class notes

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1963

Deborah Frankel Reese
bybynj@aol.com

It was great to hear from Ginny Payne Morse, who has been living at the Clark House Nursing Home for the past four years due to primary progressive multiple sclerosis. She is back home in her condominium, where she has skilled nursing care. During her time at Clark House, college roommate Ginny Nyvall Durfee, who lives a mile away, was a frequent visitor. In December Ginny Durfee “sprang” Ginny Morse from her place, and like “Thelma and Louise” they drove to Stonington, CT, where they had lunch with Judy Baldwin Martin in her newly built house on the water. They all had a great day. The Durfees also visited the Martins in Key Largo-Ocean Reef in early December, and both Ginny and Judy wrote about the fun they had together. Judy Parsons ’62 has also stopped in to see Ginny Morse while in the Boston area. A member of the first education class to graduate, Judy helped Ginny, another education major, navigate around Boston when she first arrived after graduation. Ronnie Zolondek Bramesco, Bonnie Bell Potter, and Beth Angier Holden have also come by on separate occasions. I live a few blocks away from Ginger Clark Keare ’59, who checks in on Ginny Morse on the way to the gym, located in Ginny’s building. Ginny’s favorite professor, and director of elementary education, was John P. Shepard, “an excellent teacher and mentor.” She dedicated a media classroom and established a scholarship in his honor several years ago.

Patty Foreman Balbirer is back in Tucson, AZ, gazing at her beloved desert and mountains. Her grandchildren keep her busy; the two older girls play ice hockey in Connecticut. “I spend a lot of time freezing my ‘you know what’ off at rinks around the state!” says Patty.

Barbie Ades Bond and husband Ed are enjoying retirement, keeping busy with hobbies and volunteer work. Barbie works at a crisis pregnancy center and leads a senior chorus that sings at assisted-living facilities.

Jeanne Robinson Schwartz is in her 24th year as a radiologist at Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey. For the last 11 years, she has been department chair and director of the hospital’s radiology residency program. Husband Jeff is semi-retired, and son Alec is a urologist
in NYC. After attending Columbia Business School, son Josh runs his own hedge fund, also in
the city. Jeanne stays in touch with Milli Krips Boyce and occasionally sees Meg Reitman Jacobs.

Milli Boyce’s three sons provide her and her husband with many adventures. Son Phil took them to the Westminster dog show in NYC in February, and since their youngest son has a restaurant on the Upper East Side, they ate well. Meanwhile, third son Mike lives in Africa, and has Milli and her husband going on safaris. He has his own film company and was working for Oprah this past year. The Boyces also took in the Czech Film Festival with granddaughter Adelai.

A Google search came up with the news that Dina Shoenthal Butcher’s husband runs W. T. Butcher & Associates Ltd., providing professional investigations and issue-advocacy services. They serve the upper Midwest and have been doing so since 1982. Thanks to Dina, former agriculture policy advisor for North Dakota Governor Ed Schafer, I put my dogs on natural organic pet food a year ago, prior to the big pet-food problems last year.

Ginger Stocker Howse and husband Woody traveled to South America last year as part of a field seminar given by Woody’s alma mater, Stanford University. The course explored the human dimensions of conservation efforts under way today in the Amazon Basin and included an intensive 11-day expedition to the Peruvian Amazon and Machu Picchu.

Lynn Edwards Hendricks was named associate VP for development at Boston University’s medical campus last spring. This new position adds fundraising responsibility for the Schools of Public Health and Dental Medicine to her current role as director of development for the School of Medicine.

Pat Lee Michener left after sophomore year to get married and had to transfer to another college. She would like to stay in touch and can be contacted at pmichener63@yahoo.com. She is finally retired and sees Debbie Day Hayes, her sophomore-year roommate.

Joyce Weinstein Ozier sent a new e-mail address: joyce@wowwindowsdisplay.com. She owns a window design and display business in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Karen Levin Coburn sent photos of daughter Alison’s wedding last summer in her holiday card.

Judith Pettingell’s first grandchild arrived May 1 last year. “The model grandchild, he is cute, very bright, well coordinated, etc.” Judith reports. “I didn’t have any idea what I’ve been missing. What fun!” Judy exhibited two paintings at the AVA Gallery in Lebanon, NH—no small feat for a novice painter.

Artist Lucretia Robbins (Chrissie Fueller) had six of her spectacular abstracts in Richard Rosenfeld’s small works show. She was also in a highly competitive Main Line Art Center juried show in Philadelphia (see www.lucretiarobbins.com). Chrissie, who lives with husband Bill Siemering in the outskirts of Philadelphia, has three grandchildren: a grandson in the San Diego area and two granddaughters in Connecticut, whom she sees frequently. She stays busy painting and teaching the elderly and young girls in the summer, in her well-known Art in the Garden sessions.

It was a long winter in Madison, WI, for Liz Flescher Palay. She and husband Ed are well, although Liz is reminded with each classmate’s passing “how each day is so precious.” She and Ed had a great trip to Chile and Argentina this past winter.

Ronnie Zolondek Bramesco spent the spring recovering from a double knee replacement. She said it was far better to recuperate in Tucson, AZ, in 80-degree weather than the Northeast! She and husband Art Suekoff did not return until spring arrived. As usual, she was able to spend quality time with Patty Foreman Balbirer and Arthur, who live nearby.

Susan King Hanke, VP of the American Federation for the Blind, is recognized internationally as an expert in the education of visually impaired and blind children and youth. She has extensive experience as a speaker and workshop coordinator and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments Founders Award for helping establish the organization and incorporating parents into its processes in 1980.

Beverly Crickard Steele retired in 2004 after 30 years of service to the City of Alexandria, VA. She began in 1973 as an aide to one of the first two women ever to be elected to the city council. In 1986 she was named director of the office of housing, and in 1991 became deputy city manager. From 2000 until her retirement, Beverly served as director of special projects. Now she spends her time traveling, gardening, and reading.

Although retired, Willa Zens Marten keeps up a low-key art-show schedule in California and “will work for air fare!” She also manages three properties and enjoys a Pacific Rim lifestyle in Marin and Hawaii counties. Her most recent show, Natural Connections (Monoprints and Montage), runs through August 27 at the Dolphin Gallery in Gualala, CA.

Jean Johnson Monk retired as comptroller at Well Spring Retirement Community. She and husband Doug moved to Pawley Island, SC, to be closer to son Tom, a chef in Wilmington, and daughter Katie, an accounting administrator for community law schools in Charleston.

Laura Young is still teaching art and art history at the University of Iowa. Between semesters she has been a fellow at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts. Her new paintings can be viewed at www.art.uiowa.edu.

Ann Underwood Meredith’s husband, Frank, died of cancer on Valentine’s Day 2007. Ann says, “We had a dynamic 20 years of love and friendship.” She spends her time with her children and grandchildren, horseback riding, ice skating, hiking, and challenging them to earn better grades for the right reasons. She continues to work two days a week with troubled families and individuals in crisis, work at which she is well seasoned after 30 years. “My hope is that we have all gotten better and richer in lessons in life,” she says. Ann invites classmates to stay at her seaside home in Newport, RI.

Marilyn Filbrick Kelly retired from her job as a project manager for Verizon, sold her house, and moved to Old Snomass, CO, to join a college boyfriend who came back into her life six years ago. They live in ranch country, surrounded by beautiful mountain views. Marilyn says Colorado is a “fantastic” place for her to get back into painting and photography.

For me the holidays were wonderful as usual, amidst the snow-covered hills and mountains in Vermont—perfect, deep, puffy white snow this year, which my 21-month-old grandson Nate enjoyed a lot. In December, John and I traveled to Connecticut to have Christmas with the rest of the family and the other grandkids: Aidan, 7, Eloise, 4, and Lily, 2. The next day we flew to Paris to spend New Year’s week with six very old and dear friends from our high-school days. After a year in which I had to prepare for three large art shows, I am painting for myself and some galleries.

I have been in touch with Susan Hand Shetterly, who helped me edit and update the book on Mail on E newsletters for Reunion. Sue’s daughter Caitlin is the founder and artistic director of the Winter Harbor Theatre Company in Portland, ME. Like her mother, Caitlin is also a freelance journalist and writes a column about relationships for The Phoenix, a weekly Portland paper. Sue’s son Aran is also a writer.

By the way, those of you who did not attend Reunion can purchase copies of “When the 50s Met the 60s,” a marvelous history of us and our years at Skidmore and of our era in general. Just e-mail kdrabek@skidmore.edu.