C L A SS N OT E S Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., due to high airline ticket prices. Their New Jersey beachfront property weathered the storms well, and Jane said she has a deal for anyone who’d like to own 50 feet on the Atlantic Ocean close to NYC and Philadelphia. On the other hand, she said, she has an entirely different deal in mind for anyone who’d like to visit the Northwest and bunk for free in the guestroom of their new home with spectacular views of Puget Sound. Jean Eubanks Holland of Rockville, Md., was bedridden all summer with a twisted pelvis from a fall. During the earthquake, Sarah Forsyth Donnelly of Esmont, Va., thought a helicopter was trying to land on the house, since it was noisy and the house shook. Irene took out their power for several hours but they had no damage and not much rain. Sarah is a genealogy nut, and her family has been diligent in keeping records, except for the French Canadians who immigrated to Louisiana. (Jody, Cyd, and Kay Neese Smith are into genealogy, too.) Sarah’s four grandchildren (and some of their parents) visited during the summer and had a wonderful time, except when the AC went out overnight. Sandy Poole of Maryland’s Eastern Shore survived the hurricane with less damage than an ordinary nor’easter would cause. Sandy leads a prayer group at a nursing home and hopes to start groups in all four area nursing homes. She planned a short trip to Poland in October with a friend who lives in Sweden. Betty Ditmars Prosser of New York fared well during Hurricane Irene, which struck farther west, but the summer weather was erratic – hot and humid one moment, and cool and fall-like the next. She said she’d take long cold winters anytime over tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, f loods, and hurricanes! Molly Watson Womble of Clearwater, Fla., has been a widow for seven years, still lives in her house, and feels lucky that no hurricanes have touched them. Molly is a quilter, volunteers at church, does needlepoint, and gardens when it’s not too hot. Her oldest daughter lives in North Carolina, has two boys in college, and is an elementary school 34
teacher. Molly is thankful that her youngest daughter, who has a 16-year old and a 2-year old and teaches in a private school, lives nearby. Molly has talked to suitemates Nancy McGinnis Barto and Shelby Davis Porter and said it doesn’t seem possible that more than 50 years have passed. Gail Picard Bonifay suffered through one of the worst Oklahoma summers ever but escaped the heat for 10 August days by taking their sons and families on an Alaskan cruise. They got together again in San Diego to celebrate son Brett’s retirement from the Navy. Barbara Wageneck Gardner of Texas has been in the same house for 32 years. Her daughter, who moved back from New England, is close to her, and her son is in San Antonio. Being a widow has been challenging, and she travels a lot less now but still volunteers at the hospital and is in two Bible study groups. Syd Collson Chichester had cataract surgery, one eye at a time. She was terrified the first time, but the second one wasn’t even as bad as being in the dentist’s chair. Syd had news from Patty Morgan Connelly, who visited Jane Choate Lorentz on Cape Cod. Jane had hip surgery but, apparently, is doing well. Syd also talked with Travey Moncure Evans, who sounded good, with her usual upbeat, infectious laughter, and loves living in New York City, going to plays, and having everything she needs within a block or so. Syd said Travey, though born in Fredericksburg, has become a true New Yorker. Mona Allen Spilo moved from Armonk, N.Y., to Stonington, Conn., in September. Sue Smith Goodrick of North Carolina had to clean up tree limbs and debris and was without power for a couple of days after Hurricane Irene, but a home generator filled the gap. She took a European river barge cruise late last summer and enjoyed the city stops, good food and wine, company, and adventures. Susan Archer Hinzman was checking on their place on the coast in Morehead City, N.C., but hadn’t heard back. Liz Hill Heaney and Tucker Freeman Viccellio, also in North Carolina, were too far inland to experience anything more than rain.
U N I V E R S I T Y O F M A R Y WA S H I N G TO N M AG A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 1 2
Keep those cards, letters, emails, and phone calls coming, ladies. Jody and I love hearing from you – and so do your classmates. Please let us know if you want to be on our email list so we can keep you updated every month.
1961 Connie Booth Logothetis (A-G) connielogothetis@gmail.com Renee Levinson Laurents (H-Q) arjle@aol.com Lynne Williams Neave (R-Z) lyneave@aol.com From Connie: Mary Hatcher, Elizabeth Stewart Grenzebach, June Walton Lederle, and I had lunch in Wilmington, N.C., in August and have been trying to find another date to get together. Mary and I had lunch in October. She and significant other Bill travel a lot to places like Williamsburg and San Francisco using their timeshares. When she’s in Virginia, she sees Betsey-Ellen Hueston Hansen, who lives in Stafford County. Andy and I escaped the heat, and Hurricane Irene, by spending a couple of weeks in the Pacific Northwest, visiting Seattle; Olympic Peninsula; Victoria, British Columbia; and the San Juan Islands. We got together in October with Lynne Williams Neave in NYC; Barbie Upson Welch in Wilmington, Del.; and Clara Sue Durden Ashley and Bitsy Glasscock Duperior in Washington, D.C. Barbie was continuing flying lessons for the instrumental part of her pilot’s license. Husband Chuck had just had back surgery, relieving long-standing pain. While in Washington, I went to the centennial celebration of my elementary school and who should I meet but Kathleen Amouri Sheridan, who was in our Mary Washington class freshman year. Kathy teaches yoga in Bethesda, Md., and has two daughters in Delaware. Small world ... love these reunions! I ran into Eleanore Saunders Sunderland in September at the Falls Church funeral home where Clarence and I had gone to pay respects to a friend who had lost her husband and who is neighbors with Eleanore. We just never know where we might connect with classmates.
Hilda Corker Kelly of Ashland was sorry not to have been able to attend the big reunion. She had planned to come but her husband, James “Buddy” Kelly, passed away on March 10, 2011, and she just wasn’t up for it. Hilda roomed with Eleanor Knight and Judy Givens in Cornell freshman year but left after her second year to marry Buddy. She completed her undergraduate and graduate work at VCU and retired as assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for Hanover County Public Schools. She taught for 16 years at Randolph-Macon College, and she taught graduate and undergraduate courses as an adjunct professor at VCU. When she retired, she was offered a part-time job with Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which accredits public and nonpublic schools and school districts. Since Hilda joined the company, they have unified with several other accrediting groups and are now known as AdvancED. Hilda is director for Virginia, works with educators across the state and in other states and countries, and enjoys the flexibility the position affords her. She and Buddy have two children, Cheryl, an educator, and Greg, whose field is economic development. Their grandchildren, Amanda, Trent, Greer, and Parker, were preparing to enter college or begin graduate work. Hilda volunteers in her daughter-inlaw’s classroom, reads, golfs, cooks, and spends time with family. She and Buddy enjoyed traveling and took trips across the U.S. and in Europe. She made wonderful friends at Mary Washington, has stayed in touch with Judy Givens Smith and Sue Olinger Shaw, and has met Sylvia McJilton Woodcock in Williamsburg a couple of times. Eleanor Knight Jensen and Cliff completed their first transatlantic crossing on the Queen Mary 2 in August and were in Canterbury in the United Kingdom before starting a 27-day cruise back to New York on the Seabourn Sojourn via the North Atlantic, including Iceland and Greenland. Mary Kay Garnett Montgomery, who only attended Mary Washington for two years, said it is fun to read about classmates in the alumni magazine. She is retired