University of Mary Washington - Index

University of Mary Washington - summer08 - Index

Photo courtesy of Scott Sharer
lived for nine happy years. She met her
Delta-pilot husband onboard a Delta jet
and got her pilot’s license as a condition
of her marriage! They split their time
between a condo in Miami and a
boat they live on in the Keys, where
they sail and scuba dive. In 1989, the
family moved to Spruce Creek Fly-In, a
Daytona Beach community that has its
own airstrip. Regan, Tim, and Shannon
all fly their Cessna 182. Tim also has
an interest in WWI airplanes; he owns
and flies a German Fokker DR1 (the
Red Baron’s three-winged plane) and
a British Sopwith Camel (two wings).
A licensed massage therapist, Regan
now works one to two days a week at
a chiropractic clinic. She continues as
a flight attendant with Delta, flying
to international destinations out of
Atlanta. Also in Daytona is Beth Hiers
LaHue and husband Larry LaHue ’77.
They have three children, and both work
in local government.
Kaaren Reckmeyer Dunn lives in
Montgomery, Ala., with her husband,
Robert. They have three children; the
oldest is a freshman in college.
Patti Brown Luzi-Earley lives in
Chantilly, Va., with her big family. Her
first husband, Steve Luzi, passed away
from cancer more than 10 years ago, and
Patti is now married to Pete Earley, an
author who has recently been seen on
CNN and other outlets commenting on
mental illness. His book Crazy chronicles
Scott Sharer ’78, an engineer and
entrepreneur who has pursued a diverse
array of business endeavors, cuddles with
Fyre, one of the rescued tigers he cares for
at his home on Tybee Island, Ga.
his son’s personal journey with mental
illness and is quite a read. Patti teaches
public school and coaches girls’
basketball.
Betsy Moser Morrison recently
moved from Wilmington, N.C., to
Illinois due to husband John’s job
transfer. They have two children:
Will graduated from Dartmouth; Emily
is at N.C. State.
Robin Pender lives in Stevensville
on Maryland’s beautiful Eastern Shore.
Her home is on a residential airstrip
on the Chesapeake Bay across from
Annapolis. She commutes from there
to Bethesda every day to her job at the
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
where she is a division chief for the
Maritime Products and Services Domain
in the Office of Global Navigation.
She has been with the agency for 30
years and plans to retire in about three
years. She works with several UMW
graduates, including Hollis Cooley-
Sassano ’79, Ellen Erskine Littlefield
’79, and Keith Littlefield ’79. She is
active in the Potomac Antique Aero
Squadron and has a 1946 Ercoupe that
she and her husband are restoring.
Last summer, Robin had dinner with
Dr. King Stablein, who was a geology
professor at UMW when we were there,
and his wife, who live in Bethesda. Robin
also keeps in touch with roommate Susie
Jordan Lavender ’77 and suitemate Beth
Johnson Hicks, who transferred to U.Va.
into the nursing program.
Eugenia Waldrop-Visaggio
married second husband Mike in May
2002. They live in eastern Henrico
County, Va. Three years ago, Eugenia
became a pharmacy technician.
Julia-Meade Cover Gallier has
worked at the Naval Surface Warfare
Center Dahlgren in Virginia since
graduating with a degree in math.
Her husband, Mike, came to NSWCD
the same year from James Madison
University, and they met not long after
reporting to work. They were married
in 1980 and have lived in King George
County ever since. Their son, Ben, is
a student at Germanna Community
College. In December, Julia was thrilled
to receive the Navy Meritorious Civilian
Service Award.
Jackie Gray married Garry while
she was an undergraduate at Mary
Washington. After graduation, she
began teaching first grade at Grafton
Elementary School in Stafford County.
This was a short-lived career. After their
two children were born, she and Garry
opened a series of small convenience
stores and an oil change service. Jackie
said that owning and operating these
businesses was certainly a change from
her initial intended career, but Mary
Washington prepared her for a little bit of
everything. Two years ago, they sold the
businesses and Jackie retired. She spends
much of her time with two precious
grandchildren – Christianna, 4, and
Camden, 2. Life is good, she proclaimed.
ENGINEER TAKES A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
Cicely Enright has a full-time
writing and editing position. Her
two sons are both in college pursuing
technology-related studies.
Demetria Smith Laird lives in New
Jersey with her husband of 27 years,
Doug. They have two children: son Chris
is a junior at Penn State, and daughter
Sarah is a high school junior. Demetria
has worked as a substitute teacher for
five years, and she volunteers for various
church and community activities.
Gail Story Upton and Mike have
been married for 25 years and have
three adult children: Dan, Katie, and
Lisa. Dan is in New York City learning
about his Jewish heritage; he will be
a father in September, so Gail will
be a grandma! Katie is in graduate
school getting her master’s degree in
accounting; in December, she will
marry her high school sweetheart, a
mortgage analyst in Oklahoma City.
Lisa is studying economics, philosophy,
and pre-law at Oklahoma State
University. Gail recently changed jobs
and is director of quality assurance for
the non-profit National Association
of Child Care Resource & Referral
Agencies. She works two weeks a
month in Arlington, Va., and the rest
of the month from home in Oklahoma
City. Mike works for the FAA as deputy
director of enterprise services, which
involves accounting and information
services.
Scott Sharer ’78 has crawled into cages with tigers, detailed motorcycles for celebrities, and set up
communications systems in some of the most dangerous outposts in the world.
His life’s twists and turns have been fueled by a sense of adventure and an out-of-control curiosity. But Sharer,
who has started multiple businesses and taught at prestigious colleges, also has a practical side. An uncanny foresight
and a desire to teach others have contributed to the success of this versatile engineer and entrepreneur. And, Sharer
said, he owes a lot to his college experience.
“I still remember clearly one night when I was studying for a philosophy exam … it suddenly occurred to
me that what I was studying in philosophy, theater, political science, psychology, and language was all connected
together,” he said. “Once I got the liberal arts connection, education really became a joyous event.”
After graduation, Sharer, 52, earned his master’s degree in design and technology from Texas Christian University.
He went on to indulge his love of education by teaching at Cornell University and the University of Missouri. As he
moved up in academia, though, he found himself spending more time in administration and less in the classroom.
His operations acumen eventually pulled him into the field of technology, where he explored the idea of
transmitting data, voice, and video via a dial-up telephone network. In the mid-’80s, when few had any idea that
computer videoconferencing would someday be possible, Sharer knew the media’s potential.
A decade later, life threw him a curveball. His wife, Sandra, was diagnosed with cancer. Emboldened by her
fight against the disease, she convinced him to do something he’d always wanted to do: start his own business.
Sharer started Communication Design Group, which specializes in engineering and video communications. Early
on, a government agency recruited his company to do top-secret work, which sent him all over the world. He also took
his expertise to the private sector, and some of those clients asked him to pass his knowledge on to their employees.
“I would just teach for free to put something back into the community and the education of the next generation
of engineers,” said Sharer, who lives in Tybee Island, Ga.
He found other teaching opportunities, as well. When he took his custom American Ironhorse chopper in for
service, the shop’s technicians complimented his detailing work. Soon, Sharer was teaching other motorcycle owners
to do the same through a business he called ChopperDetailing.com.
’78
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON MAGAZINE���������������� Moving from motorcycles to wildlife, Sharer developed an interest in tigers after meeting trainers who kept
big cats on the brink of being destroyed. Sharer sponsored them and eventually started Domestic Panthera, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the genetic and
behavioral research of tigers. In the process, he also improved the lives of the cats’ caretakers by educating them about technology, research programs, and funding.
With a passion for chasing such disparate interests, it’s miraculous Sharer finds time to get it all done. He wonders about that himself but acknowledges he
wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“I have decided,” he said, “that my tombstone will read ‘He Was Never Bored.’ ” – Les Shaver ’97
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