class notes

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In Memoriam | People & projects

1960s

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1963

Deborah Frankel Reese
bybynj@aol.com

More than 70 of our classmates have joined the new class Web site on ning.com. I have sent invitations to join this private site to everyone for whom I have a current e-mail address. If you have not received an invitation, please e-mail me and I will issue it. My hope is to get all of you joined up, so that the Web site can be the way in which we communicate. Everyone has a profile page where your e-mails will be listed so classmates can find you. There is a “Scooping Scope” section where you can get news of classmates faster than in the magazine; there are also albums of photos posted by me and by classmates, a forum with discussion questions, archived obituaries, classmates in the media, and books by classmates. We can add anything you suggest!

Karen Levin Coburn, recently retired as vice chancellor for students at Washing­
ton University, is currently senior consultant in residence. She and her husband traveled to western Massachusetts in February for a gathering of kids and grandkids (they have seven in all); they were especially eager to see their newest grandson. From New England they headed to Vieques, Puerto Rico, where they rented a house with dear friends who live in Stockbridge. Twenty-one years after the publication of Letting Go: A Parents’ Guide to Understanding the College Years, Karen and her co-author have a fifth edition out. “A whole generation has passed, and the differences between the 1988 and 2009 editions…are a reminder of the relentless passage of time,” Karen says.

Susan Hand Shetterly traveled to California to see her first grandchild, Marsten (after Hartley, the artist). He is the son of Susan’s daughter Caitlin and her husband, who, along with Susan, are “besotted” with him. Back home in Maine, Susan says, she is a much more struggling writer in the woods than usual, trying to make a living. She is working out final (and apparently annoying) details with her publisher and also trying to finish a novel.

Susan Blum Loukedis and husband Gus are finally back home in Montvale, NJ, nearly two years after leaving as a result of a fire. She is still happily practicing law but trying to find more time for fun and friends—and, of course, grandsons.

Constance Talcott Smith is working with son Steven, who owns software development company Talcott Systems, with an office in the research and development park on the Florida Atlantic Uni­versity campus in Boca Raton. She spends about a week each month in Tampa with daughter Cyndi and her family, including two kids. Cyndi is deputy commander of the JAG detachment at MacDill AFB.

Ann Underwood Meredith traveled to Barbados to stay with longtime Baian friends. While there she worked with a group of mentally and physically challenged teenagers that her 30-year-old handicapped goddaughter assists. Ann describes her as a “ray of love.” She also enjoyed fishing, hiking, watching polo, and sailing with some British friends.

We all know how tirelessly Joan Layng Dayton has worked for Skidmore, in so many ways, but did you know that she and her husband have also saved a beautiful part of Maine’s Chebeague Island for posterity? To see how they have protected their extensive property, the former Hig­gins Farm, from development forever, click here.

Meg Reitman Jacob took a 23-day National Geographic trip around the world, visiting Peru, Easter Island, Samoa, Aus­tralia, Cambodia, China, Tibet, India, Egypt, Tanzania, and Morocco. The Jacobs also took a trip to Spain in October. Howie is still working but not as hard; his son-in-law, the company president and fourth generation in the family business, is running the day-to-day operations. Meg’s two grandsons live nearby, and she sees them as often as their busy schedules allow.

Carol Brush Nicholson will attend her 50th high school reunion in Huntington, NY, this fall, so has to miss the springtime nursing majors reunion. She visited with Joan Davidson Reich, who stopped in with her husband Jim on their way from Pittsburgh to the Sarasota area. Carol also spoke with Ellie Hutchinson Rogers.

Willa Zens Marten divides her time between Mill Valley, CA, and Kealakekua Bay, HI, leaning more toward Hawaii as retirement closes in. She invites classmates to look her up at www.halekeawe.com. She says Mill Valley is beginning to provide long-absent opportunities in af­fordable commercial space. Hawaii, on the other hand, is imploding; tourism is over, and retirees are stuck on the mainland. Willa saw Betsy Damon, who is planning another sustainable water project in China. You may be aware of her accomplishment, an amazing water garden in Chengdu.

Judy Hestwood Feagin “accidentally” backed into giving art lessons to several adults last winter, and has new respect for our instructors back in the day. She says there’s a very thin line between holding the paintbrush for them (bad) and de­mon­strating some techniques in use of paint (good).

Barbara Kelston celebrated 25 years of running her toy and general store in Locust Valley, NY. Her daughter was married two years ago and lives in NYC. Barbara splits her time between home, NYC, and Vinalhaven, ME, enjoying all three locales.

Jan Silverman Rifkin and her husband are planning to move back to northern Virginia to be closer to their daughter and grandsons. They are hoping not to have problems selling in this market. Their son and daughter-in-law are new parents of a little girl, their first child, born in January.

For Mary Lou Underwood Meyer, last year included both good and difficult events: two weddings, the birth of a third grandchild, and six months of cancer treatment for her daughter-in-law.

Jane Finneman Hochman is thinking about starting a new book, but her husband says she is “crazy” to do so. She and Carolyn Caesar Ingraham met to discuss this year’s class fund­raising plans. The are encouraged that classmates are still donating in spite of the poor economy, which is affecting all schools.

Tucker Gere Parke, my apartment neighbor in 1965–66, and husband Jerry live in Chicago, across the street from Lake Michigan, where she says “each season is so beautiful!” They enjoy having their oldest of four children living in the area. Another son is in Sarasota, and their youngest daughter lives in Princeton, NJ. Tucker is still in commercial building management, a career that she followed in Philadelphia and now in Chicago for about 20 years.

Shirley Fleming Woodward and her husband had an enjoyable trip to Alberta and British Columbia, mostly in Banff and Jasper National Park, including Lake Louise. From there they took a train to Vancouver and visited in Seattle with Shirley’s brother, nieces, and nephews. She says her four grandsons—ranging from age 1 to 6—are all thriving and a lot of fun. One daughter lives in York, Maine, and another just moved from California to New York; they enjoy having all of their family on the East Coast.

Jackie Fernald Montgomery’s younger son Geoff has joined her in the real estate business in Jackson Hole, WY. She has traveled extensively over the past few years to Africa, China, and India. She also took a weeklong art course at a local art center and says she’s glad she still has some art skills.

Judy Hestwood Feagin recently spoke with Sue Weston Marino, who was a classmate in high school as well as college.

After living in England for years, Susan Myers Candler and her husband are now happily settled in North Carolina; they also keep an apartment in NYC. Susan gets back to England about three times a year. She has kept in contact with roommate Dale Fairtile Maron and enjoyed seeing other nursing students at the mini-reunion they held in NYC in April.

Congratulations to Anne Windsor Beaman, now a licensed psychologist in the state of New Hampshire. She says it took her over a decade of graduate school, clinical training, internship, postdoc training, and multiple exams, but she did it.

Nancy Ruch Stevenson reports that she has two new knees. In April she and her husband traveled to Scotts Valley, CA, to visit their son and family, including 5-, 6-, and 7-year-olds. After that, she headed for Whitehouse Station, NJ, where their daughter and three granddaughters live. Nancy planned to visit Karen Rogers, who lives just minutes from Nancy’s daughter and was a bridesmaid in Nancy’s wedding 45 years ago.

In January Deb Acton Tollefson traveled from her home in Arizona to spend two weeks with her mother before her passing in February at the age of 94. Deb’s dad was presented with the Boston Post Cane for being the oldest citizen in the town, an honor previously held by his wife. In May, Deb attended her 50th high school reunion at the Albany (NY) Acade­mies—the first-ever reunion (high school or college) for her. Deb’s oldest grandchild, Amanda, graduated from high school in May. Amanda has a half-sister Lilli-Rose, 3, and a half-brother Sage, 1, who live in Key West, FL. Two more grands—Austin, 14, and another Amanda, 11—live with their mother in Phoenix.

Judy Pettingell escaped the long winter in the Upper Valley (Hanover, NH) and visited her sister and husband, who have a second home in Sarasota. Judy loved the restaurants, the ocean, the great weather, and the beautiful homes. She still paints, and spends more time than she’d like on CraftStudies, the educational arm of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, but says it is paying off—the league now has a stronger board of trustees, more money coming in, and more visibility.

My husband, John, and I celebrated our 45th anniversary by going to NYC to enjoy the opera, Broadway, museums, and lovely meals. My 3-year-old grandson visited one afternoon, and loved being in a hotel room. Then we headed to Wilton, CT, to babysit while our son and daughter-in-law went to the Caribbean. I will be celebrating my 50th high school reunion (how impossible is that!) at Grover Cleve­land High School in Caldwell, NJ. (It is a milestone that John and I have to celebrate, since we both attended the same school and were in the same class, even though we did not date until college!) But what I really cannot believe is that my daughter just had her 20th reunion at Dartmouth.