Skidmore College - Scope Magazine Fall 2018

31 SKIDMORE COLLEGE 31 SCOPE FALL 2017 granddaughter, Laura, went off to college in Caldwell, Idaho, the same day. Emily Whitlock Moore reports that her children and grandchildren are all gainfully employed (except for the 12-year-old). Emily is planning a Disney World trip with the family in the near future. She continues to be “amazed at Skidmore’s growth in so many areas.” Tanoula Nasla Hadjipara- skevas ’s grandson gradu- ated from the University of Pennsylvania and is working for the Board of Education in NYC. Her other two grand- children are teenagers. Barbara Churchill Thomp- son had a “catch-up” lunch with Jean Pitta Pacchiana . Barb still plays bridge, oc- casionally goes to the theater and dines with friends. Daughter Beth lives in Madison, Conn., and Barb’s granddaughter worked at a great book store there, RJ Julia. Son Stuart and wife Tiff live in Stonington. Daughter Annie and family are in Vermont. Barb is sell- ing her condo and trying to decide where she wants to live. Wherever she ends up, the place must be stair-free. Maybe a Skidmore alumni dorm? Roslyn Newman Wolin ’s great-grandson C.J. is almost 2 years old. The Wolins love living in Sandwich, Mass., which is quite far from California, where C.J. and his family reside. Although she enjoys video calls and pictures, Roslyn is looking forward to seeing them in person soon. Myrna “Mickey” Sawyer en- joys working one day a week at the Health Department’s legal office. She observes, “It keeps my brain in gear.” Joan Ewig McCallum reports that the wildfires close to her area in Califor- nia have been very destruc- tive. Fortunately, her retire- ment community was not affected. It’s a lovely place where she and her husband have made many interesting friends. Their grandchildren, who live close by, are grow- ing up fast. Joan says the oldest is fine student; “It will be fun to see where he goes to college.” Joanne Schmidt Madden recently welcomed her fourth great-grandchild. She is enjoying life at Harrogate, a retirement community in Lakewood, N.J. Although Joanne has a few health problems, she considers them “not particularly surpris- ing at our age.” Serving as treasurer of the Harrogate Residents Association keeps her “out of trouble.” Instead of taking a vacation this summer, Mary Grindley Shepard opted to stay in New London, Conn., where there was plenty going on, including a concert by Chris Brubeck (who had just played with his dad, Dave, at Skidmore’s wonderful Zankel Music Center). Grin’s sons visit her often, and her golden retriever takes good care of her. Her youngest grandson is a freshman at Ithaca College. (Remember Ithaca, nursing majors?) Marcia Weeks Clayton lives at Thornton Oaks, a senior community near Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. A new great-grand- son, Cameron, was born in March 2017. His older brother, Tucker, 2, and their parents live in Hingham, Mass. In July Marcia’s granddaughter, Ellie, mar- ried Bobbie Hoffman and honeymooned in Europe. The newlyweds are living in Virginia, where Bobbie is pursuing an MBA at UVA; Ellie will be the breadwinner for a while. Marcia plays bridge three times a week, belongs to a book club and writers club and volunteers at the library. It is with sadness that I report the loss of three classmates. Marilyn Graham Horton and Martha Steele Pitts passed away in 2016 and Betty Car- penter Evans died in August. I still volunteer at our thrift shop and the library. Most weekends, I head off to Ver- mont to see David. He is in a nursing home and we cel- ebrated his 102nd birthday in June. My granddaughter gave birth to her third son, Noah, giving me my third great-grandson. They are 13, 3, and six months! I am fortunate that they live here in Madison, as do my son Bill and my daughter Lydia. My daughter Leslieis in Arling- ton, Va. I see her as often as her job will allow. We all take a trip once a year to see all the grandsons in Colorado and visit my old roommate, Sandy Strouse Gaylord . Lydia Pardo McMinn lpmcminn@gmail.com Carol Snyder Woodward says she lives “a very quiet life.” Her family includes a son and a daughter, four grandchildren and a great-grandson and great- granddaughter. She spends time with them at a lakeside property that stretches from Vermont into Canada. Although she no longer rides horses, Carol loves walking the trails around the lake. Each year, she makes the four-day drive from Quebec to Sanibel Island, Fla., for six weeks of relaxation in a tropi- cal setting. She is thankful that after all these years, Sanibel still restricts building heights, so no high-rises obstruct views of the Gulf of Mexico. Adele Albrecht Wakefield treasures her time with fam- ily and friends. I spoke with her this summer after she returned from a visit with her sister. She also visited son Philip and grandsons Bren- dan and Barrett in Seattle, Wash., to attend Barrett’s high school graduation, and later she returned for Philip’s 60th birthday. While in Seattle, Adele caught up with Nancy Lee Farrell by phone. Adele’s second son, Peter, is the father of Andrew, Emily and Rachel. Adele encour- ages anyone to write to her. Hudson, Mass., resident Nancy Barrett Eadie says she is “coping with life as a widow.” Husband James Pe- ter died four years ago, just before their 60th wedding anniversary. Her life is now filled with news of their sons, Jay and Todd, daughter Eliza- beth and six grandchildren. Nancy finds great satisfac- tion making Nantucket-style baskets, a skill she learned from a “fabulous teacher” in Florida some years ago. For a change of pace, she switches to needlework. She stays in touch with a small network of Skidmore friends, chatting with Joan Kennison Shaw , who in turn stays in touch with Nancy’s former room- mate, Diane Davis Nelson. Susan Steinbrenner Norpell and husband Bradley still split their year between Sanibel Island, Fla., and Lakewood, Ohio. Sue stays in contact with Tillie Ruby Coulter, who also spends the winter in Florida. They both spent freshman year in Pen- field, and after graduation, four Penfield dwellers trav- eled together in Europe. Thus bitten by the “travel bug,” Sue came up with a system: She worked at a job until she had the money to travel, quit the job, went trav- eling, and then landed anoth- er job to earn travel money again — she had eight jobs in about 10 years. Along the way, Sue earned a graduate degree in library science; her last two employers were the Cleveland Public Library and a law firm. The travel became less important after she was happily wed and welcomed son Michael! Her favorite European destination is Paris, but she remembers once in Vienna, unaware that the Russian military was ending its long occupation on the day she arrived, Sue was surprised by fireworks, gun shots and wild celebration. Joyce Brier Galkin ’s hus- band Warren wrote from the couple’s home in Warwick, R.I., recalling their love of adventurous travel. The grandparents of four boys, they are the proud parents of a son and daughter who have forged successful profession- al careers. Now in assisted living, Joyce is “still smiling” despite her Alzheimer’s dis- ease. Warrens says, “Music seems to give her great pleasure,” and she sings the words to old tunes, even though she can’t remember names of good friends. Harriet Soshnick Hirsch died Jan. 20 in Tucson, Ariz. Harriet’s dedication to help- ing special-needs students to master reading and writing was remarkable. Constance Swedlin Sultan passed away Feb. 16 in NYC. She so loved her work in the baby nursery at Mount Sinai Hospital, which she did for three decades. She enjoyed arranging very well-attended ’55