Yvonne S. Olson 203 Saddleback Trail Hardy, VA 24101 olsonhall@verizon.net
CLASS OF ’73
Sam and I had a wonderful trip to Pawley’s Island, S.C., last winter to try to get away from the snow, but it even snowed down there! Kelly Hardy and her husband, Jack Cergol, took a winter trip to Florida to escape the cold. She said it wasn’t very warm, but they did play some golf. Peggy Peters Stalnaker and her husband also had a winter trip to Florida. Peggy had a visit with Sharon Foster Burdick and enjoyed catching up. Peggy says she loves retirement. Meg Kemper spent a weekend in Los Angeles with a graduate school friend and took a Caribbean cruise at the end of February. Meg’s son, Will, graduated from Duke in May and her daughter, Susan, will earn her graduate degree in education in August. Susan is job hunting in Nashville, Tenn., North Carolina, and Washington, D.C. Will starts a job with Google in the fall but hopes to first return to India for an internship making low-cost incubators for babies. Sam and I saw Mike Smith, the husband of Mary Susan Hamill Smith, at a VMI function in February. Susan was busy with tax season. Their son, Jeffrey, lives and works in Texas. Nancy Bendall Emerson and Ben Emerson, R and L’84, stay busy with work. Nancy is a partner in a catering company and Ben is a managing partner in a law firm. Their son, Benjamin, is a graduate student at Georgia Tech in aerospace engineering and works as a research assistant in the combustion lab. Taylor planned to graduate in the spring from the College of Charleston with a degree in international business and Spanish. Sally Voris and Linda Wilkins Muirhead had a wonderful visit in February. Linda and her husband, George, planned a February trip to Phoenix to get out of the white stuff. Jillayne Corbin Graybill lives in the Roanoke, Va., area with her husband, Pat. She teaches dance and coaches competition teams. Jill and Pat have three daughters, a son, and three granddaughters. Nancy Bass Zilli and her husband, Ken, had a wonderful trip to
Tahiti after stopping in California to visit family. Their trip included a 26-day Pacific cruise through French Polynesia and on to Pitcairn and the Easter Islands. After a side trip to Machu Picchu, they continued to Ecuador, through the Panama Canal, and on to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Jeanie Nicholson Veith was chosen as a photo model for the state garden show in Germany. She said, “Never in my life [had I] thought I’d be sniffing a dahlia on a billboard!” Ann Watlington’s daughter, Carson, is singing in the Greater Richmond Children’s Choir led by Hope Armstrong Erb, W’74. Ann has enjoyed reconnecting with Hope and attending concerts. Please keep me updated with your correct e-mail address. I can’t write these notes without you!
Susan Lindler Stephenson and Ned Stephenson, R’76, love being grandparents to Henry Aiden Pietrantoni, born in July 2009 to their daughter Ann Paige Stephenson, ’00, and her husband, Jim. Susan worked for the Virginia Senate during this year’s session of the General Assembly. She learned a lot about the legislative process as one of three supervisors working with 32 senate pages. Her boss was Susan Clarke Schaar, W’72. Linda Fernald Honaker’s latest adventure was to completely renovate their home of 26 years. Now she and Paul feel as if they live in a new house at the same address. Their son, Stephen, is in Richmond and has started his own business, Accent, which specializes in interior painting and wall finishing. Linda sees Esther Hopkins Barnes more often now that
Did you know? Anna Parker, ’11, has won a Goldwater Scholarship, becoming the University’s sixth Goldwater Scholar in the past three years. Read more about her achievement on page 2. Westhampton Class Secretary Spring Crafts Kirby 11735 Triple Notch Terrace Richmond, VA 23233 skirby451@aol.com
CLASS OF ’74
Donna Higgenbotham Rosser’s husband, Aubrey Jones Rosser Jr., R, is going to India as a board member of ICM, a ministry started by his uncle that builds churches in third-world countries. Leslie Lilley Kellenberger’s news is that she did not run in the Raleigh, N.C., Krispy Kreme 5K, where 6,000 runners had to eat a dozen donuts midway through the race. Ann Gordon in Washington, D.C., and Carol Schreffler Daly in Richmond recently hosted Leslie’s husband, Jimmy, in his travels. Diane MacIlroy Moncure and Cindy Nunis Evans went together to see UR play George Washington in basketball.
Esther’s son, Brian, is in Richmond. After 27 years of teaching psychology at Richard Bland College, LeAnn Stanley Binger was named director of advancement to oversee the school’s first capital campaign. This July she adds provost and dean of faculty to her job title. LeAnn and Roy have three granddaughters and enjoy traveling. Ann Gordon flew to Arizona to meet four friends from her days in Senegal, Africa. They spent four days in Hereford, saw masses of cranes and birded the Fort Huachuca Canyon. This trip was followed by an eightday trip to Costa Rica with her yoga group. Their time at the beach resort on the Nicoya Peninsula was extended due to inclement weather in Washington. This was followed by another five days in San Jose, Calif., waiting for National Airport to reopen. Sandra Ruth Sperry wrote: “I am retired [and] happy. … I am working part time two days a week managing my sister’s pediatric speech therapy
practice. … My activities include providing primary support to friends, a husband and wife, who both have stage-4 cancer and no other family.” Beth Neal Jordan’s daughter, Elise, graduated from the University of Virginia and the graduation party was held at my home. Elise will attend graduate school. Beth’s son, Paul, completed his first year at Duke. Beth spent much of her time organizing all the information services, banking, and auction tracking for Chair Affair, a fundraiser for a local nonprofit that provides furniture to those in need. Mary Ann Ligon Riter loves her job at the transplant lab at MCV Hospital in Richmond. During one of the snowstorms last winter, she slept overnight in the hospital so she could be there to cover her weekend shift. She also continues to tutor chemistry students that Diane MacIlroy Moncure sends her way. Mary Ann is raising her 2-year-old granddaughter and 5-year-old grandson. Nathan will start kindergarten in the fall, and Nadia loves to tumble and sashay around, but she also loves monster trucks like her brother. Mary Ann’s daughter, Rachel, won a national competition to name the Comforts for Baby firefly for the Comforts brand baby products that are found at Kroger. Rachel won a $10,000 scholarship for her 1-year-old son, Andrew. Gayle Shick Shull writes that it was great to meet with other UR alumni at the first meeting of the Austin (Texas) Alumni Chapter with Rector George Wellde, B, as their special guest. Karen Gay Lukhard’s daughter, Johanna, is married to a seminary student in Waco, Texas. Karen travels there as often as she can. She also visits her daughter in Northern Virginia. Karen and Ralph vacationed in Disney World. Carolyn Ridgeway Cook retired on Jan. 1. She says to call her if you want to do fun things. Carolyn took husband Dick to Texas to celebrate his birthday with the kids and grandkids. She especially enjoyed it since she spent the past 20 years celebrating his birthday with General Assembly members. Carolyn has joined a knitting crowd at the local yarn store and has met some fascinating women. Janet Ferrell had much news to report. In the space of a week, she saw Betsy Weaver Haskins Brandt
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