Class of 1974 – 50th Reunion!

TRINITY NEWS  CLASS OF 1974 — 2022

Linda Schneider still is in the old homestead in Arlington, VA, with her latest and sixth guide dog, a Labrador/golden retriever named Ives from the Seeing Eye.  The latest of her eleven books is a revision to her autobiography in 2021, A Blessed Life Updated: Memoir of a Traveler to Emmaus, which updates and supersedes the earlier version, available from Author House.  She slowly is starting to emerge from isolation, provided the virus stays under control.

Catherine Marshall Hackett finished settling the business aspects of her mother’s estate, but has not yet finished preserving keepsakes nor shredding papers. After finishing her mother’s things, she will declutter her files. Her children planned and hosted a 70th birthday celebration for her. It was in a spacious reserved room at a restaurant. The food was delicious and it was nice seeing family and friends not seen since pre-Covid.  Her older granddaughter is a 12th grader, has completed several college courses, and has been a competitive swimmer for several years. Cathy’s younger granddaughter is a 5th grader and enjoys gymnastics. When her daughter or son-in-law are on job related travel, she helps with the girls. Her son’s twin boys, who will be 4 years old on January 2, are in pre-school. Their school has “Grandparents Reading” days; and Cathy was a reader on September 8.

Karen Doherty and her wife, Lori Mei, sold their home in Greenport, NY and moved to Clearwater, FL at the end of May.  Much to their surprise they love Florida–loads of nature, an upbeat atmosphere, no income tax, lots of things to do and see, delicious fresh seafood, fruit and vegetables.  It’s a joy to live again!  Karen sends a big hello to all her classmates, and said to let her know if you are coming to or live in the Tampa Bay area.  Karen also reported that they came through Ian just fine.

Pat Mizzi is pictured here at the helm of their Morgan 41 Out Island sailboat. They have just retired and are starting south on the Intercoastal waterway to Florida in the next few weeks. Looking forward to exploring the east coast cities along the way.

Connie Oprisch enjoys following Pat McGuire’s twitter feed, @TRINITYPREZ, which features her spectacular bird photos, some taken at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Last April, she and her husband visited the refuge, and were happily surprised by two bald eagles swooping down in front of the car.  Connie also participates in several book clubs including her Women’s Spirituality Group that she has been a member of for more than 25 years. She has been tutoring English to a young woman from Afghanistan. In September, Connie became a great aunt for the 15th time.

Barb Taylor recently announced her retirement in December from her position as Director of the Matthews Heritage Museum, having completed almost 10 years there, and 47 years in the museum field.  She is hopeful to stay on the equivalent of one day a week to do research, if funds allow.  In recent years her research into local history has uncovered the rich history of an African American neighborhood known as Tank Town, and most recently the beginnings of the Matthews Community itself.  She has already planned a trip with her sisters and nieces to Cancun and another trip to Ireland in May.  Two future trips will be to Alaska and Iceland. Barb hopes all in the class are enjoying their retirements

Marti Rodgers and family are doing well. They moved 3 years ago from their family house in Devon, PA to a townhouse in Phoenixville, PA (close to Valley Forge park) They are happy they moved when they did because moving is not for the faint of heart.  All of their kids and grandchildren live close by.  Their weekends are filled with going to as many games as they can including soccer, baseball, field hockey and flag football.  Marti retired 2 years ago at the height of the pandemic, June, 2020.  She enjoyed her marketing job but decided it was time to move on to retirement because life it too short.  She is an official retiree with Meals on Wheels delivery, pickleball and Mahjong included in my weekly activities.  Happy 70th Birthday to everyone.  On to the next decade….

Lillian (Lolly) M. O’Connell is loving life in DC and enjoying condo life in Arlington between 2 Metro stops; so, they can enjoy downtown happenings day and night. With an electric bike she can even get to her docent tours at the American Art Museum.  Video conference programs from SAAM which she does on the web kept her sane thru COVID; creating different scripts for artworks presentations is her new artistic outlet.  Husband Frank is slowing down his law practice so they can enjoy travelling. Their 4 kids are fully launched; and they have 9 grandchildren; look out for their baseball team. Lolly gets to see Mary O’Connor Barrett every summer now since they stay up in Chatham in August and she’s on Nantucket.  Jean Flatley joins them now and then.  Anyone else in the Boston-Cape area or CT/DC; she’d love meet up with you on their trip North.

Joan Austin Pellerin is back to traveling!  She and her spouse spent a month in Europe which included France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and an extended period in Slovakia-Joan’s grandmother’s birth place. What joy travel brings!  She reconnected with Pat Shea, my Trinity roommate!  Joan was thrilled to see how Pat has been doing and to know she finds herself in New York state, not too far from Joan’s home in Vermont.  Her next step needs to be working less so she can renew her zest for exploration!

Mary Thornton Goedde and Tom are still living in St. Louis. One son lives here, and their other son lives in Indy, is married with two little boys.  She remains very active/ two book clubs, an investment club, active in their Parish including Parish Council.  Traveled twice this summer to a family cottage on Lake Erie. Will see Terri McNearney in October when she attends a med school reunion.

Barbara McKinley and husband built a house in Chattanooga, TN last year. They are now officially snowbirds. They have been in Clearwater Fl for the past 31 yrs.  They have 2 granddaughters in TN.  They are 2.5 months and almost 3. So much fun.  That’s why they are in TN.  They also have 2 granddaughters in FL, 8 and 5.  Her children are all doing well and everyone survived Ian.  Her son had a leak in his roof which left a small lake inside the house but looking at Fort Meyers and Central Florida they feel very fortunate that they dodged a bullet on this one.  Their condo was unscathed this time.  Much better than Irma.  Hard to believe we are all entering our 70’s!  Trying to remain active even though she has a couple of new joints.  If you’re ever in Chattanooga in the summer/ fall look her up.

Connie Abrashoff Bentzen and spouse are now grandparents!  He’s four months old and they have to travel 600 miles one way to Dubuque, Iowa anytime they want to see him. This has sparked a serious downsizing effort and decision to move to Chicago.  Hopefully next year.  She recently celebrated her mother’s 100th birthday. She still lives independently (with lots of help) and rides her adult tricycle each day. Connie wishes they could just do something about her short-term memory!  Connie participates in a Pittsburgh area Trinity alumnae book club. There are 12 members and meet quarterly.  She totally enjoys it.

Marcy Aguilar retired from teaching in 2020.  Although she enjoys a “life of leisure”, she misses being with her dear little preschoolers.  (The pandemic hasn’t helped of course). This school year she is returning to do Storytime once/week.  Her granddaughter is in her second year of college.  While she’s away Marcy takes care of her sweet “grandpuppy”, Blue.  She definitely enjoys his company.

Patricia Fitzpatrick and husband have been retired from their medical careers for about five years now. They are enjoying life in southwest Florida, especially in the winter.  They also enjoy traveling to visit their three grandchildren in Alabama and Connecticut. During their sojourn north this summer, they had a chance to visit with Donna Schlegel and her husband, Greg Knowles.  They are both doing well.

Jane Tingley’s major focus through her adult life has been her parents.  My father left a while ago, but her mom, hung on and continued to be vibrant in her own way.  She passed quietly on Sept 7th at 97.  Beth Garrity Ellis and Jane are very close. Their connection has been a three-some with Suzy Cunningham. Jane looks forward to seeing Marti Rodgers as they have gotten closer with their friendship with Suzy.  Beth and Jane connected with Mariana Botero Chason and her husband Mark at Suzy’s Celebration of Life on June 9th. Mariana is just as vibrant and funny as you all remember her.  Anne Kearns and I are staying in touch on FaceTime.  Anne lives in the south of France. She has just recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and will undergo surgery in the next few weeks.  Please keep Anne in your prayers.

Marianna Dunn and her spouse Cindy, celebrating 28 years, just returned from an amazing train trip through the Canadian Rockies on the Rocky Mountaineer.  After the pandemic hit, they cancelled all post retirement travel plans to tour and visit family and friends.  Over the last 2 1/2 years, Marianna tutored reading remotely for the Alexandria Tutoring Consortium in her community.  One big challenge was practicing and recording choral music pieces for Christ Church’s (old town Alexandria) weekly livestream service.  Most significant during the pandemic was communicating and being supportive to family and friends via phone calls, FaceTime, email and cards.  Looking forward now to the Bar Mitzvah of Marianna’s talented nephew, Jonathan Dunn in Falmouth, MA mid-October.”

Donna Schlegel is glad to say she is in communication with treasured friends from Trinity–Lorie Morris and Pat Fitzpatrick and the loved ones of Jane Wietsma and Pat Pfister. They have buoyed Donna– along with Greg/her husband of 32+ years– as they moved through the years since 1974!!!   The COVID-19 pandemic challenged all of us in ways we never imagined. We all pivoted to focus on new priorities more than most ballerinas did in the same time period.  Needless to say, responding to a global pandemic was nothing she ever imagined being involved in, much less seeing so many of our longstanding systems tested. She is thankful for the many silver linings COVID brought during the past several years. She is still reflecting on many developments that leave her incredulous.

Magalie (Maggie Roman) continues to enjoy a busy retirement. She enjoys providing transportation to school and sports activities for her grandsons Jahir (16) and Keiji (8), and also babysitting for her granddaughter Veronica (3).

Last year, Maggie joined Encore Creativity, a choral organization in the Washington, DC area open only to singers over 55. Maggie is so happy to learn new repertoire and sing at a wide variety of local venues, including the Music Center at Strathmore and the Kennedy Center. Maggie is also the president of her neighborhood association, and enjoys keeping the neighborhood informed about services provided by the county and currents events affecting the quality of life in the neighborhood.

Michele (Stefanelli) Dillon is keeping busy working for a health consulting firm supporting CDC and NIH clients.  When not on never ending Zoom conferences, she is entertaining Fione, their 7-month-old Schnoodle…crazy for sure but just what they needed!

Jeanne Smith Jardien has gone from full time to part-time at Premier Veterinary Group a 24-hour emergency & specialty hospital as of October 1st.  She has been there for the last 12 years.  She has enjoyed it, but is looking forward to the reduced hours.  She has 3 Irish Setters, 10 yrs, 1 yr & 9 months. They keep her quite busy. She has been showing in conformation for the past 10 yrs and has done well with it.   She has also competed in obedience trials with them. It is a great way to keep active! She has encouraged her sister, Karen Smith, class of 76, to become involved in showing and she is enjoying it.   She has done a fair amount of traveling with it, so if you go to a dog show, check out the Irish Setters, she might be there.

Jane and Marti both shared the sad news that our classmate Suzy Cunningham passed away a year ago.  She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in late August and passed away in October.  Mariana Botero Chason, Kathy Scattergood and Beth Garrity Ellis also attended the funeral.

Class scribe Susan (Fredi) Fournier reports that after doing needlepoint for more than 40 years and entering the Woodlawn Needlework Show for at least 10 years, finally was awarded ribbons for two entries, a 2nd place and Honorable mention.  But first timers, granddaughter Ashley and grandson Ryan, received 2nd an 1st place ribbons respectively in their age groups.   Fredi continues to be active in Nelly’s Needlers, a needlework organization dedicated to supporting Historic Woodlawn.  In August, Fredi and husband Michael visited their grandchildren in Lone Tree, CO and then drove to Durango to ride the Durango-Silverton scenic railroad.  A nine-day rail trip is in the works for next year.  And although, her beloved Nationals ended the season in the basement—there’s always next year.  Fredi and Lolly are the Class of ’74 50th Reunion chairs and look forward to hearing ideas for celebrating this milestone.

Michele Stefanelli Dillon is keeping busy working for a health consulting firm supporting CDC and NIH clients. When not on never ending Zoom conferences, she is entertaining Fione their 7 month old Schnoodle. Crazy for sure but just what we needed!

Andrea Croce Birch and husband Tony Birch still live in Gainesville, GA. Andrea is still the Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Humanities and a Professor of Philosophy at Brenau University. All is well.

 

Donna Schlegel started working at the City of Norwalk’s Health Department in 2016. Her part-time job as Emergency Response Volunteer Coordinator quickly became a fulltime+ job in early 2020. Members of the Emergency Response Team have been staffing food pantries, handling “warming calls”, delivering food to seniors and others in need, helping with drive-through food distributions, and since December 2020, staffing COVID-19 Vaccination clinics. The silver lining of the pandemic for her has been the amazing people she has met as result of the challenges presented by COVID 19. She hopes all of us are staying safe and practicing the COVID Trifecta. Wash your hands, wear your mask and keep your distance. Donna and her husband Greg Knowles, and all of their family members and dear friends, are healthy and smiling broadly as they look to the months ahead and make plans for family reunions and gatherings. Photo: Donna receives her Covid-19 vaccine.

 

Linda Schneider reports that for the past year she has been well except for arthritis, but keeping a low profile on account of this virus and waiting to get a vaccination appointment. Linda’s previous Seeing Eye Black Labrador, Teddy, died last August from cancer of the spine that metastasized to the lungs. Fortunately, in early October, Seeing Eye was able to pair her with the Golden Retriever/Labrador Retriever cross, Ives, shown in the photograph. He is a good friend, but she still misses Teddy. Since the beginning of the year, she has been working to publish her sixth short story collection, Tying up Loose Ends, with Author House, and it should be coming out soon. She is also looking forward to our fiftieth reunion in 2024, and hopes we are past the pandemic by then.

Photo: Linda Schneider and her Seeing Eye dog, Ives

 

Ann Payne Edlen retired as of 2020. She and husband Mark are residents of Idaho, living in Sun Valley. She is active on the boards of the Oregon Health Science Foundation and Literary Arts in Portland, OR, and the Sun Valley Museum of Art. Active as a writer, she is working on a memoir about her family’s immersion into the world of Alzheimer’s Disease, contributing to her blog, beforeiforget.live, sending out missives to publications and enjoying all the activities that high mountain living provides. She continues to support Mark’s work developing affordable housing and related social equity work around mental health, addictions and the chronically houseless. We love the time we have with our children, their spouses and our grandchildren, and are looking forward to travelling again.

Patricia “Pat” Fitzpatrick Niles and husband have been enjoying sunny Florida in their retirement. It has been easy to stay masked and physically distanced, though hard to stay away from their children and grandchildren. Both have recently received their two doses of the Pfizer Covid Vaccine and are up in Connecticut for a long overdue visit with their 3 year old grandson and his parents. They are also blessed with a granddaughter by their older daughter. She is now 7 months old and they have been able to visit them recently also.

Having retired two years ago from BlackRock and even with the complications of COVID restrictions, Connie Abrashoff Bentzen is totally enjoying her freedom. She reports that in some ways she’s never been so busy. She is playing the piano every day and while her technique is not quite there, she says she still enjoys making music. She has been doing a lot of reading and belongs to two book groups. One of them is comprised of Pittsburgh area Trinity grads. Finally, she keeps up with her French by reading a weekly Paris Match magazine even though most of the articles are about Americans. Her son is getting married in July to a fellow Notre Dame grad. The wedding will be in Vail, CO in July.

 

Connie Oprisch says “It was great fun connecting with other classmates and being on campus again at the Trinity reunion in 2019.” She continues to enjoy retirement. In the fall, Connie ordered bulbs from her father’s favorite garden center and planted snowdrops and crocuses that have fortunately bloomed. Along with many others, she has pivoted to a new pandemic lifestyle. Since last spring, she has been stitching face masks for friends, family, and a mask-making project at her church. The project has donated thousands of masks to COVID positive patients and their families being released from the emergency rooms of local hospitals. At the end of January, Connie became a great-aunt for the fourteenth time.

Photo: Connie Oprisch (right) and Connie Abrashoff Bentzen outside Main Hall at Trinity Reunion 2019

 

After teaching for 30 years, Margarita Wilson is happily retired and still living in Puerto Rico. This year has been challenging, but they have tried to stay focused on the silver lining of this terrible experience of having to put our normal lives on hold. Among the positives, everyone in her extended family is healthy and have been blessed with the first girl in our pack of 6 grandkids. They were able to travel to Florida and be there for her arrival. Now back home, she got vaccinated and is looking forward to slowly resuming sailing, traveling and gathering with friends.

Barbara Ann “Bonnie” McKinley just hit 6 years of retirement and loving every minute of it. They now have 3 granddaughters 7, 4 and 15 months. They also closed on a house in Signal Mtn TN and are now officially snowbirds. One of their daughters has a 15-month old a few miles from them. The other two are in St. Petersburg FL. She says they will keep their condo until they are too old and decrepit to maintain two residences.

COVID made Marcella “Marti” Kane Rodgers realize that life is too short so she decided to retire from her digital marketing job at IBM on June 30. She wanted to be available to help with the kids and grandchildren. She now has time to enjoy the little ones and help with online school. Their youngest daughter just had her first child on March 8 and its fun to have a newborn again. She stays in touch with Suzanne “Suzy” Cunningham Hird and Kathie Scattergood Moser from Philly. She also had a wonderful lunch with Barbara Schnitzler and Mary Ann Doyle on Shelter Island on a perfect fall day in November. Marti says it was totally last minute and was one of the most enjoyable days over the last year!

Catherine Marshall Hackett has been a widow since 1995. She has helped her children through college, and in 2011 retired. Since her father died in 1998, she has managed her mother’s household tasks; taken her to family, church and other activities. She helped care for her from September 2018, when surgery revealed she had cancer, until she died September 2020. Her daughter, son-in-law and 2 granddaughters, as well as her son, daughter-in-law and twin grandsons live in the Maryland suburbs, so she is able to enjoy spending time with them.

Karen Doherty reports that she is fine and enjoying retirement. Karen and her wife, Lori Mei, will be going on her archaeological “dream trip” this coming September to the Four Corners region of the U.S. Southwest. They will be part of a small group exploring Chaco Canyon, Canyon de Chelly, Mesa Verde and Hovenweep. Karen keeps busy researching history for her family stories blog, volunteering for Greenport Village on the Historic Preservation Commission, and enjoying nature in all seasons.  She is distressed at the polarization in America. Karen says “We are in worse shape now than we were during the Vietnam War. There is a lack of civility in discussions. The sour breath of ideology is too prevalent in public conversations.”  At this point, she plans to attend our 50th reunion (her first). She says hello and good wishes to all her classmates.

Marsha “Marcy” Wilson Aguilar is newly retired, adjusting to life without her little preschoolers and really missing them. Marcy guesses her timing was good though as she had decided to retire right before the pandemic hit!  Her granddaughter graduates from high school this year! She is so proud of her. She is thankful that she and her family are healthy and safe and she continues to pray for everyone.

 

Patricia “Pat” Mizzi reports that she has lead a pretty unremarkable life. She is married with children and now 10 grandchildren. She has puttered around Sayville, working with Girl Scouts, growing a historical recreation chapter, joining a sailing club and generally enjoying life. She says that probably her biggest personal achievements were to run a marathon in Dublin to celebrate a new century and earning Dan ranking in both JuJitsu and Aikido. She has done some traveling but for the last decade most of my travel has been to daughters in Texas and Minnesota. Another daughter and her family live nearby. Currently she her husband, Paul MacMenamin, are refurbishing a Morgan 41 Out Island sailboat with the goal of being liveaboard retirees in the Caribbean for at least part of each year. (Not so unremarkable life! And anyone with more grandchildren?) Photo: Pat Mizzi (center right) and her family

 

Magalie “Maggie” Roman Salas reports that this past year has been challenging, yet rewarding. She is grateful not to have lost a relative or friend to the pandemic, but has struggled with the sense of isolation. To stay connected with family and friends, she has totally embraced Zoom and similar applications. This has enabled her to attend virtual classes, seminars, and events related to so many topics, ranging from race relations and social justice, to spirituality, religion, art, and music. Maggie is particularly happy to be taking voice lessons again, by Zoom, after more than 35 years. She also had the opportunity to spend more quality time with grandchildren, as she has been helping them with distant learning while her daughter and her husband work. It has been good to have time to focus on so many blessings she enjoys.

 

With COVID, Susan “Fredi” Fournier ran Camp Mimi & Poppa during the summer for her two grandchildren who live just blocks away. It really stretched our creative abilities to keep a then 5 year old boy and 8 year old girl occupied. Scavenger hunts, pool time in a large molded plastic pool on our deck and cooking and other related activities, board games, lots of puzzles and movies and popcorn on rainy days. Needlepoint has been my therapy for years, but never more so than this last year. I am also trying to perfect cross-stitch. I won’t go into the upheaval surrounding Jan. 6 and the fencing and razor wire we  encounter on our walks around the Hill. For the first time in more than a year, Michael and I will venture beyond the metropolitan area next month to visit our 5^th grandchild for her first birthday in Centennial, CO. GO NATS! Photo: Fredi and her granddaughter, Ashley.

Shelley Morrison Kowkabany writes, in spite of the challenges of the pandemic, the last year and a half have been professionally rewarding for me. After Trinity, I became part of the nuclear power program in the US, and obtained an MS in nuclear engineering, just in time for a very exciting industry to turn flat. However, during the past twelve years, I have participated in the birth and development of first nuclear power program in the Arab world. In 2009, I came to the United Arab Emirates as an engineering consultant and opened a Branch Office of a US-based engineering firm to support what has become the UAE-government-owned, four-unit Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in the Abu Dhabi Emirate, in an environmentally harsh area referred to as the Empty Quarter. My first engagement involved selection of a site. In April 2021, Barakah Unit 1 reached the milestone of commercial operation, and Unit 2 has completed fuel load and is presently undergoing power-ascension testing. Unit 3 is planned for power operation in 2022 and Unit 4 in 2023. My Emirati colleagues are extremely driven and focused, and mine has been a remarkable experience in collaborating with the best technical talent, both local and expat, that the world has to offer. My husband Bob and I have been living in the capital city of Abu Dhabi since this opportunity first presented itself, and we have experienced the evolution of the country’s economy, culture, and cities into world-class status among the community of nations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Same site, 2009 and 2021. A plot in the desert has become the four Unit Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, the first nuclear power in the Arab world. I’m in the white shirt and brown hat (and very hot and heavy boots.)

Althea Megargee Daley married Pat Daley in October, 1974 and have lived in NY ever since. They raised six children (now age 42 – 31) and have all been a constant source of pride and joy. Althea says that they will never regret choosing to be a one income family while they were young. Once they were well on their way, Althea returned to work, decided to get a Masters in Education, and began a 20-year career in our local high school, loving (almost) every minute of it!  Althea retired as planned in June 2020. Among their blessings they count 7 grandchildren and amazing friends. She wishes all good health and all the joy you can hold!

Nina Haidinger Ciak sends greetings from Tampa, FL. All is well there. The past year has certainly been an interesting one. Gary isn’t able to travel to customers so he has been working from home.  Until their 6 year old granddaughter went back to school, Nina did FaceTime lessons with her while her mom and dad were working in the background. They live close by so they get to spend a lot of time together. She and Gary have done some traveling this past year. A couple of golf junkets, a beach trip to Jensen Beach, St. Louis in July to celebrate our son’s 40th and, most recently, Indianapolis to watch some college basketball. Pat Johnston McCaffrey and her husband, John, traveled from Connecticut to Florida in February. They rented a condo not too far from Nina for the month. Always fun to spend time with them.

Terry McNearney is living and socially distancing in Galveston, TX. She is a Senior Medical Consultant for a start-up company located in Houston, TX among sporadic clients. With the pandemic, she barely made it out of Hong Kong and flying back to the States, in Feb 2020. Since then, she started fostering rescue dogs to boost their adoption potential (with 100% success) and had two hurricane and one big freeze evacuations. Whew! Going forward, ready for better weather and hope our classmates are doing well.

Susan (AKA Freddie) Fournier wrote that life is hectic for the Fournier-McCabes. Last October their younger son and his wife, who live in Denver, presented them with their third grandchild.  Closer to home, they provide after-care for their oldest, a granddaughter, who turned four in March.  Although, both Susan and husband Michael are retired, he consults on energy issues he managed over his years at DOE and Susan continues to work part-time as a library assistant at a law firm, but may give them only one more year.  Bunion surgery in April kept Susan from physical activities–rowing and crossfit; but she did lots of needlepoint.  They are looking forward to a family wedding in Utah and celebrating her grandson’s first birthday in October.

Suzanne Days said she and husband Larry retired to The Villages in FL two years ago and have loved it. It’s the largest active retirement community in the world that is 40 square miles with over 115,000 residents.  They are never bored! She is still mourning the loss of classmate Jane Wietsma Gudgeon. The rest of their little Trinity group tries to get together annually.

Marilyn Manalastas Madarang is still working as litigation attorney with Office of General Counsel, Department of Energy.  This year she attended her high school reunion at Saint Theresa’s College in the Philippines.  Her vacation included travel in Bangkok, Thailand and Las Vegas. While in Las Vegas, she got together with a Georgetown University Law School classmate.

Her daughter Kristina graduated college from Johns Hopkins University and is currently pursuing her masters at Johns Hopkins University.  She works for Georgetown University School of Medicine.  Son Allen is a rising sophomore at Georgetown Preparatory School participating in the sports of cross country and tennis.  Her husband Alvin is a physician.

Stephanie Slepicka Shipp and her husband Ken are new grandparents and loving it! Francis Ryan was born in May 2015 to their older daughter Sarah Ryan (an architect) and her husband Joe (a biologist), in St. Augustine, FL. Ken was the “manny” for the several months with Stephanie joining on many weekends. Stephanie joined Virginia Tech in Arlington in 2013 to create the Social and Decision Analytics Lab, with a focus on bringing analytics to small and medium size counties and cities. Ken is now a part-time manny and in between takes French classes at the local community college in Alexandria and at Flagler College in St. Augustine. Younger daughter, Rachel Shipp, happily lives in San Francisco, working in the financial sector and competing in triathlons on a regular basis.

Cristina (Giambi) Dal Molin wrote that life is going well.  She stays in touch with her best friend, “Marcy” Marsha Wilson Aguilar. She has been a children’s librarian for 24 years and has loved it.  Retirement is looming on the horizon.  In retirement she will probably volunteer at any library that can use her services.  Her son, Francesco, continues to work for GSA and his vegetable garden is producing some huge gorgeous tomatoes this year.  Her daughter, Claudia, is an Assistant Professor of Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, at the University of Maryland Medical Center, and is married to the best son-in-law in the world, Chris. Their golden doodle, Monti, her grand-doggie, brings joy to all.  Claudia and Chris helped her remodel her mid-century kitchen last fall and then helped re-landscape a section of garden in front of her house. Her kitchen and garden fill her with gratitude and joy each day.  I am blessed.

Linda A. Schneider continues to adjust to retirement from the SEC almost two years ago.  She keeps busy with writing more short stories and essays, trying to find mainstream publishers interested in previous books (including her autobiography) and a new contemplated collection.  She particularly enjoys the company of her seeing eye Labrador, Teddy and her other hobbies of knitting and sculpture.  She still occupies the family homestead in Arlington, VA.

Donna Schlegel wrote that this has been a year of profound loss—a year of change for many friends held close by history and enduring friendships.  Mary Jane Wietsma fought breast cancer for more than 15 years. Jane lost that battle on March 18, 2016. Her services and burial were in Peekskill NY, followed by a luncheon celebrating Jane’s life. Establishing a Jane Wietsma Memorial Scholarship at Trinity Washington University is being explored.

The 2016 Memorial Day Holiday weekend prompted a mini-reunion for Pat Fitzpatrick, Pat Pfister and Donna in New York City.  Despite warm temperatures and threats of rain, the trio plus their husbands/partners enjoyed walking the High Line, exploring Chelsea Market, a performance at the Joyce Theater, The American Museum of Natural History, and spectacular panoramas from the observatory atop One World Trade Center. Pat Pfister reflects the fun of the weekend in the submitted photo.

Donna started a new job in mid-March as the Volunteer Coordinator for the Emergency Response Team with the Norwalk Health Department. Donna is enjoying the new challenges presented by the world of Public Health Emergency Preparedness. Greg Knowles, Donna’s husband, is working at North American Headquarters for Victorinox Swiss Army, Inc. in Monroe. CT

Jeanne Cox Zepp writes that 2016 was a “year of accomplishment and adventure.” Her daughter Megan entered her final year at the Medical College of Virginia and is currently exploring residency programs. Her daughter Erin received a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from North Carolina State University in May and began a small animal internship at Cornell University in June. In between, Jeanne and Erin celebrated this accomplishment by taking a mother-daughter trip to Italy where they visited Venice, Florence, Rome and many other cities. Jeanne’s husband Kevin maintains a full schedule between work and volunteering with the National Parks Service’s living history program. Jeanne continues to direct public relations for a high-tech PR firm.

After years in the pharmaceutical/medical device industry, Cheryl Petrell Eaton took a forced retirement and is loving the fact that there is a life without commuting to Boston!!  It took her a while to get used to being home with her husband Walt, who retired three years ago. She has found out it really is OK to be retired!!

Cheryl’s daughter Catherine, is getting married in Rhode Island in September. Retirement has its pluses when making wedding arrangements! It has been so much fun helping Catherine and fiancé Tom make plans for their happy day.

She and her husband bought a house in Vero Beach Florida this past year. After spending the first winter in Florida they realized that they did not miss the cold and snow.  They still love New England where they plan to stay most of the year, and continue to enjoy the water visiting the cape and the islands on their sail boat.

Lorie Morris says she still is enjoying retirement.  It gives her more time to continue researching family history.  Lorie has recently started to use DNA in her genealogical research and has found a couple of cousins that she didn’t know about. Very cool!  She hopes to find more relatives as DNA testing becomes more popular.

I heard from Marcy Wilson Aguilar who has been busy with everyday life. She is still teaching Pre-K and loving it. She also continues to sing in the Multi-cultural & Gospel choirs at St. Camillus.  She enjoyed the honor of singing for the Pope’s visit last September with the Multi-Cultural choir.  She especially loves spending time with her 13 yr. old granddaughter, Ellycia with whom she is pictured.

Joan Pellerin wrote that she has six children, two of whom are adopted.  She interprets in ASL duringmost of her waking hours at the University of Vermont.  She gets to see Mary Darragh MacLean often.  She still knows Louise Muise…whose deceased spouse (Ben Muise) was our food service manager at Trinity. She encouraged us all to be aware of and care about disability as a part of our fabric of diversity.

Karen Gavigan Robert reported living in the triple digits of a Texas summer is a little rougher now that we are aging.  Her twin daughters got married in 2014 and 2015 to wonderful young men and all are very happy.  Karen has been a widow now for 11 years.  She expressed it is tough that her children’s father isn’t there for the special days.

She is looking forward to being a grandmother for the first time and all the adventures that are yet to come. Her daughter in Springfield, VA is expecting a little boy.   Her other daughter lives in CO and enjoys hiking, skiing, and sailing with her husband. They just bought a camper so as to lengthen the camping season through colder weather.  Karen enjoys visiting CO, VA and NY (where family resides), while still working part-time.

Anne Kearns is living in the Lot Valley in south west France.  She and her partner of 25 years, Penny, got married last year.  A very long engagement! Anne has retired from her psychotherapy practice and is now working when she can as an expert witness.

Andrea Croce Birch continues as Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Humanities at Brenau University in Gainesville, GA.  She has taken on some added duties as the Dean of the Undergraduate School.  As Professor of Philosophy, she enjoys teaching courses such as Philosophy of Art and Ethical and Legal Issues in Health Care (which she team teaches with a lawyer).  After having lived in an apartment for many years, she and her husband Tony bought a house and are discovering that yard work alone takes many hours!  However, she knows it is good exercise.

Catherine Marshall Hackett, still a Washingtonian, retired from the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics on July 29, 2011.  Since January 2013, she and her niece share caring for her mother, now 94 years old.  When her daughter or son-in-law is on job-related travel, she helps with her 11 and four year old granddaughters. Her son is still single.  She has done volunteer work for an advocacy organization for 27 years.  When Catherine attended the dedication of the Payden Academic Center, she was recruited by Sr. Mary Hayes to participate in a student’s history research project; and she enjoyed having lunch with Jean Herring Mayhan and Jane Tingley.

Gail Murphy is working in a non-profit that provides group housing opportunities for intellectually disabled adults in Richmond, VA.  She works on the administrative side.  Gail has taken up hiking and was able to log some miles this past spring in Shenandoah National Park.  During late summer and early fall, she is doing some urban walking to register people to vote.  It certainly is proving to be an interesting election season!

Karen Doherty continues to struggle with Lyme disease, although she believes she is on the mend and feeling much better.  Lori and Karen will be traveling to Sydney, Australia in the spring to attend the wedding of their son, Robert, to a very lovely Australian woman, who is like a daughter to us. They are looking forward to retirement in a year.  They plan to take some “little adventures”, enjoy the outdoors, and have fun together while they are still “young-old.”  New England, Quebec, the Southwest, England and Ireland are on the itinerary.  She sends affectionate regards to all her classmates.

Erica Lazaro is in Silver Spring, MD practicing acupuncture and craniosacral therapy along with other modalities at Spectrum Center for Natural Medicine. Encouraged at Trinity to take the road less traveled, it has been exciting to be a part of the evolution of natural healing arts to integrative medicine which is becoming more mainstream.  She also will be doing some teaching again at MUIH, Maryland University of Integrative Health. She is staying connected with family and community, heart and soul connections, and enjoying the journey.  Gratitude to Patricia McGuire for all of her amazing dedication!!

Dianne Gustafson decided to end her MIA status and sent this quick update. She continues to work in hospital administration at a small community hospital in Massachusetts. She and husband Claus have been empty nesters for some time with daughter Christine in California and son Mark in Minnesota. She is dividing her time between Orland, Maine (near Acadia) and Canton, MA for the past year to accommodate Claus’ last career move. With retirement for both on the horizon in the next few years they are trying to decide where “home” will be.
If there are any classmates in the Acadia/Bangor area she asks that they get in touch. She would love to get feedback on year- round life in Maine.

Terry McNearney sold her house in Indianapolis and moved back to Galveston, TX. Yee-Haw! Just in time for the sweltering summer and hurricane season. She is happy to be back in the land of friendly folk and big hair. This year she attended her 50th GRADE SCHOOL reunion.

Marti Kane Rodgers stills lives in the Philadelphia area. She has five grandchildren with one on the way. She and her husband are lucky because everyone lives nearby. Marti and Michael have become Viking River cruise fans! They enjoyed trips to France, Germany and China in the last four years. Marti plays tennis with Suzy Cunningham Hird and often sees Kathie Scattergood Moser.  Marti’s Mom turned 90 in May.

Katy Webster, SND continues in the Amazon, specifically in Anapu of the state of Pará, Brasil. She is living with four Sisters of Notre Dame this year.  Her work continues among the small farmers living in small Base Communities in the district of Anapu, as well as the landless people who are struggling to get land.  One of the high points of the year has been the Forest Pilgrimage, this year the 11^th, a fifty-five kilometer hike over three days to the place where Sister Dorothy Stang was murdered in 2005.  She invites anyone who would like to participate to enter into contact!  Last year one of the high points was a visit to Trinity Washington University.  There is so much energy and power there!  She was grateful to “matar saudades e fazer mais”.  Roughly (see old friends and make new ones).

Lolly O’Connell Samolis and Frank’s family keeps expanding with their son Will’s marriage to sweet Sarah at Gonzaga High School in a December wedding. Their second grandbaby, Colin Thomas, arrived in Fairfield CT to their daughter Maggie and Mark in February. Now daughters Abby and Audrey and families live in Boston so they find themselves up on New England a great deal.

Lolly and Frank are downsizing to smaller digs in Arlington VA this year. This move brings them closer to Frank’s DC’s office and Lolly’s video conference art presentations with the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s off site schools around the country.

She has been keeping an eye on Mary O’Connor Barrett and Jean Flatley McGuire when visiting in Beantown and so far they seem to be behaving themselves and staying out of online Globe scandal websites.

Joan Austin Pellerin just had her 37th anniversary.  She continues to work as a staff ASL interpreter at the University of Vermont. She is the Chair of the Deaf Blind Membership Section of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf and is active in her field.  She has six adult children and a grandson, Damien, who is ten.

Sue Rogers briefly stated nothing new or exciting to report.  Nothing dull either!

Marianna Dunn also said she had nothing new to report.

Connie Abrashoff Bentzen attended the wedding of Ellen Glennon Stanton’s son.  She said it was a gorgeous wedding and proclaims Ellen and Patrick are still in love!  On a sad note she reported that Connie Oprisch’s mom passed away about a month ago.  I understand that Connie’s mom painted beautiful watercolors.

Connie Bentzen and family are well.  Though she never knows where she is when she wakes up in the morning…..Pittsburgh? Chicago?  Houston? Omaha?  Travelling 3 days a week and alternating time with her hubby in Pittsburgh.  They both enjoy Chicago…..all the excitement of NYC without the dirt and attitude……however, crime and public corruption is another story……the days of Al Capone aren’t really behind us!

Jean McGuire writes that everyone is healthy, all the kids have great partners and good jobs, and she and Barb just celebrated 25 years together.  She left a series of public health roles in the private sector and in government and now teaches at Northeastern University.  Barb has moved from emergency to addiction medicine. They are both working on glide paths to retirement.  Over the last few years they have weathered a series of health issues that we all face now – their own and family members.  Last year their house in Cambridge burned down – but, they are on the other side of this and back in their re-built home after a year.  She is looking forward to less excitement in the upcoming year.  Trinity remains a fond memory and the bedrock of so much of her friendship and work over time.

Several months ago I heard from Julie C. Ouellette who reported our classmate, her roommate, sister-in-law and friend Christina Graham Ouellette passed away 4/12/2015.  Christina was dedicated and opened several clinics including Children’s Behavioral Services in 2000, New Dawn Partial Hospitalization in 2004 which is a behavioral health hospitalization organization which offers acute treatment to youth, and the Graham Academy in 2007 which was a private special education school specializing in educating children living with autism and those with emotional challenges.  Her sons, Will and Nick, are now committed to the operation of these programs.  They work together, with the guidance of their mother’s legacy and passion, to provide excellent assistance to children in need.  We are saddened at the loss of several of our classmates.

As for me, I have now been back in Charlotte for three plus years, working at the Matthews Heritage Museum.  I have enjoyed working with our 20+ volunteers who bring so much to the museum. As I work three days a week, my travel time is limited. Fortunately, one of the volunteers and I have taken a number of day trips exploring the area, and a trip up to Lancaster, PA’s, Amish Country.

We are planning a short adventure to Savannah and Tybee Island around Labor Day.

Last summer, I put together a reunion for my cousins (originally 30 of us!)  We met in New England and about half of them came.  This was the first time many of us had seen one another in 50 years, when we were children and our grandparents and parents were alive.  No other large family gatherings since.  It was such fun, we are going to gather again next summer!

I try to garden, but the heat and humidity during recent summers has diminished my enthusiasm.  Usually I have lots of tomatoes, but the deer took care of them this summer; however, they apparently are not fond of cucumbers. From one plant I have made 18 pints of bread and butter pickles and dill pickles and given any number of cukes away to friends and neighbors.

I volunteer at the North Carolina Room at the Charlotte Library one day a week.  I have been doing lots of research at work on Matthews’s history and finally am working on my own family history.  I recently discovered, through a genealogy done much early for my great-grandmother’s family, that way back we came from Wales… from the Lord of Llandaff!!  On my own I have tracked down a second cousin in Eynsham, England, where my grandmother was born, who sent me wonderful photos of my great-grandfather’s building where he worked and other related pictures.  I have also made contact with his aunt who lives outside Sedona.  Hopefully the next time I visit a niece in Phoenix we will get a chance to meet.

Thank you all for replying so quickly… especially during the summer.

Barbara E. Taylor

Elise Allan Tucci responded quickly with a hope to hear great stories and see some photos from Reunion. Sadly, we learned of the death of Elise Tucci just prior to going to print. She still teaches pre-kindergarten at the Country Day School of the Sacred Heart in Bryn Mawr, PA, and is a grandmother of two beautiful girls, Anna Elizabeth and Juliette Elise, her daughter’s children. Her son Matthew is engaged to be married June 2015. Son Brian works for Google in San Francisco and son John works for Integrity Staffing Agency, which staffs Amazon all over the country. She sees Marti Kane Rodgers,her sisterHelen, Suzy Cunningham Hird, Kathie Scattergood Moser in Philadelphia, Susie Spaeth Maloy in Greenwich, CT, and Liz Glassmeyer once last year when she came from Cincinnati to Philly for a visit.

Suzanne White Days is planning to retire in the next few months and has bought a home in “The Villages” in FL where she hopes to enjoy her retirement with two Labrador retrievers, Bella and Hanna, and husband. She is still going to Truro this summer for two weeks and Donna Schlegel and her husband, Greg, Pat Fitzpatrick Niles and her husband, Mike, and Pat Pfister and her friend Paul are all planning to come down for a long weekend. Mary Jane Wietsma Gudgeon spent a few days with Suzanne in the spring after visiting her mother and two sons in the states before returning to Rome and Loretta Morris is finally into her new home in Ocean City after it being demolished by Hurricane Sandy.

Mary Jane Weitsma Gudgeon saw Donna Schlegel in June. “Donna was here in Rome overnight as she was leaving on a cruise from Rome the next day. Wish she could have stayed much longer.” Jane also saw Donna in March when she was in the US. Her husband and she spent a fun night with Donna and her husband at their home in CT. She was also able to spend a nice evening with Suzanne Days and her husband in April on that same trip to the US. She continues to live in Rome, Italy, and from what I see on Facebook, has done a lot of traveling lately.

“Good health, good friends, time to do things when we want in the timeframe we want,” is the word from Connie Abrashoff Bentzen. Their adjustment to the empty nest has been relatively easy and the kids are doing great. Husband, Craig, enjoys being retired though Connie is still working at Blackrock and doing some teaching at Duquesne U.

Lollie O’Connell is back working at the Smithsonian, this time as a video conferencer with the South American Art Museum. She writes, “I have had a wonderfully crazy last two years; third child Maggie was married, fourth child Audrey graduated college” and her oldest child, Abby, had the first grandbaby. Lollie’s son, Will, has a lovely girlfriend.

Lollie continues, “I have hung up the camera straps after pursuing my passion for 40-plus years … I did every kind of photography I ever wanted to do, and have taken every image on this Earth that I care to … the only time I pull out a camera is when granddaughter Charlotte Sloane appears.” She is immersed in a great ministry program with her new Episcopalian congregation. Education for Ministry is a four-year program which includes reading most of the Old/New Testaments plus the history of Christianity.

Anne “Nancy” Hill Forella reported that her younger daughter Natalie married a young man from Charlotte last October. Both are mechanical engineer graduates from VA Tech. She has two grandchildren, a boy (1) and a girl (3). “Husband Peter and I have been enjoying life: seeing our grandkids, friends and boating on the Chesapeake on weekends. We have a couple more years to work before retiring. He is still running his consulting business and I have been teaching the last 14 years in Fairfax County.”

Pat Mizzi is living in Sayville, NY. Recently she and her husband, Paul, were hosts for their third and final daughter’s wedding. Their family now includes three classy sons-in-law as well as three smart and beautiful daughters. It also includes eight grandchildren, four of each flavor. Pat manages her husband’s home-visiting veterinary practice from the lovely home near the water that they purchased from her parents. “Yes, I live in the same house I grew up in and see people I knew in elementary school on a regular basis.” She also helps to promote Girl Scouting in the local area.

Academically, she managed a master’s in psychology at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. More recently, she earned Shodon rank in jujitsu and is near Shodan rank in Aikido. Sometimes she teaches martial arts but has no current classes. Paul and she sail in the summer, ski in winter and travel to see kids at various times of the year. “If anyone is out my way on Long Island, NY, stop by and say hi. One of the advantages of a home office is that one is at home a lot and easily findable. I also do Facebook.”

“I am three and a half years from retirement and counting the months,” states Karen Doherty. “My wife and I will retire to our house in Greenport, NY, on the east end of Long Island, and also plan to do a bit of traveling – Italy and the Baltic countries to start.” She would also like to visit the home of her English ancestors, Stratford-Upon-Avon. She had some DNA tests done two years ago, and some of her heritage is newly found. She would like to dive deeply into mapping her family. For now, between work, family and struggling with a health issue, she can’t tackle as many things as deeply as she would like, but finds out little bits that keep her intrigued.

She has also started research for an article on Ed Murphy, a Stonewall veteran and a very complex man. “He was a gay activist in the 1970s and 1980s who had his start in a blackmail ring of closeted homosexual men in government, business and public life in the early 1960s. I knew him personally, although only one side of his life. It was a shock to discover his past.” She is currently head of marketing for Exaclair, Inc., in NY. They import and distribute stationery products from France. It’s hard sailing in a digital world, but luckily for her many people still enjoy writing on good paper.

Jeanne Smith Jardien retired from the Chicago Park District and is now working at her “retirement job” at a 24-hour emergency and specialty veterinary clinic. She enjoys working four days a week and is still very involved with Irish setter rescue. She has a blind rescue dog Sully (4) and a show dog Rogan (2). She started in the show ring one and a half years ago and put a championship on Rogan last December. She is now working on a grand championship. Jeanne sees Anne White a few times a year when she is in town and they get together for dinner. Anne is doing well and living in NY.

Linda Schneider is still working for the division of investment management, chief counsel’s office, in the SEC. She’s been with the agency 37 years this September, and her present black Labrador Seeing Eye dog, Teddy, is squiring her around. She is still in the old family homestead. Both Teddy and she seem to be in good health. Linda’s latest of the nine books – three novels, a poetry collection and four short story collections from Author House – is her autobiography, A Blessed Life that came out in 2012.

It has been a busy couple of years on Capitol Hill for Susan “Fredi” Fournier. They did a renovation of the second floor that included redoing the lighting throughout the house and rebuilding both decks. She had to move out, though luckily her son and daughter-in-law had room and only lived a few blocks away. Her granddaughter was born three weeks later and she and her husband spent many a night walking the floor with a colicky baby. They are expecting the second grandchild, likely another girl, in December. Susan’s younger son is getting married in September in the mountains of CO. When visiting out west, Susan has seen former classmate Michelle Madril, who she has remained close to since she left sophomore year. “As Pat Sullivan Shapiro and I are working on the 45th you will be hearing from us. We want a large turnout for the 45th and even bigger for our 50th.”

Kathy Keyes Hart provided a few details about Reunion. “The Alumnae Luncheon was attended by Suzi Cunningham, Fredi Fournier, Jean Flatley McGuire, Diana Ingoglia Morefield, Lolly O’Connell, Mary O’Connor Barrett,Julie O’Neill, Marti Kane Rodgers, Pat Sullivan Shapiro and Jane Tingley. The Class of 1964, celebrating their 50^th, had well over 100 women attending. That’s a goal we should aim for in 10 years! It was fun touring the campus and seeing all the improvements that have been made since we were there. After dinner on Saturday night, a bunch of us met up at Chadwick’s down on K Street in Georgetown, which brought back a lot of old memories.”

Jane Tingley wrote her news after attending Reunion. Her daughter, Sarah, is living and working in Washington and loving the fun city life of DC. Son Henry is in his sophomore year at Davidson College. Jane and I hope to connect next time she comes to Davidson (just north of Charlotte).

Jane shared news of others including a special reunion this past fall at Suzy Cunningham Hird’s home in Phoenixville, PA, when Beth Garrity Ellis flew in from London and Jane drove up from DC. Marti Rodgers joined them for an outdoors walk and they visited Marti’s home, meeting her husband, Michael. Beth’s oldest daughter, Nina, plans to attend a creative writing MFA program in the fall. Beth’s younger daughter, Laure, is completing her junior year at St. Paul’s Girls’ School in London, where she studies Chinese and is beginning to learn Japanese.

Suzy Cunningham Hird has a new financial position that allows her to work from home, which she enjoys. Her younger daughter, Liz, was married in April. Suzy said it was a beautiful and fun wedding. Suzy’s three children live relatively closeby and come home especially to enjoy her fabulous cooking.

Jane says plans are in the works for another mini reunion, which may become a larger group including Marti Rodgers, Julie O’Neill and others from the Reunion group of women. They may head up to Watch Hill to see Beth and/or the Cape to visit Julie O’Neill and Mary O’Connor Barrett. Please let Jane know if anyone would like to join them!

Many of you might have gotten a note from Trinity about classmate M. Patricia Smith who is the solicitor general of the Department of Labor. She was interviewed on ABC. “She has given thousands of coal miners suffering from black lung disease new hope, encouraging them to re-file benefit claims that had been previously denied.” Nice to know we Trinity girls do make a difference!

Andrea Croce Birch shared that she got her 15-year service award from Brenau U. in Gainesville, GA. She finds it hard to believe that she has been dean of the College of Fine Arts and Humanities at Brenau since 1999!
Joan Austin Pellerin continues to be a staff member at the U. of VT. She does a considerable amount of freelance interpreting and runs across another Trinity grad from time to time within her profession. She has an awesome grandson (8) and her youngest daughter (of 6 children) just finished her first year at the National Technological Institute for the Deaf (part of RIT). Joan will spend a significant part of her summer going to regional interpreter conferences around the US (San Diego, Atlanta, greater-Boston). She misses her past roommate of four years, Pat Shea!

“All is well in FL,” writes Bonnie McLean McKinley. She was thrilled to become Nana in February. Her son is doing a fellowship in pediatric pulmonology in Houston. Daughter Lauren is in Atlanta and Caroline is nearby in Clearwater. Husband, Paul, has retired and she is still working, though hopefully for only another year or so.

“With each new job, I think that this will be my last,” says Stephanie Slepicka Shipp. “That was 1997 when I went to the Census Bureau. Since then, I have worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Science and Technology Policy Institute (working for the White House science advisors) and now am creating a new lab as a research professor and deputy director of the social and decision analytics laboratory at the VA Bioinformatics Institute at VA Tech in Arlington, VA. We are working in the brave new world of big data and urban analytics to learn about the rhythm of the city to inform policy making.” Her vacations are to St. Augustine, FL, where her older daughter and husband recently relocated from Bergen, Norway, and to San Francisco, CA, to visit her younger daughter. For fun, she and her husband bike, walk, go to Arena Stage, attend Shakespeare theaters and attend Cap’s hockey and Nat’s baseball games. “It is hard to believe that it was 40 years since we graduated from Trinity and now have many happy memories of our time there.”

An email arrived from Kathryn “Katy” Webster, SND, the first in 40 years! Now with the Internet I can get her news on time! She has been a Sister of Notre Dame since 1976. In 1984 she came to Brazil and in 1993, moved from Maranhão to the state of Pará, living on the Transamazon Highway, Centro Nazaré, 95 km from Altamira. She spent 4 years in Itaituba, still on the Transamazon Highway, but very much farther west from where she is now, and three years in Altamira, 140km west of there.

She has been associated with Anapu for the last 20 years. (This was where Sister Dorothy Stang, SND, was assassinated in 2005. At the time she was living in Itaituba and returned in 2006). “The struggle is for life: of the people, the land, the forest and the rivers. We are 80km from the Belo Monte complex, a hydroelectric dam that is being built after 30 years of protest because it is a natural disaster, and the energy it will produce will not benefit the local population and really is not needed.”

Katy lives with three other SNDs, and is waiting for a fourth to come before the end of the year. She works with the pastoral team visiting the communities, holding meetings, walking with the people in their struggle for land, security on the land and preservation of the forests from the loggers, ranchers and mining companies.

They are getting ready for the Ninth Forest Pilgrimage, which was established the year after Sr. Dorothy was killed, as a way to commemorate her life, and struggle, but to make a very clear statement that no one fled, the people are still here and the struggle continues. Check out her Facebook page: Katia Webster for the poster image. “It is a rich and wonderful life, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to live and work among the people of the Transamazon.”

Marti Kane Rogers shared, “We did have a wonderful time at Reunion. It was the perfect weekend weather-wise and our 40-year-old memories were still alive. After dinner, we went up to the fourth floor to check it out. It looks almost exactly the same but the rooms are all singles now.”
The Philly Trinity girls are good. She sees Kathie Scattergood Moser, Elise Allan Tucci and Suzy Cunningham Hird often. She enjoys her four little grandchildren who all live in the area! She is still working full-time as a contractor for IBM since she “retired.”

Kara McGuire Symons wrote that there has been a lot of life transformation for her and husband, Craig, and her children and grandchildren since October 29, 2012, when Hurricane Sandy made a direct hit on the town of Mantoloking, NJ. It was her full-time home with all of her family’s possessions. They evacuated, with what they could pack, to the mainland “but when the ocean broke through to the bay it flooded well into the area where we were. Our home was destroyed, as were most in the town, and the remains had to be demolished. It was an agonizingly slow process to gain access to the property, retrieve anything salvageable and wade through all the processes related to FEMA, state and local government and insurance, while trying to find a place to live.”

A few days after the storm, her sons managed to get to her and her husband, and they relocated to Norwalk, CT, to live with one of them until they could find a place to rent. They started 2013 in a rented, empty condo with no furniture. By fall of 2013 the insurance claims had been paid, the house demolished and the land cleared of debris. Major local, state and federal construction work is either in process or planned, to try to rebuild the infrastructure of the town and rebuild and safeguard the beach. It will be at least another year before any normality returns.

By the end of 2013 they decided that they needed a family home sooner than later and bought a house in Westport, CT. Their youngest son, Justin (29), moved in with them a month later. They now have seven beautiful grandchildren, two of whom have never known how wonderful life at the shore was. They still own the land but have no plans yet to rebuild. Maybe they will see life there someday, or maybe they will all just move on together. “We hope and pray that God takes us all through this continuing transition to a better life.”

Lorie Morris had wanted to come to the Reunion but financial resources have been tight. Her house also was hit by Sandy. She decided to tear it down and put up a modular, which had to be put up on pilings to meet the new FEMA standards (14 steps up). The State has deemed her eligible for a rebuilding grant but she’s not sure how much it will be for at this point. If she doesn’t get enough funds then things are going to be very tight for a while. She’s keeping her fingers and toes crossed and praying real hard! We will too!

Jeannette “Jea” Morgenroth wrote, “For about 10 years before I had to retire (disability due to MS), I worked at U. of Notre Dame Press and freelanced on the side as editor and researcher; I still do some research, editing and writing in music history (my own field) and once in a while in what I suppose would be called ‘politics’ (healthcare reform and advocacy, also race).”

Mary O’Connor Barrett and husband, Peter, recently downsized and now live in downtown Boston. Their daughter Colleen was married last September and lives in Boston as well. Their son Christopher will be married this June in Baltimore and plans to move back from CO some time to also live in Boston. Their son Daniel lives in Hyannis and comes over to see them when they are in Nantucket for the summer.

Mary Thornton Goedde squeezed out a note saying she still lives in St. Louis. “We just returned from a two-week trip to northern Europe, and our travels included St. Petersburg, Russia. It was fantastic. We saw the Hermitage, several castles, took a boat ride on the canals, and rode a hydrofoil to the Petersburg Summer Castle.” Other than a bit of jet lag, they really had a wonderful time.

Responding for the first time since graduation, Jeanne Cox Zepp filled in the gaps. She has lived in Montgomery Village, MD, with husband, Kevin, for the past 30 years. They are empty nesters now, with her two daughters, of whom they are very proud, attending graduate school. Jeanne and her husband both work. She is a director of public relations strategies for a PR firm that specializes in B2B technology. Kevin works in procurement management. In his spare time, he volunteers with the National Parks Service, putting on living history events.

“After years of being a swim mom, room mom, chauffeur and overall problem solver, the pace around the house is decidedly slower, but nice.” She has taken advantage of the opportunity to travel a bit, going to the Virgin Islands, Bahamas and Puerto Rico. She would love to plan a family vacation to Europe before both daughters take up their busy medical practices, but coordinating schedules is a challenge. Wish her luck!

Marianna Dunn was unable to make plans to attend Reunion this year as she and her spouse, Cindy, dealt with the sudden decline of a family member who passed away peacefully in hospice with many prayers and much love on Memorial Day. Marianna and Cindy inherited Jason, a Cavalier King Charles dog, and he is transitioning nicely into their existing dog and cat family. They have had a good year otherwise. They had a wedding ceremony at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in DC last October which went beyond their expectations. They are blessed to mark 20 years together this year. They co-chaired a successful 160th gala fundraiser for various St. Alban’s parish ministries this spring. It was a great opportunity to grow closer to folks that serve their church and attend other services since singing in the choir limits their interactions with people on any given Sunday.

Connie Oprisch also wasn’t able to go to Reunion because of an out-of-town wedding. “As for work, I’ve had a good year with the English language learners in grades 3, 4 and 5. The challenge this year has been dealing with the new curriculum rolled out in grades 4 and 5.” A travel highlight of 2013 was her visit to northern CA in August. Her sister’s husband was assigned to Palo Alto (about an hour from San Francisco) for a couple of years and they stayed with them at the beginning of the trip. They enjoyed San Francisco and the great view from Telegraph Hill. Her husband, Peter, even won a ticket for a free pair of Levi jeans in the birthplace of Levi’s. They traveled on to Yosemite, passing almond orchards and artichoke fields, and getting a whiff of garlic as they drove through the garlic crop in Gilroy. “If you haven’t already visited Yosemite, we recommend this gem for a future vacation. Monterey is also impressive with its craggy cypress trees along the coastline and the rocky beaches. It was fun to marvel at the sea lions and otters at Point Lobos State Park.”

Terry McNearney wrote that she had a knee replacement last September, and then had a significant health event. She is on the mend, labs and tests are normalizing.

So we’re over 60 now and not bullet proof! Terry is still in Indianapolis, at Eli Lilly, where she works on new medicines for pain. She expects to be there for a few more years and then retire to TX. She got together with Tom and Mary Goedde at Christmas and said it was absolutely great to see them. Their two boys are doing very well and they had a cruise planned to get out of the snow.

Eileen Tarpey Foster wrote that as of June 13, she will be retired from teaching junior high English! The kids are grown, and Bill retired from Amtrak last year. She and Bill haveno big plans yet, but are looking forward to spending time together.

Pat McGuire wrote, “I can hardly believe I’m finishing my 25th year as Trinity’s president. What a ride it’s been, and I still have so much that’s not done. Breaking ground last weekend for the new academic center was thrilling, and getting that building out of the ground will be a joy to watch in the next two years. Higher education today is full of endless challenges, and aside from keeping Trinity moving ahead I spend a great deal of time on the public policy circuit testifying, lobbying, writing and generally trying to stay on top of all of the legislative and regulatory issues.”

In her “spare” time she enjoys wildlife photography and escapes to the Eastern Shore at least once a month to spend time at places like the Blackwater National Wildlife Preserve near Cambridge, MD, and other beautiful spots where she finds large concentrations of eagles, ducks, herons and other interesting creatures. She’ll be heading north for vacation in the Adirondacks where she has gone for the last 20 years.

While some have longevity in the job, Marcy Wilson Aguilar just completed her first year teaching at St. Francis International School. She taught pre-K at St. Catherine Laboure for 28 years. When her school closed she had to seek new employment. This is the school of her parish, St. Camillus. “It was tough leaving St. Catherine and I still miss all of my colleagues, but I’ve enjoyed my new school and colleagues.” Granddaughter, Ellycia (11), is entering middle school. Marcy is so thankful to have Ellycia in her life. They spend time together every other weekend. It keeps her going.

As for myself, I just celebrated a one-year anniversary as the director of the new Matthews Heritage Museum. The small local history museum, in an 1880 house, has been very well-received by the community. Some of the history we tell is recent enough that many people relate, remember people and places and offer how appreciative they are that we have saved “their history.” I have 17 volunteers who are terrific. I work only three days a week, though am appreciative to have a job back in the museum world after four years of searching.

Moving back to Charlotte proved to be the answer. It is great to be with old friends again. Last summer the book on High Point was published, and I did a number of signings. In my spare time I have worked on my house and created some gardens. The past few days a friend from junior high and her husband helped me build a bridge over the creek in the back (way too hot). Now I am working on updating the kitchen. Vacations, unfortunately, are limited due to the work schedule.

After my brow beating we had a record turn-out for news, two for the first time in 40 years! Thank you! Wishing all of you a good year, and see you at the next Reunion.

Barbara E. Taylor