class notes

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In Memoriam | People & projects

1950s

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1958

Priscilla Knowlton Tavenner
tavenner@gwi.net

Martha Walsh has sailed the Suez Canal and seen Mt. Sinai, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan since our last reunion. She tells everyone with children looking at colleges to visit Skidmore; she believes it has become a first-class institution.

Nancy Hoagland Steidl had a wonderful time at our 50th reunion. She and husband Dan live in Rainbow Lake, NY. In January Dan retired after 48 years as a patent attorney in NYC. Daughter Heidi attended Skidmore one year, until the nursing program was cancelled. Daughter Hilary is a graphic designer, son Karl went to Union, and son Jeremy is a Culinary Institute of America chef in Hyde Park, NY.

Aurel Brown Searls, who was on the “lost” page of alumnae, has moved to Frisco, CO.
Nancy Meaker Laird’s husband, James, is head of the psychology department at Clark University in Worcester, MA.

Barbara Fritts Dixon is doing well after a year of adjustments and challenges. She enjoyed Reunion, followed by a trip to Sag Harbor. She has visited her children
in Boulder, CO, and wonders how they survive the winters there.

In January Barbara Osborne Vulkoff and husband Craig enjoyed a 15-day cruise down the east coast of New Zealand, across the Tasman Sea to Hobart, and up the coast of Australia to Sydney. They had a wonderful time, especially in the martini bar!

Sidney Wright Coursen and husband Beau enjoyed their annual jaunt to Flor­ida, visiting Sid’s brother Bob and his wife, friends in Naples, and Beau’s roommate from Trinity and his wife. Son Jeff and children visited them in Florida for a few days. Sid, Mary Avery Gessner, and Ann Talbot Brown ’57 enjoy their monthly book club with seven other women. In March they discussed The Faith Club: A Muslim, a Christian, a Jew. They recently had a wonderful discussion of Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture.

Joan Bowles Averette lives in Virginia Beach, VA. She has been taking classes at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washing­ton, DC, and will receive certification in lay ministry and evangelism. She and husband George are volunteers as well as competitors in the National Senior Games and Senior Olympics. Joan competes in swimming; George pitches horseshoes.

Joan Cole Pendergast observes that the nursing program gave her great satisfaction in life, as has being the mother of six children and 17 grandchildren. Founder and director of After Abortion Helpline,a free, nonsectarian telephone service staffed by volunteers, she has run the agency for the past 20 years.

Nan Cooper Healy found her secretarial background very constructive both in business and in raising a family. She and husband John have been married for 50 years and spent 13 of them living in Argentina, France, and Australia. Nan volunteers about 1,000 hours a year at the local hospital and for other organizations.

Frances Garrett Crew has had a busy life in politics because of husband Jack’s position as district attorney, then supreme-court and appellate judge. Frances, who raised four children, is active with United Way and sits on the board of an assisted-living facility. She and Jack live a healthy lifestyle on 50 acres in Elmira, NY, and stay on the go with a 39-foot motor home.

Elsa Daspin Suisman produced a play on Broadway this past spring. Impressionism, with Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen, opened at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on West 45th Street in March and ran for 18 weeks.

In Roswell, GA, Jackie Bush Collopy says she is as busy in retirement as when working. She is involved with charitable organizations, church, and DAR; she also paints and quilts. She remembers fondly (as do I) a 10-country trip to Europe sponsored by Skidmore. She has four children and eight grandchildren. Jackie and husband Bruce celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last summer with a barbecue at their daughter’s home in Virginia Beach. All four children and 10 grandchildren attended. Barbara Ford Ostrander, husband John, and granddaughter Laura drove down from Philadelphia to surprise them. The Ostranders were in Sarasota for the winter and stopped in Atlanta to visit Jackie on their way back home.

Ann Pizzutello Panero relocated to Miami from Westchester County, NY, in 1970 and has stayed in Florida since. She taught with the Dade County adult education department for 20 years, teaching subjects ranging from art to dance, and also reviewed books. After retirement, she moved to a community in Palm Beach County, where her neighbors were tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams—particularly exciting since Ann has been playing women’s league tennis for years. Ann and her husband moved to north Florida to be closer to their only son and his young family. He works at the Kennedy Space Center, and Ann never ceases to be amazed at the rocket launches that take place in the area. She welcomes classmates to visit.

Soon-to-be-retired Linda Gross Singer and husband Lou live in Naples, FL, in the Grey Oaks golf community. Their nine grandkids live nearby. Dear friend Lynn Rosenberg Estess and significant other Leonard Wagman spend time with them there.

I received the sad news that Bev Beatson Grossman’s son Bruce, 47, unexpectedly passed away in December 2008 from a massive stroke. Bruce was an accomplished musician and performed at Renaissance fairs. Our heartfelt condolences go out to Bev and Felix and sons David and Peter.