Bette Worsham Hawkins Dunford
42 Willway Ave.
Richmond, VA 23226
AWHawk@aol.com
I can’t resist starting with my wonderful news. If you have your 1948
Battlefield handy, turn to page 186. You will see a picture of me and Earle
Dunford, my college beau. My sister, Ann, married his brother, “Doot,”
so Earle and I have been together at gatherings for the last 50 years. It
seemed so natural to be going out with him again, after our similar sadness.
Last November, he and I were married and headed to London for our wedding
trip. I had the happy opportunity to introduce him to many friends from the
years Salty and I had visited England. We have many happy plans for a very
busy future.
Jane Howard Patrick traveled to Sicily in 2003, and to Holland and Belgium
during tulip time this year. Jean Krug Robertson and her husband regularly
visit their four children and eight grandchildren who live in Texas, North
Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia Beach. They also keep up with Virginia
Tech home football games. In March, they took a Caribbean cruise. Jean frequently
meets Betty Trout Marshall in Williamsburg.
Kitty Glazier Livengood lost her husband in February. She has lived in Rancho
Palos Verdes, Calif., for 40 years, and her two daughters and six grandchildren
all live in the state. Anne Cavedo Davis died this past winter.
Anne Barnes Baugh volunteers to register voters and help with assignments
for the Democratic Party. She is active in the League of Women Voters and
mail analysis at the White House. She goes to the gym three mornings a week,
plays bridge and golf, and reads novels. Anne was planning a trip to Virginia
Beach this summer and a trip in the fall to the Scandinavian countries.
A prayer for peace came from Frances Belman Haddock, whose family lost a young
man to the Iraq conflict. She stays very busy with church work, family and
bridge.
Melanie Norris Steane spends summers in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, where she
and her husband own a hotel, and they winter on Sanibel Island. Her three
girls and their families live in Maine; her son is in Vail, Colo.
Pat Maguire Bilodeau and husband Ken continue to enjoy retirement and are
always looking forward to the next trip. They went to St. Maarten in April,
then Egypt and Jordan. One of Pat’s granddaughters is volunteering for
a year in South Africa, and the other is a graduate student at Tufts.
When the General Assembly meets in Richmond each spring, Marjorie Batty Hill
accompanies her husband, who does interviews for the Cable Association. This
year they invited Robbie Carter Doswell ’47 and husband Billy to join
them for dinner. They recently saw Gwen Simmons Meredith and her husband,
and also had a weekend in Danville in the fall visiting Elizabeth “Betsy”
Robertson. Betsy had a luncheon for them and Barnes, with Ellen Dyer Davis
in attendance. Ellen wrote that she has had a complete knee replacement and
is doing well. She is an avid duplicate bridge player and is helping a novice
group with the game. She sees Norvell Milner Thomson several times a year.
Sarah Wilson Estep, now widowed, is about to be published again. Roads to
Eternity is a follow-up to Voices of Eternity, first published by Fawcett/Ballantine
in 1988. Sarah has been in good health and lives in a senior community, Heritage
Harbor, in Annapolis. She went to Reno, Nev., in June, where she lectured
at a national conference and taught a workshop.
Carolyn Bolling Sergeant is founder of the Knoxville Opera and a hospital
volunteer. She celebrated her 20th wedding anniversary in Acapulco and visited
Naples, Fla. Her husband chairs the International Committee for Rotary International
to eradicate polio around the world. Her three children are in Richmond (I
taught one grandchild), Georgia and Seattle. Carolyn is in contact with Ellie
Brackett Buse and Inez North Johnson.
Happily married for 53 years, Mary Bondurant Stevens has two daughters and
two granddaughters. She is recovering from total hip replacement. Mary keeps
up with Martha Warriner Dodson and Jeanne Reifsnyder Wiseman. Jeanne has a
daughter who teaches computer skills to children with learning difficulties,
as well as three sons who are military officers.
Jean McClarin Jones, mother of four and grandmother of three, is living with
her married daughter, Caroline, in Colorado, where she reads, quilts, embroiders,
travels, and volunteers at her church. She is actively interested in church
missions, national politics, symphony and opera. Jean’s travel destinations
have included Israel, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Russia,
Mexico, Great Britain and Ireland. She was planning a late summer visit to
Alaska.
Ruth Sargent Campbell feels young and cherished by three devoted sons who
helped her through medical treatments at Johns Hopkins. She divides her time
between homes in New Hampshire and Florida. She is involved in volunteer work
and plays violin in a community orchestra.
Helen Lowe Eliason is still involved with garden preservation, adult education
scholarships and children’s literacy. She is in contact with Claire
Braun Burrows, who continues to paint despite health problems.
Laura Wright Nottingham is in good health and active at her Eastern Shore
home. She stays involved with a bridge club and church choir, teaches Sunday
school, works out and reads. She is a widow and the mother of three. Last
year, she went on a bus tour with Peggy Elsasser Moring.
Elva Welday Newdome was awaiting the birth of twin grandchildren. She is a
private violin teacher and both of her daughters are professional violinists.
One of them played solo at Carnegie Hall this spring. Elva stays in touch
with Evelyn Sweet Vance and Ruth Sargent Campbell.
Virginia Wilson Monroe has corrected my earlier report. She did not break
her hip at reunion time last year, but had surgeries, company and an overcrowded
schedule that prevented her from attending. She visits family in Fredericksburg
a couple of times a year and planned a trip to Pennsylvania and the Smokies
during the summer. Virginia works out six days a week to keep the artificial
knees working. She teaches Bible classes at a retirement home, spends time
with four college grandchildren, and volunteers at the Habitat thrift shop.
Miriam Whitley “Whickey” Knight’s first grandchild was married
at The Homestead last January. In February, Whickey visited Hawaii and in
March, she played croquet in Palm Beach. She sees Mabel “Mabs”
Royar Loflin, but not often enough.
Katherine “Kitty” Kennedy Clark lives in Alexandria, Va. Until
recently she had been very active in the arts, civic activities and politics.
Barbara Longaker Yowell’s granddaughter graduated from Mary Washington
in the spring. As a freshman, LeaAnna lived in the same dorm room that Barbara
had been in.
Sarah Armstrong Worman’s husband, Ho, continues to fight many illnesses
with the help of the wonderful medical staff at U.Va. Daughter Mignon’s
marriage brought her to Richmond. Sarah has a grandson at the Naval Academy
and a granddaughter at Case Western Reserve University. She is out of the
stock market and into investments in townhouses and condos, renting only to
U.Va. graduate students.
Carol Byrd Williamson still lives across the street from Sarah, and Sandy
Graves Shiflett comes to visit Byrd often. Sarah talks frequently with Ann
Buckles Orteig ’49 and Ann Bradley Guerrant ’47, e-mails Ashby
Griffin Mitchell, and tried to meet with Alice “Cass” Cassriel
Whitman recently when in Arizona; unfortunately, they never connected.
Betsy Robertson sings with a group in Danville, Va., called the Heartstrings.
She belongs to two book clubs and a bridge club, plays duplicate bridge, serves
on three church committees, volunteers at a free clinic, and is a member of
the board of a local community foundation.
Still keeping the farm records and managing the summer help on the farm, Nancy
Salisbury Ellis has finally retired from the real estate business. She also
keeps active in her local Methodist Church and in the activities of N.J. Farm
Bureau Women and the Mercer County Board of Agriculture. She and Walt have
children in California and New Jersey, and were expecting the “California
eight” last summer for a visit. She spent two weeks in Florida during
winter.
Peggy Tuck Middleton has been traveling with friends on various Elderhostel
tours, the most recent one being to France during the start of the Iraqi war
a year ago. They were wary, but determined to finish the trip. This year,
they signed up for an Elderhostel to San Antonio and next year to New Orleans.
One granddaughter is at U.Va.; the other is graduating from high school. In
celebration, Peggy planned to take the girls and their mother on a trip to
Hawaii this summer.
Betty Meade Thornton has temporarily slowed down following knee surgery, but
is doing nicely and hoped to visit relatives in Charlottesville this summer.
This has been a sad year for Ann Scott, who wrote from Sarasota, Fla. She
lost her niece, a namesake, the week before Christmas last year and her best
friend the day before. On a happier note, she has acquired a Yorkshire terrier.
Marjorie Selvage Stone had a wonderful family reunion last Christmas with
son Glenn and his wife, both of whom teach at Washington University. Their
teenage children and Marjorie’s other sons – Ted from Virginia
and Rick from California – were also there. During the summer, she spent
time at her mountain retreat near Amherst, Va., where she enjoys sitting on
the porch reading fiction. Betty Bond Heller Nichols ’49 drove over
the mountains from Lexington, Va., for a visit at Marj’s farmhouse.
Natalie Klein has moved back to Frederick, Md. Ethel Chrisman sent a note
advising us of the death of Carol Fittin Crane, who died of complications
from Parkinson’s disease. Carol had retired from a distinguished teaching
career in the New Jersey school system.
Lois Saunier Hornsby, Helen Compton ’40, Carol Byrd Williamson and Glenna
“Sandy” Graves Shiflett reunited at the Biltmore in Asheville,
N.C., in August for a Bruce Hornsby concert. Ashby Griffin Mitchell is still
busy with local, district and state Garden Club affiliations, and co-chaired
the state convention in April at Ingleside in Staunton.
Lillian Lauer Marshall has not traveled recently because of rotator cuff operations
on both shoulders within the past year. Lillian keeps in touch with many Mary
Washington friends, including Emily Lynch Fairchild, Mildred Reed Thomas,
Gerry White, Lorraine Mock and Virginia Wilson Monroe.
Lillian already is looking forward to our 60th reunion in 2008, which will
coincide with the 100th anniversary of Mary Washington.