sweet briar magazine inside - Sweet Briar College

teach a modern dance class for teens
this fall in addition to her usual batch of
wiggly 4 to 7 yr. olds.
After 3 yrs. in Atlanta, Ellen Clement
Mouri and Richard moved back to VA in
’09, living “in the sticks” of Rixeyville
with room for all the dogs and horses.
Sadly, her mother, Martha Mansfield
Clement ’48, passed away in ’09 and
was interned on Monument Hill in Jun.
Louise Swiecki Zingaro hosted a reception
for the family afterward. Ellen’s
daughter Sarah Mouri ’06 is in her 4th
yr. of vet school and doing externships
all over the USA and Canada. Cameron
graduated from JMU seeking to pursue
a music opportunity in FL. Ellen loves
her job helping train young horses. She
has 3 Dobermans and is obsessed with
dog training, attending dog shows 2
weekends a month.
While taking a swim with Old Spice
Guy in the Finger Lakes region near
Austin, Megan Coffield Lyon discovered
the waters that lap at the roots of the
picante salsa bushes growing along the
shore take on a decidedly pink tint, creating
freshwater pearls of a remarkably
rosy hue. By selling the movie rights to
her latest NY Times best-selling novel,
Megan was able to purchase half the
state of Texas and bring her pearls to
market. Look for luscious strands this
fall in the SBC book store, available in a
host of shades, from the pale blush
Faintly Fletcher, to the warm jewel-tones
of Early Morning Dew, to the full-on
flamingo pink of Dazzling Daisy.
Ann Connolly Simpson is having fun
too, celebrating 20 yrs. at The Dragon’s
Nest toy store and “playing tennis like
mad!” Her daughter Hannah is a senior
at CT Coll., and Ann and hubby Charlie
visited her in Italy when she did her fall
semester abroad last yr. Charlie has a
daughter at Springfield Coll. and another
in h. s., with the little guy (10) in 5th
grade. They live in Merrimac, MA. Ann
saw True Dow Datilio in NH and Phyllis
Watt Jordan and Day Pritchart Dodson
’79 in D.C. about a month before Reunion.
Dianne Delledera moved back to VA
after living in France and Finland. 2 of
her boys are in coll., one is in h. s., and
the girls are in middle school and grade
school. She hopes everyone will come
to Homecoming at SBC this fall!
Claire Dennison Griffith is involved in
Direct Hits Education, a SAT prep business.
She notes: “if students aren’t
your own, they actually listen to what
you say and think you are at least somewhat
intelligent.” Look for the 3rd edition
of the Direct Hits vocabulary book
on Amazon. Younger son Charlie is an h.
s. senior and is searching for the right
coll.
Lisa Faulkner O’Hara works in healthcare
advertising. She and her husband
attend daughter Evan’s swim meets (local)
and get to their son Bud’s club
lacrosse games (not local) from time to
time. Bud is a sophomore at Boston
Coll. and Evan is an h. s. sophomore.
Lisa takes beginner yoga now, after loving
Fannie Zollicoffer Mallonee’s introductory
class at Reunion, and hopes
that “some day I’ll be able to do her
Bikram yoga class without having to call
911.”
Carson Freemon Meinen (TX) got
daughter Caroline graduated from A&M
in May and son Burk married in Jun.
Carson loves her job handling all the financials
for 8 Jason’s Delis spread
from TX to OK, AR and MN. She didn’t
tell us that Parents Magazine named Jason’s
Deli one of the 10 Best Restaurants
in America (7/09)! She and Ed
traveled to Paris and Greece in ’09.
Missy Gentry Witherow lives in Charlottesville,
but spends a lot of time on
campus as associate dir. of annual giving.
She loved having us back on campus
for Reunion. With both girls in h.s.,
Missy and Lee “find ourselves in a funny
place — looking at colleges and finding
boys on our doorstep!”
Pam Koehler Elmets (CA) reports all
is well. Her twins, Lauren and Andrew,
are college juniors, and daughter Caroline
started h. s. in fall. Pam had fun
catching up with Charlotte Gay Gerhardt
in May in Williamsburg when she visited
her dad.
Leslie Ludwick Bires enjoyed Reunion
and “feeling a little nostalgic for
the marvelous, too-short life of an undergrad
in that beautiful place.” She
claims the “dubious honor” of having
the youngest kids of anybody in our
class: Colin (7) and Alexander (10). She
started a new job as the San Francisco
Symphony’s Director of Corporate Giving
in fall 2010.
After bouncing between 6 jobs in 8
yrs., Fran McClung Ferguson has
landed at the transportation museum in
Roanoke, loves it. Son Robert is a senior
at Lenoir-Rhyne and daughter Carol
is a junior at SBC, just a year behind
Ann Vandersyde Malbon’s daughter Nell
’11.
Catherine Mills Houlahan lives in
Newport News, VA, with her 3 children
(16, 14 and 9), 2 cats, a guinea pig and
5 fish. She works part-time as a course
administrator and the only staff for a
start-up, non-profit university specializing
in 2-day courses. She’s interested in
networking!
Sandra Rappaccioli Padilla missed
Reunion, but for a good reason: her eldest
son Max Carlos was graduating from
VA Tech in building construction and has
a job in Huntsville, AL. Jorge is at SMU,
graduates in ’11. Youngest 3 are in
school in Managua. Husband Max works
on their farm, growing coffee and raising
cattle. Sandra works part time and
keeps the welcome mat out for the rest
of us.
Francie Root is looking forward to a
safari to Kenya and Tanzania in Dec.
While her children were otherwise occupied,
Georgia Schley Ritchie headed to
Peru to hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu!
Her son Addison (17) was in Sweden
staying with family friends, and her
girls India (15) and Tallulah (11) were at
Camp Green Cove in Tuxedo, NC. Her 2
dogs, 2 cats, 2 tortoises and guinea pig
stayed home.
Jill Steenhuis Ruffato enjoyed summer
at home with her boys. She spent
her days riding or painting out in the
fields or in her studio. In fall, she held
shows in Dallas, Houston, Austin, and
Oklahoma City. She and husband Serge,
a sculptor, did a joint show at the 600-
yr.-old Chateau in Bouc Bel Air in Sept.
Louise Swiecki Zingaro has been
promoted to vice president and chief of
staff at SBC! She assumed the leadership
of the strategic planning process,
the media and marketing group, and
“other duties as assigned by the president.”
Holla, Louise, and Thank You for
the fabulous party you threw for our
class at Reunion!
Betsy Thomas Rook arrived at Reunion
with her new book, My Grandmother
Was From Wales, which can be
ordered from www.mgwfw.com or any of
a zillion places where you buy books.
Her sons play basketball; one is an h. s.
junior and the other in 7th grade. Her
husband (a retired actor) and his 5
snakes keep the household lively. They
vacationed last summer in the Sierras
and in OK.
Phyllis Watt Jordan moved from journalism
to public relations, a step that
those in journalism call “going to the
dark side.” But since she now has a
large window overlooking trees and
pretty scenery, it doesn’t seem that
dark. Plus, her clients are all nonprofits
and foundations working to improve public
schools, end poverty, etc., which
doesn’t seem that dark either. She enjoyed
seeing old friends at reunion and
brought her children, Miranda (13) and
Jake (11), along with husband Brian so
they could hear all the wild stories firsthand.
3 yrs. ago, Kim Wood Fuller and
Bryan started Therametics, a biopharmaceutical
company that develops topical
dermatological products to address
various skin problems and skin aging.
Not that any of us have aging skin, but
Kim brought samples to Reunion that
we all appreciated. Please send her any
comments and suggestions! They escaped
the hot OK summer with trips to
ME and HI and spent Thanksgiving at
their timeshare in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Our class had a great coll. experience,
and we give back! At Reunion, we
enjoyed the fabulous new fitness and
athletic center that our class worked so
hard to support. We also set a new
record for giving in the 30th reunion
year: $100,341! Thanks to everyone in
our class who made a gift toward scholarships,
faculty salaries, and more.
Holla us!
1981
Claire McDonnell Purnell
Four Thompson Street
Annapolis, MD 21401
cpgd@verizon.net
C L A S S
N O T E S
Naomi Weyand Smith’s daughter,
Briggs, will attend SBC this fall and live
in Naomi’s old dorm. “We’re looking forward
to orientation and parents’ weekend
and will be staying at the Elston
Inn. We’ve been impressed with SB’s
admissions office! Roberta Perillo ’80
came to visit in Nantucket, MA, this
summer. Spent the summer in Nantucket
working via my laptop. The only
problem is that I miss my husband! Son
Harrison, a senior at Presbyterian Coll.,
is going to Italy for the fall semester and
has applied to law school. I had to have
my ankle replaced due to an old college
injury; and then had to have more surgery
on my ankle in May. I’m sure that
I’ll be hosting SBC admissions functions
in Atlanta this yr., so I look forward to
seeing alumnae!
Vickie Archer and husband Tad Imbrie,
along with sons James (17) and
Addison (15) took Vickie’s daughter Annie
(19) to SBC where she’ll be a freshman.
While Vickie was in line registering,
she was told Naomi Weyand
Smith had already checked in with her
daughter, Briggs, husband Scott and
son Harrison. The girls are on the same
floor of Glass.
Lynn Croft Reeves and Jack are still
living in Hanover, VA. “We have 2 active
teens, Henry and Savannah. I spend my
free time playing tennis and I’m on the
Vestry of my church.”
Mary Kate Ferguson lives in Baltimore
and is “having a quiet summer
working, swimming (with Michael
Phelps) and playing tennis. After the
heartbreaking loss of my corgi, Paco, in
spring, I’ve been longing for another
dog, searching for another puppy. I’ll vacation
in the mountains this fall. I see
Eve Devine, Brendy Reiter Hantzes,
Claire McDonnell Purnell, Amy Marshall
Lewis and Kearsley Rand Walsh
regularly. What’s most exciting is planning
our 30th reunion with Claire and
Brendy! Hope to see everyone there!”
Harriet Bielitsky Anderson
visited with Julie Brooke Davis and husband
Tommy, their 2 beautiful
teenagers, Brooke and Susan, and
Hope Keating for a weekend this past
spring. Julie and Hope look fantastic
and it was so much fun to hang out with
such wonderful friends. Harriet writes
“Can’t wait to see everyone at reunion!”
Boo Major writes, “I’m divorced and
relieved that that chapter of my life is
closed. I’m back in my house with son
Mac (10). Mac is going into the 5th
grade and loves baseball, football, hunting
and fishing. We have spent a couple
of weekends at Lisa Kean’s (’80) mountain
house in Asheville — enjoyed
watching bears and other scenery.
We’ve hired a new assistant equestrian
coach with SBC ties. Carol Gwin
taught riding at SBC in the 90s; we’re
happy to have her on staff. The Equestrian
Team at the U. of SC continues to
do well. We finished 3rd at the varsity
equestrian national championships.”
Quinne Fokes was a guest lecturer
for the art and design departments at
Christopher Newport U. in Newport
News, VA. She stayed in Williamsburg,
VA and had dinner with Sophie Crysler
Hart and husband. They had a wonderful
time and discovered that they’re all
cat lovers. Sophie is the head of development
for the Colonial Williamsburg
Foundation. Quinne enjoys her work as
a creative director, with many projects
including an identity makeover and website
for a law firm. She writes, “I’m
painting, doing yoga and riding a big
pony named Rossmor. Geordie (partner)
is general foreman for a solar company
start up, that was also a client.”
Molly Davis Garone lives in Franklin
Lakes, NJ, with husband John. They celebrated
their 25th anniv. in Apr. Daughter
Maddie (20) will be a junior at St.
Lawrence U. and son Thomas is a sophomore
in h. s. Molly is “staying busy
with training for triathlons, golfing, paddle
tennis and ... studying pastel portraiture
for the last few yrs. with the
hope of taking commissions and having
my own studio this fall.”
SBC.EDU | SWEET BRIAR MAGAZINE
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