Hood Magazine Summer 2008

W W W.HOOD.EDU in the Rocky Mountains in January. It is just awesome though to see the beauty of our country even if the snow is drifting across the interstate. We are loving the San Francisco area, especially living among the many vineyards in Livermore. Betsy Varga-Svenson who lives in Reno, Nev., is almost a neighbor of mine. Betsy writes that husband Bruce is enjoying his retirement by taking care of the many animals—5 horses, 3 dogs and 2 cats! Betsy plans to retire in 2011. In the meantime she is busily planning her mom’s upcoming 90th birthday bash! On a sad note, she writes of the loss of her little sister, Jan Richardson ’75 to cancer. Condolences are also being sent to Donna Simmons Maneely who recently lost her sister Lucy Simmons Claggett ’60 on May 28th. Donna was at her side. Kathy Tierney Ritz has invited me to visit her in nearby Monterrey where she resides with husband Bill. When not working at her sister’s medical practice, she enjoys visiting her sons. Son Bill lives in Arizona and her other son Jeff lives in Maine. Kathy loves spending time with her grandchild and looks forward to the August arrival of grandchild number two. Can you say frequent ﬂyer miles? Elaine Williams Bielenberg recently visited her hometown of Binghamton where she and her husband John contributed their talents in a local theatrical production. Elaine was the costumer designer while John designed the sets. Both her sons are doing well. Eldest son Alex is a junior at the Univ. of Rochester while her son Phillip is in Texas training to be a civilian helicopter pilot. She writes that life in Maine is good and that she has been able to connect with another Maine resident, Leslie Hawkins. Speaking of travel, Janis Wilson Polastre ’74 likes to relax in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Quiet walks with husband Bob are just the best. She also writes that a trip to southern France is in the works. Wonder how much French you remember from your year in Strasbourg? Gail Coletti Groy M.A. ’76 is working in an abused women’s shelter in Virginia. She has two grown children and one grandchild! She also says that Pat Dimon Frazier is retired and living in San Diego. Cassie Seely Rulon-Miller reports that she is engaged to marry Robert Boyd on August 8. We wish you much happiness! It was good to connect with Karen Schaible Pierce who is now living in Fredericksburg,Va. She enjoys coming home to her two toy poodles after a long day as an executive assistant for a diagnostic lab. Ann Jones’ parents will be celebrating their 60th anniversary this year. Ann will be joining them for a family gathering in Montana, her dad’s home state. Unfortunately, Ann will miss the class reunion this year as she can’t get away for two trips in June. Mary Stevenson recently wrote that she has now lived longer in Canada than she has in the United States. She has been a member of the prestigious McGill Univ. faculty of medicine for 25 years! Most recently this accomplishment was recognized with a gift to her of a chair with the University Seal. She says it looks great in the hallway of her home, convenient for holding all the scarves and gloves one must wear in the Canadian climate. Mary cherishes her visits home to Maryland where she spends time with her mother who turned 91 and is such an inspiration to her. Leslie Hawkins sadly wrote about her younger sister Amy’s sudden loss of her husband. I do not think we are ever prepared to handle such devastating events. We just try to do the best we can. She also writes that her mother, whose health has been in a steady decline recently, has agreed to a “trial” period of living in a more structured retirement community in Arizona. She will now be closer to Amy. Let’s hope this arrangement will beneﬁt both mother and daughter. Speaking of health, last year I ended up in the hospital with a condition called transverse myelitis most likely caused by a virus I had contracted while cruising the Mediterranean last summer. The condition caused the vertebra in the spinal column to swell which in turn left the entire right side of my body extremely weakened. Through physical therapy and sheer determination, I was able to regain the strength to walk on my own once again! A very scary ordeal to say the least. My advice to all is never to take your good health for granted. Now that I am able to “get back to normal” so to speak, I have joined a local quilt guild where I can truly enjoy my favorite pastime. Volunteering to teach English as a second language to local Mexican residents is also keeping me busy. Having been a Spanish major while at Hood, it is so much fun for me to be able to speak Spanish once again. The gratitude that my student expresses makes it all worthwhile. I am also a queen of a Red Hat Society chapter which I started just recently. It is loads of fun putting on a red hat, dressing up in purple and just having fun. It is a terriﬁc way to reach out and make new friends. Any other Red Hatters out there? I was so sorry to have missed the reunion this year. Charlie tells me it was a small gathering of alums but a great time was had by all. Those in attendance were Charlie Miller Ponticelli, Leslie Hawkins, Elaine Williams Bielenberg, Marcia Coyle DiBiagio H ’08, Toni Lucia, Alicia Parlatore Payne, Sally Parkhurst VanWhy, Sherry Bronski Waltz, Kathy Nixdorff Wilson and Debbie Christ Zourdos. The class dinner on the reading porch in the Hodson Library was the highlight of the weekend, recalling memories while perusing a 1972 issue of The Blue & Grey campus newspaper. Charlie writes that she had a wonderful surprise—the chance to reconnect with her two little sisters who she had not seen in more than 30 years. We are all grateful to Sherry Bronski Waltz and Alicia Parlatore Payne who have volunteered to be the co-chairs of our next reunion—the 40th in 2013! I also want to personally thank Toni Lucia who has offered to take over as our class columnist. With everyone taking a turn hopefully the news and reunions will continue to be forthcoming and keep us all connected. Mary Bell Thorpe 676 Tuscawilla Hills, #132 Charles Town, WV 25414 (304) 725-9686 addertj@aol.com M. Suzanne Bertier Owens 7810 Chestnut Grove Road Severn, MD 21144 (410) 969-1814 (410) 222-5608 (fax) sowens5743@aol.com No news this issue. Deborah Ann Deasy 1824 Foxcroft Lane, Apt. 704 Allison Park, PA 15101 (412) 366-2642 ddeasy@tribweb.com Our condolences to the family of Pamela Quinn who died July 2, 2007, in York, Pa. Susan Cummings Miller writes that she is dealing with the recent diagnosis of breast cancer. Nancy Ludwick Warrenfeltz 5732 Tamarack Drive Pace, FL 32571 (850) 995-0051 nlwfeltz@hotmail.com It is always good to get news from my e-mail Hood buddies. Please add me to your e-mail address list. Then drop me your news. It’s always wonderful to hear from our classmates. Thanks! Barbara Woolmington-Smith writes, “My only news is that our kids are both in college now, and Craig and I are empty nesters! We both still work out of our home ofﬁce in California but we are starting to look toward retirement with increasing interest. We have purchased property in northwestern North Carolina and are thinking of possibly moving there—at least part time after we close up our business. Anyone who is in the San Francisco Bay area and wants to say hello, please give me a call.” Linda Fox-Jarvis sent her updates. I am still selling real estate— going on 28 years in the business. I have moved back to RE/MAX Allegiance. David is working for BAE Systems over their Norfolk and Jacksonville operations. I am pretty busy with the Crystal Ball. This year we went over the $1,350,000 mark in money raised in just 7 years, 100 percent of which went to research to help ﬁnd a cure for MD and ALS. Our Web site is www.crystalballforacure. com. Our daughter Stephanie is a junior at Dickinson College majoring in biology. Brian graduated from Vanderbilt in 2006 and is working in Fairfax Va., as a computer engineer for Argon ST. We are of course still living in Virginia Beach with our three Westies and have a little getaway up in Charlottesville that we love. My parents and brothers also http://WWW.HOOD.EDU http://www.www.crystalballforacure

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