Bridging the Gap

Class Notes
and the U.S. as son Ellis Kaan is
in NYC studying film. Daughter
Emily is in 9th grade in London
with Eppie and Ergun. Sudha
Nimmagadda Ganguli reports
that she and her parents love
watching her girls study at SMS.
Kathryn Carpenter Swords is
immersed in teaching art at
Ensworth in Nashville where
son John (15) is pushing hard for
his hardship license while sister
Sara is applying to colleges. Lela
Bellows Simpson-Gerald says
life without son Max at home is
very quiet! He is studying engineering
at Alabama. Lela is still
very happy working at Buckman
and has had nice visits this year
with Liza Johnston in Atlanta
and Catherine Trippeer Jameson
in Memphis. Jenny Jon Jarratt
began a new job at UPS as the
Enterprise Account Manager in
Global Freight Forwarding. She
and Beth Jennings Kuhn made
a road trip to Atlanta to see the
Rolling Stones. Elise Kilpatrick
Atkins is moving to Washington
D.C. for husband John’s job.
Currently, she and daughter
Amelia Rose (8th) are still in
Oxford until their house sells.
Gee Loeb Sharp is very much enjoying
her empty nest, but wakes
every morning at 3:30 to meet
fitness clients by 5:00. She and
Gene will celebrate her 50th with
a trip to Prague to meet up with
Marshall who is spending his
junior year abroad with U. Penn.
Mimi is at Oregon rooming with
her cousin, the daughter of Gee’s
sister, Meg Loeb Milligan ’80.
Cynthia Hodges Cobb hopes to
see Brandon Garrott Morrison’s
daughter Jane as Cynthia and
son William visit UNC Chapel
Hill. Her oldest son, David, was
able to spend some “guy time”
in Destin recently with Bonnie
Lopez’s husband and sons.
Margie Bailey Sutton spent time
in North Carolina visiting her
parents. Son Dawes is captain
of the city championship soccer
team, Doug is a sophomore in
high school, and Britt is in 6th
grade. Margie loves working as a
psychiatric nurse at an inpatient
treatment center for mentally ill
children and adolescents. Joan
Mauldin Hurst has worked in
the White House for four years
with the Office of the U.S. Trade
Representative. Daughter Katie is
in 9th grade; son Matt is in 2nd.
Bonnie Bolton Lopez teaches the
youth and leads a women’s Bible
study at church and also teaches
a weekly seminar on English
grammar and writing to ten
other homeschooling families.
Daughter Lydia is finishing her
Masters in Deaf Education this
spring at Wash U. and is engaged
to be married in June. Son Phillip
is in his senior year at LSU, and
his wife is expecting their second
child in May.
–1984
Vanessa Allen Dobbins
vdobbins3@yahoo.com
After spending her adult life
devoted to oncology, Smitha
Gollamudi stepped away from
her medical career to focus
more on her children while
they are still at home, her rich
life outside of medicine, and
herself after enduring two back
surgeries. Devi is an 11th grader
and is gifted in cross country,
art, and a citizen of the world.
Chander, 8th grade, is focusing
on squash competitively and is
heading for Eagle Scout. After
practicing Pediatric Emergency
Medicine, with all of its stresses
and sadness, Kristine Griffith
Williams also made a career
change. She left the ER to
start her own private general
Pediatrics practice (upa.wustl.
edu). She and husband Kevin
recently celebrated 16 years
of marriage and completed a
massive house remodel. Oldest
daughter Margaret is a freshman
at Visitation Academy and plays
varsity field hockey. Second
daughter Caroline, 13, loves field
hockey, their new puppy, and
texting. Katherine, a fifth grader,
is a great writer who loves
soccer and swimming. Emma
is 8. Alison Potts Hollewand
and family are enjoying beach
weather in Australia. Daughter
Izzy will soon be finishing sixth
grade in Brisbane. Both husband
Mike and Alison enjoy the
freedom of having their own
businesses. Alison asks that we
follow her Facebook page about
meditation and living from
instincts: Alison Potts – Innate
Being. Kelly McCracken enjoyed
a wonderful vacation to Napa &
Sonoma, and hopes to arrange
a class dinner soon for us local
SMSers. Carrie Jaeger Carpenter
and family are fostering four
beautiful children, siblings, age
3 to 11. Their quiet house has
livened up quite a bit. Daughters
Carolyn, 23, and Taylor May, 21,
opened their Knoxville home as
a safe home for teenage girls.
They obtained non-profit status
and became legal guardians of
two teenagers. Taylor May is
a junior at UT and Carolyn is
marketing director for Theona’s
Girls, a company that sells goods
made by Haitian women. Oldest
child Justin moved to Seattle to
work for Amazon and youngest
Emma Kathryn is a senior at St.
George’s. Carrie had a chance
to visit with Cathey Turner
Alexander and Celeste Barzizza
Stallings where they laughed
like they were still in high
school. Martin and I are doing
well and recently celebrated our
21st anniversary
–1985
Polly Piper Rickard
ppiperaustin@gmail.com
Lucy Cheek Gordon and Michael
spent time in Rome, Florence
and Venice and 10 days in the
small town of Arco on the northern
tip of Lake Garda while their
son Clay (14) represented Team
USA at the World Rock-Climbing
Youth Championships, finishing
13th in the world. Madeline,
in her third year at Georgia,
has found her own way to Italy;
she will study abroad in Cortona.
Claire, a freshman at the
University of Arizona, pledged
Kappa and is studying Communications
and Psychology. They
celebrate 23 years of marriage.
Heather Kirkpatrick Wheat is a
legal assistant in Dallas for an
Estate and Partnership Planning
firm. Rory (16) plays competitive
baseball. NealeyClare (13) is a
theatre kid and vocalist and was
diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes
years ago. It’s been a difficult
journey but she fights like a
champ. Reagan Grace plays softball,
soccer, basketball, tennis,
and the French horn. Colleen
Kavanagh launched three new
ZEGO bar flavors on a crowdfunding
site to raise funds for
production and awareness. She
still champions allergy safety in
public school nutrition programs
and continues to do social
justice work. Liam is applying
to colleges. Kelsey, a freshman
volleyball player and Evie,11, are
great. Trecia Knapp Tapolsky
volunteers at church and on the
San Francisco Ballet Auxiliary.
Melissa Thrasher Peeler and
Michael are psyched to be empty
nesters soon and they celebrate
their 25th anniversary. Mary is
a first-year medical student at
Johns Hopkins and Anna is a junior
nursing student at Alabama.
Margie is a Junior at SMS. On a
college visit to W&L, they were
privileged to have lunch with
Scott Simmons, Mary Gowen
Simmons’s oldest son, who is
a freshman playing baseball for
W&L. Jeanne Rae Fenster’s son
Sam is a freshman at Rhodes.
Menashe is 13, and Andy took
him to Isreal as a bar mitzva
present. The twins are 12.
–1986
Jean Vaughan McGhee
jeanvmcghee@hotmail.com
Jen McDearman is still enjoying
life in NYC while working
as a copy director for HBO and
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