Sweet Briar College Magazine - Spring 2018

CLASS NOTES
extended family opportunities and
responsibilities. Finally, she grieves
for the anger, crudeness, and lack of
wisdom in our national public life.
“We need more Sweet Briar girl’s in
public office!”
Dee Kysor retired from her holistic
house call veterinary practice
two years ago. Since then husband,
George Crafts and she have done a
lot of traveling. They visited their
daughter and family in Buffalo where
daughter Jenn Hebrank is a tenured
professor of Psychology at Canisius
College. Dee has two grandchildren,
Sam (8) and Maisie (5). They also
traveled to Nova Scotia staying in
Ingonish on Cape Breton Island
where they hiked extensively in the
Highlands National Park. Dee and
George hike on a regular basis and
enjoy Virginia’s lovely state parks.
Dee’s biggest news is that she was recently
hired as the music director at
Grace Episcopal Church in Goochland,
VA The church is an old one,
with a sanctuary built in 1876. She
enjoys playing their wonderful organ.
George is a professional storyteller
and they work together performing
folktales and songs for people of all
ages. Dee finds folk songs or writes
songs to go along with George’s stories.
They have recently performed
at the Winter Carnival at UVa Alderman
Library and at the Burnley
Moran Elementary School in Charlottesville.
They live in Goochland
County, VA, with a dog, two cats and
three horses. Dee also owns a miniature
horse that she boards with some
friends. She competes with him as a
driving horse in Combined Driving
Events. Two years ago they took second
place at the Elk Creek CDE in
MD Life is busy, full, and very happy.
Mary Lyman Ray is enjoying her
retirement life; 30 years of teaching
seventh grade life sciences is over.
During 2017, she had multiple adventures:
Panama Canal cruise in
January, a 50th high school reunion
in Port Jefferson on Long Island
NY in early fall, and a Norwegian
Cruise to Hawaii in December, visiting
Oahu, the Big Island, Maui and
Kauai. And in between all that, her
son Kevin had a new daughter in
March and is now the father of two
adorable daughters. Mary has also
spent lots of time with her daughter
Meredith and her boys in Glen Ellyn,
IL.
Gina Mancusi Wills reported
blissfully joyful news that she and
Ashley became grandparents twice
in December! Daughter Olivia gave
birth to Fletcher in LA and Zach’s
wife gave birth to Preston eight days
later in NYC. All are healthy and
happy!
Lynne Manov Echols says she’s
started riding again after a 7-year
break and is resuscitating her business
helping riders improve and
perfect their seats. She’s working
on a website and on electronically
publishing the book she wrote
about her three months in Germany
perfecting her own seat at the
Reitinstitut von Neindorff back in
2003. She’s a Graduate Instructor
fully credentialed in the work of
Eckart Meyners, whose methods are
now being taught to all professional
riders in Germany. Only 21 people
in the USA are in that elite group!
She is available for clinics and can be
reached at LynneEchols50@gmail.
com
Maggie Mather Feldmeier is
happy to report that life is good and
full: healthy, busy, travel and grandbabies!
Jake and she are still working
for the manufacturing business Jake
decided to start six years ago, after
a mere two months of retirement!
Maggie is in charge of admin: HR/
payroll/accts payable, etc. There is
plenty of flexibility and she can work
remotely. To keep sane, they travel.
2018 promises an Alaskan expedition
with National Geographic plus
two weeks in Ireland. They are also
looking forward to two trips with
their girls and their families: skiing
in Steamboat Springs and beaching
in Florida. Kate and her family live
in town so they see the grandsons all
the time. Julie and her family will be
moving east from CO in July. Matt
will begin a Liver Transplant fellowship
at Penn and baby Mather will
be a car ride away!
Rene Roark Bowditch said she
is “Living Life With an Exclamation
Point (!)” just as her nonprofit helps
their young women do! Rene is the
Co-Founder and President of Here
for the Girls based in Williamsburg,
VA, an organization dedicated to
improving the lives of young women
affected by breast cancer. Rene is
good friends with Rosemary Dunaway
Trible and hopes to come to
our 50th Reunion.
On Feb. 1st, Marguerite Smith
Willis announced her run for Governor
in South Carolina!
Alix Sommer Smith, now a widow
of two years, has moved into a
new house with her one remaining
cat, for a fresh start to the rest of her
life. She’s active in 2 book clubs. Officially
retired, Alix has gotten herself
into evaluating Governor Schools
across Virginia on a part-time basis.
The Governor Schools are public
high schools-within-a-school
established for gifted high school
students. Typically, several counties
band together to offer specialized,
often college-credit classes for these
students. The students spend part
of each day at the Governor School
and the rest of the day at their regular
high school. Alix travels out with
a team of 4 to 5 others to evaluate
the Governor School and prepare
reports on that evaluation. In the
spring she also has been conducting
the eighth grade student interviews
for students in her area who want
to attend the local Governor School.
She said that the first interview is always
interesting and fun, but that, by
the time the 100th interview comes
along, repetition and déjà vu set in.
Elodie Taylor Thompson is widowed
and retired from her job as Librarian/Media
Specialist at Central
Elementary School. She is now doing
the grandmother thing: babysitting
for her children’s children.
Bev Van Zandt continues to
love living in San Miguel de Allende
and can’t wait for our 50th Reunion.
Clearly the highlight of 2017 was the
birth of her first grandchild, Evangeline.
Kathy Wilson Lamb wrote that
she and Rex continue to be happily
settled in Lexington, VA Kathy is
heavily involved on the board of their
local hospice and other clubs. They
have three wonderful grandchildren
(9,9,5). The greatest part of her life
is seeing Joan Harden ‘73 often. She
also talks occasionally with Wendy
Brown, Lisa Stevens, and Melissa
McDowell.
Denise (Nesi) Wisell O’Connor
experienced the death of her husband,
Jim, at the end of December. A
memorial service celebrating Jim was
held in February which classmates
Alix Sommer Smith, Jacque Penny
and Carol Foglesong were able to
attend. Jacque added that Alix flew
in from Richmond, and that “it was
a sad day but a beautiful service.”
Nesi is an avid walker and finishes
her long walks before many of us
even wake up. In recent years, Nesi
has thoroughly enjoyed her trips and
stays in Guernsey, an island in the
English Channel.
Barb Wuehrmann reports that
2017 was a good year — she spent
the summer at her condo in Colorado,
attended her nephew’s wedding
in Washington, DC, and also went
to her 50th high school reunion at
Chatham Township, NJ. She’s now
headed back to Colorado to ski and
will see Betty Rau Santandrea ’70
in Santa Fe on her way back to her
home in Arizona. Barbara sends her
greetings to everyone in the class of
1971.
On a sad note we were informed
of the loss of several of our classmates.
Susan Ellen Crandall passed
away on Dec 23, 2015. She grew up
in Vermont and after leaving SBC,
graduated from the U of Vermont
with a degree in psychology. She
worked with autistic children and in
craft shops. She became proficient in
investment management and was an
avid reader. She will be missed. As
will be Midge Montgomery, whose
sister, also a SBCer, reported her
passing on Dec. 25, 2017. And Carol
Everest Keeney who passed away on
Dec. 12, 2017 in Germantown, TN.
After leaving SBC, Carol graduated
from The University of Alabama.
She was active at St. Paul’s Episcopal
Church and the PEO in Daphne,
AL.
1972
Jill Johnson
jilljohnson@isisllc.us
MarySue Morrison Thomas
msuethomas@gmail.com
Class email:
72sweetbriar@gmail.com
Prior to delving into our personal
reflections, as a class we would like
to express our extreme gratitude and
pride in our own Sarah vonRosenberg
for her leadership role as cochair
of Sweet Briar’s Alumnae
Alliance Council. Sarah and cochair
Debra Elkins ’93 plan to take
a well-deserved rest after 2.5 years
having devoted “countless hours . . .
spring 2018
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