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1970s

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1970

Barbara Crossman Bell
bici@twcny.rr.com

Roberta Franks Straus reports that, despite some major health struggles, she and her husband are doing well. Now retired, Roberta is a patient volunteer for Old Colony Hospice and enjoys water aerobics. Steve enjoys “playing at” dentistry, golf, and Dixieland jazz. Son Matt ’95 is a sommelier in Santa Monica, CA. Daughter Emily teaches special ed in Salem, MA. The Strauses have moved to a single-level home in North Easton, MA, and welcome visitors.

Beret Butter Moyer earned a master’s in pastoral counseling in 2006 and is a therapist at a small agency in Washington, DC. She and husband Homer, an international trade lawyer in DC, have three grandchildren. Two of their four kids are married, one is engaged, and one is on her postcollege “odyssey.”

Sherry Bostwick Bishko’s older daughter, Alix, was married in September in France, where she lives. A contingent of family and friends from the States went and had a wonderful time.

Beth Simonowitz Knox is a general pediatrician in Exton, PA. Son George is an assistant professor of marketing at Tilberg University in the Netherlands, and daughter Gilly is applying to law schools. Beth says, “Although I’m old enough to have grandchildren, for now I have to content myself with children of the former children of my practice.”

Cynthia Hearn Dorfman is chief management officer for the US Department of Education’s communications and outreach office. Daughter Emily completed an MSW from Columbia, and daughter Caroline earned a BA from Penn.

Maureen Magee sent details of a trip to Russia as a guest of the US Embassy in Moscow. In Red Square, St. Basil’s Cathedral ahead, the Kremlin Tower to one side, she says, “I remembered the newspaper photos of the ’50s; with old images locked in memory, I expected tanks and soldiers but instead found beautiful architecture and the international vibrancy of high-heeled girls in tight jeans and young men with art-school portfolios tucked under their arms.” Her adventures included a visit to the Hermitage Museum, a speed boat heading to Peterhof, and a performance of the ballet Swan Lake.

Lila Geer York restaged her ballet, Celts, for the Orlando Ballet this winter, and continues work on her book about training for a dance career.

Carolyn Ray’s son Ben is a senior at Cornell, majoring in biophysics. Daughter Tova is a freshman physics major at Harvard. Carolyn’s partner, Ken Parker, is a guitarmaker and was recently profiled in the New Yorker. She is proud that Carolyn Ray Inc., the closest private entity to a nonprofit status, is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Its newest employee, Page St. Clair ’07, replaces the fabulous Janice Cervera ’05 (who has gone to work for Liz Claiborne). As Carolyn says, “Skidmore girls know how to have fun while getting it done!”

Martha Wakeman Proctor and Bob spent the first six months of 2007 in Italy, where both taught in college programs at the Institute at Palazzo Rucellai in Florence and at the Umbra Institute in Perugia. In between, Martha led a nine-day pastel workshop in Tuscania, an hour north of Rome.

Liz Miller Grasty is contemplating retirement. She and Warren plan to leave northern Virginia for Asheville, NC. The couple is planning a trip to Scotland this fall with a stop in England to visit Warren’s son, who is on an assignment there.

Margery Mellman has developed a new passion over the last three years: exercising and working with a personal trainer! Three years ago, she was a complete neophyte, and now she sees the personal trainer two days a week and exercises the other three on her own. She loves developing strength, flexibility, endurance, and balance. “I recommend it to everyone—it gives you a feeling of vitality!” Margery remembers with sadness and love the three friends her particular group from Skidmore lost in the last few years: Mari Pat Cronin, Beverly Harvey, and Bonnie Betcone Cole ’71.

In September Deborah Fritts Palmer and Jeff welcomed their first grandchild, a boy, born to daughter Jennifer and husband Dave. Debbie is pursing her painting and taught art at Seabrook Island, SC, over the winter.

Marsha Bayly Schoene-Langohr was married in August 2006. She lives in Seattle, WA, and teaches special ed in an elementary school.

My husband, Russell, has been diagnosed with a difficult respiratory disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. While our traveling days are probably over, we continue to enjoy family while I pursue freelance writing and work with Suite101.com as a section manager for the plants and animals and health and wellness topics. I am also working on an extensive family history of the Crossman, Jones, Evans, and Crego families in upstate New York.