Bridging the Gap

Class Notes
Janie Allen Till and husband Bob
went back to Greece where they
lived for many years and experienced
firsthand the economic
crisis and the thousands of refugees
arriving daily. Back home in
Colorado she still teaches sixth
grade and enjoys her six grandchildren
with another granddaughter
due in February. Susan
Seelbinder enjoys country
living in Hardeman County with
her menagerie on the Phunny
Pharm. Ana Pearson Jensen still
works fulltime at Blue Cross
Kansas City and also finds time
to teach an online class and
take classes at a Bible college.
In the fall Lynn Bledsoe Buhler
took a great trip to Santa Fe, a
“wonderful city.” She laments
that granddaughter Mary Taylor
Buhler, St. Mary’s third grader,
now is in the grade where
homework begins. Jean Stitt
Otto spends her retirement from
nursing walking, hiking, and
attacking a long list of house and
yard maintenance projects with
renewed vigor. She loves “misty,
green western Washington,” but
she and her husband also enjoy
wintering in Tucson. Susan
McNeely Nicholas has stayed
busy helping with her niece’s
wedding where there was such
a large contingency of St. Mary’s
girls that they “almost did not
fit in the picture.” She loves that
her four beautiful grandchildren
live in the area and is thankful
that her treatments for bone
cancer continue to work.
–1968
Jan Cone Davis
jannoni5@aol.com
I hope everyone is doing well.
Carolyn Mayo is about ready to
move into her new condo. This
has been a major undertaking,
and she says she will never
move again! Carolyn’s family
recently welcomed the first baby
born into the family in 30 years –
a special delivery for sure. Holly
Rogers says she has no plans for
retirement anytime soon. If she
has her mother’s good genes,
she needs to save enough money
for a long life! Holly enjoys her
job and has time for fun in the
evenings and on weekends.
Marilyn Schwinn Smith was in
Memphis briefly last winter to
attend her aunt’s funeral. She
left in the nick of time before
that big March 4 snowstorm
shut down the city. Marilyn was
invited to join the Anglo-Russian
Research Network. She says you
can Google it for a “not so good
picture.” Marilyn and husband
Sean are empty nesters at last.
Pam Joyner Evans and husband
Hank “2” had a wonderful time
on their Scandinavian cruise.
The cruise included stops in
Norway and St. Petersburg. Pam
was nice enough to send me
pictures of a few stops, because
Hank “1” and I will be taking a
similar cruise in about a year.
My family has been enjoying a
year of weddings. My son Chris
was married in June and my
daughter Jennie in May. I’ll have
experience as both mother of
the bride and mother of the
groom. What a difference! I am
also a reading coach for two second
graders at Caldwell-Guthrie
Elementary School in North
Memphis, and volunteer in the
library at my granddaughter’s
school in Germantown. I substitute
from time to time at SMS
Lower School. Love to all!
–1969
Pam McNeely Williams
Usafa2@scbglobal.net
Connie Loveless Friend retired
from full-time teaching two
years ago but still works part
time as a Title 1 reading tutor for
Shelby County Schools. Daughter
Katie ‘02, who works for Teach
for America, has relocated from
Cleveland, Miss., to Olive Branch,
Miss., and Connie is thrilled
to have her closer. Son Joey is
still with Raymond James in
Memphis. I almost cried when
Cristina Brescia Michta ’70 and husband Andrew at daughter Chelsea’s
Masters graduation from Cambridge University in the UK, July 2015.
Connie closed her letter, Love,
Cido! Anne Short Born in Beaufort,
S.C., says if anyone wants
to visit the Lowcountry she’d be
delighted to show us around.
She and her husband love traveling
to Savannah, Charleston, and
Hilton Head for the day where
the food is just fabulous. Janie
Hicks Jeter reports that she and
husband Sheldon have a new
Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppy
named Sunny, for Sheldon’s solar
energy work. Marta Richards
spends a great deal of time in
Richmond where her son’s family
lives, enjoying her toddler
grandson Benjamin Massony.
She is practicing animal law and
representing dog rescue groups
and shelters, and fostering many
dogs for Friends of the Animals
in Baton Rouge. My family had
visits from our daughter Ellen
LeVaughn Kowalchuk ‘96 and her
children, Mary, Lydia, Sam, Elizabeth,
and Tim for a summer visit
and then for my niece’s wedding,
Jessica Walker ’04 to Chris Wiley,
this past fall. Elizabeth, our
granddaughter, was the flower
girl and it was one of the most
beautiful weddings I have seen.
Madge Logan Deacon was the
wedding coordinator for Calvary
Episcopal Church (Memphis)
and it was great seeing her! Our
son and daughter-in-law, Matt
and Hannah Williams, who are
stationed at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque
N.M., were also able
to attend, as was our oldest son,
Scott Williams, who is a juvenile
probation officer in Harrisburg,
Ark. Be sure to update your
information with St. Mary’s and
I certainly hope all of you have a
very healthy an happy new year!
–1970
Cristina Michta
cristina.michta@gmail.com
Let me just say that I love my
job as class secretary, mostly
due to the fact that I love my
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