class notes

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1972

Martha Pantier Tehan
marthvic@aol.com

In March Caroline Kennedy had five days of sunning, swimming, and sipping (rum punches!) in Antigua—a long overdue vacation. In April she was off to Taiwan on business, covering Giftionery: The Taiwan Gift & Stationery Show. She was hoping to get a little time to explore Taipei City. Her job with Gifts & Decorative Accessories magazine keeps her constantly on the go, as it covers many gift-trade shows around the country and world. “It may seem rather glam,” Kebbie says, but more often than not, all she gets to see is the convention center, hotel, and airport. Last fall she was in India and went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. You can read about her experiences in her blog on the magazine’s Web site: giftsanddec.com.

Denise Simon Vance is enjoying retirement. She completed her third year as a PSIA-certified ski instructor, teaching full-time at Deer Valley Ski Resort in Park City, UT.

Linda Lubin Thompson lives in Los Altos, CA, and has been married to Tom for 31 years. She has made her career working in human resources for high-tech companies in Silicon Valley. She just started at Synopsys, a $1B+ software company, as its VP of global leadership and learning. She is also president of the board of directors of Peninsula Youth Theatre in Mountain View, CA, where her daughter used to perform. Amy is now a freshman at Brandeis. She recently spent a weekend at Skidmore performing with the Brandeis sketch-comedy group at a collegiate comedy weekend. Son Jesse, 27, is living in Santa Monica and working in marketing at Peace Arch Entertainment.

Becky Layton Bartovics lives on North Haven Island in Penobscot Bay, ME, where she raises sheep and produces cider. President of the Penobscot Bay Alliance, a small environmental nonprofit, she spearheads conservation efforts there. The group plans to reserve 600 acres of undeveloped land for use as a recreation and education site. Becky is also co-owner of Nebo Lodge (www.nebolodge.com), a bed and breakfast that now includes a restaurant. She would love to host classmates for a gathering. Husband Bill is still doing energy conservation, consulting for two national public-housing organizations, serving as a selectman on the island, and rebuilding the barn and house. Daughter Mina graduated cum laude from Bowdoin in 2007. She has since worked for the Portland Schooner Company, had a one-person art show, is certified as a wilderness EMT and serves on the island EMT squad, and will be the medical officer aboard the Harvey Gamage this season. Son Foster returned to college after a two-year hiatus. He has worked as a sternman on a lobster boat and built a classic wooden picnic launch. He now is a junior at College of Atlantic in Bar Harbor. Becky would love to hear from classmates.

Sue Reinhardt Groesbeck left Hilton Head, SC, to accept a position as head at Havergal College, a pre-K–12 girls’ school in Toronto. She is sad to leave but excited by the opportunity to experience Toronto. Sue’s Skidmore roommate Susan Opie Smeragliuolo, husband Dan, and daughter Anna spent their entire spring break with her on Hilton Head Island, readying the house to put on the market. They worked feverishly while Sue kidded Opie that the volunteer project was much like Habitat for Humanity. Opie’s extraordinary decorating taste provided a great finishing touch. In April Sue and Mark celebrated the 40th anniversary of their very first date.

Patricia Lawrence Bucher, husband Richard (one of the Colgate ’71 guys who attended Skidmore for a semester), and their three children are doing well. Rich continues at Baltimore City Community College, while Pat (plbuch@aol.com) is a curriculum specialist and staff developer for Algebra 1 in Montgomery County. Son James, who lives in a nearby group home for men with autism, has been working for the local Wal-Mart for seven years. Daughter Katie is married; she is a financial consultant for Booz Allen in Washington, DC. Suzy is finishing up her junior year at James Madison University.

Sarah Ruth Lundy’s acrylic painting In Person was exhibited in April at the Lakeside Gallery in Sharon, MA, featuring artists working in oil, acrylic, watercolor, glass, photography, and 3-D sculpture.

Lynn Ritchie Hooper is enjoying retirement after 28 years as a systems analyst. She is deeply involved in fiber arts, doing quilting, needlepoint, and beading. She recently bought a weekend condo in New Hampshire. Daughter Samantha is a junior at Furman University and president of her sorority. Son Nate finished a 38-11 wrestling season ending at AllStates.

Sherry Kane Bloom, single again and living in Wantagh, NY, just sold her house and moved to a nearby condo. Daughter Rachel is doing ABA therapy with autistic toddlers and is going to graduate school for a master’s in special ed. Sherry loved seeing everyone at last year’s reunion and looks forward to the next one.

Marjorie Black Geldon, Marcia Beltzer Levy, Stephanie Kearns, and Kathy Negus met in Bethany Beach, DE, for a 35th mini-reunion in May 2007. In October Marjorie was appointed coordinator of evaluation and selection of instructional materials for Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland.

For Betty Smith Crawford’s daughter Christy, this has been a big year. She graduated with a degree in special ed from Vanderbilt, was grabbed (for a job) by the Atlanta Youth Academy, closed on her first house, and, became engaged. Betty is still stunned! She was thrilled to hear from Skidmore roommate Marty Green Allen, who lives in Newport, that her weekend traveling friend to Williams, Susan Opie Smeragliuolo, is well. She adds that Pat Lawrence Bucher and husband Rich are now her cousins!

Candy Fung Dziuba and Greg (Colgate ’72) are doing well and proud of daughter Allison, who was accepted early-decision at Brown, class of 2012. They have lived in Ridgefield, CT, for the last 10 years.

Rebecca Irwin Johnson’s first grandchild, a boy named Beckett, was born in January. Becky is experiencing the incredible joy that other grandparents have told her about.

Joan Baptie Barkan is VP of trust administration for Northern Trust Company in San Francisco, where she lives with husband John. Her new e-mail address is joanbarkan@att.net.

Corinne Bonynge Green and husband Edmund, residents of Stowe, VT, visited Krista Gemmell Harris and husband Brad in Seattle last July. They sailed in the San Juan Islands, where Corinne and Edmund were celebrating their 30th anniversary. Sunny skies prevailed and Skidmore memories—time spent in the Little Theater, dance classes with Prof. Isabel Brown, and the crew in Howe—highlighted the conversation. The Greens used to sail a lot during their courtship and when they first married, but then came the house and kids, and they said good-bye to their boat.

We all remember the tragic death of Cecilia Harding right after graduation. Julie McConchie Forte heard from Cecilia’s brother Nicholas that their father passed away in February; their mother died two years ago.

Antoinette Musco Kuritz of San Diego, CA, is founder of the La Jolla Writers Conference (lajollawritersconference.com). She is also host of Writer’s Roundtable, a radio show.

Rob Stewart and wife Linda celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. Son Daniel is graduating from Penn State and plans to attend law school. Daughter Pamela is a freshman secondary-education major at West Chester University.

Hilary Fischman Soiefer is a real-estate attorney in NYC. Husband Alan is also an attorney. Son Todd graduated from Emory in ’03 and is a hedge-fund trader; younger son Mitchell graduated from Northwestern in ’06 and is an investment banker at Deutsche Bank. Hilary would love to hear from her Moore Hall buddies.

Elizabeth Craig-Olins continues to enjoy teaching English at Newton North High School. Son Jake ’11 will be a sophomore at Skidmore this fall. It was fun for her to see Saratoga again.

Wendy Cudmore reports that her father, Kenneth, died in May. We send our sympathies to Wendy and her mother, Miriam Ogden Cudmore ’41.