Summer 2007 - Hood College

Summer 2007Hood Magazine 29Schmidt Sachs writes that she is putting herhouse up for sale and plans to move in with herdaughter and family. Mary “Scottie” ProvanTobi is traveling as usual—Scotland in Februaryto visit family and in April they were going toBolivia as guests of people they met on their travels.I, Portia Whitaker Shumaker, had my activitiescurtailed this year by a bad car accident inSeptember 2006. I was totally laid up for manymonths with a broken pelvis and concussion. Iam getting around now with a cane and can doa lot but not nearly as much as I would like. Weare taking our entire family (all 13) to Hawaii inJune to celebrate our 50th anniversary. Ouranniversary was actually in December.1956Barbara Hanna Pour6110 Bellinham Court, Apt. 621Baltimore, MD 21210-1146(410) 337-4046Our condolences to Mera Braungart Coblentz,whose cousin, Louise Buckingham Noel ’27,died Nov. 14, 2006.1957Joanne Adickes Walker15 Elizabeth ParkwayEatontown, NJ 07724jawalker8@comcast.netContacting classmates with whom I have notspoken in 50 years has been an unbelievableexperience. Thank you so much for your responses.Carolyn (Stevie) Stevens Amstutz retiredfrom her job as a travel agent about seven yearsago and now spends some of her time playingbridge, tennis and golf. She still sings in thechurch choir and serves on several committees aswell. Stevie and Stan, her husband of 40 years,spend vacations visiting their children. DaughterJennie and her husband have two sons and live inAlbany, N.Y. Daughter Betsy and her husband livein Greenwich, England. They have a 2 1 /2 -yearoldlittle girl and are expecting another child inAugust. In March, Stevie and Stan and their childrenand grandchildren got together for a weekin Florida. With casinos and a racetrack nearby,Arlene Barnes continues to enjoy retirement inLouisville, Ky. For those of you who saw her atthe 40th reunion, Arlene reports that she hassince lost 90 pounds. She feels good and attributesthe loss to a quadruple coronary bypass andWeight Watchers. Ann Copeland Billings andher husband have moved from north of Bostonto south of Boston. Ann claims that every milecounts when it brings her closer to her threedaughters and seven grandchildren. Their newaddress is 180 Main St., Walpole, MA. NancyTressel Brown and her husband Rog just celebratedtheir 50th anniversary in Florida wherethey spend the winters now. Nancy wrote: “Wetell people we couldn’t divorce because at first,we didn’t have any money and after that,nobody would take the kids. They’re still up forgrabs but they sure do make great grandchildren,five in all ranging from 5 to 23.” Nancy is still asenior vice president with Smith Barney after 37years in the financial advisory business. Herdaughter and third partner are in the process ofbuying Nancy out. Nancy is looking forward tosemi-retirement. She likes playing golf and tennisand still having the checks roll in for a couplemore years. Sylvia Blackburn Felcyn is planningto attend the 50th reunion in June but beforethat she is off to Seattle, Wash., to meet her newgrandson, Dodge Christopher Zaccara, born todaughter Lindsay and her husband Glenn. This isthe year for reunions for Elsie Lyon Hinkhouseand her husband Jim. In the middle of May, theywill attend a Marine Corp. reunion with Jim’sKorean War buddies in Washington, D.C., andthen, in June, they will travel north again fromOak Island, N.C., for the Hood reunion. InSeptember, they are planning to attend Jim’s60th high school reunion in Fairfield, Iowa.Recently, they took a tour of Southeast Asia,including Cambodia, Thailand, border crossingsinto Myanmar (Burma) and Loas, and Vietnam.Elsie and Jim also travel just to keep up with sixgrandchildren and their moms and dads locatedin Woodinville, Wash.; Boise, Idaho; and Cypress,Texas. Ann Spengler Larkin is currently recuperatingfrom foot surgery. Her husband Bob hadhip replacement surgery last July and suffers fromlumbar stenosis. They would like very much toattend the 50th reunion but right now it appearsthat they will not be able to travel the distance.Mary Jane Harkness Nace and her husbandDick are looking forward to the drive fromDenver to Frederick for the 50th reunion. MaryJane will be attending the Saturday AlumniLuncheon with daughter Mary “Cathy”Catherine Nace ’80. This summer, SusanWinter Smith and her husband Norm will celebrate50 years of married life. They both continueto be in good health and lead very active lives. Inthe summer, Susan and Norm hike or bicycle andSusan still backpacks every summer with theirolder daughter. They love to garden and have aspectacular yard. Susan and Norm have four“incredibly wonderful” grandchildren, threegranddaughters and one grandson. They are ableto see them often, especially CJ, the 2-year-oldgrandson, because he lives only 40 minutes away.Susan and Norm also travel quite a bit. Last fallthey went to Copper Canyon in Mexico and thisspring they went to St. Kitt’s in the Caribbean fora week and then to Florida to visit Norm’s sister.In June they are planning to attend the 50threunion, leaving a week early to visit the EasternShore, Williamsburg and Jamestown. Five daysafter they return home they will go with theirdaughter, son-in-law and granddaughter toGermany and France. Barbara (Tommie)Thomas Yinger and her husband Bob returnedfrom a trip to California (April 4-11) in time tosend some news. On the trip, Tommie was ableto fulfill two of her wishes: to visit “The Price isRight” show and also the Crystal Cathedral. “ThePrice is Right” was a disappointment (they werenot chosen) and the Cathedral was magnificent.They attended the “Glory of Easter” pageant andEaster Sunday services. Prior to the California trip,Tommie and Bob spent four days in Costa Rica,relaxing at a resort in the “dry” area. In May, twograndsons graduated, one from Clemson andone from WVU. The grandson graduating fromWVU will be commissioned in the Air Force andwill also be getting married in May. As for me, Iretired from AT&T about four years ago andspend my leisure time reading, knitting babyblankets for friends who are expecting grandchildrenand learning Italian. Albert and I enjoy traveling;our most recent trips include Iceland andBermuda. We also spend time caring for (and trying,but not succeeding, to train) three StandardPoodles: Jessica, Jake and Hobbes, who is morelike his counterpart Calvin. Now that she isretired, Molly Smith Sperandio is busy with herchurch family and events, and keeping up withall her grandchildren’s activities. She is also lookingforward to doing more traveling. RecentlyMolly was in Washington, D.C., with her daughter-in-lawand four grandchildren. Sadly, Molly’sson died two years ago. From Washington, Mollyspent the night in Bethlehem, Pa., with her sisterKitty Smith Dunn ’47 before heading to Boston,Mass., and a visit with one of her “roomies,”Weezie Reed, for some reminiscing. In May,Molly and Kitty planned to go to China beforegoing to Hood for their respective reunions,Molly’s 50th and Kitty’s 60th. Our condolences toClaire Austin Bellingham, whose husband Johndied May 15, 2001; and to AntoinetteZawatzky Peirson, whose husband Williamdied March 2, 2007.1958Marilyn Garis Kellow151 University Drive, #108West Bend, WI 53095-2937(262) 334-5782maggiehood@hnet.netSue Brown Melech is still working as a part-timeparalegal and was spending the winter months inFlorida. Diana Hagenbarth Russo and husbandFred were in Paris and met two young ladies atthe metro stop after attending a Christmas Eveservice. One was a Hoodlum who will be graduatingfrom Hood next year when we have our50th … small world. Peggy Jacob Jones is gettingready to drive from Arizona back to NewYork, making several stops along the way. Shehopes that Joan “Jay” Jaeger Byrne will comeback for our 50th. Mary Allen Reynolds is doinga lot of business traveling with husband John.After a mini family reunion in D.C., they will headfor London and then on to Cambridge, U.K.,from September until November. Visitors are welcome!Anne “Ricky” Merrick Vosti is still livingon the Stanford campus and enjoying her 12grandchildren. Ken’s vision and heart problemshave slowed him down but he still goes into hisoffice at the medical school four days a week. JoOlmstead Witherington is doing a great deal oftraveling—Spain, Ecuador, Amazon Basin and theGalapagos Islands. In May, she planned to go tothe Rhine and the Moselle rivers in Europe. Onweekends, she bikes the Florida Rails-To-Trails. Agreat-grandson arrived last September. JebBennett Moran attended the Hood alumnaegathering in Florida in March. Dr. Volpe sharedthe good news about the improving financial statusof Hood, as well as plans for a recreationalcenter. She welcomes contributions to our classfund anytime. Her husband Gil has survived severalserious health problems in the past twoyears, the last of which was brain surgery in2006. Sara Lea Callaway Redmon is travelingand enjoying grandchildren. She hopes for a bigturnout for our 50th. Jane Hollister Nicodemusis still working pretty much full time and spendingtime with family. As for me, I still work parttime as a receptionist at Cedar Communitywhere Dick has been in the nursing home for12 years. I’m really looking forward to our 50th.I would like to hear from those who plan toreturn. Let’s keep communication open andlet others know that you’ll be there.