Class Notes

C O N C O R D A C A D E M Y M A G A Z I N E S P R I N G 2 0 1 0ham and playing touch football withthem on Sally’s lawn in the fall.” MarthaMartin-Hufford’s sailboat was wreckedin July, putting an end to her sailing onCape Cod Bay. Her highlight of the yearwas becoming a great-grandmother,though cruises continue as a majorattraction. Jane Gammons Illingerenjoys studying archaeology, British history,and Russian literature, “all of whichkeep my little gray cells humming . . . Iwas very saddened to hear of Sally’spassing. She was a beautiful person andgood friend at Concord, from the sixththrough the 12th grade.” Jane is lookingforward to her son Ned’s June 4 wedding.For Mary Monks Lukens, whosehusband died January 12, “the voidis enormous after almost 52 years ofmarriage.”1955 55th reunionClass Secretary: Diana Murfitt Meyer,meyerdm218@snet.netMary Lee Bennett Noonan helpeddaughter Becky and her husband withJohn Henry Murray, their second grandson.“He is beautiful, but with a 4-yearold,a 2-year-old, and a new house,day-to-day survival is a family challenge.The joy of new life was balanced by thesad loss of my mother, who passedaway at 96 on Columbus Day. Fortunatelywe were in the east when shebecame ill and could be with her.” Theirson John and his wife Dixie left SanFrancisco for Washington, DC to takeexciting jobs with the administration —he with Health and Human Services andshe as a lawyer with the Commission onthe Financial Crisis Inquiry. DaughterSusie and her husband are still in SantaMonica. Sally Dabney Parker had funsorting, culling, researching, catalogingand eventually donating to appropriatemuseums the contents of several cartonsof historical family data covering1850–1940. Her big winter projectfocused on accounts of her great-grandfather’strip west to Seattle in the late1800s, at the time of the gold rush. Sheand Ev summered in Maine with theirkids and grandkids. The two west coastfamilies and the British side of the familywere together, providing the youngcousins great fun. She and CarolynSmith Davies hope to see many classmatesfrom ’55 at this year’s reunion.Ding Hall Richardson reports that she,Deborah Smith Leighton, CarolynSmith Davies, and Sarah Burley Birkettconvened in May 2009 at Deborah’swonderful house in Cape Porpoise, ME.They caught up on kids, analyzed thestate of the world, shared the vicissitudesof aging, and laughed over life’sironies. Dagmar Hayden Kadula spentthe winter reading, knitting, crocheting,44and walking. Spring activities are usuallycentered on gardening, which bringsalive her front yard with tulips, hyacinths,daffodils, and forsythia, soon to be followedby hydrangeas, phlox, irises, violets,and ground cover. The back yardhas lilacs, wisteria, and a great pear tree.Dagmar sends greetings to all. BetsyHughes Morss missed our 50thbecause she was whitewater rafting onthe Middle Fork of the Snake River andwill be in Raleigh for her oldest grandson’sgraduation the weekend of our55th. She will miss catching up, butlooks forward to seeing photos. She wasdiagnosed with breast cancer in 2008,but being in good physical shape andhaving a positive attitude and strong supportfrom family and friends, she says,“Everything is fine now. Our family offour children, their spouses, and our sixgrandchildren are all fine — living inRaleigh, Indianapolis, Seattle, and SanFrancisco.” Janet McKenney Mezgolitswrites, “My life in Chicago continues tobe fairly tame, but maybe at our agetame is ok. Happily, my three childrenare all employed; unhappily, no grandchildrenfor me.” She hopes to attendreunion. Aliza Moizeau Shima reportsthat her “community of Santa Barbarasuffered this past year with wild forestfires, and many lost their homes in thehills close to our downtown area. Winterrains caused some mudslides on thedenuded hillsides, and rebuilding hascommenced.” She traveled to SquamLake, NH in August for a visit with manyof her first cousins. Diana MurfittMeyer traveled the west during June2009 with her sister, Caroline Murfitt-Eller ’58, from Arizona to Zion includingboth rims of the Grand Canyon, MonumentValley, and Canyon de Chellynational parks, having many adventuresalong the way. In the fall she continuedwestward on a road trip with Bill andTexas friends through the Texas Panhandleto New Mexico — Taos to the FourCorners to the Gila Wilderness — endingup in the Guadalupe Mountains beforereturning to Austin. She ended the yearwith a bang — slipping on ice and breakingher right wrist. Diana thanks her sisterCaroline for editing and typing ourclass news this spring. Lucy PeirceScanlon had a total hip replacement inJanuary and needed help caring for andfeeding her two horses, two cats, anddog. Inclement weather in Tennessee nodoubt inspired her to stay inside andrecover. She says working out before theoperation and lifting hay bales gave herstrength that helped her recovery. Sinceshe has to be in Massachusetts for afamily meeting in late June, Lucy maynot be able to come to reunion. BetsyShoemaker Watt enjoyed a lovelyChristmas in Colorado with her daughterand family and celebrated her 50thKay Wilson DeFord ’56 and Bill with their seven grandchildrenreunion at Swarthmore, where shecaught up with Lucy Peirce Scanlon. LastJuly she spent a few weeks at MooseheadLake and has otherwise been occupiedwith lots of bridge, gardening, andhouse maintenance. She was “thrilledthat my old neighbor, Nancy Read Coville’49, was awarded the Joan ShawHerman Award at last year’s reunion.She has worked to the bone to keep herpreschool going.” Lucia Woods Lindleycontinues her political support for aDemocratic congress and Emily’s List, aswell as her philanthropic support of lowincomewomen and the arts. Last wintershe spent ten days in Russia enjoyingart, music, the Bolshoi, Kirov, caviar andvodka, and a troika ride. Both childrenand five grandchildren visited in NYC.Diabetic neuropathy limits her a lot; awalker and Dan help enormously. “I’llget back to writing my book . . . some 40years of my photographs, with facts,reflections, and the story of my visualand life’s journey — with a ‘grant’ frommyself for publication.”1956Class Secretary: Abigail SenklerKazanowski, 23 Newson Ave., Kittery,ME 03904Natalie Jones Hinshaw Bartholet andhusband Chauncey spend December–April in Mexico and summer by the seain Stonington, CT with their nine grandchildrenand families. Natalie also keepsbusy with painting and says “life is awesome.”Kay Wilson DeFord and husbandBill enjoyed having their entirefamily together at Thanksgiving — 15 inall. Kay and Bill have been inn-keeping inChatham on Cape Cod for 12 years.Noel Farnsworth Mann still lives inGloucester when not traveling. She hasseen over half the bird species in theworld and is looking for more. CindyDay Marriner and her husband celebratedtheir 50th wedding anniversary in2007 — congratulations! Their daughtersand sons-in-law have reached their 25thanniversaries. They consider themselvesblessed and believe faith, family, friends,and a sense of service are gifts andenrichment. Wendy Watts Pierson isnow a certified water fitness instructor.Husband Dan has a rare and seriousimmune system disease, HLH. NathalieWendell Thomas and her husband stilltravel a lot, including a trip from Istanbulto Dubai via the Suez Canal.1957Class Secretary: Carol SwansonLouchheim, clouchheim@yahoo.comAnstis Greene Benfield says the “onlynews I have is that I love being retired inthe mountains of Vermont with five rescuedogs and six cats.” Perhaps, sheand Connie Rohrbough could vie forhaving the most cats. Connie braved avery successful right knee “redo” andwas driving in three weeks. She continuesto travel here and in Europe withfamily, and she volunteers for Animal Aidand Rockport, MA concerts. Ann IngersollBoyden writes from Portland, ME:“We had a wonderful summer with allour kids and eight grandchildren. I’m stillholding down my 7–8 month job aspenny candy lady at Go Fish, my daugh-