Hood Magazine Winter 2009 - 23

W W W.HOOD.EDU died June 15, 2008. Mary Umbarger Corddry’s children continue to keep her active. She reports, “My daughter Ellen and I went off together in September for a Smithsonian hiking trip to Bryce Canyon, Zion and the North Rim of Grand Canyon. Wonderful! And being with my daughter made it really special. My other daughter Cecile leads Sierra Club outings here at home and lures me into kayaking and hiking adventures. One of my sons James and his wife have just moved to Charlottesville to a home facing the Blue Ridge mountains. I also have some lovely new friends in a senior outings group. All in all I am having a more active outdoors life than I did at age 20. I continue to live alone in my home in the country and hope to continue to do so indeﬁnitely.” In the course of a nice conversation with Barbara King Myers I learned that the postcard I sent her (and three other classmates) was oversized and cost her 35 cents postage. I apologize to all but I liked getting responses. Barbara, who lives alone, is spry enough to keep up her house and grounds. She enjoys crocheting and living in Franklin, Pa., a town that is currently celebrating the drilling of oil from the country’s ﬁrst oil well, which took place there 250 years ago. Barbara recommends a visit to her northwestern Pennsylvania town as well as nearby Titusville where a museum traces the history of the oil industry there. Shirley Phillips Fox spent Thanksgiving with her family—three children, three spouses, three grandchildren—all of whom live in or near Seattle where Shirley is happily settled in a retirement home “in the heart of the city which I love. My apartment looks out at beautiful Freeway Park,” Shirley writes, and although “arthritis limits my activities, many city ﬁgures live here so there are many good programs going on.” Thanks to those who answered my call for contributions. No news is bad news when writing our column for Hood news. Howie and I have been especially busy lately having just moved into a retirement community. I had little time to spend searching out news. Just before we moved in September Nancy Andrews Hastings met us halfway for a nice visit in Charleston, S.C., where Howie’s Army outﬁt was having a reunion. Please send your news to our new address. 62nd Reunion June 5-7, 2009 Participation: 43.21% Total Class Dollars: $17,320 Catharine Smith Dunn 1410 Stokes Park Rd. Bethlehem, PA 18017 (610) 691-5653 kittysmithdunn@yahoo.com Cell phones and e-mail make it easier to collect news. Thanks for the responses. Julia Allen Hancock writes that she has had a difﬁcult year health wise—poorly functioning thyroid, extracted teeth, weight loss—but is slowly getting better. She is going “green,” conserv- ing oil and electricity. Her 10-year-old grandson shot a seven-point buck but she didn’t say they would be eating it during the holiday! Peggy Benson Jamieson had cancer surgery in July but is doing well, living independently now and using a walker. Her four sons have been with her at times throughout her ordeal. She has eight grandchildren and two greats. Our sympathy goes to Peggy who lost her husband in December 2007. Our condolences also to the family of Alice Crenshaw Luhring who died Oct. 13, 2008, in Virginia Beach, Va. Lorraine Ihlefeldt Bulba has been in her home for 56 years and taught hearing impaired children for 31 years. Her husband has endured liver cancer for the last 2½ years but is hanging on. Their children live as far away as possible—one in Maine, one in Seattle and one in Jacksonville, Fla. Audrey Callaway Asbury and husband took a trip to the Greek Islands and Turkey. The trip was tiring so she says, “never again!” She had lunch with Louray Forney Huang and Phyllis Tibbitts Lind and they hashed over the election but she didn’t tell me who she voted for! Our sympathy goes to Viv Cass Johnson for the loss of her husband Bill in July. Viv has moved into an assisted living area in Irvington, Va. She also had hip surgery. Lorraine Kersey Moore is still doing aerobics and playing tennis. They had a family reunion at the Trapp Family Lodge in Vermont. She is also still teaching ESL to an Albanian family. Marty Knouse Schaeffer has endured noise, dust, mud and, at times, no water or electricity as the other half of her cottage was being remodeled. She enjoys bridge, reading, sewing, making lap quilts, serving on the library committee and rewriting her church’s constitution. On a visit from Hood, Joy Derr M.A. ’93, C ’03, director of development communications at Hood, reported a new position—dean of the chapel; plus the creation of a Hood College History Museum. We can check it out at reunion time. Mary Jeanne Lowe Jennison reported a hip replacement but is keeping busy with exercising, and work at her church and the local historical museum. She lives in a home that was built in 1760. She spent 25 years working as a school nurse and now spends time with three sons who live in the Hartford area. Another son and daughter live on Nantucket Island. She has 12 grandchildren and two greats. Phyllis Peak Sullivan and her husband attended an Elderhostel in the Hudson Valley when the leaves had turned. They also spent a week at their time share at Kill Devil Hills in the off season. Otherwise they spend their time watching grandchildren’s fall sports activities. Mary K Schumb Lau lost her husband Dick last December and we send our sympathy to her. He had been sick for ﬁve years. She has one son in Virginia and a daughter in Michigan, with three grandchildren and a great-granddaughter. She talked to Marian McMillan Ralph recently. She is in good health and spends her winters in Florida with her husband. Alison Underhill Haber lives on an 80-acre estate with two daughters who live close by. She also has a great-granddaughter and a great-grandson, and retired after teaching kindergarten and 1st grade for many years. Mel Weir Peter had a super summer in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and is now back in Naples, Fla., where she plays golf and bridge, swims and eats out! She went west to Seattle, Vancouver, British Columbia and Portland for a Weir reunion in September, and expects to see Jonesie (Elizabeth Jones Hesse) in February when she comes to Florida. Elizabeth Geiser writes, “You can now add me to your list of limping graduates. I had much contemplated and ﬁnally executed back surgery in November and have been recuperating at an assisted living facility near my sister in Conyers, Ga. The surgery was at Emory Univ.—a splendid facility. Doing well, making progress and am glad to have this—literally—’behind me’.” Mary Jane Hodges Davis sent a note with the news that they have just moved to an apartment at Edenwald in Towson, Md., after living in a 10room house for 53 years in the New York City area. She can give us some lessons in downsizing! They can now look out on the Goucher campus. Mary Jane had hoped to contact Betty Diehl Albert but sadly Betty died on Thanksgiving Day after a brief illness. Our condolences to her family. It is good to catch up with people and I hope that there will be a number who can come to the reunion in June. I am looking forward to a trip to Ecuador with my daughter to see my grandson who is teaching English at Universidad Técnica de Machala as part of WorldTeach. That’s in February and I will return to do taxes for AARP until April 15. The election in November was an exciting time since I was the majority inspector for our polling place. I am hopeful for progress with the new administration! My great-grandson has kept me busy for the last ﬁve months but they are moving to their new home in Philadelphia soon. See you in June!!! Participation: 24.18% Total Class Dollars: $5,970 Elizabeth Benchoff Page 603 South Main St. Woodstock, VA 22664 (540) 459-2213 Our condolences to the family of Margaret “Peggy” Thacher Goering who died Aug. 13, 2008, in Medford Leas, N.J. 60th Reunion June 5-7, 2009 Participation: 40.51% Total Class Dollars: $15,770 Pauline Toms Flanagan 108 North 2nd St. Woodsboro, MD 21798-8306 (301) 845-8683 Beth Enterline Adams’ husband Dick passed last year. She spent most of this summer at the family cabin in the Poconos. She helps with a craft show. Beth has seven grandchildren. Betty Lanahan Pannier stays busy at

Hood Magazine Winter 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hood Magazine Winter 2009