1958 Class Notes for 2021
Dear Classmates, we’ll call this “news”, but actually it’s a reiteration of what we are all going through right now during this pandemic and our resilience in dealing with it –lots of books, lots of walking, more phone connections, and for some bridge.
Lynn Pfohl Quigley, reminiscing on her 50 years in her Forest Hills, NY home, is facing “trash or organize” decisions. In addition, having been a math and science major, Lynn remarked that this would seem to be an ideal time to investigate the “great books” others tackled in college. Opting out of both choices for the moment, Lynn visited Helen Lynn Shea in NYC where they had a carryout dinner recently on the balcony of Lynn’s NYC condo. Lynn Quigley remarked about Lynn Shea’s “can-do” attitude, her knowledge and sense of humor.
Catherine “Cathy” Crotty Higgins described huddling inside during the hot days and coping with bridge games but looking forward to a cool fall. Eleanor “Ellie” Moynahan Bagley is also staying close to home and reading a lot. She recommends “Ghosted” by Rosie Walsh. “Every time I thought I had the plot figured out, it took a new twist and I was wrong again.”
Barbara Durand Zimmerman fills up her days with swimming five times a week at her community indoor pool. They require a reservation, but in the summer Barbara enjoys swimming every day at her lake cottage with her two children and their families. Always the “crafty one”, Barbara’s latest interest is diamond-dotz pictures. A kit includes hundreds of tiny multi-faced gemstones (about 2.5 mm wide) which the artist attaches to a sticky canvas, creating a tactile, 3-dimensional picture. The kits range by skill level and cost between $10.98 and $16.99.
Off we go to France where Jean Volpe Rotondi now lives full time. “I love the cultural richness, the friends, open markets, the languages all still delight me. I don’t need a car but with the pandemic, Paris is not the same. No jazz concerts or plays but life is still rich here. I often walk to my destination eating only in restaurants on a terrace outside and spending a lot of time in our beautiful Parisian parks.” Jean became interested in the Korean language while watching Netflix and has begun online Korean language lessons. She and her daughter hope to visit Korea next year. She is delighted to report that soon there will be seven Rotondis living in France. Her daughter is a professor in a nearby town. Her son John and his wife will be living in the south of France and Jean has a married, pregnant niece living in the Franche Contee region. If you plan to visit Paris any time, let Jean know!
Coping with the Pandemic has been a challenge for restaurant owners. Ask Barbara Glunz-Donovan, the owner and proprietor of the 1888 Glunz Liquor Store and Tavern in Chicago! And then came the riots! Last March, Chicago celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. It was the biggest day of the year at The Glunz Tavern and it saved their business because all restaurants and bars were shut down soon afterwards. The shop, however, was allowed to function and with everyone staying home, cooking and dining well, their business was good, people like wine! For a while their shop was boarded and protected by National Guard at the corner. Barbara stayed home until May then went back to work, masked and sanitized. Her final comment: “It’s still easier to come into my bar than get into my church.”
Talk about “self-help”, Barbara Mcgeary Marhoefer reports a sign in her condo lobby in Reston, VA from the knitting group: “Knitters: Do NOT FEAR SELF-QUARANTINE. This is WHAT WE’VE BEEN TRAINING FOR.” Barbara has found her own challenging way to handle boredom – researching family history. The best resource she says is ancestory.com. The first month is free when you sign up, then it’s $29 a month. Her advice: “Go to the top bar, click SEARCH, fill in the name you’re searching, the city where they lived and a date. Click search.” She also mentioned good information on the US Census reports.
Yvonne Thel Driscoll said it aptly, “These are surreal times. I find myself saying the TC prayer over and over these days: ‘May the power of the Father govern and protect us…’. Beautiful enduring memories.” She mentioned a call from Elizabeth “Liz” Booz Mowser where even Trinidad is in a COVID lockdown. Ruth Donovan Grady has the right idea “COVID time has given us time to reflect on the important things in life – family, faith and friends.” And in common with most of us, is enjoying many books, a walk a day, bridge and crossword puzzles. Tom and Ruth planned to head back to Naples in October and stay there until May. Please note that after submitting this note, Ruth passed on February 15, 2021, as noted by her daughter, Susan.
Virginia “Ginny” Kilroy Mckaig lists the exciting agenda we all have now: grocery store and Walgreens! She is grateful, however, for the internet, FaceTime and Zoom, and the fact that people are more prone to pick up the phone now that we are all in such isolation. Thinking about the tenor of the country though, Ginny bemoaned the divisiveness of our national discourse.
Someone who will testify there is still beauty around is Virginia “Gina” Pleus Bergin MacKenzie, featured recently with a full-page photo on the cover of her retirement community, TidePointe in Hilton Head, SC. Gina graciously sent me a copy. I wish you could all see it, as she looks lovely. The article explored Gina’s artistic talents as a painter, quilter and needle pointer, skills honed in the last two decades. It showed a Chinese watercolor triptych in her living room of flowers painted on delicate gold rice paper. Another was a depiction of the cliffs surrounding the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, painted from memory during an art class she had in China. Then there were handmade quilts – some with prize ribbons awarded by the Palmetto Quilt Guild – including one with an intricate image of the Taj Mahal adorned with real pearls and Swarovski Crystals. Gina and her husband have traveled to more than 100 countries together and she still volunteers with a ministry program at women’s prison in Columbia, SC.
Now it’s a trip to North Carolina where we are going to “smell the flowers” with Mary Frances McGowan Allen as she takes two hour hikes up the mountain trails near her. “I do not go without a hiking companion as the mama bears are out protecting their teenage cubs these past few months. My reward is the view across the valley to the Smokies. I have had time to identify and appreciate all the wildflowers along the path this spring. With the summer rains, the assorted toad stools peppered the woods bordering the trails. I have explored recipes for one. I recently checked out a book on Neil Simon plays and another on the mind of the Japanese.”
Margaret Rose “Ro” McCrory Foley has a new email address, as she is no longer with Howard Hanna Real Estate. She can now be reached at margaretfoley546@gmailcom. Three days a week Ro has been doing in person tutoring at Notre Dame College in Ohio. And a voice from the District, Carolyn Moynihan Funkhouser has always been in DC but four years ago moved to assisted living, Brighton Gardens at Friendship Heights. “I loved it till the lockdown. Now I am missing my friends and of course the dining room.” Carolyn has an aide so she can still go for walks and was enjoying visits from Margot Farranto Badran who would come for a meal before the lockdown and they’d order in.
Jeanne “Jean” Mazurek Kennedy, echoes the common theme – “read more, walk more, play golf three to four times a week.” She also commented, “My heart is heavy about our country. Enraged, depressed and embarrassed about the killing and hating of Black people for so many years.” To counteract negativity, Jean joined Dothemostgood.org and writes postcards for candidates while watching baseball, golf and “Money Heist.”
“Bring your own lunch and a chair” was a formula that worked well for Cathleen Russell recently, when 12 people from her active seniors group showed up in her back yard for a pleasant, distant afternoon. Cathleen has been responsible for their monthly Boston area mystery events which, of course, have been cancelled for the season. On Sundays, she participates in a Zoom prayer service organized independently by some of the parishioners, where they pray and share comments on the readings. Like all surveyed here, Cathleen has been doing a lot of reading, walking, gardening and biking.
From her 11th floor apartment in her senior residence in Germany, Mary Fran Somers Heidhues has been viewing the COVID world as we have, but also producing intellectual output. With a co-author, she produced a manuscript about Edith Stein’s experience while studying in Gottingen. She’s also read about plagues. Poe’s Red Death, Garcia Marques (more about love), Camus, and Pale Rider about the 1919 influenza which killed a sister of Mary Fran’s mother. She commented that Poe shows that you can’t escape and Camus predicted a lot of what happened. Another favorite was Sr. Helen Prejean’s memoirs, looking back at her education and the changes made by Vatican II in our spiritual lives. While expressing disappointment in missing the annual international and interreligious Bible Week (Zoomed this year), and Berlin visits with children, Mary Fran feels the hardest part is the uncertainty of it all. When will it end? Why do such disasters hit the poorest, most disadvantage the hardest?
I don’t know how many already know this, but Jean Ganley Caputo-Williams lost her husband recently. We all send love and prayers to you, Jean.
I will close by reporting life is the same in Heritage Hunt, Gainesville, VA (my over-55 retirement place) as it was last year, only I am one year older, doing less gardening (all in pots now), more reminiscing and being continually grateful to consider you all my friends. I came across this recently: “Time is not measured by the years that we live, but by the deeds we do and the joy we give.”
On that note I will bid you adieu and pray “Lord, keep your arm around my shoulder, and your hand over my mouth.”
Kate Malone Geddes
kgeddes24@yahoo.com