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WE DID IT!
ON THE COVER:
Class of 2021 members Eleanor Tober (left), Joseph Hatcher, and Haley Denehy celebrated their upcoming commencement in front of the Carmen Culpeper Chappell ’59 Centennial Campanile. The magazine invited many graduates to be part of the cover, but with exams underway, pandemic precautions in effect, and few students still on campus, not many were available at the time of the photo. So we give special thanks to this trio of new alumni!
THIS PAGE:
Last year’s spring blooms were bittersweet, brightening campus just as students headed home to complete their semester remotely. This year’s early buds encouraged and rewarded a campus community tested by pandemic challenges. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi ’00
Photo by Tom Rothenberg
Contents Features
6 A Shared Purpose When a Pandemic Closed Colleges Around the Country, UMW’s Commitment to Community Allowed It to Aspire to Something More 12 Lessons Learned Experience Helps Dean of Education Make a Difference at Every Level 15 Brand, New Diverse Voices Define UMW Identity
Departments 1 18 21 21 22 23 56
On Campus Notable and Quotable Book Report Get the Picture? Alumni Seen Class Notes Closing Column
ON CAMPUS
ALUMNA REAPPOINTED TO BOV SPRING/SUMMER 2021 • VOLUME 45 • NO. 1
Lisa Jamison Bowling ’89
Vice President for Advancement and University Relations
Anna B. Billingsley
Associate Vice President for University Relations
Neva S. Trenis ’00 Editor
Laura Moyer
Associate Editor
AJ Newell Art Director
Liz Clark Kuvinka ’96 Maria Schultz, M.Ed. ’11 Graphic Designers
Jill Graziano Laiacona ’04 Lisa Chinn Marvashti ’92 Angela Zosel McCormick ’00 Lee Ann Reaser ’98, MBA ’09 Cynthia L. Snyder ’75 Mark Thaden ’02
Gov. Ralph S. Northam has reappointed Princess R. Moss ’83 to the UMW Board of Visitors. Moss, who served on the BOV from 2007 to 2011, is vice president of the National Education Association (NEA), the nation’s largest professional teaching organization. Moss succeeds Sharon Bulova in a fouryear term that expires June 30, 2024. With an undergraduate degree in music education, Moss taught elementary school for 21 years. She was elected NEA vice president in August 2020 with the stated goal of providing safe learning spaces for all students and addressing public school inequities that were exposed by the pandemic. Moss, who earned a master’s degree in secondary administration and supervision from the University of Virginia, served two terms as president of the Virginia Education Association (VEA) and more than a decade on the boards of directors for NEA and VEA.
Contributors
University of Mary Washington Magazine is published by the Office of University Relations for the alumni, friends, faculty, and staff of the University of Mary Washington. The magazine staff welcomes your comments. Email: magazine@umw.edu Mail: UMW Magazine 1301 College Ave. Fredericksburg, VA 22401-5300 Call: 540-654-1055. Please help us find you: Email address changes to alumni@umw.edu; mail changes to University of Mary Washington Office of Alumni Relations, 1119 Hanover St., Fredericksburg, VA 22401-5412; call with changes to 540-654-1011.
UMW LISTED GREEN UMW has earned a listing among the nation’s most environmentally conscious schools. The ranking appears in the 2021 edition of The Princeton Review’s Guide to Green Colleges. It profiled 416 U.S. schools demonstrating a commitment to sustainability, based on student academic offerings and career preparation, campus policies, initiatives, and activities. “We strongly recommend the University of Mary Washington to students who want to study and live at a green college,” said Rob Franek, Princeton Review editor-in-chief. By summer, the University of Mary Washington plans to employ a full-time sustainability coordinator.
University of Mary Washington Magazine is printed with nonstate funds and is made possible through private support. Read and comment on University of Mary Washington Magazine online at magazine.umw.edu.
The pollinator garden blooms near the Anderson Center.
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
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NAACP RECOGNIZES STUDENT LEADER Brianna Reaves
Brianna Simone Reaves ’22 was named a “Captain of the Community” by the NAACP Culpeper Branch in January.
The Rev. Uzziah A. Harris, branch president, said Reaves is an exceptional advocate for racial justice, according to the group’s website. He noted that the Culpeper native co-organized a 2020 march there protesting police brutality across the nation. The peaceful event drew more than 800 people.
EAGLES’ BEST FRIENDS To celebrate Giving Day, April 13, the Alumni Association provided bandannas for more than 200 UMW fur babies and asked alumni to tag social media posts of four-legged family members with #MaryWashDay and #UMWAlumni. Besides immense cuteness, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter were filled with animal lovers showing their support for their alma mater! Read more about Giving Day on the back cover.
“Brianna has a voice that cannot be quieted,” Harris said. Reaves worked with others to establish the first NAACP UMW branch in hopes that the group could help students connect campus and national issues. She was elected president of the Student Government Association for 2021-22. The sociology major and social justice minor is passionate about the James Farmer Multicultural Center, where she works as a diversity peer educator. She served as vice president of the NAACP Virginia State Conference Youth and College Division and is a member of UMW Mortar Board.
SENIOR WINS NATIONAL RESEARCH AWARD William “Henry” Mills ’22 was selected as a 2021 Barry Goldwater Scholar. The physics and math major is among 410 scholars selected from more than 1,250 applicants in natural science, engineering, and mathematics. He will receive as much as $7,500 for his senior year. The Richmond native has been conducting research with his advisor, Assistant Professor of Physics Varun Makhija, since fall 2019. Chemistry professors Kelli Slunt ’91 and Leanna Giancarlo recommended that Mills apply for the highly regarded, selective scholarship. Mills, who plans to pursue a Ph.D., worked with scientists at Stanford University, Stony Brook University, and the National Research Council to take a freeze-frame photograph of a water molecule, Makhija said. “The water molecules in your glass of water are in vigorous, random motion. To take a still photograph of this molecule, we need a really short flash of laser light. So short that the molecule’s motion is imperceptible during the flash,” Makhija said. “Henry’s contribution was to calculate how quickly the molecules rotate and so figure out how short that flash needs to be. It turns out that the flash can be at most a millionth of a millionth of a hundredth of a second long.”
Henry Mills
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The scholarship program named for late Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater was designed to encourage outstanding students to pursue research careers in STEM areas. It is the preeminent undergraduate award of its type in these fields.
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ON CAMPUS
FELLOWSHIP SENDS ALUM TO GRAD SCHOOL
FULBRIGHT RECIPIENTS FORGE AHEAD Mary Washington had two Fulbright recipients this year – Hannah Rothwell ’19, who is teaching in Uzbekistan, and Lauren Closs ’20, whose research in Norway was put on hold by the COVID-19 pandemic. Rothwell, an economics and international affairs graduate, had applied for a Fulbright but was listed as a backup. Disappointed, she moved on to an internship in D.C. She was in a meeting there last winter when she received an unexpected text: Call the U.S. embassy in Uzbekistan immediately. She was needed at the Ferghana State University as soon as possible, she learned, to teach English through the Fulbright program.
Nehemia Abel ’20 secured a highly competitive Payne Fellowship, sponsored by USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development. Only 15 of the fellowships, which cover most of the cost of graduate school, were awarded for 2021.
Rothwell had to test negative for COVID before leaving the U.S., undergo another test in Uzbekistan, and then quarantine in a hotel before beginning her assignment at the university’s English Pedagogical Department.
The fellowship seeks outstanding individuals interested in careers in the foreign service of USAID. It enables them to work “on the front lines of some of the most pressing global challenges of our times,” according to the fellowship website. Abel left the east African nation of Burundi with help from USAID, and he wants to return the gift. “I would like to give back by assisting others living in crisis situations globally,” he said. The UMW marketing graduate will pursue a master’s degree in international development from Georgetown University, which he chose after also being accepted by Columbia, Johns Hopkins, George Washington, Howard, and American universities. The Payne Fellowship provides up to $96,000 in benefits over two years for graduate school, internships, and professional development activities.
Hannah Rothwell
Closs’s Fulbright has been deferred until August, when she will begin her work in Norway, Baker said. Baker and Professor of History Nabil Al-Tikriti co-chair the UMW Fulbright evaluation committee, which helps students submit Fulbright applications.
At Mary Washington, Abel received the Citizenship Award for Diversity Leadership and worked closely with multicultural organizations to promote diversity and inclusion. He received the 2020 Grace Mann Launch Award that honors a late student leader and social justice activist. Abel collaborated with Habitat for Humanity and Micah Ecumenical Ministries to serve homeless in the Fredericksburg area. He and his older brother co-founded an organization that serves Burundian refugees in the area, helping them pursue higher education and preparing them for the workplace.
Biology graduate Closs had planned to fly to Norway late last summer, but the country’s strict no-visitor rules delayed her entry. It was to be her second research-related trip to Oslo, where she worked in 2019 with UMW Professor of Biology Dianne Baker on wild fish stock restoration and aquaculture at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.
Lauren Closs
Abel is also a Fulbright semifinalist. UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
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POMP IN UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTANCES
The platform typically is packed with faculty, administrators, Board of Visitors members, and an honored speaker, but this year only seven people took the stage: President Troy D. Paino, Provost Nina Mikhalevsky, one student, one faculty member, a representative of the alumni association, a board member, and the official reader of names. There was plenty of pageantry despite the social distancing. Candidates processed to Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance recorded by the UMW Philharmonic Orchestra and recessed to the steady tones of one or two members of the Eagle Pipe Band. Each touch-free ceremony – no handshakes or exchange of diplomas – was limited to 150 graduates. The field’s 111,000 square feet were precisely measured and marked to accommodate graduates and their “pods” of well-wishers. The 1,200-member Class of 2021 participated in six ceremonies May 8 and 9. President Paino addressed every commencement gathering and stood by as each gowned and masked graduate walked across the platform.
Suzanne Carr Rossi ’00
Like most everything else during the pandemic, commencement looked different this year. Instead of one ceremony on Ball Circle, UMW hosted nine ceremonies May 6 to 9 on the fenced campus recreation field adjacent to U.S. 1.
Masks and socially distant seating helped make UMW’s multiple-commencement approach a success. The 1,300 members of the Class of 2020, whose commencement was postponed last spring, were invited to return for three processions, May 6 and 7. Three hundred accepted. President Paino welcomed them back, telling them that it was one of the most emotional commencements he’d attended, including those of his daughters. He acknowledged all the difficulties that the pandemic had put the graduates through, and what their families and the members of the UMW community had done to help them. “This commencement, while unusual, will be among the most meaningful,” he said.
GRAD’S AUTISM RESEARCH GETS ATTENTION Physics graduate Shannon Brindle ’21 devoted her undergraduate research to developing an imaging analysis technique for faster diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders. And Physics, an online magazine from the American Physical Society, took notice. She and Clark Saben ’24 worked with Rasha Makkia, UMW visiting assistant professor of physics. Brindle aspires to develop a “computational technique that can simultaneously extract multiple structures from 3D magnetic resonance imaging brain scans, something not possible with other methods,” the magazine reported
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after Brindle presented her findings at the March meeting of the American Physical Society. If successful, Brindle’s image analysis technique could allow clinicians to start therapies more quickly than is currently possible. As an undergraduate, Brindle didn’t have access to unlimited scans, so she tested her method on images of three 8-year-old boys, two diagnosed with autism and one not. While it’s too early to say if her observations have clinical significance, the measurements she made appear to be meaningful. Brindle hopes to continue this research in graduate school as she works toward becoming a medical physicist. The honors graduate is president of the UMW Optical Society and a member of Mortar Board, Sigma Pi Sigma physics honor society, and Chi Beta Phi science honor society.
ON CAMPUS
TRIO’S COLD BREW HAS A HOT KICK
EAGLES TENNIS TEAMS EXCEL ALL SEASON
A former physics major, a biochemistry student, and a chemistry professor are teaming up to brew the world’s spiciest beer. Ray Parrish ’91, co-owner of Maltese Brewing Company, was obsessed with the Guinness Book of World Records as a kid, so he decided to look up the world record for spiciest beer. When he found none, he contacted Guinness about establishing one.
It was a great spring for Eagles tennis, with the women’s team winning the Coast to Coast (C2C) Athletic Conference tournament held May 6-8, 2021, and both men’s and women’s teams ranking in the Top 20 all season long.
Parrish asked UMW for help and connected with Sarah Smith ’12, UMW visiting assistant professor of chemistry. Smith thought biochemistry student Valerie Ebenki ’22 might be willing to join in the pursuit of record-breaking beer. The UMW-centric trio set out to determine the heat content of Maltese’s Signal One 2.0, a pineapple IPA infused with 500 Carolina Reaper chilies, the world’s hottest pepper. Smith and Ebenki are using the Scoville heat index, which calculates chili spiciness, to determine the concentration of heat-making chemicals in the brew. They’re working in the Jepson Science Center labs, Ebenki said, using a ventilator hood and protective wear to guard against the powerful irritants capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin, the chemicals that add spice to peppers. Ebenki doesn’t drink beer, so she’s analyzed, not sampled, the brew. Parrish estimates the new 2.0 version of his Signal One is roughly 70 percent hotter than its predecessor, which was never officially tested. Despite the pandemic, this past year has been Maltese’s most successful in its six-year history. Many loyal customers have attempted the Signal One 2.0 challenge – down 10 ounces in 10 minutes – but few have succeeded. Regardless of outcome, Parrish planned to toast their efforts at the end of the spring semester.
The C2C is the successor to the Capital Athletic Conference, in which Mary Washington had competed since 1989. The name change became official in late 2020. With the Eagles women’s C2C win, they advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament for the 22nd straight season. They advanced to the quarterfinals but did not continue to the semifinals. Individually, women’s standouts Abby Moghtader ’23 and Claire Coleman ’22 received NCAA tournament singles bids, and Moghtader and Lauren Quinn ’22 were to compete in doubles. The NCAA singles and doubles tournaments were to be held after press time. Moghtader also was named the C2C women’s tennis athlete of the year; head coach Todd Helbling took top coaching honors. Eagles men also scorched through their regular tennis season but fell in the C2C finals. Moses Hutchison ’21 earned a spot in the NCAA men’s singles tournament and teamed with Andrew Watson ’23 in the NCAA doubles contest, both held after press time. Overall, spring athletes persevered with good grace amid COVID-19 protocols that required constant testing, canceled some events, and limited spectatorship at home games.
Read more at umw.edu/spicybeer.
Clint Often
Suzanne Carr Rossi ’00
– Jill Graziano Laiacona ’04
Biochemistry major Valerie Ebenki, left, assesses chili spiciness with Sarah Smith, a professor and alumna.
Abby Moghtader is 2021 Coast to Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
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When a Pandemic Closed Colleges Around the Country, UMW’s Commitment to Community By Emily Freehling Allowed It to Aspire to Something More.
As last summer ended, President Troy Paino was losing sleep, dogged by pandemic-related ethical questions. Can the university bring students back to campus while prioritizing their well-being and that of faculty and staff? What about the university’s responsibility to the community? And what sacrifices must members of the Mary Washington community make for the common good? It was, he said in a Sept. 1 video, “among the most difficult decisions I have had to make.” The announcement that UMW would move forward with its plan to bring students back Sept. 10 – three weeks after classes had started in a 100% remote format – came as many other colleges were experiencing outbreaks and sending students home soon after their own move-in days. But Paino had faith in Mary Washington – in the
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months of planning by administrators, faculty, and staff, and in the students themselves. A successful fall semester on campus was possible, he believed, if everyone kept sight of the shared purpose. In a year when many Mary Washington traditions had to be put on pause, the university leaned on its community values. Developed by students, faculty, and staff, and adopted by the Board of Visitors in 2018, ASPIRE – the acronym for those values – took on more meaning than ever when put to the test of a pandemic.
ACCOUNTABILITY The three-week delay of move-in day was an opportunity to watch and learn. News of outbreaks at other universities reminded students and staff that a semester on campus wasn’t going to happen without sustained
Suzanne Carr Rossi ’00
One student per bench? No problem. Students Kira Frazee (left) and Allison Bliss practiced socially distanced benchsitting one day last fall.
discipline and adherence to distancing measures, said Jeffrey McClurken ’94, Paino’s chief of staff and UMW’s co-coordinator of the COVID19 Implementation Team. He serves along with Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Tim O’Donnell. The delay gave UMW a chance to set up one very public mechanism of accountability, a campus-wide online COVID-19 dashboard that published daily reports on the number of cases, positive tests, and quarantined students throughout the school year. At the end of the fall semester, that dashboard showed that UMW had kept its COVID-19 case numbers lower than nearly any other school in Virginia. McClurken and other administrators attributed this partly to the Mary Washington culture, and a campus life that is driven not by
Greek rush and big football games but by close relationships and personal accountability. McClurken said he’ll never forget a story he heard from the mother of a student about her son on move-in day. “He came over to tell his mother goodbye, and he says to her, ‘Don’t worry, Mom. I’m not going to be the reason we have to go home,’” McClurken recalled. “I think we saw some version of that hundreds of times.” Heather Mullins Crislip ’95, rector of the UMW Board of Visitors, kept close watch over UMW’s COVID-19 dashboard as the year progressed. “I am in awe of the strength of our community and the way they took responsibility for keeping each other safe,” she said. She recognizes that students made sacrifices to keep case numbers low.
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“They really stepped up and took their duty to others seriously, but it has come with big costs … with not being able to have the full social experience,” she said.
SCHOLARSHIP After tackling the spring 2020 semester, when students suddenly went home to complete courses already in progress, the four-person team at UMW’s Center for Teaching and Digital Learning Support knew that planning for both a virtual and in-person fall semester would require a lot more work. They also coordinated efforts with others working to connect students with CARES Act money to purchase computers or hot spots, and providing resources to faculty members. A major focus was building a community where faculty could share ideas about teaching under pandemic limitations. Victoria Russell, director of the Center for Teaching, worked with the Digital Knowledge Center’s Cartland Berge and Shannon Hauser ’10 to create ReFocus Online, a four-week virtual teaching course for UMW faculty and staff. ReFocus became so popular – and met such a need that summer – that colleagues at other universities used it. Faculty put in the hours to shape their courses to pandemic realities, said Director of Digital Learning Support Jerry Slezak. They “rebuilt and reimagined courses over a summer when they were supposed to be taking a break,” he said. Russell attributed that dedication to the focus UMW puts on recruiting faculty who are passionate about teaching, working with, and mentoring students. “You are hired at Mary Washington because you are a good teacher,” she said. In his online classes, Associate Professor of German Marcel Rotter focused on harnessing Erika Bush that awkward moment when people are filing into a Zoom meeting and nobody knows what to do. He came up with trivia questions and other activities students could latch onto from
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the minute they connected. As the year progressed, Rotter noted more blank screens, as students opted not to turn on video. He didn’t require it, recognizing that many students were working with slow internet speeds. “A student last semester had to travel an hour to his grandparents’ house just to have decent enough Wi-Fi to participate in class,” he said. Ashleigh Foster ’21, a history major from Dumfries who commuted to campus, said switching between in-person and virtual modalities took a toll on students and faculty. But she appreciated that her professors went to great efforts to create as normal an experience as possible. In a course taught by McClurken, who is also a professor of history, she felt so confident in expressing herself through assignments, blog posts, and discussion that she gained a special camaraderie with her classmates, she wrote in and end-of-semester blog post. “Enabling the students to lead class discussions and to help design major projects really gave me a sense of responsibility and ownership,” Foster said. “Throughout discussions, it was great to have such an inviting space to share thoughts, opinions, and experiences among my peers. We had the chance to address very relevant issues. … I loved just getting to hear so many opinions about many of our topics.” The Zoom platform didn’t prevent McClurken and his colleagues from developing real and deep bonds with students, he said. “We want to get back to our in-person world, but our UMW faculty made very real and powerful connections with students over the last year.”
PERSONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL INTEGRITY The uncertainty of the fall semester took athletics off the table, meaning fall and winter athletes lost a season of play. As spring approached, university leaders were determined that spring athletes, who’d already lost their 2020 season, would not miss a second one.
MONITOR
MASK
DISTANCE
CLEAN
It became second nature for UMW students to grab a mask on the way out the door. 2020-21 Student Government Association president Kyree Ford sported the look shared by those taking in-person classes.
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Maria Schultz, M.Ed. ’11
“I am so grateful that we found a pathway,” said Athletic Director Patrick Catullo ’95. Competition started in early March and employed rigorous protocols that exceeded NCAA standards. All student athletes were tested weekly, and everyone involved in an intercollegiate competition was tested within 24 hours of a game or event. A typical weekend for Catullo and his staff involved testing the bus driver before a team hit the road, testing referees and officials at the Battleground Athletic Complex, making sure only approved spectators were admitted to home games, and ensuring that they kept to their assigned seats. Students also followed “monitor, mask, distance, and clean” (MMDC) measures that became a mantra on campus as the year progressed. Facilities staff had worked overtime during the preceding summer to set up classroom and campus spaces for social distancing, while the Office of Procurement searched the country to ensure that masks and cleaning supplies were available for anyone who needed them. University leaders realized early on that peerto-peer reinforcement would be an important way to encourage compliance, so the Center for Community Engagement, along with offices such as Athletics and Student Affairs, launched the Eagles Care Ambassador program. Forty students volunteered, signing up to wear brightly colored shirts and offer friendly reminders to students to stay distanced, limit the size of groups, and wear masks. Briana Rojas ’21, a biology major from Fredericksburg, said it wasn’t always easy approaching students she didn’t know and reminding them of the rules, but she was grateful to play a role in keeping campus safe. “If I can help keep the numbers down so that we can remain on campus and everyone’s being safe and we don’t have to be anxious, then that’s a role I want to play,” she said.
INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE The James Farmer Multicultural Center (JFMC) has always been a hub where students from a variety of backgrounds can ask: How do I find my place here? When in-person classes shut down in spring 2020, center Director Marion Sanford and her team launched a flood of emails, calls, and texts, checking in with students and helping to meet their needs. In late spring and summer, the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor led many students to seek advice from Sanford and her team about joining protests in Fredericksburg and around the U.S. “Everyone was so impacted with what had happened,” Sanford said. “We were talking to students and guiding them, sending them information and resources” to help them use their voices and to effect positive change. The center’s annual Social Justice and Leadership Summit had to be canceled in March 2020 during the shutdowns, but the JFMC held a summer social justice summit via Zoom. Jessica Machado, director of the Office of Disability Resources (ODR), felt it also was critical to ensure that UMW’s differently abled students received special outreach. Her team participated in numerous diversity and mental health-related capacities across campus, she said, “to continue to provide as much support as we can.” ODR led efforts to partner with groups including the JFMC to help students navigate the pandemic. The two offices worked to create inclusive virtual programming for October, Disability Awareness Month. Another substantive step forward came when ODR and the Center for Teaching and Digital Learning Support joined forces to help raise accessibility awarenessErika in Bush teaching practices within the digital learning environment. The ODR developed an advisory committee of students with disabilities to provide regular
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feedback, Machado said. “It provided a way to further engage with our students.”
RESPECT AND CIVILITY A centerpiece of monitoring potential virus spread on campus was the testing operation in the William M. Anderson Center. Dodd Auditorium Director Doug Noble and Director of Conferencing and Scheduling Susan Lafayette took on this endeavor after the pandemic shut down the in-person events that are the focus of their regular work. UMW tested a sampling of all residential and commuter students upon entry in the fall, with random sampling occurring two days a week to track virus spread on campus. Greater availability of testing in the spring allowed entry testing of all students, as well as testing of 300 students a day, twice a week in the spring, Lafayette said. One January day, 900 students were given tests before moving in for the spring semester. Noble logged 14 miles on his step tracker as he walked around the basketball court delivering results to individual students in a way that others wouldn’t overhear. Random testing meant many students came in more than once, and Noble and Lafayette were impressed by the students’ commitment to doing what was asked of them. “The students really wanted to be here,” Noble said. “They stepped up to follow the rules that allowed them to come to campus. I think it speaks to the character of the students we bring to Mary Washington.”
ENGAGEMENT Good Neighbor Day is a favorite campus activity for Allison Grant ’21 of Oakton. The annual day of service for students involved in Community Outreach and Resources, or COAR, takes students into Fredericksburg neighborhoods to help those in need of assistance. The event was canceled last spring, but Grant, the COAR staff director, wanted to bring it back
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in 2021. Like all UMW service activities, Good Neighbor Day had to work within rules allowing no more than 10 people in a group, with all activities outside. When the event arrived on a Saturday in early March, one group of students helped fill raised beds at Downtown Greens, a community garden in Fredericksburg. Another built a community garden at the UMW apartments. A third helped the university landscaping crew, and two other groups led cleanups along the Rappahannock River. Such thoughtful workarounds were necessary for projects to continue during the fall and spring semesters, said Leslie Martin, director of the Center for Community Engagement. “What I have seen is a lot of creativity and surprisingly impactful projects,” she said. University students, staff, and professors have gotten involved in the wider Fredericksburg
community in new ways – helping a downtown merchants’ group raise money for bike racks, boosting city tree-planting efforts, and supporting the city’s efforts to tell a more inclusive story of Fredericksburg’s history. Students also worked tables during the 2020 election season to help their peers navigate the complicated process of requesting and filing absentee ballots. Grant said community service opportunities had been a huge benefit for her during a year that at times felt isolating. “Virtual learning can be so lonely. It has many benefits, and I have experienced those, but there is something about walking into a classroom and running into a friend you haven’t seen in a while, or joking with a professor,” that happens in person, she said. “What this is teaching us is how much we need each other.”
Suzanne Carr Rossi ’00
Eagles Care Ambassadors including (from left) Anna Longacher, Katherine Brady, and Abby Zimmerman reminded fellow students to stay distanced, limit group sizes, and wear face coverings.
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Experience Helps Dean of Education Make a Difference at Every Level By Edie Gross
P
Dean Pete Kelly, College of Education
ete Kelly had his work cut out for him. In fall 2017, the College of Education (COE) was already facing the major challenge of impending accreditation. Then, responding to a critical teacher shortage, the governor and State Board of Education, followed by the General Assembly, directed colleges and universities to offer a four-year undergraduate degree in teaching – a change from Mary Washington’s fouryear undergraduate program with a fifth-year master’s degree. “And then in the door walks Pete Kelly,” said Provost Nina Mikhalevsky. As the COE’s new dean, “he not only has to lead a complete revision of the curriculum, but lead a complete revision of the curriculum while doing accreditation.” She likened the effort to Ginger Rogers having to dance with Fred Astaire backwards and in high heels – and that was before the pandemic threw everyone a curve. Luckily, this wasn’t Kelly’s first dance. Kelly had served on five state and national accreditation teams and had shepherded his last institution, Missouri’s Truman State University, through the accreditation process between 2013 and 2016. Under Kelly’s leadership, Mary Washington’s COE achieved accreditation in fall 2020. But while Kelly has adeptly handled the administrative side of his deanship in the past four years, he’s really excelled at interactions with colleagues and students. “He’s extraordinarily sensitive, perceptive, kind, compassionate, and enormously supportive of the faculty,” Mikhalevsky said. As for the COE students, Kelly never loses sight of
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the goal that through their classes, practical experiences, and interactions with professors and one another, they will become inspiring, empathetic educators.
‘T
eachers made a difference for me’ Truman State, where UMW President Troy Paino previously served as president, is in Kirksville, Missouri, about 90 miles north of Pete Kelly’s hometown of Columbia. “It’s not the end of the world,” Kelly joked of Kirksville, “but you can see it from there.” For 17 years, Kelly had served on the faculty of Truman State, which, like Mary Washington, got its start as a teacher’s college before blossoming into one of Missouri’s premier public liberal arts and sciences institutions. UMW’s public mission and reputation for social justice pursuits were strong draws for Kelly, who became COE dean at UMW in July 2017 after a national search. He’s always had a heart for “the kid in the back row who needed additional support,” because he had been that student himself. “I knew something about the path that kid was on because I was on it,” recalled Kelly, the fifth of eight children. Kelly’s family was solidly middle class, but his father struggled with alcoholism, and Kelly’s mother was diagnosed with a mental illness that required intermittent hospitalization. By high school, the challenges Kelly faced at home began to creep into his academic life. “I was having trouble keeping it between the lines,” he recalled. “My parents were so busy with their challenges that it was
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Suzanne Carr Rossi ’00
LESSONS LEARNED
hard for them to provide guidance.” That’s where teachers – notably humanities teacher Conrad Stawski and history teacher Dan Wright – stepped in to help Kelly see his own potential. During his senior year at Rock Bridge High School, Kelly was Wright’s teaching assistant and a captain of the football team, which Wright helped coach. “I think I learned something about the power a teacher has to have a positive influence on the lives of kids,” Kelly said. Kelly earned a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Kansas in 1986 and became a teacher himself. After a few years he took a job teaching at a correctional facility, where his students were 18- to 22-year-olds who had been sentenced as adults for serious crimes. “I think one of the things I learned is the distance across the desk was not that great between me and those inmates. A lot of these kids were born into families that were really challenged,” Kelly said. “I never met a perpetrator of violence or crime that hadn’t been a victim first, and often a victim in their own home. I met some amazing and remarkably creative people who were just on the wrong path.” While working for the Lansing Correctional Facility in Leavenworth, Kelly returned to the University of Kansas to earn a master’s degree and, later, a doctorate in special education with an emphasis in emotional disorders. He joined the faculty of Truman State in 2000. There, he was an advocate for students going through their own struggles. One of those was Tim Dickmeyer, who took graduate classes while teaching special education math to middle schoolers. He recalled that Kelly offered advice on everything from securing cheaper used textbooks to how to defend his thesis. “I felt like he supported me when I was on the margins,” recalled Dickmeyer, who earned a master’s degree in 2006. “Pete is one of those teachers that just made a difference for me on every level.” Dickmeyer went on to teach at Kelly’s alma mater, Rock Bridge High School, and nominated Kelly for the school’s alumni Hall of Fame. At a 2014 dinner, Kelly publicly thanked his former teachers. Kelly also gave a speech at the homecoming pep rally, where he emphasized the impact that teachers like Stawski and Wright had on his future. “It gave me a chance to stand up and tell my story,” he said, “how I was struggling to find my way and a couple of teachers made a difference for me.” Kelly credits his four oldest siblings with helping guide the younger ones through a somewhat chaotic childhood. They remain close despite being spread
Gold Star: COE Gains Accreditation
W
hen UMW’s College of Education (COE) earned accreditation in fall 2020, you could almost hear the long exhale. Any higher-education accreditation process is time-consuming and difficult, with the possibility that years of effort will lead only to a suggestion to fix problems and try again. But the pandemic threw an extra curve to COE Dean Pete Kelly and his colleagues. For nearly three years, they had painstakingly analyzed every aspect of their teacher preparation programs as part of a national accreditation process, set to culminate in March 2020 with a campus visit by a team of evaluators. The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) team was scheduled to spend a packed 2½ days at Mary Washington, talking with students, faculty, alumni, and representatives from local school districts. But when COVID-19 sent students home and classes online, the accreditation process also went virtual. Nearly two dozen interview sessions were shifted to Zoom, which for many participants was an entirely new platform. “Doing that in the first 10 days of the pandemic, with the fear and anxiety people had, it was remarkable we were able to make that pivot,” said Kelly, who had been neck-deep in accreditation efforts since arriving as the dean in July 2017. CAEP, the only recognized national accreditor for educator preparation programs, had been planning to experiment with virtual site visits before COVID-19 created a global crisis, said CAEP President Christopher Koch. “Then, we kind of got catapulted into doing it all at once,” he said, with UMW volunteering to be its first participant. “They were very agile in moving to virtual, and they advocated well for themselves. They get a gold star.” That gold star means UMW’s COE demonstrated excellence in content and pedagogy, clinical experiences, selectivity, program impact, and capacity for continuous improvement – the five rigorous standards required by CAEP for accreditation. All of Virginia’s teacher training institutions are required to go through the accreditation process once every seven years. It’s an opportunity to examine COE programs, identify areas for improvement, and celebrate what the college is doing well. (UMW’s College of Business undertook a similar process in recent years, earning accreditation from AACSB International in 2018.) Not every program evaluated earns accreditation the first time around. But UMW and two dozen other programs managed to do just that during “a turbulent time,” Koch said, bringing to 366 the number of U.S. institutions with CAEP accreditation. “It’s a hallmark that we’re meeting higher standards in the field,” said Professor John Broome, part of the college’s accreditation steering committee. “I’m proud of us for being a small school and being able to get it. It’s important that we did it – and got it right the first time.” – Edie Gross
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throughout the U.S. and Canada. Kelly has four adult children from his first marriage – Rachel, a physician in Tucson, Arizona; Drew, an EMT in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Trevor, a brew master in Austin, Texas; and Mackenzie, a veterinary assistant and graduate student in Seattle, Washington – and five grandchildren. Kelly and wife Julia DeLancey, an art history professor at UMW, have been married for 14 years. It’s no surprise that the couple’s cat, Milo, is named for the main character in The Phantom Tollbooth, a classic tale about a boy who learns to love learning. During years of restaurant work to put himself through college and grad school, Kelly developed a passion for cooking. He also enjoys riding his bike each day to campus and kayaking on his days off. Not that he’s had a ton of free time since moving to Fredericksburg. During Kelly’s tenure at UMW, the College of Education has been laser-focused on accreditation, designing the new four-year course of study, and building strong partnerships with local school systems where student teachers train before graduating. Preparing graduates to teach amid economic, political, social, and pandemic-related unrest is a priority for the College of Education – even as it gears up to move to its new home in the fully renovated Seacobeck Hall at the end of 2021, Kelly said. “Their job is much broader than teaching math, English, and writing, and it’s our job to help them prepare for that,” he said. “On a good day, it’s a hard job. But learning to do that in the middle of a pandemic, under stressful conditions and kids are struggling … We ask too much of teachers, but that’s where we live right now.”
‘O
utward-facing’ college makes an impact Keeping close relationships with local school divisions and the broader community is a key part of helping prepare future teachers. Rebecca Towery, M.Ed. ’06, director of program evaluation and special projects for Stafford County Public Schools, noted that the college joined the school division in getting a grant to create a middle school community center. There, COE practicum students provide academic support and a safe place for kids to hang out. The program has been so successful there are plans for a similar project at another Stafford middle school, according to Kristina Peck ’08, the college’s director of clinical experience and partnerships. Towery and Melanie Kay-Wyatt ’92, M.Ed. ’07, the director of human resources for Spotsylvania County Public Schools, praised UMW’s support for Virginia’s Teachers for Tomorrow, a program that offers hands-on learning opportunities and even college credit to high
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Truman State students celebrate Kelly at commencement.
school students interested in teaching careers. UMW has invited those students to campus to participate in classes, dine with faculty, and enjoy “a day in the life of a college student,” inspiring them not only to pursue the teaching profession but to do so in their own community, said Kay-Wyatt. Peck recalled accompanying a group of those students on a campus tour pre-pandemic. “I was walking with them, and one of them said, ‘I didn’t think I wanted to go to college, but now I’m really interested.’ To me, that was so powerful to hear a kid say that this experience may have changed his trajectory,” she said. Both Peck and Kelly keep heavy-duty pipe wrenches in their offices – a gift from April Brecht, the college’s director of advising – as a reminder of the importance of keeping the “pipeline” open, so a steady stream of local high school graduates will flow through UMW and then back into local schools. “We’re the most outward-facing aspect of this university,” Kelly said. “We need to be seen as relevant and making a difference in the communities we’re a part of. We’re dependent on resources from the state to do the work we do, and we have to do it in a way that makes a difference.” As the academic foundation upon which the University of Mary Washington was built, the College of Education has essentially been embedded in the surrounding community since 1908, Mikhalevsky said. Kelly’s efforts to expand community partnerships and revise the curriculum in response to critical needs mean the college is well-positioned to make a difference for years to come. “His leadership comes from and is rooted in a deep, authentic caring and passion for improving the lives of kids in public schools and improving education for kids in public schools,” Mikhalevsky said. “When he’s talking about curriculum, he’s talking about people’s lives. He is going to leave no child behind. None.”
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
Brand, New By Emily Freehling
Diverse Voices Define UMW Identity Word clouds created from research responses.
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
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D
eep research and inquiry are skills the University of Mary Washington imparts to its students. University leaders have turned these tools of discovery inward over the past two years, engaging thousands of individuals to define the University of Mary Washington experience. Current and prospective students, alumni, staff, faculty, donors, and members of the wider Fredericksburg community participated in a research process aimed at telling a more inclusive and authentic story about the university. “We couldn’t get it right if all of these individuals hadn’t been willing to participate,” said UMW President Troy Paino. Paino knew when he arrived on campus in 2016 that UMW would need to refresh its branding – the messaging it uses to present itself to the wider world – to stand out in Virginia’s competitive higher education market. Vice President for Advancement and University Relations Lisa Jamison Bowling ’89 said Paino’s involvement from the start set the stage for a process that had buy-in from students to the top leadership. “He has invested incredible time and energy in making sure that this is not a banal marketing campaign,” she said. “An exceptional brand reflects an authentic experience. It’s the culture, it’s the environment, it’s who we are, not just a trite message on advertising and promotional materials.” “When we did our market research, people who knew us had a positive impression,” Paino said. Research demonstrated that Mary Washington’s alumni satisfaction and pride are higher than national benchmarks, but he continued, “the biggest problem was, there were Erika Bush far too many people who didn’t know us.” Director of University Marketing Malcolm Holmes said solving this problem is more critical than ever, as increasingly fragmented media and high-dollar marketing campaigns at universities
large and small make it harder to reach aspiring first-year college students. And declining birthrates mean that demographic is shrinking. “The reality is that schools must compete for students,” Holmes said, “and schools tend to claim to offer the same benefits and the same experiences regardless of what an individual
We want to be a place where each person matters, where everyone is seen, heard, and recognized as uniquely individual and absolutely indispensable to our community.
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Lisa Bowling
student needs. When prospective students don’t know us, the brand will provide an insight about our values and whether UMW is a good fit.” “We are not a one-size-fits-all school,” Bowling agreed. “Instead, we want to be a place where each person matters, where everyone is seen, heard, and recognized as uniquely individual and absolutely indispensable to our community.” In a marketing landscape where students are turned off by overly polished sales pitches, Paino and the University Relations team knew it would be important to tell an authentic story that connected with people. “We all agreed that it had to be inclusive, it had to be expansive,” Paino said. “Our research had to be both deep and wide. We wanted to hear from diverse voices on this.” That research required finding the right branding firm to lead the process. The search started with more than 60 agencies, from boutique
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
firms to multinationals, Holmes said. That list was narrowed to 10, seven of which came to campus to pitch for UMW’s business. Paino said he was impressed with the winning firm – Atlanta-based Mindpower – from the moment they arrived in Fredericksburg. “They came early to spend time in Fredericksburg, eating in the restaurants and striking up conversations and asking people in the city what they think about the university,” he said. “Being willing to take that extra time to get to know the culture here told me a lot about them and the care that they take.” The partnership with Mindpower began with research. Through individual interviews, attendance at pre-COVID campus events, focus groups, and multiple rounds of rigorous market testing, every major stakeholder had an opportunity to participate. “We purposely oversubscribed in the research so that anyone who wanted a voice in the process had an opportunity to participate,” Bowling said. “It is extraordinarily rare to have thousands join in this type of feedback process, but we believed it was crucial to identifying an authentic and unifying identity for all constituents.” With the perspectives of more than 7,000 of its most invested community members guiding the effort, UMW and Mindpower developed a brand strategy and platform that will influence philosophical and tactical decisions across the university. This framework is also the basis for the creative expression of the brand, which members of the university community will start to see on campus and in school communications in the coming months. In a discussion of the new brand at a February meeting of the Board of Visitors, board member Charles Reed Jr. ’11 said the concept perfectly expressed the reasons he chose to attend Mary Washington. “It was always the small, close-knit community that I enjoyed about my
experience,” he said. “It is all about the students, about their experience, about why they want to come and stay at Mary Washington.” The branding process was delayed by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Paino said that delay could be a blessing in disguise, as new branding would have gotten lost amid the elections and pandemic. As the world emerges from the crisis, he thinks the new concept will hit home with a generation of students looking for some of the very things Mary Washington does best. “This is a place where people can come make a difference, both as individuals and as a broader community. For generations people have attended and supported Mary Washington because they want to make an impact and use their talents in a way that truly matters,” he said. “I think that is what all of us – especially the next generation – really want. While our brand will be timeless, it really resonates as we emerge from COVID. It’s Mary Washington’s moment to be bold.”
UMW will launch its new brand in the fall 2021 semester, when classes are expected to resume fully on campus. The fall/winter edition of this magazine, which should mail in November, will explore the brand, how it reflects Mary Washington’s past and future, and how it will aid potential students in finding their best fit in higher education. Until then, watch umw.edu for all university news.
Schoeb Joins Nokia Leadership Team
Jeopardy Productions, Inc.
NOTABLE & QUOTABLE
Aaron Rodgers and Erin Merrill shared the Jeopardy! set during a show that aired in April.
’04 Grad Shows Broad Knowledge in Exciting Jeopardy! Appearance Melissa Schoeb In April, Melissa E. Schoeb ’90 became Nokia’s chief corporate affairs officer and a member of its leadership team. She oversees communications, government relations, brand, and sustainability. The international relations and Spanish graduate joined Nokia from Occidental, one of the world’s largest independent oil and gas companies, where she was vice president of corporate affairs. Schoeb serves on the UMW College of Business Executive Advisory Board. She is based in Espoo, Finland, and reports to Nokia’s president and CEO.
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Jeopardy! watchers may have noticed Erin J. Merrill ’04 blazing through the categories during the April 5 episode of the game show. Merrill beat fellow contestants to the buzzer with correct responses about knives (oyster, Bowie, Ginsu), French phrases, geographic locations, and more. In the clever category of “Before and BAFTA” – looking for a mashup of a pop culture staple and the name of a BAFTAawarded movie – Merrill deduced that a comic strip about a redhaired adoptee plus a movie starring Diane Keaton was Little Orphan Annie Hall. And she netted a Daily Double by figuring out that a TV show about zombies plus a film starring Robin Williams as a teacher was The Walking Dead Poets Society. Merrill had an easy rapport with fellow contestants and the show’s guest host, Green Bay Packers
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
quarterback Aaron Rodgers. She racked up 14 correct responses and missed just one, but didn’t dislodge the episode’s returning champion. Merrill, who lives in Woodbridge, Virginia, majored in American studies with concentrations in theater, education, and history. She has taught middle school social studies for 16 years and was among three winners Erin Merrill nationwide of the American Civic Education Teacher Award in 2020. This year, she won the Virginia Education Association’s Award for Teaching Excellence – the “teacher of the year” award – and will advance to consideration for the national title.
NOTABLE & QUOTABLE
Hyperbole
Bienvenue Directs Oak Ridge Institute
Lily Eghtessad interviews Anne Kemp, owner of Dragonfly Yoga Studio.
Joan M. Bienvenue, MBA ’13, has been named executive director of the Oak Ridge Institute at the University of Tennessee. The institute was established last year to align Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the university in support of research and talent development.
Grad Weaves Stories of City Business Owners Lily Eghtessad ’20 is helping Fredericksburg celebrate its diverse businesses through her work on the FXBG Diverse City project. The historic preservation graduate is a tourism associate at the Fredericksburg Department of Economic Development and Tourism, which along with the Economic Development Authority sponsored the program that highlights small-business owners. From February through June, FXBG Diverse City posted stories and videos on its website, Facebook, and Instagram. February, Black History Month, featured a barber, a popcorn specialty store, and a design and marketing firm. Women’s History Month in March meant a focus on women-owned businesses such
as a gluten-free bakery, a yoga studio, and a coffee roaster. The project continues with a highlight video at the end of each month through June, with LGBTQIA-owned businesses. With support from city staffers, Eghtessad developed the look, feel, and operation of FXBG Diverse City, according to The Free Lance-Star. Eghtessad started as an intern with the city before she graduated. She worked on a social media series called Spanning Chatham Bridge’s History, making weekly posts about the bridge as it underwent reconstruction. To view the projects, see visitfred.com.
Joan Bienvenue At the institute, Bienvenue will focus on graduate research in emerging fields and lead recruitment of faculty, staff, and students. Before joining Oak Ridge in March 2021, Bienvenue was senior executive director of the University of Virginia Applied Research Institute. Besides her Mary Washington MBA, Bienvenue holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Virginia, a master’s of forensic science from the University of New Haven, and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Rivier University.
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NOTABLE & QUOTABLE
“Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff” Matt Paxton ’97 is still helping people sort treasures from trash. The second season of his TV show Legacy List With Matt Paxton is online now and on many PBS stations. In it, he helps families, especially older people, prioritize as they unclutter and pack for smaller houses.
Welch Helps Bring Jobs to Virginia The Virginia Economic Developers Association presented Meghan Hobbs Welch ’13 its inaugural Rising Star Award in December. She was recognized as senior business manager for business investment of the Richmond-based Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), which she joined in May 2018.
Meghan Welch
She manages projects that cultivate job growth in the commonwealth. Her leadership has contributed to more than $1 billion in capital investment and nearly 3,000 new jobs with salaries well above the state’s prevailing wage. Welch earned a degree in political science and international affairs at UMW and is pursuing an MBA from the College of William & Mary. She was one of 17 accepted into the College Leaders Program at the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia.
Gardner Heads Texas Museum Courtney Elliott Gardner ’89 is the new director of the Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts in Spring, Texas. She had been the executive director of the Peninsula Fine Arts Center in Newport News, Virginia, since 2011. It closed at the end of 2020, according to the Daily Press.
Matt Paxton Well known from his time on A&E’s Hoarders, Paxton has been in the profession for more than 20 years, and he’s seen it all – from 300 cats to a Picasso in the attic. The business administration grad was featured in The Washington Post and The New York Times last winter, and he appeared earlier on Jimmy Kimmel Live. In April, he lent his knowledge to fellow alumni during a Zoom presentation. He discussed his career and his time at Mary Washington, and he shared wisdom about getting organized.
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Courtney Elliott Gardner
Gardner has received numerous awards including “Top Forty Under Forty” from Inside Business Hampton Roads, the Paul Harris Fellow Award from the Rotary Club of Newport News, and the YWCA Women of Distinction Award.
According to a press release from the Pearl Fincher Museum, Gardner is known for her leadership skills in increasing an organization’s visibility; fundraising and financial management; and overseeing exhibits, educational activities, and programs that offer broad appeal to the community.
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
BOOK REPORT
Featured Books
How to Feel: The Science and Meaning of Touch Assistant Professor of Communication Sushma Subramanian Columbia University Press, February 2021 Subramanian’s timely work explores the scientific, physical, emotional, and cultural aspects of feeling, even as the pandemic has changed society’s relationship with touch in fundamental ways. The Conductors Nicole Glover ’10 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, March 2021 This historical fantasy set in the 1870s tells of a couple who once used their magical abilities to help enslaved people escape to freedom via the Underground Railroad. Now, post-Civil War, they use their magic to solve murders. It’s the first book in Glover’s Murder & Magic series.
Books of Note Are You Gregg’s Mother? Charlotte Gregg Morgan ’67 memoir, Legacy Book Press January 2021 Hidden City: The Unimaginables, Book 1 Jen Furlong ’14 young adult novel, Masterful Person Company Publishing audiobook, March 2021; paperback, April 2021 Ces Couleurs Qui Nous Trompent Delphine Ngo Kattal ’17 French-language novel, Vérone Publishing February 2021
GET THE PICTURE?
Give It Your Best Shot It was Move-In Day 2000, and these students looked ready to take on whatever fall semester might bring. Can you help us identify this stylish couple from 21 years ago? Photographer Lou Cordero captured the image. Go online to magazine.umw.edu and click on “Get the Picture” to leave a comment. Or send an email with “Get the Picture” in the subject line to magazine@umw.edu. You may also write to: UMW Magazine – Get the Picture, 1301 College Ave., Fredericksburg, VA 22401-5300
You Got It! Tonya Turner ’92 (left) recognized herself in this photo with Sammy D. Eagle at the 1988 ballfield dedication. Turner was Ton, of course, and she identified Shel as Michele Parks ’92 and Bec as Rebecca Murphy Fox ’90. Julie Lail Porter ’92 also identified Rebecca, her former roommate. Barry Fitzgerald was the photographer. Thanks to all for solving this mystery!
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ALUMNI SEEN Greetings fellow Mary Washington Alumni, Isn’t spring the best season to stroll through the UMW campus? As many of us celebrate receiving vaccines and interacting with friends and family members we haven’t seen in months due to COVID-19, I am eager to visit our campus with Alumni Board President all the spring blooms and Jenifer “JB” Blair ’82 renovations in progress. As much as I’ve enjoyed the UMW-sponsored virtual programs and gatherings this past year, nothing compares to a stroll down Campus Walk to remind me of the good times while a student, the excellent education I received, and the relationships that still mean so much to me. By the time you read this, the university will have held commencement exercises May 6 through 9 for the classes of 2020 and 2021, and we welcome these recent graduates to our alumni association of more than 42,000 members. Despite the challenges in our communities and in higher education, UMW continues to provide an outstanding liberal arts and sciences education to students on campus and virtually. If you have not yet participated in a virtual town hall with President Troy Paino, I encourage you to do so. You will learn we have much to be proud of in how our alma mater’s faculty, staff, and students have responded to the challenges brought on by COVID-19. Earlier this spring, Dr. Paino provided the report of the UMW Police Community Advisory Panel (CAP). This report follows up on the Fredericksburg protests related to George Floyd’s death in May 2020 and outlines recommendations to align university policing with our ASPIRE community values. It suggests ways to reframe campus policing to respond to evolving expectations in the region and nation. This is but another way our alma mater is responding to concerns of the greater university community. Your alumni association also has navigated these challenging times, moving events virtually. We anticipate resuming in-person events in the fall. Last fall’s virtual homecoming featured networking events for alumni in education and business, the Between Two Ficuses young alumni video, and Kahoot! Trivia. Alumni from all classes enjoyed the Mary Wash memorabilia video from Dean Cedric Rucker ’81. His
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collection spans decades and includes stories of many traditions we all share. Other online experiences available to alumni include Dr. William B. Crawley’s Great Presidential Lives and the popular Mary Talks featuring UMW faculty and administrators. In an early April Zoom session, several hundred alumni heard from Matt Paxton ’97, who shared the launch of his PBS program, Legacy List, a series about our homes, hidden treasures, heirlooms, and the precious memories attached to those items. These are only a few examples of how we’ve stayed connected to UMW this past year. A post COVID-19 visit to campus will surprise you! While Willard Hall has reopened to students, Virginia and Seacobeck halls are still undergoing construction and should open this fall and next spring, respectively. The College of Education looks forward to moving into Seacobeck. A brand-new Hillel Center has opened on College Avenue across from the University Center, a welcome addition to our faith-based centers near campus. In my first year as alumni association president, our board discussed expansion of alumni benefits, better promotion of our alumni awards nomination process, and how we can improve student-alumni career networking. We continue to diversify our board, not only in class years but in career and volunteer expertise, race, gender, and sexual orientation. As alumni, we play an important role in the continued success of UMW. Encouraging prospective students to apply for admission, hiring UMW students as interns or employees, attending virtual and in-person networking and affinity events, and nominating classmates and friends for awards are just some of the ways you make a difference. Many thanks to those of you who have supported UMW through your donations of time and gifts, especially to the Fund for Mary Washington, the university’s most flexible, unrestricted source of support for students and the alumni association. I encourage you to stay involved and connected, whether via Zoom with classmates (as I’ve done each Sunday evening since March 2020 with a few members of the Class of ’82) or through your local networks and affinity groups. Share ideas for speakers, events, and programs with your leadership locally. We want to remain connected even as our opportunities to meet in person are limited. Your alumni board members are also here to support you! I hope to see many of you at Reunion Weekend in 2022. It will be an event to remember! Be well and #MW ForeverTrue, Jenifer “JB” Blair ’82 President, Alumni Board
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
No class agent? No problem. Send your news to classnotes@umw.edu. If you prefer to submit Class Notes by mail, send to: UMW Magazine – Class Notes 1301 College Ave., Fredericksburg, VA 22401
YOU!
Let us hear from
Deadlines for submissions to class agents: July 15, 2021 • Dec. 9, 2021
1930s
There are no Class Notes from the 1930s, but several classes have scholarship recipients. Shaun McBride ’23 received the Edward Alvey Jr. Scholarship endowed by the Class of 1936. Recipients of the Nina G. Bushell Scholarship from the Class of 1937 are Jonni Hower ’20, Gwen Fiorillo ’21, Kayleigh Rice ’21, and Harper Cowan ’22. Veronica Daszkilewicz ’23 received the Eileen Kramer Dodd Alumni Scholarship from the Class of 1939.
1940
No Class Agent classnotes@umw.edu Recipients of the Oscar H. Darter Scholarship in History endowed by the Class of 1940 are Emily Johnson ’21 and Sarah Pietrowski ’20.
1941
Dorothy Shaw Dorothyshaw1919@gmail.com Recipients of the Mildred McMurtry Bolling Memorial Scholarship endowed by the Class of 1941 are Osahor Aghayere ’22 and Noell Evans ’21.
1942
No Class Agent classnotes@umw.edu Cindy Ly ’22 received the Class of 1942 Scholarship in Business Administration in memory of James Harvey Dodd.
1943
No Class Agent classnotes@umw.edu
Lauren Quinn ’22 received the Class of 1943 Scholarship in memory of Levin J. Houston III.
1944
No Class Agent classnotes@umw.edu We were saddened to learn of the Nov. 5, 2020, death of longtime class agent Phyllis Quimby Anderson. A son let us know of his family’s loss and shared her obituary, which we excerpt here. After her Mary Washington graduation, 20-year-old Phyllis began teaching elementary school in New Jersey. Once she married Hank Anderson and began her family, Phyllis turned her attention to family and community life. She cheered on her nine children in all their endeavors. A music lover, Phyllis played baritone horn and sang with various groups and choirs throughout her life. She and Hank retired to Westminster, Vermont, where they founded their church’s handbell choir. A volunteer for Meals on Wheels since 1988, Phyllis accompanied one of her sons on his Meals on Wheels delivery route as recently as two weeks before her death. Phyllis lost Hank in 2011 and lost a daughter in 2014. Survivors include her other eight children, 10 grandchildren, and 13 grandchildren. Recipients of the Class of 1944 Memorial Scholarship are Bernadette D’Auria ’22, Kaitlyn Mackewicz ’23, Neonya Garner ’24, and Cassie Howe ’24.
1945
No Class Agent classnotes@umw.edu Jenna Diehl ’24 received the Class of 1945 Memorial Scholarship.
1946
Patricia Mathewson Spring classnotes@umw.edu Ryan Ruscitella ’24 received the Class of 1946 Scholarship. We were sorry to learn of the passing in November of Susan Tillson Metzger, who had been a May Queen. After her Mary Washington years, Susan earned a second bachelor’s degree in computer science and an MBA, and had a career as a computer programmer and college instructor. Survivors include three daughters.
1947
Betty Moore Drewry Bamman classnotes@umw.edu
1948
No Class Agent classnotes@umw.edu The Class of 1948 no longer has a scholarship representative. Any class member interested in receiving the student acknowledgments is asked to contact Maureen Aylward at maylward@umw.edu or 540-654-2065. Recipients of the Ellen Alvey Montllor ’48 Scholarship endowed by the Class of 1948 are Kimber Foreman ’23 and Emma Grehan ’23.
1949
No Class Agent classnotes@umw.edu Brandon Lefebvre ’20 received the Class of 1949 Scholarship.
1950
Marcy Weatherly Morris classnotes@umw.edu Happy 2021 to our special Class of 1950! I heard no news from anyone for this issue of the magazine. Juney Morris and I, Marcy Weatherly Morris, are doing as well as we can to stay healthy and are so happy we were able to finally get our vaccinations during a drive-through clinic in King George. Garry Lewis Jr. ’24, one of our great-grandsons at UMW,
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CLASS NOTES Let us hear from you! Deadlines for submissions to class agents: July 15, 2021 • Dec. 9, 2021 tested positive for COVID the week before Thanksgiving. He isolated, quarantined, and except for fatigue, is thankfully back to normal. Liam Prunczik ’24, our other freshman great-grandson, has escaped so far. Hopefully 2021 is bringing some order to the chaos we experienced in 2020. Was so looking forward to our belated 70th reunion but, as you’ve heard by now, the plans changed. Looking forward to the day we can all visit our alma mater and see our classmates in person! There are so few of us. Keep in touch, and stay safe and happy!
organized by our granddaughter Kelly. Our church organized a 60-participant drive-by to share anniversary wishes. Great-grandson Lucas Prunczik ’20 graduated from our alma mater in May with no fanfare, so different from our experiences! Carol Bailey Miller no longer rides (her horse, Buddy, has a new, loving home) but has been involved with her local 4-H horse program and has enjoyed activities with these young people. Miriam “Mim” Sollows Wieland lost her husband, Earl, soon after their family Thanksgiving gathering in 2019. Family members were able to spend time with him in the hospital. She is in full quarantine at her retirement community and missed her grandson’s May 3 pandemic wedding as well as a second ceremony planned for late July.
Virginia Felts Brown of Mount Holly, Virginia, passed away Jan. 25, 2019. She was a past president of the Mary Washington College Alumni Association. She was a former president of the Northern Juney Morris ’50 and Marcy Neck of Virginia Historical Weatherly Morris ’50 have two Society and edited the society’s great-grandsons at UMW and one magazine for many years. The great-grandson who is a 2020 Brown family grave marker inscription appropriately graduate. reads: “To Live in Hearts We Leave Behind Is Not to Die.”
Madison Williams ’22 received the Class of 1950 Arrington Scholarship endowed at the class’s 50th reunion. [Editors’ note: Class agent Marcy Weatherly Morris also sent notes for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.] Would you ever in your wildest dreams (or nightmares) have imagined the events of this year, 2020? This COVID-19 pandemic has brought heartbreak and change. We must be patient and have faith. We will see a light at the end of this tunnel as has been witnessed throughout our history if we will just let go and let God! Juney Morris and I, Marcy Weatherly Morris, have faithfully followed the guidelines for our quarantine experience, a must at our ages. Our 70th wedding anniversary included a surprise meal delivery and more than 100 cards,
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Nan Riley Pointer and her husband still live in Gloucester, Virginia, under strict quarantine. Nan reads, knits baby hats for the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk, sews dresses for the Dress a Girl Around the World project, and works jigsaw puzzles. She shared this positive message: “I send my prayers for all of my classmates that they will stay positive, well, and safe. We are not alone – God is with us, and He is in control.” Kathryn “Kay” Smith Majeski ’66 shared the sad news that her friend Margaret “Peg” Penn Hutchins passed away March 20, 2020. Kay wrote that both her husband and Peg’s graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and that the couples saw each other on many occasions. Tom Augherton wrote that after his wife’s death in 2011 he moved next door to his son near Phoenix,
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
Arizona. He completed a bereavement course, became active in his church, and has spent the past eight years counseling others. He and his late wife, Betty, enjoyed the Road Scholar program, and Tom has continued in the program with his son. Tom’s friend and fellow World War II veteran student Alford “Al” Taylor married Tom’s sister Charlotte just after graduation, and they passed away within two months of each other in 2017.
1951
No Class Agent classnotes@umw.edu
1952
Rita Morgan Stone rita.stone7@aol.com [Editors’ note: Class agent Rita Stone prepared these notes for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.] My calls to you classmates elicited similar responses. Many of you were sheltering in place because of the pandemic, but staying busy and productive. Susan Hutcheson Jurgens was disappointed that her barge trip to Alsace-Lorraine was canceled. She continued weekly, properly distanced Scrabble games, enjoyed organic veggies provided by her neighbors, and was joyous about the birth of greatgranddaughter Taliyah, an Arabic/Jewish name. Betty Litton Kilgour, after retiring from a career in education, lives in Leesburg.
Peggy Sherman ’52 recalled interesting classes at MWC, fun weekends, and visits to boys’ colleges and universities. Having married an Army engineer, she traveled extensively in Europe and had a scary time in Anchorage, Alaska, when an earthquake shook things up. Her five children are in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Suzanne Branner Kessler lives at Westminster Canterbury in Richmond. She remotely attended her granddaughter’s wedding in Cary, North
Khalida “Kay” Showker ’52 has written 15 travel guides and is on YouTube. Carolina, this summer. She’s an ardent Washington Nats fan and is concerned about the future of her favorite sport. Charlotte Adams Harrell lives at Westminster Canterbury in Virginia Beach. Husband Bob celebrates his 100th birthday this year. Mary Lou Finney Boyd was addressing 300 cards urging folks to get out the vote. A granddaughter adds decorative touches. Mary Lou swims three times a week and writes thank-you notes for MetaVivor donors, honoring her daughter who is a breast cancer survivor. Peggy Sherman of Augusta, Georgia, recalled the interesting classes at Mary Washington but especially the fun weekends and visits to boys’ colleges and universities. Lilly Longo Bilmond retired as an English teacher at Midlothian High School; she and her husband live in Richmond. Marie “Weege” Attianese Harlow enjoys life in a community retirement center in Bridgeport, Connecticut. When the pandemic ends, she plans to resume bridge gatherings and other activities. Her children are in Florida and Delaware, but when they come for vacation in Nantucket, she goes for a visit. Khalida “Kay” Showker has an exciting life, splitting her time between Sarasota, Florida, and New York. Kay began her career with Travel Weekly but went out on her own and has done 15 travel guides. Her most recent ones featured cruises. Kay has traveled all over the world and is on YouTube. Shirley King Buchanan lives on the family farm in Chesapeake, in a home built by her and her late husband, a physician in the area. She enjoys a huge backyard, visited by all sorts of animals. Shirley focuses on butterflies and birds. She was active in the medical auxiliary and is well-known to local politicians. Daughter Beverly lives with her since her husband’s death. Daughter Sherry Buchanan ’75 is a Mary Washington alumna.
Joyce Long Moore has filled her pandemic time with reading, even some textbooks she wishes she had read more thoroughly in college. She recently celebrated a birthday at Nags Head with four generations in one house for a week. Ginny Orkney Philbrick of Bedford, Virginia, wrote that adopted daughter Betsy located her birth father and his family in California through the Ancestry website. Betsy’s half-sister Amy of Raleigh, North Carolina, has visited the Philbrick home, to the delight of everyone. Ginny’s grandson holds a doctorate in nutrition and works at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Corley Gibson Friesen and Ernie are settled in their retirement spot in Colorado and look forward to resuming fun activities after the pandemic is over. Jean Amis Hill lives in Martinsville, Virginia, and has recovered from her broken hip. She sees her daughter and family frequently. Mary Ann Jones Beard and husband Billy, who had a stroke, have lived in an assisted living complex in Virginia Beach for the past eight years. One of her children is in Carmel, California, and the other is in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Maryanne Heatwole Cox of Fredericksburg misses her friends, bridge club, book club, and many family gatherings, but keeps busy with the computer, reading, knitting, and painting.
o’clock each day, residents opened their doors and applauded in gratitude for medical personnel. Selma, like so many of us, was concerned about the divisions in our country. Katherine Wells Ball of Tullahoma, Tennessee, lost husband Ted last year after 67 years of marriage. His life as an Air Force pilot provided the family with interesting travels. One son lives in Tennessee, and the other is a doctor in Northern Virginia. Kitty was named Volunteer of the Year in Tullahoma. Maxine Haley Hazelgrove lives in Ashland, Virginia, and remains in close touch with Susan Jurgens. Maxine’s granddaughter Abigail is a first-year student at William & Mary. Gwen Amory Cumming’s children are attentive and live nearby. Not having church services leaves a big gap in Gwen’s life. Betty Montgomery Handy and I celebrated my birthday with a lovely brunch, gifts of honey, and a flower arrangement created by Betty, a master gardener. Bobbie Fowler Childs has moved to a senior community in Olympia, Washington, after selling her home on Hartstine Island. She and Richard were married for 65 years before his death three years ago. Phyllis Farmer Shaffer wonders if anyone in the Class of 1952 lives near her in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. She would like to reconnect.
Claire Sindlinger DeGroot and husband Ward live in Arlington, Virginia. Daughter Gretchen had many connections with our Mary Washington classmates. Carol Ardent Washington Nats fan Edgerton Cooper introduced Suzanne Branner Kessler ’52 is her to her husband and even helped her choose her wedding concerned about the future of her gown. When Gretchen lived favorite sport. in Lexington, she connected with Bobbie Burgess and Sissy Davis. Anne Hart Martin attended a service at St. John’s Church in Washington two years ago, and her family albums have many childhood photos of her playing in Lafayette Park. She was disturbed to see such turmoil in that beautiful part of the city. Selma Friedman Fink of New York wrote that her son-in-law is an anesthesiologist, and her granddaughter works in critical care at a hospital that had COVID patients exclusively for months. At 7
I, Rita Morgan Stone, now must provide the sad news that we have lost three more of our very special classmates: Nancy Stump Motley, Nancy Moxley Stone, and Elaine Nader Powell. It’s been a pleasure having phone visits with so many of you. When you have news of interest to our classmates, please share it. Stay well and stay happy.
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CLASS NOTES
1953 Betsy Dickinson Surles surles@infionline.net
1954
Mary Ann Dorsey Judy ack915@gmail.com Nancy Root Skinner nan1367@comcast.net From Mary Ann: I wish I had news of classmates to give you. Please take a few moments to send us an update on you and your life! We are all carrying on with our lives as best we can during this troubling time. Memories of our years at Mary Washington stay in our minds and hearts, and updates on our friends would be wonderful. I spoke with Carolyn Barnes Houlgrave, my roommate junior and senior years. She is in Richmond and doing well. And I had a good catchup with Bobbie Scott Trenis in Catlett, Virginia. We are all staying in and hoping to see a normal life again soon.
more as it should be, with six of us feasting and snapping crackers. Our 15 inches of snow the week before gave us our white Christmas. Response to the postcards was even better than I had hoped. Dorothy Withers Stacks in Huntington, West Virginia, wrote that she attended Mary Washington for her sophomore and junior years, then went to the University of Virginia and graduated in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree in nursing. She loved being at MWC and lived with wonderful girls in two different dorms. Dorothy was nursing director for an autism services center for 30 years and retired at 80. Irene Hughes wrote that her new book, Windfall, was coming this spring in print and in a digital version. I read constantly, and this book can’t come soon enough for me. Mary Margaret Papstein Carter emailed that they are staying close to home in New Jersey, with two sons nearby. They also have a condo in Arizona, near another son, a daughter-in-law, three grandsons, and three greatgrandchildren. She keeps in touch with Carol Cooper, Bobbie Sue Smith Holdeman, and Ann Hungerford McKinlay.
Mary Ann Dorsey Judy ’54 has a granddaughter in Berlin who was expecting Mary Ann’s first greatgrandchild in March.
I received a Christmas card from Inta Janners Ertel, pictured with her grandson. He is 14 and is taller than Inta.
Roberta Linn Miller toromiller@embarqmail.com
Sally Hanger Moravitz emailed that she and husband Fran were riding out the virus in their home in Falls Church, Virginia, with portal-to-portal visits to their Chesapeake cottage. Their sons and grandchildren are a source of support and joy. Sally retired last year as a docent of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum and received the museum’s lifetime achievement award. How wonderful, and what an honor!
I, Roberta, am writing this on New Year’s Day, and it is rainy and dreary, but my young neighbor is a bright spot. Nineyear-old Miya writes me notes, and her family sends me food every weekend. I have been giving her books, and she reads them and tells me about them. She wrote a school report about one.
Christine Harper Hovis wrote a lovely note saying what I have said all along. Not everyone in the class has computers, so some did not have access to the last magazine. Chris had a store for 40 years called the Dance Shop, with wonderful employees. Since retirement, she does a lot of artwork and writes children’s stories.
Thanksgiving was interesting for me. I ended up receiving three dinners, including one from the man who mows my lawn. His wife also sent me a Christmas gift. Christmas was
Ann Strickler Doumas sent an article on Sen. Mark Warner, UMW President Troy Paino, and the Germanna Community College president, who met and discussed the needs of higher education.
I have a granddaughter in Berlin who expected a daughter in March, our first great-grandchild!
1955
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The 14-year-old grandson of Inta Janners Ertel ’55 is already taller than Inta! Ann’s daughter, Dr. Jennifer Doumas, tested positive in San Diego, California, but was back on duty at her urgent care facility. Her other daughter, Beth, has a husband and sons working from home. Son Mark is a retired engineer from IBM and is in Tucson. His daughter lives in Japan and works as a tour director. By the way, when we were on the Mobil ladder and moved every few years, my friends with IBM said that stood for “I’ve Been Moved.” A Thanksgiving letter from Dorothy Booth Sanders tells us they downsized to Story Point, a senior living facility in Union, Kentucky. They tore down Dewey’s model train layout and moved a portion to the facility for other people to enjoy. We are all so proud of Ann Dunaway Criswell and the work she did on the article about her mother when she was a student at Mary Washington during the flu epidemic of 1918. You can read it on page 56. The daughter of Maryann Etchison Nichols let me know that after living in San Diego for 54 years, her mother now lives in Davis, California, near family. Maryann has three children and six grandchildren, and she retired from teaching many years ago. On a sad note, Gretchen Hogaboom Fisher lost her husband of 65 years, Marine Lt. Col. Albert Teal “Skip” Fisher, on Nov. 27, 2020. Our most sincere sympathy and thoughts go out to you, Gretchen. I had wanted to start a “without partners” group last fall but the virus intervened. I am still thinking of doing it next Christmas because I know about 30 friends and former students
Sally Hanger Moravitz ’55 received the Smithsonian Natural History Museum’s lifetime achievement award when she retired there as a docent.
who are widows and would like to get together to talk and find friends. I, Roberta, have been busy writing a column for the local papers. It is called Perry Memories and it is about a little girl growing up on a farm, doing jobs, and living life as I knew it. Ralphie the springer spaniel is 18 months old now and just as bad as before! As I was typing this another email came buzzing in. Martha Harville ’77 was reading the Class of ’55 news and recognized a name she remembers fondly from her childhood and early teen years. She said I should tell Irene Hughes hello from her. [Editors’ note: Roberta also sent notes for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.] Ralphie the springer spaniel and I, Roberta Linn Miller, are enjoying the cool morning on the terrace while listening to the birdsong in the woods, seeing the many colors of the phlox and other flowers in the garden, and watching the doves having their morning snack. It is July and will get very hot later, so I will go inside the house and check in with some very nice people. Talked to Jean Brumback Hickman in Reno, Nevada, about our love of cats; we both have black kitties. Patricia Seibert-Siegel has lived in San Diego for six years. She has three
Roberta Linn Miller ’55 writes a newspaper column about a little girl growing up on a farm and living life as Roberta knew it.
daughters and five grandchildren who are in their 20s. Patricia was an elementary teacher and her husband was an architect before both retired. They planned to move into an assisted-living facility. Christine Harper Hovis, also in California, lost her husband two years ago. She has a son in Maryland and a daughter in San Francisco. Polly Stoddard Heim lives next door to a daughter in Idaho. She has another daughter and two sons. Polly is a fortunate grandmother to seven grandchildren.
Betty Fox Mapp transferred to Mary Washington from William & Mary after her first year. She was married in 1956, and they built their house in Virginia Beach in 1965. She and her husband have two sons and a daughter. Two of their grandsons graduated from college this year, and the other two grandsons are first-year college students. Charlotte Fisher Klapproth married a year after graduation and worked in a lab at Hopkins. She and her husband live in Delaware, and he does all the errands and a lot of the cooking. They have a son and a daughter. Marjorie Webb Wolfrey lost her husband to pancreatic cancer in December and is now in independent living in Charlottesville. She was a compensation manager at Sperry Marine. She and her husband had three daughters and a son. She has six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Mildred Haney Sandridge, also in Charlottesville, retired after 40 years as a trust officer in a bank. They have a daughter who works at the University of Virginia, one grandchild, and two great-grandchildren. Catherine Walton Hutchinson has lived for 30 years in Sapphire, North Carolina, and before that in Florida, where her husband practiced medicine. A son and his wife live in Milton, Georgia. Catherine reads and walks and says she is fabulous for an old 87. Anne Lou Rohrbach Culwell of Norman, Oklahoma, emailed that she is trying to stay safe but does go out some. She reads, does puzzles, and plays mahjong.
short illness. He had her ashes, at her request, scattered over Puget Sound. Minnia Rainey Mayberry sent me a note with news of the loss of my former neighbor in Charleston, S.C., a Navy rear admiral. I am looking at our commencement booklet. Many events took place in the Sylvan Amphitheatre. Graduation was on Monday morning, May 30, 11 o’clock, with Colgate Darden Jr., chancellor, presiding. But why does the governor of Virginia pop into my head? The address was by Alvin Duke Chandler, president of the College of William & Mary. Do you remember?
1956
Ann Chilton Power anncpower1@gmail.com There’s no news to report from my classmates this time. I, Ann Chilton Power, was scheduled to have my second shot against COVID on Jan. 24. I hoped to visit my youngest son, Stephen, and his family in Dallas soon thereafter. They moved there from Alexandria last July. The late Phyllis Block Brotman was named to the 2021 Baltimore Jewish Hall of Fame. Phyllis blazed a trail for women in business and became one of the most respected and influential women in Baltimore business and civic affairs. Her public relations and marketing firm, Image Dynamics, represented local, regional, and national clients. She helped establish the Maryland Public Broadcasting station and ran 176 political campaigns.
[Editors’ note: Ann Chilton Power also Ann Strickler Doumas sent a note with sent notes for the online-only fall/winter news of her vegetable garden and how 2020 issue. We republish them here.] well it was doing but also with sad news about Beatrice Carver Clark, who passed away in June. She is survived by her The late Phyllis Block Brotman ’56 husband and four children. was named to the 2021 Baltimore Ann says the Clarks ran a big dairy farm in the Shenandoah Jewish Hall of Fame. Valley for years, and Bea taught school as well. Bea’s motherin-law, Mrs. Clark, was Ann Doumas’ piano teacher for many years. I write from The Virginian, a continuingcare retirement community in Fairfax Another loss was my roommate and County, Virginia, where Marge Uhler good friend Anastasia “Buttons” Petro, Adcock and I reside. My youngest originally from Morristown, Tennessee, son, Stephen, and family have moved and then from the Seattle area. She had to Dallas. My eldest son, Ted, is three sons, and one sent me an email retired and lives in Des Moines, which with the sad news of her death after a
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Marilla Haas Stayed With Music and Mary Washington
N
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Whether she’s at the organ, piano, or string bass, Marilla Mattox Haas shares her talent with UMW and Fredericksburg. Peter Cihelka/The Free Lance-Star
o one ever had to remind 6-year-old Marilla Mattox – now Marilla Mattox Haas ’60 – to practice piano. Haas’ earliest memories of Sunday mornings in Richmond’s First Baptist Church are of balcony seats carefully chosen by her mother so young Marilla could have a clear view of the organist’s hands. She and her mother frequented what was then Richmond’s Mosque theater, where they heard pianists Vladimir Horowitz and Arthur Rubinstein, contralto Marian Anderson, and the Broadway cast of Porgy and Bess. “I was always exposed to music,” said the accomplished pianist, bassist, teacher, and accompanist. “That’s just been my life.” That love of music brought Haas to Mary Washington, where she earned a degree in music. But unlike most graduates, she never really left. Haas played string bass with the orchestra for three decades, taught piano as an adjunct professor in the Department of Music, and accompanied Mary Washington and community musical groups. “There was never a time when I wasn’t on campus for something between 1956 and when I stopped teaching in 2008,” Haas said. “I was there at least once a week.” Her first Fredericksburg home was in Betty Lewis residence hall on Sunken Road. She and her classmates sledded on dining hall trays behind duPont Hall, and her geology class studied silt and rocks in the creek below what is now Simpson Library. Haas has fond memories of Librarian Carroll Quenzel, Professor of Psychology Eileen Kramer Dodd, and her “favorite French teacher,” Professor Miriam Bowes Hoge. But her music teachers had the deepest effect on her life: the accomplished pianist and composer Levin Houston III, the much-loved
department chair Anne Hamer, and orchestra director Ronald Faulkner. Haas spent most of her time on campus in Pollard Hall. “I went to Mary Washington for music, I lived in the music building, I lived in the practice rooms, and I accompanied everyone who needed an accompanist,” Haas said. “That was just my life.” In her sophomore year, the pastor of Spotswood Baptist Church approached the MWC Baptist Student Union looking for a choir director. Haas accepted the job in October 1957, and it changed her life’s path. The following year, she met Frank Haas at Spotswood Baptist, and they married in August 1960, after her May graduation. More than 60 years later, Haas is still a member and the organist there. Haas continued to play string bass with the Mary Washington Orchestra. In 1961, she started studying piano at American University, teaching piano from her Spotsylvania County home, and, for one year, teaching music to grades one through 12 at four Stafford County public schools. Soon her first son arrived, and she let go of the public school job. Before
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
her second boy was born, she started a master of music education degree program at Virginia Commonwealth University. Before long, Haas had three boys and a master’s degree, and she was teaching privately and performing throughout the Fredericksburg area. Haas took a part-time position with the Real Estate Department for the Fredericksburg Commissioner of the Revenue in 1978. In a little over a decade, she was promoted to a full-time role as Fredericksburg’s real estate supervisor. From 1978 through 2008, she taught piano at Mary Washington in the evenings as an adjunct faculty member. And all the while, she continued playing by request on and off campus. “My sons all learned to cook,” she said of that busy time. Haas doesn’t like to be center stage, and she doesn’t really have a favorite type of music. What she loves, she said, is playing any kind of music with other people. And, in Fredericksburg, that’s just what she does. – Neva Trenis ’00
leaves son Tom waiting on me during this period of social distancing. I phoned Betty Davies Morie to check on our classmates at Westminster Canterbury in Richmond. Angela Walton Barksdale, Turner Christian Richardson, and Connie Hook Felvey also have apartments there, although Connie has retreated to her home in Kilmarnock during this pandemic. When I have tried to contact others, the numbers or email addresses were no longer in service. I hope you will contact me so we can keep this column going another 64 years!
1957
No Class Agent classnotes@umw.edu Jean Durham Busboso sent the sad news of the death of Virginia “Judy” Brunner Fraser. Jean wrote: “Judy and I met our freshman year in Spanish I class and remained friends throughout the years. We shared many interests, one of which is our love for dogs. When Judy died she had two, which are being cared for by her son. I miss her terribly.”
1958
Susannah Godlove sgodlove5465@gmail.com
1959
No Class Agent classnotes@umw.edu [Editors’ note: Longtime class agent Edna Gooch Trudeau has regretfully resigned as class agent, but she sent a little news for this issue. We are also republishing a selection of notes she sent for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We wish her all the best and thank her for her service to the Class of 1959 and Mary Washington!] Christmas 2020 greetings arrived from several of you. Gloria Winslow Borden went to North Dakota in August with daughters Caroline Borden Kirchner ’82 and Cynthia, who insisted that she visit her 50th state. Frances “Bunky” Bourke Firth wrote of pandemic get-togethers in driveways, patios, and garages. She
said husband Rog still puts in 10-hour days with his company. They enjoyed a trip to Egypt pre-pandemic. Dodie Reeder Hruby and Dale were exploring Williamsburg, Virginia, and enjoying new and old friends at Patriots Colony. Sally Warwick Rayburn hopes there will never be another year like 2020 but was grateful to have Maggie, a little dog with a little bladder, requiring four or five daily trips outside in the fresh air. Sally lost Jim in February 2019, soon after they had moved to Greensboro, North Carolina. Joan Whittemore Loock and Jim had an eventful 2019 with travel to Wisconsin and to Playa del Carmen, Mexico. In 2020, Joni put shoulder surgery on hold due to the pandemic but she and Jim were able to spend two weeks at the Playa del Carmen resort, wearing face masks during travel. They planned to spend Christmas 2020 in Virginia Beach with daughter Mardy.
that she likes living near people her age and enjoys walking and exercising. Barbara Gordon McNamee and Bob had a mostly good 2019. Barbara is a longtime administrator and judge of synchronized swimming competitions and was busy with that work until, on a judging trip in California at Easter, she fell and fractured her pelvis and tailbone. Son Howard Crabtree and his wife, Margie, took her to the ER and cared for her till she was able to fly home to Bob. She was recovered and back to work in eight weeks. They had visits with Chris and Youngmi, Karen and Tony, and Rob. Barbara Barndt Miller lost Wayne on June 25, 2019. He had several problems and hospital visits but passed peacefully. They had moved to Pennsylvania toward the end of 2018 and stayed with her daughter, Ann, until their new home was ready. Family members, her church, and
In 2019 Ann Brooks Coutsoubinas and 17 members Edna Gooch Trudeau ’59 said that of her family vacationed it is hard to believe we have known in England and Scotland, each other since August 1955! where a family christening was held. I heard from Ann again in 2020, and despite the pandemic she was taking the community into which they moved things a day at a time. Daughter have been very supportive. In 2020, Anastasia was working for a local Barbara met up with Ann in New York. drugstore, and every day was hectic with We were sorry to learn of the March old people demanding their pills. Later 2021 death of Arthur Old, widower of in 2020, Ann reported that she’s still Eleanor Markham Old. After Eleanor’s volunteering with her Greek church. death in 2003, Arthur regularly Lois Gaylord Allen’s son, his wife, and contributed to our Class Notes with six red-haired grandchildren spent humorous and newsy updates about Christmas 2019 with her. She has reduced their children and his own life. her volunteer work at the local humane Irene Piscopo Rodgers had a lot of society. She has four cats and two dogs company in 2019. She took a river cruise of her own. She dearly misses Howard. and kept up with house repairs. More 2019 was a year of changes for Mary recently, she reported that she was doing better after a few days in the hospital.
Barbara White Ellis ’59 was doing well but had not been able to ride horses. Massey, who left her house of 35 years and moved to a senior citizens community two miles away. She loves her grand apartment and access to grass, trees, space, and privacy. In late 2020 she wrote
Martha Spilman Clark and Paul were stuck in Peru – where they have long done mission work and cared for children in need – because of the pandemic. They’re back in the United States now and were enjoying seeing their great-grandchildren. Ann Watkins Steves let me know she and her husband are doing well, as did Anne Saunders Spilman and her husband. Audrey Dubetsky Doyle shared sad news of the loss of daughter Jennifer.
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CLASS NOTES I’m so sorry, Audrey. Daughter Tiffany and husband Rick check on Audrey and bring her groceries. 2019 flew by for Kay Rowe Hayes. In May she attended the UMW graduation of grandson Matthew Hayes ’19 (who went on to earn a master’s degree from William & Mary’s Mason School of Business in May 2020). Matthew’s twin brother, John, graduated the same day from Christopher Newport University. They are the sons of Kay’s son Tom and his wife, Tracy. In August, Kay visited sister Susan Rowe Bunting ’64 and Phil in their lake cottage in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Kay’s oldest, Kathy, loves living in Chula Vista, California. Kay’s daughter Karen and husband Harry enjoy life outside Atlanta. Tom and Tracy welcomed their college graduate twins back home while one attended graduate school and the other prepared for a new job.
Babs has had two hip replacements and was doing well but had not been able to ride – she was still on her farm but had no horses. She plans to return to horsemanship activities for pleasure only.
[Editors’ note: Class agents Jody Campbell Close and Karen Larsen Nelson also submitted notes for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.]
Although quarantined, Jane Tucker Broadbooks and John really enjoy their senior apartment. John has some health issues but is doing better. Jon Karl drives his dad to weekly kidney dialysis. Jon Karl’s son, Tucker, is a college student and daughter Virginia was finishing high school. Jane and John celebrated their 60th anniversary in June. Jane said Molly Bradshaw Clark is in a senior apartment and still living in Florida.
Believe it or not, ladies, we received some news even with the COVID-19 quarantine, and here’s the common thread: Staying near home. Taking walks. Church activities on Zoom. Missing family members. Being bored. Doing an exercise program. Enjoying puppy dogs.
Marcia Phipps Ireland looked forward to her granddaughter’s graduation from Boston University in 2021.
Well, my dears, it is hard to believe we have known each other since August 1955. We were all at the beginning of our new lives, and none of us knew what would happen next. Fortunately, we Kay called with an update in February turned out to be an outstanding group of women with exciting careers, good husbands, lovely Sally Warwick Rayburn ’59 hopes children, and for some, single, there will never be another year rewarding livelihoods.
like 2020 and was grateful to have her little dog, Maggie.
2020. She was downsizing, and in the book department alone she had enough to start her own Barnes & Noble. In late 2020, she said she was still working on home projects. Jane Coates Littlefield and Mo said son Scott, his wife, Susan, and their children, Chris and Mary Graham, fill their house with much activity and joy. Chris was a high school senior and college-hunting. Mary Graham was looking forward to middle school. Out of the blue, I got a call from Fay Jessup Young, my first-year suitemate. Sadly, she lost Avery in 2018. Two of her children live close, which is a big help. Her oldest granddaughter was touring the Netherlands when the coronavirus showed up, but she arrived home safely. Where are Carol Noakes Robinson, Eugenia “Jean” Ellis Perkins, and Patsy Peterson Griffing? Unfortunately, I could give no answers. Barbara White Ellis was preparing to host a birthday party for a friend, with a limited guest list because of the pandemic.
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Thank you for all these years. It has given me great joy to share your stories, read, and write about you. (I tried not to talk about myself, but when Virginia and Lucas arrived, I had to write a sentence or two.) My brain’s wishes do not coincide with my body’s decisions! My macular degeneration is at the point that it is extremely difficult for me to read and write, and I feel I can no longer serve as your class agent. It breaks my heart. It seems I do not have a choice. Please accept my resignation as class agent for 1959. I love you all!
1960
Jody Campbell Close jclose2@cfl.rr.com Karen Larsen Nelson karenlarsennelson60@gmail.com From Karen: We have made it through 2020 and are now partway through 2021. Many of you have written beautiful notes for your electronic birthday card. Thank you. And our news is that each of us is working hard at keeping our body, mind, and soul active and healthy.
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
Those were the activities shared by Pat Garvin Dyke, Gretchen Squires Best, Jan Latven Allnutt, Gray Schaefer Dodson, Sarah Forsyth Donnelly, Janet Spang Hess, Emy Steinberg Hyans, Anne Butler Hyde, and Jeanette Meyer Juren. Marilla Mattox Haas can’t remember what day of the week it is now that she is not rehearsing with five different church groups every week. Read more about Marilla on page 28. Sue Smith Goodrick had to cancel a river cruise. Judy Davidson Creasy’s family surprised her with a garden party for her 82nd birthday, and she took a short trip to Sedona, Arizona, for a friend’s birthday. Sherry Farrington Green adopted a kitty. Gail Mooney Grobe was delighted to be able to buy toilet paper. Joanne Lister Jacobs did her own hair for a while and said she looked like Brunhilda from The Valkyrie. Tina Baensch Raver lives in New York City, but during lockdown she and her hubby quarantined at their home on Long Island. Janet Garriss Lewis has moved to a custom-designed, accessible apartment attached to her son’s home. She has finally parted with most of her lifetime collections, saving just enough mementos for her grandchildren. Sally Brown VanDuyne wrote they had tried twice to go to Vermont but hadn’t made it yet. Joyce Neill Krost did not make it to Spain last winter because last August she broke her neck and caught pneumonia, landing in a rehab center. Gaye Roberts Olsen can escape outside on her scooter chair if she stays where staff can see her. Sandy Poole goes to virtual church and helps Barb in her home office. Lucy Wu Wang and Jimmy were stuck in their Palm Springs, California, apartment and couldn’t travel to Shanghai. Penny Engle Burkhardt shared a story about an encounter with rabbits while
Gaye Roberts Olsen ’60 can escape outside on her scooter chair if she stays where community staff can see her. riding her bike, and Penny, Jody, and Karen had a hilarious exchange about it. Jean Eubanks Holland had heart surgery last fall, followed by pneumonia. While recovering, she sold her townhouse and bought a new apartment. Nancy Cleaves Blaydes had glaucoma surgery. Syd Collson Chichester had Mohs surgery for skin cancer she attributes to her sunworshipping days on Mary Washington dorm balconies. Syd is proud of daughter Holly Chichester, who is landscape and grounds manager at Mary Washington and lives near Syd in Fredericksburg.
I had hoped that by the time I submitted this, the dreaded virus would be history. Sadly that isn’t the case, but we do appear to be moving in the right direction with immunization. Maybe by the time you read this we will have received the vaccine. I had also hoped that the transition from Connie Booth Logothetis to Renee Levinson Laurents and me, Lynn Williams Neave, would be smooth, but Renee had computer issues and was not able to communicate with classmates A-L. I did hear from quite a few in group M-Z. Here goes! Pat Kenny recalled thinking that as a well-rounded human being, one should live in New York City for at least two years. But after living in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, she got her dream job at the National Institutes of Health and settled in Silver Spring, Maryland, without ever living in NYC. As for the pandemic, she wrote, “The sooner we all listen to the scientists, the sooner we will all get through
Darrell and I, Karen Larsen Nelson, have spent part of each week in our little trailer, “mooch docking” at our friends’ cabin in the cooler mountains in Arizona. I’ve also discovered I can hike again a little – if I stick Lynne Williams Neave ’61 hopes to old logging roads, which that by the time you read this we all are fairly level. Our greatwill have received the vaccine. grandbaby No. 6 arrived in early May, but by late summer we had only seen pictures. Jody Campbell Close lives alone, so doesn’t consider herself fully quarantined because if there is an errand to be done there is no one else to do it. But masks do not encourage long, witty conversations, and distancing 6 feet or more doesn’t help the hard of hearing. She stumbled on her father’s World War II diary, written as a young lieutenant and Pearl Harbor survivor. She was able to print a booklet for each family member of his firsthand accounts of naval engagements in the South Pacific and in Alaska.
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Renee Levinson Laurents (A – L) arjle@aol.com Lynne Williams Neave (M – Z) lyneave@aol.com Editors’ note: With this issue, we thank retiring class agent Connie Booth Logothetis for her long service to her classmates and alma mater.] From Lynne:
this era on Planet Earth together.” Lloyd Tilton Backstrom and Art spend half their time in Hertford, North Carolina, with their two pups. They meet up with friends – masked and outdoors – about once a month on the grounds of a museum in Richmond, Virginia. They mentally replay past trips and look forward to working on their travel bucket list once it’s safe. Marcy Trembath Pitkin lives in a 17th floor apartment in Philadelphia. New cat Butterscotch keeps her amused. Jane Riles will stay in San Diego until the virus calms down.
to Lookout Mountain for four months during lockdown. Daughter May and family have moved to Lookout Mountain from New York. Now five of her seven children live near her. Graham has continued to work as a real estate agent, but showing houses has been a challenge. For Christmas, Graham lit her 100-foottall dawn redwood tree with 1,200 lights. She says, “Just call me Clark Griswold!” Debbie Phinney Stoke is following masking and distance guidelines and volunteers with her local food pantry packing boxes and answering the phone. She misses contacts with clients. She also misses tennis. Two grandchildren virtually graduated from college last spring, and two more were to graduate this spring. [Editors’ note: Lynne Williams Neave and Renee Levinson Laurents also prepared notes for the onlineonly fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.] Connie Booth Logothetis fractured a vertebra and spent time in a hospital and rehab, sometimes in pain. She couldn’t have visitors, so she and Andy communicated by phone. Sadly, Jean Ryan Farrell passed away May 22. She is survived by her husband, Frank, and three children. Jane Riles’ husband, Jim Dietz, passed away Feb. 13. From Connie’s group (Lynne Williams Neave reporting): Clara Sue Durden Ashley and Clarence had a visit from son Park and his three oldest children. They looked forward to a summertime visit from son Dennis and family, visiting from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where Dennis works for the Navy. Soon after that visit, the Ashleys
The son of Graham Walker Burns ’61 and his family came from England and stayed nearby for four months during lockdown.
Graham Walker Burns sadly lost sister Ann Walker Abney ’58 to COVID in September 2020, and that made her very scared and careful. She has enjoyed more family time, not less, since the pandemic began. Son Jim and family came from London, England,
planned to drive to Beavercreek, Ohio, for granddaughter Anwyn’s senior recital – originally scheduled for spring but delayed by coronavirus. Anwyn and another granddaughter, Abby, graduated from high school in 2020.
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CLASS NOTES Pepper Jacobs Germer and Hank were fortunate not to have been touched by a category 3 tornado in March that flattened 600 homes, a mall, and
strategies to contain the virus. “Once Americans went to the moon; now we can’t even go to Europe,” she wrote.
Pepper Jacobs Germer ’61 was fortunate not to have been touched by a category 3 tornado in Arkansas that flattened 600 homes, a mall, and an airport. an airport in Jonesboro, Arkansas. They were obeying COVID rules and actually enjoying staying home. The pandemic curtailed Jeri Barden Perkins’ travel plans for Italy, Mexico, and Greece. She stayed home but enjoyed Zoom classes, especially those from UMW. She wrote: “The pandemic has offered me the opportunity of using my voice for my community, the university, and NPR. It has taught me that I can live with less and have even greater appreciation for what I have. During the AIDS epidemic I was on the front lines seeing patients in a free clinic. During this pandemic I was afforded the opportunity of using my voice and the importance and power of messaging.” Maddy Contis Marken cleaned the refrigerator, scrubbed the shower stall, and baked bread. “Now that those chores are done, I probably won’t do them again for a long time,” she wrote. She took up sketching, reconditioned her bike, and has worked part time doing telehealth.
Residents of Marcia Minton Keech’s retirement community in Winchester, Virginia, decided to grow vegetables in cottage gardens and on balconies as a way of coping with quarantine. Now they all have plenty of fresh vegetables, and the dining chef is thrilled! Marcia and Bill were faring well but missed seeing their children.
Sandra Judkins Armitage was at Mary Washington for just two years but enjoys reading our class news. The pandemic brings thoughts of her grandmother, who lost two children to the 1918 flu. Betty Pace Rose attended Mary Washington for a year and loved living in Trench Hill even though the distance from other residence halls made it difficult to meet many people. Like many of you I, Renée Levinson Laurents, am finding quarantine just not easy. I read a lot, watch TV a lot (including Hamilton – Lin-Manuel Miranda is beyond gifted). My book club now meets on Zoom. A friend since junior high school lives nearby in Santa Monica, and I visit her and her husband in their large backyard, sitting 10 feet apart. I also escape these four walls by taking a drivethrough lunch to the ocean and gazing out at the Pacific. My cats help a lot. Sadly, in May my cute little rescue dog ran out as I got the mail. A huge husky attacked her before I could get to her,
From Renée: Mary Hatcher shared some pandemic and mask-wearing observations: “You have not lived unless you have had your hair cut wearing a mask, but it can be done. If you wear hearing aids, as I do, taking them out is the only way to wear both a mask and sunglasses at the same time.” On a much sadder note, she lost a sister-in-law to a non-COVID issue, and was heartbroken that her brother was not able to be with his wife while she was in the hospital for nine weeks. Margaretta Kirksey Bir was glad her Alabama county was requiring masks. Both of her daughters have autoimmune diseases, and her son-in-law and son’s oldest daughter have severe allergies. She was angry that mask-wearing had been turned into a freedom of speech issue, and that the U.S. hadn’t been able to devise
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for occasional distant socializing. Sue Wilson Sproul, husband Dave, and dog Cooper returned to Virginia to be near three children and three grandchildren. They moved to a continuing-care community on the south side of Richmond in January and barely got to know other residents before the shutdown in March. Sue observed Richmond’s removals of Confederate statues with interest. She wrote, “Yes, Monument Avenue was ‘lovely’ to our eyes, but we have been insensitive to what [the statues] represent to so many others. Time marches on.” Lynne Wilson Rupert started 2020 with a cruise to Mexico to celebrate her 80th birthday and thought it was going to be a great year. She wrote, “Well, it has certainly turned out to be a memorable one!” Janie Riles doesn’t leave the house for anything. She plays online bridge and signed up for a Cornell Lab of Ornithology online class to learn about the birds in her garden. She enjoys Zoom sessions with artist groups. And she’s finally cleaned out her garage. Elizabeth “Bitsy” Wright Coxe has used her pandemic confinement to watch operas streamed from the Met Opera and art history lessons via the Frick Museum. She’s been reading a book a week, tending her orchids, cooking more than she has in years, and walking every day in her country neighborhood. Polly Updegraff Champ’s husband, Dan, had a hard 2019 with vision, hearing, and health issues, and they didn’t go to Florida for the first time in 22 years. They stayed in Connecticut and have had a lot of help from Polly’s stepdaughter, Theresa.
Jeri Barden Perkins stayed home but enjoyed Zoom classes, especially those from UMW. and even with surgery the emergency veterinarian was not able to save her. The attack happened one year to the day after my dog Buddy died. The universe is telling me not to get another dog, I guess. From Lynne: I have been extremely fortunate during these hard times to escape New York City for a place in northern Connecticut. There are marvelous places to hike, plus I have great neighbors
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
Eleanore Saunders Sunderland had to learn how to walk again after a broken pelvis and two surgeries on the same hip. Daughter Jane moved in for a time to help and still comes once a week to do Eleanore’s shopping, though Eleanore is now comfortable alone. As for Eleanore’s other children, Jude, who
Let us hear from you! Deadlines for submissions to class agents: July 15, 2021 • Dec. 9, 2021
lives in Milan, had come out of lockdown but still couldn’t travel. Willard was able to be with family in Cincinnati while doing grant-funded research on 18th-century Russian history.
I see them bloom, for me and you
Kathleen Crothers Terrell ’62 and her husband manage the Great Southern Ranch in Texas.
Peggy Howard Hodgkins had completed a 14-day Panama Canal cruise and was in Palm Springs visiting a niece when the pandemic forced her to cut her winter travels short and head back to Maine. In May son Greg and his wife joined Peggy in her lake house for two months of quarantining together. They had weekend visits from grandchildren and great-grands. Peggy’s sister Jean and family spent time in July at her camp next door, and sister Joanne and her husband visited for two weeks.
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Kathleen Sprenkle Lisagor klisagor@yahoo.com [Editors’ note: Kathleen Sprenkle Lisagor prepared notes for the online-only fall/ winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.] Dear classmates. Just how are you doing? Your news is so scarce! For our happy 80th birthdays do you often feel like the 1960s era has come again? We were living such a world of events as a vaccine for polio with sugar cubes, the ongoing struggle for civil rights, the Cuban crisis, traumatic assassinations, and Vietnam. At least we were heartened by the Space Age and Neil Armstrong on the moon. Let us not forget the invasion of the Beatles singing Yesterday and I Want to Hold Your Hand! Music was a great part of the spirit of the ’60s, and much of it has a haunting revival with our youth today, especially with their technical skills. Just think about those folk song lyrics and the emotion in Bridge Over Troubled Water as well as Yesterday, When I Was Young, and Elvis singing “but I can’t help falling in love with you.” Music knows no borders, and it heals also. A fascinating message has just arrived
Kathleen Sprenkle Lisagor ’62 wonders if others felt like the upheaval of the 1960s had come again last summer.
And I think to myself What a wonderful world.
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by route of Joan Akers Rothgeb and Linkey Booth Green Marcia Kirstein Fitzmaurice. Kathleen linkeyg@embarqmail.com Crothers Terrell and her husband live Linda Gulnac Steelman sent sad news in Stephenville, Texas, and manage a of the loss of husband Bill on Feb. 4, cattle ranch, the Great Southern Ranch. 2020, after a diagnosis of pancreatic They have three daughters and four cancer. They had planned to move to a grandchildren. One daughter lives on the ranch. As I recall, Kathleen majored in Spanish at Mary Washington and lived in Spain our junior year. I can imagine Linda Gulnac Steelman ’63 enjoys they are familiar with Eddy book groups and a bell choir Arnold’s Cattle Call. Patricia Mackey Taylor was in Philadelphia for the birth of a granddaughter, the child of her youngest son, Daniel, and his wife.
that practices outside at her new continuing-care community.
Pat also shared the news that she lost her sister Martha Mackey deMontpellier ’71 unexpectedly in September 2019, for which we send our heartfelt sympathies. Sympathies also to family and friends of our classmate Carolyn Livingstone, who passed away Sept. 10, 2020. As emails and correspondence seem especially tough on us now, I want to reflect on our MWC days. I still cherish those seated dinners and can just imagine the beautiful choir and orchestral concerts. The majestic sounds of the great organ pipes in George Washington Hall were just fantastic for the entrance of Dr. Simpson and staff! As a piano and organ music major, I truly appreciate the unique experiences and professors. My career has allowed me to share with many, including my talented daughter, Amy, and granddaughter, Kelly Burcher. This spring Kelly was voted the middle school teacher of the year in Manassas, where she has taught for six years while completing her master’s degree. They both have helped me to tackle FaceTime teaching with my students, also. I’m looking forward to seeing some ol’ faces and our 60th reunion. In the meantime in this crazy world, think on the winning words of Louis Armstrong: I see leaves of green, red roses too
continuing-care community in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania; Linda did move there in June. She likes the community and beautiful wooded campus, and has been able to join book groups and a bell choir that practices outside. I am so sorry for your loss, Linda, but I, Linkey Booth Green, am glad you are close by me. Perhaps we can get together once the COVID issue ends. Mary A. Settle Johnson, my freshman roomie, had a recurrence of her cancer but had successful treatment. She still lies in Panama City Beach, Florida. [Editors’ note: Linkey Booth Green also prepared notes for the online-only fall/ winter issue. We republish a shortened version here.] Betty Caudle Marshall shared the sad news that her husband, Tom, passed away April 29, 2020. Some UMW friends called him “Precious Tom.” Last fall Betty and Tom had hosted some of his friends from elementary school who were also Mary Washington alumnae, including Anne Marchant Long and Betsey Burke Christian. Betty also heard
No Class Agent? Your classmates still want to hear from you! Send news directly to classnotes@umw.edu.
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CLASS NOTES from Betsy Chamberlain Hartz and Virginia Walker Jarvis. Elizabeth “Ibby” Le Sueur retired from teaching and lives in Louisville, Kentucky.
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Susan Rowe Bunting susan.bunting@gmail.com I hope you are well and like many of us, coping with the isolation, social distancing, and mask-wearing to stay safe. I, Susan Rowe Bunting, feel fortunate to be retired and living in a
phone, Zoom, and FaceTime. Sadly, she shared news of the January 2020 passing of classmate Susan Jonas.
forced to take walks many times a day – sorely needed.
Victoria Taylor Allen has lived in Westchester County, New York, for 50 years and downsized to a condo there in November 2019. Though much of New York’s cultural life shut down due to COVID, she notes that many museums were open by appointment. Victoria writes, “We New Yorkers are very faithfully following the mask mandates. You are not allowed to enter our shops without a mask and can be fined a great deal of money if you don’t wear it.” Victoria keeps in touch with Sally Crenshaw Witt in Richmond, Virginia.
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Susan Rowe Bunting ’64 adopted Hettie, a 6-year-old boxer dog who has added excitement and interest to her self-isolation. rural community where folks check on and take care of one another. It’s amazing how long my husband and I can now last on the groceries we have in our home without the usual weekly shopping. We look forward to warmer weather and vaccine availability for all. After living for 30 years near the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, Margaret Goode Watkins downsized to a condo in Alexandria, Virginia, last April. She is closer to her son and his family, and closer to Mary Washington roommates Jane Showker Capehart in Winchester, Virginia, and Betsy Johnson Rule in Richmond. Susan Armistead Evageliou and Harry live in Ellington, Connecticut. Susan enjoys tutoring and challenged herself to manage online teaching. Susan and Harry look forward to resuming community theater musical productions once things get back to normal. They were in rehearsals for Mamma Mia when COVID shut down the production. The pandemic forced son George to temporarily close his New York City business, Urban Homecraft, but he’s been able to reopen. Son Nick is a pediatric oncologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In Northern Virginia, Patti Jones Schact feels fortunate to live on a small lake where she can see wildlife. She has used the pandemic time for reading; long, lazy naps; and catching up with friends via
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Judy Trevvett Lair and husband Bob of Columbus, North Carolina, moved four miles to a continuing-care community in December 2020. The Lairs, married 58 years, are active in their church via Zoom and in the local Rotary Club. They also support their local hospital. [Editors’ note: Susan Rowe Bunting also prepared notes for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.]
Melinda Watterson attended Mary Washington for two years but went to Oklahoma University for her junior and senior years to be with her high school sweetheart, Chuck. They married in 1963 and had a wonderful 42 years together before Chuck died unexpectedly in 2005. In 2007 Melinda met John, a widower, and they married four years later. They have a blended family of three daughters and sons-in-law, four grandsons, and a granddaughter. Melinda would love to reconnect with roommates Francine Zuzzolo Taylor, Diane Smith, Martha Moore Townsend, and Verna Carlson Hawk, and riding buddy Carolyn Kendall. Barbara Ioanes has continued her work on community service art projects, including refurbishing of the Marilyn Monroe mural in northwest Washington, D.C. Kay Pannell Howe shared sad news of the death of her husband, Norton, of cancer. Our sympathy goes out to her and her family. Phil and I, Susan Rowe Bunting, recently adopted a 6-year-old boxer dog, Hettie, who has added excitement and interest to our self-isolation. Thankfully, I am now
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
No Class Agent classnotes@umw.edu [Editors’ note: Former class agent Phyllis Cavedo Weisser submitted notes for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish them here.] This is my last submission as class agent. I, Phyllis Cavedo Weisser, have enjoyed hearing from so many of you over the last almost 20 years. If you would like to serve as class agent, or to share news or notice of a death of one of our classmates, write to classnotes@umw.edu. If you have news to share directly with me or those on my mailing list, please continue to send those to me at pcweisser@yahoo.com. Like many others, Felicity Hallanan was disappointed that we couldn’t visit campus for our 55th reunion. She noted that 2020 will be remembered for events in our lives that did not happen, as well as those that did. In summer 2019, someone drove through three rooms of Lee Smith Musgrave’s home. The car went through the garage door and the mudroom and came to a stop in the guest bathroom – all while Lee was in the house. Her home was declared uninhabitable until a structural engineer declared it safe for repair. She took refuge with a neighbor for 11 days. In November, she and a neighbor enjoyed a Caribbean cruise, a welcome relief from the home-repair chaos. But summer 2020 brought more strife. Lee stepped off her scale and her femur cracked. She had surgery that day, and a rod and two screws were inserted to hold the bone together. She hoped to go home from rehab in mid-August. Janice Helvey Robinson and Rob are still in the Atlanta area, with their children close by. Their weekly visits are now driveway visits or Zoom meetings. They decided several years ago to travel in the United States and have been to Jackson Hole, Vail, Mount Rushmore, and Glacier
Linda Patterson Hamilton ’65 is writing a novel set in Virginia.
National Park. Their last outing was a New Orleans-to-Memphis cruise on the Mississippi River. No more travel plans until we get a vaccine! Meanwhile they play bridge online and record their church choir pieces individually, to be put together into a virtual performance. Linda Patterson Hamilton has been cancer-free for nearly two years, and she and husband Austin celebrated their 53rd anniversary in June. She’s participated in a weekly Zoom meeting of Tremble Clefs, a Parkinson’s disease singing therapy that strengthens vocal and swallowing functions. She is also writing a novel set in Virginia. Carol Meese continues to paint and exhibit. Her latest body of work was done during the stay-home phase of the pandemic. Margaret Cobourn Robinson and Kenny spent January to March in Vero Beach, Florida. Margaret’s brother passed away June 16, but they were blessed to fly out to Seattle to see him the week before. Kathie Drake Burgess practiced family law for 20 years and specialized in helping victims of domestic violence. Cheryl Gonzales Yancey just retired for the second time. On a sad note, we have lost several classmates recently. Sara Rieger Trub sent news that Phyllis Eure Rodrigues passed away on April 17 due to complications from COVID-19. It was very sudden, and her family was relieved that she did not suffer a prolonged illness. The nursing home director said she was wheeling around and being her funny, warm, and friendly self that very morning, and the staff was shocked and heartbroken. Saralyn Judd Pinson passed away in December 2018. Gertrude “Trudy” Kitchin Kohl passed away Oct. 6, 2019. Margaret Cobourn Robinson and Trudy were roommates sophomore year, and Meg was able to see Trudy a few days before she passed. Ed Amsbury wrote that Carole Dirling Amsbury passed away July 30, 2020.
While hunkered down, Mary Kathryn Rowell Horner ’66 sorted photos from our college days and posted many on the MWC 1966 Facebook page.
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Katharine Rogers Lavery hlavery1@cox.net
Anne Powell Young collects Nativity sets, and the newest addition was a canine Nativity with a miniature Schnauzer like
Barbara Bishop Mann and husband Robert celebrated Last fall, Catherine Cantwell Luria ’66 Christmas quietly at home returned to Mexico, where she can with a carry-out turkey dine outside year-round. dinner from Wegmans. Bobbi has traveled nowhere during the pandemic. Her only outings were trips to the gym to work with her personal trainer, who her doggie, Meg. Anne and Virgil planned has taught her to do a 30-second plank. a quiet, Zoom-only family Christmas in the woods in Stafford, Virginia. Carolyn Eldred has witnessed a burst of creativity and cooperation with ten months of Zooming – ElderStudy sessions, meetings, social events and even an occasional theater performance, all online. Carolyn is a member of The Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, which held its 50th annual Christmas Candlelight House Tour thanks to a cellphone app, digitalized information, and an exterior-only tour of decorated historic homes. Carolyn looked forward to a Zoom-free 2021.
Pam Kearney Patrick had sequestered at home since March and depleted the honey-do list. She and TaB connected with friends and family on FaceTime but had to cancel a surprise 50th birthday party for their son. Two of Pam’s watercolors sold during the limited summer season before all the art shows went digital for the rest of the year. Pam met Ambler Carter at the Philadelphia flower show in March, before everything shut down.
Mary Kathryn Rowell Horner and husband Charlie spent most of 2020 in Florida on COVID lockdown, returning to Alexandria, Virginia, in October. While hunkered down in the condo, Mary Kathryn sorted out old photos from our college days and posted many of them on our MWC 1966 Facebook page. Anne Meade Clagett was going out and about a wee bit more often in Fauquier County, experiencing less stress than last spring. Her two pods of local girlfriends managed outdoor lunches every month. Anne wrote, “I don’t know how to use TikTok, but I can write in cursive, do long division, and tell time on clocks with hands. So there’s that!”
Anne Kales Lindblom and husband Steve sailed their yacht from Northern Virginia through the Chesapeake Bay and along the Intracoastal Waterway to winter lodging down south, returning home in time for the holidays.
Catherine Cantwell Luria spent six months living near her daughter’s family in Portland, Oregon, before she and Eric returned to Mexico at the end of September. The weather in their Mexican village is nice enough for outdoor dining year-round. Daughter Sacha, a teacher, and her three children all did their schooling by Zoom. Sandra Hutchison Schanné had a houseful for Christmas. Son Brandon and his family traveled from Texas to spend the holidays with her, their first visit in two years. Daughter Amy, a nurse practitioner, stayed in Denver and carried on with virtual schooling for her three children.
Elaine Gerlach McKelly and husband Tim returned from two weeks in Key West shortly before the pandemic lockdown began. Their retirement community has walking trails and indoor swimming, but the campus was closed to visitors because of COVID. They got together with their children and grandchildren, masked and distanced, in a nearby park. Two grandchildren graduated from college in May without ceremonies; the other five returned to college with many online classes. Their youngest granddaughter is at Mary Washington and loves it. The staff of Tom and Kathy Goddard Moss’ conscientious California retirement community provides Zoom exercise classes, writing groups, and chorus. Meals are brought to their door; van drivers do their shopping; and they can visit (masked and distanced) or listen to music in the courtyard. They did leave the grounds to drive their presidential election ballots to a dropbox! In September, when sister Eileen Goddard Albrigo broke her hip (no surgery required), Kathy tested negative for COVID then flew to Virginia
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Human Resources Executive Keeps Giving Back
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hen James Llewellyn ’87 was a senior, the psychology suite in Chandler Hall – where the University Center now stands – was voted one of the top 10 favorite campus hangout spots by Mary Washington students. “The professors were so engaging and fun; learning from them was truly a gift,” said Llewellyn, who credits psychology faculty, including retired professors Debra Steckler and Steve Hampton and the late Topher Bill, as strong positive influences on his college experience. The exceptional liberal arts education Llewellyn received from Mary Washington is why he continues to give back to his alma mater. Now a seasoned humanresources professional, he applies psychology in his work in the private sector, and he’s happy to share his experience and advice with psychology majors – in 2019 he was the Department of Psychological Sciences’ graduate-in-residence. Llewellyn and his wife, Deborah, have established a merit scholarship for psychology majors and contribute annually to the Fund for Mary Washington. “We are proud to help Mary Washington provide the highest quality, most affordable education possible,” said Llewellyn, who also volunteered with annual giving campaigns as a college student. And he serves on the Alumni Association Board of Directors as vice president of finance and alumni giving. After graduating with honors in 1987, Llewellyn pursued a master’s degree in industrial and organizational psychology from Old Dominion University. Early in his career, he taught human resources graduate courses for several years while working in the corporate world. In 2012, he joined Masonite International Corp., a global door manufacturer based in Tampa, Florida.
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As Masonite’s vice president of global total rewards, Llewellyn manages a team of 25 that handles executive compensation, incentive plans, benefit plans, human resources systems, and payroll for employees throughout North America and worldwide. His team also works with vendors and supports front-line human resources staff. He’s found that his background in psychology has been incredibly beneficial in the field of human resources.
course, or helping our manufacturing workers understand employee benefits programs, Mary Washington has always guided me,” he said. In his profession, Llewellyn has focused on helping leaders motivate employees to excel at their jobs and reach their goals. It’s no wonder he’s chosen to do the same for UMW students and alumni. He encourages them to reflect upon what Mary Washington has given them and how they can give back to the university and future Eagles.
Lessons learned at Mary Washington have served James Llewellyn well in his human resources career and helped him make a positive impact on others.
“How humans communicate, what creates engagement and inclusion, what drives motivation to perform beyond expectations on the job … all of these concepts are core to psychology,” Llewellyn said. Through it all, he credits his college education, especially the writing and research skills he now uses every day. “Whether I’m presenting to senior executives, facilitating a training
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“Find a way to make a positive impact in life,” Llewellyn said. “Do this through your work or with your resources – time and money – and start by being charitable with organizations that are meaningful to you. Every dollar and every hour you give can help make a difference in others’ lives.” – Jill Graziano Laiacona ’04
Kathy Goddard Moss ’66 left home only to drive her presidential election ballot to a dropbox! to help out with the Albrigo clan’s busy schedule and enjoy some “twin time.” Susan Hanes Chaney and Bill concentrated on caring for their home, garden, and animals, and focused on all the positive aspects of their quiet life in the Northern Neck of Virginia. For Bill’s birthday they took a sightseeing flight over the area, remarking on how much beautiful water there is, though vulnerable to climate change. When the library closed due to the pandemic, Susan purchased a Kindle and enjoyed reading many good books. Annette Maddra Horner used COVID time for her landscaping project of removing and replacing invasive plantings with native trees, shrubs, and perennials. Two nieces started a group text including Annette, two sisters, and adult children. Annette made field trips to visit her sister, a master naturalist who shares her country acres, beaver pond, and knowledge. Annette also participated in Zoom chapel and masked and distanced patio parties with neighbors and family.
background for his 80th birthday while he was quarantined in their basement. Once COVID-free, Terry flew to Chicago to visit her daughter. Terry self-published Brother Steve Stories, about her older brother’s eventful life, and published Mystical Pieces of Me about her own experiences.
wore her academic regalia, awarded a makeshift diploma, and hosted a Zoom party. Marty Spigel Sedoff and Bob were staying isolated. They looked after Bob’s mother, who lives nearby in her own home. Ginny Bateman Brinkley used her quarantine time to write poems for kids, published in May by BellAire Press. Granddaughter Brittany Hewitt performed her senior recital at Juilliard in February 2020 with 17 family members in attendance – the last performance before the pandemic.
I, Katharine Rogers Lavery, and family rescheduled our Outer Banks beach vacation to July 2021 and stayed home all of 2020. Hank continued managing a small office building in Falls Church while I tutored geometry, precalculus, and trig on FaceTime and occasionally recorded trumpet music for our church’s Judy Wells Clark has continued playing online services. We welcomed a new music for church and teaching piano, in grandnephew in August and a greatperson or through FaceTime. grandson in December. Calls, messages, and occasional porch visits with family and Terry Caruthers ’66 published friends were great, but we all Brother Steve Stories about her hope COVID restrictions will be lifted and togetherness can brother’s life, and Mystical Pieces of be restored.
Me about her own experiences.
[Editors’ note: Katharine Rogers Lavery also submitted notes for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.]
After waiting five years for a San Diego retirement community to be completed, Dee Dee Nottingham Ward and Nat finally moved last February. They adjusted to the change from the large house they had for 46 years to a 1,400-square-foot apartment.
Yvonne March and husband Chris were spending the holidays at home with virtual family connections. Yvonne, Betsy In March 2020 (pre-shutdown) Mary Chappelear Tryon, Katharine Rogers Kathryn Rowell Horner attended a Lavery, and Susan Roth Nurin were saddened to learn of the April 2020 passing of their Spanish House housemate, Carolyn Annette Maddra Horner ’66 used Corwin Thomas ’67.
COVID time to replace invasive
Diana Hamilton Cowell plantings with native trees, shrubs, had an eventful 2019 and a and perennials. reflective 2020. In October 2019 she and Dan traveled to The Dalles, Oregon, to which her father’s ancestors had emigrated along luncheon hosted by Mary Grace Wright the Oregon Trail in 1846. Now that she Day with President Troy Paino, Kelly has hearing aids, Diana has discovered Paino, and other Mary Washington she is no longer surrounded by mumblers. alumni. In 2020, she and Dan enjoyed experiences Joan Cuccias Patton managed to stay in “the best little beach in Delaware” isolated during a kitchen renovation and and looked forward to more joyful times carefully disinfected everything each ahead. evening, per her children’s instructions. Terry Caruthers had both knees In May, Midge Meredith Poyck and replaced, caught COVID in the hospital family conducted a backyard graduation and shared it with her sister (both ceremony for a granddaughter who was recovered well), and did an oil painting headed to college last August. Midge of Don’s saxophone with a sheet music
While working at home, Jana Privette Usry completed at least eight mediation cases via conference calls, fax, and computer. Sally Souder missed her annual lunch meeting with Gerry Sargent Habas, with whom she keeps in close touch. Winnie Woodson Stribling researched patterns for face masks and made them before it became a requirement. She and husband Brad sheltered in place. Daughter Sarah lives with them and runs necessary errands. Yvonne Hutchinson March managed to visit her son and daughter-in-law in Columbus, Ohio, in March 2020, just before all flights were canceled. Yvonne kept in touch with Susan Roth Nurin, who was feeling restricted in her NYC apartment, missing concerts, arts activities, and bilingual tours. Betsy Chappelear Tryon’s son, Frank, shares her townhouse and does the shopping and errands. Daughter Maureen lives nearby with granddaughter Maddy home from college doing online classes.
Let us hear from you! Deadlines for submissions to class agents: July 15, 2021 • Dec. 9, 2021
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CLASS NOTES Katharine Rogers Lavery ’66 said a huge, magical “Happy Birthday” sign appeared in the front yard the morning of her 75th birthday. Kitty Down Gregg and husband Don stayed isolated at home, disappointed that son Chris and his fiancée had to postpone their wedding. Pat Lewars Pace and Linda Glynn Hutchinson had planned a trip to Germany to see the once-in-every-10years Oberammergau passion play. The trip was postponed until 2022. Katie Winn Green visited her son and family in Cardiff, Wales, last Christmas before they moved to Sydney, Australia, in February. Unable to visit them in Australia this year, and with her choral group concert canceled, Katie picked up her acoustic guitar and practiced enough to build up finger calluses. Caroline Hogeland Ruppar and husband Allan flew to South Africa in February for 10 days including a safari and embarked on a scheduled 28-day cruise up the east coast of Africa and across the Indian Ocean. But the pandemic closed ports, and the 1,000 passengers and crew spent two weeks on the ship. They finally departed from Muscat, Oman, knowing that they were safe because they had been quarantined aboard. Caroline and Allan traveled 38 hours through four international airports to get home. Genie McClellan Hobson spent much of her quarantine time sewing masks for the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, writing postcards to voters, and Zooming with family. Genie was able to keep working as a Realtor while she and Don quarantined. Linda Mitchell Spiers retired as rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Collinsville, Connecticut, and traveled for the fourth time to Israel and Palestine. In August 2019 Linda was appointed interim priestin-charge at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Essex, Connecticut, and continues to serve full time. Worship services continued via livestream, with meetings and programs via Zoom. Eileen Goddard Albrigo opened their home pool at the end of May, a welcome antidote for the COVID doldrums. The grandkids visited in shifts and mostly stayed outdoors, social distancing. Husband John continued his medical
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practice, doing only urgent surgeries and seeing patients who needed his physical presence for treatments.
I, Katharine Rogers Lavery, spent the summer working on the house, yard, and garden, keeping a close eye on the bird feeders, four fox kits, and twin fawns living in the backyard. A magical huge stand-up Happy Birthday sign appeared in the front yard the morning of my 75th birthday, and Hank and I celebrated our 25th anniversary with a dinner of homecaught crabs from our son’s river house. Tyla Matteson and husband Glen stayed home for months. She kept busy with Sierra Club meetings, all virtual, and worked on local races in Hampton and Newport News, helping to elect several environmental champions. Tyla and Susanne Landerghini Boehm stay in touch. Susanne also heard from Kate Ginman, who had spent many years traveling abroad working with the armed forces and is now retired. Kate relayed the sad news of the passing of her roommate, Linda Johnson Williams, from ovarian cancer in May 2020.
We heard from Cherie Wells Brumfield in the summer and were shocked and saddened to learn that she passed away Sept. 6, 2020. We also remember our classmate Barbara Ann Green, who passed away May 6, 2020. And we send condolences to Sandra Hutchison Schanné on the loss of her husband, Richard, on June 6, 2020.
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Mary Beth Bush Dore mbeth1945@gmail.com Christine Brooks had cataract surgery in fall 2020. She’s enjoyed taking pictures of the lakes in Reston, Virginia, during her daily walks. Ginger Blackwell Rigsby and John had planned 2020 travel to China and Russia via the Silk Road. Though the pandemic postponed their trips, they were able to
escape to their boat on the St. Johns River in Florida. Sadly, Doris Smith Parrish passed away in July 2020 from leukemia. Wilhelmina Endicott Perrine passed away in January 2020 after five-year struggle with ALS, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease. [Editors’ note: Mary Beth Bush Dore also submitted notes for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.]
Laurie Newman DiPadovaStocks ’67 has six children, 16 grandchildren, and seven greatgrandchildren. Sarah Nabstedt Barnes and her husband live in San Diego and enjoy lovely weather and the mighty Pacific. Laurie Newman DiPadova-Stocks and Hugh relocated from Parkville, Missouri, to Gilbert, Arizona, where Laurie is assigned to her university’s new branch campus. Together, she and Hugh have six children, 16 grandchildren, and as of June 26, seven great-grandchildren. She spoke recently with Florence Bishop. Once local COVID restrictions eased, Yvonne J. Milspaw and husband Douglas Evans were able to visit in person with their 3-year-old grandson, and Douglas took him flying in his private small plane. Yvonne was at work on arrangements for a planned fall 2021 meeting of the American Folklore Society in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Charlotte Gregg Morgan’s poetry chapbook Time Travel was published by Finishing Line Press in August. The memoir Are You Gregg’s Mother? was to be published by Legacy Book Press in 2021. Alexis “Lex” Ball Smith is mom to two and grandma to four, and she anticipated the arrival of her first great-grandchild in August 2020.
Katie Winn Green ’66 picked up her acoustic guitar and practiced enough to build up finger calluses.
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
Gayle Atwood Channel and husband Warren drove from Portsmouth, Virginia, to visit while I, Mary Beth Bush Dore, was in rehab in Beaufort, South Carolina. We had a wonderful dinner visit.
Virginia, where she has lots of flower beds and an excellent vegetable garden. She has been drawing in pastels for fun but nothing like her dear friend and artist Mel Wittig Neale, who has been a prizewinning exhibiting artist since our Mary Washington days.
No Class Agent? Your classmates still want to hear from you! Send news directly to classnotes@umw.edu.
Daughter Ginger Dore Marshall ’94 and I met with UMW Development Officer Elizabeth Waters Hunsinger ’01 to find out about the new things happening at Mary Washington. Husband Casey and I have stayed at home as Ginger and the governor of South Carolina wanted us to do. Ginger took family leave to care for Casey after his back operation and me as I prepared for another hip operation.
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Meg Livingston Asensio meglala46@gmail.com [Editors’ note: Sally Monroe Kelly submitted notes for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.]
Leneice Wu writes that shortly after our
Dale Saunders Kalkofen ’68 enjoyed summer in isolation on her Virginia farm, where she has lots of flower beds and an excellent vegetable garden.
Frances Rodgers Bryant shared the sad news of the death of husband Julian on July 14. Besides Frances, daughter Jennifer Bryant Langdale ’91, son William, and four grandchildren survive him. 2019 was a banner travel year for Susan Morris and Don, with trips to the Panama Canal, Amsterdam, and London. 2020 began the same way, with travels to Atlanta and south Florida, and a Caribbean cruise. They went into lockdown in mid-March. “Really glad Don and I actually LIKE each other!” Susan wrote. Dale Saunders Kalkofen’s extensive travels have included two long pilgrimage hikes: El Camino de Santiago in 2016 and a hike through Scotland to England’s Holy Island in 2018, both with small groups from her church in Richmond. She enjoyed this past summer in isolation on Shadowland Farm in Powhatan County,
Leneice Wu ’68 says moving to a small continuing-care community is a little like starting college.
Julie Deane Webb lives in Connecticut. She and husband Rick miss daughter Mary, who lives in the Seattle area with her husband and two boys. Son Josh and family live in the Boston area. Julie had hip replacement surgery in October 2019 and by spring was able to lift and squat in her garden like she used to! She remembers our 50th reunion with affection and hopes we can get together again soon.
Iris Harrell, who have so ably taken on this responsibility in recent years. We now know how much fun it is, but it does come with some effort! Jean Polk Hanky was thankful to isolate with her husband of 48 years in a downsized house near all of their eight children, from whom they received lots of drive-by visits during the pandemic. Alec and Betty Olander Adams moved from their farm of 22 years in Maryland to a new farm in Fauquier County, Virginia, last October. “Totally different lifestyle, but glad Alec achieved his dream retirement.” Betty’s MWC roommate, Chris Phillips Farhood, and her son, Nick, caught COVID independently in New York City. Nick recovered well, but Chris experienced lingering exhaustion and has shifted her psychotherapy practice to an all-Zoom format. She’s finished her home painting studio and calls painting and cooking her COVID-vanquishers. It’s no surprise that Iris Harrell has been busy during the pandemic. She’s on the building committee at her 3,500-home retirement community in California, and they recently completed several major projects. Iris and wife Ann Benson, who will celebrate their 42nd anniversary in May, bought a second home six hours north in Ashland, Oregon, (home of the Shakespeare Festival) to have a place to escape to during the fire season.
50th reunion, she and husband John Thomas (married in 2013 after both being widowed in 2005) moved to a continuing-care community in Northern Virginia. It was not a minute too soon, as John needed skilled nursing care after his third surgery to repair a broken kneecap. She bought a condo in Vermont to continue downhill skiing as long as Chris Phillips Farhood ’69 possible and to be closer to experienced lingering exhaustion her son and his wife and after COVID and has shifted her her only grandchild, 4-yearold Lucas. Daughter Emily psychotherapy practice to an alllives in California and was Zoom format. an unemployed pandemic Equity stage manager with an employed husband, which is good! Leneice says moving to a small Maria Canizares Daski and Lyn Howell community of 2,000 is a little like Gray both checked in with us and starting college. It does take a while to get promised to share in a future issue. used to all the rules! Debbie Morrison Gibson and husband Frank celebrated their 25th anniversary in 2019. Debbie had a 38-year career as a flight attendant with Pan Am and Anne Hoskot Kreutzer Delta, and Frank is a retired pilot. Last annekreutzer@hotmail.com year Debbie and Anne Hoskot Kreutzer, freshman and sophomore MWC Marianne deBlois Zentz roommates, reconnected. Debbie lives MdeBZ@verizon.net in Arlington, Virginia, a block from As your new class agents, we shout out where Anne’s family lived when she was huge thanks to Linda Eadie Hood and in college.
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CLASS NOTES February 2020 fall. By January 2021 she was finally able to Nancy Yeager Allard ’69 read walk by herself, but her ankle stories to her 6-year-old grandson was still swollen and she was not allowed to drive. Eadie, we via FaceTime. know everyone joins us in the sincere hope that by the time Dianne Johnson Clover married a you read this in the magazine, Marine and has lived in Texas for 51 you are fully healed. years. She retired from teaching, and Nancy Gleason has done graphite husband Carl retired from law practice. drawing and oil painting for the past A planned 2020 cruise to the Baltics six years. During a safari in Africa was canceled, but they were able to take in October of 2019 her group visited four of their five grandchildren to Lake Tanzania and Rwanda, where they saw Buchanan, in the Hill Country of Texas, gorillas in their natural habitat. Nancy for swimming and exploring. and Gary, her partner of 18 years, got Pam Hogan Baynard found Roman Art in four weeks of skiing out West in and Architecture while cleaning out her February and March 2020, getting home bookshelves during the pandemic. From just a few days before Virginia shut the inscription “E. Watters, Mason down. 120, Ext 485,” she realized she’d had Carolyn Bauer LeJeune and Dave are roommate Chibba Watters Miller’s book doing OK but had to cancel a planned all these years. Chib’s not been looking trip to the Rotary International for it, but she is missing her MWC Convention in Honolulu. Carolyn yearbook, which she thinks she left at a was finishing her first year as regent reunion. Anyone have it? of her DAR chapter. They were hit by Carol Greenwood Trejo shared that two hurricanes this past season, one monthly Zoom mini-reunions have downing many big trees. They had to go been the thing for classmates Cheryl to their daughter’s house for a week. Ulmer, Tanya Belt Nickson, Judy Farrell Lou Myers Daly and husband Andy Bechtold, Loretta Horgan Nagle, and got their first COVID shots in January Jan Desmond Melluzzo. Initiated by Doralece Lipoli Dullaghan ’70, they’ve also included Beverley Clare Coates ’68 and Class of ’70 members Anne Howell Wood, Kirsten Mackey Fleisher, and Cathie O’Connor Woteki ’69 Darlene Greenhalgh Hines. remains on faculty at Iowa Nancy Yeager Allard and husband Paul moved to the Greenspring retirement community in Springfield, Virginia, close to friends, church, and longtime doctors. Besides downsizing from their home of 42 years, Nancy has volunteered at her church since it reopened and read stories to their 6-year-old grandson via FaceTime.
Budget cuts took Clare Burke Ardizzone’s job with the campus architect’s office at the University of Illinois at Chicago, but she’s found retirement rewarding – aside from her own bout with COVID. Free time has allowed her to learn more about vocal music and streamline 50 years of possessions. She took a New Year’s trip to Costa Rica with her daughter and son-in-law and the grands. Linda Eadie Hood has had a most difficult year, with a long recovery after breaking bones in her leg and foot in a
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State University and as visiting distinguished professor at the University of Virginia’s Biocomplexity Institute.
– lucky them! They are amused by the role reversal they are experiencing with their two adult sons, but appreciate the boys’ concern. Lou had a shoulder replacement in late September. Ow ow ow. She hoped to be back on the golf course in March or April. Patti Boise Kemp sends love and well wishes to all as we endure the pandemic. “We were fortunate to have our only grandchild, who now lives in Texas, spend nearly seven months with us. Emily came for the summer and stayed to do her first semester of 10th grade virtually. It was a blessing having her with us!”
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
Ruth Jones Pierce was in the Class of 1970 but finished a year early with our class. She and her husband have lived in Chesterfield County, Virginia, since 1969. Ruth retired in 2003 after a 33year career teaching special education. They have two sons and two wonderful grandsons. Carol Hewitt Guida reports that her family is safe and well in Canberra, Australia. She keeps in touch with U.S. friends by email, has lots of Zoom meetings, and reads The Washington Post and The New York Times every morning. Cathie O’Connor Woteki says she and husband Tom are utter failures at retirement. She remains on faculty at Iowa State University and as visiting distinguished professor at the University of Virginia’s Biocomplexity Institute, and Tom heads Virginia Tech’s new graduate program in data analytics and applied statistics. Cathie serves on Dean Keith Mellinger’s advisory board for the College of Arts and Sciences at UMW. Since the lockdown began, Cathie and Tom have been at their small farm in Rappahannock County on endless Zoom meetings. It was great to hear from French House housemate Martha Wilbourne Cummings, who’s been able to spend time with most of her nine grandchildren. She plays tennis and pickleball and goes on careful outings with her Garden Club friends. She and Mike planned to celebrate their 50th anniversary in June with all the kids at an oceanfront house in Virginia Beach. Linda Medica Martin teaches art history part time at Purdue University and struggles to keep up with online components in COVID-era classes. Catharine Rossi Mannering and husband Jerry live in Comfort, a town of about 2,000 people in the beautiful Texas Hill Country. Both retired last year from the Comfort Independent School. They closed their
Linda Medica Martin ’69 teaches art history part time at Purdue University.
1969ers Shirley Myers Sorrentino and Kaye Lowe Reynolds visited Barbara Mangels in Black Mountain, North Carolina. bed-and-breakfast after 23 years and sold their longhorn cattle. Now every day’s a holiday, and every night is Saturday. Jenifer Higgins Clark is known as the expert on the Gulf Stream’s currents. In the mid-’90s she left NOAA and started a company that provides realtime information for sailboat racing, rescuing, navigational needs, distance ocean swim support, and commercial fishing needs.
Angeles. Kaye, husband Alan, Shirley, and friend Richard Robbins toured Virginia’s Smith Mountain Lake in October. Shirley has lived there for eight years since retiring from teaching and real estate careers in the Fredericksburg area. Kaye and Alan recently returned from living overseas, where Alan worked in international banking and Kaye tutored. Betty Wade Miles Perry and her husband were able to have a family Christmas at their Virginia Beach home since their two daughters, UMW grads in 2000 and 2003, and their spouses had early, mild cases of the virus. Barb Crickenberger Hall and husband Bob started 2020 by traveling with friends to Bogota and Cartagena, Colombia. Then they went to New York to celebrate Bob’s 80th birthday, and in February went skiing in Telluride, Colorado. And then … lockdown.
Jeanine Zavrel Fearns spent most of 2020 at home in Fairfax, Virginia, but the lucky lady did get a new kitchen put in. Her favorite hobby, choral singing with the Reston Chorale, Anne Hoskot Kreutzer ’69 said became virtual. Jeanine spends if not for FaceTime, her 2-yearmany weekends at her family old twin grandsons in San Diego cabin in the mountains of West Virginia. wouldn’t have a clue who she is. Anne Witham Kilpatrick cleaned closets, replaced wallpaper, added pullout shelves to kitchen cabinets, put lights in pantries and closets, trimmed bushes, put up new outside lights, rearranged the living room, washed windows, organized the pantry, put together a 56page book for her woman’s club, joined in many Zoom meetings, participated in virtual choir productions, and took part in Wreaths Across America at two local cemeteries. Whew! Former Virginia poet laureate Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda has relied on Zoom and Google Meet to conduct poetry workshops, readings, and presentations. One was a reading to promote her recent book, River Country: A Poem-Play, coauthored with Robert P. Arthur. Carolyn conducted online writing workshops for 500 seventh-graders at Falling Creek Middle School in Chesterfield, Virginia. Shirley Myers Sorrentino and Kaye Lowe Reynolds visited Barbara Mangels in Black Mountain, North Carolina, where Barbara lives after retiring from her speech therapy business in Los
both been living in Winter Park, Florida, for more than 20 years. Two years ago Bill and Cece Smith Riffer moved to Patriots Colony in Williamsburg. She thinks she may be the queen of quarantining, but they’ve been able to enjoy happy hours in their building and play computer bridge with a couple from their old neighborhood. Cece sent sad news of French House amie Joan Mueller Goertz, who passed away Jan. 13, 2021, after a diagnosis of colon cancer. Husband George predeceased her. She leaves a daughter, Jennifer, and a son, Jonathan, a priest who was with her for the last couple of weeks. Susan Seay Ledbetter sadly shared that her husband of 38 years, William Ledbetter Jr., passed away in October 2020. He was a retired circuit court judge in the Fredericksburg area. We send our condolences. At the request of our children, Tom and I, Anne Hoskot Kreutzer, have isolated for most of the past year in southern Virginia. If not for FaceTime, our 2-year-old twin grandsons in San Diego wouldn’t have a clue who we are.
Barb continued her nonprofit board work and added a new role as chair of her Washington, D.C., co-op’s energy conservation task force. Sissie Burnette Orris was a chemistry major and lived in Stafford County, Virginia, near Fredericksburg. Now they live part time in Bluffton, South Carolina, and part time in Citrus Hills, Florida.
I’m also grateful for close contact with MWC roomie Marianne deBlois Zentz. Marianne happily agreed to take on the class agent job with me, sent out a lovely note soliciting your news, and immediately caught COVID! She was fortunate to participate in a monoclonal antibody study, got an IV infusion of Eli Lilly’s bamlanivimab (I swear) and felt immediately better. Marianne has kept up with Linda Gattis Shull, Patti Boise Kemp, Betsy Crews Neilson, Betty Wade Miles Perry, Barbara Burton Micou, and Christie Wineholt Warman.
Linda and Barbara objected to an “unflattering portrayal” of Mary Kent and Teri Thibodeaux Cueman Washington in a University of Virginia planned to move from Yorktown, alumni magazine article about the Virginia, to Fredericksburg in May. Teri history of coeducation at U.Va. Their and Kent have weekly Skype visits with Kathleen Hill Marks, Debbie Blythe Weise ’70, Gail Shifflet Astor ’70, and their husbands Thanks to participating in a – all Randolph-Macon College graduates from the Class of monoclonal antibody study, ’69. Barbara Macon Sacha and Barbara “Bobbie” Amos Roessler reconnected after 50 years. They found they had
Marianne deBlois Zentz ’69 got immediate treatment for COVID and recovered quickly.
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CLASS NOTES
W
hen he was a kid in the 1980s, Kerwin A. Miller Sr. ’95 watched L.A. Law on his family TV and waited for his favorite character – attorney Jonathan Rollins – to appear. Miller liked how the impeccably dressed law partner argued cases, how people listened to him, and how he won for his clients. And – unlike the characters Miller usually saw – the attorney was Black, just like him. “It made me want to do that – do something that actually made a difference and made an immediate impact on people,” Miller said of his decision to become a lawyer. “I thought about it so long that it was the only thing I could do.” Miller overshot his childhood dream in January 2019 when, by appointment of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, he was sworn in as the second African American judge in the history of Harford County. It was a long road to the bench, even though Miller made the journey much faster than most. When he chose Mary Washington College, his mother and his sister made the trek from his childhood home in the Bronx to Fredericksburg each October for parents’ weekend. They wouldn’t have missed graduation. And they were by his side when he was installed as judge. Mary Washington had the classes Miller wanted, and a beautiful campus. It was close enough while still offering a completely different world from the boroughs of New York. “I grew up in the city,” he said. “I was young, and I wanted to get away, but not too far away.” He played basketball in his first year, until an injury sidelined him. He was excited by lectures from professors, especially one who was a practicing lawyer. And Miller found his “biggest takeaway” from college, wife Alethea “Lisa” Patillo Miller ’96. “I am a little biased when I talk about Mary Wash,” said Miller, who delivered the keynote speech for UMW Black History Month in February. “I don’t know what it would
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have been if I hadn’t met her, but right now it’s ranked No. 1.” As she finished her psychology degree, he started law school at Southwestern University in Los Angeles. He earned a juris doctorate in 1999, and the Kerwin A. Miller Sr. and Alethea “Lisa” Patillo Miller two decided stand with daughter Alanna and son K.J. in the to make a life Maryland courtroom where Judge Miller presides. together in Maryland. They wed in September became an administrative law judge, 2002, and immediately upon passing overseeing and ruling on appeals to the bar exam, Miller opened a the actions of state agencies. That’s private practice in Harford County, where he was late in 2018 when he planning to continue the business got the call from Hogan to serve as law he’d done as an intern in L.A. associate judge in Harford County. But his wife’s work as a forensic Besides being a judge, Miller interviewer exposed him to the needs is president of the bar association of vulnerable clients – children and there. He is active on boards and senior citizens. He started picking in community associations. up civil and criminal cases, and Since 2008, Miller also has been he realized he liked being in court teaching law classes at the University more than poring over contracts. of Maryland, Baltimore County. He In 2001, he joined the Legal Aid has meant to make every semester Bureau, representing children in his last, but he just can’t quit. He’s abuse and neglect cases. He saw heard from too many appreciative that the parents of those children students who have gone on to needed better representation successful legal careers, and from – and that the children of some many who say how consequential underprivileged families were being it was for them to learn from a removed from homes more from practicing Black attorney and judge. lack of services than from neglect or “I realized it’s important for them criminal action. He found his niche, to see this, and they are telling me he said, when he transferred to as much,” Miller said. “I felt it was an representing adults in criminal cases obligation as part of my service to the in the public defender’s office. community to continue to be there.” “It was something I absolutely Miller’s two teenage children are fell in love with and became very proud of their dad and sometimes efficient with,” Miller said. join him in the classroom. And Then state’s attorney Sandra he and his wife take the kids to O’Connor recruited Miller to her Fredericksburg, to the place team in Baltimore County in 2006, where their life together began. and Miller eventually became “We love going back to campus,” deputy state’s attorney and chief Miller said. “We point out things to homicide prosecutor in Cecil our kids, the dorms where we lived, County, Maryland. In 2015, Miller the fountain. That’s how much that school experience meant to me.” – Neva Trenis ’00
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
Baltimore Sun Media. All Rights Reserved.
Judge Reflects the Real World
response, which the magazine published, quoted the article’s author saying Mary Washington had “gone on to become a full-fledged university.” They added, “And a darned fine one, at that!”
Lucia Smithey Bushway ’70 retired from teaching at University of West Florida.
The Class of 1969 has three scholarship recipients. Cedric Anash ’21 and Cathryn Puglia ’22 received the Laura V. Sumner Memorial Scholarship endowed for our 25th reunion. Morgan Bates ’21 received the 50th reunion scholarship.
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Anne Summervold LeDoux ledouxanne@yahoo.com [Editors’ note: Anne Summervold LeDoux prepared these notes for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.] The pandemic has changed so much in our world. Most of us are doing many of the same things at home, and nobody’s going anywhere! Kathi O’Neill passed along some news from a Zoom get-together: Susan Johnson Gillette is a first-time grandmother to beautiful baby Rebecca. I caught up with Loren Lawler Wilee, who has moved from Chesapeake to Northern Virginia. Genie Hamilton Roper ’71 and I met up in Fredericksburg. I also heard from Lucia Smithey Bushway, who has retired from teaching at University of West Florida. She and Jeff have two daughters and two grandchildren. I know that many of us recently
Susan Johnson Gillette ’70 is a first-time grandmother to baby Rebecca.
celebrated our 50th wedding anniversaries, including Susan Johnson Gillette and Nancy Buchanan Perry. Happy anniversary to all. If you have not contributed to our class gift for the Talley Center, please consider donating to this most worthy cause.
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Karen Laino Giannuzzi kapitankL11@yahoo.com [Editors’ note: Karen Laino Giannuzzi prepared these notes for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.] We are living in strange times indeed. Last fall, we were all traveling the world. That was cut short just as we were preparing for Founder’s Day in March 2020. Now we wonder, “What next?” Sally Reichner Mayor wrote that Switzerland is affected by COVID, but with so many mountainous regions the numbers are low. Social distancing is easy. Elizabeth “Betty” Whichard Robinson has been staying close to home in Indiana and trying to support small businesses. She works out, reads, and Zooms with friends. Betty’s is a recurring theme with most of us.
reunion in Marble Falls, Texas, was canceled, and she had not been able to visit her 97-year-young father in San Antonio. Kim’s daughter and family live near her in South Carolina, and they had drive-by and distant deck visits. She used FaceTime and Zoom with her son in Chicago. Kim said Jan Reynolds Cooke, who lives in New Orleans, had recovered from COVID-19. Jan’s large family had supported her from a distance. Jan was also in touch with Frannie Sydnor Cook in North Carolina. Susan Taylor Frank, Kim’s freshman roommate, still works part time at the Presbyterian Community Center in Roanoke, Virginia. Susie Sowers Hill passed through South Carolina last year, and she and Kim caught up over dinner. Karen Clark Jones has moved to Marietta, Georgia. Kim, Jan, and Karen were high school buddies in Newport, Rhode Island, and came to Mary Washington together as roommates.
Kathy Lewis Newbold ’71 was able to keep golfing with new rules in place: Masks were the fashion statement of the day.
Along with webinar and Zoom visits to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Lisa Barker hopes for a trip to Ireland, postponed from 2020. Bryn Irving Winn Roth missed her children, grandchildren, and a great grandson. She also missed a trip to Canada and a high school reunion. Kathy Lewis Newbold was able to keep golfing with new rules in place, but she was sad that the traditional 19th hole had stayed empty. Cam and Kerry were home for the Fourth of July and joined with Kathy’s sister for a family barbecue. Masks were the fashion statement of the day. Many of you wrote about the excitement of renaming E. Lee Trinkle to James Farmer Hall. You also praised the Alumni Association and UMW in general for online lectures, classes, and trivia nights. Kim Warren Noe and Bob appreciated the diversions. Her family
Laurie McIntosh homeschooled neighbors’ children, which was challenging but fun. With historical parks and trails close by, Laurie treks about five miles a day, meeting interesting people along the way. She finished a novel, set in 1968, and one of the central characters is a rising sophomore at Mary Washington. The pandemic slowed her efforts to find a publisher. Diana “Diney” Rupert Livingston lives near Richmond’s Monument Avenue and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, so she was in the thick of the 2020 BLM and Confederate monument protests. Someone threw a rock through the firstfloor window of her building and lit up a dumpster in her alleyway. Monument Avenue certainly looks different these days. Diney had been auditing Italian at VCU and continued her studies with a private tutor with the goal of returning to Italy when possible.
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CLASS NOTES Beth Fleming Skidmore also lives in Richmond. Son Alex and his wife, Alli, finished five-year medical residences in Pittsburgh and, after a year in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, moved to Fredericksburg in July. They have a new son. Beth’s other son was to marry this summer but big plans were reduced to a small, immediate-family-only ceremony. Beth and husband Alex met over 51 years ago at Mary Washington and recently celebrated their 46th anniversary. Betty Barnhardt Hume retired from the library in Fredericksburg in 2016 but still works part time. Husband Randy Hume ’75 enjoys playing golf. Mona Davis Albertine’s downtown Fredericksburg store, Jabberwocky, was open with almost regular hours. For some time, the nonviolent but loud BLM protesters marched downtown daily. Mona and Jack were seeing relatives but not friends. Mona had gotten to know the wildlife on her property, including a crow family, cardinals, a snake she named Henry, and visiting bears. Nancy Belden and her husband run a polling firm in Washington, D.C., focusing on progressive issues such as human, civil, and reproductive rights. Their son, Giovanni Russonello, lives in New York and writes for The New York Times covering politics, jazz, and polling. Nancy had found time to escape to a small house on the Eastern Shore during the pandemic. Debbie Oja Tuttle and Ed spend winters in Sunset Beach, North Carolina, and summers in Linville, North Carolina. She said golf courses had remained open, and their club served meals at distanced tables. Debbie said that’s better than her cooking!
Diane Mowrey was still at Queens University of Charlotte, North Carolina, in March but she said it was to be her last semester teaching. At that point, classes were moving online.
sourdough baking. She mentioned that after the online COVID-19 class many of us took, she reconnected with Gloria Shelton Gibson ’69, who was a freshman dorm counselor.
Susannah Athey Warner reminded me of two happy events in 2020, the appearance of the comet NEOWISE and the successful launch and recovery of SpaceX. Susannah is in touch with college roommate Karen Murray Wood. Susannah had some lovely mementos of Fredericksburg State Teachers College, which she got from her mother.
Some of us recently learned that Natalee Spiro Franzyshen was diagnosed with ALS after several years of undetermined symptoms. Her husband also has had health problems, but they celebrated their 48th anniversary in late August.
Mary Jane Chandler Miller and Fred feel blessed in Vermont, where COVID cases were low. Her office on the Council of Aging and all schools closed in March, and MJ retired in June. MJ Zooms, reads, golfs, and plays tennis.
Sherry Rutherford Myers Sherryhon2011@gmail.com
Mary Carson, the grande dame of our class, and Roger have been married 62 years and walk several miles daily. In the past Mary served as alumni director and development officer for Mary Washington. Her daughter is news director of Sinclair News in
Salutations to one and all!
alumni.umw.edu/ ReunionWeekend
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[Editors’ note: Sherry Rutherford Myers prepared these notes for the online-only fall/winter 2020 issue. We republish a shortened version here.]
In September 2019, Nancy Mahone Miller and her “traveling sisters” – Kathryn Ray, Mary Saunders Williams, Terri Hall Alford, Shirley Harris Sutton, and Anne Toms Richardson – took their third Rick Steves Tour together. This time it was 14 days in Spain, where they visited Barcelona, Madrid, Nancy Belden ’71 runs a polling Granada, Sevilla, Toledo, firm in Washington, D.C., focusing Segovia, and Ronda. Also on progressive issues. in 2019, Nancy was elected state corresponding secretary of Virginia DAR. Since the advent of COVID-19, Nancy and friends Washington, Virginia, and Maryland. have met every other week via Zoom. Her sons are with Verizon and hospital Martha Stansell Vogel, Kathy Duley, security. and Sherrie Mitchell Boone have joined Mary Weaver Mann reported that Jim them. has been in a long-term care facility Cheryl Prietz Childress welcomed for Alzheimer’s but was doing OK. Son grandson Charlie, son of daughter Thea Geoff is out of the Army and working and son-in-law Eric. Granddaughter as a pilot for a Richmond hospital. Ellie seems delighted with her new Daughter Emily and family brother. Cheryl and husband Dave were live in Washington state. Son able visit the family in the Atlanta area. Zeph and daughter-in-law They’ve also been catching up on their Erin were working remotely farm and riding their new horses. for a company in Los Angeles.
Laurie McIntosh ’71 homeschooled neighbors’ children, which was challenging and fun. Check this site often for news about Reunion Weekend:
1972
Mary finally retired from the library and did some house renovations.
Penny Falkowitz Goodstein wrote that the infection rates were still skyrocketing in Alaska. She misses seeing her grandsons. Her beloved 12-year-old dog passed away in March and her other dog was not well, so she and her husband adopted a puppy Canaan dog. Penny has taken up
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
Life in the Roanoke area agrees with Sherry Rutherford Myers ’72. She takes drives on the Blue Ridge Parkway and enjoys the scenery.
Dennis and I, Sherry Rutherford Myers, have also been catching up on home projects – a gratifying feeling at the end of the day. Life in the Roanoke area has agreed with us. While we have all been disappointed by so many cancellations, my women’s club managed to have some events outdoors in summer. And we have the Blue Ridge Parkway close by to take drives and enjoy the scenery.
1973
Joyce Hines Molina joyce.molina@verizon.net
Cynthia Howk recently reconnected with several classmates who share her concern for Ann Salter, who has been dealing with health issues. Cynthia has been corresponding with Barbara Reynolds Myerson, Debora Olsen Searfoss, Susan Regan, Linda Ann Wray, Clare Nugent, and Betty Snead DeLesDernier.
Linda Ann Wray ’73 has been a faculty member at Penn State for 20 years.
Save the dates for our 50th reunion, June 2-4, 2023. One plan for the weekend is to meet the student who will be awarded the first scholarship from the Class of 1973 50th Reunion Scholarship Fund. Our urgent need is to have a minimum of $25,000 in the fund by June 30, 2021. We were $15,000 shy of our goal when these notes were prepared in early 2021. There are many ways to support the scholarship for our immediate need as well as growth through planned giving, including by credit card, gifts of stock, a multi-year pledge, or including UMW in your estate plans. When you make a donation, you must designate that it is for the Class of 1973 50th Reunion Scholarship Fund. Your contribution will help create a legacy for our class. On Facebook, “like” Mary Washington Class of 1973. Information about the reunion will be shared on this social media page and through email. The
Joyce Hines Molina ’73 wrote that reunion updates will be on the Mary Washington Class of 1973 Facebook page. Class of ’73 Reunion Committee is MarySue Warren Wimer, Susan Jacobius Davis, Anne Bevans Cooper, Janet Hedrick, Virginia Davey Addison, and me, Joyce Hines Molina. I’ve decided to remain our class agent until our 50th reunion. At our reunion we will seek a volunteer to be our next Class Notes representative. Continue to send me your updates. Thanks!
Barbara lives in Northern Virginia with husband Jay, an attorney. They have three children. Debora lives in Indianapolis and teaches biology in public schools, while her husband, who is retired, coordinates “at-home” duties. Linda Ann has been a faculty member at Penn State for 20 years. Susan is a retired educator and administrator and lives near Fredericksburg. Clare is also retired and lives near Fredericksburg. Betty, a retired registered nurse in Richmond, Virginia, was at Mary Washington for two years but transferred to complete her nursing degree. Betty’s daughter is Lauren DeLesDernier Glover ’05, M.S. ’06. We were sorry to learn of the January 2021 passing of Hazel Moss Putty, one of the first students of color to graduate from Mary Washington. She was a retired math teacher in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and a member of the local, state, and national education associations. Besides her husband of 43 years, she is survived by three children including Jonathan Moss Putty ’10, and by her sister, Princess Moss ’83.
1974
Sid Baker Etherington sidleexx@yahoo.com Suzy Passarello Quenzer suzyquenzer@gmail.com
Margaret “Peg” Hubbard was disappointed that “The Jefferson 4th West gang” had to cancel its annual mini-reunion in June 2020, as the group had gathered every year since our 35th reunion. But they stay connected on Zoom. Peg reports the following: Lisa Tyree Sweeney continues to love the beautiful weather in San Diego. Susan McDonald Osborn ’75 is surrounded by family in Spokane, Washington. Karen Sunnarborg sold her Boston house early in 2020 and now lives in Connecticut. Patti Goodall Strawderman has finally retired from the Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services and was waiting for husband Dennis to retire. Jonette deButts Hahn and George love to travel to exotic places. Susan Tyler Maguigan’s eldest daughter, Caitlin, lives in Geneva, Switzerland, with her husband and three children. After the passing of her husband, Nancy Pederson Trzcinski has settled in Elkin, North Carolina, closer to daughter Christine. Deb Ryan Howard lives in Charlottesville with her adorable puppy. And Peg herself is happy to be back in her hometown of Virginia Beach.
1975
Armecia Spivey Medlock vagirl805@msn.com I hope everyone is continuing to stay safe and healthy during this crazy time. I also hope, by the time you read this news, that you’ve been able to receive or will shortly receive the COVID vaccine. In my prior news, our daughter was expecting her first child mid-December. However, as anyone will tell you who knows anything about babies, babies have their own timetable. Ryder was born a month early on Nov. 16, 2020, but he was strong enough that he never had to spend any time in the NICU. To help our daughter with Ryder and to limit our COVID exposure, my husband and I drove from our North Carolina home to their Kansas home in one very long day. It was so worth it to be there
Bernice “Bernie” Fain Svedlow retired from her nursing position in March because her husband, a recent heart The baby grandson of Armecia transplant patient, was Spivey Medlock ’75 arrived early immunosuppressed and and strong. her floor had become an all COVID unit.
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Urban Forester Finds Love of Nature at UMW
T
he 11,000 to 12,000 trees shading the streets and parks of Lynchburg, Virginia, are a lot to keep up with. But Sarah Hagan ’11 has charge of them all, from roots to crowns. It’s an ever-changing responsibility, varying with each season, storm, dry spell, and pest. As Lynchburg’s urban forester, Hagan oversees trees individually but also as an interdependent whole – the urban canopy that keeps the city healthy, vibrant, and beautiful. Now in her second year with Lynchburg, Hagan has dealt with the inherited problem of the emerald ash-borer, an imported pest devastating the native ash species of the eastern to midwestern United States. Almost all the city’s ash trees have had to be removed. City trees face other stresses as well, from improper planting, poor soil, and road salt. Hagan constantly evaluates how long Lynchburg’s trees are lasting, how their lives can be extended, and how to bolster the overall health and sustainability of the resource. To handle it all she works with Lynchburg’s public works department, a contract crew, and a corps of citizen volunteers known as tree stewards. The role seems ideal for a biology major with a passion for botany, hiking, and all things outdoors. But getting there involved “a lot of zigs and a lot of zags,” Hagan said. “My 16-year-old self and my 33-year-old self, I think, would find each other amusing.” Growing up in Botetourt County near Roanoke, Hagan was an artsoriented kid whose physician mother and lawyer father encouraged her musical pursuits. Only after studying music at another Virginia college did she conclude that she wouldn’t have a career as an opera singer. But if not music, what would be a more practical choice? “I had always hated math and science,” she said. “But I decided,
46
Sarah Hagan, an urban forester in Lynchburg, Virginia, discovered her passion for science while studying biology at UMW.
‘I’m going to learn science.’” She researched biology programs and decided to give Mary Washington’s highly regarded Department of Biological Sciences a try. Professors including Stephen Fuller, Joella Killian, Andrew Dolby, and Deborah O’Dell welcomed, challenged, and encouraged her. “Mary Washington taught me science,” she said. “My first semester, I walked into Dr. Fuller’s botany class with no idea even how to prep a slide. I fell in love with it. I adored it. I just couldn’t get over the miraculous organisms that plants are.” It felt great to succeed in a notoriously difficult class, and it set her on an academic and career path she finds rewarding. “I was hooked because plants were just so darn cool, and I wanted more.” And she loved living in Fredericksburg. As an older transfer student, she lived with roommates off campus, developed a great community of friends, and sang in
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
the choir of St. George’s Episcopal Church. After graduating cum laude from UMW, she worked another three years in the area, chiefly in an Americorps-funded position as volunteer and stewardship coordinator for Friends of the Rappahannock. As her interest in conservation grew, she applied to graduate school and eventually earned a master’s degree in environmental management from Duke University, with a focus on forestry and forest management. While these days Hagan sings mostly in the shower and the car – her mother still urges her to join a choir for fun – she’s satisfied with a scientific calling that keeps her outdoors much of the time and contributes to everyone’s well-being. “I’m happy where I am,” she said, “because I get to do something that’s having a positive influence on future generations.” – Laura Moyer
with our daughter and enjoy lots of Ryder-holding time. I’d love to hear how you’ve been faring and what you’ve been doing, so I look forward to receiving your news for the next alumni magazine issue.
1976
Janis Biermann (A – M) biermannjanis@gmail.com Debra Smith Reeder (N – Z) dsmithreeder@gmail.com
1977
Anne Robinson Hallerman arhmwc77@yahoo.com
1978
Janet Fuller janetpfuller@gmail.com
1979
Barbara Goliash Emerson emers3@msn.com Despite the pandemic, life goes on. Caroline Corr Newlon and husband Blaine became first-time grandparents when daughter Sarah gave birth to their adorable grandson Levi in 2020. Sally Hart Morgan wrote that she retired after 31 years in local government planning and development. Husband John had already retired from teaching at Emory & Henry College. Both were happy to have son Jack, who lives in Washington, D.C., and daughter Jessie, who lives in Denver, visit in December since they were able to work remotely. Sally also added that her freshman-year group from Randolph Third Right had been convening every two weeks on Zoom. She’s enjoyed seeing Lisa Bratton Soltis, Gayle Weinberger Petro, Donna Anaya, Karin Hedberg, Nancy Quaintance Nelles, and Shelley Roberts Havnoonian.
Nena Lee Kobayashi ’79 is with a defense contractor on a multimission surface combatant contract for the Department of the Navy.
Lisa Jenkins has arranged for a couple of MWC Zoom get-togethers including Betsy Larson Kyker, Carol Middlebrook, Linda McCarthy Milone, and me.
While looking for a new house, Cliff and Deb Caton Campbell ’80 were living in their RV on a lake just outside of Knoxville.
Nena Lee Kobayashi is working for defense contractor CACI on a multimission surface combatant contract for the Department of the Navy. She also takes care of her 98-year-old father, who lives nearby.
My sister, Patricia Goliash Andril ’80, had one of her drawings, Floating on Clouds, featured in CP Treasures – Colored Pencil Masterworks From Around the Globe, Volume 7. Her beautiful rowboat drawing was also one of the three highlighted on the book’s cover.
1980
Susan Garter skgarter@gmail.com 2020 was quite a year! I was disappointed that our 40th reunion was postponed due to COVID-19, but I look forward to celebrating with you all at a later date.
and has a 3-year-old granddaughter. Her daughter manages a Merrill store in Leesburg, and her son works for the IRS in Seattle, Washington. Husband Tom, who used to play for Thunderbay, is still in touch with Rob Powell and Kevin Havens. Tom and Kevin have played music this past year at local wineries. Sandy has also recently been in touch with Jim Hely. They reminisced about the crazy things they did at MWC and swapped old pictures. Sandy, Barbara Gant Kinner, Deb Caton Campbell, and I have gone on girls’ weekend trips throughout the years. When we get together it seems as though no time has passed. Barb and husband Greg have been fulltime RVers for three years and were spending the winter out West. Deb and husband Cliff sold their house in 2020 and were living in their RV on a beautiful lake just outside of Knoxville,
I, Sue Garter, had hip replacement surgery in January 2020. During the summer, we moved from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, which Last summer, Becky Bradley was quite a feat during the Price ’80 motored cross country pandemic. I still work for and later brought home a petite Verizon, although remotely these days. bernedoodle puppy, Callie. I met up with Becky Bradley Price in New York City right before the pandemic was declared, and we had a lovely luncheon with her daughter and future son-in-law. In September, Jan Stankiewicz McCarthy and her family stopped by our new place for a socially distanced barbecue. They were on their way to New Jersey. Jan and husband Mike are avid bicyclists, with Jan completing 2,020 miles biked in 2020. In December, Wendy Prothro Howard ’82 visited with Jan in Panama City, Florida, after both tested negative for COVID. After 37 years with Northrop Grumman, Sandy Slusher Smallwood learned that her part of the company was being divested to Peraton. Sandy has lived in Leesburg, Virginia, for 24 years
Tennessee, while looking for a new house. They were also considering taking to the road in their RV in 2021. Becky Bradley Price’s younger daughter, Laura, had planned to get married in France but instead wed in New York City while Becky observed via Zoom. Becky’s elder daughter, Haley, and husband Matthew were expecting their first child in February. In summer 2020, Becky traveled cross country by car, taking back roads and avoiding crowded areas. Recently, Becky brought home a petite bernedoodle puppy named Callie. Ana Catoni-Yildirim’s daughter Ana Yildirim Adams ’13 gave birth to sweet baby Ayla at the beginning of
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CLASS NOTES Varna shared that Margaret “Peggy” Frahm Smith was to welcome her first grandchild, a boy, in early spring.
Jan Stankiewicz McCarthy ’80 bicycled 2,020 miles in 2020. the pandemic. Ana is proud that three family members are Mary Washington graduates; her mother was the late Carmen Zeppenfeldt Catoni ’50. Please stay in touch with our classmates through our Facebook group, MWC Alum 1980 and Friends, and email your updates to me for the next issue of this magazine.
1981
Lori Foster Turley lorifturley@gmail.com Susan Flournoy Pierce of Walker Jones PC in Warrenton, Virginia, was named a top personal injury lawyer in the November 2020 issue of Northern Virginia Magazine. After majoring in political science and English at Mary Washington, she earned a degree from George Mason University’s law school.
1982
Tara Corrigall corrigallt@gmail.com We are almost a year into the pandemic as I write these notes. Our everyday lives may include a slipper collection, improved baking skills, and the repeated use of “Zoom” as a noun, adjective, and verb, but we continue to cherish our college days and reconnect with friends and roommates. Varna Boyd moved back to Fredericksburg in 2018 to take a position with Dovetail Cultural Resource Group, an alumni-owned cultural resources management firm headquartered in Fredericksburg. Dovetail now has a scholarship program with the university, and the firm was highlighted in the University of Mary Washington Magazine last year.
Eric Olsen is serving his third term as commonwealth’s attorney in Stafford, Virginia. He has been working in the area since 1989 and still plays Frisbee. Well, if the next reunion celebration gets out of hand, we know who to call for legal advice. In January 2020, Monica Peterschmidt Ettinger became director of operations for Bioenergy DevCo, which uses anaerobic digestion to recycle organics that otherwise would be incinerated or sent to landfills. Also in 2020, she and her husband, married 31 years, adopted a COVID puppy, Chai. They and their daughter had COVID, but their symptoms were mild. All were recovered by the holidays, and they were able to
Stay in touch, and remember that our 40th reunion is in 2022.
1983
Marcia Anne Guida Marcia.G.James@gmail.com
Susan Leavitt is still working. She sees Anne Marie Thompson Steen weekly. In October 2020 Susan had a hip Monica Peterschmidt Ettinger ’82 replacement, but that won’t keep her down – she was is director of operations for training for the July 2021 Bioenergy DevCo, which uses Iron Man competition anaerobic digestion to recycle in Spain! Susan rejoined organics. UMW’s College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Board.
see their son and Monica’s 96-year-old mother-in-law, who lives next door. Jenifer Blair and I recently caught up with Trenda Powell Jacocks. She is married to Jake, who many of us remember for his romantic marriage proposal at our graduation ball. They spent 2020 with family at home in Fairfax Station, Virginia. Jake did his medical work and clinical work remotely, and Trenda served a congregation as associate pastor via Zoom and remained a pastor on call. Their elder daughter and her husband temporarily relocated to their home from Manhattan, Trenda’s 83-year-old mom joined the family bubble from March to September, and Trenda’s younger daughter and family were with them in June and July.
Eric Olsen ’82 is in his third term as commonwealth’s attorney in Stafford, and he still plays Frisbee.
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Ginger Deane Bushman’s daughter married her longtime sweetheart in September after a pandemic delay from May. They are now settled with a puppy, a cat, and baby on the way in July. Ginger’s husband, Scott, was to retire in late April, and they planned to relocate to North Carolina. The pandemic ended her contract work supporting students struggling to meet minimum standards, and she misses the kids but looked forward to new challenges. She keeps up with Ginger Wagner Pugh, Tad Gillie Stanley, and Laura Wong Dolloff ’83.
Trenda and Jake traveled quite a bit in 2019 for their 60th year – to Hawaii for work and play, to Alaska, and to Ethiopia on a mission trip, with a side visit to Morocco.
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Condolences to Sharon Arnold, who lost her father in January 2020. Sharon retired from full-time work in May 2020. After helping her brother clear out and sell the family home, she was helping her gentleman friend keep his business afloat and focusing on creating a fun-filled retirement life. MWC pal Judith Sweetman Gwynn has travel plans for 2022, so that will keep her dreaming of the adventure trail! Scott Harris, executive director of the University of Mary Washington Museums, gave the opening Great Lives lecture this year on George Washington and James Monroe. He’s been focused on guiding UMW Museums through the pandemic and is always on the funding hunt for operations and special projects, including restoration of Belmont’s horseshoe staircase at Gari Melchers Home and Studio. In a James Monroe Museum online program in March, Scott interviewed Lynne Cheney, historian and former second lady, about her latest book. And in winter 2020, the White House History Quarterly
included Scott’s article The First White House Christmas Tree Remembered: The Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site.
1984
Christine Waller Manca christine.manca@att.net
After finishing as adjunct researcher at the University of Virginia, Greg Chambers ’84 was restoring the family farm in Orange County, Virginia. Greg Chambers finished his tour as adjunct researcher at the University of Virginia and was busy restoring the family farm in Orange County, Virginia. Greg keeps in touch with Rich Mason ’87, who lives in Florida. He runs into other alumni in Richmond and North Myrtle Beach South Carolina, having fun at beach music and shag dancing events. He looked forward to his granddaughter attending UMW in the future. Jena Efird Abernathy joined global organizational consulting firm Korn Ferry as a senior client partner and sector leader of healthcare board services in the firm’s healthcare practice. Anne Baber Wallis was saddened to hear of the January 2021 death of poet and author Richard McCann, who was an assistant professor of English at Mary Washington from 1983 to 1986. She posted a memory of being McCann’s student on her personal blog, Getting to Good: A Journey Through Love, Grief, Horses, and Music. She wrote, in part:
were. We were, indeed, Blue Girls. We walked with him, proudly, as though he were a beautiful object we’d acquired. We took him to the dining hall, white linens and all, as our guest. We ate through mediocre food with laughter and cunning jokes. We were splendid blue girls, and he was our guide.”
1985
Joanne Bartholomew Lamm Jlamm88@verizon.net No notes this time from any of you. Send your news for next time! Chris Lamm and I, Joanne Bartholomew Lamm, are proud of our daughter, Rebecca Lamm Vail ’13, as she completed her first semester at George Washington University in the MBA program. Her undergraduate years at Mary Washington surely helped shape her to succeed academically. Thanks, Mary Wash!
1986 Lisa A. Harvey lisaharvey@msn.com
1987
Rene’ Thomas-Rizzo Rene.Thomas-Rizzo@navy.mil
1988
Jay Bradshaw jaybradshaw747@aol.com Beverly Newman bevnewmn@yahoo.com
1989
Jim Czarnecki jimczarnecki@yahoo.com
“He called us his Blue Girls, quoting John Crowe Ransom, as we walked the brick pathways from the English department to the dining hall: ‘Twirling your blue skirts, travelling the sward/Under the towers of your seminary/Go listen to your teachers old and contrary/Without believing a word.’ For us, he was neither old nor contrary, and we believed every word.
In January, Courtney Elliott Gardner became the director of Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts in Spring, Texas. Before joining Pearl Fincher, she was executive director of the Peninsula Fine Arts Center in Newport News, Virginia. Read more about Courtney in Notable and Quotable on page 20.
We knew he was mocking us, just a bit, but he also knew just who we
Susan Crytzer Marchant march66358@verizon.net
1990
Jennifer Stouffer Newton is director of national accounts for Bodyarmor sports drink. In January, I, Susan Crytzer Marchant, reached my 30-year anniversary with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and its predecessor organizations. For all those folks out there who asked “Geography! What are you going to do with that?” I can say with confidence that I have made a great life and living with my Mary Wash geography education while supporting the missions of our nation’s Department of Defense and intelligence communities. I thank the late professors James Gouger, Richard Palmieri, Samuel T. Emory, and Marshall Bowen for the top-quality education and wonderful memories.
1991 Shannon Eadie Niemeyer sfniemeyer@comcast.net Christy Comer Tafoya planned to retire in late June as the director of New Mexico State Parks, according to the Albuquerque Journal. Christy, who studied history and historic preservation, joined the state parks in 1998 as the division’s first archaeologist. In 2015, the New Mexico governor appointed her to direct the department, which oversees 35 parks. She was the first woman to direct the department.
1992
Courtney Hall Harjung charjung@hotmail.com Prince Edward County, Virginia, has named Douglas P. Stanley county administrator and clerk to the Board of Supervisors. Doug has more than 25 years of local government experience, including 20 years as administrator for Warren County, Virginia.
1993
Cheryl L. Roberts Heuser chatatcha@yahoo.com
1994
Jennifer Dockeray Muniz dockeray@apple.com
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CLASS NOTES Matt Covington ’95 and Shandie Hall Covington ’95 met in freshman chemistry in Combs Hall.
1995
Shandie and Matt Covington mattandshandie95@gmail.com We, Matt Covington and Shandie Hall Covington, are the new class agents for 1995. Our class has been pretty quiet over the last few years, and our in-person reunion was postponed due to the pandemic. Let’s reconnect in preparation for when we can get together! Send us your personal and professional highlights to appear in the next issue of this magazine. After meeting in Combs Hall in freshman chemistry, we married a couple of years after graduation and moved to Michigan. We returned to Virginia in 2002 and then moved to New Jersey in 2015 for Shandie’s job. Our daughter is a sophomore at Virginia Tech, despite our hopes of having another Eagle. Our son is a sophomore in high school, so there is still hope! Matt is a high school administrator in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and has faced some interesting challenges because of the pandemic. Shandie is executive director of the American Society of Transplantation and is a passionate advocate for organ donation and transplantation. We look forward to serving as class agents. Be well in these crazy times!
1998
Erika Giaimo Chapin erikagchapin@gmail.com
1999
No Class Agent classnotes@umw.edu
2000
Jennifer Burger Thomas jenntec14@ gmail.com Stephanie Meriwether Zebrowski, a financial advisor for Bank of America Merrill in Vienna, Virginia, was named a top wealth advisor mom by Working Mother magazine for the second consecutive year. In February, Stephanie returned to Forbes Magazine’s Best-In-State Wealth Advisors ranking, repeating an honor she earned in 2019. David Smith is chair of the Virginia Coalition on Solitary Confinement, a group of individuals and organizations throughout Virginia advocating for the reduction and elimination of solitary confinement in Virginia. He also is on the executive boards for Interfaith Action for Human Rights and OARRichmond, the largest provider of reentry services in central Virginia. Melissa Fallen is pastor of Glen Allen Baptist Church near Richmond, Virginia. Her book Lost and Found: From Losing Your Pulpit to Finding Your Passion was to be released this fall.
Richard D. Jacques Jr. has been elected a corporate officer for Noblis, a science, technology, and strategy organization that works with government clients. He joined Noblis in January 2019 and is vice president of intelligence and law enforcement.
In 2020 Kevin Perry, Latin teacher at National Cathedral School in Washington, pivoted to online instruction and arranged virtual field trips for his students. In June 2020 he was named the cathedral school’s first Porter Family Fellow for Pedagogical Innovation. He planned to use the grant to revise the Latin curriculum to include more female perspectives and culturally diverse voices. He wrote, “There is no doubt that my studies at MWC with Dr. Diane Hatch and Dr. Liane Houghtalin prepared me well for this academic and pedagogical work.”
1997
2001
1996
Jennifer Rudalf Gates teamgates17@gmail.com
Michelle Trombetta michelletrombetta@gmail.com
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Annie Johnston anniebatesjohnston@gmail.com
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
Stacy Weller Fairfax and husband Robert welcomed a baby girl, Ruby, on Nov. 19. Michelle Carr Young lives in Stafford, Virginia, with her network engineer husband and fifth-grade daughter. She is in her 20th year with Prince William County Schools, where she is an instructional coach. Michelle recently completed her K-12 administration and supervision certification through the UMW graduate program.
2002
Travis Jones tljones8@gmail.com Carolyn Murray Spencer turtlecjm@yahoo.com
2003
Jessica Brandes jessbrandes@yahoo.com
2004
Sameer Vaswani sameervaswani@msn.com John Schirrippa and his wife founded a nonprofit project, Unity Bands, to improve community morale and support COVID-19 response and research efforts. They’re donating profits from the sale of customized wristbands and have already supported the University of Maryland’s medical center and school of medicine.
Ben Maxwell ’05 of Fredericksburg was named a principal with The Jones Financial Companies.
2005
Allyson “Ally” V. Lee Marzan allyvlee@gmail.com Edward Jones financial advisor Ben Maxwell has been named a principal with the firm’s holding company, The Jones Financial Companies. He was one of 161 individuals chosen this year
from more than 50,000 associates across the United States and Canada to join the firm’s principals. He and wife Stephanie Canny Maxwell ’06 live in Fredericksburg.
Smith ’10 Memorial Fund to support the Talley Center for Counseling Services. The fund will help with programming to help destigmatize mental health issues and increase awareness about suicide prevention.
USA Triathlon honored Joni Briganti ’08 with a lifetime achievement award.
Jeff Longo is director of software development at the security firm Kastle Systems. During the pandemic he focused on enabling a safe return to work for others. Jeff studied computer science and is pursuing a master’s degree in engineering at George Mason University.
2006
Shana Muhammad email.shana@gmail.com
2007
Jay Sinha jay.sinha@alumni.umw.edu Sarah Eckman sarahje@gmail.com Marcella Cavallaro Wallin and her husband welcomed their second child, Cecilia, in August 2020. They live in southern California, where Marcella leads digital sales efforts for Esri, a software mapping company.
2008
Trish Lauck Cerulli trish.lauck@gmail.com
School in North Chesterfield, Virginia. Mark works for Grove Eye Care in Richmond and Midlothian, Virginia. Rebecca Helsley Meadows, husband Jonathan, and 3-year-old Ella welcomed baby Holland June in July 2020. Being pregnant during a pandemic was a unique and sometimes stressful experience, but they’re grateful for this little ray of sunshine in their lives. Lisa Blumfelder Shapiro ’07 and Brandon Shapiro welcomed son Liam Jacob Shapiro on Feb. 28, 2020. USA Triathlon honored Joni Briganti with a lifetime achievement award.
Elizabeth Jennings elizabethsjennings@gmail.com Alexandra Meier alexandra.m.meier@gmail.com Joyce Metzler Bodoh is director of energy solutions and clean energy for the Rappahannock Electric Cooperative in central Virginia. She oversees clean energy programs, energy efficiency, and energy solutions for REC customers.
Hannah Hopkins hhopkins89@gmail.com Kira Lanewala klanewala@gmail.com
2012
Robin Semelsberger started a clinical psychology doctoral program at Sam Houston State University in the fall. She planned to specialize in clinical health psychology and the relationship between stress and health.
2013
Amanda Buckner McVicker Amandabuckner1@gmail.com Andrew Hogan andrew.hogan819@gmail.com
2010
Rose Ferguson Cohen is federal operations director at IBM Walton Health. She was chosen as the 2020 employee of the year from among 7,000 employees.
Philip Price Smith died Oct. 2, 2020, in Raleigh, North Carolina, after a long battle with depression.
Rose Ferguson Cohen ’08, federal operations director at IBM Walton Health, was named 2020 employee of the year.
2011
Mandi Solomon msolomon211@gmail.com
2009
Alyssa Lee alyssa.linda.lee@gmail.com
Kristen Roscoe MacMillan and Mark MacMillan ’07 welcomed their second daughter in the fall of 2020. Older daughter Charlotte turned 3 in August. Kristen is entering her 13th year of teaching, her fifth at Monacan High
Contributions may be sent by check to the UMW Foundation at 1119 Hanover St., Fredericksburg, VA, 22401, or online through umw.edu/onlinegiving. Please direct your gift to “Phil Smith ’10 Memorial Fund” for accurate processing.
Kelly Caldwell kellyecaldwell@gmail.com
Phil was the loving husband of Ashley and father of Annabelle, 3, and Cooper, 1. Friends and family remember his love of all things sports: football, golf, NASCAR, sports trivia, and especially the University of Virginia Cavaliers. A business administration major and certified public accountant, Phil had a business offering expert tax advice. Clients were impressed by his professionalism, integrity, relatability, and kindness. In his memory, classmates have established the Phil
In 2020, the Virginia Economic Developers Association (VEDA) presented its inaugural Rising Star Award to Meghan Hobbs Welch of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. The award recognizes a VEDA member who has made a difference quickly in a new role. Meghan joined the development partnership in 2018 and was promoted to senior business manager for business investment in early 2020. Read more about Meghan on p.20.
When Claire Pickard Mairead ’14 and Mason Moorman Mairead ’14 married, they chose a new last name.
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
51
CLASS NOTES
2014
Elizabeth Storey estorey@mail.usf.edu Claire Pickard Mairead and Mason Moorman Mairead were married Oct. 3, 2020, in Richmond, Virginia. Mairead is the new last name the couple chose. Jennifer S. Furlong has published a novel, Hidden City: The Unimaginables. It’s book 1 of a young adult series that “mixes coming of age heart with supernatural action adventure.”
2020
No Class Agent classnotes@umw.edu The classes of 2020 and 2021 need class agents. To volunteer – or to send a personal or professional update to share with your fellow alumni – write to the magazine at classnotes@umw.edu.
In Memoriam
Meda Overman Hill ’47 Anna White Jones ’47 Anna Brauer Oxenham ’47 Jean Bramham Read ’47 Sally Wild Upshaw ’47 Marjorie Woody ’47 Lois Saunier Hornsby ’48 Elizabeth Griffin Mitchell ’48 Sylvia Sheaks Moore ’48
Virginia Apperson Waldrop ’41
Amy Neels Nissen ’48
Lisa A. Zargarpur, M.Ed. was elected vice chairwoman of the Prince William County School Board for a one-year term starting in January 2021. She was elected to the school board in November 2019. Lisa is an elementary general music and chorus teacher in Fairfax County, Virginia, public schools. She and husband Yaqub have three children, the youngest in high school.
Louise Lucas Carnell ’42
Virginia Carol Schachtler ’48
Dorothy Thrasher Sutton Jones ’42
Mary Norvell Millner Thomson ’48
Marjorie Leap Kennedy ’42
Laverne Powell Winn ’48
Ruth Spotswood Spradlin ’42
Barbara Henderson Vassar ’48
Alice Glazebrook Gilleece ’43
Doris Norman Carter ’49
Ann Dennis Logan ’43
Mary Roberts Guynn ’49
Edith Winslow Staalman ’43
Christine Ridgwell ’49
Leo J. Titus, MBA, an engineer, has been promoted to chief operating officer for Engineering Consulting Services, where he has worked since 1997.
Phyllis Quimby Anderson ’44
Norma Craig Sisson ’49
Frances Ellis Chilian ’44
Virginia Lee White ’49
Mary Jane Ottinger Leonard ’44
Betty Tomlin Behling ’50
E. Lane Gale Beale ’45
George Bidgood ’50
Lillian King Everett ’45
Kathryn Genoveses Bodley ’50
Evan Smallwood esmallwood15@gmail.com
Mary Smith Hertling ’45
Virginia Felts Brown ’50
Kathryn Hale Hudson ’45
Lillie Powell Colegrove ’50
Moira McAvoy moira.jo.mcavoy@gmail.com
Jean Hudson Inskeep ’45
Dolores O’Brien Dowe ’50
Erin Clark became chief ranger of visitor experience at Sky Meadows State Park, near Paris, Virginia, in January 2021.
Natalie Kerns McWilliams ’45
Geraldine Boswell Griffin ’50
Dorothy Potts Taylor ’45
Elizabeth Gordon Haga ’50
Betty Cornett Wasson ’45
Ann Montgomery Hogg ’50
2016
Virginia Oquist Cameron ’46
Margaret “Peg” Penn Hutchins ’50
Frances Adair Edmonson ’46
Marjorie Diener Knapp ’50
Quinn Doyle quinnmdoyle@gmail.com
Calista Upshaw Gilmer ’46
Virginia Barnes Price ’50 Janet Scott Allen ’51
2017
Kate Parker Hughes ’46 Joan Rosenthal Jessen ’46
Nilda Fernandez Alsip ’51
Samantha Litchford slitchfo@gmail.com
Ruth Phipps Metzel ’46
Marie Rhodes Cappiello ’51
Susan Tillson Metzger ’46
Constance Cole ’51
2018
Dorothy Miller ’46
Martha Lancaster Curtis ’51
Viola Grosso Stokes ’46
Mary Oliver Darling ’51
Brittany McBride bmcbride2128@gmail.com
Eleanor Hunter Adams ’47
Marian Boyd Hepler ’51
Doris Lippold Burns ’47
Kathryn Hope Allcorn Kasfeldt ’51
2019
Margaret Whitted Burruss ’47
Gertrude Alfriend Kimbrough ’51
Roberta Carter Doswell ’47
Nancy Lipps Nugent ’51
Betty Proctor Groseclose ’47
Dorothye Belden Wood ’51
2015
Jasmine Pineda pinedajasmineem@gmail.com
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UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
Mildred Kolarik Bara ’52
Betty Jo Woodford Bates ’52
Ruth Estes Tanner ’56
Linda Giles Poole ’61
Jane Self Ellis ’52
Nancy Brogden Booker ’57
Ann Bodie Sweeney ’61
Leah Sachs Gardner ’52
Shirley Meeks Buck ’57
Elizabeth “Betty” Forrester Day ’62
Sara Rowlett Gregory ’52
Barbara Mason Carper ’57
Lynne Gourley Farrell ’62
Anne Smith Harman ’52
Grace Vakos Dragas ’57
Jimmie Barnette Fullinwider ’62
Felde Lee Wagner Jones ’52
Virginia “Judy” Brunner Fraser ’57
Carolyn Livingstone ’62
Ruth Hart Norwood Kemp ’52
Barbara Broome Hamner ’57
Mary McIntosh Lominack ’62
Nancy Stump Motley ’52
Cynthia Stone Ray ’57
Kathryn Clark Wary ’62
Elaine Nader Powell ’52
Bruce Ritchie Spain ’57
Linda Richardson Wilkinson ’62
Betty Jane Prufer ’52
Sally Ann French Weber ’57
Jane Bateman ’63
Nancy Moxley Stone ’52
Jane Sjostrom Wyman ’57
Carolyn Scoville Brantley ’63
Lilla Hagberg Stubbs ’52
Ann Walker Abney ’58
Robin Melton Hickman ’63
Carolyn Sheppe Alliss ’53
Patricia Ann Dillon ’58
Winifred “Ann” Turner Hull ’63
Shirley Widener Butler ’53
Madge Iseminger Fleeger ’58
Norma McNair ’63
Sarah Hicks Hudson ’53
Nancy Richardson LeHew-Krogsund ’58
Mary Lehmann Speir ’63
Betty Raynor Pittman ’53
Nancy Doner Salmon ’58
Mary Green Volckmann ’63
Cardelle Gilderdale Redmann ’53
Martha Collier Scruggs ’58
Rachel Kimmer Parker ’64
Elizabeth Mae Vandemark ’53
Martha Ann Blake Cooper ’59
Letha Fuqua Simpkins ’64
Martha Holbrook Boyd ’54
Sara Bryson Damskier ’59
Jacqueline Towler ’64
Nancy Gant Dyment ’54
Joan Stahlhut Good ’59
Florence Young ’64
Carol Young Godin ’54
Mary Stump Harrell ’59
Carole Dirling Amsbury ’65
Christie Gill Hartsock ’54
Patricia Belcastro Hoffman ’59
Elizabeth Hudgins ’65
Nancy Miller Hatcher ’54
Barbara Lewis Leddick ’59
Betty Osborne Kelly ’65
Ann Robertson Heard ’54
Anne Johnson Maxwell ’59
Phyllis Eure Rodrigues ’65
Florence Hood Kvalnes ’54
Luanne Harrison Mortimer ’59
Cherryl “Cherie” Wells Brumfield ’66
Ann Payne Long ’54
Elsa Query Rash ’59
Mary Camper ’66
Susan Sykes Shipman ’54
Ann Hopkins Surrette ’59
Otelia Thorn Frazier ’66
Beatrice Carver Clark ’55
Nancy Whitehead ’59
Carolyn Freeman Glover ’66
Carolyn Ann Miller Maclay ’55
Judith Jones Bozarth ’60
Barbara Green ’66
Jacqueline Crump Nunnally ’55
Vera Taylor Bruton ’60
Mary Patricia Greenwald ’66
Sarah Cooley Potts ’55
Hilda Beazley Burcher ’60
Pamela Paris Henderson ’66
Virginia Wharton Whitmer ’55
Nancy Floyd Gibb ’60
Linda Johnson Williams ’66
Anne DePadro Bloom ’56
Elizabeth Rains Grymes ’60
Lynn Barnett ’67
Betty Lou Jordan Dunton ’56
Lynne Hays ’60
Mary Diggs ’67
Joan Heath Sheehan Griffin ’56
Joyce Hall Jones ’60
Patricia Rankin McLaughlin ’67
Barbara Kowalzyk Heppe ’56
Jane Ferguson Junghans ’60
Doris Smith Parrish ’67
Carol Pope Howerton ’56
Susan Anderson Moore ’60
Carolyn Corwin Thomas ’67
Alice Huff ’56
Martha Pace Patchan ’60
Elizabeth Atthowe Howard ’68
Allene Atkinson Hull ’56
Barbara McCoy Patrick ’60
Nancy Brown Keck ’68
Cynthia Michael Jensen ’56
Marie Redman Stone ’60
Joan Pervier Bollenbacher ’69
Ann Tillett Leonard ’56
Jean Ryan Farrell ’61
Joan Mueller Goertz ’69
Barbara Ann Shotton ’56
Mary Gilliam Dodson Larson ’61
Ellen Smythe Grosskurth ’70
Emilie Carlin Swartz ’56
Jennie Sue Breeden Minor ’61
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
53
CLASS NOTES Brenda Dunlavey ’71
Emily Anne Riebau ’93
Catherine Davis Morgan ’71
Carol Alvey Swindell ’93
Randi Marston Peterson ’71
Christopher Irvine ’94
Sharan J. Hill ’72
Elizabeth A. Pellegreen ’95
Mary Hollier Jones ’72
Charles H. Sperry III ’96
Elizabeth Pigg ’72
William T. Sherman ’97
Sharon Richmond Janis ’73
Debra S. Beebe ’99
Jan F. Kurtz ’73
Helen Desarmeaux ’99
Hazel Moss Putty ’73
Kelly Richards ’99
David Kitterman ’76
Shawn T. Endler ’00
Ann McKenna Newnam ’76
Barbara Jean Reed ’01
Kathleen Beecher Ingrao ’78
Jeremy L. Driver ’02
Linda Meeker Young ’78
Kevin Dalmut ’03
Sally Hayden ’79
Ailith Rogers ’04
Karyn Kimball Bekit ’80
Patricia Lynn Kelly ’05
Catherine Sherertz Joppich ’80
Jessica Jaspin ’07
Lloyd C. Martin Jr. ’81
Charles “Chase” Llewellyn IV ’07
Carol Eberly Ward ’81
Kathleen Oliver ’09
Philip F. Cooke ’82
Philip Price Smith ’10
Stephen Goodwin ’82
Michael Bergeron ’12
Carmel Pellicciotto Andrews ’84
Joseph Katz ’12
Violet Johnson Deel ’84
David T. Phillips ’14
Lois Walthall Murdaugh ’84
Shacobe N. Johnson ’19
John Thomson ’84
Katelyn Perger ’19
Linda Gulnac Steelman ’63, who lost her husband
Patricia Williams Deutsch ’85
Condolences
Kathryn Pannell Howe ’64, who lost her husband
Barbara Thomas Phillips ’48, who lost her husband
Margaret Cobourn Robinson ’65, who lost her brother
Erma Whitaker Henry Bockoven ’49, who lost her husband
Nancy Coates Wilson ’65, who lost her husband
Florence Overley Ridderhof ’50, who lost her son
Sandra Hutchinson Schanne ’66, who lost her husband
Miriam “Mim” Sollows Wieland ’50, who lost her husband
Patricia Eldridge Saldarini ’67, who lost her husband
Katherine “Kitty” Wells Ball ’52, who lost her husband
Frances Rodgers Bryant ’68, who lost her husband
Carlene Mitchell Bass ’54, who lost her husband
Rhoda “Dodo” Fischer Roberts ’68, who lost her mother
Elizabeth McNeal Brann ’54, who lost her husband
Anne Tooke ’68, who lost her mother
Wendy Monica Stone Frazier ’85 David Lynch ’85 Sandra Lee Goss ’86 Marianna O. Hall Seay ’86 Allison Sheppard ’86 Marian H.W. Bartenhagen ’87 Mark Schadly ’87 Stephen Clipp ’88 Darren L. Brady ’89 Melissa Carter Lipps ’89 G. Dunbar Moomaw ’90 Susan Thacker ’90 Judy W. Johnson ’91 Mary Katherine “Katie” Forester ’92 Katherine B. Payne ’92 Allen Phillips Jr. ’92 Glenn W. Cook ’93
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Ann Johnston LeDuke ’54, who lost her husband Jean Wiley Everly ’55, who lost her husband Gretchen Hogaboom Fisher ’55, who lost her husband
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
Marjorie Webb Wolfrey ’55, who lost her husband Lucy Burwell Meade ’57, who lost her husband Betty Rhodes O’Donnell ’57, who lost her sister Audrey Dubetsky Doyle ’59, who lost her daughter Barbara Barndt Miller ’59, who lost her husband Sally Warwick Rayburn ’59, who lost her husband Fay Jessup Young ’59, who lost her husband Jean Eubanks Holland ’60, who lost her husband Eleanor Jane Riles ’61, who lost her husband Graham Walker Burns ’61, who lost her sister Catherine “Kitty” Boxley Swanson ’62, who lost her husband Sallie Granger Daughtrey ’63, who lost her husband Betty Caudle Marshall ’63, who lost her husband
Susan Seay Ledbetter ’69, who lost her husband Willa S. Powell ’72, who lost her sister Cynthia Lloyd Creekmore ’75, who lost her partner
April Tooke Langevin ’75, who lost her mother Linda Green Gaston ’77, who lost her father
OBITUARIES
Ellen Stanley Booth ’81, who lost her mother Katherine Dozier ’81, who lost her brother Bobbie Dwyer Leon ’81, who lost her father Erin R. Devine ’82, who lost her mother Betsey Riester Lisenbee ’82, who lost her father Christy Roach ’82, who lost her mother Karen Green Scanzoni ’82, who lost her father Princess Moss ’83, who lost her sister Roslyn Roach Aroesty ’84, who lost her mother Kerry P. Devine ’84, who lost her mother Sara Riester Dillon ’87, who lost her father James Llewellyn ’87, who lost his mother Kimberly Swaim Brady ’89, who lost her husband Jennifer Bryant Langdale ’91, who lost her father Colette Epple ’94, who lost her father Maryleen Dudley Johnson ’95, who lost her husband Nicole Johnson Boynes ’97, who lost her husband Carol Hairfield Bowler ’98, who lost her father Marne Dantone Sherman ’98, who lost her husband Heather Flory Driver ’02, who lost her husband Barbara J. Gary ’05, who lost her husband Jonathan Moss Putty ’10, who lost his mother Ashley Frazier, current student, who lost her mother
Aniano Peña, professor emeritus of modern foreign languages, died Oct. 9, 2020, in Reisterstown, Maryland. He taught at Mary Washington from 1974 through 1995 and was known for his love of Spanish literature, especially the literary characters Don Quixote and Don Juan. He inspired students to speak and use the Spanish language with confidence, and he guided summer study trips to Madrid, Spain. He published several books and articles and presented at language conferences. Born in the mountain village of Villamediana, Burgos, Spain, Peña was chosen at 12 to attend Catholic seminary and receive an education. He was ordained a priest and served several parishes but left Spain in the 1960s during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Peña eventually left the priesthood as well, married, and raised a daughter while teaching and completing a master’s degree at Temple University and a Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania. He was an artist, painting in oils; an avid tennis player; and a fan of Real Madrid soccer. He loved to host fiestas and was famous among his friends for his paella, tortilla Española, sangria, and Spanish Swedish meatballs. Peña’s marriage to the late Valerie Grimaldi ended in divorce. In recent years he lived in Maryland with his partner, Cynthia “Cindy” Lloyd Creekmore ’75, who survives him, as does daughter Alethea Gail Peña of New Jersey.
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
55
CLOSING COLUMN
Early Students Bravely Faced Pandemic of 1918 By Ann Dunaway Criswell ’55
During this unsettling time of COVID-19, I am reminded of a conversation decades ago with my mother, Annie Towles Dunaway 1919. The 1918 influenza pandemic did not spare students or faculty at Fredericksburg State Normal and Industrial School for Women, as Mary Washington was called at the time. Classes were canceled, and students remained in their dorms. Those who were not sick helped those who were ill.
home. After a year or two, she accepted a position in Lancaster County in the high school from which she had graduated. She could save more of her meager salary by living with her parents. She drove a horse and buggy to school, and the teenage boys took the horse to graze in a nearby pasture each day. In winter the boys arrived early to start the fire to heat the classroom. At least one of those years Miss Annie, as she was known, taught seventh-graders all their subjects.
There was one death, that of Professor of History Virginia Goolrick, one of my mother’s favorite faculty members. Professor Goolrick lived in an apartment in Virginia Hall, my mother’s dorm. The normal school, founded in 1908 and opened in the academic year of 1911-12, was still new when Annie Towles journeyed by steamboat from Merry Point in Lancaster County to begin her college life. She was in the vanguard of young women attending college with sights on careers as teachers at a time when public education was being expanded. My mother enjoyed her normal school years and spoke of her courses, including child psychology, school music, nature study, and physical education. To this day I have a ring my mother made in her studio art class, taught by Olive May Hinman. The lovely ring is a sterling silver setting with a malachite stone, appropriate for a class whose colors were green and white. I recently turned again to my mother’s yearbook, a slim green volume with the intertwined letters FSNS on the cover and, on each page, the class motto “Hitch your wagon to a star and play fair.” Oval pictures of 55 young women of the Class of 1919 show beautiful faces and dresses trimmed with ruffles, tucks, and lace edging. There was not a hint of the difficult experience of interrupted courses, the loss of a revered professor, or the fact that about 50% of the students had been ill from the so-called Spanish flu. After graduating, Annie Towles took a teaching position in the Northern Virginia town of Clifton Station, where she had room and board in a private
56
In those days, at least in that rural area of the Northern Neck of Virginia, married women were not permitted to teach. When my mother accepted a proposal from a handsome young man whom she had known all her life, her teaching career came to an end. Annie Towles Dunaway and Vernon Dunaway were within a month of their 70th anniversary when he passed away. She, herself, lived a month beyond her 100th birthday. While my mother’s teaching career was relatively short, she inspired me to attend her alma mater, where I graduated in 1955 with a teaching certificate and a degree from what had by then become Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia. I went on to graduate school, teaching one high school class while working on my master’s degree at the University of Kentucky. I also married a handsome young man, an Air Force veteran of the Korean War who was beginning his engineering degree. My teaching career of 43 years took me wherever my husband’s job in the aerospace industry took him. Together my mother’s and my college and teaching careers spanned decades that saw vast changes in society and culture, including opportunities for women’s education and careers. Mary Washington had a pivotal role in both our lives. It has taken two pandemics a century apart to bring these reminiscences and realizations to the forefront of my memories.
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2021
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Published on Jun 7, 2021