class notes

1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s

In Memoriam | People & projects

1960s

1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969

1961

Charlotte Smiley Read
gig4smile@aol.com

Linda Brafman Berke shared the happy news that she and longtime companion Tom Bulow were married January 17 in a sunset ceremony in Tucson, AZ. They are both retired but keep busy with projects, volunteering, and traveling. Recently, they took a cruise through the Panama Canal and Central America. Lin­da’s oldest daughter, Debbie, who lives in Phoenix, was married on Valentine’s Day. Linda was feeling very “weddinged” out!

In February Linda enjoyed a visit with Joan Horowitz Behr and husband Dick, who were in Tucson, AZ, to see Dick’s daughter and family. The visit included touring Biosphere II, dinner at Linda and Tom’s, and a day for Joan and Linda while Dick watched the big PGA tournament being held in Tucson. Dick got some great pictures of Mickelson, but didn’t see Tiger!

Alice Chase Kaufman has moved her home and her business, High Desert Con­epts, to Larkspur in CA’s Marin County.

Joan Hobbie French is still happily married to her “boy next door” of 46 years. They have three children and four grandsons, all in New Jersey and NYC. Joan helped run her 50th high school reunion in 2007, connecting with Sonja Bernt Jones. Sonja and Joan were close friends from grammar school days. Joan’s husband is a volunteer EMT and crew chief in town. He also “labors” for Dartmouth ’59, and they attended his 50th in June. Joan has been on the board of her church’s women’s club for 10 years; she finds mentoring a seven-year-old girl from Newark very rewarding. She and her husband enjoy membership in a gourmet group full of fun people and special events.

In February Jacki Jung was joined by Hulda Hardman Jowett, Judy Mutti Grinnell, Gail Ryan, Marilyn Schutrum Coughlin, and Nan Selkowitz Sisselman for a terrific mini-reunion in William­town, MA. They toured the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit at the Clark Art Institute and then enjoyed lunch at the Williams College Faculty House. They had a great visit, sharing many warm memories of years on the old Skidmore campus.

Brenda Giombetti Darcey and Dick have a new granddaughter, born to Adrienne and Eric on March 22. It was an eventful delivery, but everyone is doing fine now. The Darceys are happily getting settled in their new home in Brunswick, ME; it is close to their summer cottage, and to many activities at nearby Bowdoin College.
|
Carol Geffner Fontani gives her “life in a nutshell”: She transferred to Sarah Lawrence in 1959 and met husband Vittorio in Florence, Italy, during summer school. They were married in 1963 and had daughter Mauna in 1968. Carol taught math and art in high school for over 30 years and has been happily retired since 2007. She enjoys her five grandchildren. She has set up a studio and is painting again, mostly dogs and orchids. Vittorio passed away 14 years ago.

Peter and Mickey Mannion-Baruzzi spent the winter on Captiva Island, FL, reading, fishing, and painting. They enjoyed a visit from Paula Rosen Janis and husband Paul Schuler. The Baruzzis re­turned to Saratoga at the end of April, and spent the summer on Cape Cod.

Edna Simons Alvarez lives in Los Angeles and has retired from many things—including her careers as estate planning attorney and lecturer, feminist, and mother of Anica, who lives in London. Edna is an active grandmother of Anica’s three grandchildren, participant in the War Against Hunger, and lover of travel, the arts, and bird-watching.

London resident Jocelyn Ball Berger, widowed since 2002, continues a very small psychotherapy practice and attends some adult-ed classes in exercise, painting, and literature. Jossi also started piano lessons again. Her two daughters also live in London, and her son, his wife, and their two kids are in Sydney.

A visit from out-of-towners got some of us together in Washington, DC. In April Judy Brown Tulchin came from North Carolina (she was actually in NYC visiting her son), and Joan Horowitz Behr came from Philadelphia. So Val Blumenthal Gordon, Ellie Platzman Palmer, and I joined them for a fun dinner at Tysons Corner. Judy and Joan had a tour earlier in the day at the Kreeger Museum, where Ellie is a docent. Val told us of her volunteer project in May: running a house tour in Potomac, MD. The sponsor is Congre­gation Har Shalom, and proceeds will go to numerous charities. Cookie Rapoport Thier came to Washington for a visit in late April, and Val and I enjoyed an outdoor lunch with her on Connecticut Ave.

Linda Speer Diez was once again roped into teaching French to help out during a colleague’s three-month maternity leave. After being retired for 10 years, she says teaching four classes a day is a bit bizarre! Last year she spent time in Peru, Chile, Argentina, and the Dominican Republic in addition to travels to San Diego, Santa Fe, the Catskills, and Montauk, NY.