1974 Class Notes for 2022
TRINITY NEWS CLASS OF 1974 — 2022
Linda Schneider still is in the old homestead in Arlington, VA, with her latest and sixth guide dog, a Labrador/golden retriever named Ives from the Seeing Eye. The latest of her eleven books is a revision to her autobiography in 2021, A Blessed Life Updated: Memoir of a Traveler to Emmaus, which updates and supersedes the earlier version, available from Author House. She slowly is starting to emerge from isolation, provided the virus stays under control.
Catherine Marshall Hackett finished settling the business aspects of her mother’s estate, but has not yet finished preserving keepsakes nor shredding papers. After finishing her mother’s things, she will declutter her files. Her children planned and hosted a 70th birthday celebration for her. It was in a spacious reserved room at a restaurant. The food was delicious and it was nice seeing family and friends not seen since pre-Covid. Her older granddaughter is a 12th grader, has completed several college courses, and has been a competitive swimmer for several years. Cathy’s younger granddaughter is a 5th grader and enjoys gymnastics. When her daughter or son-in-law are on job related travel, she helps with the girls. Her son’s twin boys, who will be 4 years old on January 2, are in pre-school. Their school has “Grandparents Reading” days; and Cathy was a reader on September 8.
Karen Doherty and her wife, Lori Mei, sold their home in Greenport, NY and moved to Clearwater, FL at the end of May. Much to their surprise they love Florida–loads of nature, an upbeat atmosphere, no income tax, lots of things to do and see, delicious fresh seafood, fruit and vegetables. It’s a joy to live again! Karen sends a big hello to all her classmates, and said to let her know if you are coming to or live in the Tampa Bay area. Karen also reported that they came through Ian just fine.
Pat Mizzi is pictured here at the helm of their Morgan 41 Out Island sailboat. They have just retired and are starting south on the Intercoastal waterway to Florida in the next few weeks. Looking forward to exploring the east coast cities along the way.
Connie Oprisch enjoys following Pat McGuire’s twitter feed, @TRINITYPREZ, which features her spectacular bird photos, some taken at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Last April, she and her husband visited the refuge, and were happily surprised by two bald eagles swooping down in front of the car. Connie also participates in several book clubs including her Women’s Spirituality Group that she has been a member of for more than 25 years. She has been tutoring English to a young woman from Afghanistan. In September, Connie became a great aunt for the 15th time.
Barb Taylor recently announced her retirement in December from her position as Director of the Matthews Heritage Museum, having completed almost 10 years there, and 47 years in the museum field. She is hopeful to stay on the equivalent of one day a week to do research, if funds allow. In recent years her research into local history has uncovered the rich history of an African American neighborhood known as Tank Town, and most recently the beginnings of the Matthews Community itself. She has already planned a trip with her sisters and nieces to Cancun and another trip to Ireland in May. Two future trips will be to Alaska and Iceland. Barb hopes all in the class are enjoying their retirements
Marti Rodgers and family are doing well. They moved 3 years ago from their family house in Devon, PA to a townhouse in Phoenixville, PA (close to Valley Forge park) They are happy they moved when they did because moving is not for the faint of heart. All of their kids and grandchildren live close by. Their weekends are filled with going to as many games as they can including soccer, baseball, field hockey and flag football. Marti retired 2 years ago at the height of the pandemic, June, 2020. She enjoyed her marketing job but decided it was time to move on to retirement because life it too short. She is an official retiree with Meals on Wheels delivery, pickleball and Mahjong included in my weekly activities. Happy 70th Birthday to everyone. On to the next decade….
Lillian (Lolly) M. O’Connell is loving life in DC and enjoying condo life in Arlington between 2 Metro stops; so, they can enjoy downtown happenings day and night. With an electric bike she can even get to her docent tours at the American Art Museum. Video conference programs from SAAM which she does on the web kept her sane thru COVID; creating different scripts for artworks presentations is her new artistic outlet. Husband Frank is slowing down his law practice so they can enjoy travelling. Their 4 kids are fully launched; and they have 9 grandchildren; look out for their baseball team. Lolly gets to see Mary O’Connor Barrett every summer now since they stay up in Chatham in August and she’s on Nantucket. Jean Flatley joins them now and then. Anyone else in the Boston-Cape area or CT/DC; she’d love meet up with you on their trip North.
Joan Austin Pellerin is back to traveling! She and her spouse spent a month in Europe which included France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and an extended period in Slovakia-Joan’s grandmother’s birth place. What joy travel brings! She reconnected with Pat Shea, my Trinity roommate! Joan was thrilled to see how Pat has been doing and to know she finds herself in New York state, not too far from Joan’s home in Vermont. Her next step needs to be working less so she can renew her zest for exploration!
Mary Thornton Goedde and Tom are still living in St. Louis. One son lives here, and their other son lives in Indy, is married with two little boys. She remains very active/ two book clubs, an investment club, active in their Parish including Parish Council. Traveled twice this summer to a family cottage on Lake Erie. Will see Terri McNearney in October when she attends a med school reunion.
Barbara McKinley and husband built a house in Chattanooga, TN last year. They are now officially snowbirds. They have been in Clearwater Fl for the past 31 yrs. They have 2 granddaughters in TN. They are 2.5 months and almost 3. So much fun. That’s why they are in TN. They also have 2 granddaughters in FL, 8 and 5. Her children are all doing well and everyone survived Ian. Her son had a leak in his roof which left a small lake inside the house but looking at Fort Meyers and Central Florida they feel very fortunate that they dodged a bullet on this one. Their condo was unscathed this time. Much better than Irma. Hard to believe we are all entering our 70’s! Trying to remain active even though she has a couple of new joints. If you’re ever in Chattanooga in the summer/ fall look her up.
Connie Abrashoff Bentzen and spouse are now grandparents! He’s four months old and they have to travel 600 miles one way to Dubuque, Iowa anytime they want to see him. This has sparked a serious downsizing effort and decision to move to Chicago. Hopefully next year. She recently celebrated her mother’s 100th birthday. She still lives independently (with lots of help) and rides her adult tricycle each day. Connie wishes they could just do something about her short-term memory! Connie participates in a Pittsburgh area Trinity alumnae book club. There are 12 members and meet quarterly. She totally enjoys it.
Marcy Aguilar retired from teaching in 2020. Although she enjoys a “life of leisure”, she misses being with her dear little preschoolers. (The pandemic hasn’t helped of course). This school year she is returning to do Storytime once/week. Her granddaughter is in her second year of college. While she’s away Marcy takes care of her sweet “grandpuppy”, Blue. She definitely enjoys his company.
Patricia Fitzpatrick and husband have been retired from their medical careers for about five years now. They are enjoying life in southwest Florida, especially in the winter. They also enjoy traveling to visit their three grandchildren in Alabama and Connecticut. During their sojourn north this summer, they had a chance to visit with Donna Schlegel and her husband, Greg Knowles. They are both doing well.
Jane Tingley’s major focus through her adult life has been her parents. My father left a while ago, but her mom, hung on and continued to be vibrant in her own way. She passed quietly on Sept 7th at 97. Beth Garrity Ellis and Jane are very close. Their connection has been a three-some with Suzy Cunningham. Jane looks forward to seeing Marti Rodgers as they have gotten closer with their friendship with Suzy. Beth and Jane connected with Mariana Botero Chason and her husband Mark at Suzy’s Celebration of Life on June 9th. Mariana is just as vibrant and funny as you all remember her. Anne Kearns and I are staying in touch on FaceTime. Anne lives in the south of France. She has just recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and will undergo surgery in the next few weeks. Please keep Anne in your prayers.
Marianna Dunn and her spouse Cindy, celebrating 28 years, just returned from an amazing train trip through the Canadian Rockies on the Rocky Mountaineer. After the pandemic hit, they cancelled all post retirement travel plans to tour and visit family and friends. Over the last 2 1/2 years, Marianna tutored reading remotely for the Alexandria Tutoring Consortium in her community. One big challenge was practicing and recording choral music pieces for Christ Church’s (old town Alexandria) weekly livestream service. Most significant during the pandemic was communicating and being supportive to family and friends via phone calls, FaceTime, email and cards. Looking forward now to the Bar Mitzvah of Marianna’s talented nephew, Jonathan Dunn in Falmouth, MA mid-October.”
Donna Schlegel is glad to say she is in communication with treasured friends from Trinity–Lorie Morris and Pat Fitzpatrick and the loved ones of Jane Wietsma and Pat Pfister. They have buoyed Donna– along with Greg/her husband of 32+ years– as they moved through the years since 1974!!! The COVID-19 pandemic challenged all of us in ways we never imagined. We all pivoted to focus on new priorities more than most ballerinas did in the same time period. Needless to say, responding to a global pandemic was nothing she ever imagined being involved in, much less seeing so many of our longstanding systems tested. She is thankful for the many silver linings COVID brought during the past several years. She is still reflecting on many developments that leave her incredulous.
Magalie (Maggie Roman) continues to enjoy a busy retirement. She enjoys providing transportation to school and sports activities for her grandsons Jahir (16) and Keiji (8), and also babysitting for her granddaughter Veronica (3).
Last year, Maggie joined Encore Creativity, a choral organization in the Washington, DC area open only to singers over 55. Maggie is so happy to learn new repertoire and sing at a wide variety of local venues, including the Music Center at Strathmore and the Kennedy Center. Maggie is also the president of her neighborhood association, and enjoys keeping the neighborhood informed about services provided by the county and currents events affecting the quality of life in the neighborhood.
Michele (Stefanelli) Dillon is keeping busy working for a health consulting firm supporting CDC and NIH clients. When not on never ending Zoom conferences, she is entertaining Fione, their 7-month-old Schnoodle…crazy for sure but just what they needed!
Jeanne Smith Jardien has gone from full time to part-time at Premier Veterinary Group a 24-hour emergency & specialty hospital as of October 1st. She has been there for the last 12 years. She has enjoyed it, but is looking forward to the reduced hours. She has 3 Irish Setters, 10 yrs, 1 yr & 9 months. They keep her quite busy. She has been showing in conformation for the past 10 yrs and has done well with it. She has also competed in obedience trials with them. It is a great way to keep active! She has encouraged her sister, Karen Smith, class of 76, to become involved in showing and she is enjoying it. She has done a fair amount of traveling with it, so if you go to a dog show, check out the Irish Setters, she might be there.
Jane and Marti both shared the sad news that our classmate Suzy Cunningham passed away a year ago. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in late August and passed away in October. Mariana Botero Chason, Kathy Scattergood and Beth Garrity Ellis also attended the funeral.
Class scribe Susan (Fredi) Fournier reports that after doing needlepoint for more than 40 years and entering the Woodlawn Needlework Show for at least 10 years, finally was awarded ribbons for two entries, a 2nd place and Honorable mention. But first timers, granddaughter Ashley and grandson Ryan, received 2nd an 1st place ribbons respectively in their age groups. Fredi continues to be active in Nelly’s Needlers, a needlework organization dedicated to supporting Historic Woodlawn. In August, Fredi and husband Michael visited their grandchildren in Lone Tree, CO and then drove to Durango to ride the Durango-Silverton scenic railroad. A nine-day rail trip is in the works for next year. And although, her beloved Nationals ended the season in the basement—there’s always next year. Fredi and Lolly are the Class of ’74 50th Reunion chairs and look forward to hearing ideas for celebrating this milestone.