KO Magazine, Summer 2012

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summer 2012

KO magazine

advising at KO

Guiding students, parents through the educational journey

KingswoodOxford


TABLE OF CONTENTS

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letter from the head of school

28 advancement

2 advising at KO

34 class notes

10 a look back

55 in memoriam

16 varsity fall sports

57 tributes

18 varsity winter sports

60 planned giving

20 commencement on the cover Senior Prefect Brandon Best leads his Form 3 advisee group in tug-of-war during a Form 3 field day in March. Behind Best are freshmen Lydia Bailey, Sarah Willsey and Jessica Joyce. The event was just many of several form events held throughout the school year.

contact information

Kingswood Oxford School, 170 Kingswood Road, West Hartford, CT 06119; 860-233-9631 Please direct general comments to the director of communications. Send information for Class Notes or In Memoriam to Meghan Kurtich, ext. 5013, e-mail kurtich.m@k-o.org. Send address changes to Patricia Laros, ext. 5016, e-mail laros.p@k-o.org. Editor: Sonya Adams | Class Notes Editors: Meghan Kurtich, Rob Kyff | Copy Editor: Rob Kyff | Graphic Design: Ford Folios Inc. Photography Credits: Richard Bergen Photography, Nicole Kimball, Clay Miles, Miller Studio, Ben Shoham ’12, Chris Troianello Notice of Nondiscriminatory Policy As to Students Kingswood Oxford School admits students of any race, color, or national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national and ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs. KO Magazine is published by Kingswood Oxford School. Š 2012 by Kingswood Oxford School Inc. All rights reserved.


letter from the head of school KO is well known for academic rigor, robust and in-depth college preparation, small class sizes, a strong sense of community, a focus on ethical citizenry, and outstanding teachers and coaches who inspire, motivate and bring out the very best in our students. But at the heart of KO’s success lies an individualized advising system that fosters close relationships among students, parents and advisors. The advisor is not simply a provider of knowledge or information, or the liaison between school and home, but also the key advocate who guides, mentors and encourages students and serves as their sounding board, confidant and life coach. The goal of the advising program is to nourish the maturity and sophistication of our students as they make their way from their entry as members of the Upper Prep to their departure for college as seniors. Through advising, we seek to develop our students’

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self-awareness, self-advocacy, time-management and organizational skills, and ability to make connections among ideas. The advising program is reinforced and supplemented by a student life team, form deans, a parent education program, counseling, college advising and instruction in academic skills and diversity – all part of our comprehensive framework and support system that allows us to work effectively with each student and family as they transition from grade to grade and seek guidance and answers along the way. Strong relationships with advisors allow our students to take rich advantage of our culture of opportunity, uncover passions and grow to their full potential. Dennis Bisgaard Head of School

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advising at KO Guiding students, parents through the educational journey Mentor. Role model. Guide. Listener. Advocate. Liaison. Friend. All of these words describe the role of the faculty advisor at Kingswood Oxford. From the inception of Oxford and Kingswood schools a century ago, Kingswood Oxford has offered its students rigorous academic preparation, stimulating extracurricular opportunities and vigorous athletic competition. But the School has also provided something more – an advisor who oversees each student’s overall growth, serves as a mentor, guide and advocate, and provides parents with information and perspective. As a day school for students who live at home with their families, KO has always placed the relationship among students, advisors and parents at the heart of its educational mission.

Form 4 advisor Carolyn McKee, second from right, takes part in a conference with advisee Griffin Maloney, second from left, and his parents, Patrick and Jill Maloney.

“The overall goal of KO advising,” said Assistant Head of School for Student Life and Dean of Students Carolyn McKee, “is to provide students with a meaningful relationship with an adult on campus whose focus is a student’s growth and success. The advisor sees a richer, fuller picture of a student’s life at school than any individual teacher can.” Communicating that big picture to parents is a key part of the advisor’s job, said McKee, also a Form 4 advisor. “The advisor is a liaison between home and school, a partner with the parents,” she said. “Adolescence is a time when kids are pulling away from parents, and advisors keep parents connected with what’s going on.”

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During the early days at both Oxford and Kingswood, teachers counseled and supported students on an informal basis, and, by the time the schools merged during the early 1970s, this process had evolved into a full-fledged advising program. During the past 10 years, that program has been expanded and enriched by several initiatives and innovations.

HOW IT WORKS Each of the School’s full-time teachers serves as the advisor for a group of seven to nine advisees. Advisors usually meet with their advisees as a group three mornings a week. These sessions provide a time for advisees and students to exchange information about school activities and to share a respite from the academic day. Students and advisors relax by eating doughnuts and bagels, discussing current events or sports, or playing games like Trivial Pursuit, Sporkle or Bananagrams. The advisee group, said Associate Director of the Middle School Kathy Dunn, is each student’s “little family away from home. We try to create a sense of camaraderie and make it a place you want to be.” For KO 6th-graders and 9th-graders, the advising family includes a KO senior. Two seniors, called senior advisors, work with each 6th-grade advisee group to help KO’s youngest students adjust to life at their new school. “They really are the big brothers and big sisters for those little kids,” said Dunn, also a Form 1 advisor. “They help with organization, tutoring and fun activities. We choose the senior advisors very carefully. We look for kids who are great role models and who want to work with younger kids.”


Likewise, a senior prefect assigned to each 9th-grade advisee group helps acclimate freshmen to the heightened challenges of the Upper School. “The prefects help kids navigate high school,” McKee said. “They talk about how to deal with peer pressure, what to do if they’re feeling overwhelmed. They develop a strong connection to the freshmen and often stay connected to them, even after the prefects have gone to college.”

KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH STUDENTS Because many advisors also teach and coach their own advisees, they see them every day in the classroom or on the playing field. They also keep regular tabs on all their advisees through chance encounters around campus. These daily interactions, McKee said, give an advisor “a good sense of what a kid’s day looks like. The advisor knows how many tests the student has that morning and which are more difficult for that student, gaining a more complex understanding of a kid’s experience.” For deeper discussions of academic and personal progress, advisors schedule one-on-one meetings regularly with each of their advisees to check up on academic and personal progress. “One of the most important skills for an advisor is listening,” McKee said. “If the advisor sees that a kid is struggling, he tries to identify the source of the problem and the source of the solution.” Teachers keep advisors apprised of their advisees’ academic performance, sending e-mails when a student has experienced difficulty with a test, paper or other assignment. Sometimes advisors survey all of an advisee’s teachers to gain a wider picture of academic productivity.

WORKING WITH PARENTS Advisors also keep in touch with parents by e-mailing or calling at least once a month to provide updates, more often ko s u m m e r 2 0 1 2

than that if difficulties arise. Some advisors maintain blogs to converse with advisees and their parents. Informal conversations also flourish between advisors and parents on the sidelines at athletic contests, in the theater lobby at plays or concerts, or in the hallways during Parent Nights at the School. “In boarding schools,” McKee said, “the long-distance relationship between advisors and parents can be a disadvantage. At a day school, the strength of the advisor-parent relationship can be built in person. Being able to see parents face-to-face provides a great opportunity to connect with them and build that relationship over time.” Working with Middle School students and their parents, Dunn said, requires some special skills, especially patience. “It’s the challenge of puberty,” she said. “Cognitive and emotional development happens in fits and starts. On any given day, adolescents can be fabulous or a nightmare. Parents will often ask the advisor, ‘Is this normal?’ The advisor either says it’s OK or it’s not OK and this is what we’re going to do about it.” When necessary, an advisor may arrange a meeting between an advisee’s parents and the advisee’s teachers. And if an advisee feels overwhelmed by the expectations of parents and teachers, the advisor serves as an advocate for the advisee by negotiating solutions and providing perspective. “When students worry about how they’re perceived or misunderstood by teachers, parents or other students,” McKee said, “they need someone in their corner.” In November and April, advisors meet with students and parents in formal conferences to discuss academic, social, athletic and personal progress and plan the advisee’s curriculum for next year. Many advisees take the lead at these conferences by offering their own

Form 1 advisor Kathy Dunn meets with advisees Shelby Fairchild, Maddy Schwartz and Jacob Silverstein.

assessments of their performance and suggesting ways to improve. At the ends of the first and second semesters, in January and June, respectively, advisors write summary reports for advisors and parents. These reflect each advisee’s progress in all areas of school life and suggest goals for the future. “The summary reports demonstrate the strength of the relationship between advisors and advisees,” McKee said. “They show the parents that there’s someone who knows their kid, who gets their kid and is invested in helping him or her succeed.”

NEW INITIATIVES Four recent initiatives have further bolstered the School’s advising program: • Prior to 2002 advisors spent only a year with one group, but today teachers in both the Middle and Upper schools advise a group of seven to nine students for two years. (Upper Prep, or 6th-grade, advisors work with their advisees for just one year.) This expansion to a two-year cycle, McKee said, has allowed advisors to develop deeper and stronger relationships with their advisees and parents. • For many decades, the advisors of each form were supervised by a form master

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who monitored all the students in that form, organized events such as dances, proms and excursions, and handled routine disciplinary matters. But four years ago, the School consolidated this position to create form deans, who like deans of freshmen at college, examine and oversee the entire experience for students in that form and provide a sounding board for advisors. “The form deans look at the horizontal curriculum,” McKee said, “monitoring homework assignments, developing guidelines for the teaching of academic skills in that form and fostering communication among teachers and advisors.” Four years ago, the School created its first formal program for the evaluation of advisors. Every three years, the advisor and form dean conduct a thorough assessment of the advisor’s performance. These are based on surveys completed by the advisees themselves or by their parents or on a self-evaluation conducted by the advisor. •

“The new evaluation system is designed to give teachers the time to reflect on their role as advisors,” McKee said. “Most advisors have been pleasantly surprised by the positive feedback the surveys have provided, by the depth of their relationships with families they reveal.”

Freshmen Melanie Doot and Kennelly Allerton compete in the three-legged race at a Form 3 field day in March.

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Last summer, Form 1 Dean Ann Sciglimpaglia, Form 3 Dean Kata Francyk and McKee devised “Advising at KO,” the School’s first comprehensive guide on advising. This 40-page handbook provides advisors with the School’s overall philosophy on advising, outlines advisors’ responsibilities and furnishes handy tips, readings and resources. During summer orientation sessions, “Advising at KO” provides the basic curriculum for new teachers as they learn advising skills through case studies and role playing. •

FINAL THOUGHTS Dunn and McKee agree that advising provides the foundation of a student’s KO experience. “Advising is so much a part of what we do,” Dunn said. “People put a lot of energy into the advising piece. If kids aren’t looked after, they’re not going to be able to take advantage of academics.” McKee said she also believes deeply in the advising program. “I advise myself,” she said. “I love building a relationship with a group of kids at the beginning of high school, watching them blossom and then sending them off well positioned to achieve even greater independence.” KO


Kasprak seeks progress, not perfection As an advisor of juniors and seniors, English teacher Meg Kasprak sets one overall goal – to help her advisees become increasingly self-sufficient and self-aware.

Advisor Meg Kasprak gets support – literally – from her 2010-11 advisees: Emily Steinberg, Brenna Merola, Hannah Fiske, Steven Hild, Tyler Blake, Ned Miller, Emma Glickstein and Hayley DeBerry.

“I try to help them develop an understanding of what they’re good at and what they’re not, so they can use that information to take action independently as students,” she said. She pursues this goal by being genuine, open and accessible – and by tossing in a few cupcakes and coupons along the way. “Most advising is accomplished informally,” she said, “by seizing the right moments. You can’t schedule those opportunities, but you have to be open to when they might occur.” Kasprak’s 20-minute group meetings with her advisees three mornings a week are relaxed. Students gather in her classroom, often sharing donuts and other snacks. When an advisee is celebrating a birthday, Kasprak bakes special cupcakes for the group. “There’s no formal routine,” she said. “It’s a pleasant, comfortable time of day. They’re the ones who start the conversation. I listen and sometimes insert myself into the flow.” Rather than setting up formal meetings with individual advisees, she encourages them to drop by her office. Most check in at least once a day – to chat, to kvetch and sometimes just to sit and relax on her big comfy couch. “I’m happy to have them vent,” Kasprak said. “I see my role as being an on-campus parent or big sister. I’m the person who’s going to love you no matter what you’ve done.” But it’s also important that she’s NOT their

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mom, she says. “When a kid is not doing well,” she said, “I can respond without the baggage of being a parent and ask, ‘How are we going to fix this?’ That often involves some friendly persistence.” Levity, she said, can also work wonders. “I try to inject some humor into the situation,” she said. “Lecturing kids about their behavior doesn’t work.” And she’s not above resorting to practical, hands-on measures. One of her advisees was so disorganized, for instance, that she emptied his backpack onto the floor of her office and helped him reorganize its contents. She offered another advisee a $5 Ben and Jerry’s ice cream coupon for every homework study guide he filled out. “You have to meet your advisees where they are,” she said. Kasprak reassures her advisees that her goal for them is not perfection, but progress. “I tell them that if you make progress, I’ll be happy with you,” she said. Maintaining ongoing communications with parents is also crucial, she says. “I want parents to be comfortable calling me whenever they need to, at home or by cell phone,” she said. Kasprak, whose three sons graduated from KO during the 2000s, says being a parent herself makes her a better advisor. “It helps you in talking to parents,” she said. But Kasprak harbors no illusions about being a miracle worker. “Do you totally change a kid entirely?” she said. “No. There’s no moment when an advisee says, ‘I’m all grown up and perfect, and it’s all because of you.’ I simply try to make my advisees a little bit happier or saner and assure them that they’re not nuts, that it gets better. “They all do grow up,” she added, “and that’s a lovely thing.” KO 5


Krugman encourages communication The key to successful advising, said 7th- and 8th-grade advisor and Form Dean Andy Krugman ’86, is building strong relationships with advisees and their parents. “There’s a certain amount of trust that gets built up,” he said, “so when there is news that’s not good, it makes that conversation much easier to have.” And because 7th-grade advisors work with their advisees during their 8th-grade year as well, he said, they have time to develop a close working relationship. Krugman nurtures that bond with his advisees in a variety of settings. He teaches and coaches several of them, and at midmorning advisee group meetings, which often include discussions, pranks and the word game Jumble, his advisees get a chance to catch their breath, laugh and relax. But some of the best advising, he said, happens when he encounters kids on the fly in the hallways or on the way to lunch.

Andy Krugman ’86, Form 2 dean and advisor, talks with advisees Rob Yirigian, Nicolas Bisgaard, David Lessard, Griffin Gildersleeve and Marissa Aniolowski.

“Sometimes being in a different venue makes all the difference,” Krugman said. “Every day I try to catch a kid doing something good and give him good news and praise – that’s the goal.” Striking the right balance between support and accountability, Krugman said, can be challenging. “Sometimes you need to set them on the straight and narrow,” he said, “but not in a way that’s going to crush them. You have to be empathetic. If you forget what it’s like to be in their shoes, you lose a big piece of it.” In fact, Krugman WAS in their shoes. As a KO 7th-grader, he was inspired by his advisor, Dave Emery ’75, who served as his science teacher and

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soccer coach as well. “I saw him in three different arenas every day,” Krugman said. “He was a powerful role model for me.” (Krugman went on to play for Emery on the KO varsity soccer team and attended Emery’s alma mater, Middlebury College.) Above all, Krugman encourages his advisees to communicate – with him, with teachers and with their parents. When advisees encounter academic difficulties, for instance, he doesn’t call their parents right away. “I ask them to tell their parents first,” he said, “then I call home.” Likewise, when he meets with advisees and their parents to discuss grades and teachers’ comments, he asks the advisees to begin the conference by offering their own assessments of their academic performance. “It’s hard for them to talk about themselves and their grades,” he said, “but the kids have to take the lead in that meeting.” As a form dean, Krugman supervises eight other advisors, leads form meetings and organizes class trips, athletic competitions, picnics, dances and community-service projects. When he delivers one of his “state of the form” speeches to 8thgraders, he said, “I remind them to be their best selves and to treat one another with respect because they’re setting an example for the 6thand 7th-graders.” Working closely with other advisors, he says, provides him with valuable perspective. “I’m always learning from my colleagues, both older and younger, who find so many creative and effective ways to reach kids,” he said. “No matter how many years you do it, you never have it down pat.” Though advising may be an inexact science, it has its rewards, he said. “Ultimately seeing kids grow and develop and succeed at meeting their goals,” he said, “gives you the feeling that something you did helped them through a situation, that they made a connection with someone who cared.” KO


‘a phenomenal partnership‘

‘an unspoken support‘

When Jacob Silverstein entered KO as a 6th-grader in the fall of 2010, he faced all the challenges of adjusting to a new school – meeting new teachers, making new friends, encountering new courses and even learning how to tie a necktie.

Jamie Silverstein P ’15, ’17

During this acclimation process, said his mother, Jamie Silverstein, Jacob found strong guidance and support from his advisor, Harper Follansbee.

Silverstein says Follansbee instantly forged a bond with her son. “Harper has a tenderness that bridges the gap between the formality of putting on a tie and the spontaneity of being 11 years old,” she said. “Sometimes Harper did somersaults in the hall or roared like a lion.”

The three children of Meghan and Bob Waskowitz ’78 have their own unique talents, interests and personalities. And each child, Meghan Waskowitz says, has benefited enormously from the strong support, encouragement and direction provided by advisors at KO. Jackson, a 2011 KO graduate who is now a University of Vermont freshman, flourished under the guidance of his senior year advisor, Spanish teacher Lynn Schork, who now advises his younger brother Jake, a junior.

Meghan Waskowitz P ’11, ’13, ’15

“She’s remarkably perceptive about kids,” Waskowitz said of Schork. “She knows how to say things to the kids in a way that makes an impact, to make them realize what needs to be done. She’s very positive and approachable, always encouraging.”

Silverstein said Follansbee helped Jacob work through problems big and small. “He was there for everything, from the mundane to the serious,” she said. “He’s got that watchful eye, and the laughter, the humor and the honesty. When he talks to kids about sensitive subjects, he’s so honest with them.”

Jake also drew strong support from English teacher Asha Appel, his 9th- and 10th-grade advisor. “She saw Jake’s attributes and strengths,” Waskowitz said of Appel, “and she encouraged him to explore his leadership qualities.”

When Jacob told Follansbee he was concerned about another boy’s exclusion from a group, Silverstein said, Follansbee and Jacob lingered in their seats after an assembly in Roberts to talk things out. “For a teacher to carve out that time and take the steps to listen and care is amazing,” Silverstein said.

Appel knew when to push Jake to stretch himself, encouraging him to apply for Shield & Dragon, but was also realistic about the academic workload at KO. “She worked with Jake to create a schedule that would be challenging, but not overwhelming,” Waskowitz said.

Silverstein describes the parent-advisor relationship as “a phenomenal partnership.”

Strong advising has also nourished Jackson’s and Jake’s younger sister, Addie, as she has adjusted to being a new freshman at KO this year. Addie’s advisor, Kata Francyk, who is a science teacher and the Form 3 dean, helped Addie feel comfortable at KO. “Her warm, fun manner is good for our daughter,” Waskowitz said. “She’s pulled out strengths that Addie didn’t know she had.”

“It’s very comforting to have a partner on the other side of the equation,” she said. “When you look at your kids and you see success across the entire spectrum, and you’ve got a partner who’s helping generate that success, that’s wonderful. “The advising process,” she said, “allows students to take those next steps in a nurturing environment with an adult who has insight. Whatever challenge they face, they can turn to their advisors. It’s the best thing that KO offers.” KO

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Waskowitz added that Addie, Jackson and Jake have also enjoyed the experience of being part of an advisee group. “The advisee system gives the kids a small group, like a core family,” she said. “There’s an unspoken support among them that fosters a sense of community.” KO

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‘she's pushed me to … push myself‘

‘he's a friend‘

On his first day as a KO student, Pat Hallisey arrived 45 minutes earlier than all the other freshmen. But his advisor, classics department Chair Amy Neilson, was already on hand to greet him.

Patrick Hallisey ’14

“She was fantastic that day,” said Hallisey, now a sophomore. “She was funny, energetic. Right away, I felt at home.”

As Hallisey’s advisor for the past two years, Neilson has been his mentor, maven and motivator. During Hallisey’s freshman year, Neilson encouraged him to take honors French and to join the Concert Choir and the male a cappella group Crimson 7. When Hallisey encountered difficulty in his English course last year, Neilson urged him to meet with his teacher regularly. “As soon as I did that,” he said, “my grade started to go up.” Hallisey said Neilson’s warmth and enthusiasm make him feel comfortable with her. “She’s always laughing, always happy,” he said. “But she can be serious as well.” He said he stops by Neilson’s office frequently to discuss just about anything. “She listens without interrupting,” he said, “and wants to hear what you’re saying. She’s a friend to me, not just a teacher.” Hallisey sees a special advantage in having the same advisor for two years. “This year it’s been even more comfortable,” he said. “Now she knows me, and I know she’ll understand.” He said his parents are Neilson fans as well. “My mom loves her,” he said. “She’s always bugging me to listen to her, to do what she says.”

Ask 8th-grader Grace Percival about her advisor, Travis Rains, and she starts smiling.

Grace Percival ’16

“He’s the best,” she says. “He’s cool. He’s very laid back. I’m comfortable with him. He talks about stuff that’s interesting to students. He knows what music we listen to, and he doesn’t complain when we play it in advisee group. He’s a younger teacher, so he uses words like ‘chill’ and ‘sweet.’ ”

And she loves it when his two children, Eliot, 6, and Anna, 4, visit his advisee group. “Anna and I draw pictures,” she said, “and Eliot plays tag and hide-and-seek.” But advising isn’t all fun and games, and Grace says her comfort level with Rains makes it easy to accept his guidance when the conversation turns serious. “He’s not disciplinary or strict,” she said, “but he gets his point across.” At the beginning of each quarter, she said, Rains asks his advisees to write down their goals. Then, during parent conferences, he asks students to compare their grades and comments with the objectives they’ve set for themselves. “He’ll say, ‘You said you were going to do this last quarter, but that hasn’t happened,’ ” she said. When Grace was having difficulty memorizing vocabulary words for Latin, he suggested a solution. “I’m a visual learner,” she said, “so he suggested making a flash card with a picture on it for each word. It worked.” Grace says that Rains is careful never to single out an individual. “When an advisee has an academic problem,” she said, “Mr. Rains will have a session on that issue for all his advisees or post a list of study methods on his door, so it’s not obvious that a certain student is having trouble.”

How would Hallisey’s life at KO be different without Neilson? “My grades would be lower,” he said. “I wouldn’t be in as many honors classes, and I wouldn’t have tried out for Crimson 7. She’s pushed me to make me really push myself. She’s really changed my experience here in a lot of ways.” KO 8

Asked whether she regards Rains as a father figure or a big brother, Grace replied, “No. He’s a friend.” KO


‘she listened to me‘ As a KO 8th-grader, Tori Hatch Kramer ’96 sometimes felt overwhelmed by the social pressures and petty rivalries that swirl through the lives of adolescent girls. But her advisor, Kathy Dunn (then Kathy Reynolds), provided her with muchneeded perspective. “What was so refreshing about Ms. Reynolds,” she said, “was that she helped you realize that you can just ignore the drama, that it wasn’t going to last forever. She listened to me, supported me and helped me to carve my own path and be my own person.”

Tori Hatch Kramer ’96

Kramer said she drew strength not only from what Dunn said, but also from who she was. “She led by example,” Kramer said. “Her personality exuded levels of confidence and assurance that you wanted to embody yourself, to be in the presence of and follow. Her independent nature, her ability to be her own person … as a young girl, I so looked up to that. It was the right time for me to have Ms. Reynolds in my life.” Kramer, who had already developed a deep respect for Reynolds as an effective French teacher, said having her as an advisor enriched her appreciation of her more human side. “Too often, students see teachers as people who have only one role,” she said. “But when you’re in the office with just your advisor, or with your advising group, you’re relaxed, and you’re sharing experiences. The teacher can put his or her guard down and have a lighthearted relationship with the students. It helps you realize how much they care about how you’re doing.” Kramer, who taught high-school English for five years, said she strove to emulate Reynolds’ approach in her own relationships with students. “I always kept my office door open,” she said, “and tried to help students talk through things whenever they needed to.” KO

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‘he genuinely cared‘ When Gil Keegan ’88 was a junior at KO, he learned that he hadn’t been selected as a senior prefect. Understandably disappointed, he turned to his advisor, Chuck Glassmire, for support. “I think he was even more hurt by it than I was,” remembers Keegan, now director of account management in Connecticut for Gil Keegan ’88 Aetna. “But he reminded me that some things don’t always go the way they should and that those who succeed take those bumps but don’t let it get them down.” Glassmire, a chemistry teacher and science department chair, provided a rock of strength for Keegan during his six years at KO. After earning a spot on Glassmire’s boys’ varsity tennis team as a 7th-grader, Keegan rose up the ladder to co-captain the team during his senior year. Glassmire taught Keegan in two chemistry courses and served as his advisor during junior year. As an advisor, Keegan said, Glassmire always knew what kind of support students needed. “He wasn’t a one-style-fits-all person,” he said. “He knew how to be there in a way you needed him to be there. He knew when someone needed a pat on the back – or a kick in the butt.” Glassmire’s advice, Keegan said, always stressed hard work. “He genuinely cared, especially for those who really made the effort. If you got a C in a class and you were killing it, that was fine for him. He was looking for the kind of person who would give it their all and then he would go into battle with you.” Keegan said that he benefited greatly from all the advisors he had at KO. “They helped adapt you to the stage of development that you were in,” he said, “and were always there to be a guide and a resource for you.” KO

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news of the school The following briefs offer a glimpse of life at KO during the 2011-2012 school year. For up-to-date news about KO, please visit www.kingswoodoxford.org/news.

Lucien Konan ’12

ALUMS OPEN SCHOOL YEAR

SENIOR HONORED

KO welcomed a pair of sibling alumni at the 2011-2012 Opening Assembly in September. Alex Nguyen, a 1995 KO graduate, and his sister Caroline Nguyen, a 1996 KO graduate, spoke of the important role that the School played in their lives. “I really think of KO as a building block in my career and where I am today,” said Caroline Nguyen, who works as senior counsel in the Office of Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice. Alex Nguyen, a federal prosecutor in Philadelphia, pointed out that KO’s mission of inspiring students to excel and to lead lives of integrity and involvement extends to life after high school. “Integrity and involvement really matter,” he said. “My goal is not just to win the case but to win it fairly. You have to play by the rules.”

KO senior Lucien Konan of Bloomfield was named one of 3,100 Outstanding Participants in the National Achievement Scholarship Program who were referred to U.S. colleges and universities. Konan scored in the top 3 percent of more than 160,000 black Americans who requested consideration in the 2012 program when they took the 2010 Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. A list of these students’ names, high schools and tentative college major choices was sent to about 1,500 colleges and universities.

A LOOK BACK

STUDENTS EXPLORE ADL PROGRAM

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KO students participated in “The Truth about Hate,” a high school program run by the AntiDefamation League’s A World of Difference Institute, in September. All KO students in grades 8 through 10 took part in the two-hour program, which was designed to help students understand how the issues that evolve into hatred – stereotyping, jokes, name-calling and rumors – affect their daily lives. The assembly also explored how students can play a role in challenging prejudice and hatred.

5 NAMED COMMENDED STUDENTS Five KO seniors were named Commended Students in the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program. About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation were recognized for their exceptional academic promise, although they did not continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarship awards. The KO seniors who were named Commended Students are: Jacqueline Dunn of South Windsor, Varun Khattar of South Windsor, Kelly Lessard of Hebron, Sarah Steinberg of West Hartford and Emily Sullivan of Longmeadow, Mass.

TEAM TOBATI RECEIVES HONOR Team Tobati, a group dedicated to improving the educational and medical institutions in Tobati, Paraguay, received an award in September from My Sisters’ Place, an organization that seeks to end homelessness. The Allison Chase Spirit Award recognizes the contribution of young people who make the community stronger. The award is named for 2005 KO graduate Allison Chase, who donated the proceeds from her bat mitzvah to My Sisters’ Place. Team Tobati was formed in 1998 by KO faculty member Ron Garcia and several students, and the first trip took place in 1999. Every year since then, Garcia, the son of Paraguayan immigrants, has traveled with KO students and others to Tobati during KO’s spring break. Seventy-three students, along with faculty, alumni and dentists, made the 2012 trip.

3 IN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION KO junior Caley Henderson of West Hartford won first place overall at Stoneleigh-Burnham School’s Public Speaking Tournament in October, earning a spot on the U.S. team for the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championship at Moreton Bay Boys’ College in Brisbane, Australia, in April. Also in October, classmate Spencer Murray of Burlington received the John Aimers trophy for being the top American speaker at the International


Photos left to right: Ben Washburn ’12 A scene from “The Tempest”

Independent Schools Public Speaking Competition in Vancouver, Canada. Murray won first place in the after-dinner speaking category and placed fifth overall out of more than 160 speakers from more than 48 schools in nine countries, qualifying him to compete at Worlds. (KO last brought home the Aimers trophy in 1992, when Nancy-Ann Navickas ’93 won top American speaker.) Junior Matt Kahn of Newington qualified for Worlds by virtue of his performance at the Kingswood Oxford Speaking Tournament in January. In Australia, Murray placed second in after-dinner speaking.

BOYS'’ CROSS COUNTRY WINS MEET KO’s boys’ cross-country team won the O’Connell Invitational at Cheshire Academy in October for the third year in a row, while the KO girls’ cross-country team took second place. KO senior Ben Washburn of West Hartford came in first of the 79 runners from 11 schools competing in the race. Eighteenth-year head coach Fritz Goodman said one of the keys to the team’s success was the presence of “such good leadership” from the veterans. “We have many seniors, and they model good work practices as well as enthusiasm,” he said. “They have accepted our training philosophies and work hard to achieve goals.” KO head girls’ crosscountry coach Lisa Loeb, in her 13th season leading the Wyverns, said this marks the second year in a row that the girls’ squad finished in second place after winning the meet in 2009.

KO OFFERS HELP FOR THE HOLIDAYS As part of a KO tradition at least a dozen years old, Middle School students filled several tables with food donations that were given ko s u m m e r 2 0 1 2

to Loaves & Fishes in Hartford just before Thanksgiving. Students in grades 6 through 8 brought in the makings of numerous holiday dinners, and several families also added frozen turkeys to the collection. KO students, driven by parent volunteers, made the delivery to the organization. Loaves & Fishes, which serves low-income and poverty-level individuals and families, sorted the donations, which also included additional food for after Thanksgiving, and distributed them to those who needed assistance. Director of the Middle School Jane Repp said, “This year, students seem to be particularly aware of the needs of others and their ability to make a difference.”

‘THE TEMPEST' OFFERS EXTRAS KO’s performances of “The Tempest” in November offered a little something extra to about 60 West Hartford elementary school students and their families. Fourth-graders enrolled in the QuEST gifted and talented program at Morley and Whiting Lane elementary schools had the opportunity to attend either night’s show in KO’s Roberts Theater and to then take part in a “chat back” question-and-answer session with the KO cast of more than 20 actors and crew members. KO creative arts department Chair Patricia Rosoff said the entire project was “magical.” She added that the chat-back portion of each evening, when KO cast members remained in character to answer questions, fit well with the talents of the KO participants. “Our kids are so good at the chat back; you can see how well-spoken and thoughtful they are,” she said. “It was a very wonderful moment – that whole interchange.”

KO 1 OF 3 U.S. SCHOOLS AT FORUM Fourteen KO students took part in Yale Model Government Europe in Prague, Czech Republic, in November. KO was one of only three American schools to participate in the conference, where about 300 students from around the world learned about international affairs. KO history teacher Stacey Savin, who has led KO’s Model U.N. program for nine years, said students were given their assignments earlier in the fall; each was named to be a certain governmental figure. They researched their “characters,” and once in Prague, they took 11


Photos left to right: Participants in Yale Model Government Europe Members of KO’s swimming and diving teams

their place within their assigned governmental body. They also met within crisis committees, called at the spur of the moment to deal with a hypothetical event. Four KO students were recognized for excellence within their committees: Junior Matt Kahn of Newington won best delegate, juniors Tyler Whirty of Avon and Mark Toubman of Newington each won outstanding delegate, and sophomore Sophie Kruger won honorable mention.

KO CELEBRATES NEW YEAR KO invited all West Hartford children ages 14 and under and their parents to KO’s Happy New Year Free Skate! on New Year’s Day in KO’s Brayton Athletic Center ice hockey rink. Holiday music helped ring in the new year, and free refreshments – hot chocolate, coffee and cookies – were served.

A LOOK BACK

STUDENTS CHOSEN FOR MUSIC FESTS

12

Several KO Upper School students were selected by audition to perform at the 2012 Connecticut Northern Region High School Concert Festival held in January. Two freshmen – Cole Adams of West Hartford (clarinet) and Lina Volin of South Glastonbury (flute) – were chosen for band. Junior Amanda Pratt and sophomore Maddie Pazzani, both sopranos from Farmington, were selected for the chorus. Sophomore Sam Wiseman of West Hartford (violin) was chosen for the orchestra. Three Middle School students were selected to perform at the 2012 Connecticut Northern Region Middle School Concert Festival held in March. Seventhgraders Grace Amell (trombone) and Connor O’Loughlin (trumpet), both of West Hartford, were chosen for band. Classmate Isabel Kaufman of West Hartford was selected for chorus.

FOER IS BAIRD SYMPOSIUM GUEST KO welcomed award-winning author Jonathan Safran Foer at a number of assemblies and open classes at the School’s 29th annual Warren Baird English Symposium in January. That same month, the big-screen adaptation of Foer’s novel “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” which was published in 2005 and tells the story of a boy who loses his father in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, opened nationwide. The film, starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, received Oscar and Critic’s Choice nominations for best picture. Other works by Foer include “Everything is Illuminated,” the nonfiction “Eating Animals,” and his most recent book, “Tree of Codes.” The symposium, named in memory of its founder, former KO English department chair Warren Baird, annually brings a noted author to campus. Past guests have included E.L. Doctorow, Gwendolyn Brooks, Arthur Miller, Tobias Wolff, Nick Hornby, John Updike, and Foer’s mentor, novelist Joyce Carol Oates.

KO CELEBRATES LEGACY OF MLK In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the KO community gathered at a January assembly to learn about several unsung heroes of the civil rights movement. The assembly, planned by a small group of Upper School students and faculty members, used a classroom-scene skit and video clips to tell the stories of three of those heroes: E.D. Nixon, an NAACP leader who was instrumental in Rosa Parks’ bus boycott; Bayard Rustin, a key organizer of the March on Washington who eventually left his leadership roles due to threats because he was gay; and Janie Forsyth McKinney, a woman who at age 12 during the Freedom Rides aided civil rights activists who had been attacked by


white supremacists. After the clips, students shared ways that they promote social justice in their own lives; several offered ideas, including standing up against bullying and practicing good sportsmanship.

KO HOSTS students FROM VENEZUELA

Photos top to bottom: Nicole Wetsman ’12 Paula Hagopian ’12

KO’s Middle School welcomed two groups of students from Colegio Integral El Avila, a school in Caracas, Venezuela, during the winter, marking the fifth year that KO has hosted multiple groups of Venezuelan students during the same year and the 11th year that students from the Caracas school have joined the KO community. Each group stayed for about a month, attending classes at KO, participating in activities such as skating in the School’s ice hockey rink, and taking trips on the weekends to visit surrounding cities. Middle School Spanish teacher Erika Costantini said the people at the two schools have been key to making the program a success. “It has been the commitment, on both ends, of the entire community that has made this a tradition worth continuing.”

STUDENTS WIN AT YALE MODEL U.N. Two KO students received the best delegate award – the top honor – at the 38th annual Yale Model United Nations Conference held in January. Juniors Brooke Goldsmith of West Hartford and Rayva Khanna of South Glastonbury paired up as a “double delegation” to win the best delegate honors as they represented the Czech Republic in the European Union. Goldsmith and Khanna were part of KO’s 36-member delegation of seniors, juniors and sophomores who participated in the conference by representing Russia, Costa Rica and the Czech Republic.

7 TAKE HOME ART AWARDS Seven KO students were named recipients of state level awards in the 23rd annual Connecticut Regional Scholastic Art Awards competition in January. Senior Caroline Bascetta of Colchester won a Gold Key for her ink jet print “Caged,” senior Todd Fichman of Farmington took home a Silver Key for his untitled print, and senior Tom Giardini, also of Farmington, won a Silver Key for his mixed-media sculpture “Alone in December.” Seventh-grader Jo-ann Burke of ko s u m m e r 2 0 1 2

Wethersfield won a Silver Key for her print “Zebras,” and classmate Ryan Dailey of Avon won a Silver Key for his acrylic on canvas panel print “Hockey Skate.” Senior Emily Sullivan of Longmeadow, Mass., received an Honorable Mention for her charcoal drawing “Staircase,” and sophomore Dan Dunham of Berlin won an Honorable Mention for his untitled print. The awards ceremony took place at the University of Hartford’s Lincoln Theater, and the winning works were exhibited at Hartford Art School’s Silpe Gallery.

INSTALLATION ARTIST VISITS KO hosted painter and installation artist Nathan Lewis several times during the month of February as part of KO’s Goodman Banks Series of visiting artists. To kick off his artist-in-residence visits, Lewis spoke to the entire student body at an all-school assembly and then spent time with an Upper School art class. Lewis, who has exhibited both nationally and internationally in museums, galleries and universities, returned to campus to work with both Upper School and Middle School classes, including drawing and painting courses. In January, Lewis mounted an exhibition of his work in KO’s Juros Gallery so that students had the opportunity to study his works before he returned to campus for the assembly and classes.

SENIOR WINS TOP SOCCER HONORS KO girls’ varsity soccer player Paula Hagopian of West Hartford was named a 2011 High School All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, marking the second year in a row she has received the honor. She also was selected as the 2011-12 Gatorade Connecticut Girls Soccer Player of the Year. Gatorade said the award recognizes outstanding academic excellence, high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field. The award, Gatorade said, “distinguishes Hagopian as Connecticut’s best high school girls’ soccer player.” Hagopian, a senior and four-year varsity player at the forward position, has committed to play soccer for Yale University in the fall.

SENIOR IS NATIONAL MERIT FINALIST KO senior Nicole Wetsman of West Hartford was named a National Merit Finalist in the 13


2012 National Merit Scholarship Program. The approximately 15,000 Finalists were among the more than 1.5 million students in 22,000 high schools who entered the 2012 National Merit Program when they were juniors by taking the 2010 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). To become Finalists, the students must have an outstanding academic record, be recommended by an official from their school and submit SAT scores that confirm their earlier qualifying test performance.

A LOOK BACK

Olivia Kravetz in “Annie”

14

UTC EXEC HELPS LAUNCH CLASS KO played host to Alain Bellemare, president and chief operating officer of UTC Propulsion and Aerospace Systems, in February as he helped launch the three-week interdisciplinary course “A French and Chinese Collaborative Project: Exploring the Value of Cross-Cultural Understanding in Business Today.” Bellemare shared his experiences doing business in France and China, discussing differences in the populations, forms of government, cultures and other aspects of the two countries. He also stressed the importance of learning languages to succeed in today’s – and tomorrow’s – world. “I will say you are very fortunate. Today you may not totally appreciate this, but keep learning [French, Mandarin, Spanish],” Bellemare said. “These are very critical languages. If you speak more than one language, then you open your possibilities.” The course, developed by KO modern languages faculty members Elizabeth Tredeau and Jen Weeks, helped students answer the question, “What value does cross-cultural understanding have in business today?”

KO PRESENTS ‘ANNIE' KO’s creative arts department presented the musical “Annie” in February in Roberts Theater. A heartwarming show that recently celebrated its 35th anniversary, “Annie” tells the tale of a young orphan who never gives up hope as she finds her way into the hearts of many. Longtime KO creative arts teacher Lud Baldwin said the show’s setting in the Great Depression reminds people, particularly in today’s economy, “to look for positives and not dwell on the negatives.” Baldwin added, “This is very kid friendly and offers a great opportunity to introduce young

ones to the fun and power of musical theater, and for the generations to do things together. Grandpa and Grandma can attend with the kids, and everyone will be entertained. It also has a cute dog, and who doesn’t love a dog on stage?”

SKIER WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS KO senior Sam Udolf of West Hartford won the girls’ slalom and giant slalom races – making her the overall girls’ champion – at the 2012 New England Prep School Class B Alpine Ski Championships held in February in Massachusetts. Udolf’s strong performance helped propel the KO girls’ squad to a secondplace finish out of 14 teams in the competition. KO, which finished just behind Middlesex, topped several area schools, including Taft, Miss Porter’s and Ethel Walker. Udolf said her wins marked a “bittersweet” finish to her KO skiracing career. “I remember so clearly riding up the chair lift at Sundown as a 6th-grader, back when seniors seemed so old,” she said. “I feel so fortunate that KO supported my passion for ski racing for seven years.”

KO HOSTS STATE ROBOTICS TOURNEY KO’s robotics team, the Wyverns, won the Judges Award for Gracious Professionalism at the Connecticut Conquest FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) State Championship Tournament for robotics in early March at KO. More than 200 high school students from 24 schools in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island took part in the daylong competition, which took place in KO’s gyms and featured teams working on this year’s FTC challenge called “Bowled Over!” The challenge involved two alliances of robots – composed of two teams each – that competed in each match. The robots scored points by placing racquetballs in crates and then stacking the crates. Teams tried to complete tasks during autonomous and driver-controlled periods and scored special racquetballs and six-pound bowling balls for even more points.

SWIM TEAMS RUNNERS-UP IN NE The KO boys’ and girls’ swimming and diving teams both placed second at the Division II New England Prep School Swimming Association Championships held in early March at


Photos left to right: KO choral students with guest composer Kirby Shaw KO trustee Brad Hoffman ’78, board Chair Avery Rockefeller, Joseph Grano Jr., Head of School Dennis Bisgaard

Westminster School. The KO boys’ team, which was topped only by Kent, finished ahead of eight other schools, including Westminster, Avon Old Farms and Cheshire Academy. The KO girls’ team, which placed second behind St. George’s, finished ahead of 11 other schools, including Westminster, Ethel Walker and Cheshire. Earlier in the season, the boys’ squad won the School’s 20th annual Swimming and Diving Invitational at Wesleyan University, marking the seventh year in a row the team has claimed the title. KO finished high atop the competition with 277 points, besting second-place Westminster by 54 points. Milton came in third, followed by Eaglebrook, Williston Northampton, Wilbraham & Monson, Canterbury, Avon Old Farms and Cheshire.

and Middle School choral students as part of KO’s annual Composer Colloquy Visiting Artist Series. Much of Shaw’s time with the choral groups focused on songs that he arranged. With the Octopipers, he worked on the commissioned piece “Dig Down Deeper,” a tune that will be featured in Disney’s upcoming TV special “Pixie Hollow Games,” airing this summer in recognition of the Olympics. Marcos Carreras, KO’s coordinator of vocal music and the founder of the Composer Colloquy Visiting Artist Series, said Shaw’s visit was even better than he had hoped. “Having our students work with such an influential artist who has been a leader in the field of music and music education for over 40 years has been beyond incredible,” he said.

BUSINESS ICON VISITS KO GIRLS'’ ICE HOCKEY IN PLAYOFFS The KO girls’ varsity ice hockey team capped a 9-8-3 regular season with an appearance as the No. 4 seed in the Division II New England tournament playoffs in March. KO lost 0-3 in the first round to No. 5 seed Gunnery. Head coach Kathleen Wiggenhauser said highlights of the season included the last two regular season games. Against Greenwich, the Wyverns pulled the goalie and scored with 13 seconds left on the overtime clock to earn a tie. Then the girls beat Millbrook by a goal after losing in overtime to the same team earlier in the season. Wiggenhauser also pointed to a big win over Choate as a standout game.

COMPOSER TEACHES CLASSES KO welcomed award-winning composer Kirby Shaw as he visited campus for three days in March to teach master classes to Upper School ko s u m m e r 2 0 1 2

KO played host to business executive and philanthropist Joseph Grano Jr. as he spent a day in April lecturing to students, meeting with an AP Economics class and talking with members of the School’s board of trustees. Grano, a regular on CNN and FOX News, is current chairman and CEO of Centurion Holdings LLC, a firm he founded in 2004 that advises public and private clients. His resume includes his facilitation of the merger of PaineWebber with UBS and serving as chairman of UBS Financial Services (formerly UBS PaineWebber). A decorated war hero, Grano also authored the book “You Can’t Predict a Hero: From War to Wall Street, Leading in Times of Crisis,” which was on Business Week’s bestseller list in 2009. His first stop at KO was as the featured speaker at an Upper School Assembly, where he was introduced by his granddaughter Joanie Grano Burzymowska ’15 of West Hartford. 15


varsity Fall SPORTS 16

football

girls' soccer

Coaches: Jason Martinez, Steve Angiletta, William Gilyard, Christian Hyde ’02, Joe Johnson, Matt Kocay, Matt Proffitt, Jim Weeks Captains: Kent Byrd ’13, Zack Restifo ’12, Alex Roth ’12, Mike Turro ’13 Seniors: Brandon Best, Restifo, Roth, Ben Shoham Record: 0-7 Joseph E. Gargan Award: Shoham Joel Lorden Award: Best M.I.P.: Patrick Kilkenny ’13 Captain next season: T.B.A

Coaches: Tracy Deeter, Reeves Livesay Captains: Paula Hagopian ’12, Mary Shimkus ’12, Nicole Wetsman ’12 Seniors: Emma Brennan, Erin Casey, Hagopian, Kelly Lessard, Shimkus, Zoe Waldman, Wetsman Record: 5-7-2 Girls’ Soccer Award: Hagopian M.I.P.: Casey Captains next season: Kelly Caruso ’13, Shelby Smith ’13

field hockey boys' soccer Coaches: Peter Jones, Travis Rains Captain: Ty Adams ’12 Seniors: Adams, Gabe Lorenzo, Lucien Konan, Rohan Singh, Schuyler Stockman Record: 0-10-2; Western New England Prep School Soccer Association Class B Sportsmanship Award M.W. Jacobus Award: Adams M.I.P.: Reid Collins ’14 Captain next season: T.B.A.

Coaches: Meredith Crowther, Lisa Romano Captains: Katie Morgan ’12, Michele Ruffee ’12, Kim Spring ’12 Seniors: Ramona Bullock-Johnson, Carolyn Marcello, Morgan, Maddie Reich, Ruffee, Spring Record: 6-8 Field Hockey Award: Spring Jo-anne Alissi Award: Morgan, Ruffee M.I.P.: Meghan Lembo ’13 Captains next season: Lembo, Marissa Landino ’13


volleyball

girls' cross country

Coaches: Scott McDonald, Carolyn McKee Captains: Kaleigh Cannon, Zarah Mohamed Seniors: Cannon, Denae Cousins, Kayla Gervino, Michelle Liva, Carolyn Mitchell, Mohamed Record: 6-7 Volleyball Award: Mohamed M.I.P.: Cannon Captains next season: Jacquie Komornicka ’13, Stephanie Yandow ’13

Coaches: Lisa Loeb, Jeff Perlis Captains: Eva Stys ’13, Brittany Vose ’13 Senior: Siobhan McIlhoney Record: 4-1; sixth at New England Prep School Track Association Division III championship Girls’ Cross Country Award: Stys, Vose M.I.P.: Marisa Johnson ’15 Captains next season: Stys, Vose

boys' cross country Coaches: Fritz Goodman, Ron Zeltner Captains: A.J. Fusco ’12, Sam McKeown ’12 Seniors: David Anavim, Colby Carlone, Fusco, Brian Halter, Varun Khattar, James McKeown, S. McKeown, Nick Rezuke, Ben Washburn, Henry Zaccardi, Alec Zimmerman Record: 6-0; fourth at New England Prep School Track Association Division III championship Mark Doyle Boys’ Cross Country Trophy: Washburn ’12 M.I.P.: Dan Dunham ’14 Captain next season: T.B.A.

CORRECTION In the Winter 2011 issue, one of the captains listed for the girls’ track and field team for the 2012 season was incorrect. The captains for the 2012 squad are Kelly Lessard ’12 and Carolyn Marcello ’12.

ko S u m m e r 2 0 1 2

17


varsity winter SPORTS 18

boys'’basketball Coaches: Garth Adams, Durelle Brown ’97 Captains: Ty Adams ’12, A.J. Fusco ’12, Zack Restifo ’12 Seniors: Adams, Fusco, Lucien Konan, Scott Levine, Restifo Record: 8-16 O.F. Peyser Award: Restifo M.I.P.: Fusco A.V.A. Marsden Trophy: Restifo Captain next season: T.B.A.

girls' basketball Coaches: Ron Monroe, Gillian Ritter ’05 Captains: Emma Brennan ’12, Brittany Vose ’13 Seniors: Brennan, Denae Cousins, Catalina Salazar Record: 8-15 Girls’ Basketball Award: Vose M.I.P.: Abbie Mancinelli ’14 Captain next season: T.B.A.

boys'’ice hockey Coaches: Ben Adams, Alex Holmes ’04, Greg Scranton ’94 Captains: Austin Bronson ’12, Anthony Giordano ’13, Jake Pavlik ’12, Taylor Waybright ’12 Seniors: Bronson, Colby Carlone, Pavlik, Waybright Record: 6-14

Boys’ Ice Hockey Award: Giordano M.I.P.: Carlone Captains next season: Giordano, T.B.A.

girls' ice hockey Coaches: Kathleen Wiggenhauser, Jen Weeks Captains: Emily Ford ’12, Kim Spring ’12 Seniors: Jackie Dunn, Ford, Jaime Gelman, Rosie Gluck, Carolyn Marcello, Katie Morgan, Spring Record: 9-8-3; quarterfinalist, Division II New England Prep School Girls Ice Hockey Association tournament Girls’ Ice Hockey Award: Ford M.I.P.: Megan Geier ’14 Captains next season: Marissa Landino ’13, Naomi Letourneau ’14

boys' squash Coach: Parth Sharma Captain: Mark Toubman ’13 Seniors: Logan Corbett, Thomas Giardini, Schuyler Stockman Record: 0-12; third place New England Interscholastic Squash Association Division C Boys’ Squash Trophy: Toubman M.I.P.: Marcus Pugliese ’12, Joseph Ravalese ’15, Sam Willsey ’13 Captain next season: Toubman


girls' squash

girls' swimming & diving

Coach: Andy Carr Captain: Caroline Harvey ’12 Seniors: Erin Casey, Harvey, Carolyn Mitchell, Hannah Rosenthal, Mary Shimkus Record: 9-6 Girls’ Squash Trophy: Shimkus, Claudia Udolf ’14 M.I.P.: Sophia Harrison ’15 Captains next season: Lauren Goldman ’13, Brooke Hayes ’13

Coaches: Clay Miles, Alex Kraus, Kata Franczyk, Elizabeth Tredeau Captains: Arielle Dufour ’12, Michele Ruffee ’12 Seniors: Monica Ambrozej, Eshani Bhalla, Anna Cook, Dufour, Flinn Esselstyn, Catherine Harger, Kelly Lessard, Ruffee, Becky Taylor Record: 5-4; second place New England Prep School Swimming Association Championships Division II Girls’ Swimming & Diving Trophy: Bhalla, Callie Miles ’14 M.I.P.: Taylor Lynn ’14 Captain next season: T.B.A.

boys' swimming & diving Coaches: Alex Kraus, Clay Miles, Kata Franczyk, Elizabeth Tredeau Captains: James McKeown ’12, Matt Mulkern ’12 Seniors: David Anavim, J. McKeown, Sam McKeown, Mulkern, Nick Rezuke, Colin Sonstrom Record: 8-4; second place New England Prep School Swimming Association Championships Division II Boys’ Swimming & Diving Trophy: J. McKeown, Sonstrom M.I.P.: Jack Reich ’15 Captain next season: T.B.A.

ko S u m m e r 2 0 1 2

skiing Coaches: Stefan Korn, Jeff Perlis Captains: Nathaniel Bedford ’12, Samantha Udolf ’12 Seniors: Bedford, Udolf Record: Girls’ squad - second place overall New England Prep School Class B Alpine Ski Championships Larkin Trophy: Udolf M.I.P.: Austin Williams ’13 Captains next season: Owen Bigler ’13, Eva Stys ’13

19


‘get lost'

commencement 2012

The following are excerpts from the commencement address given by Upper School English teacher Meg Kasprak Friday, May 25, 2012.

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One of the most baffling pieces of advice that seems delivered ad nauseam at graduations of all sorts is the encouraging announcement that you are now ready to go off into the real world, or the academic world, or the outside world – just some world other than the one you’ve been inhabiting – so that you can find yourself. What does that even mean? To me, it conjures up the frightening idea of a giant multiple-choice exam in which there are infinite options but only one right answer. What if I screw it up? What if I pick the wrong me? Or some other person’s me? How will I know, without the benefit of those helpful people at the College Board, whether I’ve found the right me? It’s terrifying. And, like most multiple choice tests, completely unnecessary. I think you’ve probably found yourself already, even if you don’t already know what you want to be when you “grow up,” which is, I should remind you, an entirely different proposition. You live with yourself every day; you probably have a pretty good idea of what makes you happy, sad, energized or enervated. You probably have figured out what your strengths and weaknesses are, too, and you might have even come up with some strategies for exploiting or overcoming them. I’m sure you know right from wrong, even if you can’t always make yourself do what you should. We all screw up. Get used to it. So, here’s what I think. Don’t worry about finding yourself. You know yourself pretty well already. Heck, I’ve been living with myself for, well, a lot of years now, and honestly, there are times when I bore myself to tears. Living with myself so constantly and for so long sometimes feels exhausting. And it will for you too. So the real opportunity that college and the world

beyond offers you is not so much the chance to find yourself, but instead, to lose yourself. … The way I hope you might lose yourself is not in shallow distractions, but instead in active engagement in deeply absorbing pursuits. This is, in the long run, the best way to lose yourself. And college is the best opportunity to do this, though it’s a skill you should cultivate for a lifetime. I hope that somehow, through insight or serendipity, you’ll find yourself in a class or activity, such as a team, publication, club, theater or musical group which will excite you so much that you’ll dive in so completely that you’ll forget (almost like those lost Internet hours) to come up for air. Suddenly the thesis you’re writing, the language you’re learning, the art or music you’re creating becomes so consuming that life becomes the interruption, rather than the other way around. … If you’re lucky, you’ll leave college not only with an excellent education and some lifelong friends, but also the knowledge that there’s something out there you love so much that when you’re doing it, you’ll actually forget you’re working. This generates a wonderful paradox, and you know that English teachers adore paradox – that glorious rhetorical construction in which contradictory statements are nevertheless true. If you’re lucky enough to find something that allows you to lose yourself, you have (in many ways) found what is actually most you. … You’ve worked hard at Kingswood Oxford and often, I’m guessing, you may have sometimes felt lost without actually losing yourself. That’s okay too. But I’m hoping that you also had moments in which you were able to forget yourself. Those moments might have come in the classroom, the athletic field or on stage. They can come from almost any activity and might not have had anything to do with KO. But for sanity and survival, you need to embrace those activities, activities that offer you glimpses into absence.


Zack Restifo, Sam McKeown, A.J. Fusco, Hunter Morgan and Ty Adams

At the end of Act V, Hamlet finally realizes the value of action. Though his circumstances are entirely and somewhat morbidly different than yours, he nevertheless offers a beautiful meditation on the nature of endings and beginnings, which are (after all) what graduations are all about. To his best friend Horatio, Hamlet observes that: The readiness is all. You are all ready. Congratulations. I wish you a sparkling life. Come back often. But for now ‌ get lost! KO ko S u m m e r 2 0 1 2

Eshani Bhalla, Alec Zimmerman and Arielle Dufour

Michelle Liva, Matt Mulkern and Anna Cook

Kim Spring, Allison Mendola, Jaime Gelman, Lindsey Bailey, Jackie Dunn, Flinn Esselstyn and Zoe Waldman

Schuyler Stockman, Ben Cowper and Todd Fichman

Brandon Best and Justin Bram

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commencement 2012

Nicole Wetsman, Gabby Wolinsky, Andrew Sikora ’13, Michele Ruffee, Kelly Lessard and Colby Carlone

22

Chris Presto, Becky Taylor, Varun Khattar and Allison Mendola

Marcus Pugliese and Ty Adams, foreground, and other members of the Class of 2012 getting organized for the senior class photo

Dimitri Adamidis, Rohan Singh, Colby Carlone, Alec Zimmerman and Jason Stein

Sam Udolf with her father, Robert Udolf ’79

Alex Roth with his father, Robert Roth ’78


The bagpipers leading the processional

ko S u m m e r 2 0 1 2

Faculty members during the processional

KO board of trustees Chair Avery Rockefeller

Maddie Reich and Jackie Dunn

Carolyn Marcello and Lindsey Bailey

Ben Washburn and Jonah Lazowski 23


Logan Corbett and Anna Cook

commencement 2012

Hannah Rosenthal and Emily Ford

24

Mary Shimkus and A.J. Fusco

Gabby Wolinsky and Dana Levin

Siobhan McIlhoney and Jordan Barlow

Sam McKeown and Nat Bedford


Alec Zimmerman, Zac Zaccardi and Scott Levine

ko S u m m e r 2 0 1 2

Dennis Bisgaard and Hunter Morgan

Chiamaka Ndibe and Erin Casey

Faculty members Rob Kyff, Lud Baldwin, Scott McDonald and Carolyn McKee

Emily Sullivan and Todd Kelmar

Upper Prep Form Dean Erika Costantini with Middle School students 25


commencement 2012

Brandon Best, C.J. Bascetta and Jordan Barlow

26

Chris Macca and David Anavim

Dimitri Adamidis and Tim Allerton

Rosie Gluck, Xochil Rivera and Catherine Boyle

Celine Haeberly, Sarah Steinberg and Jackie Dunn

Emily Sullivan, Julia O’Connor, Monica Ambrozej, Bridget Stack, Dipali Mistri and Chiamaka Ndibe

Dennis Bisgaard and Emma Brennan


Members of the Class of 2012 in Alumni Hall

Colin Sonstrom and Kim Spring

James McKeown and C.J. Bascetta ko S u m m e r 2 0 1 2

Emily Ford, Michele Ruffee and Katie Morgan

Denae Cousins and Dennis Bisgaard

Lucien Konan, Rohan Singh and Colby Carlone 27


back together in Boston More than 60 alums from the Greater Boston area attended the KO reception at the Downtown Harvard Club in April. The event gave them the opportunity to get an update on all things KO from Head of School Dennis Bisgaard as well as to reconnect and reminisce with several veteran faculty members, including Lud Baldwin, Fritz Goodman, Peter Jones, Rob Kyff, Pat Rosoff and Brenda Semmelrock and faculty emeriti Stew Lindsay, Joel Lorden and John Sherfinski.

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With the success of this year’s event, KO has plans to visit Boston every spring in an effort to continue to bring together the amazing and talented Boston-area wyverns. Dedicated event volunteers such as Jessica Hild Collins ’91 and Normand Smith ’61 helped spread the word that contributed to the success of this year’s event, and we hope to see even more alums when we return in 2013. KO

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Jeff Dunn ’73, Rob Elliott ’91 and Karen Denuzze Dunn ’73

Sam Bellingrath ’06, Jeff Giuffrida ’06 and Schuyler Horn ’06

Marisa Pandolfe ’99, Kristin Reinke ’99 and Brenda Semmelrock

Brooks Loomis ’99, Kevin Dougherty ’99 and Heather Torrey


Ian Zweig ’99 and Ashley Desmond ’01

Will Willis and Heather Scarritt Willis ’93

Tony Morris ‘64 and Normand Smith ‘61

Sue Francis McCarthy ’82, Jim Maynard ’84 and John McCarthy

Marshall Dorr ’86, Janet Krevolin ’80 and Betsy DeGraff Sands ’79

William Roberts ’67 and Head of School Dennis Bisgaard

wanted: athletic hall of fame nominations Kingswood Oxford School is now accepting nominations for the 2012 Athletic Hall of Fame. Please complete the postcard insert by July 31, 2012. You also may fill out a form online at www.kingswoodoxford.org/halloffame. The purpose of the KO Athletic Hall of Fame is to honor those who have brought distinction to themselves and KO through their achievement, commitment, sportsmanship and leadership in athletics.

primarily on athletic accomplishments while at KO, however, athletic achievements following graduation will be considered. Team nominations must be exceptionally distinguished through their outstanding achievement or significant accomplishment. Teams and individuals must have graduated 10-plus years ago. Winners will be honored at the third annual Athletic Hall of Fame Induction and Dinner at the School Friday, Nov. 23, 2012. We look forward to hearing from you!

Individual inductees may include alumni, coaches, faculty, administrators or friends of the KO community. Selection is based

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KO

2010 Athletic Hall of Fame inductees

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a conversation with… Lexye (Deborah) Levin Aversa ’68

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Lexye (Deborah) Levin Aversa ’68

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Where did you go after Oxford School? My graduation present was a whirlwind trip through Europe, where all those Oxford lessons became tangible realities! I was living the pages of books I had studied: stepping into geography, visiting palaces where kings and queens held court, touching cathedrals and monuments from past centuries, and using my language skills. I attended Brandeis and continued with my “Paint & Putty” persona, appearing on stage there and at Harvard’s Loeb Theatre, even once with Al Pacino. During sophomore year, I broke my neck in a life-changing car accident. After three weeks flat on my back in traction, I was liberated with a nine-hour surgery fusing a hip bone into my neck. This altered my vision of life into a “carpe diem” mindset. What did you do after college, and what are you currently doing? I founded a travel institute and devised the curriculum approved by the state of New York, then opened my global company, Professional Touch International, more than 30 years ago. I am privileged to orchestrate corporate meetings and conferences, incentive travel programs, destination weddings, exclusive retreats and event extravaganzas throughout the world. I met my Italian husband, Gianni, when I brought a group of 250 corporate executives to the hotel he managed in Rome, and together we represent hotels in every corner of Italy with a special insider panache in planning trips to that country. That led to my radio show, “LEX TRAVEL.” While in Rome recently, I filmed a TV pilot for “LEX TRAVEL.” … I have also branched out into writing. … My community involvement encompasses lecturing at Florida Atlantic University and serving on several Palm Beach boards, including the World Trade Center, Round Table, Women’s Chamber Foundation and Hotel Association. Philanthropy is close to my heart, especially as executive vice president of Israel Cancer Association USA and chair of several fundraising galas.

What is the most important lesson in life? That there is still so much more to learn … every person, every moment, every experience leads to another that is enriching and unexpected. What’s your favorite Oxford memory? The sorority of our class – and the bond that has transcended time; also the exhilaration of learning in such a personal “laboratory” environment Who were the Oxford teachers who had the greatest influence on you? Mrs. Forbes was the great and grand matriarch, always smiling as her lessons were deftly instilled within our eager-to-absorb brains! Ms. Wuori, will I ever be sufficiently grateful for the Latin foundations I received within her Roman arena? But my devotion and ultimate gratitude will always be with Ms. Benjamin. I am often asked where I learned my French and proudly recount that I breathlessly awaited the moment of entering her class, when I heard a perfect French that was spoken like the lilting song of a canary. I continued my French studies throughout college, and Ms. Benjamin’s lessons also enabled me to more easily pick up Spanish and Italian as I traveled – and this is one of the greatest gifts from my days at Oxford. How have you changed since graduation? Not much! I am still the dramatic, whimsical, forest-and-trees gal in life and business, always sensitive to friends who seek an open channel of compassion. Eternally the pragmatist and steadfast optimist, always seeing the glass COMPLETELY full until proven otherwise! What message do you have for the KO community? How fortunate I am to be in the KO community, utilizing virtually everything I learned in school and life in my career, and continuing to build on that strong core, exponentially. It is an honor to be an Oxford graduate. KO


supporting KO Son honors father with fund for faculty support As a professor at Penn State University for close to 10 years, Frank Hatheway ’75 realized just how much teachers go above and beyond what is recognized every day.

been far greater than what my parents put in financially.” He said that moving throughout his career with children has also taught him to believe and appreciate choice in education.

In an effort to recognize the important work that they do and the education that he received at Kingswood Oxford, Hatheway has established The David M. Hatheway ’33 Endowed Fund for Faculty Support. The fund established in KO’s endowment will provide ongoing and long-term financial support for faculty.

The importance of giving back is something Hatheway’s parents and extended family taught him. His parents, Doris Frank Hatheway ’34 and David M. Hatheway ’33, aunts and uncles Elise Frank Burwell ’31, Arthur Frank Jr. ’37, Jane E. Frank ’38, David D. Frank ’41, Anne Hatheway Clark ’34 and Marcia Peaslee Frank ’43, and many more relatives all graduated from Oxford and Kingswood schools and believed in giving back to their communities. Hatheway learned early the importance of philanthropy.

Hatheway said KO’s faculty influenced the breadth of his education. He recalled that classes such as English and Latin were useful as he pursued his academic career in engineering as an undergraduate student at Dartmouth College and as he was attaining his Ph.D. at Princeton University. “KO gave me the foundation that I needed to communicate with people,” Hatheway said. He added that he continues to use the skills that he learned at KO every day in his current position as chief economist at the NASDAQ.

KO is very thankful for Frank Hatheway’s annual support and the creation of this exciting new endowed fund for faculty that will live on in perpetuity. When a former professor and the chief economist of the NASDAQ invests in the School, it is surely a vote of confidence. KO

The David M. Hatheway ’33 Endowed Fund for Faculty Support was created not only as a tribute to Hatheway’s KO education and six years of fond memories at the School, but also in recognition of the passing of his father, David, in 2009. “Now was the right time to make a substantive gift commitment to KO,” Hatheway said. It was a way for him to say thank you to the School and his father. Hatheway has been giving back to KO and supporting the School’s annual giving program consecutively for more than 25 years. “Giving back to KO makes sense because the lifelong benefits from my time at KO have

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head's advisory council

Jessica Hild Collins ’91, President John J. Alissi ’89 Terri Alpert P ’10 Jeffrey Azia ’89 Eric D. Batchelder ’89 William C. Bigler ’80, P ’05, ’09, ’13 Jay M. Botwick ’76, P ’04 Brewster B. Boyd ’63 John M. Budds ’56 Andrew M. Chapman ’73 Lynn Mather Charette ’82, P ’14 James W. Eatherton ’79, P ’11, ’14 Eric D. Eddy ’93 Robert M. Elliott II ’91 Scott C. Farrell ’91 Lee A. Gold ’90 James Goldberg ’76 Gregory A. Hayes ’80 Charna Bortman Kaufman ’85, P ’14, ’17 Gilbert E. Keegan III ’88 Laurie Maulucci P ’03, ’05 Tyler B. Polk ’99 Ann Coolidge Randall ’73, P ’13 Mary Pallotti Russell ’73, P ’06, ’09 Robert S. Sarkisian ’84 Andrew G. Satell ’79 Glenn M. Shafer ’85 Stacey L. Silver ’91 Nancy Silvers P ’10, ’11 Saeed O. Singletary ’92 Harold A. Smullen Jr. P ’10 William J. Stack Jr. ’72, P ’07, ’11, ’12 Faith McGauley Whitman ’86 F. Scott Wilson P ’06, ’09 Keith J. Wolff ’91 Carla Do Nascimento Zahner ’97

Frank Hatheway ’75

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Jacobus ‘24 inducted into national soccer hall of fame M. “Chick” Jacobus, a 1924 Kingswood School alumnus and former Kingswood soccer coach who passed away in 1982, was inducted into the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s (NSCAA) Hall of Fame in January at the organization’s annual Awards Banquet, this year held in Kansas City, Mo. The award was accepted by Hobey Hyde ’58, who played soccer for three seasons under Jacobus. M. “Chick” Jacobus ’24

Hyde recalled fond memories of Jacobus on the soccer field. “He never raised his voice; he was always totally controlled. All the kids respected him and liked him,” Hyde said. “He was known all over New England and basically the East … everybody seemed to know him. He was very well regarded by everybody.”

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Jacobus, Hyde said, was “also my teacher, my friend, and I was in touch with him for a long time after college.” Jacobus taught math, and Hyde said Jacobus’ engineering drawing course was the envy of all surrounding schools.

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Hyde said he was “privileged and honored” to accept Jacobus’ award on behalf of KO. “He was a big influence and a big part of my life,” he said. Jacobus, a co-founder of the Western New England Prep School Soccer Association (WNEPSSA), led Kingswood to a 115-77-25 record during 24 seasons for a .588 winning percentage. The NSCAA Web site said Jacobus’ teams “were known for their competitiveness and their sportsmanship,” noting that Jacobus’ “emphasis on integrity and responsibility” served his charges well. In addition to a stint as president of WNEPSSA, Jacobus also served as president of the NSCAA, becoming only the second noncollegiate coach to hold the position. In 1976, Jacobus received the NSCAA’s Honor Award. Jacobus received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in architecture from Princeton University. He returned to Kingswood in 1932 and served as a faculty member for his entire career, except for the time he spent serving in World War II. KO

always a wyvern Several familiar faces returned to Kingswood Oxford School at least four years after their high school graduations. The School is indeed lucky to have many Wyverns back on campus in faculty, staff and administration positions. Front row: Gillian Ritter ’05 (Spanish; assistant coach – girls’ Middle School “A” soccer, girls’ J.V. soccer, girls’ varsity basketball, girls’ varsity lacrosse, girls’ Middle School lacrosse), Debby Hyde ’68 (director of Institutional Advancement), David Hild ’80 (English; assistant coach – boys’ varsity lacrosse, boys’ Middle School lacrosse), Greg Scranton ’94 (creative arts; assistant coach – boys’ varsity ice hockey, boys’ J.V. lacrosse); second row: David Baker ’04 (history and creative arts; head coach – boys’ J.V. soccer; assistant coach – varsity track and field); third row: Andy Krugman ’86 (history; form dean; head coach – boys’ Middle School “A” soccer, boys’ varsity tennis), Christian Hyde ’02 (assistant coach – varsity football, boys’ varsity tennis), Judy Bailey ’82 (Middle School coordinator – science; head coach – girls’ Middle School “A” basketball, girls’ Middle School lacrosse), Elizabeth Bellingrath ’78 (facilities and event coordinator); back row: Durelle Brown ’97 (assistant coach – boys’ varsity basketball); not pictured: Pat Cronin ’06 (creative arts/long-term substitute; assistant coach – boys’ varsity lacrosse), Brian Damboise ’05 (assistant coach – boys’ varsity lacrosse), Chris Grace ’01 (head coach – girls’ J.V. tennis), Ken Harrison ’94 (leadership giving officer), Alex Holmes ’04 (assistant coach – boys’ varsity ice hockey), Jason Lambert ’03 (head coach – boys’ J.V. basketball, boys’ J.V. tennis)


raise high our colors “Imagination has value, and KO teaches that concept,” John O’Hurley ’72 exclaimed to a packed house at Tumble Brook Country Club on April 21. As the master of ceremonies of the 2012 Parent Association Black and Crimson Gala, Raise High Our Colors, O’Hurley helped the community raise more than $90,000 for programs and faculty enrichment.

Donna Hires P ’06, ’12 and Master of Ceremonies John O’Hurley ’72

Co-Chairs Linda Levin P ’09, ’12 and Charna Bortman Kaufman ’85, P ’14, ’17, along with their dedicated committee of parent volunteers, worked hard with boundless energy and enthusiasm to create a spectacular evening. Details from the entrance music to a post-event sweet surprise were a delight to all in attendance. KO is grateful to everyone who supported this magical evening. KO

Bina and Yogesh Katechia P ’16, ’18

Remy Trager Schwartz ’91, P ’17 and Carolyn Wolfe Gitlin ’85, P ’11, ’13, ’17

Robert and Deborah Katz P ’09, ’11,’13 and Todd and Louise Kaufman P ’08, ’13

Marc Shafer ’75, P ’08, ’15, ’17 and Laura Jones Shafer ’75, P ’08, ’15, ’17

Christine and John Sullivan P ’14, ’15

Kimberly Cowherd-Iacovazzi and Vito Iacovazzi P ’18 and Mary and Robert Carangelo P ’16, ’18

Watson and Beth Ann Collins P ’14

Tonya and Robert McNamara P ’18

Mary Martin ’77, P ’17 and Jeff Amell P ’17

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Lori Satell Wetsman ’85, P ’12, ’15 and David Wetsman P ’12, ’15 33


grandchildren. Judy is eagerly looking forward to the wedding of her grandson Mark Bataillon this summer. Mark is the son of Robin Wawro Bataillon ’57.

John Harlan Underhill ’53, right, and his wife, Diana, enjoy their daughter’s Christmas dinner in Ann Arbor, Mich.

OXFORD 1928 Dorothy Church Zaring of Washington, D.C., celebrated her 101st birthday Oct. 24, 2011.

KINGSWOOD 1935 Louis Oldershaw reports from South Hadley, Mass., that he cherishes fond memories of quarterbacking Kingswood’s undefeated football team, captaining the ice hockey team and playing second base on the baseball team.

OXFORD 1941

CLASS NOTES

Marguerite Steane Kelland Class Correspondent

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Judy Stoughton Wawro, having moved from her West Hartford condo, is enjoying life at Duncaster. Her new address is 20 Loeffler Road – T614, Bloomfield, CT 06002-2296. Since her move, family members have visited from Ohio, Texas, Minnesota, California, etc., and Thursday, March 22, Judy graciously entertained our class at luncheon. Those attending were Ginny Wells Andersen, Margaret Stedman Doherty, Betty Vernlund Goodwin, Mary Lewis Wood, Judy and yours truly. It was delightful to get together and catch up on news. Conversation also expressed delight with the spring weather we’ve been enjoying and our

Ginny Wells Andersen is still living in West Granby with her two ponies and dog, Ginger. One granddaughter is working for Hartford Steam Boiler and the other for Nickelodeon in California. Her grandson is in the National Guard and is also a student with a part-time job. Margaret Stedman Doherty had a very successful art show at the Town and County Club. April 7 marked the opening of another show, this one at the Barney Library in the center of Farmington. Margaret paints in watercolor and oil.

band (James is the son of Paul McCartney), played the drums on “The David Letterman Show” when the band was featured. The band is busy touring in California and New York, etc. “Schnick” is looking forward to her son Brad’s annual visit from Norway this summer. She sends greetings to all our classmates. And finally, a big thank you to Judy for the delightful luncheon and to all our classmates for supplying their news. I’ll add that my three grandchildren are doing well. The oldest granddaughter finished college and works in the insurance industry. My grandson is a college junior, majoring in international justice, and his sister will enter college in the fall. I am so proud of them all! Cheerio, “Gite.”

OXFORD 1942 Betty Vernlund Goodwin will be moving from Torrington in the near future to live with her daughter, Ann, and family in Essex. Her new address will be 16 Grove St., Essex, CT 06426. She will live near the library and town hall, so she expects to keep busy there. She is still certified as an assessor. Mary Lewis Wood and Bill look forward to spending time this summer on Fishers Island. Julie Keeney Walton and Bill enjoyed their annual stay in Florida, with their daughter, Nancy, coming for a visit. They drove back to their home in Old Saybrook in mid-April. Anne DeRonge Lowry is still happily living at a senior facility similar to Duncaster in Greenport, N.Y. Her grandson, who plays the drums with James McCartney’s

Dorothy Bush Curtis writes, “Frank and I have moved to a lovely retirement community. Our health is not too bad for old folks.”

KINGSWOOD 1943 2011 was busy for Culver Modisette. In January, he joined former President Jimmy Carter as a featured speaker at a national symposium at the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) in Shepherdstown, W.V., celebrating the first 50 years of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Culver’s talk, “Travels in the Arctic Refuge – A Perspective from an Outfitter from New England,” described his adventures as he guided canoe and hiking trips through the refuge and his admiration and sympathy for the Athabascan Indian people’s fortitude in the face of extreme poverty in rural Alaska.


In October, Culver’s historical novel “Honored Enemy” was published by PublishingWorks Inc. Set on the southern Great Plains during the 1800s, the book tells the story of the Comanche, Kiowa and Cheyenne tribes and their adversary, the U.S. Cavalry. Culver spent 10 years researching and writing the novel, which recounts the battle of the tribes to prevent the slaughter of their buffalo herds and usurpation of their homelands by white settlers and land speculators. Col. Ranald Mackenzie’s 4th U.S. Cavalry was pitted against Comanche war chief Quanah Parker and his allies in a struggle for dominance in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma. Mackenzie, who lost two fingers from one hand in a Civil War battle, was called “Bad Hand” by the Native Americans. Parker, who forced Mackenzie and his men to fight a different kind of warfare, eventually became friends with President Theodore Roosevelt. Highlights of the novel include the crucial battles of Adobe Walls and Palo Duro Canyon. The book is illustrated with historic photos. His admiration for the culture and fortitude of the Athabascan Indians, as well as his sympathy for their extreme poverty, spurred his desire to learn more about Native Americans and their history. “Honored Enemy” may be purchased online at: www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com and www.booksamillion.com. In November, Culver was inducted into the Connecticut Lacrosse Hall of Fame at a ceremony at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington. “He has led our ko S u m m e r 2 0 1 2

sport’s development at every level from youth through high school, college, post-college club and international play,” read his citation. “He has contributed as a player, coach, administrator and official.” Among his many accomplishments, Culver established the lacrosse program at Simsbury High School during the early 1970s, served as varsity defensive coach for Somers High School from 1996 to 2009, created a summer league for high school, college and post-college teams in 1971, officiated for 14 years, chaired the Connecticut Valley Lacrosse Club, helped establish lacrosse at Eastern Connecticut State University and founded a masters age group lacrosse program in 1999. In 1976 the U.S. Club Lacrosse Association named him Secondary School Man of the Year in 1976, and the Connecticut High School Lacrosse Coaches Association honored him twice, as “Man of the Year” in 1992 and as Assistant Coach of the Year in 2004. In 2011, Culver coached a Somers youth lacrosse team that went 12-1. Culver, who is president of the Northern Connecticut Land Trust, lives with his wife, Norma, and their three yellow Labradors on 150 acres in Somers, where they are tree farmers and Labrador breeders.

OXFORD 1944 Ethel R. Twichell writes from Bedford, Mass., “My husband Dave continues in gradual decline with Alzheimer’s disease. I am in a nearby apartment here at Carleton-Willard and am able to visit him every day. A blessing!”

KINGSWOOD 1944 Wayne Wall writes from Vero Beach, Fla., “Maggie and I had a wonderful visit with Lev Hubbard and Catee in New London, N.H., on our way to Maine. In September we won the championship of the 80s division in doubles tennis at the Maine Senior Games. Continuing thanks to Carlos Fetterolf for class agent efforts and welcome Christmas letters.”

OXFORD 1945 Debby Fogg Lambert Class Correspondent The surprise Halloween storm was the main topic of letters that came from the girls of the Class of 1945. Joy Holman Pond echoed the comments when she said that her yard is finally cleaned up and the house repaired. No snow since then but thought maybe in March. She says “hi” to everyone. Nealy Wilde Dickinson was in St. Barts for the month of February followed by a visit with a friend in Key West. Wondering whether she’s “too ambitious or not,” she has plans for a trip to England with her youngest son and family in late June. There aren’t many who would disagree with Nealy that this winter has been a pleasant break after the ferocious weather of 2011. There’s interesting news from Shirley Loomis. Every September she goes to the Catskills for a week of golf at a resort owned by a Norwegian family. Last May she cruised on a boat with about 50 people from Ottawa down the Ottawa River to

Montreal, where they met the St. Lawrence and ended at Kingston. Each day the boat tied up to give the passengers time to go ashore. She said 50 was a good number and made for a friendly group. Mary Hooker Crary had a winter similar to those of us in New Hampshire – almost no snow. She is still cleaning up from the October storm. Your class secretary can’t decide whether or not to have the snow tires removed. So go the complexities of a mild winter. There’s a family reunion planned for early in July in Friendship, Maine. Here’s hoping the grands, great-grands and cousins will be swayed by the lure of the lobster. Love and good cheer to all, Debby.

KINGSWOOD 1946 The Ancient Burying Ground Association presented its annual Thomas Hooker Award to Ted Carrier and his wife, Sally, in October at the Town and County Club in Hartford.

OXFORD 1948 Carolyn “Casey” Black Underwood writes, “Still playing tennis three times a week and involved in church activities.”

KINGSWOOD 1948 Fred M. Lougee writes from Farmington, Conn., “I have been retired since 1992 from Central Connecticut State University and plan to reside permanently in Florida. Health no trouble. Keeping busy.” Rob Greene writes from New Paltz, N.Y., “We moved to a 35


CLASS NOTES

Mary Ellen Blumenfeld Doyle ’56 painted “Ocean Horizon II,” in memory of Martha Palmer Cox ’55, at the beach on Long Island and at her studio in Bridgehampton, N.Y.

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retirement community in July. I’m still practicing therapy and making art.” James B. Lyon writes: “The Kingswood Oxford community lost a great supporter when Fred Watkins died on Oct. 16, 2011, at the age of 96. His beloved wife of 59 years, Kitty, predeceased him on July 28, 2011. Fred was born in Little Rock, Ark., but spent most of his life in Hartford. He worked for 43 years with Aetna Insurance Co., including 13 as its president, retiring in 1979. As an innovative insurance company president, he was board chairman or trustee of several important insurance industry organizations and in the Hartford area was on the board of Hartford National Bank & Trust Co., Connecticut General Life Insurance Co. and Kaman Corp. He was an active boatman, fly fisherman and tennis player. His oldest two children, Frederick D. Watkins III ’71, who served as a Kingswood Oxford trustee for several years, and daughter Elsie Patrick ’72, graduated from Kingswood and Oxford, respectively. He was a member of the Kingswood and KO boards of trustees from 1966 to

1978, serving as board chair from 1971 to 1974. Upon his retirement from the board, he was elected a trustee emeritus. When he retired from the board, he wrote me a gracious letter in which, among other things, he stated: ‘Certainly the School is on a firm foundation now … and I am convinced that it is just about to embark on that foundation into its most illustrious era.’ The School benefited greatly from his stewardship. Kingswood Oxford School mourns the passing of such an able and dedicated trustee and expresses its condolences to his three children, Rick, Elsie and Nancy.” Please see page 59.

OXFORD 1949 Anne Harvey Kulak writes from Scotia, N.Y., “I’m busy with farm management and conservation. Performance horses are a business. I took a five-week seminar at Union College in the spring and fall. I volunteer at the food pantry, take a tai chi class and serve on the board of directors at our county farm bureau. Life is full, busy and refreshing. How about my classmates?” Sister Margaret Ann (Peggy) Landry writes that she received an honorary degree – a doctorate of humane letters – at this May’s commencement ceremonies of Stony Brook University in New York. “I am so happy and honored by this incredible honor,” she writes. She served as chaplain of the Catholic Campus Ministry/ Interfaith Center at Stony Brook University from 1988 to 2010 and is now retired and living at Marymount Convent in Tarrytown, N.Y.

OXFORD 1950 Elizabeth Strout Long reports from South Hamilton, Mass., that she lost her husband, Bud, in July. “We miss him terribly but have wonderful memories,” she writes.

OXFORD 1952 Mary Jeanne Jones Class Correspondent Gilda (Jill) Sheketoff Brock has been in Florida for some time basking in the sun, good life and children’s visits, which she enjoys. It has been a great pleasure for me to catch up with her during several phone calls. Ann Baldwin Chapell writes, “Nothing new here, just growing old. Keep busy with condo things, bowling, casino trips and club life. Staying in touch with library friends. Enjoying my 5-year-old granddaughter, Bailey, and my 21-year-old grandson, Brian, who is a senior at Southern Connecticut State University. Also a couple of step-grandkids’ weddings.” Helen Vosburgh Dixon and Bruce are enjoying their new home. As Helen says, they can walk to everything from the grocery store to the library. It is, she writes, “complete with a small garden, plenty of trees, minimal grass to mow, nice neighbors and a school on the corner that welcomes dogs on the playing field when the field is not in use and draws up to 14 or 15 canines on any given day.” They have busy lives with community activities and 12 grands. Daughter Carrie has just sold her latest (of several) novels, and son Tim is still in relief and development work worldwide.


(With sadness, we heard that Helen’s brother, Peter, died recently.)

OXFORD 1953 Vitty O’Toole Class Correspondent Molly Davis DePatie writes, “Dick and I are still enjoying living in New Canaan. He is the administrator at our church, St. Mark’s, and is busy with a variety of groups in town. I have just completed a very interesting job on the board of a new organization called Staying Put in New Canaan. The goal is to help people over 50 stay independent in their own homes as they grow older. We accomplish this with a large number of volunteers and a long list of services and companies that have agreed to give discounts to our members. We arrange many social events and educational and cultural experiences to encourage active participation in the many things our greater community has to offer. We are both quite healthy. I still play tennis. Our sons, John and Dan, remain bachelors, so we have no grandchildren to report on. ‘Hi’ to everyone.” Loulie Hyde Sutro writes, “I am still very busy trying to make Marin Village (www.marinvillage. org) sustainable in our county. We have close to 500 members with four subvillages now open and more who want help in organizing. Our problem is keeping up with the demand in terms of the staff that is needed to do all this. Our mission is ‘to allow seniors in Marin County to age in their homes with grace, ko S u m m e r 2 0 1 2

dignity and peace of mind.’ I started this nonprofit 501c3 three years ago after a year’s stint on the Marin County Civil Grand Jury taught me that there are too many seniors in our county who need help that the county can’t provide. The Village movement started with Beacon Hill Village in Boston and has quickly spread across the country. I know Molly Davis DePatie ’53 served on the board of New Canaan’s Village. I think being president of the service club my senior year at Oxford started me in this direction – not kidding! Jack is now happily retired from the bench, and we are enjoying our eight grandchildren, all fairly nearby. I had rotator cuff surgery last year, which was certainly no fun, but almost worth it for the wonderful notes I received from the Oxford ’53-ers. I love you guys!” June Heard Wadsworth writes to recommend the nonfiction book “Citizens of London” by Lynne Olson. It tells the behind-the-scenes story of how the United States forged its wartime alliance with Britain, told from the perspective of three key American players in London: Edward R. Murrow, Averell Harriman and John Gilbert Winant. She adds that the book “has worked well for me while sitting on the bike at physical therapy for an ankle problem called ‘post-tibial tendon dysfunction.’ Fortunately the therapy is working well and, after 12 weeks, I should be back to normal. How it happened, I’m not at all certain. May have been when I slipped off the treadmill while going after Ranger, our

year-old Havanese, who was up to ‘no good.’ Serves me right for not turning the treadmill off before getting off. A valuable lesson in ‘lack of forethought.’ As to the condition of the world, I don’t think you really want to get me started. All I can say is that the ’50s were the best of times. And we were all very lucky to be part of the Oxford community.” Page Phelps Coulter writes, “Bob and I just came back from a small boat excursion down the coast of Belize and down to Guatemala. We went with Sarah Morrison and Wally. Kayaking, birding and chocolating – good fun. I still have copies of “A River Called Bearcamp” to sell ($20). Just e-mail me at pagecoulter@cyberpine.net.” Barbara McBride Christie writes, “Brattleboro, Vt., is such a good place to live – a smallish arts-oriented town with plenty of community goings-on: book groups, singing groups, theater companies, dance varieties, lectures. Good friends, good walking. What more could I ask except maybe that all my kids and grandkids lived in Vermont?” She invites her classmates to stop by or call whenever they’re nearby. Nancy Faust Sizer writes, “My big news is that I am putting my house in Harvard, Mass., on the market and moving to a mediumsized apartment in Cambridge, Mass. I will be living in both places until the country house sells. I do some part-time work with new teachers and enjoy family, friends and my dog.”

Faith Learned Pepe writes, “Moved back to Putney from NYC in May. I’m no longer driving, so am living in a converted carriage house in the middle of Putney where I can walk to stores, etc. My new address is P.O. Box 845, Putney, VT 05346. I had a wonderful trip to Bolinas, Calif., recently where I saw my sister, Andrea Learned. Going to France in July. Will spend some time in Paris and celebrate my older sister Barry’s 80th birthday. Ah, Paris! ‘Midnight in Paris’ was one of my favorite movies of last year. I think our generation – Woody Allen included – was particularly in love with the literary figures who inhabited Paris in the 1920s.” Sally Gershel Title writes, “Things certainly have changed since we graduated in 1953, technology the most. We had no cell phones, no computer no iPad, iPhone, iTouch. No texting, Facebook, Twitter, no e-mail, but we seemed to get along just by talking to each other. My personal life also has changed. Family got bigger: 10 grandchildren ages 9-27. They give us great pleasure and keep us busy. Sam and I go on family trips mostly, which we enjoy the most. Still golf and sell real estate and play bridge. I see Carole Aronson occasionally, which is always fun.” Bland Dew Maloney writes, “Hill? Over what hill? I don’t remember a hill. Maybe I forgot. I am happily working as a psychotherapist/family therapist and enjoying every day. Ed is long retired but very busy as “my assistant,” doing all the things I am not good at like money, bills, 37


mentioned the American Academy of Dramatic Arts as a possibility after Oxford, my parents never took it seriously. I never had the drive to go further with it – until acting class at 50. I never even looked at a coed college – did any of us? My kids are in California (two).

KINGSWOOD 1953

three weeks to visit Libet. A good time was had by all. Last year our dogs Thelma and Louise died, and I have been pleading to get a rescue dog, and at last we are. Ed suggested that we might be too old. Imagine that. Love to all, Blannie.” Photos left to right: Anne Van Winkle ’58 with her grandchildren and daughter Katherine

CLASS NOTES

Audrey and Julian, grandchildren of Sarah Duffield ’58

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insurance, etc. as well as his own interests. He does a great job despite the fact that that he had a stroke last May. Things were touch and go for a while but turned out fine. Our Oxford friends were very much part of his recovery with visits, cards, calls, etc. What do they say about ‘old friends’? You will all be happy to know Ed has new hearing aids, so discussing this and that is a pleasure. We still go the Cape as often as possible and see Sarah and Wally for dinners, opera and talk. Our children and grands are all flourishing at the moment. Libet has a new exciting job in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as in the novel ‘Cutting for Stone.’ Sarah is raising her boys and working as a psychotherapist in Portland, Maine, where Ed’s daughter Beth and family also live. David Swain and three kids are in Simsbury, which is wonderful for us. Last Christmas Beth and her family and I went to South Africa for

Eleanor Clark Taylor reports that she and her husband, George, just took a trip to New York City with one of their granddaughters, who recently turned 13. They had a great time visiting the museums and the opera. They also have twin granddaughters who are 3, granddaughters who are 5 and 6, and an 11-year-old grandson. Eleanor says that she and George spend six months in Orlando and six months in North Carolina at the Highlands Country Club. If anyone is ever in the area, give her a call! My contribution: The 70s are a challenge. I make a lot of effort to keep active in mind and body (the body fights it!). I enjoy volunteering in the local arts scene and visit New York City frequently to see what’s on. I particularly enjoy productions put on by Faith Learned Pepe’s son, Neil, artistic director at the successful Atlantic Theater Co. (I’m a wannabe actor.) When I

John Harlan Underhill writes from Michigan that he still remembers Kingswood teacher Chick Jacobus. “I never played for him, but he did do me some signal kindnesses,” he writes. “I’ve only been back to Connecticut twice since I came out to Michigan for graduate school after attending Amherst (Class of 1957).” John holds a doctorate in education from the University of Michigan, and his wife, Diana, holds a doctorate in jurisprudence from the University of Michigan.

OXFORD 1954 Pam Connolly Bartlett-Little Class Correspondent Roxanne Richards Stringer writes, “I’m excited about a horticulture group that starts up next week. I’ve become interested in growing orchids. My first endeavor has 13 blooms and is absolutely beautiful, especially considering this time of year. The plant had three blooms when I bought it in October. What a joy watching the buds open one after another these last months; each one’s opening is like time-lapse photograph. Awesome! Reading and bridge keep me out of mischief (darn) now that I have cut my quilting back from doing spreads to pillow covers or small wall hangings.”


Sheila Hirschfeld Jacobs writes, “For the most part, our street has come full cycle: young families to empty nesters to more young families. And here we are! How did that happen? Oh well … I wish everyone could experience the culture and traditions of China as I did last fall – from the thrill of doing tai chi with my group on the Great Wall to adjusting to ‘squatters’ – it all came together for a totally awesome experience. Bud and I are heading west soon with our skis in search of snow. It’s a little discouraging to look out at our brown landscape – or what’s left of it after the October blast. Glad to report that our children and grandchildren are thriving – so fortunate to have them all close by. Looking forward to getting together again with our nucleus of nearby classmates. Meanwhile, Gan Bei all!” Eleanor Brainard Randrup writes, “Our eldest son, Anders, is completing a lifelong wish to become a lawyer. He has completed law school and is working in a local Maryland law office preparatory to taking the bar exam this year. Daughter Muffin and her husband, Bob, are now in Florida; he is a captain in the U.S. Navy and is based as commanding officer of his ship in the Middle East. Peter, our second son, is happily remarried to a lovely widow with two children, and she teaches 8th grade. Our eldest grandson, Matt, graduates from the U.S. Naval Academy this May and will be stationed in Japan, his first-choice assignment. And, our second grandson is also at the Naval Academy.” El also reports ko S u m m e r 2 0 1 2

that her grandson Morgan will go to High Point University in the fall. El says she is doing book tours with her co-author for their second book and thinking about what comes next. Dixie White Kaslick moved to Danbury following her husband’s death several years ago and now is in North Salem, N.Y., where she is closer to her brother. She and her Lhasa Apso can walk through the village to visit her brother, and she so enjoys the village. She voraciously reads large-print books and now uses a Kindle, which she says is a huge boon with her diminishing eyesight. She has been reading Janet Evanovich and Stuart Woods lately and loves being able to read a series of books by one author when she finds one she likes. Gail Myers Rider and Bob have moved from Naples, Fla., to an independent-living facility near Bonita Springs, Fla. “We love it,” Gail writes, “a par-three golf course, near the beach and easy.” Gail’s sister recently visited from Presque Isle, Maine, coming from minus 14 degrees! Their daughter Nancy and her husband, Jim, live in Reading, Conn., although they are renting an apartment in New York City as he works there as chief financial officer of Computer Associates. Nancy ultimately wants to return to teaching 4-year-olds; however, they are loving their time in NYC. Granddaughter Megan graduates in June from a five-year nursing program, while their grandson is a junior at Bryant University. Son Jim is with MathWorks in Natick, Mass., in the treasury

department, and his daughter Emily is at Union College while his son Sam, a June high school graduate, has applied there as well. Busy family – and funnily, our families have many of the same connections – 30 degrees of separation!

the 92nd Street Y, and we went to the Islamic wing at The Met in November, but I haven’t yet been to the new American wing. I tried some folk dancing last fall, but not good in the dank winter, so may try again in spring when evenings are lighter.”

Sandy Sturman Harris writes, “Am in California now leaving on 17-day cruise with David celebrating our 25th anniversary. We’re on the Queen Victoria going down the Mexican coast, south across Central America through the Panama Canal into the Caribbean and – voila! – N.Y. Love to you and my Oxford friends.”

Ann Whitman Hackl wrote her usual Christmas update, and it is always interesting with many new endeavors. She and George purchased a house in North Stonington, Maine, with son Brad and wife and also share a lobster boat. She writes, “Fiftyfifty to cruise the uninhabited islands off Stonington. The whole family (23 strong) gathered in North Stonington for Christmas, including brother Steve and his family. George flies to Princeton for board meetings. Elizabeth and Jon live in Meriden, N.H., with daughter Isabella, who plays hockey for West Lebanon High School, and daughter Sophia, who is becoming an accomplished ballerina.” Yvonne has a massage therapy business, while Jeff and Diane live near Aspen, Colo., where their son Dylan attends Colorado Rocky Mountain School and Emma is in 8th grade.

Sherry Banks-Cohn writes, “Not too much to report at this writing, which frankly, at our age, is a good thing! Bud continues to be active in mind and body, getting extreme pleasure from all the grandchildren. There are eight in our blended family, so every night is party night when we gather in Vermont. I am doing fine, having great fun with the family and trying not to make too many obviously stupid mistakes in bridge, which is my latest interest. Pilates keeps me upright, and so we march ahead. Hope our Class of ’54 is doing well.” Caroline January writes, “Life is quiet here – a good thing. Lots of reading, some new and some re-reading – no dementia needed! Have you read ‘Room’ by Emma Donoghue – a wonderful little boy protagonist in an ugly story? Saw Priscilla Cunningham in December. We share a chamber music series at

I heard a wonderful singing message when I called Betsy Robinson. Pat Hibben Loring and I had a lovely dinner together at her house recently, prior to attending a showing of a documentary film about Mr. Rogers of television fame. Pat’s son Edward looks out for Pat in between his more-thanfull-time job at the U.S. Postal Service. Pat is expanding her 39


CLASS NOTES

The five grandchildren of Margaret Feree Brown ’68 – twins Emmy and Gigi, their sister Addie, and their cousins Shaw and Luke – gather in Denver, Colo.

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house on Goose Pond to include an elevator, a huge library and a heavenly terrace facing Nantucket Sound. Hopefully it will soon be finished. Time moves slowly on an island, as does construction. Tom mostly stays in Quincy, close to the Red Sox, but chauffeurs Pat to and fro from the boat and still has his delightful chuckle. Pat reads and reads – and remembers what she read! Miss Evans would be thrilled that we are still reading! Betsy Sisbower Bush and George, like El and Pete, always have a three-way visit on the phone, which is great fun! They’re still in their lovely old house on the Rappahannock River, though they are thinking of moving west where the air is high and dry. They write, “We love Roswell, Colo., a little green memory where lava has seeped up through the grass with sparkling clarity.” Their sons are frequent residents. However, their granddaughter is the love of their lives. While NinaMarie is only 9 years old, she reads at a 10th-grade level, but eschews math and science. She also has a great sense of humor, like her grandmother.

Art historian Priscilla Cunningham wrote a profile of our late Oxford classmate and friend Sarah Goodwin Austin for the winter 2012 issue of The Social Register Observer. Titled “Reflections in a Shadow Box,” Priscilla’s article not only describes Sarah’s career as a creator of shadow boxes (threedimensional collages that include text and miniaturized portraits, paintings, sculptures and artifacts) but also captures Sarah’s vibrant and witty personality. The article includes this account of Sarah’s and Priscilla’s years at Oxford: “At Oxford, while I was involved in choirs and musicals, Sal was a star athlete. We were, however, in several math classes together, where we colluded in causing despair in our teachers. We just didn’t ‘get’ algebra. Eventually we were put in separate classes. Our teachers and fellow students didn’t appreciate our questions and the mirth that ensued at our incomprehension. The irony of this is that Sally was really adept at numbers, proof of which is her precise measurements for the [shadow] boxes.” I had a wonderful visit with Marge Harvey Purves yesterday. Her grandson Rodeo has grown from a chubby babe to a wiry 5-year-old. Marge serves on the boards of many organizations, including two that celebrate their 40th anniversary this year – the Family Health Center of Worcester and the day-care center where Marge and daughter Jennifer are charter members. She also continues on the boards of the Pleasant Street Neighborhood Network Center, which provides job training and placement for 20 to 30 youths a year and links

people to essential service needs, and of Common Good, a community development program that rehabs old properties for lowand moderate-income rentals. Jennifer works at Cambridge for Tags, a general store where she is in the cookware section and gives culinary demonstrations. Molly and family live on the Vineyard, and she writes a weekly column for the historic “Vineyard Gazette.” Sister Ann and her daughter Marsha train, vet out and show horses in Florida in winter and at Ann’s farm in summer, and Mame has recently published a book of poetry as well as teaching writing at Dartmouth – no slouches, these girls! Susan Safford Andrews reports, “All the same!” Molly Fluty Roraback and I had a great chat. She and Bob decided to rest their skis this year but still go up to Vermont. They will go more often because one grandchild is at the University of Vermont as a law student and a granddaughter is at Middlebury College. She plays hockey and lacrosse, and Charlie attends many games. Charlie is still working. Their son Andrew, who has served in the Connecticut legislature for more than 10 years, is running for U.S. Congress in Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District. We wish him success. I have finally recovered from the Nantucket blight, Lyme disease. I spent a week in Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands, last week with my sister-in-law, Judy, her sister and her brother in a gorgeous house overlooking the water, five minutes to the beach – pure heaven of snorkeling, reading


and eating. Sarah’s Robert, my oldest grandson, is engaged to a darling young woman from the Simsbury area, whose family we have known forever. She is an artist. Rob is in the mortgage business and plays in a band. Taylor graduated in May from Bryant and already has a job with a large accounting firm. Sarah is with Coldwell Banker and loves her work (and is very good at it). I politick a bit, needlepoint, do two diverse book clubs, play some bridge weekly, organize family reunions, make baskets and walk the dog. Life is good.

John has designed sets for The Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Houston Grand Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Glimmerglass Opera (where he was also associate artistic director). He has also designed for regional theaters across the country, including Hartford Stage Company and Long Wharf Theater in Connecticut. John was nominated for a Tony Award in 1974 for “The Au Pair Man.” He holds a B.A. and an M.F.A. from Yale University.

KINGSWOOD 1955

OXFORD 1956

John Conklin received a National Endowment for the Arts Honors Award last October in ceremonies at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. During his long and distinguished career in theater,

Nancy Edwards-Cogswell Class Correspondent Sally David Ardrey writes, “How about Miss Gibney’s Canterbury Tale, in which she spoke of being on a bus trip and

all the characters she met. I can see her, the room, the table and the gap between her teeth. I have just become executrix for someone’s estate, so I’m a bit swamped with things to do. I feel so fortunate to be well and to have traveled this year to Paris and Venice and now this weekend leave for St. Martin for 10 days. I’m still dancing flamenco several times a week. I think Miss Gibney would approve.” Katrina Shaffer Beaghen (Trina) told me that she is well and still enjoys her house at the Cape. By the end of the summer her daughter and the grandsons will have moved back to Connecticut, and life will take on a new shape and sound. We chatted about the various opportunities she’ll discover as time goes on.

Mary Ellen Blumenfeld Doyle writes, “I started painting landscapes when I was at Oxford during summers on the Cape. After earning a bachelor’s in fine arts at Boston University and while painting city architecture from my studio windows in New York, I went back to working directly from nature, and I continue today to paint the fields and beaches that inspire me. My work is in the permanent collections of 18 museums, including the Wadsworth Atheneum and the New Britain Museum of American Art. I am painting in the winters in New York and the summers on Long Island. My husband, John, is a practicing lawyer in the city. My children have wives and two children each; one family is in Oakland, Calif., and one is in Lexington, Mass. All is well!”

CALLING ALL FORMER FACULTY AND STAFF Are you a former member of the faculty or staff at KO, Oxford or Kingswood Oxford? If so, we’d love to hear what you’re doing now that you’ve left Wyvern Nation. We’ll publish some of your submissions, in whole or in part, in upcoming issues of KO Magazine. We also may post some of the entries on the School’s Web site, www.kingswoodoxford.org. Please send your notes and/or photographs to Nicole Kimball at kimball.n@k-o.org or 170 Kingswood Road, West Hartford, CT 06119. To get the ball rolling, we’d like to pass along news about former Interim Head of School Stew Lindsay, who founded the lacrosse program at Cheshire Academy in 1962. Stew returned to Cheshire Saturday, May 12, to help the school celebrate its first 50 years of lacrosse. Stew, known as the “Founding Father of Cheshire Lacrosse,” welcomed back many of his former players at the celebration. Cheshire’s first lacrosse team, which included six starters who had never played in a lacrosse game, finished its first season with a 2-5 record. In the final game of the season, Cheshire lost to Kingswood by only two goals, a sure sign that they were becoming competitive. In 1968, after building a strong program, Stew moved on to KO and coached highly successful Wyvern boys’ varsity lacrosse teams for nearly 30 years.

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CLASS NOTES

Francis Pandolfi ’61 and Bill Seawright ’59 enjoy the Canal du Midi in southern France last October.

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Here’s a contribution from Emily Walker Drew Jones, whom many will recall from earlier school days. I met up with her again in New London, N.H. She writes, “Life is wonderful – very busy with family (eighth grandchild due any minute), tennis, Rotary and travel. Our big excitement was learning of two beautiful granddaughters (Paige, 17, in Arizona, and Alex, 19, in Massachusetts). One son was a sperm donor and agreed to be found, so Paige and Alex came this summer, and I gathered my daughter-in-law Monica and her three children to spend a few days in the White Mountains, where we all bonded. Paige returned for Christmas, so these half sisters now have each other. Our travels took us to Mallorca and Switzerland. We are returning for the fifth September to Lungern, Switzerland, where we rent an apartment and travel on a Swiss pass by rail, boat, cable car, bus, etc. In July we are going to Panama for my third son’s wedding. Whew!”

Jane Cady Fitchen writes, “It is March 1, and 2011 was again largely devoted to guardianship activities for my two frail siblings, both now in wheelchairs in two different long-term care facilities. In spare time, I play as much tennis as the old body will endure (Jane is reputed to be an ace tennis player) and hugely enjoy occasional visits from children and grandchildren. Daughter Anne is in Rochester, Minn., working for the Mayo Clinic; son Chris, the ex-United pilot and teacher of autistic kids, is living in Kansas City and employed by the FBI; and son Bill (a geologist) and family are in Milan. Chris’ two kids are at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and Anne’s daughter is a freshman at Carleton in Minnesota. In Madison we’ve had activity galore politically, with a recall of our governor in progress and gatherings at the Capitol of up to 100,000 demonstrators. I often regret being so far from those of you able to convene and catch up in person, but I send you all best wishes and hope to join you again one day. Love to all.” Heidi Wood Huddleston writes, “Joe’s unexpected death from cancer came out of the blue and has been difficult to process, but I’m moving on through helping others in the same boat adjust to this new way of life. December was spent in Austria with daughter Kristina and family: good therapy to be with happy 7-year-olds. Looking forward to granddaughter’s April wedding with Kristina and Sophia flying over early and for the wedding. Lisa is the bride’s mom and lived with me for five months until her new house was ready. I’m in

Hilton Head primarily and happy to be where Joe was happiest. It’s comforting, and I can stay with Lisa in Kentucky when wanting to be there.” Beatrice Lodge de Oyarzabal phoned from Madrid. She and Antonio are fine. Two of their kids are in Madrid, and the other four are spread around the globe. All gathered for their 50th wedding anniversary. (Some of us were at that wedding in rural New Jersey.) Their kids made a film of their life together as a happy surprise, a huge highlight. She’s enjoyed visits from Heidi and Joe, has friends in a book club and enjoys her life but comments that Spain suffers from 21 percent unemployment, which produces a lot of stress. She enjoys providing community service to elderly women for socializing, going on outings and visiting, which they love. Sandra Martin McDonough writes, “Believe it or not, I still work full time! The practice of law has changed in my 30 years. Remember, I started at 43. When I started, a lawyer’s word was his bond. No longer, which is a sad commentary. I’ve had some fun and really like my clients. I’m still breeding and showing Samoyeds (Siberian sledge dogs). My current show girl, grand champion Zima’s Porosha of White Magic (Powder), has won the breed but hasn’t won the next level to get to best in show. We’ve stopped showing Ice as she thinks a dog show is mega playtime. Maybe when she gets older! No Westminster this year due to the construction going on. Granddaughter Caroline and her


fiance, Danny, now live with me while they save for a house. They plan to marry next year. You may remember that her older brother, Toby, lived here for a while, so what’s fair is fair. All three are working musicians. Toby is still in Maui and thinks we are nuts to live in the cold. E-mail allows the ’56 crowd to stay in touch, and I look forward to our next lunch in West Hartford.” Elizabeth Gordon McKim (E’liz or Betty) reports that she is happy with a menu of creative arts opportunities – poetry writing and performance – that are alive and well in her area of Lynn, Mass. She also teaches at Lesley College and writes; her book “The Red Thread” is available online. Her daughter is a journalist with The Boston Globe, so Betty gets a vivid perspective on some of the most difficult parts of community life. She gets to Farmington and Hartford at times and teams up with Jane Cady Fitchen touring familiar territory. Her sisters Jen and Mimo are also nearby, so there is a cluster of family for each of them. Sounds like life is good in her atelier. Penelope Rockwell Meek reports that Tom Meek has been in and out of the hospital, which has kept her home, but she still moves forward with her spay and neuter work. They work on meds to control and strategies to regulate overpopulation. Despite the work on her home front, she remains dedicated to the population control through spay/neuter.

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Alice Butler Mendell writes, “This past year we tried to sell our 37-foot Herreshoff Meadowlark but to no avail as yet, so we went out on it and will again this summer if it has not sold. Our 6-year-old granddaughter Kelsea has attended Y summer camp on the shores of Buzzards Bay and may be seaworthy; it’s wonderful to have her with us. I’m involved in church with choir and some committees. Seth is president of the Mattapoisett Historical Society, so I am involved with activities there. We went to Florida in February and stayed with Lucy and Dick in Fort Myers Beach. Seth’s 79th birthday earned him a cake and a boat ride from Lucy. We were in Cocoa Beach for the month of March, and as usual the family came down for about a week. I want to say a heartfelt thanks to Nancy for watching over us and prodding us for news all these years and to say thank you to Boots for taking us on. Love to you all.” Edith Wilcock Patrick writes, “Whew! It’s been one of those years. Last Memorial Day I broke my wrist pruning a bush above my deck. That upset me partly because I wanted to drive to our KO reunion (which I did) and partly because my son Martin was waiting to be scheduled to have a valve in his heart repaired, and I wanted to go there (Wellington, New Zealand) to help care for my three grandchildren while he was laid up. Also, I wanted to be able to knit! Martin had two valves repaired in August, and I got there. … Last month Martin and Carole and their three little

girls moved into a house (their first mortgage), a 10-minute walk from Martin’s work. I expect to be traveling to New Zealand yearly for the foreseeable future and already look forward to next October. Oh, yes, Martin is healthy; my bone density is fine; and I am knitting a baby blanket for my sister’s (Susie ’59) fourth great-grandchild. Cheers, Edie.” Pamela Day Pelletreau writes, “Bob and I are selling the New York apartment that we have enjoyed for five years and moving to Woods Hole. After June 1 our address will be P.O. Box 183, Woods Hole, MA 02543. Moving – need I say more?” Jane Brandon Pfaff writes, “Most of my efforts are in support of John while he remains cheerful yet not at 100 percent. He’s recently moved to Seabury and is quite comfortable there. Of course, usual activities carry on, and it is always great to hear about the activities of the ’56 sisters.” Lucy Ann Read writes, “It was a good summer with no replacement surgery. Dick and I got up to Boothbay Harbor area in Maine to visit his relatives. I went up to Glen Cove, Maine, later in the summer for a yearly gal-pal reunion. The rest of the summer I was busy with shell ornament creations for Christmas sales. In September, Dick and I had a nice trip to Sicily with Grand Circle Tours to celebrate our 25 years of togetherness. In October, Clay Platt and I went to Arizona to visit my daughter and her kids. Also in October we had our class reunion luncheon during

the week of the huge blizzard and power failure. Only five of us could make it: Eunice Strong Groark, Nancy Austin Reed, Sandy Travis Zieky, Sandy McDonough Martin and I. Dick and I stayed in Guilford with my grandkids for most of that week. We’re enjoying our four months in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., as I write. My hip is problematic and limits my activities, so I’ll be seeing a surgeon soon. Dick and I feel blessed to be in good health and look forward to more adventures together this year. I hope more classmates will be able to make our reunion luncheon this year.” Maybe Boots? Nancy Austin Reed has turned the class correspondent’s job over to me and the rest of us to keep the ball rolling. She writes, “I really don’t have anything exciting to report. I’m just truckin’ along at a slower pace than I did 56 years ago … or even five years ago!” We miss seeing her here locally since she moved to Oregon, and she says likewise. I think she’ll enjoy getting in touch with fellow classmates. I would also like to recognize Lucy, too, for her work as class agent. She also organizes our mini-reunions locally, drawing classmates from within driving distances for lunch. In addition, she helps out one of our number who’s had hard times; classmates have contributed some funds to help out.” Patricia Hanson Rodgers writes, “A highlight of the past year was a week in Paris along with our younger son, his wife, her Chinese parents and two little grandchildren – girls ages 2 43


CLASS NOTES

Margaret Ferree Brown ’68, right, and her husband, Trevor, enjoy a trip to Barcelona, Spain, last fall.

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and 5. Favorite pastimes included visiting parks and museums, eating crepes and just strolling on the streets of the Left Bank. It was also a celebration of our 50th wedding anniversary! Look forward to hearing about everyone else’s adventures, including yours.” Barbara Deeds Schaus writes, “Greetings! I have just returned from skiing in Utah, where the snow was a bit thin, but we had a wonderful time with a sailing group that we have been connected with for a long time. I was in Alta, Utah, for a week with a friend I roomed with at Dobbs, then Nick and I joined the Cruising Club group at the Canyons the second week. We still live in Vero Beach where I practice as a guardian ad litem, and we play golf and bridge. We have three daughters and a son, all married and working, and we have 13 grandchildren. We are very lucky!” Susan Taylor Smith writes, “Depraved winter weather too

early deprived us of a lunch in October. ‘Global Weirding!’ Phil gets to sit at a computer reading 1,500 (count ’em) applications while I go to Key West with college friends – in the same house for 47 years, funky and lots of palm trees. Last semester we audited a great class in American art and architecture. There is SO MUCH to learn. Classy Connections Corner: Pat Hanson Rodgers and I are fund agents for our Smith class, and it was fun to see her last week as well as two granddaughters at Smith. Isabelle is a sophomore, and Taylor (Williams ’11) is in the master of arts in teaching program there. We spent a weekend with Pam Day Pelletreau and Bob in Woods Hole last summer, which was a treat. Hoping all is well with fellow classmates.” I called Nancy Hirshberg Wilensky to see what was up as we missed our usual yearly chat and learned that her dear husband, Bob, had passed away. She says he was very even tempered, never complained and was a wonderful friend to her and she will miss him terribly. She has a daughter, Marci, living nearby in Florida, and she continues to work full time in a hospital medical records department (chasing physicians for dictation). Nancy said she appreciates the contacts she has with her classmates. As for me, we enjoy our days here in Medford, Ore., and have grown a community life that is interesting and worth the efforts. No sports, though Dick walks a mile or so every day, often with Lisa, his middle daughter, who is the spring behind our move out here. Alex

and Molly, my son and daughterin-law, will live in the Asheville, N.C., area soon, and it will be very different from the New York metro area. They look forward to a change and we to a visit in North Carolina.

KINGSWOOD 1956 Hugh Brigham writes, “I’m now living south of Tucson on the Mexican border, overlooking the country club. Golf game doesn’t seem to change.”

OXFORD 1957 Phyllis Chapman Fenander Class Correspondent Debby Bland Albert writes, “We continue to love living in the country but close to Hanover, N.H., where music (Dartmouth Symphony) and art (Hood Museum) are wonderful. I am actively involved with a French group that meets several times a month.” She said she’s hoping to get to the reunion in June. Martha Yost Newcomer writes that she wasn’t able to attend the reunion “since June 9 will be our 50th wedding anniversary, and we plan to meet all or most of our kids in Montreal on the 8th to take a cruise through the St. Lawrence Seaway and down the coast to Boston where – rumor has it – our best man (Jim’s four-year roommate at Amherst) plans to gather a few old friends, primarily fraternity brothers and spouses, I suspect. I’m sorry about the timing since – ironically – we will be on the East Coast.” Hilda Brown Daley writes, “We have just returned from a month at the base of the Coachella


Mountains in California with Dan’s and my children and grandchildren. We returned to our seaside home in Manchester where there are many Oxford representatives. Miss Evans and Madame Lefevre remain my strongest influences. I shall always be indebted to them.” Betty Abel Lane, who is our new class agent, writes, “I am looking forward to the visit from my eldest son, Bart, and two granddaughters, ages 5 and 7, during Easter week/ spring break. We will get to hear Charlotte practice for her piano recital. In May I will be traveling to my medical school reunion at the University of Maryland in Baltimore to receive the Golden Key Award. From there Barton and I will be going to Italy for a dermatology meeting in Milan, followed by a week on our own. We plan to rent a car to travel along the coast ending up in Florence, staying at a hotel near where we were a couple of years ago. Rest of family doing well. Younger son Geoff and grandchildren Aidan, 4, and Nadia, 2, live nearby. Daughter Suzanne is a senior project analyst for SPAWAR, a Navy contractor in San Diego. Her husband is a retired career Marine and works as director of emergency services for the city of San Diego. I regret that we will be unable to attend this year’s reunion. Too much traveling. But maybe next year. Let me know if there are any more ‘minireunions’ for our classmates. Tempus fugit.” News from me here in Vermont is that we are very pleased my ko S u m m e r 2 0 1 2

younger daughter, Dr. Hilary Anne Conway, is marrying Dr. Joel Robert Pearson in October in Park City, Utah, at the High West Distillery. Go figure. (It’s on the National Registry of Historic Places.) After residency, she will serve in an underserved area to repay her medical scholarship. We have not had winter, and spring is causing a dustup. Sadly, we lost my stepbrother, Graham T. Rowley ’50, in February.

OXFORD 1958 Sue Mather Dabanian Class Correspondent Betsy Swinehart Riel wrote me a nice long note (snail mail) after having tried to send me some news with my incorrect e-mail address. Betsy spent three weeks with daughter Katie and her family before and during Christmas in southern California and was busy with concerts, basketball games and even picking out the tree. She reported some sad news that brother Fritz passed away. Also, Betsy’s dear companion, Misty, a white husky/shepherd, died four days before Thanksgiving. She couldn’t have gotten through the first 11 months after Dave died without Misty. Her goal is to move to California by Sept. 1. There’s a lot to do, but she wants to be with her family. When I last talked with Blair Smyth Lang, she was looking forward to a cruise from southern California, down the Mexican coast, through the Panama Canal and ending up in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Sounds great! Daughter Ingrid and her hubby were in Connecticut this past summer

(2011) for their 20th high-school reunion. Where did the time go? Sarah Duffield enjoyed a Christmas visit from sister Dinny. They went to Notchland Inn in New Hampshire, where Sarah and Craig were married, and had a wonderful white Christmas. Granddaughter Audrey is almost 9, and Julian is 6. Betty Ann Lange Leon delivered some news via her clever-as-usual Christmas card. This year’s travel plans for Betty and Hayden include London and Dublin. Daughter Alison loves her job, travels the country and does half marathons. Chip is doing half Ironmans and coaches 5- and 6-year-olds in flag football. Hannah and Henry are now 8 and 6. Betty’s dad is 101, and Hayden’s mom is now 95! Anne Van Winkle-Denne sent me this wonderful photo (taken by her son-in-law) of her with daughter Katherine and grandchildren. Annie enjoys visits from them during the summer for about four to six weeks.

Katherine likes to get away from the dusty plains of Colorado. Her hubby (Katherine’s) works two jobs so is here for part of the time. Penny Hoffman McConnel and Jim spent seven weeks this past winter in Carpenteria, Calif., which is near Santa Barbara. They loved it – saw many species of birds, went to farmers’ markets, the beach, hiking, etc. and hope to go back next year. Penny is still studying Italian, working less and looking forward to her garden. As for your secretary, the hip is great after my operation, but now it’s the knees. Always something – the joys of aging. Looking forward to a month in Palm Springs, Calif., two weeks in Florida and another two in Hawaii. Have to hobble around while I still can! BJ, Nancy N., Sue L. and Sue S., I’m still hoping to hear from you with your e-mail addresses. Happy summer! Sue/Smather, sdabanian@gmail.com

Class of 1978 classmates Henry DePhillips, Maura McGeary Phillips and Howard Grody meet for lunch in Chattanooga, Tenn., last winter.

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OXFORD 1959 Zélie Calvocoressi Tourais Class Correspondent Kathy Whitcomb Dudzinski sent the sad news that Lisa Walker Champion passed away in early September. Kathy saw her last April for the first time in years in Durham, N.C. “We had a fun supper out with her and her husband David,” Kathy wrote. Lisa was a member of the Octopipers and enjoyed classical music.

CLASS NOTES

Michael Margolis ’78 was recently appointed president of Girard-Perregaux North America, a 210-year-old Swiss watch company.

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Xanny Learned Preston writes, “I am very busy in Washington. A year and a half ago, I decided to get a dog to ‘see me through,’ a rather rash idea for a 68-yearold widow, but I forged ahead and over the Internet bought a full rough-coated Jack Russell terrier, Shorty Tucker. He and my two Westies all get along fine and keep me moving and laughing. I am a deacon in The Georgetown Presbyterian Church and volunteer in the garden in the warmer months at Tudor Place, a historic house one block from mine. When it gets cold, I work in the administrative office. I’m in a great book club and work out six days a week, three days for my artificial shoulder and three days for arthritic knees. And then June 1, the doggies and I head north to Keene Valley for four months.” Xanny enjoyed catching up with Ellen Jones Wood and a friend who visited Xanny recently on the way to Florida. Ellen and friend Susan McClure Harris and husband, Debbie Mahoney Swenson and husband, Charlotte Buck Miller and husband, Julie Peck and I had our yearly reunion in Boca

Grande, Fla., and Venice, Fla. We had beautiful weather, good food and wonderful conversations. My husband and I welcomed our fourth grandchild and first grandson, Max Calvocoressi (can you believe it) Tourais last October. He will be called Max Calvo.

KINGSWOOD 1959 Don Burness reports that his poetry book “Mary-Lou – The Persistence of Memory” has been published by Twenty-Three Books in Baltimore, Md. Another of his books, as yet untitled, is scheduled to be published bilingually in Milan, Italy, this year.

OXFORD 1960 Jane Anderson Innerd Class Correspondent Jennifer Ripple Akridge sent me a picture of her two beautiful grandchildren, Zac, 7, and Piper, 5. She wrote to me while she was visiting her daughter Anne and her grandchildren in Florida. Jennifer and her husband live in Yuma, Ariz., where the winter has been milder than normal this year. When she wrote, desert flowers were blooming in beautiful colors. She sent a greeting to all of us: “Spring is a beautiful time of year! Happy spring to all!” Carolyn Goodrich is still working two jobs. She is a social work therapist and is also in real estate with Tina Wilcox McIntyre. She is involved in a project in West Palm Beach, Fla., with her youngest daughter. They are restoring a house in the historic district and, although it will be nice eventually, it is taking a long time. Carolyn has three children

and seven grandchildren. All are doing well, and the grandchildren are growing up too fast. When I heard from her, her two older children were in Turkey with their father, who works as crew on a yacht. Her own travel plan for this year is to attend the Calgary Stampede Rodeo in July. She writes that if anybody visits Jamestown, R.I., she would enjoy a call or visit. Her cell phone number is 401-559-5573. Also in Rhode Island, Tina Wilcox McIntyre said she would enjoy hearing from anyone in the Newport area and she has plenty of room for visitors. Late last June, both her brother and husband turned 70. The family celebrated with a Wilcox family gathering with 34 in attendance. Tina has not yet retired. She manages the Jamestown office of Lila Delman Real Estate. In February, Tina and her husband enjoyed a two-week trip with Odysseys Unlimited to Machu Picchu and the Galapagos, which she recommends to all. During March, the McIntyre family enjoyed a week in St. John to relax and enjoy being together. This gathering included a new grandson, who was born the day after Thanksgiving on her father’s birthday. Ann Faude Newbury says that she has no news, but she is a busy volunteer, and I happen to know that Ann and her husband enjoy attending performances at The Metropolitan Opera in New York City. My husband and I also enjoy Met performances but not in New York City. We see them live in high definition at a movie theater. The last one we attended was “Ernani.” At the end of the


performance, the camera panned the audience and there, in the front row in a red dress, was Ann standing and clapping. It was both delightful and startling to see her there. I hope that the people sitting around me in the theater were delighted to see her, too, when I cried out, “There’s Ann!” To celebrate her birthday, Ann will be taken to lunch by Susan Lowe Redfield. In November Susan was honored at the Butterfly Bash, an annual fundraiser of Chrysalis Center Inc. She was honored with the Community Support Award for her volunteer work with Freshplace, a collaborative project between The Junior League of Hartford Inc., Foodshare and Chrysalis Center Inc. The project helps people living in Hartford’s Upper Albany neighborhood to become “food secure,” and Susan also helps by mentoring new volunteers as they join the project. On behalf of our class, I offer congratulations to Susan for this prestigious award. Nancy Sunderland Brown writes, “I think most of us have a BIG birthday this year. Mine was a huge surprise to come home from the grocery store to find all our kids, their spouses and our grandkids (from New Jersey, Virginia and California) in our front hall.” Alas, Barbara Hartman Tucker still enjoys living in Paris. Such a shame! She is still political director of Capitol Voice and Democrats Abroad France. Recently she was asked to teach civics and media to graduate ko S u m m e r 2 0 1 2

students in Kiev, Georgia, and Tunisia with a group called the Observatory of the Black, Gulf and Mediterranean Seas. Her most recent e-mail says that she was just made vice chair of the Union of Overseas Voters, which, besides voter registration, offers a speakers’ bureau, civics classes and tailored courses, and celebrates Franco-American relationships. Hard to believe that Barbara moved to Paris so that she could relax! In January I had what I have been calling a “significant birthday.” I was delighted that both Jane Keller Herzig and Prilla Smith Brackett came to Windsor to help me celebrate. (I have artwork by both Jane and Prilla in my condo.) Prilla and her painter son, Matt Brackett, both received finalist awards in painting from the 2012 Massachusetts Cultural Council. Prilla says that the jurors most likely did not know that they are mother and son prior to granting the awards. During the winter, the Brackett family – parents, two sons and partners, and three grandchildren – had a wonderful winter week at their Trapp Family Lodge time-share in Stowe, Vt. Prilla says that it was a special pleasure for her to have two cross-country ski outings with her sons Ethan and Matthew. In March, Wilf and I spent a week in St. Louis with our older daughter and grandsons while our son-in-law was away at a conference. Later in March, Wilf had a conference in Cambridge. I went with him, and we enjoyed a visit with Prilla and George. Our younger daughter is moving

from Nipissing University to Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, to be director of acquisitions for the library. It will be wonderful to have her much closer to home. Our son is in Vancouver at The University of British Columbia.

OXFORD 1961 Yvonne V. Chabrier writes from Newburyport, Mass., “I loved reconnecting at our 50th Reunion and revaluing my own six years at Oxford. Glad to be in good health and able to continue taking drawing and painting classes. I’m doing yoga, volunteering and traveling.”

KINGSWOOD 1962 Jon Holmstrom writes from Bristol, N.H., “I retired in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. Best move I ever made. I keep busy five days a week volunteering to take senior citizens to the doctor and hospitals.”

KINGSWOOD 1963 Brewster Boyd Class Correspondent As most of the class knows from my recent letter, Bill Baird died in October. He was a real fighter, just as he had been on the Kingswood football field, wrestling mat and baseball diamond. Skip Schoolnik first knew Bill when they played Little League baseball before their paths crossed again at 170 Kingswood Road. He remembered Bill’s visiting when he first moved to California and how “Wally” was always so supportive. Skip is still in the entertainment business and is presently working

on a new ABC pilot. I have also heard lately from some other classmates. Tom Bitter remembered Bill’s tenacity on the wrestling mat. This year in Vermont there has been so little snow that Tom has hardly been able to play “snowplow man” with his 60-year-old truck with plow. Don Barlow stays in shape by cycling, running and playing tennis. I remember working hard on a run around the KO campus with Don and Nick Mason at our 25th! Don, glad that your knees (same ones?) allow you to keep jogging. Don writes from Rockledge, Fla., “After 38 years of teaching high school Spanish in Connecticut, Michigan and Florida, I am happily retired in Florida. Come on down!” I saw Graham Brown when he and Mary were out visiting their daughter and family at Christmas. They often stay with Margaret ’68 and Trevor Brown ’66. Of course they both knew Bill well from their wrestling days. John W. Bartosz reports from Lac Du Flambeau, Wis., that he recently completed work on his doctorate of divinity and is now counseling hospice patients. “So now I am attorney AND reverend,” he writes. Lastly I just found a “lost” classmate, Jim Sacco. He had not talked to any of our classmates since graduating from Harvard 45 years ago! After Harvard he went to Stanford for a doctorate in education but left to follow a professor to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He met Jeannine there and, after securing his doctorate, they moved to Brazil where they founded a school based on the 47


CLASS NOTES

Bobbie Bush ’80, right, photographed Gloria Styskin during an episode of the MTV reality show “MADE.”

48

Baha’i faith. While there they had two children. Their son, Mark, is still there, married to a Brazilian. In 1995 Jim and Jeannine came back to the United States and settled in Eliot, Maine, with their daughter and family. They continued to teach and work at a Baha’i Faith Center. Two years ago they retired to Florida to be near Jeannine’s family. I encouraged Jim to come to our 50th next year, and he said he probably would. In the near future, look for an updated roster from me of our class that I will send via e-mail or U.S. Postal Service.

KINGSWOOD 1964 Ty Tingley, who retired as principal of Phillips Exeter Academy in 2009, is now co-head of school at Avenues: The World School, an innovative global educational venture. Avenues plans to open its first campus in a renovated 225,000-squarefoot warehouse in Manhattan’s Chelsea Arts District this September and then to open as many as 20 campuses in major cities around the world beginning in 2014. The goal is to run this system of schools as one electronically connected school,

with all campuses teaching a common curriculum. Ty is leading the team that is designing the curriculum and opening the New York City campus. Ty’s wife, Marcia, the school’s director of technology and administration, is setting up the initial computer systems, contracting for employee benefits and building essential human relations functions. The Tingleys spend most of their time at their apartment in New York City, with occasional trips to their permanent residence in Kittery, Maine. Their son Chase, who lives in San Francisco, is vice president of engineering at Spartan Consulting. Son Morgan, who earned his doctorate in ornithology from the University of California at Berkeley last June, is currently using a post-doctoral fellowship at Princeton University to continue his research on bird populations and led a Princeton alumni trip to the Peruvian Amazon last December.

OXFORD 1965 Juliana Boyd Kim writes that she is now living full time in Hilton Head, S.C. “It’s a good life,” she writes. “Come visit.”

OXFORD 1968 Helen Carey LaFaive Class Correspondent Margaret Ferree Brown writes, “Trevor and I are still busy with board work, real estate, travel, golf, skiing (Trevor), bridge, gardening for me in the good weather, and five grandkids – three girls, one age 7 and twins age 5 for son Chris and wife Meghan, and two boys ages 3 and 10 months for our other son, Trevor Jr., and wife Kristin. We

feel fortunate that both families live within 10 minutes of us and that we are a big part of their lives for overnights and school pickups, etc. So far we are still healthy (knock on wood) and hope that continues! Best to everyone from ’68!” Brooksie (Dorothy Koopman) writes, “I think we are all realizing that time goes too quickly! Our oldest, Tressa, is now editor of the New York City edition of the online food culture daily “Tasting Table.” Richard, our middle child, continues to work in the computer area for a federal contractor. Brooks, the youngest, is in his second year of college at Lawrence University in Wisconsin. My husband Mark, having retired from law practice, has been teaching English at the local high school that all three kids attended. He is now chairman of the English department, which includes about 30 teachers. I continue to work on a few fundraising projects and am completing my final year as chair of the library board in Alexandria.” Suzanne Eaton MacKenzie writes, “My daughter Elizabeth is getting married in August on Cape Cod. She received her M.B.A. from Northeastern last fall and has been working at EMC (an information technology company) for the past six years. Her fiance works at John Hancock in Boston and is in the master’s degree program at Boston College in business and finance. Abby and her husband, Jimmy, are living in Billings, Mont. Abby has an administrative position at Head Start and is completing her master’s in special education at Montana State University. Jimmy


is plant manager at QUIKRETE. They both are enjoying the beautiful country and love the outdoors. Jack and I enjoy spending winters in Florida and summers on the Cape. Jack plays a lot of golf and goes fishing, and I keep busy playing bridge, mah-jongg and canasta. I am also involved in a women’s group that raises money for local charities. My mom is doing well and came down to Florida for a few weeks in February.” Lexye (Deborah) Levin Aversa writes, “I have been hosting the ‘LEX TRAVEL’ radio show and filmed a TV pilot in Rome called ‘Fasten Your Seat Belt for a Journey to Lextraordinary Destinations & Luxury Resorts, and Conversation with International Travel LEXperts!’ It is a combination travelogue, reality show and interview format. I also filmed a documentary of the history of the Jews in Rome. All are in editing at the moment and in the ‘seeking angels’ mode! I also orchestrated The International Forum of the Americas, Palm Beach Strategic Forum, a global conference at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in April. Gov. Rick Scott, John Negroponte and 60 CEOs and dignitaries spoke.” You can learn more about Lexie’s TV ventures at www.palmbeachdailynews.com/ society/lexye-aversa-filmingdocumentary-in-bruno-apreasroman-2089451.html and www.forum-americas.org. Please see page 30 for more from Lexye. Anne Dixon Czarniecki writes, “My eldest son, Mark, and his ko S u m m e r 2 0 1 2

wife, Megan, are expecting a baby girl in late July (my first grandchild). Mark and Megan got married two years ago. My daughter Katie got married last year, and my youngest son is getting married this fall in Steamboat Springs, Colo. Whew! The wonderful part is that my late husband Jim got to know all of their future spouses before he died.” Sarah McGann Stoll writes, “To begin, most of my Oxford classmates don’t know that my husband, Dave, passed away in 2009 from liver disease. It was a difficult time for my family, but I have great kids, and we all supported one another. We also have a strong group of friends after 40 years in the Rochester area. I soon began to enjoy my independence. Part-time work and several volunteer jobs kept me extremely busy. Things seem to change at a time when you least expect it. Last spring I met an amazing new friend, partner, companion and have fallen in love for the second time. I was looking only for someone to go out to dinner with every now and then, but have found myself engaged to be married in May! Thus the home Dave and I built 35 years ago is not the place to live with a new husband. Peter has a home in the city of Rochester. I love his neighborhood and the easy access to everything after being in a small farming community/ suburb where everything fun was a half hour or longer away. Peter was born in England and then moved to Australia, where he eventually was ordained as an Episcopal priest. He came to the

U.S. to do graduate work at Yale and stayed. Now semiretired, he works part time for the bishop of the Diocese of Rochester. I am amazed at the changes in my life and looking forward to the future. There is more news! My daughter Shannon and her husband, Mike, are expecting my first grandchildren. I say grandchildren because she is having twins, who should be born in September. So my family is growing, and everything here in upstate New York is extremely busy as I prepare to put my house on the market, a wedding and the birth of twins. My new address is: sstoll9n@gmail.com.” Mary Cheney Nelson writes, “Randy’s mom Barbara Nelson (also the mom of Tyra Nelson Ellison) passed away in January. She lived to be 94! She was a wonderful mother-in-law, mother and grandmother, and we will miss her so much. She spent every Christmas with us in Colorado, and she was very disappointed to miss my daughter’s wedding last June due to her failing health. My son graduated from the University of Colorado in May of last year and is working at Lockheed Martin as an aerospace engineer. My daughter has been working for a graphic design company in Denver. So relieved that they are employed in this market. Randy and I were looking forward to more days of golf and other ‘g-old-en’ activities, but retirement is not in our future just yet.” Kathleen McKnight Cross writes, “Daughter Kathleen is now at the University of

Connecticut School of Law, where she is working harder than ever but loving it! She is visiting my dad in Florida this week. Imagine – he is 90 and still doing well! Son Ted is local and still teaching behaviorally disturbed children. Both are dating, but no chance of grandchildren! Kathleen calls our two rescued dogs the grandchildren. Ed and I are still working. I moved to Natchaug Hospital and work at two of their satellite programs between 26-28 hours a week. Ed has no intention of retiring, so we have no plans to move. We are finishing up an extensive remodeling project, which has turned our lives upside down. We are hoping to recommission our sailboat, which lost its engine courtesy of Hurricane Irene. I have time to work on the projects, even if my energy is limited. Fibromyalgia is a constant, which continues to annoy me. However the dogs and I walk about every day, especially at the beach in the off-season. I was marveling at how beautiful this area is and how happy we are down here. Hope to see you all before our 45th Reunion!” Jan Just writes, “Not much new. I’m off to play with my 150 preschoolers. Thank goodness it’s Friday. Bad weather down here has kept them in the school most of the week. The noise level is really high, and teachers are fraying at the edges. Spring break is too far away. I am off to calm the riots. Family good. Molly, 25, is still at Walter Reed Bethesda working on a Duke study of amputees who have recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. I don’t know how she does it, but she’s happy. 49


CLASS NOTES

Jennifer Bradley ’95 married Frank Campo Oct. 29, 2011.

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Christopher, 32, and his wife are expecting child No. 2. They live in Virginia Beach. It’s not far, but it’s that dratted 95 that makes it seem like a trip to a foreign country. It has taken me on the worst trip nine hours. But they love it there, and the defense contractor that he works for is not going to move. So that’s that. Mr. Jim continues to do whatever he does. His travels are constant and far reaching. At some point I will stop and go with him. But as the riots continue, just not sure when that will be.” From Helen Carey LaFaive: “We are all good here. Hated a long boring winter without snowstorms to liven it up a bit. Doug continues to come up with new things to do: chickens, gardens, being a public insurance adjuster and options trader, farmers’ market, plants, guinea hens, and I continue loving shells and doing what he is doing when I can keep up with him. Austin (Bulkeley) continues to enjoy his job in Boston at Weil and living in his condo with two female roommates. He joined

Doug and me in France again this October with a week in St. Remy de Provence and up in Paris for a week. It was wonderful. I am taking Marcy (Bulkeley) to Paris this July. She deserves her turn! And Lydia Paul Tapley will hopefully join us in our apartment for the week, which I have been begging her to do for decades. Marcy and I will then pick up Doug and Austin at the airport and drive to a house we have rented in Honfleur, on the north coast of France. As long as my kids are single, I will take advantage of having family vacations with just the four of us. Happy Mom. Marcy took a wonderful opportunity last summer and became director of music for Big Picture Entertainment, a job that allows her to be what she wanted to be when she was 15. (Austin is also doing what he wanted to do at 15 … surrounding himself with technology!) Marcy’s company makes trailers for movies, and she is getting well known in the music industry. She worked on the music for many movies you know: ‘Inception,’ ‘Sherlock Holmes,’ ‘Pan’s Labyrinth.’ If you would like the link to her blog, on which she posts new music and artists 365 days a year, e-mail her at marcyb52@gmail.com.” I am starting to think about our 45th Reunion in too short a time. I hope you will all mark your calendars now. I believe it will be in early June 2013. I also would like to say that Gail Larkum, who died peacefully in her sleep a few weeks ago, was such a binding member of our class. She smiled and laughed and joked around and made us all feel good. She loved her crafts and doing them for and

with others. We will miss her. Very much.

OXFORD 1970 Betsy Rockwell Booth Class Correspondent I had a couple of responses to my latest request for news. Emily Holcombe e-mailed, “My daughter, Talitha XinShan Holcombe, got accepted into Kingswood Oxford and is going to 6th grade in September!” Congratulations, Talitha! I also got a response from Nan Putnam, who wrote, “With both daughters educated, grown and independent (Jessica in Chicago and Rebecca with husband Andy in Colorado), I’ve settled into ‘retired’ life in New Hampshire. It has given me the time and energy to follow my passion – historical preservation. Thanks to Oxford’s Mr. Wilcock and Miss Hall, my early history mentors, and also to Mrs. Gettier who wrote me a note in 9th grade advising me not to ‘shirk my responsibility.’ I had to look up ‘shirk’ in the dictionary, only to learn that my teacher could see right through me! Today my knowledge of vocabulary and history is stronger, and my focus is on Eighth Air Force history in the European air war of World War II – facilitating oral and written histories and collecting original documents and artifacts for museum displays, historical research projects and documentary filmmakers. I also serve as director for the 100th Bomb Group Foundation and coordinate veterans events. (My father was a B-17 pilot with the 100th in 1943-44, and I am an Army Reserves veteran, having


served from 1973-75.) This May I’ll guide 40 veterans and their family members back to England to visit the air base and related places one last time, hoping to provide understanding for family and closure for vets now 90-plus years old. Life is full!” That’s all this time around. Keep well and in touch.

KINGSWOOD 1971 Dave Maloy writes from Winsted, Conn., “Greetings to all!”

OXFORD 1972 Mavis Donnelly writes, “I continue my practice of psychiatry, including much expert witness work. My greatest love and joy are with my 30 love rescue dogs. Life is truly wonderful!”

KINGSWOOD 1972 Rob Groundwater writes that his son Dan is the assistant manager of a Sherwin Williams paint store in Manchester, Conn., and that his daughter, Leslie, is a junior at the University of Vermont.

KINGSWOOD 1973 Peter Murphy writes from Burlington, Conn., “I have three children – Sarah, Alex and Cory. All are in college. Two are graduating in 2012, the other in 2013. My mother passed away in February 2012.” Captain Dick Pera officially retired June 1, 2010, after a distinguished 30-year career with the U.S. Navy. After earning a bachelor’s degree in history from Ohio Wesleyan University ko S u m m e r 2 0 1 2

in 1977 and a master’s degree in international and public affairs from Columbia University in 1979, he graduated from Officer Candidate School in 1980 and was commissioned an ensign and designated a naval intelligence officer. During the 1980s and 1990s, Dick served as an officer aboard the aircraft carrier Midway in the western Pacific, Indian Ocean and North Arabian Sea as the Pentagon’s chief expert on intelligence plots and undersea warfare, as assistant naval attaché in the U.S. Embassy in Paris and as the assistant chief of staff for intelligence at Commander Carrier Group Four in Norfolk, Va., where he helped devise procedures for delivering precision-guidance munitions against mobile targets. In 1990, Dick earned his master’s degree in national security studies from the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I. From 20002002, following his promotion to captain, he served as the Navy’s director of information acquisition and, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, created an intelligence-collection program designed to prevent a seaborne attack on the United States. From 2002 to 2004, he served as assistant chief of staff for intelligence with the 6th Fleet based in Gaeta, Italy, leading more than 500 intelligence professionals in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and of counterterrorism operations against al-Qaida-affiliated groups in Africa. From 2004 to 2007 he served as director of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance requirements, programs and resources on the Navy staff in the Pentagon, and from 2007 to 2010

as director of the intelligence resource management office of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Dick has won numerous military awards, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy-Marine Corps Commendation Medal and the Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal. He also won the National Order of Merit medal from the government of France. Dick married Mary Joanna Robinson in 1986, and they have two sons: Richard Robinson Pera and John Gabriel Pera, born in 1992 and 1995, respectively. More than 200 family members, friends, colleagues and shipmates attended Dick’s retirement ceremony April 23, 2010, at the National Maritime Intelligence Center in Suitland, Md.

KO 1975 Massachusetts Jury Commissioner Pamela J. Wood and the Jury Management Advisory Committee received the G. Thomas Munsterman Award for Jury Innovation at a ceremony in Boston in October. The innovative use of technology and improved juror utilization are among the noteworthy accomplishments recognized by the National Center for State Courts. Wood received her undergraduate degree from Wellesley and her law degree from Penn.

KO 1977 Kimberly Bush is living in Brooklyn and working as a creative arts therapist and child psychotherapist in New York

City. She has two sons, Mateo, 15, and Julian, 12. Her husband, Miguel Lopez-Castillo, is an art director for film and television. Gary D. D’Abate reports that he is still enjoying life in Georgia. Tom Collamore, senior vice president of communications and strategy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, was profiled by writer Kevin Bogardus last January in The Hill, a newspaper devoted to in-depth coverage of the U.S. Congress. Tom is in charge of managing the Chamber’s external image and message. In the article, Tom describes the Chamber, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, as “one of the most valuable and powerful brands around.” To mark the centennial, Tom is supervising the launch of a new Web site, FreeEnterprise. com, that will consolidate the Chamber’s media outreach through Twitter, Facebook, blogs and videos. During the past year, the Chamber has played an active role in almost every major Washington policy debate, including the increase in the debt ceiling and negotiations of trade deals. Describing the Chamber’s relations with the White House as “a rollercoaster,” Tom said that the legislative process is often clogged by “higher-level rhetoric and politics.” Tom, who grew up in Bloomfield, first got involved in politics while at KO when he volunteered for then-Connecticut state Sen. Lew Rome’s and President Gerald Ford’s 1976 campaigns. While working as a driver for Rome, he first met future President George H.W. Bush. After graduating from Drew 51


through it page by page and shared memories of each of our classmates together. What a fun time. We also agreed to get together again, probably here in Nashville next time.”

KO 1979

Nick Kasprak ’04, third from left, celebrates his October 2011 wedding in style with KO classmates Adam Zaniewski, Erik Johnson, Alex Kasprak, Matt Baram and Alex Hanson.

University, Tom worked on Bush’s 1980 presidential campaign and then served as an aide to Malcolm Baldrige, President Ronald Reagan’s Commerce secretary. “It was a classic Washington deal,” Tom told The Hill. “I thought I would be here for two years, and I have been here for 30.”

KO 1978

CLASS NOTES

Michael Margolis was recently appointed president of GirardPerregaux North America, a 210-year-old Swiss watch company. He lives in West Hartford with his wife and four teenagers.

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Tennessee residents Howard Grody, Maura McGeary Phillips and Henry DePhillips got together in Chattanooga last winter. Writes Henry, “We met for lunch at Urban Stack, a great local burger place, and just really caught up with each other. Howard and I last saw each other 24 years ago at the 10th Reunion, and I don’t know that I have seen Maura since graduation 34 years ago! We picked up right where we left off, and, since Howard brought his yearbook, we went

E. Merritt McDonough Jr. has been appointed senior vice president of Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford and chief development officer and president of the Saint Francis Foundation. A graduate of Boston College, Merritt served for 28 years at People’s United Insurance Agency/RC Knox Division and is a member of the Saint Francis Care Inc. board of directors. Sharon Brown writes, “Just joined Facebook and am enjoying seeing what my KO classmates are up to.”

KO 1980 Bobbie Bush of Bobbie Bush Photography in Salem, Mass., was featured in MTV’s 11th season of “MADE,” a popular reality show that chronicles the efforts of teenagers as they work toward specific aspirations. The episode, which premiered Dec. 12, 2011, featured Salem resident Gloria Styskin as she pursued her dream of becoming a beauty pageant queen. MTV Networks filmed Bobbie at her studio as she photographed the 17-year-old Styskin. Images from this shoot were used by MTV and Styskin as she participated in the America’s Liberty Miss Pageant, held in at the Sheraton Hartford Hotel at Bradley Airport in Windsor Locks, Conn., in September. In the pageant, Styskin was named most photogenic for her age group. “It

was thrilling and fun to be a part of Gloria Styskin’s journey,” Bobbie said, “and to see the images I captured in my studio help earn her the top spot for the photogenic category in her age group. In fact, it was at Kingswood Oxford that I first learned how to successfully use an SLR camera! In Mr. Frank Beatty’s class.” Founded in 1996, Bobbie Bush Photography specializes in photographing expectant mothers, newborns, children and families at all stages of life. The studio also provides services for corporate headshots and acting/model portfolios.

KO 1988 Andrew Roraback, husband of Kara Dowling and the son of Molly Fluty Roraback ’54, is running for U.S. Congress in Connecticut’s Fifth Congressional District. Kara’s sister, Pamela Jane Dowling ’78, has been volunteering with the campaign. “I am so excited that we could have such an honest, interested and experienced statesman representing Connecticut in D.C.,” Pam writes.

KO 1991 Rob Elliott has written and published his first children’s book: “Ava & Remy’s Nantucket Birthday Adventure.” It tells the story of his two children and their adventures on Nantucket as a hurricane approaches. One reviewer called it “a great story, full of life lessons with an exciting twist at the end!” Rob’s book is available at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.

KO 1995 Jennifer Bradley Campo reports that she married Frank Campo


Oct. 29, 2011. Frank is a New Hampshire state trooper, and Jennifer continues to teach high school Spanish as she completes her certification in technology integration. Jennifer and Frank live in Litchfield, N.H.

KO 1996 Michelle Reinke Neblett married Ron Neblett in Arlington, Va., Her sister Kristin Reinke ’99 was her maid of honor, and Sarah Nagy and Jeff Nagy ’97 were in attendance. Elizabeth Fraser reports that, after nearly 10 years in New York City, she has moved her family to eastern Washington state to support her husband as he pursues his dream of becoming a winemaker. Liz and Steve’s three children, Liam, Owen and Sloane, are adjusting well and enjoying finally having a backyard.

4th-grade teacher at the Charles E. Smith School. Durelle Brown, a former Manhattan College men’s basketball standout who then played professionally for a decade, will be the head coach of KO’s boys’ varsity basketball team starting with the 201213 season. Brown will replace Garth Adams, who coached the Wyverns for 12 seasons and won a New England championship with his 2011 team. Adams, who also serves as KO’s director of athletics, will take over as the director of athletics at Cannon School in Concord, N.C., on July 1. Brown said he envisions a smooth transition, as KO boys’ J.V. coach Jason Lambert, a 2003 KO graduate, has been named his assistant coach for next season.

KO 2001 KO 1997 Elana Divine reports that she lives in Rockville, Md., and is a

Sarah Tanner reports that she is living in Charlotte, N.C., and working for a company

that regenerates power-plant emission equipment. She’s also playing in a kickball league.

www.buencamino.com.uy. Check out the place on Facebook: Buen Camino, Montevideo, Uruguay.”

KO 2003

KO 2007

Brennan Berry has been promoted to group sales manager by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and has been relocated from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to London.

Elisabeth Salner Bolton teaches 3rd-grade science in Madrid, Spain, and tutors her students’ parents in English.

KO 2004 Nick Kasprak and Emily Burton were married Oct. 15, 2011, in Washington, D.C. Alex Kasprak was best man, and groomsmen were Erik Johnson, Adam Zaniewski, Matt Baram, Alex Hanson and Chris Kasprak ’08. Also attending were Billy Crowe and Matt Shea as well as KO faculty members Meg Kasprak, Kathy Lynch and Jon Clapp. Paige Lindell writes, “I am currently living in New Orleans and am baking for the film industry. In my free time, I’m doing a lot of writing and riding my bike.”

KO 2005 Julie Mellen writes from Newton, Mass., “I completed my master’s in early childhood education from Boston University in the spring of 2011 and am finishing my first year as a special education preschool teacher in the Weston, Mass., public schools.”

KO 2006

U.S. Marine Mick Clarke ’10, second from right, joins fellow reconnaissance squad members after completing patrol week at Camp Pendleton. ko S u m m e r 2 0 1 2

Matt Bencivengo writes, “I’ve been living in Uruguay for the past couple of years and opened a hostel in the capital, Montevideo. The Web site is

Michael Sorosky graduated from Elon University in 2011 and is a professional poker player in Las Vegas. He plans to start law school at Suffolk University this September. Jonah Loeb reports that, after a year of teaching at Belmont Hill School in Massachusetts, he is off to seek his fortune in Los Angeles. David Hild, a 2011 graduate of Middlebury College, was drafted in December by the Long Island Lizards in the 17th round of the 2012 Major League Lacrosse Supplemental Draft. In June 2011, he was named a second-team All-American by the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association after helping Middlebury’s men’s lacrosse team to a 13-5 season and a 14th straight appearance in the NCAA tournament. This honor for his play as an attackman followed his honorable mention All-American nod in 2010 as a midfielder. For the 2010 and 2011 seasons, he also was an All-New England and All-NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference) selection. Dave led Middlebury with 47 goals and 67 points during the 2011 season. He also had 20 assists and five man-up goals. He ended his 53


Elisabeth Salner Bolton ’07 visits Greece on her honeymoon.

Middlebury career with 114 goals and 38 assists for 152 points in 56 games. While at KO, Dave scored 170 goals and amassed 136 assists, for a total of 306 points, and was named a High School AllAmerican after his senior season.

KO 2008

CLASS NOTES

John F. Clarke expects to graduate this spring from Endicott College in Beverly, Mass., and has enjoyed an internship at Manchester-by-the-Sea Public Library.

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Sarah Gagnon, who graduated from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., last spring, has been selected for Union’s Minerva Fellowship. The program, Union’s own version of the Peace Corps, offers new graduates a chance to travel abroad on a fellowship for their first year out of college and perform meaningful service opportunities for those in need

throughout the world. Sarah will spend next year working in Ecuador with the Yanapuma Foundation and then spend a month back at Union College educating students about her experiences. She graduated with a major in political science and Latin American studies and a minor in Spanish.

KO 2009 Ainsley Rossitto has been named a captain of the varsity women’s lacrosse team at Susquehanna University. A junior and a three-year member of the team as a defender, Ainsley scored four goals and added five assists for the team last year. She also recorded 16 ground balls and 11 draw control wins and caused 13 turnovers for the Crusaders.

KO 2010 U.S. Marine Mick Clarke has completed boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., infantry training at Camp Pendleton in California, “the longest day” in the surf of Corona, Calif., and patrol week in the mountains of Camp Pendleton. He earned his jump wings at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and is undergoing additional training and awaiting deployment.

KO 2011 Jacquelyn Amenta writes that she is enjoying her freshman year at Providence College but misses KO.


IN MEMORIAM Katharine Kipp Armstrong ’46 Oct. 27, 2011 William E. Baird ’63 Oct. 21, 2011 Lorraine Walker Bardsley ’34 April 8, 2012 Barbara Ann Banks Bassette June 12, 2011 Wife of R. Donald Bassette Jr. ’40, mother of Elizabeth Bassette Lennox ’72 and Roy D. Bassette III ’81, mother-in-law of Bonnie Mecartney Bassette ’81 Mary Gibney Bodel Dec. 19, 2011 English teacher at Oxford School during early 1950s Alicia Walker “Lisa” Champion ’59 Sept. 3, 2011 Martha P. Cox ’55 Nov. 21, 2011 Isabel Williams Davis ’40 March 17, 2012 Robert K. Dimmitt Feb. 1, 2012 Father of Robert B. Dimmitt ’72, William Dimmit ’79 and Eleanor Hayes P ’04, ’13, father-in-law of Randall Hayes ’74, P ’04, ’13, grandfather of Christopher Hayes ’04 and E. Brooke Hayes ’13

ko Ss u m m e r 2 0 1 2

Guido J. Dinucci Jan. 19, 2012 Father of Frank Dinucci Sr. ’65 and Robert Dinucci ’74, fatherin-law of Gretchen Pitrus Dinucci ’78, grandfather of Tyler Dinucci ’07

William Patrick Griffin Sr. ’47 Feb. 8, 2012

Lucy J. Dinucci March 9, 2012 Mother of Frank Dinucci Sr. ’65 and Robert Dinucci ’74, motherin-law of Gretchen Pitrus Dinucci ’78, grandmother of Tyler Dinucci ’07

Virginia Walbridge Hill Hughes July 2, 2011 Mother of Virginia Hughes ’66

John M. Donahue March 13, 2012 Father of William Donahue ’82 and Tim Donahue ’87 Eleanor Hope Emery ’43 Dec. 30, 2011 Mother of David W. Emery ’75, Katherine Hope Emery ’76 and Diana Emery Hiza ’78 George B. Flynn ’39 March 21, 2012 Brother of Jean Flynn Kellogg ’42 and Edmund Flynn ’51, uncle of David Flynn ’60 and Benedict Flynn III ’72 David Droste Frank ’41 Nov. 28, 2011 Husband of Marcia Peaslee Frank ’43, brother of Arthur W. Frank Jr. ’37, brother-in-law of Jane Ewing Frank ’38, uncle of Arthur W. Frank III ’64, G.B. Peaslee ’75, Frank Hatheway ’75 and Dan Hatheway ’76

Barbara W. Groundwater March 5, 2012 Mother of Robert Groundwater ’72

Malcolm K. Jones Jan. 26, 2012 Kingswood and Kingswood Oxford faculty member, 1951-1987 Father of Michael Jones ’64 and Mark Jones ’68 Marion H. Jones April 5, 2012 Mother of Michael Jones ’64 and Mark Jones ’68 Melvyn Kaufman March 18, 2012 Grandparent of John Robinson ’17 Gail Larkum ’68 March 7, 2012 Sister of Gray Larkum Jr. ’65 Philip Gordon MacFarland Nov. 22, 2011 Husband of Anne Shipman MacFarland ’68

Richard Mahoney ’54 Nov. 8, 2011 Former trustee of Kingswood Oxford, father of Daniel Mahoney ’80, Michael Mahoney ’81 and Anne Mahoney Hayes ’82 Please see page 57. Mary “Molly” Noyes Martin ’62 Dec. 2, 2011 Sister of Carolyn Noyes Parrack ’66 and Phyllis Noyes Albanese ’76 Judith Gengras McDonough Jan. 11, 2012 Mother of E. Merritt McDonough Jr. ’79 and Guy McDonough ’81, grandmother of Elizabeth McDonough ’07 and Ryan Albanesi ’18 Robert L. McGoldrick March 12, 2012 Father of Christopher McGoldrick ’90 Elizabeth L. Miller March 18, 2002 Mother of Daniel Miller ’15 Roy Ericson Norcross Dec. 1, 2011 Kingswood and Kingswood Oxford faculty member, 1956-1993 Father of Elizabeth Norcross Madden ’78 and Roy Norcross ’80

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IN MEMORIAM James D. Okie Jr. Dec. 27, 2011 Father of Jason Okie ’89 James O’Rourke Oct. 29, 2011 Father of Carol O’Rourke Troiani ’75, Elizabeth O’Rourke Doyle ’77 and Margaret O’Rourke Nowak ’81 Richard Hazard Phillips ’50 Aug. 3, 2011 Husband of Emily Hall Phillips ’52, brother of Marion Phillips Campbell ’46, brother-in-law of Barbara Hall Gibbs ’48, uncle of Gretchen Hall ’83, great-uncle of Payton Krupp ’15 Eileen Price Dec. 25, 2011 Mother of Courtney Price Oroszko ’99 and Ben Price ’03 W. Gordon Rockwell ’48 Oct. 16, 2012 James Rogers ’75 March 13, 2012 Nephew of Culver Modisette ’43, cousin of Christopher Modisette ’70, Peter Modisette ’75 and Andrea Modisette Slominski ’76 The Rev. Graham Thurston Rowley ’50 Feb. 1, 2012 Brother of David Rowley ’48 and Phyllis Chapman Fenander ’57

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Mary Thomson Russell ’76 March 21, 2012 Sister of William Thomson ’71, niece of Jean Thomson Sargent ’36, aunt of William Thomson ’03 and Lindsay Thomson ’06, cousin of Anne Sargent Lewchik ’74

Douglas “Fritz” Swinehart Jan. 1, 2012 Father of Betsy Swinehart Riel ’58

Thomas Senf ’58 April 6, 2012

Marie-Louise von Pechmann Trainer Jan. 19, 2012 Former trustee of Oxford, mother of David C. Trainer ’65, Robert W. Trainer ’67 and Virginia Trainer Lockman ’70, grandmother of Susan Trainer Russell ’88 Please see page 58.

Lewis S. Sheketoff Jan. 21, 2012 Father of Chuck Sheketoff ’73, brother of Gilda Sheketoff Brock ’52, uncle of Elizabeth Gersten Osta ’72, Sandra Gersten Blinn ’73 and Richard Gersten ’77 Tonia Carvalho Slifer ’58 April 4, 2012 Sister of Wendy Carvalho Johnson ’61 and Leslie Carvalho Barlow ’63 Randi Sigmund Smith Feb. 6, 2012 Mother of Robin Smith ’85 and Randi Smith Bessette ’87 Joan Dunbar Wood Swain March 13, 2012 Mother of Virginia Swain Baratta ’61, Barbara Swain ’64 and Wendy Swain ’68

David Grote Thornton ’42 Oct. 13, 2011

Bernice Perlstein Waldman Jan. 6, 2012 Mother of Keith Waldman ’75, grandmother of Marisa Pearlman Lerner ’91, Lindsay Pearlman ’93, Zoe Waldman ’12, Emma Waldman ’14 and Benjamin Waldman ’17 Frederick Davis Watkins Jr. Oct. 16, 2011 Former trustee and board chair of Kingswood and Kingswood Oxford, former trustee emeritus of Kingswood Oxford, father of Frederick Watkins III ’72 and Elsie Watkins Patrick ’72 Please see page 59.

William J. “Bill” Wholean ’47 Jan. 14, 2012 Helen Huntington Rarey Wyckoff ’38 March 31, 2012 Sister of Ralph Rarey ’42, great-aunt of Eloise Rarey ’02 and Jack Rarey ’06


Richard Mahoney ‘54 By Anne Mahoney Hayes ’82

Richard Mahoney ‘54

When my father died at 75 following a stroke on Nov. 8, 2011, we had trouble believing it. He had recently returned from a much-anticipated golf trip to Scotland with my mother, Verne Mahoney. They spent almost a month, walking all of the courses that my dad loved, including his favorite, Royal Dornoch. While we struggle with the suddenness of his passing, we love knowing that he had that time to do what he enjoyed the most with the person he loved most before he died. My brothers, Daniel Mahoney ’80 and Michael Mahoney ’81, and I spoke at my father’s service, describing what he meant to us and to others:

TRIBUTES

Danny: For me, he was my Dad, my mentor, my boss and my friend. He taught me about character, reputation, what it really meant to give my word, and about who and what I wished to become. He taught me the delightful game of golf, with many hours spent down at the old practice hole. Early in life, he taught me how important it was to have a good, solid work ethic and that whatever it was that I chose to do with my life, I should do it to the best of my ability. … Thanks, Dad, you helped me grow into the man you knew I could become.

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Michael: Dad, you were awesome – my friend, my father, my cheerleader, my business partner, our rock. In the days since you left this world, we have heard from many. … I wonder if you have any idea of the influence you had as you walked through this world. … You were a kind, caring soul with a tender heart … who taught all of us how to be charitable. You were an incredibly intelligent man, a loyal husband, father, grandfather and friend … a man of his word, tough, but fair in all situations … a fearless putter, with an unparalleled short game. You were our gift from God – we all understood that we had hit the jackpot.

Anne: My father taught me about love, encouragement and kindness to others. I cannot remember a time when I didn’t feel completely loved by my father. … I knew from a very early age that he believed I could do whatever I wanted to do in this life. … He was always there supporting me and giving me whatever help I needed to achieve my dreams. … So many people have reached out to us to tell us how much my father meant to them, how helpful and supportive he was when they were struggling and, most of all, how kind he was. … Dad taught us what marriage should be. He loved my mother with all his heart, and their love was evident to all who knew them … my mother has told me of many people who said that they knew how much my parents loved each other just by watching them together, holding hands, laughing, receiving communion side by side … what a wonderful example they were to all of us. He loved his family and friends, he loved golf and he loved West Hartford, where he lived for nearly all of his life. After graduating from Kingswood as his class’ most promising student, he went on to Dartmouth College where he got a joint B.A./M.B.A. in five years. A year after graduation, he returned to West Hartford to work for the next 50 years in the family business, started by his father, where my brothers work today. In a Hartford Courant article written about my dad, he was described as “Mr. West Hartford Center” for his work in “pushing many of the changes that have transformed the town center into the vibrant mix of retail, restaurant and offices that it is today.” Many of the merchants he worked with have told us how much they will miss him and his ability to build consensus to achieve his vision. In closing, I think my brother Michael’s words say it best, “Dad, you have to know we loved you with all our hearts, and we will miss you every day that we walk this world without you. … God bless.” KO 57


Marie-Louise von Pechmann Trainer By Robert Trainer ’67 Marie-Louise von Pechmann Trainer, 91, died on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. She had been a resident of Duncaster and the Caleb Hitchcock Health Center for the past several years and had lived in West Hartford before that for more than 60 years. She was the widow of Crampton Trainer, who died in 2002.

Marie-Louise von Pechmann Trainer

Marie-Louise was a trustee of Oxford School at the time of its merger with Kingswood School in 1969. All three of her children attended Kingswood and Oxford: David graduated from Kingswood in 1965, Bob graduated from Kingswood in 1967 and Ginny graduated in 1970 in the first class after the merger. Bob’s daughter Susan also attended Kingswood Oxford and graduated in 1988. Born and raised in Staten Island, N.Y., MarieLouise was the daughter of Baron Ludwig von Pechmann and Elsa von Pechmann Perrin. She attended the Knox School and Mount Holyoke College.

TRIBUTES

She always regretted that she was forced to withdraw from Mount Holyoke without a degree when she got married, because in those distant days married students were not allowed. This may have been one of the reasons she supported the Kingswood Oxford merger, because it put males and females squarely on an equal academic footing.

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Her interest in education started with children at the very earliest ages. She read constantly to her own children, and when they outgrew it, she volunteered at The Children’s Museum in West Hartford and for many years read and taught reading to other little children. She was smart and bright and literate, and she knew the value of a good education. That’s why she would be very pleased to be remembered by this article in KO Magazine. She was a devoted wife and mother. She also volunteered at the Mitchell House of Hartford Neighborhood Centers and Meals-on-Wheels. She was a longtime member of the First Church of Christ Congregational in West Hartford, the Hartford Golf Club and the Town and County Club in Hartford. Tony and Marie-Louise Trainer were summer residents of Cape May, N.J., for more than 50 years. She was a terrific wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, neighbor and friend. She cared about her family and her friends and was genuinely one of the most cheerful people with a positive attitude and an amazing enthusiasm for life. KO


Frederick Davis Watkins Jr. From Rick Watkins ’71: My father was blessed with the good fortune to have a long life, one that was accomplished, fulfilling and successful by most any definition, both personally and professionally.

Frederick Davis Watkins Jr.

My father was an exceptionally dedicated family man, and his devotion to my sisters and me, and especially to his wife and our mother, Kitty, was resolute. He was an accomplished bird hunter, fly fisherman and tennis player. He also loved to travel and did so extensively with Mom. Dad was an influential figure in the property and casualty insurance industry for nearly half a century. He worked for Aetna Insurance Co. for 43 years, serving as company president for the last 13 years prior to his retirement in 1979. In both his personal and professional life, Dad was known for his rapier sharp mind, engaging southern style, unwavering ethical code and calm demeanor, all of which enabled him to be as comfortable in his living room entertaining guests as he was in a boardroom, or in his waders casting for an elusive quarry. Throughout his life, Dad was a principled yet practical change agent: •

ko Ss u m m e r 2 0 1 2

When he was a draftee and private in the U.S. Army during World War II, his application to Officer Candidate School (OCS) was denied in 1942 because of bad eyesight. Against the advice of superiors Dad petitioned the Army hierarchy, arguing that the eyesight rule limited the talent available to the Army at a time when talent was needed most. His petition was kicked up the chain of command and eventually found the sympathetic ear of Gen. Charles P. Hall, who agreed with Dad’s reasoning, and the rule was changed. Dad was admitted to OCS, became an aide to Gen. Hall, and was honorably discharged after the end of the war with the rank of major. Today, Army men and women with correctable eyesight are readily accepted into OCS.

During his career in the insurance industry, Dad championed the early adoption of package policies, no-fault insurance and product liability legislative reform, all of which benefited the insurance consumer. As an executive, and eager to effect change on the industry level, he served as board chairman or trustee of several industry organizations. •

Dad actively served on the board of trustees of Kingswood School and Kingswood Oxford School for 22 years, and he chaired the board from 1971 to 1974 when the merger of Kingswood School and Oxford School was finalized. •

Dad was totally dedicated to people, causes and institutions that interested him; he evidenced his commitment by action and continued contribution. His commitment to Kingswood Oxford was no exception. He believed in the School, what it stands for, its faculty and the opportunities it affords its students. Both Dad and Mom valued highly the relationships they developed with many in the KO community; of special note was their friendship with Dotsy and Bob Lazear (headmaster of Kingswood and KO from 1967 to 1986). For comments from James B. Lyon ’48, please see page 36. KO

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LEAVE A LEGACY AT KINGSWOOD OXFORD SCHOOL Naming Kingswood Oxford School in your will or trust is an easy way to make a difference. It doesn’t affect your current cash flow or assets, and it’s easy to revise if your circumstances change. It also may save you estate taxes later. Best of all, you have the satisfaction of knowing your gift will live on and make a difference in the lives of future generations.

For more information about KO’s planned giving society, the Nicholson Martin Circle, please contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at 860-727-5011 or talk with your attorney.

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board of trustees Katherine Keegan Antle ’96 Dennis Bisgaard P ’16, Head of School Jessica Hild Collins ’91, Head’s Advisory Council President Pamela J. Dowling ’78, P ’08 Laura Estes P ’98 Frederick S. Farquhar ’59, P ’83, ’86 Christopher G. Gent P ’03, ’08 Carolyn Wolfe Gitlin ’85, P ’11, ’13, ’17, Parent Association President Marilyn Glover P ’05, ’07, ’11, Secretary Cheryl Grisé P ’99, ’02 Stephen B. Hazard P ’89, ’92 I. Bradley Hoffman ’78, Vice Chair Timothy A. Holt P ’99, ’02, ’07 Baxter H. Maffett ’68, P ’02, ’06, Vice Chair Bruce A. Mandell ’82 Mark Paley P ’07, ’09, ’11, ’14 Francis P. Pandolfi ’61 Michael J. Reilly P ’04, ’08 Avery Rockefeller III P ’00, ’02, Chair Paul F. Romano P ’06, ’08, ’11 Marc T. Shafer ’75, P ’08, ’15, ’17 Alden Y. Warner III ’76, Treasurer R. Ashley Washburn P ’08, ’10, ’12, ’15 Paula Whitney P ’02, ’04, ’06, ’07

trustees emeriti Sherry Banks-Cohn ’54, P ’78, ’82 Thomas J. Collamore ’77 Allen V. Collins P ’75, ’79, ’82, ’88 Richard S. Cuda P ’79, ’80 George L. Estes III ’67, P ’98 Karen K. Gifford ’62 William H. Goldfarb ’64 J. Gregory Hickey Sr. ’47, P ’73, ’75, GP ’04 Alyce F. Hild P ’80, ’82, ’91, GP ’07, ’11, ’14 Lance L. Knox ’62 Eileen S. Kraus P ’84, ’95 Thomas D. Lips P ’93 James B. Lyon ’48 E. Merritt McDonough ’51, P ’79, ’81 Agnes S. Peelle P ’01, ’03 Anne Rudder P ’68 Peter G. Russell ’44, P ’77, ’80, ’82 John A.T. Wilson ’56, P ’84, ’86 Martin Wolman P ’80, ’82, ’84, ’88

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following in the footsteps New graduates gather with their alumni parents and grandparents. Front row: Mary Shimkus ’12 and Charles Shimkus ’78, P ’12, ’14 (behind); Samantha Udolf ’12 and Robert Udolf ’79, P ’12, ’14, ’16 (behind); Emma Brennan ’12 and Susan Safford Andrews ’54, GP ’12; Keith Waldman ’75 P ’12, ’14, ’17 and Zoe Waldman ’12; second row, middle: Robert Roth ’78, P ’12, ’14 and Alexander Roth ’12; Nicole Wetsman ’12 and Lori Satell Wetsman ’85, P ’12, ’15 (behind); Bridget Stack ’12 and William Stack ’72, P ’ 07, ’11, ’12 (behind); back row: Henry “Zac” Zaccardi ’12 and Henry J. Zaccardi ’74, P ’10, ’12; not pictured: Benjamin Washburn ’12 and Elenor Coburn Smith ’51 and Laurence Smith ’45, GP ’08, ’10, ’12, ’15, ’18 and Barbara Unsworth Washburn ’53, GP ’08, ’10, ’12, ’15


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