unable to make the reunion. Trudy Seely is still living in Atlanta and stays busy. Others who were unable to get to the reunion due to previous commitments were Joanne Herrington Sargent, Susan Bain Creasy, Nancy Ball Sharp, Alston Stirling Turchetta, Marcia Flake Uhl, Marcia Nieder, Pam Niedermayer, Anne Park Young, Jo Pidcock Wilkerson, Sandy Davis King, Bettie Shaffer Biehn, Sallie Shipp Avery, Fritzie Vaughan Coates, Linda Weinstein Andrews, Gail Williams Campbell, Priscilla Humbert Bischoff, Milne Kintner, Susan Andrews, and Jane Martin Dunaway, W’69. Even though they hated to miss all the fun, they were happy to be included in the communications. That’s all for now, but there will be much more next time after I’ve gone through all the notes from our reunion weekend. Until then, may the celebration of life go on! Carpe Diem. Westhampton Class Secretary Rin Henry Barkdull 13638 Northwich Drive Midlothian, VA 23112 rinbarkdull@comcast.net
CLASS OF ’71
Reunion Reminder June 3–5, 2011 If you would like to help plan your reunion, send e-mail to reunion@ richmond.edu or call the alumni office at (804) 289-8030 or (800) 480-4774, option 8. Cheryl Carlson Wood and her husband, Andrew W. Wood, R’64, live in Richmond. They are partners in their own law firm. They have two sons: Andrew Wood, L’10, and Tab Wood, a second-year law student at the University of Oregon. Dorothy Susan Boland now goes by “Thea.” She is retired and lives in Richmond. She is writing a novel and does volunteer work with CARE, the Cat Adoption Rescue Effort. Thea has four cats of her own and occasionally takes a class at UR. Nancy Jarvis BrisBois has moved from Virginia Beach, Va., to Frisco, Texas, north of Dallas. She is glad to be near her son and 8-year-old granddaughter. Nancy and her husband, Bill, adopted a Lhasapoo puppy. Last fall Bill returned to his alma mater, Old Dominion University, to attend a couple of football games. Lisa Byers lives in Monroe, Mich.
The art of clockwork Gordon Converse, R’69 At a Richmond reunion in 1979, Gordon Converse, R’69, told his classmates he had become an antiques dealer specializing in clocks. “They were looking at me like I was crazy,” he recalls. It took courage—and maybe a bit of craziness—to leave a comfortable job selling insurance to pursue his passion. But in 1979, Converse started Gordon S. Converse & Co., and today he is well-known in the world of antiques. He has worked on clocks for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Independence Hall, and the Barnes Foundation. He has written extensively on the subject, and has appeared frequently on Antiques Roadshow, the popular PBS television series. Clocks had little to do with Converse’s ambitions in college. He double majored in English and art and was president of the journalism fraternity. He did, however, pick up some spending money fixing watches and clocks, a hobby he acquired as a teenager. Richmond did not offer Horology 101, but Converse believes his education has played a key role in his career. He has been successful, not simply because he is good at restoring antique clocks, but because he has a well-trained eye for art. “Most people judge antiques by their outward appearance,” he explains. “But I try to view art holistically, and with clocks, it’s the art of the mechanical innovation—the mechanism—together with the casement that holds it.” Twenty-five years after Converse changed careers, his son, Todd, joined him in the business. One day, Todd brought a clock to the shop from the Franklin Institute. “As soon as I saw it, it was like seeing one of my children,” says Converse, who had restored that same clock for the museum early in his career. It had lasted more than a quarter century, and this time his son would fix the clock. Perhaps it will last another generation. —Leigh Anne Kelley
She retired four years ago from teaching music in the public schools, where she taught more than 160,000 students in 32 years. She plays the organ and is active in her church. Lisa had kidney cancer in 1995 and in 2006, but she has recovered and is doing well. Pat Gatling Middlebrooks lives in Midlothian, Texas. Last year she and her husband, Charlie, both turned 60; their daughter, Lauren, was married; and their son, Charles, became engaged. To celebrate Charlie’s birthday, they attended a Moody Blues concert in Dallas, and found that watching the “old” people there was especially enjoyable. (That couldn’t include us!) For her birthday, they took a hot-air balloon ride. Naina Harper White continues to teach kindergarten in Thaxton, Va. She and her husband, Rick, have five children, the youngest a sophomore in college. Last year Naina spent an enjoyable three weeks in China, where she visited her brother, who works there. One of her hobbies is hiking in the Peaks of Otter. Kay Brasure Loving lives in Ashland, Va., and recently met some family members of the late Emily White Zehmer. She was glad to have the opportunity to speak to them about Em and her many good qualities. Kay wrote that she has now gotten herself attached to another nonprofit board: the Hanover Mental Health Association Board. She wishes to remind everyone in our class to give to the Catherine Bell Scholarship Fund. It is especially important now, when money is so tight for students. Sally Harmanson Wallace is chair of the world languages department at Tomahawk Creek Middle School in Chesterfield County, Va. She teaches French and international studies. Last year she and her husband, W. Lee Wallace, B’69, went to France, where they visited Normandy, Brittany, and the Chateaux country along the Loire Valley. Sally said that going to Normandy and seeing the 10,000 gravestones for the soldiers who sacrificed their lives there was an emotional experience. She and Lee have a new grandson, Harrison. Please send us your news! Westhampton Class Secretaries Frances Fowler Whitener 5501 N. Kenwood Ave. Indianapolis, IN 46208 frances.whitener@att.net
Richmond 41
ClassConn_Summer10.indd 41
5/28/10 10:35 AM