Dear Friends of the Class of ’61,
Mary Bagley O’Connor says that as of last July she will be off on a cruise from Athens to Istanbul with her entire family of fifteen to celebrate her big birthday and, ever the economist, she is concentrating very keenly on the relative significance of the Euro and the financial stability of Greece. Here at home, Mary has been elected to the Board of the Turnberry Condo (three men and Mary) and is also elected to the North Arlington Business Industrial District Board (22 men and two women). Keeping her finger in the political pie, she will also have hosted a party late last September for her local Democratic congressman. She also continues her advocacy for Alzheimer’s funding on the Hill.
Rosemary Durkin Lyon also tells of a busy life with many interesting activities. She divides her time between Dumbarton Oaks, the museum in Washington where she is a docent, and the Pre-Columbian Society, a non-profit which sponsors monthly programs on the archaeology and art history of the ancient Americas. Her husband, John, is a docent at the Smithsonian’s National Postage Museum. Ro says it is appropriate work for a life-long stamp collector. Their children, Julia and Philip, are far away in Salt Lake City and Seattle, respectively, but Ro and John were able to travel to Salt Lake City for the birth of Julia’s third child. Locally, she keeps in touch with Faye Padgett Dugan, Belva O’Leary MacDonald, and Toni Sgarlata Wiseman. By the time you receive this letter the Lyons will be home from a trip to Russia via the Viking River Cruise Line.
Joan Gorra Galbi and Elmer have a rich schedule of enviable activities and she says that their love affair with the mountains continues. Both of them won awards for the number of miles trekked last year: for Elmer, second place and 275 miles; for Joan, third place. She did not say how many miles but did share that the beauty of nature and its tranquility fills them with energy, awe, and respect. Joan describes an abundant yield from the fig and persimmon trees in her garden in Lake Oswego OR.
Jane Darcy Healy wrote that she and Nick are full-time in Munsonville, NH, a place where they had a weekend retreat years ago. The Healys also make frequent trips to Ireland working with an Irish group that is starting a new Catholic college to be called Newman College Ireland. You will remember that Jane and Nick had an important connection with Ave Maria University in Naples. They hope to return to Florida when life slows down.
It’s your last chance to acquire an orchid or a succulent from Judy Becker’s Luray Nursery in Salisbury CT. Judy had a few health issues this past winter and decided she cannot devote the same time and energy to her progeny as she likes. So with great reluctance she has listed her Undermountain Road property with local brokers. She is gratified that real estate values are recovering in her area.
Maureen Leppard Schroeder describes her life with her husband Hank’s illnesses as “a roller coaster”. Indeed many of us have termed Hank the Cat with nine lives because of his health issues. Maureen has received great comfort and support from a young bishop in her area who has undergone many of the same protocols at the young age of fifty-nine. She also says that her Spring Lake neighbor, Judy Zazzali Hughes, is a true friend and is a great emotional support for her.
I got a little dose of emotional support from Alice O’Donnell Hoyt when I acquired my new left knee in March. It seems she had the same surgery four months before and knew all the good moves and techniques for recovery. One thing we both did with great satisfaction and success was to enter the rehab program at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains, NY. What a facility! What professionals! I don’t think that I would have locked up my Super Senior Ski Pass at Okemo so quickly if it had not been for the good people at Burke. And Alice.
Lillian Gleason Harter reports from Emerald Isle on the Outer Banks and she said it has been acclaimed as one of the sixteen best beaches in the US. But this year related to rising ocean temperatures and changes in shark metabolism there has been unusual activity. Scientists believe that rising ocean temperatures halted the typical shark migration right at the Carolinas.
I had my own Carolina experience and the chance to visit two old math department friends this past February. A beloved relative had been shipped to Cary (Concentrated Area for Relocated Yankees), NC for health reasons whom I really wanted to visit. I called Eileen Curley McGoldrick who lives in the next town to ask about hotels but she insisted that I stay with her. We planned some activities such as shopping and the North Carolina Museum in between visits with Aunt Claire. Then, we got a brilliant idea: why not drive the three hours to Charlotte and visit Trish Herlihy Doyle? We wound up staying overnight in Trish’s beautiful condo. Why Charlotte? Two of Trish’s sons live right in that city and a third lives about an hour away over the South Carolina border. She has a wonderful life highlighted by continuous interaction with her three little families. Eileen’s life is much the same: beautiful condo and nearby grandchildren to go with the package. But the most interesting thing to me about Eileen’s life is her volunteer project. She works with a team of retired accounting professionals in her parish assisting mathematically challenged neighbors to fill out their income tax forms. Isn’t that great? I could actually do something like that!
I had a long phone call from Sara Latoni Cabanillas. We mostly talked about the horrific financial situation in Puerto Rico. In my neighborhood, people who travel are buzzing about visiting the newly reopened venues in Cuba. Gambling is no longer the draw for New Yorkers to visit Puerto Rico as more and more casinos open in New York State and other states as collaborative ventures with Native Americans. But Sara soldiers on teaching history in her former high school in Mayaguez. She says she has good health and is happy to be working.
Also still working hard is Judy Byrne Lancaster who has just come up for a breather after running a summer school program in Houston. Judy sees a lot of Beth McCoy Friel and Charlie who were about to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary with a special trip.
I had a nice visit here in NYC with another full time worker, Jeramy Lanigan Landauer. She was in town for the Book Expo at the Javit’s Center promoting and displaying her award winning books on quilting, fabrics, and other home crafts (landauerpub.com). We toured the High Line, the new Whitney Museum in the trendy Meatpacking District of New York, and enjoyed the artistry of Misty Copeland among others in the ABT performance of “Sleeping Beauty”. A whirlwind three days!
After our 2014 class letter, Jeramy and others commented on the life of service with a particular emphasis on women’s causes demonstrated in the five obituaries quoted in that letter. Well, here is an extraordinary story from someone who is still alive and doing it! Do you remember Patty Crowley? She is Sister Patricia Crowley OSN now, and since 2007 has been a Prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago. Patty was back in touch with us because she had been a freshman roommate of the late Sue Revelle Bowers. She left our class in 1958 to join the Benedictines and finished her BA degree in English Lit at Loyola University. Her MA in Education in Catechetical Theology was earned at Manhattan College followed by three honorary doctorates and countless awards and grants too numerous to list. Her resume tells of forty-two years of professional experience in education and in social services administration with emphasis on issues of homelessness and housing (The Patty Crowley Apartments); extensive participation in the development of Chicago’s ten year plan to end homelessness; and a keen interest in the relationship of the prison experience as it has an impact on increasing homelessness.
Sue Revelle Bowers had been ill for a number of years with a respiratory disease. I forwarded the obituary that was published in Bonita Springs, FL, the town where she and Dave had retired. It said that after she left Trinity she had gone on to get her AB from Northwestern University in 1961. She worked in public and private schools as a speech and language pathologist. Later she earned an MS in Special Education from Indiana University. Her area of expertise expanded to include research and remedial therapies related to autism. Her volunteer work in retirement consisted of teaching ESL to adult immigrants preparing for American citizenship. She and Dave had been married for 53 years. Sue and Sandy Mead Catallo had many nice visits over the last few years.
Mary Jane O’Malley Shea also died this year. Mary Jane who lived on Long Island sold real estate for the Prudential Real Estate Company alongside Rosemary Rebholz Janson. For many years, MJ, Margy Murray Van Buren and I shared a Roundabout Theatre subscription now enjoyed by Mary Meta Kelleher and Regina KircherCooper. News of Mary Jane’s death came to us via the St. Mary’s High School network with which she was in close contact. She had been in treatment for three years or more for lung cancer. Her survivors include three daughters, a son, and ten grandchildren.
We learned about the death of Joan Hinds Suscheck’s husband, Harry, from Mary Pat Mullon Schermerhorn. Harry had been ill for some time with cancer. Mary Pat and her husband, John, had established a pattern to visit the Suschecks in Ocala, FL on their way back and forth to Boca Raton from Kalamazoo, MI.
Mary Meunier Dahlen called to talk about the death of Beau Biden, the former Attorney General of Mary’s home state of Delaware, and a distant relative of mine. We discussed the terrible sadness of losing one’s child at such a young age. Several of our fellow classmates have sustained similar losses and it’s a reminder of the preciousness of life.
Some of us had a surprise dinner visit with Matt Ferguson, the widower of Nan Dennis Smith. He had made a plan for dinner with Nan’s sister, Marie Adele Dennis ’64, who was about three years behind us at Trinity and magically we all wound up together. It’s been five years and Matt is simultaneously still very sad and still very proud of her work at St. Vincent’s Hospital in NYC. He described how quickly she rose in the ranks to be in the insider executive group that made all the decisions that led to the eventual closing of the hospital.
Kathleen McGroder Butler played the lead role in “Marjorie Prime”, a play that had its debut at the Olney Theatre in MD this past spring.
People say the fiftieth college reunion is the biggest one a class will enjoy. I see no reason why that has to be true. Our 55th is only about a half year away. Let’s make it a big turnout and have some fun! I hope you’ll be there!
Rosemary Owens McAllister
