1967 Class Notes for 2016
Greetings! By my count, I heard from or about half of you, and the news is plentiful and interesting. Also, many of you notified me that you will be attending our Golden Jubilee Reunion, and where I know, I will indicate with a “Y” – yes; or a “P” – probably. There are two newsworthy stand-outs among all of the extraordinary Golds of 1967, so they will be first. Behind her back, Anne Churan Long’s husband John contacted me to tell us all that Anne has been awarded NASA’s Exceptional Public Service medal in appreciation of her 40+ years of service on “dozens of missions that have revealed the unknown, benefiting all mankind.” The citation says a great deal more. John feared that Anne would be too modest to blow her own horn, and indeed, while she mentioned the medal briefly in her message, her four grandsons and the fun they have predominated. Congratulations, Anne, and thank you.
Forty-nine years after she received her A.B. from T.C., Diane LeRoux Arnold (Y) earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership summa cum laude from Northeastern University. Good job, Diane! When she traveled to Boston for graduation, she also took part in a reenactment of the Boston Tea Party with other family members. She got to keep the feathers!
According to Martha Smith Butler (Y), “Grandchildren are a gift from God.” From super-hot Phoenix, Marty delights in retirement and her grand-twins!
Jane Herlihy Dee (Y) concurs. She and Frank are delighted with first granddaughter Addison, and Jane retired to be the baby’s companion during the school year, when her daughter-in-law is working. A new daughter-in-law has joined the family, and daughter Alicia is living back in the US, after her time in London. Gael Cavanaugh Finan’s son, Joe, is also returning from London to work back in the US.
Mary Ann Hoeper Benavides checked in. She and Jose are alive, happy and much enjoyed a visit from her son and daughter-in-law. Dr. Susan Brown (Y) is still directing the Center for Better Bones (www.betterbones.com). She loves work but is striving to play a better game of golf. She continues to seek “lightning with her guru, Sai Maa.”
Just got off the phone with Helen McMahon Thomas (Y). She is still working, and she and her husband are searching for a house at the beach. Retirement beckons, alluringly. Also spoke with Grace Hogan, who is keeping herself busy with dog-sitting, “extended-day school program” twice a week and visiting with her brother and sister-in-law, who are living nearby. Gracie sends love.
Janice Fisher Long (Y) cites a few aches and pains, but managed to cruise the Iberian Peninsula (many shore excursions) enjoying Bilbao most especially. She and Gary spent a week in the Outer Banks with 24 family members, ranging in age from 10 months to 72 years.
Every cloud has a silver lining, according to Kathy Seubert Heberg (Y). The drops she had to take after her cataract/glaucoma surgery made her “stubby little eyelashes” look fantastic! She loves that the monovision implants allow her to read without glasses, but hates being able to see “every little wrinkle.” Kathy and Ed saw Tony Bennett perform – “remarkable.”
Ginny Allen (Y) wrote from the beach in front of the house she grew up in and she is an active volunteer, cleaning up beach litter, monitoring invasive species, gathering with Boston Area Returned Peace Corps volunteers, and handing out water on Patriot’s Day during the marathon. She has travelled to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Andes, the Amazon and the Galapagos!
As for Karen McLinden Hickman (P), her new book, The Missing Caboose is available from Deep Sea Publishing, where it’s “cheaper than Amazon/Barnes and Noble.” Karen brings her writing skills to George Mason University’s Early Writers Camp for children in grades one to four, and to the George Mason Northern Virginia Writing Program Summer Institute. Karen, who says she’s “having too much fun to retire,” will be visiting Brugge and boating down the Rhine next year. She is enjoying her three children and six grandchildren.
As for Barbara Oliver Reynolds (Y), she enjoys cruising, having spent time in Dubrovnic, Kotor and Monte Carlo. She is having great fun in retirement, and has a family reunion this summer at the Jersey Shore with 30 others. The report in the new TC directory of Barbara’s demise was, thank Heavens, greatly exaggerated. Gracie Fama Hodge(Y) greets everyone and looks forward to gathering next June in DC. Terry Davis Perl (P) is well and happy and passes on the news that Mary Cath Heap is building a home in Florida.
Lynda Murphy (Y), who calls herself our “One Year Sister,” assumed the management of their business following her husband’s death. She and her daughter are both attorneys, and her son is working for an internet startup. Once a Gold, Lynda, always a Gold! Sally Smith Mahoney (Y) and Marie Calcara Murphy (Y) checked in. Marie, “fortunate to be a Golden sister,” continues in her psychotherapy practice. She and Jack celebrated their “major” birthdays by taking the grandkids to Spain. Sally hopes to see a group of Golds at Campus on the Cape later this month.
Yvonne Godoy-Ramos (Y) is learning Italian and reviewing her French. She is a member of an Italian conversation group which meets monthly at a different Italian restaurant each time!
Nancy Cunningham (Y) loves the adult ed classes she teaches, but says “while legs and lungs are still up to the challenge” she’s traveling to Bhutan and Nepal.
Barbara Hauck Crowe (Y) enjoyed a fascinating trip to Israel and Jordan. She rode a camel in Petra, and saw more Roman ruins than in Rome!
Joanita Gonsalves Birkmeyer journeys by car twice a year to see her granddaughter Vesper Belle (soon to be joined by a sister) in Los Angeles, and enjoys her grandson Julian in Chicago. I asked Jo if her granddaughter “shimmered off in silence like the old vesper bell.” Ah, “Halls of Ivy.”
Laurie Casey Alkides continues with the Assistance League of Southeast Michigan, which provides clothing, hygiene kits and books to over 5,000 local children. Laurie remembers with fondness hiding her car Gladys off campus and taking clandestine drives to B’land with Judy Marini, Toni Drapiewski and Ginny Allen. Laurie has eight grandchildren.
Speaking of grandchildren, Ann Horstman Rafferty (Y) relates that caring for her grandchildren “reminds her of how the world should be.” She is in the process of downsizing and is increasingly aware of the important blessings in life.
As for Muggsy Ernst Mason (Y), she can’t remember why she enters rooms, and is in deep mourning at the demise of Prairie Home Companion, Lake Woebegon being a composite of the little towns around St. Cloud, where she grew up. She volunteers and recently worked on a fundraiser for Neighborhood Connections because it is near the Medicare office and she feels she should “do her part.”
Kathleen Courtney (Y) sent enough news to fill a book! She and John were in a very bad car accident. John had nine pelvic fractures and Kathleen suffered three. They are, thank God, fully recuperated. Kathleen continues to consult for a small group of clients and still works as a community activist. Kathleen sends word that Keating Vogel is still working for an accounting firm and running marathons, and that Kathy Lavin Mague, who has relocated to Jackson, WY, is enjoying three book clubs and frequent travel. Kathleen saw Regina McGranery (Y) when both of them were visiting with Mary Connelly LaBarre, enjoying to the fullest Mary’s “moments of intense presence,” as did Helen McMahon Thomas on her visit to the LaBarres.
Jane Bailey Braunger lives in Portland and visits Mary weekly. Kathleen urges all the Golds to come to Reunion to “celebrate friendships and the women who have made a difference in our lives.”
Chrysse Cummings Dow (P) enjoys her life in Florida. Kathy Flood Renton and Dave live nearby in the winter and they play golf together. Chrysse celebrated her 70th birthday with family at a ski resort in Vermont, and traveled to Scotland for her son’s mother-in-law’s 60th birthday. Michele Malone Byrnes (Y?) also shared a visit with Kathy when the Rentons visited Pasadena. Mary Ellen Brady Jensen (Y) is still working as a data manager at UCLA and is planning for retirement. She comes east from time to time. Her three children are married and among them have four grandoffspring. Linda Suit Thompson (Y) is enduring the reconfiguring of her house because her mother-in-law, who now lives in India, is moving in with her and Kuldip. She much enjoyed a Caribbean cruise which was a special one for Irish fans of Celtic Thunder. Linda’s travel companion is one such. Maria Alvarez (Y), just back from China where it was very, very hot, marvels that the hot pot is the favorite local dish there. Ginny LaPortecontinues her work with the St. Vincent de Paul Society, hoping to resume the presidency of her local branch this fall. Sue Numrich is “drawing down work — seriously!” Reducing the workload to 18 hours/week will give her time to see “where the spirit (or Spirit) leads.” Sue is planning a diving trip to Curaḉao, to give her two new knees a workout.
Marianna Law Merritt (Y) is in her fourth year as a “stay-at-home grandmother” for her special-needs grandson. She recently completed her fourth half marathon.
As for Ann Donnelly Malinowski (Y), she just returned from the “vacation of a lifetime” with Joe, daughter Monica, and nine of Joe’s cousins to Italy, where they visited Serra Avellino, the birthplace of Joe’s grandfather Saverio. They saw the house where he was born, and the church where he was baptized. Ann and Joe are expecting their first grandchild any minute.
Mary McGee (Y), happy in her downsized condo in Toronto with its breezy ninth floor terrace, travels a great deal. She and her sister Anne (TC’64) recently attended the complete Ring Cycle at the Kennedy Center, and she then went to visit Carol Dwyer Simmons in Baltimore. Carol, a sixth-time grandma, returned to Ireland with two of her sisters, her first trip back since she visited 50 years ago with Mary McGee, Mary Swift Deakyne (Y) and Lauren Cooke Opie (Y). Since the loss of her husband Willie, Mary Swift has entered a new life chapter, and is determining its direction. She loves her grandchildren and has the eldest three of the four for one full week apiece at Camp Nana-Poppa!
As for Carol Moss Ryan (Y), she and Kevin are living retirement at their new home in Rhode Island, and Carol is avidly looking forward to our 50th, for which she hopes to be laryngitis-free!
Genie Flahie (Y) is now a great-great aunt. She tells her relatives not to refer to her as Great Great Aunt Genie, but rather to say, “Aunt Genie is great, great!”
Our most recent planned-for NYC luncheon was cancelled because of multiple illnesses, but I was delighted to hear from Antonia Daley who is in good health, and still working full time. We New York (area) girls will try to reschedule after the summer.
Checking in from her home “in paradise,” June O’Brien Hurtgen has all three sons and granddaughter Annabelle nearby. She is still involved in seal rescue, and she and Peter share their home with their 110-pound Great Pyrenees, Beau. With elections upon us, Katherine Ivers Zatkowsky (Y) attended the convention in Ohio at the behest of her son, and Paula Peppler Nawn (Y) intends to spend the time until Election Day ringing doorbells. Paula and Tim went to adult summer camp at Cornell. She studied film; he, Russian. Then they headed for the Rhode Island shore, presumably to make a Russian language movie while enjoying vacation.
Trish Clark Seifert (Y) recently attended the 8th Scandinavian Cardiothoracic Conference in Reykjavic, and is now spending spare time reading Icelandic crime novels. She is teaching, writing, and “trying to stay out of trouble.”
Speaking of Iceland, Chris Cating (Y) spent her 70th birthday there. She recently welcomed her first grandson, and says she won’t stop working until she figures out what to do with herself. Bee Bee Brinkman Mangriviti (Y), who gives me entirely too much credit for understanding French, will see grandson Tristan off to kindergarten this month. As for Sue Walson Stolzer, she and her husband took a cruise to the Baltic and Russia, visited Spain and cruised home transatlantic. Sue works with other activists identifying and trying to stop or prevent algae blooms in local waters. Still on the farm, Charli Miller Sugihara (Y) and husband Arrigo are exploring living options which might better fit their needs. Self-described “Panda Maniac” Enid Galliers (Y) has visited furry friends in Memphis and Toronto, and has traveled to Machu Picchu and Mesa Verde to see more of those delightful beings. Kathy Lamb O’Hara (Y) writes that she and Dennis are expecting their fifth grandchild on December 8 (“Catholic joke”) and that they enjoy retirement to the fullest.
Ginny Allaire Beals (P) sent wishes to all on “a beautiful summer day that reminds me to savor the moment.” Deirdre Ryan Menoyo (Y), a proud grandmother of five, recently moved from her home of 40 years to her daughter’s residence, where she is housed beautifully. She is contemplating a small apartment closer to Boston, and spends time with her son in LA. She has a “beau” who teaches about the Middle East and gets to travel to interesting destinations such as Bern, Boulder, Toulouse and more.
All is well with Trish McGarraghy Bowman (Y), whose oldest grandchild just got a learner’s permit and whose youngest is just pulling herself up! There are seven in all and Trish will be spending Labor Day in the Outer Banks with all of them. All of her five children live in the DC area. Grandson Blaise continues to delight Kathleen Rockwell Lawrence (Y) who, as I write, is looking forward to a visit from Mary McGee and her husband John. A great deal of her time is spent at The Writers Room at Astor Place, and, under the nom de plume of “Street Hollering Woman,” she pens rants on various annoyances for The Village. Henrietta Carriere Hight (Y), officially moved to Greenville, SC, and has officially told her boss that she’s retiring. She takes classes at Furman, and is enjoying having more time to paint. Rosemary Scotti Foster (P) enjoyed a Netherlands River Cruise and a land tour of France. Scotti has a new grandbaby, and is grateful that her son, a Dallas police officer, is “safe.” Scotti had a heart attack in March, and is now the possessor of two stents.
Dian Callahan was in touch earlier in the year about the death of her sister. Liana Fiol Matta (Y) retired on January 31 and continues to care for her brother. Her new grandchild is “gorgeous like the previous four.” Liana is trying to get husband Hamid to retire as well, and looks forward to teaching law this fall. She passed along the news that our classmate Haydee Morales’ husband Hector Deliz passed away this year. President-for-Life Susan Doherty Russell (Y) and Melinda have enjoyed multiple cruises and weekend stays across Florida. They drove from Delray Beach to Virginia, “the Bataan Death March comes to mind,” says Sue. She planned to rendezvous with Kater Nicholson Pendergast (Y) and others for Campus on the Cape this past August. Kater is still at Northeastern, and splits time between Boston and her home on Cape Cod. Maggie McAloon (Y) is vacationing in Pennsylvania as I write and Missy Fay Hayes (Y) and I had a wonderful chat, and she’s ready to lead songs!
Phew! As for your correspondent, things go well. I have returned to work for some part-time assignments and greatly prefer being totally retired. Pete and I travel a bit, imposing on friends to put us up as Carol Moss Ryan and husband Kevin did this summer. We have many bookings for what we laughingly call “The Guest Suite,” and love to have family and friends visit as long as their housekeeping standards culinary expectations are low.
Please forgive any errors and omissions (or additions, for that matter). In closing, may I ask that any of you not mentioned here, or any of you who read this whom I haven’t contacted, get in touch with me or with someone else from the class? The 50th Jubilee, which will include a Well Sing, promises to be a remarkable one, with delightful (and some perhaps not so) memories and great conversations. I will be hosting my Whiskey Sour Party on Friday, June 2nd. Consider yourself invited. I can’t wait to see you.
Fondly,
Boodie Christian Clark