Skidmore College - Scope Magazine Fall 2018

41 SKIDMORE COLLEGE Mary McDonald Klimek and Dan sold their home in Lexington, Mass., in May and moved to Maine. While they hunt for a winter home in Belfast, they are staying at their summer place on Dyer Point in Steuben. Vice president of Estill Voice International, Mary travels to teach and also conducts lessons online. She encour- ages classmates interested in exploring her neck of the woods to contact her (“yes, dear Skiddies, there is life beyond Bar Harbor”). Mary notes, “Oddly enough, our closest neighbor is my second cousin Elizabeth Wilkinson Lane ’79 . Mary Ayres and partner Merrill spent more than three weeks in Yugoslavia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovenia. It was a great trip, although “a bit weird being in a place where I remember the war.” They especially enjoyed Sarajevo, a very European city, and got to see its Haggada. Mary observes, “It is bizarre to realize that the West allowed the siege of this place to continue for five years.” She and Merrill wished for more time in beautiful Slovenia, where “everyone pointed out that Melania Trump was a native, but didn’t seem to think much of her husband.” Mary had fun comparing notes with Martha Merrick Shanahan , who traveled to the region with her family. Sue Hufnagel recently had a shoulder replaced; both knees were taken care of last year. She retired in June after a 34-year career educating 3- to 5-year-olds with special needs. Her job involved identifying eligible kids, getting them into programs, monitoring their progress and helping them transition to public school special-ed. Sue decided to retire when her eldest granddaughter (a kindergartener) opted to get off the bus at grandma’s three days a week! Sue’s oth- er granddaughters, ages 4 and 3, live close by and Sue feels blessed to be part of their lives! Maizie is the child of Sue’s daughter Sarah Reilly Harvey ’00 . Sue loves having more time for sewing, gardening and keeping up with house projects. She sees Connie Kniffin and her husband, John, as often as schedules allow. I am saddened to share the news that Nancy Betts died in NYC Dec. 12, 2017, after a valiant struggle with ovarian cancer. Newly retired, she re- turned to the East Coast after many years in San Francisco to seek treatment at Sloan Kettering. Bob, her partner of 35 years, stayed by her side. Quickly mastering the complex treatment protocols for her cancer, she was often two steps ahead of her medi- cal team. Nancy once said that her father did not suffer fools, and that apple did not fall far from the tree. Nancy blended a sharp wit with a lively sense of humor and a love of laughter. She will be sorely missed. Susan Flanders Davidson suzart@davidsonautonet. com ’72 When Mary O’Bryan Seidman’s husband died three years ago, she remained in NYC but moved into a smaller apartment and continued to manage the family’s racing stable. Her horses race at Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga; the mares and foals are kept at McMahon Farm in Saratoga. During last year’s Saratoga racing season, she rented a condo on Spring Street — in the former church right across from the old Little Theater building. But in August, she moved permanently into a Union Avenue townhouse recently built on the site of Moore Hall, where she lived during sophomore year. She loves being near her horses and enjoys Saratoga. She may even audit a class at Skidmore! Youngest daughter Jenny was married on Montauk this summer. Older daughter Jamie now has three boys: George, 7, Hal, 5, and Skyler, 3. Beth Josephs Kelly is still working for an environmental engineering firm. But she also spends time baby-sitting grandkids. Her summer in- cluded a five-day backpack- ing trip to Kings Canyon. Barbara Devine Bode Barbara.bode1@gmail.com ’73 Reunion chair extra- ordinaire Cathy Offinger was delighted by the turnout at our 45th reunion. Cathy says, “ Reunion was a wonderfully happy success. It was great to rekindle longtime friend- ships and equally meaning- ful to make new friends. To those of you who worked so hard to make the 45th so special, thank you! To every- one who made the journey to Saratoga, I am confident you are very glad that you did. To classmates who were unable to share in the celebration, we missed you and hope you will make every effort to join us in 2023!” Cathy says retirement is in her near fu- ture. “I may still go to the lab on occasion, but I do intend to start drawing on my retire- ment funds!” She spent 10 fun-packed days with daugh- ter Heidi and her husband in August. Although exhausted after the vacation, she quips, “I am proud to say I can still party hearty!” And Cathy’s 98-year-old dad is still going strong; his 76th Yale reunion was in May. Lynn Faught had a fabulous time at Reunion, catching up with classmates, meeting other alumni and taking part in the events planned by the College and our reunion committee. She felt honored to receive an Outstanding Service Award as a Skid- more volunteer. In her lively acceptance remarks, Lynn dedicated the award to her “happy pappy.” “It was so much fun to see so many of us at Reunion,” says Timi Carter . She thanks everyone for making the effort to attend and catch up with her, adding, “I know I am biased, but we do have an outstanding class.” In August, Timi attended a Skidmore event in Portland, Maine, where sociology professor John Brueggemann lectured on the decline of societal institutions and rise of grass- roots movements. While there, Timi met a delightful incoming freshman and an alum who has a mutual friend. “It was a fun and in- formative evening!” Earlier in the summer, she spent three days with former roommate Carol Mulvihill Ahlers ; they had a fabulous time recon- necting! Best of all, Timi’s grandson Theo (who was born during Reunion) contin- ues to thrive and “worm his way into everyone’s hearts.” “Our 45th was a well-oiled, beautifully planned event,” concludes Terrie O’Donnell , who was thrilled that more than 50 classmates returned to celebrate together. She was especially proud to be one of 10 Ross House dorm-mates in attendance. “That’s close to 50 percent of the freshmen in that dorm!” In addition to Terrie, the Ross House 10 are Donna Canevari Paredes, Carol DeLancey, Lynn Faught, Keiko Kumai Ihara, Cynthia May, Zoe Nousiainen (known as Pam Norris back then) , Jennifer Pearman Lammer, Elaine Pettigrew Hurley and Bailey Staub Johnson . Terrie, who retired in 2016 after 43 years in soft- ware development, has two daughters and a son. The girls are fraternal twins, both of whom developed hearing problems and began wear- ing hearing aids in their late teens. Last year, Terrie went to St. Louis to be with one daughter as she received a cochlear implant. The implant changed the quality of her life so dramatically that the other daughter signed up for the same procedure in Sep- tember at Johns Hopkins, allowing Terrie to host and play mom once again. Another happy reunion attendee, Betsy Blades is already excited about our 50th in 2023. She went to Las Vegas for a National As- sociation of Singing Teachers conference and had a great “sisters’ trip” to Scotland with Bonnie Blades Andre ’68 . Bonnie traced her mother’s Fraser lineage back several generations, and the sisters donned Clan Fraser T-shirts, attracting attention from the locals. Betsy loves teach- ing Body Awareness and Movement for Musicians at Shenandoah University Conservatory. Her books, A Spectrum of Voices and Singing With Your Whole Self: A Singer’s Guide to Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement were just released in second editions. Betsy was invited to be a