Fizzy Business - Regis College

60
REGIS TODAY
which was strapped around my body
for 4 months, then had 6 weeks of
physical therapy. My arm is about 80
to 85 percent. It still hurts, but I can
do everything I want to do.” Gosh,
Elly, you win the “worst accident”
prize! Can any of you beat that?
¶ Maryjane Bittman Kenney writes
that she is the village clerk for
Nissequogue, NY, and that husband
Larry is still practicing law. In her
spare time she plays golf and is a
volunteer gardener at nearby Old
Westbury Gardens. Academic activities
still pique her interest, and she
has joined the American Association
of University Women. Six grandchildren
keep MJ in shape and young at
heart. Each year the Kenneys and
Nancy Collins Edwards and husband
Bill rendezvous for a weekend at a
different New England inn. ¶ Jane
Birmingham Murphy and she don their
cross-country skis for an annual
adventure in the lovely NH countryside.
What physically fit women our
class has! ¶ Elaine DiCicco writes that
she has been enjoying retirement
from Concord Carlisle High School
these last few years. She is on the
Concord Carlisle Scholarship Board,
which raises scholarship money
for high school graduates entering
accredited academic institutions. She
is also a member of Communities for
Restorative Justice, working with
juveniles engaged in illegal activities.
She and her colleagues help these
offenders understand how their
malfeasance affects other people.
Elaine encourages the youth to make
amends by doing community service
Virginia McNeil Slep ’64
is now devoting her
time to expanding
her private practice in
clinical hypnosis.
and making restitution, thus avoiding
a potential court record. Elaine, you
are indeed a concerned citizen! ¶ Jane
DeMarco Wittreich and her husband,
George, spent 2 weeks this past
spring journeying through France
visiting lesser-known villages and
towns. Jane delighted in conversing
in French with the local folk, while
George enjoyed using the vocabulary
and phrases that he had recently
mastered during his crash course
on Rosetta Stone. ¶ I, Jane O’Hearn
Leger, have had a good summer. I
do one third helping with child care,
mostly camp drop-offs and pickups.
Another third is volunteer work: I
help at a local food pantry run by our
diocese. There are several Haitian
families who come in. Some are
newcomers to the U.S. and have survived
the earthquake. They are so
resilient and strong; I have learned
a lot from them. The last third has
been fun activity. I took up golf upon
retirement. Do not try this at home
as it may be harmful to your mental
health! It gets pretty ugly, but I figure
I have earned the right to be awful.
1964
✒ Barbara Bye Murdock, PO Box 266,
Little Compton, RI 02837, barbara@
murdockadvisors.com ✒ Virginia
McNeil Slep, 40 Jeffrey Road, Wayland,
MA 01778, virginiaslep@comcast.net ¶
Barbara and I have decided to share
the class reporter job, so this is my,
Virginia McNeil Slep’s, turn. We only
have a bit of news this time, so please
email us and let us know what you’re
doing. ¶ I’m very sorry to report the
death of our classmate Liz Walsh Pino
in Feb. Liz worked as an ombudsman
for the law firm of Palmer &
Dodge. She will be remembered at the
Annual Memorial Liturgy at Regis in
Nov., and we sent a donation in her
memory to Regis. ¶ We’ve heard from
Maria Matsumura Morishima. Maria
writes that she and her husband
have 2 daughters, both married, both
living in Tokyo. Her daughter Naoko
graduated from Sophia University
in Tokyo and works for
BSI management Systems
Japan. Her daughter Sayoko
graduated from Wadham
College, Oxford, England,
then received a master’s
degree at the London School
of Economics. She now works
for Mizuho Corporate Bank
in Tokyo. Maria and her
husband own a summer home
in the Asama Mountains
2 hours outside of Tokyo,
and they spend a lot of time
there. Maria added that if all
goes well, she hopes to come
back for our 50th Reunion
in 2014. She would love to
hear from classmates. Her email
address is nobumi.morishima@kcc.
zaq.ne.jp ¶ Mary Ann Cashen Ruma is
requesting prayers for her son Mark,
who is undergoing chemo to shrink a
tumor in his lung. Surgery will follow
the chemo. Mary Crane Fahey is also
asking for prayers for her husband,
John, who is facing treatment for
prostate cancer. Our thoughts and
prayers are with both of these men.
¶ Louise Melanson checked in to say,
“You may remember me, Virginia. My
name ‘was’ Sister Louise Melanson,
f.m.a., and my companion was Sister
Marie-Paule Couturier, f.m.a., both
from Canada. Today, I go by Louise
Melanson, as I left the convent in
1983, but I have continued my profession
in education. I taught English as
a second language to French-speaking
students in New Brunswick. In 1970
I obtained my master’s degree in
English literature at the University
of Ottawa. In 1978, I received my
master’s degree in Education from
the U Ottawa, with a major in School
Counseling. I was a school counselor
for 6 years, after which I became
school superintendent for a Sschool
district in the northern part of the
province. I greatly enjoyed all of these
different areas of education: teaching
and, especially during the last 7
years, doing administrative work for
the schools. ¶ I am now fully ‘retired,’
but my agenda still commands many
activities which I enjoy: new volunteer
work with the Archdiocese in the
field of translation, French to English
and vice versa, and recently with the
new project focusing on prevention
of all abuse on children and special
needs persons. My favorite hobbies
are swimming 3 times a week and
playing bridge once a week. Although
advancing in age, I never married and
therefore have no grandchildren.” For
those of you who remember Louise,
her email address is louisemelanson@
hotmail.com. ¶ Barbara Bye Murdock
reports that the Faheys and Judy
Machaj Susanin and her husband
came for dinner at their home in
Vero Beach last Mar. She says it
was great to catch up on everyone’s
careers, retirements, and families. ¶
I, Virginia McNeil Slep, have retired
from teaching English and am now
devoting my time to expanding my
private practice in clinical hypnosis.
I’m working with a number of doctors
and therapists in the Boston area and
running hypnosis groups at several
schools, colleges, and hospitals. I’m
also really enjoying taking classes
at Regis, in the Lifelong Learning
at Regis College program. It’s such
fun to be a student at Regis again,
and even more fun since there are
no exams, no papers, and no grades.
Last year I took Creative Writing
and Latin Etymology; this fall I’m
taking more Creative Writing and a
course in the Culture of India. If you
live near Regis, this is a wonderful
program to become involved in. My
husband, Gary, and I spend a bit of
time traveling to NC these days, since
both our sons and their families live
there now. Brian and his family are in
Charlotte, and Kevin and his family
are in Durham. ¶ Our 50th Reunion is
approaching, and we’ve decided that
we’d like to have a large table with
memorabilia from our Regis years. So