class notes

1956

Reporter: If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’56 reporter, please contact alumni@rhodes.edu.

1957

Reporter: Mary Frances Files Silitch silitch@gmail.com

1958 65th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

September 29 – 30, 2023

Dear members of the Class of ’58, I am so sad to share the news that your trusty class reporter, Lorraine Abernathy, passed away on April 18. Lorraine faithfully served as your reporter for more than 20 years, working tirelessly to keep you connected to one another and to our alma mater. She will be sorely missed by her family (daughter Allison is a member of the Class of ’87), friends, classmates, and me.

Tracy Vezina Patterson ’84, P’22 Senior Director of Alumni Relations

Robert Neil Templeton writes that, as always, he’s looking forward to what classmates write in Class Notes. “By the time that the fall issue of Rhodes Magazine is published, Karen and I will have completed our trip to Scotland and England. We leave in April and I’m sure we’ll have a terrific time.” He and Karen live in Virginia Beach and are involved with children and grandchildren’s sports, graduations, etc.

From Memphis, Betty Chalmers Peyton reports that she and Beth Lemaster Simpson “are alive and kickin’ . . . not high, but kickin.’” [You may notice that phrase appearing a lot since we ask classmates to let us know whether they’re “alive and kickin’” even if they have little to share.] Betty said that she and Beth still try to get together at a local pub once a week for a meal—“no hookups . . . gray hair may be a factor.” Betty recently had lunch with Lynda Graham McCarty, who she says is doing great and living in Black Mountain, NC.

Also from Memphis, we hear from Mike Cody that he has had the good fortune of having two new great-grandchildren: a little boy born in 2020 and a little girl born in 2023. We heard from John Quinn, in Memphis on a visit from D.C., that he and Mike had a nice, nostalgic visit. John was in Memphis to have a meeting and have breakfast with Rhodes President Jennifer Collins and Vice President of Development Jenna Goodloe Wade. He presented her with two books he had received from Dr. Charles Diehl decades ago, one of which is about the value and importance of a liberal arts education. As he aged, Dr. Diehl lost his eyesight, and John used to read the Sunday NYTimes to him. It was interesting, John said, to hear President Collins’s perspective on the subject of the value and importance to the “good life” of a liberal arts education that Rhodes continues to provide for students.

Lewis Murray, somewhere between his apartment in Rome and home in Chevy Chase, MD, wrote that he and his wife, Giorgina, have found the benefits of approximately 45 minutes of exercise daily with their “personal trainer guru, on Zoom since COVID, makes all the difference.” Lewis writes in all caps, “REALLY WORKS . . . KEEP MOVING, ALL OF YOU!” Lewis is looking forward to our 65th reunion in September.

Speaking of health, John Gay passes along this little ditty from south Texas: “My legs are weak/My mind is sturdy/I’m in my eighties/ But feel like thirty.”

Traveling again are Dickie Jones and his wife, Joan, from home in San Diego. Enjoying cruises, the Joneses took one round trip from Boston to Quebec in October of 2022. ey had gone to Quebec on their honeymoon exactly 60 years before. ey enjoyed the city but said they were not as spry as 60 years ago. ey spent anksgiving with their daughter and family in Spartanburg, SC. Dickie just renewed his CA appraiser’s license for another two years: “It pays to be optimistic.”

Nancy Carter Burnidge, in Elgin, IL, writes that she went to Golden, CO, for a granddaughter’s birthday. Gratefully “still alive and kickin’,” she said that the best book she’s reading right now is e Firebrand and the First Lady, about the amazing Pauli Murray, a hero of a woman, and Eleanor Roosevelt, also a hero. “I’m looking forward to hearing from everyone for the 65th time. Unbelievable!”

“So happy to hear that so many of our classmates are alive and kickin’” is Beverly Smith Pugh in Paducah, KY. She hopes all of us continue to stay safe and well and wishes us “Happy spring.”

Mary Jane Smalley Roberts sends word from

Charleston, SC, that travel, cut back during COVID, has not really resumed for her and husband Paul. He has a milestone birthday coming up in March, and the Robertses will be hosting their son and daughter-in-law from NJ for the event. ey have plans to go to the symphony to hear “a fabulous pianist playing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1, Op. 23, led by a female conductor. Not bad!”

We hear from Milton Knowlton in Memphis that things are going well for him and his wife, Mary JoyPrichard ’61. Milton will celebrate his 62nd year in the financial services industry on April 1. He is now Agent Emeritus with Mass Mutual Financial group and still goes in almost every day.

Paul ompson writes from Cape Cod, MA, “After a harrowing time in the hospital in mid-January and then rehab for newly diagnosed congestive heart failure and major back pain, I am home and doing pretty well. Looking forward to a resolution of the problems and the coming of spring!” Paul and his wife, Bunny, are enjoying their children and grandchildren and eagerly awaiting Red Sox baseball season, as well as gardening days. Always seeming to have projects going, Tom Reed in Richmond, KY, explains some of his main ones: 1) to continue building on the book Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation at Starts in Your Yard; 2) to continue studying how the January 6, 2021, insurrection metastasized and increasingly undermines the quality of our national and international security and individual wellbeing; 3) to study scientific evidence in the book Dr. Colbert’s Healthy Gut, which gave him a much better understanding of the movement away from pills and towards the daily consumption of fiber, probiotics, prebiotics, polyphenols, and resistant starches.

1959

Reporter: Dan Logan danlogan318@gmail.com

I have just started this challenge of trying to fill in for Shiney Jackson as our class reporter, who did a wonderful job for many years! I hope that many of you will contact me with news about fun trips, grandchildren, volunteer activities, or changes of address. We are all interested in our former classmates! Email me at danlogan318@gmail.com or you can call my cell phone at 318-464-4403. Put my number in your cell phone so you will know that it is me calling and not some telemarketer! If you prefer mail, you can write me at P. O. Box 159, Gilliam, LA 71029. Yes, I am still on the farm! I oversee the cotton gin while my son and grandson run the farming operation. We grow cotton, corn, and soybeans. I also stay active fishing on local lakes and the gulf coast. I have three children and seven grandchildren.

Keith and Nora Petersen Buckley report very cold weather in St. Paul, MN. They had three feet of snow in their front yard and are happy to be healthy! Keith is a retired psychologist.

June Davidson retired from Schering Plough in Memphis. He is currently the President of the Memphis Horticulturist Society. He has four grandchildren that are age ten and under; he is busy!

I heard from Charles and Merelyn Davis Hammett in North Chesterfield, VA. Charles is retired and both he and his wife are doing well. Larry and Day Kennon reported that they are planning one more trip – I hope we get a report on their travels!

1960

Reporter: Mary Crouch Rawson marycrawson@hotmail.com

Gary Don Wright writes: “a ‘hello’ from down in warm Panama! I am with my wife, Micheline (Mimi), visiting her sister and brother-inlaw for some weeks. They live out in the mild (and a bit wild, especially warmer) boonies, so it is a different atmosphere from our usual habitat in the currently wintry suburbs of Paris. I am eating quite well and enjoying the fine weather.” Gary sends best wishes to his old friends at Southwestern (Rhodes).

Carolyn Shettlesworth McClurkan writes: “I guess my biggest news is that I’m still alive and well! I have a new grandson (17 months old). He is a grand, not great-grand! My traveling days are about over—no more countries to add to my list of 143! My traveling is limited to my timeshare in Puerto Vallarta and to my kids, who all live in different sections of the USA. If anyone is coming to Seattle, let me know!”

Lynda Wexler writes she is expecting her 6th great-grandchild, a girl, this summer. Son Hal Patton ’83, a Rhodes graduate, and wife, Claire, are wonderful grandparents for all. Daughter

Avery ’86 and Will Albritton ’86 moved from Germantown to Fairview, TN, last summer to be near their two daughters and a son-in-law. Lynda sends blessings to all classmates!

Wishing best of luck to all the Rhodes Community! I took this photo above from my lakeside yard. Look at the left-hand top corner. It was a full and double rainbow! Mary Crouch Rawson ’60

1961

Reporter: Harvey Jenkins whjenkinsjr@gmail.com

From your Class Reporter, Harvey Jenkins: Since retiring in 2004, I have bought, shown, and sold three 1950s Studebakers, a 2003 Jaguar, and a 1970 Samco Cord. I am currently on the lookout for another classic car—a 1960s Studebaker Avanti or 1990s Jaguar XJS convertible. A word of advice: don’t collect cars as an investment.

Margaret Hagler Davis lives in Fairhope, AL, having retired from teaching literature at Spring Hill College in Mobile. She keeps busy with volunteer work in church and community, as well as traveling with her sister Carolyn “Bunky” Hagler Ikenberry ’62. She recently visited with Rhodes friends Jean

“Shiny” Jackson ’59 and Marcia Wooten Barstow

Harvey Heidelberg has moved 11 times in 15 years and keeps busy doing tax returns. He lives with his daughter and her spouse, two grandkids, and several felines in Germantown, TN. Harvey writes, “It’s hard to share a bathroom with cats.”

Additionally, I heard from my former roommate Bill Howard and from Mary Elizabeth McCharen Streete, who continues to live in Memphis.

1962

Reporter: Diane McCullough Clark granddiva@charter.net

Charles and Martha Ann Gooch Hogrefe wrote: “We just returned from a trip to visit our daughter in Punta Gorda, FL. A happy addition to our itinerary was a stop to visit with Sarah Richards High in Mt. Dora. It was wonderful to see her again after so many years.”

A note from Jocelyn Dan Wurzburg says that she is grieving the death last summer of her life partner of 40 years, Robert L. Bostwick, Jr. She recollects how much Bobby enjoyed meeting her classmates and going on a trip to France that included classmate Lynn

Finch. Jocelyn had her second knee replacement surgery in December.

Bill Davidson writes that he and Sharon continue their research on Ceiba pentandra in cultural context, so they will probably head for Puerto Rico next. Ceiba is the national tree of Puerto Rico, and they expect to find many planted in parks, educational institutions, and old haciendas.

Bill and Mary Beth Mankin were driving to San Antonio to visit daughter Emily when they both developed COVID and had to beat a hasty retreat; fortunately, the cases were very mild. Bill has started serving on the Leadership Council of Pine Street Church in Boulder.

Diane McCullough Clark is recovering well from her Jan. 4 hip replacement surgery and is excited to conduct the premiere of her SATB anthem Breathe on Me, Breath of God at the Traverse City MI, Central United Methodist Church on March 19.

1963 60th Reunion

Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

September 29 - 30, 2023

Reporter: Dan Gilchrist dangil4@bellsouth.net

1964

Reporter: Mary Lou Quinn McMillan maryloumc1@comcast.net

From your Class Reporter: As I gather the greetings from our classmates and think of the friendships developed and shared across the years, these words from another more recent friend, Stephen Cherry, come to mind: “Here comes laughter, fanning flames of fun, warming souls, melting brittle-boned boundaries, while wining and one-ing us for good.

Let laughter my companion be, and let it make of us a company of friends.”

Lee and Ann Autry Brown wrote of two delightful visits shared with Charles and Peggy Jernigan in Albuquerque over the last six months due to the Jernigan’s attendance at two performances of Opera Southwest: Bertin’s La Loup Garou in September and Rossini’s Le

Comte Ory in February. These were the first opportunities the long-time friends had to visit since the beginning of the pandemic. The Jernigans stayed at guest quarters just down the hall from the Browns’ new apartment at La Vida Llena, a continuing care retirement center.

Hayden Kayden reports, “Bonnie and I are doing about as well as can be expected at our age and station in life. We are still living half the year in our home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and half the year in Gustavus, Alaska. We celebrated my 80th in November with 25 friends by renting a hotel on the beach south of Zihuatanejo. Friends came from Alaska, California, New Mexico, and San Miguel. We were able to take all the hotel rooms and the six bungalows on the property for a sun- and fun-filled week. It came with a fabulous chef and an on-site masseuse and 25 old-timers wanting to party like aging rock stars. We proudly have two grandsons— Hayden (15) and Asher (11)—who live with their parents, Sierra, our daughter, and her husband, Carlos, in Haines, AK. Hayden has been working summers since he was 13 on a crab boat in northern Southeast Alaska. This coming summer he has been offered a job on a boat in Bristol Bay, AK, fishing for sockeye (red) salmon. He is a very hard working and independent kind of guy, makes great grades in school, does extreme skiing on skis that he spent a year making by hand, came in second and third in state wrestling his freshman and sophomore years in high school, and the bragging list goes on and on. Asher loves playing the violin/fiddle and reading and camping. He was his brother’s sparring partner in wrestling around the house and he has now joined the middle school wrestling team, despite being in 5th grade. He got a special dispensation from the school district and is on the travelling wrestling team. His first match in Ketchikan got weathered out because the planes couldn’t fly, a common occurrence in Alaska, but his second match was accessible by ferry to Skagway where he was undefeated. Hayden accompanied him as his personal coach and trainer while their parents made a getaway to their cabin on a lake near the Canadian border outside of Haines. Our plans for the summer are no plans. Well, we do have some friends coming in June, we think, to go halibut fishing with us on our boat and perhaps spending four or five nights with John Kibbons ’64 at his summer home on Lemesurier Island, which is about 15 miles by ocean from where our home is. Other than that, there is maintaining our wooden buildings in the rainforest of SE Alaska, raising a fairly hefty vegetable garden, and mowing several acres of lawn. I don’t know if anyone has experienced this same phenomenon, but I really love mowing acres on my John Deere lawn tractor but I hated with a passion in my teens mowing our small suburban family yard with a push mower.”

Linda Walter wrote to share her new email address: lindawalter@comcast.net and announce that she has finally retired. Congratulations, Linda! May you experience a well-deserved rest.

Patricia “Trish” Gladney Holland is doing well and enjoying working on her next book, Memorable Moments, which she hopes to have in the mail by St. Patrick’s Day. Her granddaughter Sofia Freed ’25 is a sophomore at Rhodes majoring in French.

From Jim Bullock we hear, “We did not evacuate for tropical storm Ian, but at 8:00 a.m. at high tide we watched it hit our sea wall and the waves splashed onto our second story window. It only took our steps down from the sea wall to the beach. But it did take our highway three miles north and a mile south. So we are getting serious about going to higher ground at some time. I continue my mentoring and Ervin ’66 continues working for Compassion at St. Augustine, pushing for housing for those who have lower income, but cannot afford housing as it presently exists. She has also worked in strengthening Epicure (a food program that takes food that might be thrown away and brings it to food deserts across our county.) She also just started again an interfaith youth group. We are planning this year to visit one of our grandsons in Alaska. He is 25 and has become a captain of a fishing boat. So life rolls on. Many adventures yet to come.”

That’s it, folks! Stay healthy and stay in touch!

1965

Reporter: Mary McQueen Porter 2harps1dog@gmail.com

1966

Reporter:

Sammy Ann Primm Marshall sammyannmarshall@gmail.com

Ray Bye writes that he and Kathy enjoyed having their daughter, Ellie, and her family with them for Christmas and to help celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. They are enjoying playing golf and have three trips planned for this year. They will be traveling in Turkey for a few weeks in April and then going on a cruise around the British Isles in June and winding up with a trip to the beach with their children and grandchildren.

Joyce Malone Wilding continues to stay busy, and reports, “For the last few years I have studied conditions of Indigenous people, with special attention about Indigenous people who were and are key leaders in Tennessee. They helped eliminate Columbus Day focus and host Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Nashville. I work with Albert Bender, a dynamic Cherokee Indian leader who plans and promotes events that ensure that ‘Indigenous nations keep rising!’”

1967

Reporter: Sam Highsmith arpenguy@me.com

1968

55th Reunion

Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

September 29 – 30, 2023

Reporter: Drue Thom White drueboo@aol.com

From David Lehman: “Ken and I have been blessed to have remained healthy throughout the COVID pandemic. We are feeling comfortable back on the subways and at concerts, the opera, and the theater. We have also begun to travel. We celebrate Ken’s 75th and our 40th later this month in our happy place, Stonington, CT. In May, we are in Jackson, TN, to celebrate a great niece’s high school graduation. Later that month we leave for a month on two favorite Greek islands, Rhodes and Symi. In July, we are in Munich for a Lehmann family reunion that has been postponed for the past three years. In September, we spend a month in our favorite Tuscan hilltown, Montepulciano. We are making up for lost time and expending pent-up travel energy.”

From Jane Bishop: “I still live happily in

Montpelier, VT, with my son and his wife and their teenagers a few blocks nearby. I am finally fully retired—plenty of time to read, to keep learning, and to reminisce and write a little for fun and for family posterity. I continue to appreciate Rhodes for help in becoming a lifelong learner. I grew up in Brownsville, TN, with four grandparents, 19 aunts and uncles and their spouses, and 50 first cousins nearby—so there is much to recall given time and distance. I also had a robust career that my Vermont children know little about and hardly believe. I’m hearing from John and Jo Matthews Pine but have lost contact with Bonnie, Tracy, Jinger, Anne . . . except in wonderful memories.”

From Jim and Peggy Early Williamson: “After some 50 years in Memphis, we are moving to our cottage in the mountains of North Carolina.”

Louis Pounders, FAIA, was one of 10 leaders in architecture recently named to the International Architizer A+Awards Jury. The jury is comprised of thought leaders in architecture from every continent who will select this year’s award winners from all over the globe.

1969

Reporter: LouAnne Crawford Cooper louanne@me.com

Huge thanks to each of you who took the time to report in—you are all so interesting, and we know the resource of time is so valuable!

From Lynda Alexander: “It seems like yesterday when we all were just kids listening to The Beatles and hanging out in the Lynx Lair. Here’s my update, 50 some-odd years later . . .

I’m still a church musician, director of choirs (singing and handbells) and organist; still teaching therapeutic yoga and have been since 2008. My husband, Keith, and I married in 1995 and traveled extensively until the pandemic. We have four children between us and two grandchildren. It’s definitely been a grand adventure. I hope to continue in my “un-retirement,” tasting the world in every moment and sharing all that I find. My motto: Be alive to what is out there, to life around you! Don’t miss a thing!!! With love and deep affection for all my fellow classmates.”

Linda Harrell Blair writes: “I was surprised in a recent issue of class news to see how many classmates had visited Asheville, NC, recently. I’ve lived in Asheville for 30 years now, since I was able to retire early from IBM. Once I left IBM, I’ve worked part-time sewing for an artist, worked in a first-class fabric store, volunteered and worked for our local NPR station, and volunteered with my church and the Southern Highland Craft Guild. I also travelled on several Road Scholar tours to England, Spain, France, and Scandinavia, pretty well checking off my travel bucket list. I moved in late 2021 to a CCRC in south Asheville and am loving no longer being responsible for a house. In the small world of Rhodes and Asheville, my upstairs neighbors are good friends with John and Eleanor Rosson Kennedy and Linda Henson ’70, who was a year behind us; another neighbor was a law partner of the late Russell Stanton; and a third neighbor’s son went to Rhodes in the late 80s. That’s all in a building of 35 apartments!” we got outpriced in Brooklyn about 12 years ago—so we are fortunate to still be able to follow our respective muses even today. Since 2002, the main focus of my work has been an ongoing series of River Fugues projects exploring the interdependency of people, industry, and rivers. My work will be included in an exhibition titled This Earth at the Concord Center for the Visual Arts (Concord, MA) for artists who were awarded residencies at the Montello Foundation in the Great Basin of Nevada in 2022. Please visit or contact me through: www.margaretcogswell.net.”

“

Unsettling into Dusk is from a series of drawings/paintings titled Transcending Loss created finally built our house in 2003-04. I would drive Susan and the dogs out in May, would fly back and forth from Memphis when I could, and drive her back in October. We’d come out when we could in the winter and loved that change from Memphis. I retired from my law firm late in 2015, gave up my Tennessee law license, but kept my Montana license. My only legal work up here is for the Episcopal Diocese of Montana; I had been the lawyer for the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee for 12 years before. Susan and I love Montana, and we’ve developed good friendships here. We are southeast of Bozeman about 5 miles, in a unique group

Mickey Brigance says: “The photo is of my two favorite blondes—Patty and Bentley. I have officially retired as of the end of the year but continue association with the company I founded via consulting agreement. I am enjoying the best of both worlds. Patty and I continue to be very active with family and golfing.”

And from Margaret “Peggy” Cogswell-Kolb: “I know I have been ‘MIA’ for over 50 years— life does take over as I’m sure you all know for yourselves as well. Recent ‘news’ includes moving upstate to our place in the Catskills (with my husband of 39 years—Terry Kolb) after living in NYC just about since I graduated from what will always be for me Southwestern!! Both Terry and I are artists, though his focus is on woodworking and custom furniture, while I am a mixed-media installation artist. We built our studios upstate when in February 2022. Painted not long after my father’s death, during the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and amidst the increasingly dire global climate reports, these works seek to grapple with grief and overwhelming loss. Listening to Berlioz’s Requiem Mass while painting inspired me to harness that grief and use it to create a body of work exploring defiant landscapes.”

Ken Cushing and his wife, Rachel, are visiting Boston in May 2023 with their daughter, Jennifer Bares, and her husband, Chandler. “Dr. Jenn Bares is finishing her residency in dermatology at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City. We plan to visit John and Shirley McClanahan Zachry in Chelmsford, MA, while we are up there. John was my roommate at Rhodes in Ellett Hall our junior and senior years.”

From Brad and Susan Hoefer Foster we hear: “Greetings from nice and snowy Montana! Susan and I have been here full time since 2015, and still love the variety of our surroundings and the climate. We had been coming out to Montana since 1989 and of homes called Eagle Rock Reserve (ERR), about a thousand acres with hay, farming, and cattle. We hike in the warmer weather and snowshoe or cross-country ski in the winter (but less of the more rigorous stuff as age continues—happily!). Susan is on the Board of Yellowstone Public Radio, and I am now Senior Warden of St. James Episcopal Church here in Bozeman. Both of our children, Laura and Charley, are back in Memphis, happily married, and we have two grandboys of Laura and her husband, Josh. Charley’s wife, Whitney, is with the international part of St. Jude’s, and handled a good bit of the moving children with childhood cancer out of Ukraine to other hospitals. Charley is with TD Capital, an investment firm. Laura is an Episcopal priest at Grace-St. Luke’s church, and Josh is an educational specialist with Slingshot Memphis, a nonprofit. We get back fairly often to Memphis, and travel when we can, but COVID has kept that to a minimum. We still go for a week to Cumberland Island off the Georgia coast and love our time there with our whole family and the chance to be with Ken and Barbara

Stanley, who are in Fernandina Beach, FL. Ken and Barbara ended up as Deans of two different schools of Valdosta State University, but retired in Fernandina Beach. We count ourselves blessed, and life has been so good to us. Who would have thought that two Southerners like Susan and I with few mountains in our past and warm weather in our blood would wind up in Montana??!! If any classmates are in our neighborhood (Yellowstone is less than an hour and a half away), then get in touch.”

From another Class of ’69 couple, Bill and Stephanie Norowski Harris: “Acquaintances at Southwestern who met again after 20-plus years, fell in love, got married, and will be celebrating our 29th wedding anniversary in 2023. Just as happy today as the day we got married! Four children, six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild! Three generations of our family have attended Southwestern/Rhodes, with our grandson graduating in 2023! We are so thankful for our life together. We have been truly blessed!”

Bill Hulett and his wife, Karen, check in with a picture and this note: “Karen and I are avid fans of Mississippi State baseball. Temp in mid 30s! Typical baseball weather in February in Mississippi.”

Claudia Oakes will be taking her first postCOVID trip in June, a cruise from Glasgow to Bergen, taking in Scotland’s west coast islands and Norway’s fjords. She is very privileged to have been included in the present-day section of the recently published book, Remarkable Women of Giles County (Tennessee). And no, no money changed hands for that recognition!

David Owen reports that he and his wife,

Carlene (an Ole Miss girl), celebrated their 50th Anniversary last fall by renewing their vows at their home in Louisville, KY, followed by a trip to Lake Como, Italy, and then a Viking Cruise on the Rhine River that began in Basel, Switzerland, and went north through France, Germany, and the Netherlands, ending in Amsterdam.

Judy Gordon Simpson tells us: “2022 was a very exciting year for me, as I was able to accomplish my most important bucket list item. Due to the kindness of a fellow Rhodes and ZTA friend and her husband, I was able to see the Grand Canyon! Martha Schulz Laurie Thomas and her husband, Champ, allowed me to meet and travel with them. We visited Ruth Duck at her home in Pilgrim Place in California and also saw the Hoover Dam and a bit of the Las Vegas strip.

Afterward, I was able to visit my ZTA big sister, Judy Owen ’68, in Ventura, CA. She was an excellent hostess. I lived in Germany in the 80s and have been up and down many states on the east coast, but added California, Utah, and Nevada to my list. l am retired in Daphne, AL (just across the bay from Mobile). I stay busy exercising, dancing, playing ukulele, and volunteering. My two children are doing well with their spouses and I have two grandchildren, 11 and almost 6. I recently visited with Morgan Bunch at a shape note singing that happens near me. His wife, Sue Brown Bunch, passed away last year and is missed. I stay involved with 12-step work due to the loss of my younger son 10 years ago.”

Rebecca Welton Sumlin says: “Sad news for me as I had a stroke recently, so now moving to independent living at a local retirement community here in Naples, FL. This is a HUGE life change for me, especially without my husband.”

Martha Schulz Thomas sends: “I often talk with Ruth Duck. She is not able to use her phone and it is disconnected. Fortunately, she has a helper who uses her phone to help her make calls. I asked Ruth about input for the newsletter, and she was thrilled to be included. Ruth would love to get cards and notes from her friends. If you would like to talk with her, include a phone number.

(Dr. Ruth Duck, 627 Leyden Ln, Claremont CA 91711-4236.) Looking forward to our next reunion!”

Bob Towery wrote this: “What a long, strange journey. By age 12, Bob Towery was operating a hot-metal press for his family’s newspaper in a small town tucked between Memphis and the Mississippi state line. Once a week, he descended into the purgatory of the paper’s deadline. He swore that he would never submit to the drudgeries of journalism.

“Harboring a vague conceit that he was a writer, he graduated in English from Rhodes College in 1969, adopting two weakly linked notions for his future that embraced his primary passions, “Hmm . . . I’ll become a racecar driver—that’s something you can write about.” The turbulence of the times abetted by his low draft number insisted otherwise. He headed off to the culture wars, wandering around Europe and England for a year before founding a commune in northwest Arkansas. At 26, back home in Memphis, he took the helm of his family’s newspaper and printing company. He expanded its scope by launching Memphis magazine. Over the following decade, it won more journalism and illustration awards than any other city magazine in the United States. It lost money faster than a dog can swallow bacon.

“In 1985, he established Towery Publishing. By the mid-90s, it had become the country’s largest publisher of city guides and released more than 150 coffee table books about North American cities. In 1999, Inc. Magazine named the company among America’s 25 best mid-sized tech companies. Towery holds a fourth-degree black belt in Taekwondo, is an open-ocean sailor, and achieved his early goal of becoming a racecar driver. He has sailed in two hurricanes and was one of three drivers who (together) won the 1998 North American GrandSport Team Championship for Mazda. He retired in 2020 from his role as Chief Instructor for ChinTrackDays, the country’s leading high-performance driver training organization.

“He lives in Memphis with his good wife and bad dog. He has two children and two grandchildren. He released his first novel, Magnolia Song, in the fall of 2022. A sequel is in the works.” (Sounds like an author to me! I’m going to get the book).

We heard from Jim Vardaman: “After graduate school in Japanese Studies and 42 years of teaching in Japanese universities, I retired from Waseda University in Tokyo, where I triedto explain America—particularly the South—to students and help them learn a highly complex foreign language. Since then, I have continued to publish books about American and Japanese culture and social issues while teaching adult education classes online. When we graduated, I would never have imagined that this would be my career path and my residence for half a century. Regards to all my classmates.”

And Randy Walker: “Good morning, I have one item of significance to report. In June 2021, I got married to the former Gail Barnett. Quite simply, I hope everyone is as happy as we are.”

John Walters writes: “Our world is still our granddaughters. Mocnhien loves her karate class, is bi-lingual, Vietnamese and English, and plays piano. She is seven. Ha-Anh is 4 and a singer and artist, and though she does not know English yet, she says the Lord’s Prayer daily in English at her Catholic pre-school. We plan to visit Vietnam again this year to see the family, this time for four weeks.“

Peggy Fritsch Woolley shares: “To my surprise, I am serving on the vestry for my Episcopal church and will be the Senior Warden this year. (That’s the congregational leader.) I also sit on a Racial Healing Commission of the diocese, and work with a national group called Showing Up for Racial Justice. I have great fun being with my nineyear-old grandson and will vacation with him and his parents to North Carolina in June. I’m looking forward to visiting with some Rhodes women in April! My spring flowers are popping up. I love reading Louise Penny’s Armand Gamache series. I’m looking forward to this new year.”

And Becky Wynn Weiler writes: “Just a note to say that the “cruisaholics” are at it again. Rick and I are in the middle of our fourth world cruise on Regent Seven Seas Mariner. It began in Miami on January 7 and will end in Barcelona on May 30. The big highlight for us will be our 4-day safari in South Africa. We have several more cruises booked in ’24 and ’25. When we’re not on the high seas, we’re still enjoying our home in Durango with the beautiful scenery and great weather. We’re hoping to see everyone at our next reunion next year!!”

1970

Reporter: If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’70 reporter, please contact alumni@rhodes.edu

1971

Reporter: If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’71 reporter, please contact alumni@rhodes.edu.

1972

Reporter: Robin McCain robin@slmr.com

1973 50th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend September 29 – 30, 2023

Reporter: Pamela McNeely Williams usafa2@sbcglobal.net

1974

Reporter: Wendlandt Hasselle jahlove2222@yahoo.com

From Parkes Casselbury: “For the past couple years I have been working on a butterfly garden with the help of my neighbor, who is a Master Gardener and has a certified butterfly garden. I’m focusing on Monarch butterflies, but I have several other breeds as well. I’m so fortunate to have hummingbirds and a multitude of songbirds. I have a wonderful sunroom with two walls that are totally sliding glass doors. They look out on a preserve. I enjoy working in the garden, but I particularly enjoy sitting in my sunroom and having breakfast and lunch and watching the birds and butterflies. Even though I’m retired, I still am involved with dog sitting and care of older neighbors who have no family locally. I’m the vice president of our HOA and stay busy with that. Last summer I swam every single day. I particularly enjoy going snorkeling. I’ve had a couple of nice trips where I’ve had a chance to snorkel new reefs in my life. I’ve been swimming the past month because it’s been so warm here in South Florida!!”

Robbie Evans graduated from the University of Mississippi School of Medicine in 1978. He subsequently “survived” an internship and residency in internal medicine at Vanderbilt. This was followed by a fellowship in endocrinology, where his research demonstrated the mechanism of action of GnRH agonist analogs in men. Following a chief residency in medicine, he returned to practice endocrinology in Jackson, MS, for 37 years. He happily retired in 2021. Robbie and his wife, Donna, have three daughters and two grandchildren. He plans to play more golf, travel, and divide his time between Jackson, Nashville, and Lower Alabama.

1975

Reporter: If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’75 reporter, please contact alumni@rhodes.edu

1976

Reporters: Julie Allen Berger jab0539@gmail.com

Georgia Atkins, atkins.georgia@gmail.com

From Patti Peery George: “I’m still in Atlanta, married for 45 years so far. I retired in 2019 from working for Atlanta Public Schools as a middle school media specialist. We have two sons and one grandson.”

1977

Reporters: Jill Fuzy Helmer jillhelmer25@gmail.com

Bonnie Moore McNeely bonniemcneely2@gmail.com

Southwestern friendships run deep as Paul Ainger will attest. March of 2023 will mark the 18th annual trip with classmates Marc Courtney and Larry Crawford to the Cactus

League Spring Training in the Phoenix/ Scottsdale area. Every year Paul arrives from Sacramento, Marc Courtney from London, and Larry Crawford from Memphis. Paul has retired from his career as an affordable housing developer, Marc from his health care career, and Larry continues to practice law with Butler Snow in Memphis.

Marynell Branch assures us her recent government appointment by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders will not be her debut into the political arena. Instead, she will keep a low profile serving on the War Memorial Stadium Commission. The Commission oversees the direction and growth of the 1948-built, 55,000-seat stadium. It plays host to several sports teams as well as major concert events such as the Rolling Stones, Garth Brooks, Elton John and Billy Graham. With 55,000 seats she should be able to get tickets for our entire class to upcoming concerts.

By the time Mike Clary reads this issue, he’ll have joined the ranks of retirement. Wife Nancy claims his eligibility is up after serving 44 years on the athletic staff of Rhodes. (See Fall/Winter ’22 issue for a wonderful write-up on his many accomplishments, and a photo.) The ever goal-oriented Mike already has plans to purchase a truck, pull a 20-ft. trailer and head east and west. No report on north and south . . . yet. When not on the road, Mike plans to be an engaged alumnus, and will definitely be seen cheering on the Lynx at football games and golf matches. He wishes to express his gratitude to the classmates of ’77 and the entire Rhodes community for his great experience at Rhodes.

Frank Frisch writes, “At the advanced age of 68 (with both time’s winged chariot and associated decrepitude advancing rapidly), Debby and I decided it would be a good idea to downsize, and made a move three miles from our old house. Note to self—for the next time such an idea enters my head: (step 1)secure 8 foot long 2 by 4; (step 2) firmly grasp either end; (step 3) beat self over head with 2 by 4 until such thought passes. Although it seems likely the move will never end, we are— a mere four months from its start—almost moved. The competition is fierce, but this may be the dumbest thing this feeble 68-year-old has done (lately at least). Take heed classmates . . .”

Mark Griffee writes “I have been quite busy in the last year, starting my life over again.” After losing Virgina Watson ’78, his wife for more than 41 years, he met Sundari Atamimi, who would later become his bride. In February of 2022 Mark had more than just his birthday to celebrate—his first grandchild, Jeffrey Mark Griffee III, was born one day after Mark’s birthday! The proud grandfather refers to him as JMG III. This past summer he and Sundari traveled to Indonesia to meet her family and see her hometown on Bangka Island. Apparently the family approved, as they tied the knot this past January in Nashville, with classmates Woods Falls and Paul Buchanan attending. He has also recently opened a new law office in Brentwood, TN, for his Memphis-based firm Black McLaren Jones Ryland & Griffee, P.C. Commuting lin, Mark is still practicing law and Sundari works for Pinnacle Financial Services in Franklin, TN.

If you’ll remember, in our effort to get classmates to reminisce and reply, we posed the question, “What was your favorite 3rd term class?” Mike Pearigen chose to reminisce about his least favorite: “Hands down it was Modern Chinese History—a misnomer since it covered the past 2,000 years of Chinese history, not the past couple hundred as one might have expected. I don’t know why I decided to dive into such an esoteric, impenetrable subject, but I did take it as a Pass/Fail class. Like many 3rd Term classes, Prof. Apperson let us decide if we wanted to meet daily for an hour + or three days a week for two hours per day. We chose the latter and class was held on Mon., Tues., and Wed. at the unholy hour of 8:00 a.m.

“As was the case with many victims of 3rd Term, I tended to stay out every night a wee bit too late and have a few too many beers. This came home to roost three days a week at 8:00. At the end of each week, I would review my class notes and find the words changing to a line of ink trailing across the page as I nodded off in class. I was especially perturbed when grades arrived and, despite my handicap, I made an “A” in a Pass/Fail class.”

Remember Jim Watson with camera in hand? Thought those photographs of you smoking, drinking, dancing on tables had vanished? Guess what? Jim has them and is sharing what he has. Since Jim was on the yearbook staff, many of the photographs were published in our Lynx yearbook or Sou’wester newspaper. Like your reporter here, Jim also regrets that he no longer has a copy of the Lynx, so this is the best some of us will be able to do. Use the photos as you like, but he asks to be given photography credit. Jim has many more photos yet to be scanned—on the list to have been done this winter, but he went skiing instead. He hopes to tackle it before horse riding season commences!

Still living in Kenya, Ernie Williams is be- hind the organization www.Innov8Africa.org teaching school children to grow their own food.They have stored enough food to last six months, but Kenya is experiencing the worst drought in 40 years. Tragically, even if the rains come, the harvest will be too far behind to supply food when it will be needed.

1978 45th Reunion

Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

September 29 – 30, 2023

Reporter: Sandy Schaeffer sandeford.schaeffer@gmail.com

1979

Reporter: Mary Palmer mpalmerc@comcast.net

1980

Reporter: If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’80 reporter, please contact alumni@rhodes.edu

1981

Reporter: Sherri Godi Madden rhodesalum81@gmail.com

Wow—the big R (retirement!) is occurring for some of us! That doesn’t seem to have slowed us down though, with lots of adventures planned for those free years and lots of grandparenting going on! Others are embarking on new careers in new places. Here’s some of our latest news:

Joyce Holladay Doyle: “My big news is that last May I retired after a 35-plus-year career at the Tennessee Department of Agriculture Animal Health Laboratory, first as a technician, then as a supervisor in the Immunology Section. I was also responsible for establishing the Molecular Diagnostic and Chronic Wasting Disease sections. Soon after my retirement, my daughter gave birth to my first grandchild, a baby girl, whom I’ve been babysitting since my daughter returned to work in January.”

Karen Levy: “We have two grandsons, 3 years old and 2 years old.”

Steve Crabtree reports he is enjoying the enigmatic quality of life in Connecticut and Fort Myers, FL, (hurricane shack renovations underway) and keeping up with his kids spread across North America: Jefferson

(Rhodes Class of 2017) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Sarah, at Dodge Film School, Orange, CA. Fun stuff!

Neville Carson: “As for news, in January I joined Atlanta rock band Cover to Cover on rhythm guitar and backing vocals. We specialize in danceable classic rock tunes from the 60s through the 90s. It’s so much fun I can hardly stand it. You can check us out at https:// www.facebook.com/CoverToCoverATL.”

Robert Cruthirds: “I’ve retired from the Memphis Public Libraries effective the first of January after 20 years. No plans right now for the time being, just trying to get more exercise.”

Sarah Windes: “I live in Blacksburg, VA, where I have returned to church work as a Coordinator of Church Life at my home church of 28 years. It suits me well! My adult children have, amazingly, both returned to Blacksburg (for now) to live and work.”

Kathy Keil Brown: “I am doing well—still enjoying raising alpacas and playing with their fiber. Our 2nd and 3rd grandkids were born last year—both girls. Our grandson is almost 3 and is a total joy! Life on the farm keeps us pretty busy, so we don’t do anything really exciting, but we are enjoying life. Always something to learn and think about—that Rhodes education comes in handy!”

Brooks Robey: After 17 years in Northern New England, he and his wife, Kathy, have sold their snow thrower and relocated to New Orleans, where he is Associate Chief of Staff for Research and Development for the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System and Professor of Medicine at both Tulane University School of Medicine and LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine. Their eldest son, Jack, is presently a senior at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, and their youngest son, Murphy, is a junior at Emerson College in Boston. “Needless to say, life is busy at Chez Robey these days . . . Laissez les bons temps rouler!”

Nanci Ostergaard Bucchianeri: “I am on Cape Cod and enjoy having the ocean so close by. I don’t like being landlocked. I saw Connie Thompson ’83 last year in Plymouth, MA. We went to Plymouth Rock. Always a disappointment, as just a rock. I am liking retirement and enjoying pretty good health.”

Leslie Phillips Hubbert: “I am in the last four months of my public school teaching career. I am looking forward to having more time with my grandson very soon. My husband and I are still playing guitar, accordion, mandolin, and fiddle at local events. We are planning some trips in the late summer and fall; trips I could never make when I was a teacher! Lately we have enjoyed some rare snowstorms here in Boonville, CA, (basically we are at sea level here and it never snows). It has been beautiful.”

1982

Reporter: If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’82 reporter, please contact alumni@rhodes.edu.

a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004.” She is also acing retirement: “I am very ambitious about not planning anything that looks like work and enjoying it immensely. I also enjoy planning trips, exercising more than I used to, cooking more . . . reading more . . . volunteering more when friends/family need help or just attention . . . and saying ‘yes’ to tons of things I would have said ‘no’ to when I was consumed with work.”

Aldervan Daly and Lisa Deering Temoshok are teaming up! “H. Aldervan Daly, executive vice president of institutional advancement at Rising Ground, NYC’s largest human services organization, is delighted to announce that, along with Lisa Temoshok LMHC, he will

1983 40th Reunion

Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

September 29 – 30, 2023

Reporter: Ted de Villafranca edevillafranca@gmail.com

1984

Reporter: Linda Odom linda.odom@klgates.com

Joanna McIntosh shares, “My nephew, Jackson McIntosh ’22, and I traveled to Japan in November 2022 for a combined graduation/ retirement trip that included sightseeing in Tokyo and Kyoto, as well as hiking the Kumano Koda Trail in the Kii Peninsula, a network of 1000-year-old Buddhist and Shinto pilgrimage routes, which was declared be presenting a session at the Association of Fundraising Professionals International Conference in April 2023 in New Orleans. Lisa specializes in strength-based, holistic counseling for adults, including EMDR, Somatic Psychotherapy, Internal Family Services, Mindfulness-based CBT, and other trauma-informed therapies. Our session is entitled ‘Trauma-Informed FundraisingUnderstanding your role and the donors’.”

Aldervan is still basking in the glow of the great alumni turnout for his April 2022 cabaret show at Don’t Tell Mamas, in NYC’s theater district. In attendance were 10 alumni, including Ruth Metcalf Rye, Lisa Temoshok, and Susan Matthews Arnold, from the Class of ’84. The show, entitled Songs I Want to Sing Now, is available at Aldervan.com.

Cathy Reese has been busy!!! “I formed my own publishing company, Zada Publishing, LLC, in December 2022 and published my first e-book, Fair Pay for Women: Time for a Revolution, which is available now on Apple Books. It is designed for a general audience, colorful, and interactive. I also co-edited the 2nd edition of a book that came out in December 2019 (with two other women political science professors in the State of Arkansas!), Readings in Arkansas Politics & Government, and have a few co-authored chapters in there as well. I am still the only full professor in my Department of Political Science and am also Master of Public Administration (MPA) Program Director here at Arkansas State University, where I have been for a quarter of a century! Meanwhile, during the worst of the pandemic, I have been doing various renovations on my house, teaching myself to cut and install baseboard, built-in closet shelving, floating wood flooring, and my latest feat, crown molding! I really enjoy building practical, attractive things from wood and have the giant garage to do it in. I also am working on building my genealogical research skills in order to prepare for my second career.

“My daughter Selah is a freshman majoring in Jazz Studies at Arkansas State University, on scholarship and in the top orchestra and top jazz band. My little one, Lilah, is a sophomore at Jonesboro High School and very involved in band (she is a flag) and theater (playing Henrietta the Loud Barfly in a production of All Shook Up at the end of March.)

“I try to see many classmates regularly, including Laura Mathews, Jennifer Frost Ramos Stark, Robin Newcomb Friend ’85, Amy Doville, Cathy Cotham Harris, and, of course, the great Tracy Vezina Patterson. I stay more loosely in touch with many more on Facebook.”

Writing about her favorite thing about her time at Rhodes, Cathy named The Pub. “What I loved the most were the many great bands I saw there. Barking Dog, the band with David Shouse, where they used to throw pieces of fried chicken out into the audience; Arlo Guthrie . . . and, of course, the Uncommon Houses were fantastic, too. I remember Valerie (who was Melody Johnson’s roommate) doing “Breakdown,” the guys who always did Monty Python’s “Lumberjack Song,” Jim Hunter ’85 and Paul Eich ’86 playing the Dead, the great

Bill Ridley ’82 singing and playing piano like Billy Joel. I wish I could see a list of all the bands and all the people who performed at Uncommon Houses, too! Great, great memories!”

Karen Manroe includes some advice in her notes: “Our big news is our daughter’s wedding! She’s getting married on March 25th in Mexico. Word of advice to you parents of daughters: don’t do a destination wedding!” (Note to self: Ask her again after it’s over.)

Linda Odom writes to shamelessly plug her rock band, Stillhouse Crossing: “We are lining up gigs for the summer and are playing Durty Nelly’s on April 4. I also enjoy my technology/fintech/startup law practice, which I augment with pro bono work in anti-human-trafficking, disaster payments, and aiding NGOs in their work against sexual violence in war time.”

1985

Reporter: Ann Webb Betty

11webby@gmail.com

From your reporter: This is the year most of us are turning 60. Thank you, Doug Trapp, for reminding me that we are now older than lots of our professors were when we were in school! (Oh, by the way, Doug Trapp’s grandmother and my grandmother were buddies in Tuscumbia, AL.) I’m retired, still live in Nashville (although I moved further out in 2021) and still active. I managed to get to a Rhodes Women basketball game in February—we won. The campus is fabulous— please plan to attend our 40th in 2025!

In case you didn’t know, Doug is an actor. He’ll be seen in a couple of episodes of The White House Plumbers on HBO, out in March. He got to work with Woody Harrelson in this dark comic look at the debacle of the Watergate break in. Coincidentally, Woody turned 60 on the day this picture was taken! We’re in good company!

Doug and his partner Billy are coming up on 24 years soon. They’ve lived in New York (state) for 20 years, got an amazing dog, Riley—a rescue from North Carolina, a wonderful addition to their life. If you’re ever in Germantown, NY, do not hesitate to look him up. The door is open!

Thank you, Christy Weir Krueger, for your six years of service on the Rhodes Alumni Board and as president of the Rhodes Alumni Association for 2 ½ years! She has now retired from that role. It was a great experience connecting with alumni—recent graduates to those who came before us. She was continually amazed by the current students’ passion for our great school. Her one public service announcement . . . get involved! If you are interested in working with other alumni, current students, and the administration, let Tracy Patterson know.

Christy just celebrated 15 years with MakeA-Wish Mid-South, having the great reward of witnessing the joy on the face of a child and their families when a wish is granted, and watching small communities rally and raise thousands of dollars to keep the mission going and inspiring hope. Name change alert: Christy’s new name is Mimmie! Being a grand is the best thing in the world. Watching a three-year-old discover new things on a daily basis, putting words together to form sentences, and getting a random hug cannot be topped. It is also exhausting! There is a reason we have children when we are younger. After a night with Noah, Mimmie needs a nap!

Jean Asinger says hello!!

Ellen Hopkins Flottman has four grown children spread out from Honolulu to Cape Girardeau to New York City. Ellen still works as a public defender, but enjoys her free time and spare bedroom space building dollhouses while her husband David takes over the back yard with his radio antenna hobby.

Margaret Bryan Hakimian and Heather Cutting met in Dr. Mosby’s Music Appreciation class in 1983. It only makes sense that their reunion in September 2022 included some good concerts (Alison Krauss and Robert Plant and the Doobie Brothers). They also enjoyed lunch with Kathy Woodson Barr, some great food on the Boston waterfront, and lots of catch-up time. Stay tuned for their next concert reunion!!

Livingston Brien has a kid at Rhodes, and we’ll hear more from him after that graduation! (I got to see Livy a lot when I was working where his kid went to school.)

Will Smart (formerly known as Bill) and family are still living in Covington, LA, although they moved from a “downtown” apartment above their business to the “country” on the Bogue Falaya River into Will’s grandparents’ house, which they spent almost two years renovating. The company Will started with his father (Greenleaf Technologies) while he was at Rhodes turns 38 this year. Greenleaf has allowed them to travel North America and parts of Germany and France for “work.” Will is proud to have changed agricultural applications for the better.

Will was recently looking through some old college stuff and found a statement signed by Ira Jackson and Will explaining why they burned their 1984 Yearbooks. Someone actually called the fire department, but we went ahead with our demonstration anyway. Looks like Ira is in the commercial printing business. No more book burning for him!

Will recently saw Brent Hedge (“Captain Bugman”), who is excited that his son Sam has moved back to Camden (with his wife, a successful dentist) to work in the family business. Brent said he and his wife are a “power couple” in Camden, where he is a small business owner and Jennifer is an assistant DA and judge. Sounds like his son and daughter-in-law might replace him.

Will’s kids are 31 and 28 and making their way in the world, but are not part of any power couples. Will is still water skiing, paddle boarding, and doing aerial yoga, trying to stay in shape for our 40th reunion.

Allison McCarthy Gauthier retired from a career in commercial banking last summer, ready for a new adventure. She moved full time to Vermont in 2020 and recently joined the mountain hosts at Stratton Mountain and has spent her first winter post-retirement skiing as much as possible. It’s a fun volunteer activity with a great group of friendly people who also happen to love pickleball! Her oldest son is living in Cambridge, MA, and younger son is now married and living in Dallas, TX. She enjoys traveling a lot with her family and spending time at the cabin in the mountains of Vermont.

At the end of 2022, Helen Reinecke-Wilt semi-retired from a long career in the Washington, DC, area as an urban planner and climate change mitigation/sustainability specialist. Still hoping to do some part-time climate work at some point, she is currently enjoying free time, cycling a lot, helping her elderly parents, and traveling. Husband Justin also semi-retired at the beginning of this year, so they keep each other company. Currently, they are both recovering from Mardi Gras down in New Orleans.

Ed Scott and lots of boys still live in Austin, TX, enjoying the hill country. Sons are 9 (Dashiell), 11 (Walker), 12 (Henry), and the oldest, Ian (26), is traveling through the Balkans to finally settle with a UN job in Vienna.

Ken Cannon retired from his job at Walt Disney World at the beginning of the pandemic and recently celebrated his 60th birthday with twin brother Keith by hiking over sand dunes and enjoying a landscape safari in Namibia. He would like to go back to work strictly for fun sometime, as well as get back into competitive tennis (played at Rhodes). Ken also is running an age-group 200-meter sprint at the Florida Senior Games. The finish line looks farther away than it did during his track days at Rhodes, but it’s still exciting when the starter’s gun goes off. Go Ken!

1986

Reporter: If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’86 reporter, please contact alumni@rhodes.edu

1987

Reporter: Mimi Swords Fondren mimifondren@outlook.com

Sounds like Susan Hook Patterson is thriving and doing profound work! “Had a wonderful time with our family at Christmas. Now that the ‘kids’ can work from anywhere, they stay home! “First off, I’ve moved! Back in October 2022 I applied for and got a fantastic job at HNTB, a nationally recognized civil engineering and transportations solutions firm. I’m working in the firm’s Baton Rouge office as their senior technical writer and editor, which is familiar territory, even if I’m learning more about bridges and trains and highways (oh my!) than I ever thought possible. It’s a great gig and I really love my coworkers (and they like me too!). Plus, it gave me the opportunity to move back “home” and start moving things into our Baton Rouge house (which was part of the reason why I missed our 35th Reunion; I was shuttling back and forth from Baton Rouge to Hernando). toilet-ware to the good residents and tourists of NOLA, like we always do. Make sure to mark your calendars for 2024, as we Roll the Avenue on Saturday, February 10! And speaking of . . .

“Y’all consider my/our new residence an open invitation to come visit! The only caveat is that we only have the one bed right now, but I am happy to treat folks to dinner and drinks (this being Louisiana, there are no shortage of awesome places to nosh, and nosh well). And you can always find out the latest shenanigans or news on Facebook or Instagram. Thanks again, and much love to the Class of 1987!” longer! I’m beginning to find a foothold in my second-half career as a Conscious Dying Coach. It’s exciting to learn something totally new!”

Our very own theologian, Greg Carey, also reported in. “I’ll be traveling to Australia in March to provide the Northey Lecture at the University of Divinity in Melbourne. The lectures spring from my new book, Death, the End of History, and Beyond: Eschatology in the Bible (Westminster John Knox, 2023).” I guess by the time we read this, he will have gone to Australia and back. Hope he gives us all an update!

Nathan Tipton has a new job and a new

“But what about the Divine Paul? Glad you asked! He’s still in Hernando taking care of seven dogs and two cats (I brought one dog, Puck, with me . . . he’s a quintessential grumpy old man who doesn’t get along with any of the other dogs, but is presently living his absolute best life in Louisiana). Paul has been struggling with what we have come to find out is “progressive idiopathic peripheral neuropathy,” which is extremely painful and, unfortunately, there isn’t a treatment for it because none of his doctors can pinpoint where the disease is coming from. Not even going to lie; it’s very hard for him and for me seeing him suffering with this, especially since I’m 350 miles away. I do get home almost every weekend to help out and he seems to be managing, but I will be very ready to have him down here in Baton Rouge with me on a full-time basis. Long story short: y’all please keep him in your prayers. This is not something we signed up for at all, so good thoughts are always much appreciated.

“In happier news, now that I’m in Louisiana, I am closer to New Orleans and my Krewe of Tucks peeps. This year’s Carnival was amazing, exciting, exhausting, and completely off the chain, and our krewe brought our best

Brian Mott has also embarked on a new career and continues to make the world a better place. “I started a new job at Peconic Landing, a continuous-care retirement community in Greenport, NY, as their Cultural Arts Coordinator. I get to spend my days programming fun events for some amazing people! My commute is a lovely drive through farms and vineyards. Life is good.”

1988 35th Reunion

Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

September 29 – 30, 2023

Reporter: Brooke Glover Emery brookegemery@gmail.com

1989

Reporter: Julianne Johnson Paunescu jpaunescu@yahoo.com

Stop the Presses!! What? You didn’t know that February 11 is Andy Robinson Day in Chicago?! Mayor Lori Lightfoot made this proclamation in honor of Andy’s “many years of service and indelible contributions to education, community, culture, and theater at the Chicago Academy of the Arts and throughout Chicago.” Andy also received the Academy’s Faculty Legacy Award on February 10 for his contributions and dedication to the school. He began his teaching and arts career in New York City at the Cornelia Connelly Center for Education and the Village Community School and helped start Shakespeareto-Go, which brought free Shakespeare to school children around the city. Andy has been a fixture in the Chicago Academy community since 2007 and has led its Musical

Theater Department since 2011. He started the Academy’s Shakespeare Festival, which has produced over 30 Shakespeare productions in a decade.

In other news, some of our classmates are taking advantage of their traveling offspring to jet off to exotic locales. Anna-Catherine Wylie Super reports that, 30 years after her Rhodes in Europe experience, she’s looking forward to visiting some of western Europe with her family when her son finishes a semester in Barcelona. This is a way that she celebrates having parents and children to be “sandwiched between!”

Amy Baldwin Crockett and her husband Stephen ’90 plan to go to Berlin to visit their younger son Will, now studying in Europe, and then go to Prague in May. China is on their itinerary for the summer, to see older son Campbell, who is there teaching English. Let’s hope they don’t join him on his next ski trip to a resort where one side borders North Korea! When they are not in the air, Amy has her own psychology practice and Stephen still owns a cloud-based telecom company.

Speaking of China, Lee Boyd has lived in Shanghai with his wife Jing and three daughters for almost nine years. His older two daughters are now in college in Miami and Seattle. Since graduation, Lee has been “bouncing around” Japan, the U.S. Midwest and West Coast, and China. For most of his time in China, he has been managing the Asia Pacific operations for Bio-Rad Laboratories, a California-based life sciences company. Lee reports that COVID has made the last three years “an extra adventure.” He did the multi-week China hotel quarantine three times and spent most of 2022 living from a suitcase while stuck outside the country. After the stresses of the “extra adventure,” it’s great that Lee is able to relax as a singer with his band, Bio-Rock!

Lisa Turnbow did not have to travel to have a very busy 2022! Besides building a new home and starting a job as senior recruiter for Honest Medical Group in Nashville, she was also ordained and had the honor of presiding over the wedding of two dear friends.

Lynn Martin Wonders authored The Midlife Self-Discovery Workbook, which has become the focus of a number of personal growth seminars for women and men. Lynn also continues to work on her Ph.D. in psychology with a special focus on spirituality, consciousness, and integrated health from Saybrook University.

1990

Reporter: Marci Deshaies Woodmansee mwoodmansee@gslschool.org

1991

Reporter: Tracy Courage tracy_courage@yahoo.com

1992

Reporter: Sara Hawks Marecki saramarecki@sbcglobal.net

1993 30th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend September 29 – 30, 2023

Reporter: Wendy Mullins wendy.mullins@yahoo.com

1994

Reporter: Judy Brown judyporterbrown@gmail.com

1995

Reporter: Sarah Hall Stump sarahhallstump@icloud.com

1996

Reporter: Jennifer Larson larson_jennifer@yahoo.com

Jennifer Larson shared a photo of the Lynx Ladies Cookbook Club in Nashville during one of their recent regular dinners. How does it work? Everyone prepares something from a particular cookbook (or by a particular chef/ cookbook author), and then they share! From Jennifer: “Pro tip: it’s always a good idea to stick around to eat whatever Mary Clare makes for dessert.”

1997

Reporter: Laurea Glusman McAllister laureag@gmail.com

After 25-plus years as a creative director in NY, LA, and Austin, TX, Tom Hamling has started an advertising agency in Nashville. Tom has led work on Popeyes, Farmers Insurance, Hilton, Dodge, and others. He has done six Super Bowl commercials. The name of the agency is THE MAYOR. themayoragency.com

1998 25th Reunion

Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

September 29 – 30, 2023

Reporter: Susan Meredith Meyers susanmeyers26.2@gmail.com

Laura Hardin Becker recently began her 16th year as pastor of Northminster Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga. Her oldest daughter, Julia ’24, is a junior political science major at Rhodes, and Laura has loved visiting Memphis again and watching a new generation of students experience the school.

Zarina Mason recently moved to Evanston, IL. Her daughter, Isabella, is a senior at St. Ignatius College Prep and her son, Oliver, is a sophomore at Evanston Township High School. In March, she celebrated her 18th work anniversary with First American Bank.

Leslie Curry continues to enjoy her work at VMware, where she is chief of staff for the Ecosystem Strategy and Tech Partner group. She’s able to stay in touch with many Rhodes friends from her home base in Atlanta, and enjoyed a fantastic Rhodes girls’ trip to Asheville, NC, last May with Susan Meredith Meyers, Nadia Blakemore Hensley, Molly Molina Crawford, Elizabeth Hood, Maggie McDonald, Angie Wellford, and Abigail West Jumper.

Jordan Schniper recently published a novel, Midnight in the Wilderness of America. The story is about a clash between attributes of the Garden of Eden versus the Tower of Babel that occurs in modern day America as solar flares arrive, auroras cascade, and Earth enters a new dark age. He traveled to 46 states and half of the national parks while writing and researching over many years as a hobby. He followed up with a short story epilogue called Gault, Alabama. Both books blend photography with fiction.

Liam O’Donnell Patrick ’24, son of Audrey O’Donnell Patrick and Eric Patrick ’97, is currently a junior at Rhodes and just declared political science as his major. He is enjoying Rhodes as much as his parents did! Dr. Christine Bertz shared this exciting news: “In late 2022, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) selected me to join the 50th class of AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellows (STPF), along with roughly 300 other highly trained scientists and engineers placed in host offices throughout the U.S. government. e highly competitive STPF program, founded in 1973, is designed to connect evidence-based decision-making with public policy. During my two-year placement in the U.S. Department of State, I will work in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Office of Marine Conservation, helping to formulate and implement U.S. policy on a broad range of international fisheries management issues.”

1999

Reporter: Kathryn DeRossitt kathrynderossitt@yahoo.com

Kathryn Royster relocated in 2021 with her family to Los Angeles, where she’s now leading the marketing and communications team for a research institute at the University of Southern California.

Kyle and Libby McCormac Ryan have lived in Jacksonville, FL, since 2004, after stops in St. Louis and Steamboat Springs, CO. eir three teenage boys keep life moving quickly and allow for both amazing parenting fails and boy stories. Libby works at Wolfson High School in the College Counseling office and loves her work with the kids. Kyle loves his work for a medical device company, ERBE, as a territory manager, in the surgical oncology space. May 20th was their 23rd year of an amazing marriage! Kyle advises, “It’s not too late to send a gift if you missed the wedding!”

David and Adrienne Ballew Elder have lived in their hometown of Oklahoma City since they left D.C. in late 2005. David is a partner at the law firm Hartzog Conger Cason and Adrienne is a consultant who works with the state, nonprofits, and foundations to help underserved communities. Her current focus is on expanding the “Handle with Care” program in Oklahoma. ey have two children, James (15) and Grace (13). ey attend the same prep school David and Adrienne graduated from in 1995, love it as much as they did, and are active student-athletes!

Greg Sims recently completed the Executive Leadership Program for Nonprofit Organizations at the University of Georgia’s J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development and celebrated the 10-year business anniversary of his wife Gina’s interior design firm, Gina Sims Designs.

In December of 2021, Ty Hallmark graduated from the University of Maryland with a Master’s in Library and Information Science. After 18 years in the Washington D.C. area, Ty relocated to Western North Carolina, where she’s enjoying some peace and quiet in her mountain home just south of Asheville. She currently works remotely as a senior event strategist for the MITRE Corporation.

It will come as no surprise to our class that Matt Marcotte just appeared on Game Show Network’s game show Master Minds in January, winning two games and coming just short of being crowned a new Master Mind! Reach out to Matt, he can provide links to cool videos showing his performance!

Christy Boles McAllister relocated 12 years ago to her husband’s hometown in Northern Ireland. When she’s not working as a global clinical trial manager, she can be found playing taxi driver to her sons, ages 5 and 9. With global travel opening up, the family looks forward to globetrotting again—starting with their next adventure to Egypt!

Hunter Phillips Goodman and her husband, Mark Goodman, live in Little Rock, AR, with their two sons, Lowell Hunter Goodman (6) and Patrick Lars Goodman (4). Hunter is an assistant professor of community, workforce, and economic development at the University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture, Cooper- ative Extension, where she focuses on building the capacity of rural Arkansas communities with a focus on individuals, associations of people working together, and institutions. Back in December, Gerald Botta completed his first marathon (Honolulu Marathon). He is also currently the president of a nonprofit, Covenant Community Land Trust.

2000

Reporter: Nicki North Baxley nickinp@gmail.com

2001

Reporter: Katy Minten Gray mkminten@hotmail.com

Kila and Keva Woods Wilson (above) have celebrated one year of wedded bliss!

2002

Reporter: Shannon Cian shannoncian@gmail.com

2003 20th Reunion

Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

September 29 – 30, 2023

Reporter: Scott Holmes holmes.scott@gmail.com

Greetings Class of 2003. I hope you are all getting ready to join us in Memphis the last weekend of September to celebrate our 20th Reunion!

Grace Williams Bailey is currently working as the coordinator for Accelerating Scholars, Metro Nashville Public Schools’ high-dosage tutoring initiative. She and her husband, Richard, live in Nashville with their three children: Margaret, age 7; Richard, age 5; and George Williams “Will,” age 2.

Haskell Murray was promoted from associate professor to professor at Belmont University in Nashville, TN, where he teaches business law, negotiations, and ethics.

Anne Kathryn Rice founded the Global Doula Project, a nonprofit organization working for a world where every family receives loving, nonjudgmental support at the beginning and end of life. She currently lives in Genoa, Italy, with her husband and three children.

Betsey Bogler Efird lives in Hot Springs, AR, on a small farm with her husband, Cole, raising five kids (ages 12, 10, 9, 9, and 4), with lots of animals and working very part time as a pediatric nurse practitioner. She recently got a turkey her boys named “Jamal” and she is thankful to have chickens, since the price of eggs has gone crazy.

After a national search, Cindy Hallums was named executive director of the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund (DMSF). DMSF serves 500 scholars through high school scholarships and programmatic support to ensure success in high school, college, and beyond. Adds Cindy, “The organization is based in Chicago, where I live with my husband and two kids, Will and Lilly James.”

Gelsey Bennett started a new job in September with an NGO called ACDI/VOCA. As a senior director for the Resilience & Growth practice, she provides operational and technical oversight to international aid projects in Latin America.

On Nov. 1, 2022, Shayla Purifoy was reappointed to the judiciary as a Judicial Commissioner for Shelby County Government for a four-year term. This position was originally appointed by the Board of Shelby County Commissioners. In 2020, she served her term as president of the Ben F. Jones Chapter of the National Bar Association (African American Attorneys Association of Memphis), volunteered as immediate past president in 2021, and returned to the board in 2022. She also served on the National Bar Association’s Ethics Board. She is concluding four years on the Memphis Bar Association board this year, after several years of volunteering in the organization. During the pandemic, Commissioner Purifoy earned certification to teach yoga. She will continue to volunteer on the board as chair of the BFJ Wellness Committee to encourage attorneys, judges, and community members to make self-care and wellness a priority. To follow Commissioner Purifoy’s involvement in the community and better understand her role as a Judicial Commissioner, she encourages you to please follow her on social media.

2004

Reporters: C. Kyle Russ ckyleruss@yahoo.com

2005

Reporters: Brandon Couillard (last names: A-M) brandon.couillard@gmail.com

Molly Fitzpatrick (last names N-Z) mhfitz11@hotmail.com

This past October, Mollie O’Dell Ross and her husband welcomed James Dorsey Ross to their family. Big brother Thomas will be 2 in May, so they’re seeing a lot of sunrises as of late, with two little early risers!

Dan Swanstrom left the head football coach position at Ithaca College last spring and is now the offensive coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania. His wife and fellow Rhodes alum, Kristin, recently started working at Mainline Health as a physician assistant in the G.I. practice. The Swanstrom family currently resides in Havertown, PA, just outside Philadelphia.

Joanna Young Ridgway and husband Eric welcomed a baby boy, Coen Paul Ridgway, on Oct. 5 of last year. Coen joins big sister Thea (age 2). Joanna and Eric are adjusting to life with two little ones! Joanna is back from maternity leave, still as a managing director of Corporate Banking at Santander Bank.

2006

Reporter: Caroline King Willson Caroline.king.Willson@gmail.com

2007

Reporter: Mollie Briskman Montelaro mollie.montelaro@gmail.com

The National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) is pleased to announce Rene Orth has won first prize in the 2023 NATS Art Song Composition Award for her work “Weave Me a Name.” As first-prize winner, Orth receives $2,000, and her work will be performed at the 58th NATS National Conference, in Knoxville, TN. The Cincin-