1972 Class Notes for 2019
Red Class of 1972
Thanks to all who wrote. Given our ages, a number of sad things have happened to our classmates. But it is the resilience of everyone that is so amazing.
For Madeleine Leveille, the past ten years have been an unanticipated and exciting part of her life. In 2008, her husband of 20 years died of multiple myeloma. About a year later, she met and married Jim Connolly, a forensic psychologist. Madeleine used her training and experience as a psychologist and Jim’s mentorship to become a forensic psychologist specializing in child protection matters and other issues involving children and adolescents. She and Jim have traveled extensively on vacations within the US and across the globe, and last year Madeleine ran for representative for her Connecticut district as a Green Party candidate. She remains thankful for the education and experiences that her Trinity education provided. She is hoping to have her mother’s genes in terms of longevity. Her mother died last year at the age of 105, and her mom epitomized the idea of “living long and living well.”
For Christine Tetrault, life has been very different since her husband Michael passed away in October 2017, two days before their 40th anniversary. He was suffering from Alzheimer’s before his death from esophageal cancer. Chris is grateful to have had the support of the Body and Brain Yoga community which gave her an opportunity to serve other people instead of being relentlessly focused on her own difficulties. After the diagnosis, Michael started hospice in their home and the home health aide was an angel who treated Michael with respect and caring as if he were a human being and not just a patient to be bathed, dressed, and dismissed. According to Chris, God gives us grace in many forms and the home health aide brought grace into their lives. After her husband passed away, Chris went on several retreats to the Sedona Mago Garden Retreat Center in Arizona which helped her tremendously and prompted her to start cooking again from scratch. In addition, she adopted two cats from the shelter who turned out to be purebred Snowshoes – adorable plus no howling. Soon Chris will be offering Korean Yoga practices in her classes that will help participants to recover health and wellness.
We are lucky to have a healthy and happy Fran Tolson. A five-story white oak fell on her house last October. Fortunately, it landed on the chimney causing $75,000 in damage. Now Fran has a tarped roof – bright blue – a Smurf roof. The contractor is handling the hassles with the insurance company which is a good thing because Fran travels a lot for her job. When she wrote to us, she was in St. Louis – her third straight week of travel.
For Jill Ailleo, it has been quite a year. Their daughter, Amanda, got married and is now pregnant. Jill and Bob are so excited for her and her husband Simit. Their grandsons Jack, Nick and Will (their daughter Alyssa’s boys) just spent a week with them in Florida – so much fun. On the other hand, Jill was diagnosed with breast cancer in June. She had two surgeries in December and Jill is now undergoing six weeks of radiation. Physical therapy will follow. Her family and friends have been so supportive, especially her wonderful husband Bob. He has cooked, done the laundry, driven Jill to endless doctors’ appointments and been her rock. Jill and Bob have known each other for 50 years now.
Barbara York has retired and is trying to figure out the next phase of her life. She is enjoying being retired and will figure out “what to do next” in good time.
Elizabeth Cating has started a new business with her husband Ron. Elizabeth also became the ADORING grandmother of twin boys – quite the year.
Marian Bo Ely Ward’s husband will retire from the Fire Department next month, and they are on the hunt for a puppy to fill his time. Marian’s Toller is six years old now, so they are placing a great deal of responsibility on his furry shoulders to get the new dog to shape up quickly! Other than that, they are slowly thawing out in Indianapolis and dreaming of when they can put their boat back in the water.
Megan Murphy wrote to say that they are having the worst winter ever in Minnesota. They had four days of -25 degrees which felt like -55 with the wind chill. Her two daughters have gotten married in quick succession. Mimi Loferski Fleury and Lynne McGowan Wheat have been able to attend these nuptials and they could catch up on things. It was great to see Speaker Pelosi speak in O’Connor Auditorium on the evening post her swearing in.
Margaret Fisher is quite busy these days. She still teaches Street Law at the Seattle University School of Law, serves as the iCivics director for an online civics course for students featuring video games, conducts three-day Judicial Institutes for teachers at the federal court, participates with the center for Public Trust and Confidence on a number of projects, and serves as the lead on the Civic Learning Initiative for the state. Margaret will be going to Japan in May to honor a dear friend and colleague who died at 106 years of age. Margaret is grateful to the Seattle Kung Fu Club for her ongoing tai chi instruction that helps her counter the effects of aging.
Ginny Voorhees has had a great year because her first grandchild was born, and she gets to babysit her grandchild once a week. Ginny is enjoying retirement and looking forward to seeing more of her friends on a regular basis.
Maryanne Sea and her husband Cory
Marianne Sea wrote that after living in Australia for many years, she and her husband, Cory, became gypsies and went to live in Ecuador, France and Malta before calling Portugal their home. It is a lovely place to live, despite the fact that the language is difficult to learn. Marianne still teaches in the field of pre-birth sentience and pre-birth communication. She and her husband also have created an animal welfare initiative as the plight of animals in Latin countries is not ideal at all.
Sue Doctor with her family at Christmas
Sue Docktor just celebrated her third retirement anniversary and loves it. Sue spent Christmas in Chicago with her brother and his wife, and her sister came from Michigan as well. Sue’s puppy has not enjoyed the cold winter weather, and Sue is so happy that now they can go back to the dog park.
Vikki Bea writes that they are so grateful to have two of their daughters in the DC area, their son in Richmond, and one of their daughters and her husband in Mexico until May. Vikki continues to work as a Math tutor 3-4 days each week which she enjoys very much. Vikki also helps out with the third grade CCD class on Sunday mornings at her parish. Some of the children have received their First Holy Communion and Sacrament of Reconciliation, while others have not. As one little girl anxiously told her recently, “But Mrs. Bea, I haven’t received my First Concussion yet!”
Marilyn Newhouse writes “We’re a year now in a local retirement community and I’m way too young! The apartment’s lovely though and the meals are certainly convenient. My husband’s health seems to be improving; he’s a type 1 diabetic among other challenges so prayers are appreciated. One day I think I may return to Columbia, we’ll see. I cannot believe we are approaching the 50th! Hope all of my classmates are keeping the faith, in fair health.”
I am going to end with something that Vikki wrote. I have printed it out and attached it to an index card that I can keep with me at all times.
“I always learn something new from the students with whom I work. I am so disheartened by what is going on in our world that I have to really consider what is most important, and this helps me. I am very upset about all the scandals in our country, our Church and our world, but I am trying my best to live the way I was taught by my parents, and hopefully, model that for the next generation. My mother always said, “Life is fragile, handle with prayer” and I believe she was right!”
Thanks for the inspiration, Vikki!