1962 Class Notes for 2016
This has been a changing year for the Sisters of Notre Dame at Trinity. First they saw Sister Margaret’s move to Mt. Notre Dame’s Health Facility in Cincinnati and then the remaining Sisters’ move to their new dwellings, some in DC and some at Villa Julie in Stevenson, MD. Susan Smyth Tew has been to see Sr. Margaret in Cincinnati and has so enjoyed their conversations. She has been so much fun to spend time with and is dealing with living out her days where the SNDs had their beginning in this country with the founding of their first School, the Summit Country Day School. It has been pure joy for Susan to “encounter the woman who formed so many of us”.
Then, on June 15, Sr. Anne M. O’Donnell moved with Sr. Mary Hayes ’57 out of the Trinity convent into an apartment across from the TC campus. “Many of the other Sisters had lived at Trinity for an average of fifty years so their move was a great uprooting.” Sr. Anne lived at Trinity for about seven years as a younger Sister, for two years as a middle-aged Sister and for eight years as a senior Sister — some 17 years! Retired Sisters remember their former students lovingly and prayerfully and the memory of Sr. Anne’s former teachers is a source of strength and inspiration. Sr. Anne will spend eight months as a visiting scholar at Arizona State Univ. from September 2016 to April 2017. A colleague had planned a collection of essays on Thomas More’s daughter Margaret and, after she died, her friends decided to dedicate a book in memorial to her. Sr. Anne needs to polish her essay on Margaret’s translation of Erasmus’ commentary on the Lord’s Prayer and will help the editor-in-chief to see the book through the press. There are six Sisters of Notre Dame in the Phoenix area and Sr. Anne will live with two of them. “Thanks be to God for giving me a ‘sabbatical’ in my mid-seventies!”
Then there was the move of the piano! Thankfully, Sr. Margaret had suggested the piano the Class of ’62 had donated several years ago for the Sister’s Chapel at TC be relocated to Villa Julie in Stevenson, MD. The move took place April 15. I went to the school first and had a lovely visit with Sr. Anne while waiting for the movers. She has been very devoted to our class over the years and her friendship is much appreciated. Then the journey to Stevenson, MD! Cathy Schulz Mattingly, Jill Keefe Long and Stephanie McKernan Warring joined me there and we were given a very warm welcome by Sr. Collette and several of the other Sisters. Cathy, Jill, Stephanie and I enjoyed a lovely afternoon with the sisters including Sr. Joan Kerrigan, Sr. Mary Pat Donnelly, and Sr. Catherine Horan, who we learned was in the Class of ’62! (She and I decided we were in a few classes together.) Sr. Mary Pat brought out the Trinilogue from ’62 and we all had great fun going through it and reminiscing about the “good old days”. Then we were given a tour of the mansion and the Sisters’ quarters. All in all, Cathy, Jill, Stephanie and I walked away ever so grateful that Sr. Margaret suggested Villa Julie for the piano’s new home. It is in the right place in a truly magnificent surrounding and has made the Sisters at the Villa ever so happy.
“C’est la Vie” says Susan Watson Madigosky…daily Mass, frequent singing, local pool, almost daily exercise, and a parish that bounds from good to better, plus six grand-kids (Sharon’s) just down the block and two more (Wendy’s) out of town. She and Walt have enjoyed trips to France 2015, Australia 2016, and love their annual trips to FL and nightly dates at home with an old movie! “So much of the good is tinged with Trinity.”
Eniko Molnar’s involvement with the American Hungarian Educators Association(AHEA) continues, this year organizing the annual conference at the Univ. of Maryland. The theme is Migration and Emigration On the 60th Anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution 1956. Presenters from U.S. universities as well as scholars from Canada and Europe participated. In 2017, the AHEA will hold its conference in conjunction with the major Canadian Humanities and Social Sciences Conference in Toronto, Canada. AHEA meets in Hungary or the Carpathian Basin every five years and this year, the 60th anniversary of the Revolution of 1956, Eniko has been involved in the programs of the Hungarian Embassy to commemorate this event. Continuing her literary interests, Enikő has contributed two articles to the online Literary Encyclopedia (Sándor Petőfi and Bálint Balassi).
Barbara Onderchek Black and Frank are doing well other than dealing with the “aches and pains of aging”. They continue to travel and enjoy spending time at their vacation home in the mountains of western PA. Last year saw a 26 day cruise to New Zealand and Australia, this year 12 days in France, six of them in Paris, then on to Giverny, Lisieux, Bayeux and the Normandy beaches, spending the last day at Mont St. Michel. (The French people were happy for visitors despite their sad problems.) The grandchildren are growing up too quickly: Chris will be a sophomore at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, VA and Kate, a 6th grader, attends St. Timothy’s in Chantilly. This year Barbara has her 50th Medical school reunion at Georgetown, which will be celebrated in October. As a Class Ambassador she has enjoyed contacting classmates and encouraging them to return, Patty Bresan Dovi being one of them.
Mary-Margaret Donnelly Gillen and Neal traveled to South East Asia in the spring and toured Vietnam Nam and Cambodia including a week long cruise down the Mekong River with a group of Georgetown, Columbia, and Cal alums. “It has reinforced all those feelings from the late ’60s, to wit: why on earth were we bombing rice paddies, jungles, and people as well as having our own killed?” Next up…their youngest daughter Donnelly’s wedding in the Bay Area in September. Sara Street Hardner and Jerry have also been busy traveling the past couple of months. They have hiked the Andes in Peru, hiked across Panama along the canal and made their way on foot through much of Cuba. Recently the Hardners met with their entire family, five children and 10 grandchildren, at Niagara Falls. Meanwhile Cathy Schulz Mattingly and George are off to the beaches of Normandy and Carol Mitchell Curran Mull and Jim are off to Israel for 30 days.
Margy Leahey Gerber and Richard are definitely “not retired”. R & M Gerber Books and Avon Rare Books keep them very busy and Margy does all the “back office” duties (two web sites, electronic listings, “the books” for the books, etc.). The Gerbers have met some really wonderful people – book collectors, dealers, writers – and they love being in the Hudson Valley, within commuting distance of the greatest city in the world! Last December Richard surprised Margy with a trip to New Orleans to celebrate the ‘big’ birthday and recently they’ve been to London and Dublin. Richard had made a trip of his own to London on book business and had a lovely visit with his son and his family. His two little grandchildren (Ronin, 5, and Keava, 2-1/2) are a delight and the British accents are a fun bonus. Margy’s daughter, Anne, and granddaughter Eloise (now 14) have visited, as have daughter, Marga, and her husband Wes. Richard and Margy also visited her son, John, and his wife, Alicia, in Charleston where John is an English and film professor at the local college. Lots to be grateful for…not least lifelong friends from Trinity days!
“How thankful we should feel that God has blessed us to be here and to enjoy our friendships” writes Mary Anne Browne Lyons. She spent a wonderful vacation in FL with Bette Sullivan O’Malley and enjoyed a TC ladies luncheon in Pelican Bay in February. Marge Pinter Matson was kind enough to send the names of the additional ladies in attendance: Joan Friday Ewing, Carol Murray Hogan, Aline Christatos Bailey, Sally McMonagle, and a few guests. They had a delightful time reminiscing about our times at Trinity and how our friendships have endured. Marge spent a very stimulating and fun-filled week at Chautauqua with Roger Rosenblatt and several of his author friends. Chautauqua is an intellectual, cultural, stimulating place with lectures, theater, opera, ballet, golf, tennis, water sports and classes in every imaginable topic, and runs for nine weeks every summer. Marge also enjoys tennis, bridge, and concerts and, on the travel side, she is taking a cruise from Barcelona to Lisbon in September. Carol Hogan was pleased to join her classmates in February; she also spent a lovely afternoon with Pat Kenny Blagden who was in Sarasota visiting her daughter-in-law. In May, the Hogans traveled to Yale for their oldest grandson’s graduation. Brett was a graduation week speaker having graduated with top honors and was Captain of the Yale Men’s Swim Team. He set several distance records in his competitive swimming which qualified him to participate in the Olympic Trials in Omaha, NE in July. He didn’t qualify, but did do his own personal best. Carol and Brian are heading to Martha’s Vineyard for another celebratory family gathering. Oldest son, Brian Jr, and his wife, had bought five acres there a few years ago and after all the planning, design and build, they are beginning occupancy. The Hogans will share the final week of summer at the Vineyard with the entire family before everyone heads back to school and work. Aline, unfortunately, lost her husband, Richard, last November. They had 30 wonderful years together, and Aline is left with many great memories.
Doris O’Brien Casale also lost her husband last year after a brief illness. She was so fortunate to have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with the whole family, last June in Positano, and is grateful for her beautiful memories and her wonderful family.
Time seems to fly by faster every year, writes Patty Stumpf Zachwiega. Once she was able to shake off the immediate tragedy of losing Zach in 2014, she started catching up with her own medical issues. There were many easy things but the not so easy meant a full knee replacement and then a laminectomy. Fortunately both surgeries were successful and Patty is now hoping she can get ‘back to life’ and do some more traveling.
Life has settled into an annual routine of fall and winter in the Washington area, writes Jeanne Becker Lynch, although usually interrupted by a visit or two to South Carolina to see Suzy Kramer Glynn and Jeanne’s brother, Paul, followed by six weeks in Connecticut in late spring and early summer, then a trip to Seattle and Denver to see children. Early fall finds more time in CT along with the annual visit to the Cape…then it starts again! This year there is a Disney cruise out of Barcelona with two children and three grands. In her spare time Jeanne does a lot of pro bono legal ‘stuff’ at her law firm.
Cathy White continues her work as an Of Counsel position. “It means that she can come and go as she pleases though right now it seems that she goes more as she pleases!” Otherwise all is good. Meg Acosta Martincontinues her work at the tax law firm but laments the firm is going paperless so “the writing is on the wall”. She fears that as technology keeps evolving much will be lost and obsolete. Last summer, the morning after a lovely 75th birthday party with all her family and lots of friends, Meg collapsed and had to call 911. It took hours and many tests to find she had a staph infection in her kneecap. One operation, a week in the hospital, two months at home, a walker for months, Meg is now getting around much better, and hopefully she can get back to her hiking. Through it all Meg, with computer at home, was able to keep up with her work. Her eldest granddaughter, Elisa, has come stateside from Spain, and is living with her. Elisa has completed her freshman year at NYU and is enjoying her summer break back home. Emma, the middle granddaughter, finished junior high at the American School in Madrid and is now on to the higher school. The “Baby”, Alexandra, who is ten, made her first communion in June in a wonderful rustic old church in the mountains north of Madrid. Meg made her annual trek to Spain for the event.
Patty May Halpin continues her volunteerism serving on town boards and raising money for Catholic schools in the Diocese of Worcester and Tom continues with his medical practice. Their oldest granddaughter is a senior at Dartmouth, the youngest is 19 months. Bobbie Cresci Kunath and Karl love it in San Diego and look forward to their trips to CT to visit with the granddaughters, ages 10 and 8. Nan Kelley Ryan and Tom are still in Hillsborough, CA. Nan continues to design kitchens/baths and sits on the Architectural Design Board in Hillsborough. The grandchildren range in age from 13-23 years.
Joan Selke Sallee and Tom, still in Sacramento, celebrated their 50th anniversary in June with a family weekend, including some of their bridal party in Pacific Grove, a lovely coastal community near Carmel where they have spent many happy vacations over the years. Among the guests was Nancy Oberdorf Peterson Webster, Joan’s big sister from Trinity, who has remained a dear friend. The weekend before the celebration, the Sallees’ three daughters surprised them by having a bench installed in their honor at the local Davis High School performing arts facility. (You may recall Joan sat on that School Board.) The local State Senator, Mayor, former Superintendent of School, and other friends all spoke at the ceremony. The amazing thing was that the three girls pulled it off without a single clue being dropped! The daughters are all doing well: Kristie, Michael, and their three boys are in Germany for a year’s sabbatical, Claire and her family are nearby, and Margaret continues to teach at SUNY Buffalo. Joan enjoys annual Christmastime visits in San Francisco with Ann O’Hearn, Ellen Ducy de Perez, and Mary Jane (Janie) Lehman Burton. All in all, life is very busy and the Sallees feel very blessed.
Sheila O’Brien Onuska now lives in downtown Annapolis around the corner from the Naval Academy in an old house, “except it is not so very old in Annapolis terms”. Her daughter, Kate, and her husband, Seth, and children Tommy, 10 1/2 and Emma age 8 live in Vienna, VA halfway around the Beltway. Sheila finds it very interesting to be back surrounded by family after so many years living in St. Louis and thinks she has changed some in the intervening years. Sheila, like so many of you, is happy that Trinity continues to evolve and grow in great ways.
Ann Wigglesworth Barbieri continues her painting at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria. She is participating in a Visiting Artists program and has had a young artist in her studio for the month of August. She and Bill go back and forth to their beach house and are fortunate to have all four of their children nearby to join them, although scheduling their comings and goings to the beach sometimes presents a problem. Bill still plays senior softball and sings in the Reston Chorale; Ann unfortunately threw out her knee in April playing tennis and hasn’t played since.
Carolyn Mezzadri sent a lovely note about Eileen Gormley. They remained good friends, living close by to each other, and did quite a bit of traveling together, their favorite countries, Italy and Ireland. Eileen had been a financial analyst on Wall Street and only retired 10 years ago. Alice McMahon Bender attended Mary Lou McAskill Pijar’sfuneral Mass. The church was full and her eulogies talked of her constant kindness to others. Mary Lou and Alice had been friends since the days of riding to TC every day together. Alice and Mick, along with their granddaughter, Becca, went to Kenya in May to visit their youngest child, Kevin, his wife and 3 daughters ages 10, 8, and 4. Kevin’s family left Kenya in July for an around the world trip that started in Greece, then on to Lebanon and Jordan and Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Mynmar, Singapore. They end their trip next summer in Alaska. (Go to https://goingmobile.org/ to follow the Benders.) Alice and Mick also stayed in Amsterdam where Alice was able to see the tulip gardens at Keukenhoff at their peak, a sight never to be forgotten. One last trip for the year…a river cruise starting in Prague and ending in Budapest.
My identical twin granddaughters, Brianna and Emilia, just turned two years of age and I am so blessed to live near them. My oldest granddaughter Samantha, 27, and her husband, Chad, are expecting their first child, a boy. By the time of this reading I will be a great grandmother! I continue my genealogical research and sit on a few boards for Hereditary Society organizations, plus I serve as chair for the Architectural Review Committee here where I live. Most recently I have enrolled in a class concentrating on World History at the Lehigh Valley Campus of Penn State U. It’s a Senior Audit class, which means no homework for me! Life is definitely good, and I look forward to seeing all of you at our Reunion next year.
With much love,
Joan Marie Littley Clark