1951 Class Notes for 2019

Dear Goldens,

 

Your letters and calls are awesome, and such a welcome consolation to this old soul!  We seem indeed to be a communion of (I hope) saints.

Ann Finucane McDade writes that she has come full circle. She lives in a Carmelite Residence in FL that feels a lot like Trinity, with two chapels available (no bars?) and a lovely view of the intercoastal waterway leading out to the ocean. Ann is thankful that she can still see the view and also enjoy contacts with her family and friends. She wishes you all good health and thanks you for the happy memories. Change a few details (the place, and the view) and that is the story for many of us. Faith, acceptance, peace, joy, family and friends; it’s a recurring theme.  For instance, I wish I had space to quote all of Lola Blank Sullivan’s poignant but cheerful letter.  Two falls and other health problems have forced her and her husband of 65 years into an assisted living facility near some of their nine children, leaving and selling everything in their beloved beach home of 56 years.  Seeing her children’s’ children’s children is her “mark of true happiness.”  Lola has 26 grandchildren and four greats.

“Although age is nibbling around the edges,” Doris Michaels Kerala lives alone, drives, makes costumes, plays bridge, and belongs to two book clubs.  She (obviously) enjoys good health and is aware of the privileges of “good family, health, education, and opportunity for travel, adventures, joy, and love; family and friends to share conversation, good food and wine, and the sun shining in her windows makes her happy”.

Several daughters were kind enough to keep their Moms in the loop.  Lily Toomey (class of ‘83) writes that Helen Chambers Toomey is “holding court” in Richmond, VA, where she receives many visits from children, grandchildren, greats, nieces and nephews…when she is not watching classic movies and westerns!  Mary Susan Maisel, Martha (Petey) Barret Maisel’s eldest daughter, writes on behalf of her ‘lovely’ Mom that Petey and her ‘true love’ and husband of 67 years enjoy an active social life at an assisted living facility in MD.  Sharing this with her Bob makes her happy; she also cherishes her time with Mary Susan and her sisters and their families when they can visit from out of state.

In a hilarious account of her “four mothers,” Mary Louise ”Muffi” Ford Bowler reports that she lives with her son Ted (or he with her?); her three daughters and their families live nearby in VA, and according to her they all gang up in their efforts to manage her life. So, of course, she has to lie about her whereabouts and her health whenever necessary to keep her independence. Muffi prayerfully keeps up with world events and the antics in nearby DC.  She not only enjoys happy memories of her years at TC and dear departed friends like Frayne McCauley McGuinn, but appreciates the “great gift of trust taught to us at that age by the honor pledge”.

 

     Terry Shea Pitt says creative work makes her happy; she even created a new knee last October that is working great. One of her six children lives nearby and a son-in-law helps her ‘create’ in her garden. “Tula (dog) and I enjoy my small cape house and garden”. She’s happiest to be with her children, 17 grands and eight greats.  Last 4th of July Terry’s family had a 45th reunion on Orr’s Island in Maine where her daughter now owns a house.  Terry had a ‘small world’ meeting with a young physical therapist who is attending TC.  She has health issues (what doesn’t hurt? Is my question) but is happy to be upright. “It’s all good.”  Good news, too, comes from Edwina (Eddie) Honchar Rends, who is still working full time with the Aruba Tourism Authority and doing partnership marketing as well from her home in NJ.  She extends her usual welcome to us to visit Aruba (we should have gone while we could walk!)  Eddie’s happiness is in her “good health and a close relationship with her children, grands, and greats”, who are regrettably scattered in LA, AZ, and NJ. She sings in the church choir and sings and dances in a yearly musical. “I wonder what I will do when I retire and slow down, probably have a total meltdown.” Doris Michaels Kerala has a similar story. She lives alone, drives, makes costumes, plays bridge, and belongs to two book clubs, “although age is nibbling around her edges”. She (obviously) enjoys good health and is aware of the privileges of “good family, health, education, and opportunity for travel, adventure, joy, and love.” Family and friends to share conversation, good food and wine, and the sun shining in her windows, makes her happy.

Margie Marran Doan is blessed to live in the heart of the White Mountains, where she can enjoy nature and the great spruce trees, although she regrets that her hiking days are limited by her almost 90 year-old body.  Margie can’t quite adapt to new technology; she would prefer knitting and needlepoint and quiet pleasures with friends (like the red squirrels who eat her car wires). She sends loving happy thoughts to all the ladies of 90.

Nancy Dolle Busch may be the most productive of us, (giving Mary Anne Babendrier, Lorraine Rosedale Wolfe, and Helen Toomey a run for their money). With seven children, 20 grands, and eight great grands, along with four more expected soon. She has children in Wisconsin, St. Louis, Seattle, Indiana, and VA and enjoys visiting them. Her family gathers at their lake cottage in N. Michigan in the summer, and she spends winters in Marco Island, FL. She and Barbara Pahls Thompson, Ann Jean Carey O’Neill, and Lorraine Rosedale Wolfe spent a nice afternoon at lunch recently, catching up. Lorraine Wolfe is sustained by her large family, 24 grands and 13 greats (she wins- it must be the Chicago air) and the sweet 30 year-old memory of her deceased husband, Jim. “There is no limit to family events, trips, etc.- how could I not be happy?”

Jean Carey O’Neill and Barbara Pahls Thompson attended the Trinity Luncheon in Naples this year. Jean definitely enters the productive race with 14 grands and 10 greats, “who call me ‘Grandma Great’ so I don’t seem so OLD.  Needless to say, so proud of them all.”  Jean sadly reported the loss of one of their ‘Chicago’ group, Mary Alice Coogan NeylanLyn Spath Heider missed the Naples luncheon because of a bad back, but she is “feeling better and looking forward to my nineties, thankful for a ton of prayers.”

Paula Hanrahan Connolly reports that she is slowing down but otherwise doing fine. She spends a lot of happy time visiting with her doctor daughter and four grands, two of whom are in college. One grand is studying marine biology (maybe because they spend summers with grandma on the Cape). Paula is happy to stay in place in her home; she plays bridge occasionally, and always sees lots of old friends there. Our gifted thespian, Alice Boyle Duffy, met her new great-grandson from Australia this past Christmas, but keeps up on Facetime. She says her life is quiet in MA, but very satisfying. “Loss and memory are a big part, but the memories are life enhancing. Having a wonderful loving family and friends, including those from TC, make me happy.” Adele McGreevey Fialcowitz is happy to be taken care of at the Amsterdam in Port Washington, N.Y. and to be rid of house care. In June, she is planning a trip to Montana to visit her daughter and three grands. She says, “Life is good”. Joan (Candy) Kane Aufiero (I still think of Adele and her together) lives in a similar facility and enjoys many activities and trips, “I am lucky to have three kids nearby and one that takes me to dinner every Thursday night. We are planning our usual family week at the shore in late August. What makes me happy? Family and friends!”

     Joan Lauck Conroy’s message to us is a paean of gratitude and joy.  Her message is so beautiful that I wish we had room for every word. “I am grateful for my college, education, and friends, especially Judy Schweinler Moses”. Joan is grateful for her good marriage, her six children, seven grands, and two greats. Next, her “attitude of gratitude” makes her happy about many things in spite of physical challenges and other setbacks. Joan mentions the birds, the dolphins, the beauty of her garden, as well as her wonderful book store, and clubs-“I pray to become a saint and hope to see all my Trinity friends in heaven.”

See you there, Ladies!

 

Nancy Anne O’Connell Giffin

nancyogiffin@gmail.com