is working for Youth Villages as an intern at a residential campus. Madison Motley is double majoring in political science and psychology at Tulane. This summer she will be working in Memphis and preparing to possibly go abroad next fall. Emily Richards is a sophomore McNair Scholar at the University of SC’s Honors College. With an accounting major, psychology minor, and a business analytics concentration, she has earned the position of Community Service chair in the Beta Alpha Psi Accounting Honor Society. She is working as an accounting intern at AutoZone headquarters this summer, and hopes to become an auditor at one of the Big 4 public accounting firms. Also at the University of SC, Zoe Roussey is majoring in psychology and minoring in neuroscience. She has volunteered through Meals on Wheels
Hattie Fogarty ’18 and Grace Murray ’18 at Sewanee: The University of the South.
Erin Katz ’18 and Caroline Ciaramitaro ’18 enjoying dinner together in Chapel Hill, NC.
Class of 2018 friends Baker Baine, Hattie Fogarty, Evelyn Roberts, and Martha Kay Williams celebrating Evelyn’s 21st birthday.
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CL ASS NOTES during the fall of 2020 and the spring of 2021 with her sorority Alpha Gamma Delta. Zoe plans to work this summer as a social media intern. Abbie Ryan declared her major in marketing and a minor in psychology at SC. She was also selected as a University Student Peer Leader and will be teaching a class this upcoming fall. Abbie is still involved in Alpha Chi Omega and the Women in Business Council. Jordan Gurley continues her time in Alpha Delta Pi as a social assistant at the College of Charleston where she studies arts management and marketing. She is also a part of the student-run record label at the College and works at an outdoor adventure outlet in the SC low country. Kit Hutton is serving as the Director of Fraternity Heritage in the New York Epsilon chapter of Pi Beta Phi and as the Vice President of RPI’s American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS). She is also a member of the Member Development Committee for RPI’s Panhellenic Council. Becca Shutzberg is majoring in Genetics on the Pre-nursing track at the University of GA where she is a mentor for the Undergraduate Pediatrics Society and an active member of Aurora UGA. Taylor Ann Wilson is a member of the Centenary College Gymnastics Team and
just finished her sophomore season winning the National Championship on bars. She is continuing her study in biology for future work with animals. Maisie Raburn is continuing her study in communication and technology and public relations. She is part of 14 East Magazine and also volunteers at PAWS animal shelter. Megan Tang is majoring in kinesiology with a concentration in exercise science and health improvement at the University of IL at Chicago. She holds the number one spot as a member of the school’s Division 1 golf team. Megan is also the WGCA All-American Scholar and is on the athletic Dean’s List. Also in Chicago, Anna Alexander is studying Communications, specifically advocacy for social change, and plans to minor in Africana Studies. Sara Fraser was nominated to the Colgate President Club Student Committee, a philanthropy organization similar to SMCF. Arabella McGowan is taking an “off term” this spring to intern for a non-profit consulting firm and do research through the Dartmouth Oral History Initiative while working remotely from VT. This summer, she’ll be at Dartmouth taking classes,
learning to rollerblade, and swimming in the Connecticut River. Kaitlyn Jang and Lily Smith will also be taking classes this summer. Kaitlyn also plans to work as a research intern at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and Lily will be working for the admissions office at Sewanee. Gabby Perez plans to participate in a program called Summer Projects through the Fellowship of Catholic University Students this summer where she will work as a housekeeper at a ski hill in northern MI with 60 other Catholic college students. Annie Leatherman plans to live and work in New York City this summer. Joy Jackson is working in a lab at the University of Miami’s medical campus this summer while mentoring a high school student to show her what “da lab life” is like and what it’s like to conduct research. She is also conducting research remotely through a program at GA Tech. Also at Miami, Sophia Meibohm plans to major in neuroscience and minor in chemistry and art history. She is involved in research within the Department of Anthropology & Public Health Sciences, studying the impact of the circulation of media images depicting police brutality on juvenile justice involving Haitian youth. Two years after graduating, it still seems as though… none can outshine the class of 1-9!
Twins Olivia and Paige Nielsen ’18.
Grace Sammarco ’18 working as a new instructor at Cycle Bar Memphis.
Kate Stukenborg ’20, Bennett Vaughan ’20, Lily Linkous ’22, and Caroline Ciaramitaro ’18 in Chapel Hill, NC.
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2021-22 Alumnae Board
We are excited to welcome our new Alumnae Board members: Elizabeth Middlecoff Allen ’91, Jenay Gibson Boggs ’06, Elizabeth Cashman Dickinson ’86, Grayce Gordon ’10, and Jordan Upton Schieffler ’12. For the first time ever, the St. Mary’s Alumnae Board includes at large members: Morgan Beckford ’06, Hayley Bower Gerber ’01, Celeste Bailey Herburger ’91, Sharlene Sidhu Keithley ’96, Polly Klyce Pennoyer ’02, and Falconer Robbins Warren ’05. FALL 2021 | 5 5
C MILESTONES Marriages Gwynne Keathley ’87 to Randy Swearer, February 10, 2021 Katie Camille Friedman ’06 to Prakhar Verma, January 26, 2020 Jennifer Guyton ’08 to Dan O’Brien, May 29, 2021 Kimi Nathani Patel ’08 to Mit Patel, September 8, 2018 Samantha Baumstark ’09 to Ryan Daza, November 11, 2020 Sri Pulusani ’10 to Shravan Chintalapani, January 9, 2021 Carey Segal ’10 to Zach Channing, October 24, 2020 Mary Stevenson ’10 to Zach Thompson, September 5, 2020
Ellen Cowens ’14 married Blaine Harrison on April 24, 2021. Aubrey Guyton ’11, Megan Guyton Markle ’09 & Carson Mullins Pigg ’09 at Megan’s wedding to Corey Markle.
Megan Guyton ’12 to Corey Markle, January 9, 2021 Ellen Cowens ’14 to Blaine Harrison, April 24, 2021 Addie Quinlen ’17 to William Hill Davis III, May 23, 2021 Lindsey Driver ’09 married Joe Pagni on November 21, 2020.
Sri Pulusani ’10 married Shravan Chintalapani on January 9, 2021.
Mary Stevenson ’10 married Zach Thompson, September 5, 2020. 56 |
MILESTONES Births/Adoptions Charles Watson “Charlie” Mitchell to Lauren Webb Mitchell ’98 January 29, 2021
Bailey Lane Buckner to Collin Wilson Buckner ’05 February 8, 2021
Scout Henley Dona to Hilary Dinkelspiel Dona ’99 March 3, 2021
Theodore “Theo” Everett Gray to Emily Templeton Gray ’05 January 27, 2021
Lucy Durham Rose to Susan Buckner Rose ’01 December 18, 2020
Neal Valentine Riley to Lauren Wiygul Riley ’05 May 4, 2021
Genevieve Caroline Pietrangelo to Sarah Matthews Pietrangelo ’01 February 16, 2021
Harper Grey Matteson to Lauren Bowden Matteson ’06 January 17, 2021
Layla Simone Race to Tanya Sibai Race ’01 March 25, 2021
William Patton Steele IV to Katherine Fockler Steele ’06 December 3, 2020
Henry Harris Mays to Margaret Ann Klinke Mays ’03 February 6, 2021
Annette Williams Mallory to Kate Smith Mallory ’07 November 20, 2020
Allen Benners Connelly to Musette Sprunt Morgan ‘03 June 3, 2021
Anna Christine Black to Mary Ward Pollard Black ’08 February 26, 2021
Margaret “Mae” Joseph Zingaro to Chloe Lackie Zingaro ’03 January 15, 2021
Olivia Staley Ozbun to Sarah Kramer Ozbun ’08 January 30, 2020
Elijah Finn Bell to Lauren Arnold Bell ’04 February 3, 2021
William Joseph Pohl to Memory Madden Pohl ’08 March 31, 2021
William Mitchell Brenner to Elizabeth Stevenson Brenner ’04 February 17, 2021
Mary Morris Fountain to Bailey Bethell Fountain ’09 May 3, 2021
Lucas Ford Céspedes to Amy Crawford Céspedes ’04 December 15, 2020
Murray Carson Fronterhouse to Katie Kaelin Fronterhouse ’11 November 24, 2020
Asher William Gore to Katie Gore ’04 March 23, 2021
Parker Dale Wagoner to Katie Danehy Wagoner ’11 March 8, 2021
Sarah Jeanne Malwitz to Elizabeth Jemison ’04 April 2, 2021
Virginia Kathryn Ossorio to Ellen Mitchell Ossorio ’12 April 5, 2021
William Patton Steele IV born December 3, 2020, to Katherine Fockler Steele ’06.
Charles Watson Mitchell, born January 29, 2021, to Lauren Webb Mitchell ’98.
William Mitchell Brenner born February 17, 2021, to Elizabeth Stevenson Brenner ’04.
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C MILESTONES Professional Updates Gwynne Keathley ’87 Executive Director, Berkeley Master of Design, Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation, University of California, Berkeley Elizabeth Schatz Passarella ’95 Published book, Good Apple Susan Wunderink Mettes ’99 Published book, The Loneliness Epidemic Lucy Harris Collins, ’04 Director of Operations, Remaker Labs, Inc. Brittany Johnson Hernandez, ’04 Executive Vice President of Government Affairs, Crossroads Strategies, LLC Erica Evans ’05 Associate General Counsel, Shelby County Schools Nora Kahn ’05 General Counsel, Occidental College Claire Arnett Sumner ’05 Partner at Lueder, Larkin & Hunter, LLC Meredith Robinson ’06 Director of Talent Acquisition, Billie Cristen Garrett Cain ’08 Completed Anesthesiology Residency at Emory, started Pediatric Anesthesiology Fellowship at UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh Amanda Castroverde ’08 Marketing Manager of Brand Strategy, Vrbo Ayana Fletcher ’08 Head Teacher,The Brearley School in New York City Molly Himelstein Hollenberg ’08 Marketing and Product Strategy, American Express Estes Gould Hughes ’08 Innovation & Talent Director, Economic Development Partnership of Alabama Meg Krisle ’08 Bilateral Affairs Officer, Mississippi National Guard State Partnership Program, Joint Force Headquarters
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Postgraduate Degrees Hanna Gordon Oysel ’08 Implementation Manager, Adams Keegan
Gwynne Keathley ’87 Executive MBA, University of California, Berkeley
Sarah Kramer Ozbun ’08 Director of Operations, Delta Lodging Group
Meg Kinnard Hardee ’98 Master’s in Digital Communications, UNC-Chapel Hill
Ali Fishman ’10 Senior User Interface Designer, Capgemini.
Martha Ferguson Burke ’04 PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision, University of Memphis
Sri Pulusani ’10 Dermatology Resident, University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Supriya Sarkar ’04 PhD in Epidemiology, Emory University
Mary Frances Street ’10 Education Program Specialist, United States Department of Education Erin Stuart ’10 Ordained as an Elder in the Upper New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church Kyra Rice Duffey ’12 Digital Content Coordinator, The Mariners’ Museum and Park Gabrielle Taylor ’14 Staff Assistant, Biden-Harris Administration Molly Aslin ’17 Engineering physics PhD student, University of Wisconsin, Madison Jean Jackson ’17 Completed HBO internship, currently Beats By Dre Filmmaker Meg Jones ’17 Program director, Global Brigades; medical care for refugees team leader to Greece Mary Ashley Murrah ’17 Graduating from UNC and will begin working for Prophet Consulting in Atlanta Addie Quinlen ’17 Copy Editor, Coffee or Die Magazine of Black Rifle Coffee Company Megan Wassef ’17 Chief Marketing Officer, networking app MEET
Molly Himmelstein Hollenberg ’08 Master’s of Business Administration, Columbia Business School Kimi Nathani Patel ’08 Doctor of Medicine, American University of Antigua Brooke Peeples ’08 Doctor of Medicine, University of Arkansas Kathryn Waggoner Edwards ’09 Master’s of Business Administration, Emory University Goizueta School of Business Elise Lasko ’09 Master’s of Fine Arts, Bennington College Mary Frances Street ’10 Master’s of Public Policy, Vanderbilt University Abby McAtee Gatliff ’11 Master’s of Divinity, Beeson Divinity School Meg Gould ’11 Juris Doctor, Columbia Law School Bobbi Fischer ’12 Master’s of Science in Nursing, Executive Leadership Degree, University of Memphis Ramie Mansberg Glick ’12 Doctor’s of Medicine, University of Tennessee College of Medicine Lesley Stevenson ’12 Master’s of Arts in Media and Cultural Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison Jodie Struminger ’12 Master’s of Business Administration, University of Memphis
MILESTONES
In Memoriam Rachel Ostrow Cabot ’13 Master’s in Mechanical Engineering, University of Alabama Ellie Frances ’13 Master’s of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Loyola University New Orleans Kim Taylor Freeman ’13 Doctor of Dental Surgery, University of Tennessee Francie Saunders ’13 Master’s of Business Administration in Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise, Colorado State University
Judy Lawrence McKay ’62
Debbie Boehme Salter ’67
Emma Mansberg ’17 Master’s in Women’s Studies, University of Alabama’s Gender and Race Studies program
Rikka Pulliam ’71
Amsey Grace Liebenow May 17, 2006 - September 12, 2021
We remember sophomore Amsey, who was a bright light at St. Mary’s. She was a member of the Cross Country, Swim, and Trap teams. She participated in Mock Trial, wrote for the Tatler, and served on the Honor Council.
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for girls. for life. for 175 years.
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ong before women had the right to vote, Mary Foote Pope believed in providing girls with the very best possible education. She founded St. Mary’s School in 1847, and over 175 years later, we’re still the experts on how girls learn. Over the course of the year, we will be telling the stories and celebrating the traditions that have made St. Mary’s an exceptional place for learning, growth, and sisterhood for 175 years.
Save the Date We plan to celebrate our 175th Anniversary with our entire St. Mary’s community on Saturday, April 2, 2022. DETAILS WILL BE PROVIDED AT A LATER DATE.
Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage
PAID
Memphis, TN Permit No. 810
Celebrate 175 years! for girls. for life.