Fall 2008 - Wheelock College

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CLASS NOTES and my daughter, Andrea Ades Woolner ’83. We had our pictures taken with President Jenkins- Scott before the Processional. I believe we were the only family present with three classes represented. Carrying class banners, we were accompanied by a bagpiper as we walked around the school campus to the Lucy Wheelock Auditorium. We assembled in the auditorium by class and enjoyed a program including awards and a great Wheelock video of modern life at our College. President Jackie spoke to us eloquently with great love and passion for the College and the great work we are doing throughout the world in helping families to have a better life through Wheelock’s caring and able students and graduates. Jackie referred to former Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who visited Wheelock last year and spoke to the College with his philosophy of ubuntu. She quoted him by saying, “I need you to be all that you can be, so that I can be all that I can be.” She continued to say, “We want each of you to reach your full potential, so that I can reach mine.” A great applause followed. As for our class, we all were very proud when Peggy Ann Benisch Anderson received one of the “Making a Difference” Service Awards, for her untiring effort to reach our class members along with all the work she does for our College. Congratulations once again, Peggy Ann! The afternoon for us was completed with a Reunion luncheon held in the foyer of the Activities Building since a new building is being constructed outside of our Classroom Building. Some of our classmates and husbands had attended Pops on Friday evening and the class dinner on Saturday evening in Wheelock’s Larsen Alumni Room. Wheelock is a very exciting place to visit if ever any of you are in the Boston area. Do make a visit. It will make you feel very proud to see our College developing physically, as well as intellectually, in the year 2008 — 55 years after we graduated! We passed on the news of the death of Peggy Ann Benisch Anderson’s husband, Carl, in our last issue. Later in the spring, Peggy Ann wrote, “He was planning to attend my 55th Reunion with me but was there in spirit. He thought a great deal of our school.” At the time, she was still “climbing out of paperwork with lawyers and accountants” but also wrote of enjoying her usual church work and some work related to having been recently elected to the Commission for the Aging in Weston, MA. Priscilla Buckingham Banghart had already spent three months away from home when Reunion time came up, so she couldn’t get away again, but she thought and reminisced about classmates that weekend. “My memories of our 50th Reunion motivated my desire to repeat the experience,” she wrote. “It was such an extraordinary experience to remeet these beautiful women, my former classmates, most of whom have touched the lives of children in some extraordinarily personal way. Thank you, Wheelock!” Priscilla continues to find joy working with children, in her case in a school system “struggling to shed its far-below-average academic status.” These days, instead of taking travel tours and European river cruises, she and husband Bruce go on mission trips to benefit Habitat for Humanity, and they have now gone on “builds” in Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, and Mexico. “We are still laughing over past and present exploits,” Joan Halloran Corning wrote of her and former roommate Rita Martin McKenna’s desire to attend Reunion 2008 but inability to do so (calendar conflicts for both of them). Joan is enjoying two book groups and local “Meet the Author” monthly meetings. Ann Bevins Jewett thoughtfully checked in with the Alumni Relations Office shortly before Reunion. She is sorry that her terrible arthritis prevents her from coming to Reunions or writing to old Wheelock friends anymore, but she thinks of the College and her classmates often, she said, and keeps in touch with a few by phone. She enjoys life on the water in Westport, CT, attending meetings, doing things in the community, and seeing family. She welcomes visitors. Regina Daly Lundstrom and husband Bob are happy to be “finally settled” in Madison, WI, where they find the area lovely and have been made very welcome. They are enjoying being closer to their children and grandchildren in the Chicago area, but they admit that they miss Cape Cod and people there and hope to go back to visit soon. “I still have all my hair and teeth and most of my mind,” Polly Roberts Mahoney wrote. She spends most of the year living in Hamilton, NY — on the third hole of the Colgate University Seven Oaks Golf Club, so she plays lots of golf — but then as winter approaches takes off for Venice, FL. She has three grandchildren. Antoinette Johnson Ogden wrote: “The last couple of years have seen quite a few changes. Len has been diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus, and my eyesight and walking problems have not improved. Now the brighter side: Son Tom, who lost his wife to cancer four years ago, remarried a lovely girl last year; our Karen was married two years ago; and Tom’s daughter was married two weeks ago. We now have a 14-month-old baby with our 13th grandchild on the way. Daughter Sue continues to fight cancer after 17 years.” Libby Gerow Peterson will be the new 1953 scribe. Thank you, Libby! 1954 Reunion 2009 May 29-31 Lois Barnett Mirsky Elizabeth Bassett Wolf Eileen O’Connell McCabe from Caldwell, NJ, had a cochlear implant procedure in July. It needed to be rescheduled because of emergency hip surgery in winter ’08. I (Chippy) had a brief phone conversation with Beverly Bell Cibbarelli from Keswick, VA, in the spring. It was wonderful to hear how she bravely manages her lung cancer, which now involves her hip, causing pain in her leg. A new chemo pill seems to be helping. We especially keep in our loving thoughts those class members who find that living day by day is their focus. Paige and Nicky Wheeler L’Hommedieu of Convent Station, NJ, celebrated their 50th anniversary on June 21. See you at our 55th Reunion! 1956 Wilma Kinsman Marr Annette Stevens Wilton Hi there, ’56ers! We may be approaching the 3/4- century mark, but we still are busy and involved. Julie Bigg Veazey just finished her second novel and is looking for a publisher, living part time in New Hampshire and now Florida, and enjoying life with her children and 12(!) grandchildren. Barbara Silverstein is still working seven days a week with her designs and personal appearances all across the country. Way to go! Ruth Bailey Papazian and husband George are still traveling — to Spain and Morocco this year, and Ruth went alone to Egypt last year. Adeline Bradlee Polese spent two months in Sanibel, FL, and will travel to the Galapagos in October. Inge Buechling Nichols was to meet with Gretchen Sterenberg and Frankie Streit Tripp in Ashland, OR, in September. She and sister Lori Buechling Schaefer ’64 visited Ghana, West Africa, and learned how to make beads! Barbara Ice Lake fell in love with Prescott, AZ, and bought a house there after selling her home in Washington state. She loves the sunshine after the rainy winters there. Barbara celebrated the summer solstice in Fairbanks, AK — another traveler! Penny Pennypacker Binswanger enjoys life on the Maine coast with family and friends — and visited with Ruth McKinley Herridge ’54 last year. Some relatives were to have a reunion with a 93-year-old aunt in Switzerland in the summer. Other than usual aches and pains, she and Robert are well — BUT she sent a quote we should all learn: Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “We don’t forget how to play because we grow old — we grow old because we forget how to play.” Susan Grearson Fillmore had a mini reunion in Solana Beach, CA, with Pat Cotter Smart and Wilma Kinsman Marr in March, when she and husband Del took a trip to Southern California to visit friends and to see wildflowers in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Nancy Tilden Brown and husband David celebrated their 50th anniversary in August 2007. Like many others, they have their health problems — Nancy has Parkinson’s disease 44 Fall 2008
CLASS NOTES Wheelock Loses a Dedicated Champion Maureen Sheila Murphy Coakley ’58 Those of us in the Wheelock community who knew Maureen Coakley during her many years of service to the College were saddened by her passing last August after a lengthy and courageous battle with cancer. Maureen’s service to the College included her leadership as a member of the Wheelock Corporation from 2004 to 2008 and on the board of trustees from 1996 to 2004, as well as through her role as an alumni trustee from 1991 to 1994. She was chair of the Annual Fund Major Gifts Committee, co-chair of the Major Donor Committee for the Promise of Growth Capital Campaign, an active fundraiser for Passion for Action urban scholarships, an Alumni Scholar donor, and a dedicated volunteer for many College programs and activities, including as a member of the Alumni Association Board and the Wheelock Wellesley Club. Her Wheelock leadership was widely recognized. In 1989, Maureen received a Wheelock Centennial Alumni Award, and in 1998, the College’s Distinguished Service Award. In 2003, she received the President’s Leadership Award and an honorary Doctor of Education degree. A dedicated volunteer in the child life program at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Maureen enjoyed working with the Wheelock graduates who staffed the program. She was a tireless fundraiser for the College and worked especially hard with her class on every Reunion since graduation. She helped her 50th Reunion Committee set a fundraising record and was very disappointed that her illness kept her from attending. Maureen’s generous spirit was well-known and recognized at other Boston-area institutions to which she contributed. When she retired after 19 years of teaching service at the Tenacre Country Day School in Wellesley, a kindergarten classroom was named in her honor, and after more than 1,500 hours of service supporting children and families at MGH, she received their Distinguished Volunteer Award. Maureen was devoted to her husband, Ed; her four sons; her daughters-in-law; and her grandchildren. She was so pleased that one of her daughters-in-law, Pamela Senese ’86/’97MS, was a Wheelock graduate. She was a true friend who never lost track of friends from all areas of her life over many years. and rheumatoid arthritis — but still have a busy life. They enjoy their five children and 11 grandchildren, and they have had some wonderful trips in their motor home. A favorite spot is the Outer Banks of North Carolina. 1959 Sally Schwabacher Hottle 1961 Ginnie Colquitt Schroder Reunion 2009 May 29-31 I (Ginnie) think being class scribe is terrific! I’ve so enjoyed reading the news some of you have sent for this column. If you feel the same way, I do hope you’ll be a contributor for the spring edition. It seems that many of us are finding a variety of ways to get the most out of our retirements . . . or near retirements. Carolyn Kingsbury Sherbin and husband Arthur are living in an active adult community in Princeton Junction, NJ. All three of their children found their way into educational fields. Carolyn wonders if any of us live near her. She would love to hear from fellow classmates. Sara Jane Goldstein Drescher and husband Ira have just moved to a new home . . . three miles away from their old house! (“Don’t ask!” she says.) Their new address is 13473 Shell Beach Court, Delray Beach, FL 33446. Sara Jane’s big news, however, is that she and Ira have been selected as Volunteers of the Year at Women in Distress of Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The Dreschers established a fund in memory of Sara Jane’s daughter, who was murdered 13 years ago. The fund helps women who have completed a period of counseling and have lived three months at a safe house begin to establish themselves independently. Writing from Upper Saddle River, NJ, Susan Schaefer Goodnough says she is busy with home duties and is taking a needed break from volunteer work and teaching. Sue is enjoying reading . . . when she finds the time. Ellen “Nickie” Nickerson Schmidt spends her time in photography, experimenting with double exposure and macro images. Retired husband Wolfgang is showing his photographs, along with Ellen, in galleries and art shows. Wolfgang has traveled to remote spots to find subjects among indigenous tribes for his theme “Sacred Faces.” Ellen has facilitated “Artist Way” groups and enjoys modern art and painting as well. She still dabbles in writing — especially short poems for handmade cards. Ellen also sent news of Gege Wilson Kingston. Gege continues creative pursuits . . . creating felt hats and crafting jewelry from recycled materials. She shows and sells her work at the website Etsy. You can Google Gege at sparklplenty. Both Gege and husband John enjoy singing in the local church chorus. After a long period of waiting, Judy Johnston Laurens has finally sold her condo and is in a new home at the Edgecliff . . . still in Cincinnati. In the spring she was unpacked and settling in at last. I can relate wholeheartedly to Judy’s delight in being able to move on, since my condo on Long Island has been on the market for two full years. Timing is everything! Avery Thompson Funkhouser sent two pieces of news. She had a second knee replacement in May and a new grandson, Jonas Funkhouser Stumpf, in August 2007. I think the latter item sounds like more fun! Hope your knee is healing well, Avery. For some of us, retirement from a paying job has meant a greater involvement in volunteerism. Mary Jo Severson Fenyn runs the local food bank where she lives in upstate New York, managing 70 volunteers as well as handling scheduling, food collections, and grant writing. She does reserve some time in Florida during the winter months, however. Jaye Kwok is “somewhat” retired. She worked part time from October 2007 to January as a substitute administrator and then resumed her former position as coordinator for a year-round school program, except working fewer hours. In March, Jaye traveled to North Vietnam, Hainan Island, and the southernmost part of China and Singapore with her sister. Later in the spring, she attended the 30th conference of the National Association for Asian and Pacific American Education in Santa Monica, CA. Retirement is still to come for Elizabeth Han Fung, Ph.D., psychotherapist and social worker. She is teaching in Chicago and works at Children’s Memorial Hospital helping youngsters with hemophilia. Her job requires travel to Istanbul and other places. Husband Chris, a pathologist, has retired and is seeking a partner in crime! Elizabeth would love to hear suggestions from those of us who have retired and are successfully dealing with this life change. I hope this article has helped, Elizabeth! Thanks to each of you who took the time to write. I’m already looking forward to our next issue. Wheelock Magazine 45
Page 1 and 2: Fall 2008 magazine 2007-2008 ANNUAL
Page 3 and 4: Fall 2008 Editor Christine Dall Pro
Page 5 and 6: Teacher Bound A Summer Success Last
Page 7 and 8: ON CAMPUS International Froebel Soc
Page 9 and 10: ON CAMPUS a plan for improving the
Page 11 and 12: National Hispanic Heritage Month (S
Page 13 and 14: STUDENTS & FACULTY The Weight of Li
Page 15 and 16: ALUMNI Congratulations to Julia Mac
Page 17 and 18: ALUMNI Reunion 2009 Would you belie
Page 19 and 20: 2007-2008 A NNUAL R EPORT OF G IVIN
Page 21 and 22: W H E E L O C K C O L L E G E A N N
Page 27 and 28: Named Funds Donors often establish
Page 41 and 42: MARIANNE O’GRADY ’94MS “I jus
Page 43 and 44: This Wheelock Magazine includes Cla
Page 45: CLASS NOTES Front row (seated) L-R
Page 49 and 50: CLASS NOTES Noel Stoodley Gray ’6
Page 51 and 52: CLASS NOTES VA, and Naples, FL. Las
Page 53 and 54: CLASS NOTES fall asleep when others
Page 55 and 56: CLASS NOTES Sarah Rice Patt ’91 c
Page 57 and 58: CLASS NOTES 2000 Sara McGarry Stacy
Page 59 and 60: Giving Back to the Sally Clark Sloo

Fall 2008 - Wheelock College

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