Sweet Briar College Magazine - Spring 2017

Luke & Ann Husted McGowan, Rob Durham, Katie & Arch Durham,
Helen Master Durham ’81 & Buck Durham
1981
Claire McDonnell Purnell
155 Conduit St.
Annapolis, Md. 21401
CPGD@verizon.net
Hello Classmates,
Harriet Harrison Leavell is living
in Houston, Texas, and working as
the tax manager for an electronics
company. Playing in a tennis league is
keeping her busy as well. Her husband,
Whitney, is still with Merrill Lynch and
hunting and fishing as often as he can.
She writes that their son, Walton, graduated
from Rhodes College and is an IT
Consultant in Houston, while daughter
Brooks has graduated from the University
of Georgia and is in commercial
real estate in Atlanta. Harriet adds,
“Now that we aren’t traveling for UGA
lacrosse games, we are skiing more
often and thinking about retirement ...
soon!”
Liz Seacord attended the 2017
Women’s March in D.C. with Lelee
Frank Hazard, Stephanie Stitt
Fitzpatrick and Stephanie’s husband,
Dirk. They enjoyed a fabulous Gals’
Weekend at the Fitzpatrick home in
Tacoma Park, Md. In NYC, Liz hosted
another large annual Robert Burns’
Night celebration. She has hosted the
party at her NYC apartment for the
past 30 years and says that it is an
immeasurably rewarding experience.
Liz writes that the Women’s March was
“the most wonderful and passionate
four hours of my life, marching with
my beloved classmates and others.
Totally pumped by the fact that many
other SBC alums were also down there
on the Mall with us. Stephanie Stitt
Fitzpatrick writes, “Dirk and I had a
great weekend with Liz Seacord and
Lelee Frank Hazard in Washington
for the Women’s March. Solidarity and
activism in the year ahead! We have
a senior now at UM and a freshman
at UW! Working with an artist’s estate
here in D.C. and enjoying the spontaneity
of an empty nest!”
Susan Clay Russell and Fred still
live in Richmond, Va., where they just
finished a house renovation. Susan
writes, “Our children live in Denver,
NYC and Charleston. All nice places to
visit.” Susan sees Barrie Jeffrey Mc-
Dowell, Terrell Luck Harrigan and
Carol Searles Bohrer ’82 periodically.
She also keeps in touch with Cammie
Bethea Mills, who just summited
Kilimanjaro! Susan shared Cammie’s
Facebook post: “We began summit day
around 5 am. It was the hardest thing I
have ever done. Cannot prepare for the
altitude but with encouragement from
all our guides and each other we did
it. I am so proud of all 13 women and
grateful I was a part of this.”
Susan Campbell is taking a
gap year after 35 years in financial
services. She writes, “It started with
rest (literally sleep), the holidays (which
united my entire family), riding and
catching up with friends. One more
month of being lazy (post-35 years of
being crazed), and in March, I will begin
exploring what I want to do work wise.
An unexpected development is that
Sarah (30) is living with me temporarily
as she is between apartments. It’s
nice to have the time together. It was a
tough decision but decided to forgo my
Florida riding this year and stay on the
home front.”
Molly Davis Garone’s studies
at the Art Students League continue
with a pastel class on Saturdays. In
November and December, she helped
her mother recover from a cardiac
procedure. Molly is training for triathlons
and her husband, John, is trying
to get her interested in shooting clays!
She has also resumed bridge classes,
which she enjoys. Their son, Tom (22),
graduates from Bates in May, and
daughter Maddie (23) is very busy with
her career in the stationery business.
Molly says, “John, my hubby, is working
superhard and doing a lot of business
traveling, so we do a lot of reconnecting
hiking, snowshoeing and watching
HGTV rehab shows!”
Sue Richeson lives in Earlysville,
Va., and works in Charlottesville for
Teledyne-LeCroy, writing software for
Bluetooth test equipment.
Sam Masters Durham writes,
“Had a most wonderful time in
Richmond for my son Arch’s wedding
in October to Katie Branch! The
party was filled with HSC, SBC and
Sewanee guests. All is well in Corpus
Christi. I am gearing up to be the
event manager at the Texas State
Aquarium, which is getting ready to
open a 71,000-square-foot expansion.
Completed my Facility Management
program this summer, which was a
nice personal accomplishment.”
Cathy Cook Leinert is still busy
saving Rottweilers and running her
nonprofit dog rescue.
She enjoyed a nice cruise to the
Bahamas with her parents in the fall.
Cathy writes, “Just returned from NYC,
where I attended the Masters of Foxhounds
Annual Meeting and Ball held
at the Pierre. Had a fabulous time …
until I slipped and thought I broke my
ankle! Luckily, only a very bad sprain,
so I should be in a riding boot for
March! Counting down ’til spring!”
Martha Brouse writes, “Steve,
Vivian and I have had a crazy year with
a lot of musical and horse involvement.
Vivian has been very busy with her
horse, pony club, flute, band and choral
events. Steve is enjoying his new road
bike, and I am recuperating from doing
the lead in the opera, The Medium,
along with numerous recitals and concerts.
I still teach voice at the University
of Alabama in Huntsville and have a
full private studio. We enjoy riding with
our hunt club and keeping up with the
farm. It’s been a fulfilling year! I miss
my SBC sisters!”
Carol Hays Hunley and Tom are
enjoying Charlotte. “It is January, and
I have daffodils blooming! Our second
daughter just got engaged, and we
are looking forward to planning our
first wedding. Hope to see more of my
former classmates in the Charlotte area
this year.”
Carrie Maynard Nichols sends
news also from Charlotte. “It’s been 7
months since my double knee-replacement
surgery. It’s taken some time to
get used to my titanium knees, but it
was totally worth it. I am pain free! I got
a new job in November. I am the 5th
grade assistant teacher at an elementary
school in Charlotte. It’s me, seven
teachers, and 192 students. Needless
to say, I’m very busy. Tommy and the
boys are good. If anyone is passing
through Charlotte, give me a call.”
Anne Grosvenor Evrard and
husband, Walter, are so excited to
Class Notes
be grandparents! Their daughter
Constance gave birth to a little boy,
Raphaël, just after Christmas, and they
are absolutely thrilled! Anne writes,
“We have just sold our house in Biarritz
and are going to build a larger one for
all our growing family! It’s Walter’s new
project and hopefully will keep him
busy now that he is retired! I am still
tutoring English and enjoy it thoroughly.
Please come visit!”
Lori Faust Williams’s daughter,
Shelby, got married in October to
Danny Westendorf. Shelby is a
teacher’s assistant at Sacred Heart
Academy in Winchester, Va. Her new
husband received his MA in English in
September and plans to teach as well.
Kearsley Rand Waggoner and her
husband, Ed, attended their wedding.
Meanwhile, Lori’s son, Ted, left the
post office for a full-time maintenance
position at Sacred Heart. She writes,
“Both my kids in Catholic school all day
long … life is good.”
May Carter Barger has returned
to college. She is enrolled at Queens
University of Charlotte as an arts leadership
major and is loving every minute.
May says, “In addition, I am chair
of a local committee challenged with
purchasing several major sculptures
for a new $20 million YMCA! Daughter
Josie (21) graduates from SMU in
May and son Ben (19) is a freshman
at High Point U. I still immensely enjoy
volunteering on the SBC Friends of Art
and really enjoyed dining with President
Stone when we were in NYC!”
Liz Winson Sweeney and Tom are
healthy and happy in Pittsburgh. They
are headed to Roatan, an island about
40 miles north of Honduras, for their
annual sun and diving holiday.
Sigrid Carlen Veasey is a Professor
of Medicine at the University of
Pennsylvania and runs an NIH funded
research lab examining lasting brain injury
from chronic short sleep. All three
of her boys are in college: Campbell
(22) at McGill, Carlen (22) is at Trinity
College and Wylie (20) is a freshman at
Penn. She is getting used to the empty
nest and writes, “Doug and I still live in
Philadelphia but now fit our tiny home
better!”
Tiffin Hartman Fox and husband
Trent are celebrating the birth of their
third grandchild, Annabella. She is the
daughter of Tiffin’s oldest son, William
Trent Fox. Little Annabella and her
parents live in Bavaria. Tiffin writes,
“After our visit, Trent had a conference
in Garmisch, Germany, where the World
Cup was being held, and he invited me
to come along and go skiing.”
John and I downsized last October
and moved into an apartment in
Annapolis and we LOVE it. We had a
wonderful visit with our daughter Mary
(23) in Telluride, Colo., in January, and
we hope to visit again in the fall. Lizzie
SWEET BRIAR MAGAZINE | SBC.EDU 65