University of Mary Washington - Index

University of Mary Washington - summer08 - Index

planned to visit Art and Lloyd Tilton
Backstrom in Richmond and to attend
UMW’s Centennial Celebration in
Fredericksburg with them in March.
Lloyd and Art had a wonderful
time in Russia in September, visiting St.
Pete, the Neva River, and Moscow. In
December, a mammogram revealed that
Lloyd had a malignancy, which resulted
in a bilateral mastectomy. Fortunately,
she needed neither radiation nor
chemo, is doing really well, and has
a refreshingly positive attitude. She
is so lucky to have Art and so many
supportive friends and family members.
She and Art planned to ski in Vail in
April. We send deeply felt wishes for her
continued progress.
Patty Cairns Hourin and Lynn
planned a “mini” reunion at Patty’s
condo in Gulf Shores, Ala., in late April
with a high school friend whom they
haven’t seen in 50 years. Patty’s sons’
business, Shamrock Waste Haulers,
continues the job of cleaning up after
Katrina.
Another “star” classmate, Aggie
Welsh Eyster, whose artwork is
incredibly wonderful and accomplished,
has her latest exhibit in Corpus Christi,
Texas.
Eleanore Saunders Sunderland
and sister Judy Saunders Slifer continue
to take marvelous trips abroad. In April,
they planned to go to Switzerland to
join a Rhine River cruise ending in
Belgium. In June, Eleanore and Linda
Taylor Drustrup planned to go to
China, starting in Shanghai, with a river
cruise on the Yangtze, then on to Guilin,
and Hong Kong with a side trip to
Macau. And last, but not least, Eleanore
may travel to Milan in September to
visit her daughter and welcome her
sixth grandchild.
Margaret Spell Robertson’s
Christmas letter told of renovation of
their beach duplex in North Carolina
and their home in Florida, which they
named the Yellow Palace. She and Jim
enjoy their children, grandchildren, and
his retirement from his dental practice.
Marcy Trembath Pitkin seems
quite happy to stay warm in Florida
during the winter and enjoy her cottage
at Lake Carey, Pa., during the summer.
In closing, I am concerned that
I do not have email addresses for
many classmates; each time I send
out requests for information, many
are returned. Please, provide us with
updated addresses if you did not receive
a request for information this time. The
next deadline is July 15.
1962
Patricia Mackey Taylor
351 Level Green Court
Hampton, VA 23669
ptaylor55@cox.net
I was glad to receive news and “catch
up” letters from several classmates.
Mary Martin
wrote that after
graduation she
taught school for five
years in China Lake,
Calif., then took a
job in Washington,
D.C. Mary missed
the students and
decided to teach
high school English
in Montgomery County, Md., where
she remained for 36 years. She received
a master’s degree from George Mason
University and began teaching with
the International Baccalaureate
program. Ten years ago, she bought land
on a mountain top in Franklin, W.Va.,
about 45 miles west of Harrisonburg,
Va. She lives there now and enjoys being
close to nature.
Since retirement, Mary has worked
with Cynthia “Cyd” Day Getchell ’60,
who started a nonprofit foundation to
benefit the Pine Ridge and Rosebud
Indian reservations in South Dakota.
As co-director and educational
coordinator, Mary is working on
granting scholarships and gathering
supplies for students and schools on
these reservations.
Steva Jenna Kellenberger and
husband Bill live in Pensacola, Fla.,
and have two sons, a daughter, and six
grandchildren. Bill was career Army,
worked with the Florida Department
of Environmental Protection after
retirement, and now does private
consulting. Steva meets once a month
with Mary Ann Gunn Burdge, who
lives close by in Niceville, Fla. Mary
Ann and her retired-engineer husband
have two sons, one of whom lives
in Niceville, so the Burdges have
grandchildren in close proximity. Their
other son lives in Maui, Hawaii.
Betsy Carper Cole and her
husband went to California to see their
grandsons in January and traveled to
Australia and New Zealand in February.
They spent Thanksgiving with younger
son Carper and his new bride, Heather,
in Pawley’s Island, S.C.
Louise Dunn Fuqua received a
Christmas card from Sheila Cooper
Hanna. Sheila and husband Fergus lived
in New York for many years and decided
to move to Northern Ireland.
Condolences to Kathleen Sprenkle
Lisagor, whose husband, Barry, lost his
13-year battle with cancer in November.
Joyce Wilborn Lacy wrote that, in
February 2007, Kathleen and Barry
spent a 10-day getaway with Joyce
and husband Lou in Hilton Head, S.C.
Joyce related that the Virginia General
Assembly made a special presentation to
Kathleen in honor of Barry’s significant
contributions to the Commonwealth of
Virginia and to the nation. Joyce, Lou,
and Peggy Gerber (Kathleen’s freshman
year roommate) and her husband
attended the ceremony along with
Kathleen’s family and Barry’s NASA
associates.
Ann Tench Huml went on an
Alaskan adventure with her husband
Natalie Robins Lehman-Haupt
’60 has finished her 10th book –
The Writing on the Door – which
she describes as a “very strange
memoir.”
and two sisters last June. They took a
train north from Anchorage to Denali
National Park and saw moose, elk, and a
mother grizzly bear with two cubs. Also,
they saw Mt. McKinley and took an
inside-passage cruise, visiting Juneau
and several smaller towns.
Ann, thank you for being our Class
Agent for so many years. We appreciate
your diligence, class spirit, and most of
all, your friendship. And, to the rest, I
would love to hear from you. Just drop
me a short email to let classmates know
how and what you are doing.
1963
Anne Radway
7475 Adams Park Court
Annandale, VA 22003-5724
tiazelda@verizon.net
I’m writing to introduce myself as the
new Class Agent for 1963. I hope to
hear from more of you next time, as it’s
a great satisfaction and pleasure to catch
up with old friends.
After retiring in 1998 from a
challenging and interesting career in
the Foreign Service, I earned a master’s
certificate in landscape design from
Radcliffe/Harvard. Although I don’t
have much time to do garden designing
since I still do consulting work for
the government, I do enjoy gardening
and visiting exotic gardens. I have
just returned from a fabulous tour of
Southeast Asian gardens in Vietnam
and Singapore, followed by three days
of sightseeing at the temples of Angkor
in Cambodia. My four children and
five – soon to be six – granddaughters
got the postcards and T-shirts.
Mary Russell, Alice Eckenrode
Alkire, and I get together every few
months to graze the wide variety of
restaurants in Bethesda, Md. Mary
retired in 1998 from a career in early
childhood special education and now
spends her time traveling and visiting
with former UMW classmates. Alice
still works full time in the Loudon
County, Va., judicial system and plans
to keep at it for a while longer. The three
of us also get together every few years
for a “girlfriends’ long weekend” with
Cindy Whitaker Finnelly and Sally
Sutherland. Cindy is retired and lives
in North Carolina, where she enjoys
her four grandchildren. Sally retired
from teaching and lives just outside
Richmond in a beautiful log house. She
enjoys training and driving horses, and
she has a thriving pet-sitting service.
I have also heard from two other
former classmates, Jane Bateman and
Celie Boykin Bryan, whom many of
you may remember. Jane works full
time as a consultant dietician at four
Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation
Centers in Houston; she enjoys it but
wishes she had more time to travel and
visit friends. Celie lives in Dyer, Ind., 20
miles south of Chicago. Her husband,
Tom (VMI ’63), died of esophageal
cancer in December 2003. They have
three sons and five grandchildren.
Please write or email me with
any news or information to share with
classmates in the next issue. I’m looking
forward to hearing from you.
1964
Betty Jennings Peterson
2655 35th St.
Moline, IL 61265
betmelp@earthlink.net
Anne Liady Lynch has retired
but continues with many projects,
including serving as chair of the
Maricopa County (Ariz.) Parks
and Recreation Commission. The
Maricopa parks system is the largest
regional park system in the nation.
Anne’s husband, Bob, labors on as
an attorney in the areas of water and
electricity. Their oldest daughter,
Betsy, married last September and is
expecting the Lynches’ first grandchild
in October 2008. Middle daughter
Caroline, of Alexandria, Va., is now
Chief Republican Counsel to the
Crime Subcommittee of the U.S.
House Judiciary Committee. Youngest
daughter Stephanie, who has been an
athletic trainer at American University
in Washington, D. C., plans this
summer to begin a doctorate program
in physical therapy.
Carolyn Riley Beaver and husband
Bob have lived in Stafford, Va., for
28 years. Carolyn recently retired
after more than 40 years teaching art,
computer graphics, and multimedia.
She’s returning to creating her own art
work; one of her computer-generated
collages was in the recent exhibit of
artwork by UMW alumni, and another
piece was accepted in a show at the
Fredericksburg Center for the Creative
Arts. Bob, who retired in 2001, built
a car while waiting for Carolyn to
retire! Daughter Anna and her family
live in Kilmarnock, Va., and have one
daughter. Carolyn and Bob have five
granddaughters, ranging in age from
10 to 23.
Patti Jones Schacht enjoyed a
recent tour of the Seattle area, the
Oregon coast, and the Canadian
Rockies. She keeps moving by visiting
13 grandchildren who live all over the
country.
Victoria Taylor Allen lives in
northern Westchester County, N.Y.,
and works in the development office
of the Convent of the Sacred Heart
in Greenwich, Conn., where she also
serves as a member of their alumnae
board. Vicky lectures on literature and
art history to an adult education group
at Manhattanville College. Her summer
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