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1960s

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1969

Elizabeth Mckinley Loomis
lizyloo@comcast.net

Mary Miller Mapes is academic director of the BFA and MFA programs at Miami International University of Art and Design. Last year she also took on the advertising major and, come spring, will be chairing the associate’s degree in digital-print productions. She says, “Except for the fact that I am overworked, I love my job. I have a great group of faculty, excellent colleagues, and a wonderful dean. I also love teaching.” Mary’s 30-plus years as a graphic designer and getting her MFA at the University of Miami while running the North-South Press put her in the right position to land the job. Her son is at the University of Maryland, getting his master’s in computer engineering while working full-time. “Except for the trauma of losing my 91-year-old mother last year, I am happy, my personal life rewarding, my health excellent, and my work challenging,” reports Mary.

Kristine Ford Herrick’s daughter Katie was married last June to a Boston College classmate on the waterfront at Kris’s parents’ home in Queenstown, MD. Katie is the online editor of thenest.com, a Web magazine for young couples. The wedding is featured in the spring/summer edition of The Knot, available on newsstands in January. “The occasion was also a great reunion of my dear and lifelong Skidmore friends including my roommate, Vicki Dobbyn Dill, who came from British Columbia, Anne Sherman, Ann Forshay Breaznell ’70, Penny Peck DeRocker ’68, and Sarah Pearce Deaver ’68.”

After a few years as an attorney in private practice, Deena Borden accepted a position as regional director of compliance program operations for Christus Health, one of the top-10 Catholic health-care systems with facilities in six states and Mexico. She is responsible for its three hospital systems in Louisiana, which means a lot of travel since Deena lives in San Antonio, TX. “The only person from Skidmore years I keep in touch with is Jeanine Caltigirone Jacobson. She and I have been reminiscing lately about RFK’s visit to Skidmore, wondering what things would have been like if he hadn’t been assassinated and had won the presidency in 1968.” Deena also notes that she will always think of Skidmore as a women’s college.

Kristin Baggelaar Milton’s second book, The Copacabana, has just been published by Arcadia Publishing as part of its Images of America series. It chronicles the history of this world-famous nightclub through vintage photographs and captions.

Since 1996 Elisabeth Olson Geraghty has been executive director of the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, which makes arts grants in the Chicago metropolitan area. “Our three children each married over the last three-plus years, and we are now proud grandparents of a grandson.” Elisabeth frequently sees Mimi Hobart Petke ’70, as Mimi’s son and Elisabeth’s daughter are married. She also reports that Margie Mellman is her faithful NYC culture guide.

Leslie Ullman has retired from 25 years of teaching creative writing at the University of Texas–El Paso. She still teaches for the Vermont College MFA program and has begun doing freelance manuscript consulting while continuing her own poetry writing. This winter she taught skiing at the Ernie Blake Ski School in Taos, NM.

Karleen Erhardt was in Pasadena, CA, last spring, visiting Judy Allen Wilson. Judy works part-time consulting on water and transportation issues. She also chairs a capital campaign for a local nonprofit. She and Randy are doing a lot of traveling, most recently to northern India.

In November Margaret Amyot Mangano retired from midwifery but continues to teach childbirth classes. To celebrate her 60th birthday, she ran a marathon in Boise, ID, finishing second in her age group. She also enjoyed sightseeing along the Lewis and Clark Trail and visiting their three “California kids.” Now she and Tony are concentrating on their Adirondack cabin, planning some additional tours of the country, and being Grandma and Poppy to five grandchildren.

September found Barbara Cornish Fountain visiting Barbara Levi Lankalis in NYC. She “enjoyed seeing Barbara, husband John, and son J. B. at their lovely apartment on the Upper West Side.
We visited museums, took in a play, and had lunch in Central Park.”

After a crazy life in Boston as one of the managers of Davio’s restaurant, Joan Raphael moved to Westport, MA, and works in the refugee resettlement department at the International Institute of RI, which she finds exciting and rewarding. She married childhood friend Philip Weinstein in 2005 after a chance meeting between her mother and Phil. Sadly, Joan’s mother passed away in February. Joan and Phil have been traveling a lot and are building a house in Costa Rica where they hope to spend winters.

A professor of fine arts at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Christine Chase Neill displayed her latest work at the Gallery Art Advisory/Boston. The pieces combine digital printing with hand painting and drawing. She traces the influence behind much of her recent work to her academic experiences at Skidmore. She entered intending to be a biology major, but while studying the origins of life, became “totally engaged” in a drawing course.

Alexandra Schilling Friedman moved to Marin County, CA, which she hopes is her last home.
“I counted seven houses we have bought and sold in six cities over 30 years, not counting a few rentals in between,” she says. Alex sent me a photo of one of her most recent tapestries, which I will post on our class Web page.

Sheila Barry Aborn Lockwood and I had a fun lunch and shopping date in Boston just before Christmas. Sheila, recently married to Roger Lockwood, has retired from the Museum of Science.
It was great to catch up on our lives and those of our children. We can’t remember how we knew each other at Skidmore, but we are both glad our paths have crossed again.