Barbara Faxon Stout
21449 Senedo Road
Edinburg, VA 22824
barbhal@rica.net
Charlotte Benz Villalobos
1436 Calle Redonda Lane
Escondido, CA 92026
charvillalobos@sdccu.net
From Barbara:
Joyce Reynolds Hancock wrote to bring us up to date on her activities since graduation 52 years ago. She worked as a chemist at Johns Hopkins, married, had two fine daughters, taught junior high science for 14 years, and retired in 1980. Since then, Joyce has traveled to Africa and Europe and has been active in Christian work, including being a part of the Gideon Auxiliary. On the medical front, she has had knee cartilage surgery, cataract removal, a few biopsies of non-cancerous lumps, and two angioplasties with stents. Joyce said all the procedures were routine except the last angioplasty during which her heart stopped, allowing her to observe from above the crew working on her body. From that experience, Joyce said, she gained a greater appreciation for life.
From Vanessa Moncure ’78, we learned that her mother, Wyvonne Weaver Vance ’53, and her father, Victor, relocated from their home in Monroe, N.C., to Vanessa’s home in Fredericksburg. Her dad already was suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Shortly after the move, her mother suffered a severe stroke during surgery to remove a kidney. She went into rehab, the goal being to get her home by early 2006. Wyvonne has three grandchildren, the oldest of whom, Webb, is a 2002 graduate of VMI. Katherine, a 2002 graduate of Sweet Briar, married two years ago, and the youngest, Avery, is a senior at Woodberry Forest School in Orange, Va. During the past year, Vanessa has been undergoing treatment at the U.Va. Cancer Center.
A broken hip in January slowed Betty Crawford Beasley down for a while. However, Betty wrote that she has recovered beautifully and is walking without a cane. She sold her house and moved to an apartment complex in Fredericksburg’s Smith Run, a community for those 55 years and older. Now near her daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons, Betty considers herself very lucky to be living the “super easy life.”
Another who has relocated is Nell McCoy Savopoulos who proclaims, “timing is everything.” After spending many winters in St. Augustine, Fla., Nell and her husband, Mike, decided to downsize drastically and move there in September 2004. During the next year, Nell swore their small living space shrunk more each time it rained. Now, the Savopouloses have adjusted to their laid-back lifestyle and are enjoying the beach, which is just five minutes away. A bonus is having Mary Washington friends within visiting distance. Peggy Ellis Gill and her husband, Paul, have a condo nearby; and Joan Morgen Rountree and Hannah Lou McGowan ’51 are close enough for lunch and marathon memory sessions. Despite the prediction of terrible hurricanes to come, Nell said she would think about that on some day other than the beautiful one she was experiencing as she wrote this message.
Continuing with the relocation theme, Nancy Newhall Hulburt and husband Harry now winter in North Carolina near their daughter, Jennifer. By spring, Nancy and Harry hope to resume residency on the Cape. Granddaughter Lily Bea is writing her third novel while away at college. Elizabeth Young Worthington is still a working artist and teaches a couple of classes a week. She recently sold her house and moved into a condo in Chattanooga. Gayle Winston Roberts and husband Page have moved twice in the last two years after 40 years in the same house. They built their retirement home on the south side of their lake, retaining the same address.
Not relocating is Deigh Renn Simpson, who continues renovating her charming childhood cottage on the banks of the Appomattox. Recently, Deigh hosted a lawn wedding for a cousin at which she performed the blessing ceremony.