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!
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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:
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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.
