Katharine Rogers Lavery
507 Devonshire Drive NE
Vienna, VA 22180
hlavery@erols.com
Our reunion chair and hostess, Barbara “Bobbi” Bishop Mann, has been working behind the scenes to organize our 40th reunion in June. Since a planned trip to Egypt conflicted with the UMW meeting at the new Jepson Alumni Executive Center in October, we scheduled an earlier meeting to set things in motion and scout out a restaurant in downtown Fredericksburg for a class gathering June 2. However, Bobbi’s mother in Houston was directly in the path of Hurricane Rita and required a rescue mission. Bobbi and her brother, Jim, scrambled to escort their mother out of Houston just before the airport closed. They took her first to Philadelphia, then to Richmond, where she stayed with Bobbi and husband Robert for a few weeks. Consequently, Bobbi missed not only our alumni meeting but also her trip to Egypt.
Lee Enos Kelley, Midge Meredith Poyck and I attended the reunion planning session and enjoyed working with the staff at the fantastic new Alumni Center, which you all will see when you visit UMW for our reunion. We also enjoyed getting to know some of our sister class members who will share our reunion dates. One was Sylvia McJilton Woodcock ’61, the elder sister of our own Eleanor McJilton Thompson. Eleanor lives in Moseley, Va., not far from Richmond, where she is enjoying retirement after serving 31 years as a Title I elementary school teacher.
Lee wants you to know that she has taken up belly dancing to regain her figure after her “career” of surrogate motherhood. Her story was the highlight of our 30th reunion, remember? Seriously, however, Lee has retired from her career as a family therapist and is devoting much of her time now to UMW alumni service. She played an active role in the creation of the Jepson Alumni Executive Center and continues to work to promote alumni involvement in the University. Both Lee and Mary Wright Day are members of the UMW Monroe Society of the President’s Council.
Midge retired from her Mary Washington administrative post in 2000, then moved to Lexington, S.C., to be near her son’s family. Although she remains active in UMW alumni affairs, she splits her time between Lexington and Tucson, Ariz., where she owns a condo near her daughter’s family. Midge enjoys golfing, volunteering and spending time with her four grandchildren. Midge continues to represent our class, along with Charlotte Major Minor, on the Board of Directors of the Mary Washington Foundation. In addition, Charlotte is a member of the Brompton Society. Another leader in Mary Washington alumni activities is Anne Price Fortney, a member of the Brompton Society, who continues to serve on the Alumni Association Board of Directors.
Now that state funding for higher education has been drastically reduced, many of our class members have generously joined various chapters of the Mary Washington Foundation. Barbara Lampl Baucom and husband Howard, Carolyn Perry Grow and husband David, Gerry Sargent Habas, and Barbara Bishop Mann are all members of the Centennial Society of the President’s Council. The Ball Circle Society includes Linda Spangle Berkheimer, Lenore Gilbert Bowne, Mary Parsons Black, Anne Meade Claggett, Nancy Derrick Denslow, Annette Madra Horner, Elizabeth Kelling Leasure, Emily Roscoe Morse, Pam Kearney Patrick, Lois Rucker Scott, Carol McAfoos Sonnenburg, Dee Dee Nottingham Ward, Nancy Dean Wolfe and Sheila Denny Young. Three of our classmates – Carolyn Eldred, Charlotte Stultz and Linda Johnson Williams, along with our beloved class sponsor, Dr. George M. Van Sant – have joined the Heritage Society. Our class as a whole has proudly maintained a strong support roster with a high degree of participation. Many thanks to all of you!
Clara Middleton Leigh ’63 and I drove to Leesburg, Va., in October to meet Robbie James East for our annual lunch visit. Lois Rucker Scott often accompanies us, but this year she was away visiting her grandchildren. Robbie reported she has conquered her back problems and enjoys keeping grandson Peyton after preschool even though he is not fond of working in Robbie’s flower fields. Robbie continues to keep very busy all year supplying floral arrangements for weddings and other festive occasions.
Elaine Gerlach McKelly wrote that she is executive director of the Granville Education Foundation in Oxford, N.C., which raises money for enrichment programs in county schools. It is a great job for her since she interacts with many dedicated teachers, students and community members. Elaine and husband Tim plan to remain in Oxford in a new home they are building across the street from their present home. One daughter and family live in Oxford and the other three families are within a four-hour radius. Elaine and Tim thoroughly enjoy spending time with their children, their wonderful spouses and their seven fantastic grandchildren, who range in age from 4 to 7.
Norma Woodward Batchelder is thinking about attending our 40th reunion except that she thinks it must be for old people, and that cannot possibly mean our class! Norma retired seven years ago from teaching at Mary Washington. She recently traveled to Springfield, Ill., to attend the wedding of Italian professor Clavio Ascari’s son, a friend of her own son during her teaching tenure. The trip included a visit to her son and daughter-in-law in Chicago followed by a short spell at home in Tryon, N.C., before setting off for three weeks in Turkey. After monitoring the construction of an addition to their home, Norma may be ready to travel to Mary Washington to join us for our reunion.
Sandra Hutchison Hoybach recently spent the busiest summer of her life dispelling the myth of lazy summer days. One week in June she had seven adults and five small children staying at her house in Reston, Va. The little ones thought sleeping on the floor was a great adventure, making it fun for the whole family. In mid-August, eldest son Ricky was married in a beautiful outdoor ceremony with the reception at his father’s home in nearby Middleburg, Va. Two weeks later, Sandra’s daughter, Amy, was married in an elegant historic church in The Plains with the reception in the same place as Ricky’s. Wedding preparations would have been smoother had Sandra’s mother not developed serious health problems requiring hospitalization and subsequently a permanent move into Sandra’s home. Add Sandra’s full-time employment at a real estate settlement firm to the excitement, and the picture is complete. Son Ricky lives only a few miles away; daughter Amy has returned to Jackson Hole, Wyo.; son Brandon and family have resumed their life in Croatia; and Sandra is looking forward to things returning to normal. She invites you to visit!
Hank and I remain healthy and very active with work, family, church and hobbies. Our 20th grandchild’s arrival is imminent, and I promise not to flaunt pictures at our reunion. See you then!