Class Notes

Christy Weir Krueger ’85, Rossville, TN Rhodes College Alumni Association President

To update your contact information, learn more about ways you can connect with the college and your classmates, or to volunteer to serve as your Class Reporter, visit us online at rhodes.edu/alumni or e-mail Alumni Relations at alumni@rhodes.edu.

1956

REPORTER

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

In response to our request that alumni share 20 words of encouragement to the Class of 2020, John R. McKinney shared the following: “If old geezers like us from the class of 1956 can make it in this pandemic, you have no problems! In any event, a higher power loves you and you will be OK!”

1957

REPORTER Mary Frances Files Silitch

silitch@gmail.com

At Centre College’s homecoming last fall, Eric Mount was inducted into the Centre Athletics Hall of Fame along with his longtime friend and religion colleague Milton Scarborough. Eric noted, “Milton played at Ole Miss just after I played at Southwestern. We were volunteer coaches of the men’s tennis team together for 11 years, and I coached for four additional years (all of this between 1967 and 1981). Our plaque stated that we coached three teams with the most wins in school history, including 20 wins and the conference championship in 1974 and 16 wins in both 1971 and 1972. We coached four of the top 10 seasons with the most wins and the highest winning percentage. Our overall record as a pair was 135-97.”

In recent years Eric has written a monthly column on the opinion page of Danville, KY’s Advocate-Messenger.

Peg Carter reports that her working career has totally been in the education field. She taught third grade; Bible in a high school released-time program; college at Texas Woman’s University; management-development training with consulting firms: TDFSystems, Management 21, and at Kaiser-Permanente Texas; and human relations coaching. She helped develop and implement four innovative new programs. After retiring in 2013, she lived for six years in an independent senior living facility in Carrollton, TX, but then decided to move back to Denton, TX, to be nearer two of her sons and their families; a third son lives in Houston.

“Now I am looking forward to reconnecting with four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren as well!” she said. “Another blessing has been reconnecting with a good friend from Rhodes, Jean McLean Tunnell ’55. She has been most helpful in my resettling in Denton. We have been wondrously connected through the years while

being very closely supportive of each other since the deaths of our spouses when we all lived in Denton in the 1980s. They each died unexpectedly of heart attacks — Jim Carter ’56 in 1980 and Bob Goodson ’54 in 1981. Another common element in our relationship is that both our daughters are named Karen and both are living successfully with MS. These 60+ year friendships are irreplaceable.”

Charlene Jayroe Allen says she and husband Jim canceled two summer vacations because of Covid-19, but they are looking forward to a trip in November to Inlet Beach, Florida, with a family group. They are enjoying their great-grandchildren James, 2-1/2, and baby Rosie, children of Maggie Donoghue Zambetti ’14 and Dr. Ben Zambetti.

Jane C. Williamson reports that Nancy Clements Mays died January 23, 2020, in Gainesville, GA. She was buried beside her husband John Mays ’56 in Jonesboro, AR. Jane said, “Nancy, Beth Etter Thomas, and I stayed in touch to the end. We met at many class reunions and visited for several days after. Sorry my news is sad.”

Your class reporter was recently interviewed for a podcast. Here’s the link to the podcast on YouTube: youtu.be/ Rf4PSFYZ1ak. The photo shows me in the left seat of the Goodyear Blimp!

Suzanne McCarroll Warner reports, “These are extraordinary times. The world will never be the same, and my life recently has moved on at rapid pace — and in ways no one would have expected. I am in good health and am grateful for many blessings. I believe there is a way through it all, working together. The season of my priesthood in the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Kentucky since ordination in 2010 has been rich. In December, 2019, I retired from St Peter’s, Louisville. I sorely miss the regular worship, joy, and fellowship with this congregation, where 70 percent are survivors from Burma. Last year I bought a condo here in Louisville and did major ‘downsizing.’ In January, I moved from the house that my family had called home since 1962. Then in March, Covid-19 disrupted life for us all. Then the second pandemic revealing racial injustice became explosive, challenging our country as individuals, personally, and as a nation systemically. There are not and must not be easy answers, but ones that make changes that will make a difference for the long term. It is no longer either/or options for healing, but a collaborative both/ and. I live in Louisville, where Breonna Taylor lived and died. Pray for renewed life in my hometown and our country. One response for me to what breaks around me is to extend the lifelong learning that stems from my experience at Southwestern/Rhodes. I try to enlarge on and re-examine what has been taught in many high schools and colleges about history and the defining influences in the life of this country. I try to listen, learn, and act accordingly, to follow the great commandment and core principles I found at Southwestern. In my freshman year, we were required to take ‘Man in the Light of History and Religion.’ The course met at 8 am, six days a week (groan), but it helped form us for the world. Permit me to rephrase here the words of the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. In humility we acknowledge that God created us with memory, reason, and skills and made us rulers of creation. We betrayed God’s trust and turned against one another. We are called to change and use scholarship and grace to make a better world for all of humanity. Southwestern gave us a good start. We know and have the Way — Love God and neighbor as self. Peace and blessings to all.”

Connie White Stettbacher helped out in the Covid-19 pandemic. When the Houston Astros were fabricating life-size cutouts for the stadium to place in seats to ensure social distancing, Connie lent her image for one!

REPORTER Lorraine Rayburn Abernathy

LAbernathy04@comcast.net

The college suggested we survey our respective classes for ideas on how to survive the Covid-19 pandemic. During this time of self-isolation, it’s easy to fall into the stupor of sameness, where every day pretty much resembles the one before. [Remember when kids’ underwear came with the day of the week printed on them? Where are those things when we could use them?] During this trying time, it’s great to have computers and smart phones, anything to broaden our horizons. I find I’m grateful for live-streaming done by churches, colleges, and commercial networks. I also appreciate “senior hour,” the designated time for older shoppers to go to the grocery, Zoom chats with friends and family which keep us current with those we love, and thoughtful younger neighbors who offer to shop for us.

Mary Jane Smalley Roberts writes from Charleston, SC, that she started a book club several years ago when she and husband, Paul, moved to a retirement community there. She writes, “Guess what we are reading next month to begin our fall season — The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History.” She said that though they miss the symphony and theaters and “wonderful Charleston restaurants,” they are staying sane reading and enjoying having “the world in our living room” via television. Her retirement community tests for Covid-19 every two weeks and is very careful about the health of their residents.

In Tucson, Jane Barr Stump has been busy. She said, “Last year, 2019, was ‘the best of years,’ involving wonderful community program development and events. But 2020 was becoming ‘the worst of years,’ so redemption was needed! I wrote my 11th book titled Toby, the Royal Dog of Madagascar. It is an

adventure-filled tale of a little white dog who discovers his royal identity by learning of the escapades of his great-great-great-great-grandmother as she became the Royal Dog. It is filled with pirates, lemurs, French ladies, a king chosen by God, predator hawks, protector dogs, and spirits set in the forests of Madagascar. It has been great fun and it has redeemed the year … somewhat!”

In October, Henry and Nancy Crais will be moving to Memphis (The Village at Germantown) after four years in a retirement complex in Nashville. Their daughter, Margaret, has moved to northern Mississippi, and son, Stewart ’94, lives in Memphis. The pandemic curtailed their hopes of finishing up their continent travels with the seventh being Australia. The highlight was Antarctica. They’re hoping to see more Rhodes friends when they move.

Speaking of Memphis alums, we understand that folks in Memphis are ready to designate John Dunlap our class “communicator-in-chief.” He constantly reaches out to be in touch with classmates — inspiring us all as he lives with his loss of sight in such a positive and courageous way. He and wife, Marcia, are an extraordinary team.

We also hear that Sally Stockley Johnson of Little Rock, AR, has published a second book, a novel: The Land of the Living. We may recognize some of the familiar places in it, chiefly Southwestern!

John Gay writes from Rockport, TX, that the pandemic has had little effect on daily activities. He and wife, Ginger, divide their time between the bay near their home and their place in the Hill Country near Wimberley, three hours away, where he, along with his three-legged rescue dog, “continues war against unwanted plants and shrubs, while feeding and enjoying abundant wildlife.” Practicing social distancing, they enjoy their circle of close friends. John has “discovered” Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his ethics, “a tall order for a former chemistry major! A much easier read is Amy Jill Levine’s recent study on the Sermon on the Mount, which hopefully will be the basis for a small group study I want to lead.”

Sheltering in place (on Cape Cod, not a bad place to shelter!) are Paul and Bunny Thompson. A retired Episcopal minister, Paul says they gather with fellow parishioners via Zoom on Sundays, fill their pantry and refrigerator with food supplies via order and pick-up during the week, and enjoy their regular Thursday morning parish worship and study gathering on Zoom. They have been taking part in a 10-session study and discussion program called “Sacred Ground,” involving reading and discussing books, articles, and videos exploring the roots and history of racism in the U.S. A demanding study, “particularly poignant is the history of both mistreatment of Indigenous Indian populations and the long-term effect of slavery on African Americans.”

From Memphis, Mike Cody writes that he is getting exercise by jogging and walking. He is also still working at his law firm, as well as teaching a course at Rhodes. Not bad for a new great-grandfather.

Dickie Jones and his wife, Joan, went into “hibernation” for three months in San Diego, but in July he began doing limited real estate appraisals for the V.A. again — with masks, gloves, shoe covers, and social distancing. Their granddaughter was married in August in Fort Mill, SC, so the Joneses flew for the wedding festivities and stayed 10 days. He noted that “the San Diego airport felt abandoned while the Charlotte airport was going full blast.”

Nancy Carter Burnidge in Elgin, IL, says that she is doing just about what all of us are, going perhaps a bit nuts with our schedules and daily routines turned upside down. She wishes us all well and hopes we are safe and healthy.

In Richmond, KY, Tom Reed, encouraged by his son, began self-isolating most of the time, as well as paying close attention to masks, face shields, and hand-washing. He paid close attention to NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s daily bulletins and ordered his book, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons, “which may be the best analysis of how governments at all levels can effectively use scientific knowledge and methods.” Tom begins his days with stretches and mini-sit-ups. He also uses a DeskyCycle, a set of pedals that can be used while seated, for a minimum of 35 minutes. He “keeps up human contact by text, phone, emails, and once a week, with appropriate distancing, meets with Margaret Crabb, who is helping my work on a paper to present next November at the American Society of Criminology.” The paper is on President Trump’s election, impeachment, acquittal, and post-acquittal behavior. Tom passes along a list of helpful books on the Trump presidency, which I’m sure he would make available to you if you’re interested.

Stay well and keep in touch!

1959

REPORTER Sara Jean Jackson

Sjj10223@gmail.com

1960

60th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1-3, 2021

REPORTER Mary Crouch Rawson

marycrawson@hotmail.com

Carolyn Shettlesworth McClurkan

writes: “I am staying home reading books, doing jigsaws during this horrible pandemic. No trips to Puerto Vallarta! An unsuccessful cruise to see the northern lights. I have just moved to Seattle to be closer to children and grandchildren. Hope everyone is surviving!”

Becky Davis Knack writes: “Doing reading, puzzles, taking long walks and lots of staying quietly at home. We did take a long planned trip to Montana and rented four cottages at Flathead Lake for our family. A wonderful time in Glacier National Park! All stayed well. Wally and I live in a large condo building in downtown Grand Rapids, MI, and are fortunate to have a large terrace for outdoor entertaining. We support local arts organizations on our outdoor deck by hosting small musicals, theater productions and ballet performances. A real blessing during this time!”

Mary Crouch Rawson writes: “I am taking caution during the pandemic but do see friends weekly, have been to church in person with preregistration of 50 people or see it live-streamed via Facebook, and have attended outdoor services for 20. I have presented for a study group on Zoom. I live on a beautiful lake which is a great place to isolate! I have a big screened porch for good outside visits. Do have my family visit regularly. Have planned a spring trip to Blackberry Farm, a rural masterpiece resort in TN (this being my third visit!). Plan to drive not fly there. Pray for a spring break from this virus! Take care all!”

Lynda Lipscomb Wexler writes they are glad to have a screened porch for outside visits. “Still play bridge with neighbors! Sad not to see family who live far away but do have a daughter who lives close. Having remote weekly church services.”

Robert (Bob) Mansfield writes: “Finally fully retired from Oral Roberts Graduate School of Theology. Celebrating our 60th wedding anniversary August 28 but subdued due to Covid-19. Thankful to be healthy and safe!”

John Hettinger says “hello” to all. Nothing significant to report.

Gary Don Wright wrote in late March that he and wife, Micheline, were visiting her sister in Panama and were wondering if they would be cleared because of the virus to travel home, which is near Paris, France, by April 1.

This photo was taken in August 2019 when Carol Ann Quade Smalley and Bryan Smalley ’56 visited Beverly Finch Ballard ’60 and Clay Ballard in Davis, CA. “We had a memorable visit with Bevo and Clay and they showed us their favorite restaurants, museums and outdoor recreation areas. We had brunch in the charming, bustling town of Winter, CA, where this photo was taken. Sadly, Clay died March 28, 2020, so that makes this visit even more important to us.” 1961

60th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1-3, 2021

REPORTER

If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’61 reporter, please contact alumni@ rhodes.edu.

1962

REPORTER Diane McCullough Clark

granddiva@charter.net

Most members of the class of ’62 have turned 80 this year, and I invited them to share the details of their birthday celebrations. Of course, Covid-19 played havoc with many people’s plans after mid-March, but these intrepid folks came up with some wonderfully creative alternatives.

Ran Pickell of Decatur, AL, reports that his 80th birthday, celebrated in February, was a grand affair with daughter Elizabeth and spouse coming from San Francisco, and son Randolph with spouse and grandson coming from Birmingham. In addition, in-laws from Nashville, neighbors, previous workmates, and church friends all gathered to see the Cook Museum and then proceeded to the Cross-Eyed Owl, the local brewery and taproom. A good time was had by all.

Mary Ann Stewart Somerville celebrated her 80th birthday with a socially

distanced party on her front lawn in Asheville, NC. She received a Zoom call which included scattered family members from London, England, to Austin, TX, and many other locations.

Diane McCullough Clark had intended to celebrate her October 80th birthday by hosting a jazz concert at her Traverse City, MI, church, performed by her colleague and jazz piano teacher David Chown. The church choir was going to provide refreshments, and a freewill offering was to be taken to support the church’s 42nd annual Messiah Sing-Along scheduled for December. Thanks to Covid-19, the concert will be performed virtually, listeners will provide their own food at home, and all will be invited to make donations to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. In June, Diane attended the virtual convention of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, where she was proud to see two former students, Dr. Victoria Holland ’92 as a presenter and Dr. Carole Choate Blankenship ’85 of the Rhodes faculty, installed as president of the organization.

After a 50-year career including positions in trust and financial planning, estate settlement, portfolio management for endowments/charitable trusts/mutual funds, and serving as a chief investment officer, John Portwood retired in 2017. He still does a bit of consulting for Hancock-Whitney Investments, where one of his old cohorts is now CIO, and he plans to remain involved as long as they keep renewing his contract. He and his wife, Sandy, have two children and three grandchildren, and they enjoy traveling to different places in the world as often as possible.

For the past three years, Gwen Bell Riley has enjoyed leading a weekly discussion group at the First United Methodist Church in Huntsville, AL. Members of the class are all in their 70s and 80s, quite active in the church and local community, and they function as a strong support group for one another. The class discussions cover a wide range of topics, such as theology, politics, and life experiences from a progressive point of view.

In semi-retirement as an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of West Tennessee, Noble Walker had a big celebration of his 50 years of ordination last year with a big surprise in the naming of the new parish hall at Holy Cross Church in Olive Branch, MS, in his honor. He is currently planning to mentor a Centerpoint class for his churches in Southhaven and Olive Branch. He mentored these classes for 15 years in the parishes he served, and also in the Federal Prison Camp as chaplain in Millington, TN. The class is a study and application of the main principles of Carl Jung, geared specifically for the laity.

Brenda Brittan Adams is teaching an aerobic dancing class for older women four days a week in Memphis, and she finds it really fun. She has two great-grandchildren whom she gets to see quite often, and she babysits whenever she is needed.

Since retiring almost 20 years ago from teaching and office work at the Sumter campus of the University of South Carolina, Peggy Welsh Curlovic has been very involved in church and community activities, serving as ruling elder four times in her church, as well as singing in the choir and leading Bible studies. Recently she has enjoyed volunteering in a first-grade classroom at a local school, working with students on their reading skills. Best times, however, are those she and Don spend with their son’s family in Sumter and their daughter’s family near Tampa, FL.

In February of 2020, Marilyn Stewart Daniel joined a PCUSA study travel program to Tijuana, Mexico, to see the migrant shelters for those the U.S. requires to stay in Mexico while their immigration cases proceed here. It was, indeed, the poor helping the poorest — another world, which she now cannot forget.

Mary Sue Simpson Morgan and her husband Pat, both educators, are enjoying retirement in the Blue Ridge Mountains, living in an old house, which they have occupied for 46 years.

Franklin McCallie writes: “On a Sunday afternoon in April, 1961, (the second year of the Civil Rights sit-ins), classmate Bill Davidson led 70 interested Rhodes College students to LeMoyne College (now LeMoyne-Owen), for a three-hour dialogue with 30 LeMoyne students. The two rules for the dialogue, as explained by Davidson and the Lemoyne student leader, were: “Be Honest, Be Courteous.” The 100 students broke into ten groups of 10 each (three black, seven white) and within the first 30 minutes of discussion, my life as a racist white Chattanoogan took a completely new trajectory. For a view of the eventual results of that single meeting, please see these two videos: CBS Evening News, Talking Face-to-Face about Race, Across the Dinner Table, and WTCI: Greater Chattanooga, We Will Be Changed.”

REPORTER Dan Gilchrist

dangil4@bellsouth.net

Doug and Blair

Gilmer Meeks

shared exciting news: “We are delighted to tell you that our granddaughter, Ella Meeks, is a freshman at Rhodes this year. She graduated with honors in May from Bexley High School near Columbus, OH, and has been enthusiastic about Rhodes since her first visit last year. We were so moved and joyful over her choice of Rhodes above other options and believe it is an excellent fit for her. I am attaching a picture that her mother posted on her first day of class. Though she is “distance learning” at home, the picture took me back to 1959 and my first day on campus. (I wish I could have been as comfortable in the sultry late summer air of Memphis as she looks in shorts and barefoot.) We agree with Rhodes’s decision not to open campus, and we are grateful to know the administration put the students’ health ahead of other concerns. She is so pleased with her schedule and is especially looking forward to her class in International Studies. She reports that the virtual meetings with professors and upper-class students are helpful and fun. Thank you, Rhodes. We are looking forward to visiting Ella on campus in the not too distant future.”

Bette Stephens Green reports that she and husband, Bill, went to Prague, where she worked on completing her “bucket list.” They floated down the Vitava, known as the Czech National River. This completed a dream brought on by an adult education course in music appreciation which highlighted The Moldau, a symphony about the Vitava. (Reporter’s note: I had been in Prague for a while numerous years ago, so I called Bette to talk with her about her visit there. She and I had a great phone conversation about her entire experience.)

Martha Weatherford writes that she is “quietly retired” close to her daughter’s family, including grandchildren and a great-grandchild, and visits with her son and his wife and 3-year-old twins when she can.

Jerry Manley confesses that he “wanted more money than his mother would give him when he was a child to buy TOPPS baseball trading cards.” So, to feed his addiction, he became a caddie at the Memphis Country Club. Now, he has returned to golf as a player, approximately four times a week near his home in Northern Virginia. His wife, Bobbi is also a golfer. (Reporter’s note: I bet she can beat him!).

Joe Pack Arnold is now working parttime with Pine Grove Addiction Services. He also continues leading some worship services, visiting “grands” and even conducted his daughter’s wedding (in Bend, OR), on Zoom. That completed his list of officiating in the weddings of all of his five children. (Reporter’s note: That beats my list of two.) Joe Pack takes part of his time to assist the Red Cross Disaster Action team and he also takes time to “touch base” with classmates like Tom Lowry, Bill McKay, Bill Arnold, and Jean Pierre Potel. He mentions that he likes having Rhodes grad Christopher Crotwell ’95 as the pastor of the church he attends.

Maribeth Frazer and husband, John Frazer ’61, are still in Warren, AR. John is still chairman of the board of Warren Bank and Trust Company. Their son, Thomas, manages Frazer Funeral Home. Maribeth, “after retiring from Frazer Consultants, Interior Design,” opened her own art studio and gallery and now serves on the Arkansas Art Center’s board of directors. Mike France still works with H & R Block, having an extended season due to pandemic Covid-19. This was his 29th year and he plans to continue for at least five more. His plans for a vacation in Hawaii were canceled because of the mandatory two-week quarantine (in a hotel), so he is staying at home in San Diego.

Jim Warden and his wife have lived in the mountains of Southwest Virginia since 1991, where they taught at Emory and Henry College. He retired in 2014. Since then he has been a member of the Mount Rogers Appalachian Trail Club, a master naturalist, and a volunteer at Meadowview Chestnut Research Farm. He is still a faculty member of the College of Older Adults, teaching astronomy and physics, building musical instruments and learning to use Zoom. A short while back, he and his wife had an interesting trip to Rome with an Italian art class. They have recently been in touch with Charlie Robertson ’65 and Joyce Moore ’65.

Ross McCluny (B.A., physics) continued his education (M.S., physics, UT Knoxville, ’66, Ph.D., physics, ’73). Since then, he has done various research projects, such as holographic interferometry, optical oceanography, and solar system optical design. He has also had various publications relevant to those projects. In retirement, he has made presentations involving environment, energy and climate change. Ross now lives in Boulder, CO, where he met up with and renewed friendship with Larry Kinney ’62. Ross gave Larry my email address. He and I have had some interesting correspondence since then. According to Larry, his best friend is Wyncia, his wife of 24 years.

Bill Arnold and his wife, Margaret Anne Fohl, both retired Presbyterian ministers, live in Northern Virginia. They are still involved in service projects, such as the local health clinic and CASA (court appointed advocates for children). Bill says that their aches and pains must be due to aging! (Reporter’s note: Imagine that!).

Jack Cherry (previously known as John Cherry) is in his second, uneventful year of retirement (Reporter’s note: I am anxiously awaiting my second retirement). Jack also says that he has successfully avoided the pandemic and he hopes that all of us have done the same.

Francis Davis says that he has been on the Rhodes campus only twice since graduation. His most recent visit was for our 55th reunion, when he enjoyed meeting with classmates and learning about their lives and accomplishments since graduation. (Reporter’s note: Our classmates, including Francis, have a long list of very impressive exploits and accomplishments). Francis says that “the campus is impressive” and that includes its beauty and its list of facilities available to the students. He adds that he recently had phone visits with Dan Gilchrist (me) and with Tom Lowry. Always good to “catch up.” After leaving Rhodes, Francis continued his education and joined the faculty at the University of Florida, teaching cell biology and doing research into the molecular biology of cell development. He retired 12 years ago. Since retirement he and his wife, Rosemary, have spent time visiting family and friends, traveling in the USA, Canada, and Europe, doing volunteer work and church activities, reading, and gardening. Francis adds that he also enjoys fishing. His final comment: “Retirement has been great!”

Aubrey Smith, on the other hand, has had a bit of difficulty recently. While playing “3-on-3” basketball with his grandchildren, he fell and hurt his knee, his elbow, his arm, and his face. He also thought he had cracked a rib. No more basketball — only “horse” from now on. Then the pandemic came in full-force. Aubrey reports that, due to Covid-19, he had to shut down his Golf and Games Family Park on March 12. Near the end of April, he re-opened the park and things seemed to return to normal until some minors, left there by their parents, got out of control in the go-karts section, causing closure there, and then closure of the entire park once more. Aubrey reports that the entire park was cleared “with the wonderful help of the police department.” Again, things seem to have returned to normal.

John Rice and wife, Maxine Mitchel Rice ’66, have been living in an 1850 farmhouse on Cape Cod for the past 20+ years on Old Main Street in South Yarmouth. John retired from the Episcopal priesthood in Virginia in January of ’01 and continues to volunteer with the VNA, Harbor for Healing, and serves churches in the area and on St. Barth’s Island and NYC. John plays tennis 3-5 days a week, joins wife, Mackie, on dogwalks and tends to his front-yard Victory garden and 50+ day lily collection. He reminds us that he is “proud of the extraordinary education that Rhodes afforded.” Kaye McKnight Beavers and husband, Charlie Beavers, “live in a condo association where neighbors have tried to figure out a way to maintain a social distance, yet get together.” So, they have “driveway cocktail parties on Friday nights and bring their own chairs and their own drinks — no food.” (Reporter’s note: Some people just have a knack for putting together a party!) A short time ago “one of the neighbors brought guests” and one of the “guests” was Pete Cornish ’62. They had “a good visit and caught up on news about old Southwestern friends.” Kaye reminds us that she graduated from the University of Arkansas after marrying Charlie Beavers. Thus she “has an allegiance to both schools.”

Bill Johns (retired four years ago) and wife, Barbara, are proud to have three children, 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. They love them all dearly.

Phil Green’s education (after Rhodes) continued with a Ph.D. (physics) at LSU. He then joined the faculty at Texas A&M. He and his wife, Barbara Hollingsworth, raised their two daughters in Texas. He took a sabbatical in ’86 (working with Sandia Labs) and then moved to Albuquerque, where he met his current wife, Judy. He worked with NASA and Columbia University and worked internationally, traveling to Russia, Norway and England. While working with Sandia, he continued some A&M work with MACRO, involving universities in both the US and Europe and requiring trips into Italy. In 2004 Phil retired from Sandia. Since retirement, he and Judy have enjoyed grandchildren and have escorted them on trips to Europe and various other cultures. Judy retired from her career in music education and now has her own jazz ensemble, “Jazz to Go.” Phil has a jazz group, too, “Jazz Breeze.” He is also busy making ceramics (raku-fired wall clocks). They enjoyed the 50-year Rhodes Class of ’63 reunion in 2013 and hope to make at least one more.

Irwin From and PAWS, his devoted cat, have been “sheltering” from Covid-19. He reports that he was sad (as we all were) when he learned that Chris Drago died. Since graduation Irwin has been on campus only once. Back in the ’60s he taught school in York, SC. A few years ago, he visited with Ernest Maples. The two of them visited the Corvette factory together. Irwin wishes all classmates well.

Good to hear from Stephen Albert McMillan, who served in the past as president of the Alabama Association of Realtors. Steve gave up his real estate business years ago and (ultimately) became one of the longest serving members in Alabama history of the Alabama House of Representatives (40 years). He also has the distinction of being the longest serving member of

the current Alabama House membership. Steve and his wife, Gayle Payne McMillan, originally of Foley, AL, (where her grandfather was the first mayor of the city back in 1903) have three children — two sons and one daughter. Their daughter, Adrienne McMillan Burns ’88, also a Rhodes graduate, died of cancer. Steve and Gayle have six grandchildren. The oldest, Wiley Burns, is enrolled in the U.S. Naval Academy. Both of Wiley’s parents, Adrienne and Steven Burns ’90, graduated from Rhodes.

Jean Pierre Potel reminds us that he is now 80 years old. He and his wife, Nicole (both now retired), enjoy their five children and six grandchildren — all in good health. They have turned their family business, Cotton Byproducts Trading, over to their children. They faithfully remain in touch with fellow Rhodes students Bill and Frances Potts ’65, Scott and Judy Gregory, and Howard ’64 and Tricia Whyte Edington ’64, seeing them occasionally in both France and the U.S. These times of contact “have always been great moments.” A few years ago, he heard from Dr. Maria Leitner Felberbauer of Vienna, Austria. He wants us to know that his address is as follows: 6 quai de Seine, 27310 Caumont, France. His email address: poteljp@wanadoo.fr. He would love to hear from any/all of us.

Now I (Dan Gilchrist, aka the ’63 Class Reporter) have to add a few comments: My time at Southwestern (now Rhodes) was extremely valuable to me for numerous reasons: 1. One reason, of course, is the education that was provided there. That value has been trumpeted in various ways in the emails that I have received for this edition and past ones. 2. Another reason was/is the friendships (with both students and professors) that I experienced while I was there. Many of those have lasted to this very day. There is no way to place a quantifiable value on true friendship. 3. These two things made my time at Southwestern at Memphis one of the most valuable and enjoyable times in my life. Would someone please ask Bill Davidson ’62 for his definition of “a rounder”?

REPORTER Mary Lou Quinn McMillin

maryloumc1@comcast.net

As I concluded my last Class Notes written on March 6th, I noted that the coronavirus was wreaking havoc across the globe (with no clue of how devastating it would be in this country, that the political climate was “heating up” and that the “summer could prove to be filled with anxiety.”) Who could imagine how prophetic that last statement would be! We have all found ourselves in unprecedented times! With that in mind, I quote once again from Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse: “‘I’ve learned how to be in the present.’ ‘How?’ asked the boy. ‘I find a quiet spot, shut my eyes and breathe.’”

We can celebrate with Marilyn Meyers her “tale of survival.” Marilyn wrote of being hospitalized with a case of hyponatremia brought on by a too rapid loss of salt from the bloodstream caused by a clash in medications. She recovered from that only to come home with Covid-19! Fortunately, she had a very mild case and was able to self-isolate and recover at home. She reports that she has now completely recovered and commends the Washington, DC, Department of Health for their excellent job of finding her and tracking her contacts, etc. The moral of the story is that a case of Covid-19 is not necessarily the end of the road ... but do try to avoid it as you can’t be sure you will get the mild case Marilyn was lucky enough to have. She added: “I have no foreign trips or travel planned. As you know, given our failure to better control our Covid pandemic, many countries, including France where I was going in October, are either not admitting Americans or are requiring you to self-quarantine for two weeks following arrival; and my beloved Washington National Cathedral, where I have passed many happy hours as a tour guide, remains closed to the public for touring and also for services ... until the DC pandemic guidelines loosen and the Bishop declares that the Cathedral and other Episcopal churches in the diocese can again open.” Our deepest sympathies are extended to Hazel Taylor, whose husband Curtis died on March 14. Hazel shared that she is living in New Orleans and has two really great sons who have “been there” for her to assist her with her journey through grief and the many details that often arise along the way. Like so many of us, she is missing her church and the opportunity to worship together in person.

We also extend our deep sympathy to the family of Dr. Caroline Gage Sanford, who died of cancer on July 25. Her obituary shares the following: “While practicing clinical psychology in the Memphis area, on a lark, she bought herself a guitar for her 40th birthday. From that day forward she dedicated herself to the enjoyment and spreading of Old Time and Bluegrass music. The world is a much noisier and better place for her. Her daughter wrote, “Mom got the hell out of Dodge. Her garden was blooming outside and she thought — screw all this coughing, I want to sing. What a fierce, independent woman full of firecrackers and glass glitter.”

Anne Clark Harris writes that she is “staying home most of the time but playing mahjong and meeting friends for lunch once a week! Also playing a little bridge as it works out! May have to start dialysis soon but we’ll see when!”

From Bill Wilson we hear, “Covid-19 has wrecked most of my volunteer gigs, so for the last six months no time on the Visitor Services Desk or as a docent at Shelby Farms Park, no recording of books for broadcast on the library’s radio station, WYPL (89.3 FM), and no answering the phone for NPR and PBS pledge drives. The Institutional Review Board of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center does continue to meet by Zoom, which actually works pretty well. And I will sit down via Zoom with the archivist of the university’s library to give an oral history of the Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities, where I was on the faculty and an administrator for almost 40 years, before the building itself is demolished to make way for student and resident housing. I watched it go up more than 50 years ago and will watch it come

down, probably later this year. Covid-19 has also kept me from meeting my new granddaughter in Lawrence, KS — I will not take a chance on being the unwitting carrier of a potentially deadly disease. We’ll meet when this is over and try to make up for lost time.”

Jim Bullock reports, “Ervin (Haas ’66) and I have been following the rules of the pandemic. We have not traveled except to see our doctors and food. We have learned how to Zoom, and we do a lot of that. We Zoom our Sunday School in which we have been reading Saving God from Religion by Robin Meyers. We Zoom our book group with whom we are reading Patriots of Two Nations by Spenser Critchley. These meet every Sunday. I also Zoom my Rotary meeting, and my Presbytery and Presbytery committees. Through Facebook or phone, I regularly call my mentees at our group home, SAYS, as well as my older mentees in Arkansas and in Jacksonville and my fifth-grade mentee. We have worked in our church to enable Food-4-Kids. At the end of last year we were sending backpacks of food to over 225 kids in South Woods Elementary School. We now send boxes of food home to take care of the kids who are on the free breakfast and lunch program, and have no food on the weekends. This project is basically done by our church alone. We also have started a Ready to Work program that enables folks who have a record have a job. We have seven children and families that we support in various places of the USA. We have helped them through the economic crises in various ways. They all have jobs but have stresses on occasion. We have been helping a nephew who has come out of rehab and gotten a place to live and a job in St. Augustine. We have cabin fever but you can see we have a lot to do. We wish you all good health as we continue through the pandemic.”

Fun to “catch up” with Doyle Cloud as he writes, “Pat and I are doing well while totally quarantined in our home in Palm City, FL. Both of us love to cook so we spend a great deal of time in the kitchen. Pat had a double lung transplant 22 years ago and is immunocompromised, so we have to be even more careful than most. In order to get out of the house and take a trip or two, we recently purchased a 25-foot Airstream which will allow us to travel while avoiding exposure to Covid-19. If any of you have room for an Airstream in your driveway, let me know and we may just show up! Daughter Cathy is the director of nursing at the University of Montana and Carrie is an actuary for Express Scripts in Minneapolis, MN. Two granddaughters: Addie last year was a cheerleader at the University of Michigan and Kali is a junior in high school in Kalispell, MT, becoming fluent in Japanese. Two grandsons: Toth just graduated this year from Montana State with a degree in criminology and works for the Sheriff’s Department in Missoula, MT. Andrew is a Sophomore in Edina, MN, and a real golfer with a 1 handicap (that 1 is not a typo). When all this craziness is in the past, I would love to see everyone.”

Gail Hoover Parrish writes of family fun … a visit from their son, Mike, and his wife, Laura, who drove up from St. Simon’s and the celebration of their granddaughter Katherine’s 18th birthday … all with proper social distancing. Katherine completed her birthday celebration with a skydiving adventure as she jumped out of the airplane at 14,000 feet … connected to an “expert,” of course. Grandma Gail was still trying to find the nerve to watch the video of this experience!

From Hayden Kaden we hear: “Bonnie and I had planned to leave Mexico toward the end of March and had purchased plane tickets. Then the lockdowns started in the U.S., Canada, and then Mexico. In a stroke of brilliance, we weighed staying in our house in Mexico where it was 80 degrees and sunny or taking a chance of going through Seattle, then a hotbed of Covid-19, and heading home to Alaska where it was cold and rainy. Fresh fruits, vegetables, sunshine, and free liquor deliveries won. We finally made it back to Gustavus on June 3rd. Once home we were placed on lockdown in our home there for a two-week quarantine. After quarantining we discovered that no one in our small town was socializing, having dinner, or libations with each other. Oh, did I mention that southeast Alaska had no summer? It was rainy or overcast and unseasonably cold all of June and July. Never even took our boat out of its garage, much less put it in the water. I know that we, like most of you, will be quite happy to see 2020 receding in the rearview mirror.”

Charles Jernigan shared, “Peggy and I, like so many others, have eschewed our usual summer travel and are hunkered down at our home in Loveland, CO, following Voltaire’s advice to tend our own garden (literally). We have had temperatures as high as 101 in the last few days, but tonight (9/7) we are supposed to get a snow storm (!) with 6 or 7 inches on the ground by tomorrow night. It is supposed to reach a high of 36 tomorrow and a low of 27 tomorrow night. We have been busy covering the tomato plants. “I have just finished reading a fascinating new book by Grif Stockley (‘65) which includes a chapter on his Southwestern days (1962-65). Grif, who comes from Marianna, AR, was a friend who was one of the roommates in a house shared by four of us students a few blocks from campus. He has had a remarkable career as the author of scholarly

work on the history of race in his home state (Blood in Their Eyes: The Elaine Race Massacres of 1919, Ruled by Race: Black/ White Relations in Arkansas from Slavery to the Present among others) as well as a series of six popular lawyer/courtroom novels (the Gideon Page series) which he wrote in the 1990s. The new book, his swan song, is a memoir entitled Hypogrif in Bubbaville: A Memoir of Race, Class and Ego. Besides being a historian and novelist of note, his main career was as a lead attorney (and for a while the administrative head) of Legal Services in Little Rock. The memoir details his life-long interest and his struggle in dealing with the racial history of his native Arkansas Delta and the South in general. Part autobiography and part social history, it goes back through his ancestors to the days of Reconstruction and forward almost to the present, but concentrates on the turbulent times of the civil rights movement when we were all students in the 1960s. I found the book sad and hopeful at the same time, and surprisingly, a page turner. Grif recounts his own awakening to the injustices imposed on Black people in the South and particularly the Delta and his life-long quest to do something about it through the law. As an administrator at Legal Services, he once interviewed Hillary Clinton, who was applying for a job, and he saw several important cases through to the Arkansas Supreme Court. He often references his friend Lee Brown, who is also from Marianna, and others whom he knew at Southwestern. This book is not for those who think of the South as a fuzzy warm kind of antebellum Tara because it is filled with Grif’s brutal honesty, which includes his amusing views of why Southwestern at Memphis became Rhodes College, but I am sure he is right about that too. One person who was not right was Grif’s freshman advisor at Southwestern, History Professor John Hemphill, who suggested that Grif change majors from international relations because (he said), “Mr. Stockley, you can’t write.” Boy, was he wrong. Grif Stockley must be one of Southwestern’s most distinguished graduates from those years. His book tells you why.” From Tommy Lappage, “What a year this has been. Thuy and I have remained healthy so far but bored, of course. We have been cautious and tried to avoid situations that could expose us to infection. We are fortunate to live in a quiet neighborhood with a large lot which allows time outside with the plants and wildlife (lots of deer). The two cruises we had planned for this year were canceled of course. We look forward to 2021 and hope things are more normal so we can visit friends, restaurants, and travel again.”

Elaine Jenkins writes, “We have enjoyed our summer here on Mt. Desert Island. Don has renovated a bedroom in our house, built a ramp/deck at our rental cottage and kept the yards and flower beds in good shape both places. We enjoyed a week’s visit from our RI family in early August with three of their four grandchildren and one girlfriend. Despite Covid-19, we have had eight weeks of rentals which has kept us busy since we are the cleaning team! I continue my massive project of organizing our photographs, scrapbooking, making cards, and corresponding with friends. Last week I had successful parathyroid surgery, and in about a month we hope to head to Florida for the winter.”

Dossett Foster says, “During the Covid19 confinement, our days have been brightened just by watching God’s blessings occur in our yard. We had three families of wrens in Linda’s hanging ferns, one robin’s nest in a short crepe myrtle tree, a mockingbird family in one of our foster hollies and two bluebird nests in little homes built by our grandson several years ago. We love our birds.” Highlands, she stopped in Brevard for several days to visit with her cousin, Terry Ashley. Soaking up the mountain air is always a treat and time spent with family and friends provided needed solace. Friends, be safe! Wash your hands, Wear a mask, keep your distance … be SAFE!

1965

55th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1-3, 2021

Mary Lou Quinn McMillin finally found the courage to venture out and enjoyed a lovely visit in Highlands, NC, in the home of Sid and Bummie Crowell Nurkin ’66 for several days. Nancy Bullard Ladner ’65 drove up from Greenville, SC, for lunch one day and that was fun! In route, to Highlands, Mary Lou stopped in Montreat for a delicious lunch and delightful visit with Jim ’68 and Peggy Early Williamson ’68. Leaving

REPORTER Mary McQueen Porter

2harps1dog@gmail.com

1966

55th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1-3, 2021

REPORTER Sammy Ann Primm Marshall

sammyannmarshall@gmail.com

This pandemic has caused us to change many things in our lives so I asked classmates to let us know how they have been spending some of their time these past few months.

Isabell Van Merlin was happy to go back to work after 18 weeks of being at home. She says that during that time she participated in more poetry readings but had to cancel a couple of planned trips.

John Fears sends good wishes to everyone and writes that he and Joanna are “cruising through our 54th year of marriage.” They spend time reading, watching movies, exercising, and playing with their cats. He adds, “Our dutiful daughter lives less than a mile away, and that’s a blessing.” He suggests making use of your library. “If you don’t have a public library card, get one. Then check to see if your local library has either the ‘Hoopla’ or the ‘Kanopy’ streaming sites. They are both full of current TV series (such as BBC), movies, documentaries, etc., and are 43

worth taking advantage of. There may be other streaming sites that libraries have, but those are the only two that I have experience with.”

Susan Cheairs is like many who have found more time for gardening while the Tipton County Library was closed for six weeks.

Richard Jennings has been watching British mysteries and Shakespeare.

Bob Wild writes, “Charlie Bagley, Vern McCarty, and I lost a dear and wonderful friend with the death of Buddy Doyle from ALS. Buddy was an extremely intelligent and very well-read man with a fascination with fishing and the study of both the Bible and the cosmos. He was the wisest man that I have known with a down-home touch to his wisdom coupled with a great sense of humor. We all loved him and miss him dearly.”

Bob was recently in touch with Jenn Utley, Mike Utley’s widow, who returned the Bible that Bob had used for the Man course. Jenn told Bob an interesting story about it. “Mike actually met Elvis at Pat’s Pizza parlor late one night. I understand that there was an organ in the shop and Mike was playing for fun when Elvis came in. That apparently led to a number of sessions where Mike played and Elvis sang spirituals, of which ‘Peace in the Valley’ was his favorite. Very unconfirmed reports are that Elvis used my Bible and read everything I had underlined. Jenn thinks Elvis may have also underlined a few nuggets just for my edification.”

I imagine many others have learned how to Zoom and are streaming movies and catching up on reading and gardening just as I have been doing. I join these classmates in wishing everyone well as we look forward to a time when we can meet again.

1967

REPORTER Sam Highsmith arpenguy@me.com

Jeanne Hope Buckner writes: “So glad you are keeping your sense of humor in the midst of this pandemic and political chaos. Some days are harder than others. We are hunkered down in Maine where cases are low, the air is clean, and the waters are blue. It could be worse.” graduated from Rhodes, so he’ll be third-generation. He’s a baseball player, and hopefully we can come see him and Lynx play.”

From Canon Thomas Hall: “Remember when milestones were kids taking steps alone, potty training, using a spoon, etc. Uh oh, senior steps can mirror those. When all this Covid-19 madness began, we had beach plans for September, but have canceled. The money we saved on travel has been spent on books, books, and more books. Support your local bookseller! On the personal side, Husband (Clay) and I are talking more, dancing more, and appreciating each other more. What I miss most is hugging grandchildren. Another thing I am grateful for: this technology which can keep us together. Love to all my classmates.”

Dianne Rickoll Short writes: “Richard and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary last June. We went to Paris, which was wonderful, then toured northern France and I got to see Monet’s Garden in Giverny. Then in July we had a big family event with all three of our kids and their families at a beautiful mountain home in Asheville. Even some friends made it. Pre-Covid days! Last December, when my brother Wayne Rickoll ’69 was here, we got together with Steve Cole ’68 and his wife, Beverly. We had a great time visiting and sharing so many memories. Wayne has retired from teaching at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA, and moved back to New Orleans for his retirement years. He is now a visiting professor of biology at Loyola, because he loves teaching. Since March life has been a lot slower. I stay busy with my garden, and Master Gardener activities, which are mostly outside, and then some Zoom meetings. I have three grandchildren here, and one in Portland, OR. We do lots of Zoom family get-togethers between Louisiana, North Carolina, Georgia, and Oregon, but it’s not the same. Hoping for better days ahead, in many ways!”

From Sam Highsmith: “On Sunday, September 6, 2020, the children of Linda and Chip Hatzenbuehler hosted a ZOOM gathering to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of their parents. Among those in attendance were Rhodes alumni Charlie Killinger ’64, Ray Bye ’66, Willie Eddington, Dan ’71 and Robin Hatzenbuehler ’71, and yours truly. A good time was enjoyed by all.”

Cheers! Please stay in touch.

From Mike Whitaker: “Sam, excited that my grandson, Whit Overstreet ’24, is beginning Rhodes this fall. My daughter, Aubrey Whitaker Overstreet ’95,

REPORTER Drue Thom White

drueboo@aol.com

Suzanne Troth Donaldson writes, “I have been working as a census enumerator since August 9th. I have many stories to tell, some very good, some sweet moments, and a few scary ones. I have met some very nice and helpful people. Last week I was sent out of my area to the Gatlinburg area where they were needing help. I went out to a mountain road to find 10 places. They were all gone as a result of the fire on 11/28/2016. It was amazing to see the beginning part of a driveway, maybe a blackened mailbox, and then nothing but kudzu. I can’t imagine the terror for people who were visitors trying to drive out of the blaze on unfamiliar roads. It was hard not to get lost when the weather was clear and I was using GPS. I have enjoyed most of my time doing this and hope everyone has completed their census by now. If not, and an enumerator comes to your door, please be nice and helpful. I can tell you it is appreciated.”

From Judi Adams Larson: “Things are going well here in Nashville (considering). John and I are keeping busy working puzzles, reading lots of books, and walking around the block and on the greenway! Phone calls and Zoom meetings are interesting as well. And believe it or not, a trip to the mailbox can be a highlight of the day! Drive-by visits are fun (especially by the daughter’s house) when we stand by the car and wave and call to the family on the porch! It’s fun, too, when the grandkids drive by here and wave and ‘carry on’! Stay safe, everyone!”

The Memphis Business Journal has published a guest column written by Mackie Gober titled “An Open Letter to Owners of a Family Business.” To read, go to the SEACAP Financial website (seacapfinancial.com) and click ‘Latest News.’ Thanks for keeping us connected. Be safe.”

Bruce Cook shared a list of happenings that occurred while we were students. What else do you remember?:

1964

Day students enrolled without regard to race. First football game on new Fargason field. SAM won 28 to 7 against Centre. Students demonstrate for racial integration in Memphis Presbyterian churches. February 27 — President Emeritus Charles Edward Diehl dies. Board of Directors establishes sabbatical leave program for faculty. Mortar Board installed.

1965

Dr. Peyton N. Rhodes retires. Dr. John David Alexander ’53 becomes president. May 19 — Halliburton Tower hit by lightning for first time. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph R. Hyde give $125,000 to build a women’s gym. Kappa Delta All Sing tapes air on 53 radio stations. Burrow Library gets first photocopier, a Xerox 914. Mastodon unearthed in excavation for Frazier Jelke.

1966

May 2 — The Thomas W. Briggs Student Center dedicated. Includes the language center, bookstore, lounge, and office space for student groups.

1967

Men win 1966-67 CAC Overall Champions title (Southwestern News, June 1967, p. 5). First Briggs Student Center Film Festival. Library of Congress system adopted for the library. An IBM 1620 is the first computer given to the college.

1968

Pass/fail allowed. Saturday classes dropped. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King killed and students sent home on spring break. May 2 — Alfred C. Glassell Hall dedicated. October 19 — Dedication of Frazier Jelke Science Center, Kennedy Chemistry Hall, Buckman Library. Library stays open to midnight for first time. Wearing a coat and tie for dinner rule abolished. We graduated, thank God.

Johnny Jackson wants us to know, “I do have a bed-and-breakfast operating across from the Galloway Mansion in Memphis, if any Rhodes alums need a place here. Under VRBO and ABnB. It is the Galloway Mansion Garden Cottage. That’s all my news. Thanks for being there!”

Travel last year for Ginger and Luther Nussbaum was intense. Finishing the year with a Christmas trip with his grandson to the Mekong River and then finishing New Zealand with Ginger at the end of January allowed them to barely get home ahead of the coronavirus. “We had barely a month to hug our family before we designed creative solutions to create a bubble for us. First, we hosted people in our garage that we decorated with fabric, paintings from the house, and a new epoxy floor. As the weather changed we moved to distancing on the front and back decks with friends and families in very small groups after having Zoom cocktails with people we hadn’t seen in years. Strangely, our social calendar has never been so busy. Finally, the core project for me to keep busy has been writing a book about a niece that I’ve wanted to write for three years, ever since we discovered her.”

Congratulations to Bubba Clark (left) for his hole-in-one! He aced the 125yard No. 11 hole using an 8-iron at Orgill Park

REPORTER Kathie Maddux Larkin

rhodes4495@gmail.com

1970

50th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1-3, 2021

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

1971 The Class of ’74 celebrated its 45th reunion last November. This reporter attended parts of it with brother Bob Hasselle ’64 and visited with Arnold Weiner, Jim Drummond, Allison Jones ’75, and Larry Anderson at the all-class cocktail party. She went as Bob’s escort to the President’s brunch, which was very nice!

Ward Archer has done a great job of organizing Protect Our Aquifer to improve Memphis water and prevent further contamination. He is a founder (2016) and president. Fighting to keep Memphis’ drinking water safe, much progress has been made in raising public awareness about this serious problem. Ward served on Gov. Haslan’s TN H2O initiative. Great benefit concerts have been held. For further information on ways to help, check out ProtectOurAquifer.org.

Pat Carr wrote of Rick Bostock being honored as “Distinguished Professor of Plant Pathology” at UC Davis in 2019, specializing in biochemistry, molecular biology of plant microbe interactions, and diseases of orchard crops.

Jim O’Donnell is managing member of First Capital Group of Texas and senior advisor to Dalfort Capital (both in Dallas, TX), and is wrapping up what will be his last private equity fund. He has two kids — Jillian, 31, a GYN-oncologist at UNC-Chapel Hill, and Jake, 29, a U.S. Army Ranger who now works for Dalfort Portfolio in Chattanooga. Jim lives in Plano, TX with girlfriend Laura, Australian shepherd Patches, and “two crazy gray cats.”

Larry Anderson says (of Covid-19) he is “enjoying embracing my solitude during relative isolation while continuing his work as a painting conservator.”

Parkesy Casselbury now goes by Parkes or Vera, and can be reached at veraparkesc@gmail.com. She has lived in Hobe Sound, FL, for many years and enjoys visiting her daughter, son, and grandchildren in Illinois and Tennessee when Covid-19 is not a travel factor. In 2019, she visited retired professor and mentor Carl Walters ’56 and his family in Ecuador and really enjoyed that trip.

Wendlandt Hasselle knew very few classmates, so reaching out to unknowns is a bit weird — it being years with no class news, someone needed to do this. She resides with husband of 35 years Judge Bard Selden, “founder of The Hollywood (Cafe) and uncle to the fried dill pickle,” at Hollywood Plantation, MS, along with four horses, Napoleon the cat, and threefourths mastiff Xilitla. Here’s her college story: “Old

50th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1-3, 2021

REPORTER Betha Hubbard Gill

bethagill@hotmail.com

1972

REPORTER Robin McCain robin@slmr.com

An American Ballet Story: The young Joffrey Ballet company splits into two pieces over a power struggle for artistic control and the Harkness Ballet bursts onto the burgeoning global dance scene. Bold, brash, and controversial, the Harkness revolutionizes the way dance is taught and performed forever. And then it disappears. Producers Robin McCain and Leslie Streit have been investigating the story of the Harkness Ballet since 2010. They have just completed their first rough cut of the film and are on track for completion in 2021. anamericanballetstory.com/

1973

REPORTER

If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’73 reporter, please contact alumni@rhodes.edu.

1974

REPORTER Wendlandt Hasselle

jahlove2222@yahoo.com

friends Anna Olswanger ’75, Bill Lynds ’75, and I transferred respectively from Newcomb and DU in 1/72. After a semester rooming with Anna in the dorm, I moved home and was only on campus for classes. That fall I was signed up to spend junior year abroad at University of Mysore in South India. Mrs. Gandhi canceled all student visas the day before departure (the last telegram I ever received) due to the Paki war, so it was back to Southwestern. Sid Selvidge ’65 was my adviser — great guy, voice of an angel, but not much help with advice! When Comet Kohoutek came, he took off for New Mexico and wasn’t seen again for two weeks or so. Students would have to call the anthro department every morning to see if class would be held! Spring of ’73, I did a quarter at Univ. de las Americas in Cholula, Mexico — a life changer, beginning a love affair with Latin America. Classes were only four days a week, so long weekends were spent on the ‘dreaded Mexican buses’ exploring much of the country. That summer, Bill Lynds, two Venezuelan friends, and I traveled through much of western South America; a lot of hitchhiking was involved. Such an adventure at age 20! We returned to Miami with $13 left over, but I could finally converse in Spanish! To save money, I spent fall semester of our senior year at Memphis State, returning to Southwestern winter of ’74. That final mini-semester I did two independent studies with Sid and Prof. McClain. Marty Collier (also a student), cousin Judson Williford ’78, and I took off in an old Dodge Dart on a camping trip thru Mexico and Guatemala. The car was wrecked thrice and broken into at least as much, losing 11 sombreros, two good cameras, and a movie camera. We still had a blast, and Marty flew home from Guatemala, delivering my research papers in religion and anthropology to my professors. We must have taken a typewriter, as I recall feeling like Hemingway typing away in some crummy old $1 hotel in Guatemala City! I graduated in absentia (totally not allowed then), thanks to cousin Dean Anne Marie Caskey Williford ’52 granting me a pardon. My Mom went to the service anyway. The amazing thing to me was that all the credits from various schools all transferred to graduate in four years without summer school. Majored in anthro/ sociology, minored in art, and used all in jobs later. Oh, the coolest thing some of us did while taking classes with Dr. Wolfe was finding and looking up all the local blues singers that were still alive then, interviewing, recording, and photographing them. Who’d have thought the blues would become so mainstream?

Okay, y’all, write in your news and memories for the next edition! The 2020 theme could be “What we did during the virus pandemic” — and I pray that most of us survive it.

1975

45th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1-3, 2021

REPORTER

Anna Olswanger

annaolswanger@gmail.com

Vincent Astor co-produced the documentary The Resurrection of Madam Laura, which aired on Memphis public television this past summer and subsequently on all public television stations in Tennessee (Memphis, Jackson, Martin, Nashville, Cookeville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga). The documentary featured the 87-key carousel organ known as “Madam Laura,” which Vincent owns. The program included photos of many of the locations where the organ has played since 1914 and footage of Vincent and previous owners, as well as footage of the organ’s restoration. This past summer also marked the end of the rebuild of the Wurlitzer Theatre Organ at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis, where Vincent and other organists, including David Ramsey ’61, in his day, played. Along with Madam Laura, the Wurlitzer Theatre Organ was completely rebuilt to its original glory, with a few practical improvements. Classmates will recall that Vincent was the organist at the Orpheum (then, the Malco) during our Southwestern days.

Libby Drewry Dorris and Larry Dorris recently sold their home in Nashville to downsize into a condo. Libby, who majored in modern foreign languages at Southwestern, has retired from teaching French, but continues to tutor. Larry, who majored in economics, plans to retire next summer from Studio Bank, which he founded in 2016 with several colleagues, ending his 40-year banking career. At that point they will move to their farm in Virginia to be close to their three children and five grandchildren. Pamplin Poultry, started by their son and his wife on three adjacent acres, sells pasture-raised birds, chicken sausage, and eggs to local markets and restaurants from Charlottesville to Richmond. Libby and Larry expect to be extra hands, expanding their resumes and taking on a side hustle! The two started dating at the end of their junior year and regret that they won’t be able to relive the happy memories of their time at Southwestern/Rhodes at homecoming during this 45th reunion year, but hope to be paired with the class of ’76 next year for a safe 45th/46th reunion. Libby has reunited annually for 26 years with a group of Rhodes friends, including classmates

Theresa Cloys Carl, Cissy Quortrop

Hilbert, Cynthia Bishop Pass, and Rosamond Goldman Quay, along with Mary Lampton Puckett ’74 and Susie Webb Ries ’76. This girl’s trip, like the class reunion, will not happen in 2020, but in spite of this brief interruption, Libby and Larry say that the college connections remain strong for both of them, a testament to the bonds they formed during those years.

Neil Johnston says that in the 44 years since graduation, he and his wife Ashley have faced many life-changing forks in the road, and have taken a few, including the birth of their daughter Katie (school

teacher, business woman, and mother of their first two granddaughters, Bailey and Cameron Neil) and their son Neil Jr., a lawyer married to a lawyer (Abbey), who are the parents of Neil and Ashley’s third grandchild Neil III. (As Neil says, “Now there are three!”) Neil grows oysters for reef restoration through the Mobile Bay Oyster Gardening Program by suspending cages of shells and spat (once oyster larvae permanently attach to a surface, they are known as spat) on his Mullet Point pier. He produces 8,000 to 12,000 oysters a season between May and November when his “babies” are released on a secret reef in Mobile Bay. He has tried to name them all, but says “they all look alike.” Through the vision of Will Yandell ’77, who invested in and is renovating the Merchants National Bank in Mobile, Neil’s law firm Hand Arendall now has new offices in an old building. Neil says that the “Savage” life (“Savage” was, and still is for some, Neil’s nickname at Southwestern) leading up to and through graduation was exciting and fun and would have been plenty, but life after Southwestern has been full of adventures too, many of which he could never have anticipated. As part of his environmental law practice, he is able to teach, learn, and evolve the law. He says he has drifted into the “drone zone” of small UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) law, especially to address the most asked question: “Can I shoot that drone?” When he’s not growing oysters, turkey hunting in the Tombigbee River Swamp with his son, or catching bream on a cane pole and crickets with his granddaughters, Neil is busy with other projects, such as curing and painting wild hog heads under the trademark “No! This Is Not a Mirror!”

Allison Jones has retired after a rewarding, late-inlife career as a social worker in Memphis. She says the last 10 years of her work life were the best when she worked for Church Health, a large non-profit primary care clinic primarily serving the working uninsured in Shelby County. She found it a great work environment and loved working directly with the patients, helping them problem-solve and access resources, and walking alongside them through challenging times. Before entering graduate school in social work at the University of Tennessee - Memphis at age 53, Allison had a career in communications, using her writing and event-planning skills at venues that dovetailed with her interests, including the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau, Memphis College of Art, a private art gallery, a publishing company, and an art consultant who worked with local corporate art collections. Her career interests began changing as she got more involved at her church, which resulted in her serving for five years as director of Christian Education at Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Memphis. That stint whet her appetite for a more service-oriented life, and prompted her transition to social work. Allison is also happy to report that in 2013 she married Jim Drummond ’74. She and Jim knew each other in college but didn’t date. Andy Branham ’75, who lives in Memphis and is a mutual friend, set them up. Allison says it’s great in a second marriage to have your college (and friends) in common. Jim is now a semi-retired fed, who telecommutes from Memphis as an attorney for the Environmental Protection Agency. Allison and Jim have four children between them who live all over the country. The first grandchild between them was born to Allison’s daughter Mary Greer Simonton ’12 and her husband this past summer, and Allison is in heaven in her new role as a grand mom.

Norman Nicolson says that although he can’t compete with the news of his crazy lifelong friend Neil Johnston, he’s sending along the following: Since graduation in 1975, Norman has worked continually in the field of investments and portfolio management in Mobile. Married to True McGowin for 38 years, he and True have three children: Norman, married and a surgery resident at Yale New Haven Hospital; Alexander, a custom furniture builder in Mobile; and True, a coordinator for the non-profit First Book in Washington, DC. Norman and his wife True also have two grandchildren and they have stayed connected to them during the pandemic by reading to them via the internet. They have a house in Butler County, AL, where they spend weekends and holidays with True’s large family. Norman has served on several boards in Mobile, including St. Luke’s Episcopal School and the Alabama High School of Mathematics and Science. Norman is also a member of the Rotary Club of Mobile and enjoys Mardi Gras (which, he notes, started in Mobile). He reads widely in World War II history, cooks for his family, and has discovered that working from home is a good primer for retirement. He says that some of his happiest days were at Southwestern and that he frankly thinks he majored in SAE, his fraternity, but managed to earn a degree in economics. While experiencing some of the past crises in our economy and markets, he admits to having consulted his Money and Banking textbook from Dr. Hon’s class of the same name.

Anna Olswanger hosted a Zoom “Bellingrath” reunion in June with classmates Jeanne Cook, Emily Ruffin, Marty West White, Miriam Hudson-Courtney, Peg Falls-Corbitt, Debra Polsky, ’76, Betsy Hammet ’74, and Mamie Hart-Paul ’74. At one time, the women had all lived on the same floor in Bellingrath Hall. During their reunion they talked about what they had been doing for the last 45 years and where they

are now: Anna Olswanger is a literary agent and author in the metro NYC area; Jeanne Cook is a physician who has her own medical practice, Harmony Functional Medicine, in Austin; Emily Ruffin designs jewelry and owns Emily Benoist Ruffin Design in Taos; Marty West White does public relations for Ketchikan Medical Center; Miriam Hudson-Courtney is a graphic artist and retired communications manager for VIC Technology Venture Development in Fayetteville; Peg Falls-Corbitt is a philosophy professor at Hendrix College; Debra Polsky is the executive director at Dallas Jewish Historical Society; Betsy Hammet is retired from the United States Forest Service and lives in Sagle, ID; and Mamie Hart-Paul is a retired architect and lives in Raleigh, NC. The women were intrigued during the reunion to discover who needed glasses to see her computer screen, who had dogs wandering around in the background, who had cats, and who could still play a musical instrument (Betsy Hammet, who performed “The Wild Mountain Thyme” on her autoharp as the session ended). They agreed to meet again over Zoom in the fall.

Blair Shamel enjoys Southern California life in San Diego. So far, he has been fortunate to avoid the devastating wildfires plaguing other parts of the state. He works as a consultant to companies in the prostate cancer management business and serves on the board of directors of Nanospectra Biosciences in Houston, TX. The company is developing a nano-medicine-based device for treatment of prostate cancer. In a related activity, he helps friends and colleagues manage the many difficult decisions they face when newly diagnosed with the all-too-common disease. This summer Blair and his wife, Cindy, celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary and then traveled to England for their son Andy’s wedding — fully masked on the plane for 12 hours, then quarantined/tested for two weeks before the wedding. They hope to return to the UK in the spring to see Andy being conferred his D.Phil. in theology from Oxford. They are fortunate to have their older son Louis and their two-year-old grandson Luke living about three blocks away from their new house in San Diego. After fully recovering from his recent second total knee replacement, Blair plans to get back to mountain hiking, vegetable gardening, photography, playing with his grandson, and fixing up their new house. In spite of the inconveniences of the Covid-19 pandemic, he says, “Life is Good!”

Marty West White says she has a charmed life in Alaska. She served 15 years on the Ketchikan City Council and has had jobs she loved, including managing a community radio station and coordinating vocational education programs at the local campus. She now does public relations for the town’s medical center. Married, with three children, four grandsons and her first granddaughter due in October, she lives on a hill, still in Ketchikan, with a view of Deer Mountain to go with her morning cup of coffee. With the luxury of reflection, Marty says her appreciation of her liberal arts education at Southwestern has grown. The skill of critical thinking and the value in considering multiple opinions have been essential not only in her careers, but in her life. She says she is especially grateful for the two classes in Black History she took her junior year. At that point, she had only lived in the South and had a narrow education that included an eighth-grade history teacher telling the class that the Klan had gotten a bad rap. The Black History classes at Southwestern and the interaction with the other students changed her perspective, not only on race, but also on interpreting events beyond her and let her show them around town.

1976

45th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1-3, 2021 REPORTERS Julie Allen Berger

jab0539@gmail.com

Georgia Atkins

atkins.georgia@gmail.com

Georgia McGehee Atkins, Los Angeles County, CA: “Hello, classmates! It’s fun assisting our class reporter. I love connecting with classmates, wanting to look at everyone in a new light with new impressions, not necessarily who I ‘thought’ people were in the 1970s. I’m living in California, having landed here with my former husband in 1998. I bought a Spanish-style 1925 house one year ago and am so thankful to have this house during the pandemic. I have two children. My daughter lives in Paris with her French husband. My son has a disability; he loves to swim and does triathlons with a guide. California offers a lot of resources for people with disabilities. My son is able to live in his own home with support during normal times. I enjoy swimming outdoors yearround and spending time with my artist boyfriend who is exactly my same age. I would love it if classmates would find me at Georgia M Atkins on Facebook.

John Brejot, Manor, TX: “After a career in radio (blame WLYX!), on-air and eventually sales and management, I found my calling seven years ago. I work as a director of development for the University of Texas at Austin. My focus is estate and gift planning for alumni of the Moody College of Communication. Learning to work from home for the foreseeable future. My children are both UT grads, married and one grandchild with another on the way.

Sallie B. Clark, Gypsum, CO: “We are thankful to be in Gypsum where social distancing is the way of life. I retired December of 2019 and who knew what was to come. We had many travel plans cancelled but still have been in Wyoming at the horse camp several times. I have also been Zooming with a group from college on a weekly basis: Jeanette Sims, Arden McElroy, Debbie Williams,

Mary Ann Bradley Sutherland and Cindy Leonard Montgomery. We have probably been in closer touch than before Covid-19. My husband, Bob, and I have rented an RV to do a road trip in October to North Carolina to visit my mom, who is 93. Though we had plans to visit for her birthday in April, that, of course, did not happen. We figure this is the safest way to see her.”

Celebrating their 65th birthdays together in San Miguel de Allende, from bottom left: Cindy Leonard Montgomery, Arden McElroy Ritter, Mary Ann Bradley Sutherland; from top left: Debbie Williams, Jeanette Sims, Sallie Clark.

Dan Hougland, Louisville, KY: “Who would have thought that seventh-grade New Math, high school typing I almost flunked, and the first programming course at Rhodes would be the real world tools of a career? I became a respected computer programmer, analyst and systems designer, either self-taught or through on-the-job training. It has all been banking or insurance document processing from cradle to grave: design, create, distribute, capture, archive, destroy. Currently a team architect and multiple system administrator, I’ll retire in a few years. After 40 years, I reconnected with my high school flame and we should be married soon, pending Covid19. Science Fiction, catamaran racing, motorcycles, black belt instructor, and a little photography round out the picture.”

Penn Joe, Cordova TN: “I attended UT medical school, Class of ’80, and just retired from active practice after 40 years in Memphis. Despite Covid-19, I have been able to have limited and guarded travel to four national parks with my sons and play at some unproductive fly fishing. My daughter and son-inlaw just blessed us with our first grandson in Denver, which has been awesome. Humbled and still learning.” Suzie Johnston, Franklin, TN: “I am on my second career. I retired as director of the Poynter Legislative Law Library of the Louisiana House of Representatives in 2011 and returned to Virginia Theological Seminary for a refresher course in theology. (I went to seminary in the 1970s when women were not so easily navigating the system). Ordained in 2013, I serve as a member of the Episcopal clergy. Currently I’m at Church of the Resurrection in Franklin in social ministries: drug rehab, homelessness, food pantry, etc. I love this work!”

Carol Ellis Morgan, Decatur, GA: “I will be teaching online this fall, thank goodness. I am currently in Boston adoring my 3-month old grandson, James. I am discovering the joys of road trips!”

Jenny Smoot Nevels, Memphis: As executive director for the Baptist Memorial Health Care Foundation, Jenny has continued to work from her office during the Covid-19 pandemic. Baptist has been on the front lines of providing care to Covid-19 patients, heavily engaged in providing daily updates from infectious disease specialist, Dr. Stephen Threlkeld ’86. A major achievement of the Foundation has been raising and distributing over $1.3 million to Baptist colleagues impacted by the virus. Jenny and her husband, John, have been keeping a low profile at home doing yardwork, reading and watching movies.

Marian McCain Olson, Chapel Hill, NC: “We’re in good health (Jeff Olson ’75), and so are our sons in Boston, although one of them found himself among the 6 million who became unemployed in the first week of the shutdown. He’s in good spirits, though, and has good support with friends who share his apartment. We are busy in grandparent mode, with newborn grandson Wallace and his sister Lowell, just turning two.”

Andrea Simpson, Richmond, VA: Andrea is a political science professor at the University of Richmond. She passes along the sad news that fellow town student Sheila Peace ’78 died last year — “one of the most talented actors/dancers/singers I have known.” Andrea remains in contact with Sheila’s daughter.

Paige Tench, Macon, GA: “I’ve just retired from practicing (mostly) hospital consultation psychiatry. It’s perfectly lovely now to just read and work in my garden. Look forward to hearing from everyone.

Steve Williford, Holland, MI: “It has been my first summer away from my usual ‘tourist traffic massage

chair practice’ because of this Covid-19 mess. Something I’m not used to.”

Julie Allen Berger, St. Louis: “After three fulfilling decades as an oncology/ palliative care chaplain at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, I now serve a retirement community in the same suburb where my ministry began in 1981 (Kirkwood, MO). Like most clergy, I have had to up my game in tech worship skills while distancing. At the same time my family and I are trying to get the balance right, of not too much reliance on screens. We and our neighbors have rediscovered the joys of front porches. Keep your news coming!” jab0539@gmail.com

1977

REPORTER

If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’77 reporter, please contact alumni@ rhodes.edu.

1978

REPORTER Mary Lee Soop

msoop23@gmail.com

Jim Porter lives in the Sonoran Desert at the edge of the Coronado National Forrest in Tucson AZ. He and his wife, Nancy, of 37 years, enjoy hiking in the neighboring Sabino Canyon. Jim is a manager at Raytheon Technologies and an avid woodworker. He had hoped to attend this year’s Homecoming and catch-up and renew friendships with classmates and see the campus changes.

Ruthann Ray reports that she and her husband, Re, are living in South Carolina, having moved here six years ago. “Aside from the occasional evacuation for hurricane threats, we love it here. We live on a small sea island near Hilton Head although a world away in lifestyle. With only 300 homes on 3,000 acres we are socially distant every day. I do miss the gym, restaurants, and travel, but otherwise life today is similar to life in February. We have worked from a home office for the last six years, so nothing has changed in that respect. I am semi-retired, serve on a couple of nonprofit boards, and read a lot. We were scheduled to take a trip to Normandy this fall with my siblings and their spouses, but that has been canceled. I hope we can reschedule next year, although with three families involved it was a major feat to get our calendars aligned. Praying for a vaccine that is effective!”

1979

REPORTER

If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’79 reporter, please contact alumni@ rhodes.edu.

1980

40th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1-3, 2021

REPORTER

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

Jill Johnson Piper spent the last year writing 40 freelance articles for Memphis publications, one for every year since reporting to her first newspaper job in September of 1980. Married to Fred Piper, also ’80, they recently observed 34 years in practice at Piper Orthodontics, where he’s been making Memphians better looking since 1986. Son Kenneth Piper ’17 graduated from the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in May and completed the bar exam in October. He is a clerk for the Shelby County Criminal Justices.

1981

40th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1-3, 2021 REPORTER Sherri Godi Madden

rhodesalum81@gmail.com

Holt and Marcia Andrews completed (pre-COVID) a three-month sabbatical from First Presbyterian Church in Spartanburg, SC, where they have served as pastoral musicians for the past 28 years. “It really was the event of a lifetime,” says Holt. “Our travels took us to 15 cities in the U.S., Europe, and Africa and gave us many musical and cultural experiences, including Christmas Eve at Westminster Abbey in London and this unexpected camel ride in Morocco.”

Pictured above: Holt Andrews, Marcia Andrews, and their son Rafe.

Donna O. Perdue enjoyed the preCovid San Diego gathering of Rhodes alumni and parents, with guest appearances by President Hass and Rhodes staff. “We reminisced about Rhodes and swapped tips for enjoying life in San Diego,” she reports.

Jay Haynes reports: “I am practicing medicine and serve as senior medical director of Innovation and Integration for Acclaim Physician Group with JPS Health Network in Fort Worth, TX. I also serve as associate professor of family medicine with the New TCU/ UNTHSC Medical School in Fort Worth. Bonny, my wife, is an attorney in Denton, TX. Our four grown children have spread out pursuing their careers and college education and working in Dallas, New Orleans, and Los Angeles.

Kathy Keil Brown weighs in with: “My husband, Jay, and I are still enjoy-

ing raising alpacas in Pennsylvania. We also have two llamas, two pigs, and five chickens that keep us busy. Best of all — we are expecting our first grandchild in April!”

Neville Carson communicates: “Wife Julie and I are happy to report that our son, Nicholas, graduated from Lakeside High this year and is attending the University of West Georgia, majoring in business. We’re celebrating with a school band/chorus trip to Hawaii in April. (Not sure if that trip happened due to COVID!) Nick leads the second flutes in the band. After 25 years with BellSouth/AT&T/Cricket Wireless, I’ve retired from that company and am thrilled to be starting my next chapter as a lead content developer for risk management firm Assurant.”

Karen Levy proudly shares that “my daughter Sophie had a baby boy born on January 13.” Welcome to the world of being a grandmother, Karen! Nothing beats being a grandmother!

Paul Ward says: “We took a short vacation trip to Austin in late January/early February before Covid-19 came on strong. We enjoyed several nice meals there and toured the UT campus and LBJ Presidential Library. Gerald Ford’s presidential library is here in Ann Arbor (he’s a UM alum) but I haven’t visited it yet. We visited the Clinton Presidential Library many times when we lived in Little Rock. Health issues have ruled us this year. We are mutants! The wife and I both have the BRCA2 genetic mutation. Males with this mutation have higher risks for melanoma and prostate, breast, and pancreatic cancers. Females with this mutation have much higher risks for ovarian and breast cancer, and slightly higher risk for pancreatic cancer and melanoma. The wife had a prophylactic oophorectomy (removing ovaries and fallopian tubes) in March right before elective procedures were halted, and a bilateral mastectomy July 14 (renamed “Breastille Day”). After a six-week convalescence, she returned to work. The good news is that after these surgeries, the risk for these cancers falls below that of the general population. If any readers have family members with these cancers, consider getting testing for genetic mutations. Continuing the health theme, our dog got glaucoma and irritation and had his eyes removed. We now call him “The Blind Boy of Ann Arbor,” a play on the gospel group “The Blind Boys of Alabama.” Our only Covid-era travel was to East Lansing to see Michigan State University veterinary ophthalmologists.”

Bryn Bagwell relates: “My husband and I bought a cute little seaside bungalow in Placencia, Belize. We are becoming part of this English-speaking and emerging resort community, hoping to one day spend more time there and do what we can to educate and support micro-economic efforts in the community either through University of Arkansas Global Economics Department or Placencia Rotary — or both! We named our cottage, The Salty Hawg. Fellow Rhodes alums Virginia Marr Yeatman and Lou Henslee Bell have been to Salty Hawg. And no, I will not send photos of us in our swimsuits! Ha ha!”

Charles Gurney shares: “I live atop a hill in Knoxville and I am currently editing the next edition of the State Department Human Rights Report. Love the commute but restless for travel. I give credit to Southwestern for my career and my early retirement.”

Carole Freeburg adds: “One of my sons graduated from the University of Tennessee Medical School in May without the typical fanfare! He has started his surgery residency at Indiana University in Indianapolis.”

Leslie Hubbert shares: “My latest ‘hobby’ during the pandemic has been teaching third-grade online. This is definitely the most bizarre episode of my 20-year teaching career. On the bright side, I have had 100 percent attendance for the first two weeks of school this year. We will be raising a generation of very computer-savvy kids who have a very distorted sense of ‘personal space.’ My other latest hobby is being a grandma for the first time: our oldest daughter gave birth to a beautiful son, Joaquin Lee Moore, at our house on May 2. For now, we are all sheltering in place at our house; no loneliness or boredom here! I hope by the time little Joaquin goes to preschool, ‘distance learning’ will be a distant memory. We are keeping the fires, the smoke, and the heat wave at barely an arm’s length away, but we are all healthy. Here’s to better times ahead!”

Allison Fentress reports: “Bob and I are both working from home and that’s going fine. We’ve adapted to the new routine. We’re looking at this as a trial run for retirement, with us both being home all day. In my spare time I’m cleaning out closets, sorting through family photos. Covid-19 has certainly changed ‘doing life’ in our country.”

I do have a very positive occurrence that happened during these trying times, though. I had reconnected with a friend I knew over 35 years ago in South Florida and we were married in Savannah last June! It was a most perfect ceremony at one of Savannah’s historic inns with only four guests who were provided wedding masks made by one of my students! I have relocated

to Tallahassee, FL, where my husband works. I am still teaching Latin and Greek, but all online this year. I am incredibly happy to be the wife of the sweetest man on earth!

1982

REPORTER

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

1983

REPORTER Ted de Villafranca

edevillafranca@gmail.com

1984

REPORTER Linda Odom

linda.odom@klgates.com

By chance, Class of ’84 classmates Dave and Elizabeth Martin Neithamer of Midland, MI, and Deb Efird and her husband, Pete, of Denver found themselves in Breckenridge, CO, at the same time while on vacation. It was wonderful catching up and enjoying each other’s company!

1985

35th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1-3, 2021

REPORTER Robin Newcomb Friend

robnfriend@gmail.com

Frank Baker will begin participation in Education for Ministry (EfM), sponsored by The University of the South in Sewanee, TN, this fall. EfM is a unique four-year distance-learning certificate program in theological education based upon small-group study and practice. Since its founding in 1975, this international program has assisted more than 100,000 participants in discovering and nurturing their call to Christian service. EfM helps the faithful encounter the breadth and depth of the Christian tradition and bring it into conversation with their experiences of the world as they study, worship, and engage in theological reflection together. In the first year of EfM, participants will study the Old Testament of the Christian Bible; in year two participants will study the New Testament; in year three participants will study Christian history; and in year four participants will study theology. Affiliated with the Episcopal Church (USA), Frank very much looks forward to his studies and to learning a lot.Richard (Dick) Banks: “During the early stages of the pandemic, I took up making mistakes in public. The medium was radio, which it had been for me back when I worked at my high school radio station (WKRP was my favorite radio show) and then at Rhodes’ WLYX. This past February, though, my local NPR-affiliate, Birmingham’s WBHM, had a spot open to work the board during weeknight broadcasts of a news show focused on the coronavirus. Even though I hadn’t done much radio in several decades, I somehow talked my way into the gig and commenced to stumbling all over the air, learning again to read news, how to operate a slew of computer programs that feed the show and my newscasts, and even to turn on my mic BEFORE speaking (or more importantly to turn it OFF before I inevitably start talking to myself after being on-air). Once, when sanitizing the control room after my shift, I even took the station off-air (I clicked the mouse that was connected to one of them aforementioned computer programs). If there was a mistake to be made, I managed to make it. The show ended in May (or maybe it was June, everything just runs together these days), but the station has brought me back a few times to host other shows, and I love it. Supporting journalistic endeavors is as critical as ever these days, and I feel fortunate to be involved, while staving off old age a little longer by learning new stuff. I’m so appreciative of station management for teaching me the ropes, and as a result, I’m a little smoother these days (and still idolizing Johnny Fever and Venus Flytrap). Peace and love, y’all! Take care!”

Brad Broadaway: “Other than handling a mundane small-town law practice, I have accomplished very little over the past year. However, after serving in the Arkansas State House of Representatives for four years, my wife, ‘Scary’ Mary Broadaway, was elected on March 3 to serve as Circuit Court Judge for the six counties of Northeast Arkansas. I don’t know whether I now have to be a ‘good boy,’ or if I have a ‘get out of jail free card.’ Trying to come up with a title for myself. ‘First Dude’ doesn’t really fit. Thinking about ‘Charge D’Affairs.’ Open to suggestions from my Lynx brethren.”

Ellen Hopkins Flottman: “I am still working as the district defender of the Central Appellate office of the Missouri State Public Defender. We are working at home right now, and have been since March. I had my two youngest grown children home for five months, but they have moved out now. My youngest, my daughter, is a junior at Southeast Missouri State, studying musical theatre. My three boys are out of college and working, two in Kansas City and one in Cape Girardeau.”

Christy Weir Krueger: “What an interesting time this has been! When Bill Townsend ’84 passed the gavel to me, I had no idea how different things would be at Rhodes College. I had the pleasure of toasting the Class of 2020 virtually, hosting a virtual Alumni

Board meeting and boasting about how proud I am of the hard decisions that have been made by President Hass and the college leadership! On a personal note, I get to spend most days with my grandson. He has become the star of many virtual meetings! Boy … I forgot how fast they grow! On the business front, we are still granting wishes! The types of wishes have changed. Disney is on hold so we are becoming experts at playhouses, swimming pools, and yes …“she sheds”! In September I will be celebrating 13 years at Make-A-Wish and looking forward to many years to come. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy! I am looking forward to the day when we can all get together to celebrate our reunion — the first graduating class of Rhodes College! Roll Lynx Roll!”

Susan Bahner Lancaster: “For me, the pandemic coincided with three ankle surgeries this year. I now have a brand-new titanium ankle! I took the last school year off, but I’m back this year teaching at The Episcopal School of Knoxville. Our youngest is a senior at L & N STEM Academy in Knoxville. We’ve been doing lots of socially distanced college tours. Frank Jones has organized some Zoom happy hours for Rhodes alums, and it’s been great to have some mini-reunions, even virtually.”

Andrea Wilkerson returned to Memphis in September 2019 to take the position as pharmacy director at Saint Francis Hospital Memphis. “I had worked there previously for 23 years. Took a five-year hiatus to the beautiful state of New Mexico. But due to an unexpected opening was drawn back to this fair city and to people I adore. 2020 has proven to be challenging in unprecedented ways. However, my 55+ 4.0 tennis team did win the local championship. But due to the coronavirus, we opted not to travel for the state championship. Just trying to stay hydrated and cool during this humid summer!”

1986

35th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1-3, 2021

REPORTER

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

REPORTER Mimi Swords Fondren

mimifondren@outlook.com

From Susan Hook Patterson: “When the world shut down in March, my Rhodes friends were some of the first people I turned to for connection and mutual consolation. I am so grateful to have meaningful relationships that stand the test of (gulp) 33+ years!”

This is so, so true. Stay safe and well!

1988

REPORTER Brooke Glover Emery

brookegemery@gmail.com

Steven Becton was recently named chief equity and inclusion officer for Facing History and Ourselves.

Glenn Tillery reports that he began his 25th year as an anesthesiologist at The Surgery Center of Huntsville in August 2020. Though the facility did shut down for many weeks due to Covid-19, it is currently back to full speed. His oldest son, Austin, got married three years ago and has made him a grandfather. His middle son, Christopher, got married this summer. He and his bride, Hannah, were married at a brand-new wedding facility in Alberville, AL, that was designed and built by Karen, his wife of 29 years (as of September 28, 2020). The venue is called Burns Bluff and has been featured along with his wife on the DIY Network show Barnwood Builders.”

Valerie Gray Jordan sold their house during Covid-19 and moved across town to the “coolest small town in America,” Lititz, to be closer to her mother (who has some dementia) and to their daughter’s private all-girls school, Linden Hall School for Girls. Downsizing has been a healthy challenge. After a brief pseudo-retirement while her teens needed more attention, Valerie has spent the last couple years doing relief work as a small animal veterinarian. There is great demand in the Lancaster area so, except for a brief lull in the spring at the Covid-19 onset, she has been busier than ever. The break was good for her and she now enjoys her work more than ever. So Covid-19 time for Valerie? Packing, moving, unpacking, working, reading, walking, yard work, listening to podcasts (loves to hear Rick Warren and Stephen Furtick sermons), cuddling her dogs, and stressing over teenagers. She most missed being

at church, being with friends in person — though those are more normal now despite masks.

1989

REPORTER

If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’89 reporter, please contact alumni@ rhodes.edu.

1990

30th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1–3, 2021

REPORTER

If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’90 reporter, please contact alumni@ rhodes.edu.

1991

30th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1–3, 2021

REPORTER Tracy Courage

tracy_courage@yahoo.com

Helen Moses is living in Raleigh, NC, where she works as a voice and messaging coach. Her business is Speak Up Communications, and she has written a new book, Voice Unleashed: Speaking Up with Faith and Courage, set for release September 22, 2020. In it, she shares her journey of finding her voice and shares some of her most vulnerable experiences in the hopes of instilling a path for others to find their voice, own their value, and make the impact they were meant to make in the world. helenmoses. com/voiceunleashed/.

Kim Medland, who lives in Washington, DC, recently joined Aptive Resources, a women/veteran-owned consulting firm, as a senior associate focused on delivering strategic communications advice to government clients. Kim reports that D.C. is quieter than usual. To stay connected, she and seven other Rhodes Class of ’91 friends (Mary Margaret Adams Brewer, Amanda Illges Van Cleve, Leigh McWright McGinty, Angela Holland Mills, Danette Joslyn-Gaul, Leesa Miles, and Lane Whitney Dunyak) have weekly Zoom happy hours, which add a bright spot to their week. Kim also recently joined with the Rhodes DC Chapter team that won the FitLynx Challenge. “I look forward to traveling some day and seeing people again once the pandemic is contained,” she says.

Tracy Courage lives in Little Rock and celebrated her one-year anniversary working as director of communications for the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, part of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

1992

REPORTER Sara Hawks Marecki

saramarecki@sbcglobal.net

The Class of ’92 has managed to keep busy during the pandemic.

Kaleigh Donnelly and her husband, Rich Bullington ’91, watched the entire filmography of Jean Claude Van Damme this summer. It was a whole job. Kaleigh also wrote and assembled her school’s virtual learning plan, which was approved with no revisions required by the state. She’s sure she was channeling the fighting spirit of the Belgian as she wrote page after page of attendance policies.

Laura Landers Duke teaches in a school that has created outdoor classrooms for everyone. (They were featured on the national news!) She is teaching music outside and will be glad to see fall temperatures. She is re-learning hand bells to play with her students and also at her church where she is Choir Director.

Chris Emanuel recently took a break from dodging sneezes from his pediatric patients and spent a week hiking Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Claiborne Ferguson was elected to the executive committee of the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (TACDL) and will be president for the association’s 50th anniversary in two years. The TACDL represents over 1,000 attorneys in Tennessee. In his spare time, he and his wife are overseeing renovations to their new home, the Blackwell House in Bartlett, TN. Did I mention that it’s a certified haunted house!?!

Melanie A. Elliott Hillard was appointed Arkansas Cluster Coordinator by the South Central Regional Director of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated. She has been named to the Rhodes College Alumni Association Executive Board, as well as the Arkansas Repertory Theater Board of Directors.

Jennifer Jenkins recently passed the 25-year mark with Hewlett-Packard (HP). She works in marketing. She recently remodeled/updated a home on 10 acres complete with typical Oregon Douglas fir trees in Oregon wine country and is hosting AirBnB/VRBO in the daylight basement. It has its own kitchen, living area, etc. It has been fun and successful so far despite Covid19. The air is currently very smoky from the fires — bless all these firefighters working hard.

Kelly Leach wrapped up four years working as COO and SVP at the photobook self-publishing company Blurb. She and her husband are in the process of relocating from San Francisco to the Catalonia region of Spain and Kelly is taking the “gap year” she never had.

Sara Hawks Marecki has converted her sewing machine from a dust-gathering, pant-hemming appliance, to a mask-making machine. To date, she has stitched and donated almost 200 masks to friends, family, co-workers, teachers, and other essential workers in the community.

Carolyn Sharp is trying to breathe through the smoke choking Seattle from the hoax fires plaguing the West, while continuing to try to keep couples from breaking up on video, working to dismantle white supremacy in her profession, and simultaneously raising four kids and teetering on the brink of insanity. Yay 2020!

Heather Spurlock has been growing herbs and making batches of salsa verde and salsa roja.

Kevin Thompson was named executive director of the Memphis Pink Palace Family of Museums in January 2020.

Kelly Pledger Weeks is allowing her teenage boys to play way more video games than she ever would have imagined six months ago. She’s learning technology to imitate in-person class while her whole family learns from home simultaneously. “Screens are our life.” They try to spend as many weekends at the lake or outside as she can talk the boys into. “I miss people and hugs and parties!”

Anisa Cottrell Willis is associate rector at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Newport, KY. She also serves on her local school board which means she is engaged in trying to figure out how to open both of them safely. Fun times!

1993

REPORTER Wendy Mullins

wendy.mullins@yahoo.com

1994

REPORTER Judy Brown

judyporterbrown@gmail.com

1995

25th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1 – 3, 2021

REPORTER

If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’95 reporter, please contact alumni@rhodes.edu. 1996

25th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1–3, 2021

REPORTER Jennifer Larson

larson_jennifer@yahoo.com

1997

REPORTER Laurea Glusman McAllister

laureag@gmail.com

Tilghman McFadden relocated from Memphis to the greater Seattle area in September of 2018. “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had the nerve to do.” Tilghman and her family settled on Bainbridge Island, a quaint bedroom community about a 30-minute ferry ride from downtown Seattle. “We feel like we have the best of both worlds. We have a world-class city close by, yet we live on this quiet, forested and beautiful oasis in Puget Sound.” Tilghman reports that she makes it to Olympic National Park, “as often as is possible, particularly given we’re only two hours away. We are so grateful to have this epic national park in our backyard.” Tilghman and her husband are both financial advisors in the Seattle area. “We moved here for the professional opportunities, plain and simple. We’ve found that and much more. But the South will always be home!”

In a feat of resilience, Neal Lakdawala, had the same soup for lunch and dinner for five consecutive days when left home alone by his family. He has 46 followers on Strava and once created a segment around a hotel in India (Lake Palace Loop) so he could become King of the Mountain. He enjoys speaking like a frat bro with his daughter, until she inevitably punches him in the genitals.

John Weeden has joined the operations team at First Horizon Advisors since our last reunion, and has been working remotely since March. His wife, Lyle, has also been remote for ALSAC/St. Jude since that time as well. Their son, Cullen, is now in fourth grade and is doing great!

Shaila Mehra writes, “This summer we moved from the plains of Stillwater, OK, to the mountains of Blacksburg, VA. “I’m the assistant dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the College of Liberal Arts

and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech. My husband, Andrew Wadoski, is a faculty member in the English department at VT. Naya (9) studies rocks and flowers on our walks in the woods, and Ishaani (6) has befriended every dog in the neighborhood. I send best wishes to everyone in the class of 1997 and especially to anyone who may be dealing with significant loss due to the pandemic”

Alexa Bradley Hulsey writes, “We’re coping pretty well, considering. I had to close my clinics for two months but, thankfully, we’re back open now. My business, Encircle Acupuncture, is celebrating 10 years of providing affordable acupuncture in Nashville, and I was named one of Nashville Business Journal’s 2020 Women of Influence, in the Trailblazer category. So that’s pretty cool!”

Brendan Minihan is starting his fourth year as head of the Middle School at The Tatnall School, in Wilmington, DE, where his three children, Aidan ’23, Ewan ’24, and Clare ’27, study. His wife, Margaret Ann Taylor Minihan ’98, works as tech director at The Independence School. They say they are both still running, although less than they did for Coach Shankman back in the day.

1998

REPORTER Susan Meredith Meyers

susanmeyers26.2@gmail.com

William Buchheit published a book this year titled The South Carolina State Hospital: Stories from Bull Street. It was printed by The History Press in Charleston and is available in softback, e-book, and audible on Amazon, as well as in book stores throughout South Carolina.

Vic Suane is married to Joy, and they have two children (future Rhodes students, no doubt) — Jordyn, 10, and Jacob, 7. The family lives in Baton Rouge, LA, where Vic is a partner at Kean Miller LLP. He is chair of the law firm’s Diversity Council and practices in the Environmental and Litigation group. In his spare time, he enjoys working on home improvement projects and spending time outdoors. He looks forward to reconnecting with everyone at our next reunion.

Mitchell Klink has been leading gallery talks of the biennial at the Bermuda National Gallery, where he has joined the board. The island’s slower pace, low-density, mid-Atlantic isolation, and established norms of remote work eased the transition into our current altered reality. Open ocean swimming, an active outdoor lifestyle, and lush natural beauty has helped with the stress. He invites everyone to come visit!

After finishing his Ed.D. at Vanderbilt, Tom Suchman is now an assistant principal at Houston High School in Memphis, where he has taught English for 20 years.

Thomas “Tef” French was recently promoted to vice president of sales for the US Employer Services division of HotSchedules-FOURTH. After merging FOURTH and HotSchedules last year, the company became the largest hospitality-focused software and services company in the world. He and his wife Saskia celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary in June and their daughter Doutzen’s first birthday in July. He is looking forward to his annual trip to Atlanta in the fall, where he’ll spend the weekend with fellow alumni Tom Ramsey ’95, Pete Noll ’96, Dan Pellegram ’97, Frank Pinkerton ’96, and Ed Parker ’96.

Chip Schramm was elected to the regional executive board for the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) for 2019-2021 for the Southeastern US and Caribbean region. He was also asked to serve as the education chair for the State of Alabama by the YPO Southern 7 Chapter for 2020-2021. Mark and Mandy Booker still live in Boston, MA, with their four kids. In March, just before the pandemic hit the U.S., Mark became the senior minister of Park Street Church which is located on the Boston Common.

Maggie McDonald serves as vice president of legacy gifts at United Way of Central Alabama. In her role, she manages the largest Tocqueville Legacy Circle in the nation, with more than 110 members who have committed more than $250,000 to United Way’s endowment through their estate plans.

1999

REPORTER Leigh Powell Mayfield

leigh.powell@yahoo.com

2000

20th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1–3, 2021

REPORTER Nicki North Baxley

nickinp@gmail.com

Emily Jones wrote that her family “made a conscious decision to continue our lives as Pre-Covid.” She spent the summer traveling and her kids went to summer camp. She wishes everyone well. Shadenn Zarur reports she has a company that sells medical devices, “since Covid-19 all of our surgeries stopped and are slowly coming back now.” She had to let go of all her sales force except one. On the good side, she was forced to look elsewhere and decided to help her dad, who manufactures a natural disinfectant (Biocitrox), with his Instagram. She also took some self-improvement courses and realized that she wants to become a health coach and is enrolled in a program for this.

Sheila Jacobson Purcell writes, “I’ve been working on the Covid ICU at Methodist in downtown Memphis. It’s

been surreal and tremendously satisfying. We have really enjoyed the time at home with our three kids (ages 5, 7, and 9) and our new puppy, Charlie. In July, we decided we would not put the kids back in school and I’ve been homeschooling them since then. We are itching to take our newfound freedom on the road as soon as it’s safe to travel again!”

Nicki North Baxley moved to Iowa for her husband’s job at the beginning of the year. Covid-19 definitely changed her plans to open a business. “Currently, the kids are virtual schooling and I am creating an online presence for my handmade cards (@nickiheartscards) in hopes of corporate sponsorship.”

2001

20th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1–3, 2021

REPORTER Katy Minten Gray

mkminten@hotmail.com

2002

REPORTER Shannon Cian

shannoncian@gmail.com

2003

REPORTER Scott Holmes

holmes.scott@gmail.com

Greetings from the Class of 2003. After a brief hiatus, we are back in Class Notes where I am sure we have all been dearly missed.

Lt. Col. Margie (Hall) Molloy, USAF, is currently stationed at Ramstein AB, Germany, and will move to San Antonio, TX, in the summer of 2021 to take command of the 802d Force Support Squadron.

Laura Marks O’Brien celebrated getting a haircut for the first time since January along with her and Scott O’Brien’s 14th anniversary in June. The O’Briens are living in Arlington, VA, where they’ve lived since graduation. Their daughter Julianne turned 3.5 this summer and is recently back in preschool to the sheer relief and joy of her parents. Samantha Scott is currently the director of a foster care agency in Northern Kentucky. She has seen firsthand the effects Covid-19 has had on families and children. During all this she has also helped start a substance abuse program at a local jail, celebrated six years sober, and is studying to take the Kentucky bar exam!

Lenox McClendon Warren lives in Memphis with her husband and two children. She is the director of development for Hope House, a local nonprofit serving the HIV community. Hope House partners with Rhodes every year to bring in volunteers and provide music class to preschool children, so she has gotten to stay connected with Rhodes!

Raina Burditt just published a book called Scratch Programming for Beginners: A Kid’s Guide to Coding Fundamentals. She is also the technology instructor at Memphis University School. This fall she has been especially busy supporting teachers as they tackle “concurrent teaching.” In order to keep the population density down, half of the students are on campus while the other half tune in from home online.

Sarah May Wilmsmeyer and her husband, Josh ’02, along with Avery (9) and Colin (4), are figuring out virtual school and work while tackling gardening with native plants. In the last three years they have added over 60 native plant species to their yard and as a result have observed many more birds, butterflies, bees, and other wildlife and been honored with a Silver Certification for wildlife habitat value through the St. Louis Audubon Society’s Bring Conservation Home program. The work has also been something positive to help navigate the stress of the pandemic.

Rebecca Held Knoche and her husband welcomed their second child, Benjamin John Knoche, on February 26, just before Covid-19 hit! Ben joins big sister Hannah (4). Despite pandemic maternity leave being quite different than anticipated, everyone is doing great! They live in southern Maryland, and Rebecca works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Cyanne Demchak finally put some roots down by buying a house in East Nashville a few years ago after moving to other cities every few years. She just celebrated her 11th anniversary at Cigna, and is currently chief innovation officer for Cigna Medical Group. She’s usually on planes back and forth to Phoenix 2-3 times a month, but has gotten pretty comfortable with her short walk to her home office during Covid-19. She has gone through a few Covid phases including most of the basics — baking (bread, cake, cookies, biscuits), too many Peloton classes, puzzles, ordering take-out

from her favorite spots around the city — and recently rediscovered the lost art of home bartending, and actual books rather than reading on a device after deciding she needed to save her local bookshop by buying books every week, starting the week after the March 3rd tornado.

Since leaving Denver in 2015, Amanda Womack Haley has been writing books and restoring her house in Chattanooga, TN, with her husband, David, and basset hound, Copper. Her second book, Mary Magdalene Never Wore Blue Eye Shadow: How to Trust the Bible when Truth and Tradition Collide, was released by Harvest House Publishers in October 2019. She is preparing for the February 2021 launch of The Red-Haired Archaeologist Digs Israel, the first book in a series that explores a nation’s ancient and modern cultures and how they intersect with Scripture.

Team “Old Lynx But Not Cougars” placed 3rd in the Virtual LynxFit challenge organized by Rhodes Alumni. Led by Miriam Dillard Stroud, the team also included Allison Grabias Pera, Gelsey Bennett, and Jane Wells.

Brett Ramsey married Marybeth Dowd on November 2, 2019, in Nashville where they also live. There were several Rhodes alums in attendance from the Class of ’03: James Roach, David Goudie, Grace Williams, Jessica Hoback Engebretsen, and Whitney Brett Engstrom and Brett’s cousin Walker McWherter ’14. They’re happy to have gotten married before the Covid-19 madness and wish everyone else the best!

Lauren Blalock Sefton is going on her 18th year of working with the Rhodes Admission Office and watching our new Lynx adjust to a virtual college experience. She and her husband, Eric ’02, have spent their time in quarantine chasing their 4-year-old.

Caroline Dale Simpson, daughter of Will Dale ’70 and Nancy Dale ’72, and her husband, Chris Simpson, had James Simpson on January 15, 2020. He is an incredibly sweet and friendly baby and joins big brother Tyler Simpson, born September 14, 2016. They live in Bethesda, MD, and always enjoy seeing D.C. area visitors.

Michelle Stillman Toussaint recently graduated from the Montessori Institute in San Diego with a Montessori Primary teaching degree for 3- to 6-year-olds. She is now a lead teacher at her local Montessori school in Sun Valley, ID, and is loving every minute of it!

Yvonne Godfrey ’03 was recently named a partner at her law firm, Harris Lowry Manton, LLP, and was selected as an On the Rise attorney for the Daily Report’s 2020 Georgia Legal Awards.

And at last I guess I have to submit something too. I, Scott Holmes, live in Tuscaloosa with my wife Dr. Lauren Fay Holmes ’05. I work as an associate city attorney for the City of Tuscaloosa where I practice in the wild world of municipal law and have been assigned as the operations section chief of the City of Tuscaloosa Incident Command for Covid-19 since March. We have two children, Franklin (7) and Vera (22 months). For fun, I drink whiskey, grill, and run a silly parenting blog on my own and recently started a cooking blog (holmescooks.com) with my wife.

2004

REPORTERS C. Kyle Russ

ckyleruss@yahoo.com

Stacy Sidle

stacy.sidle@gmail.com

Daniel Head and family write that “we loved living in Washington, DC, with the kids but even pre-pandemic it was growing difficult — we ultimately left because we just had to move; our condo didn’t have a yard nor patio and our neighborhood was suffering.” But, DC’s loss is North Carolina’s gain! Daniel has family and friends in the Triangle area, “there’s great public schools and low cost of living, great weather, easy to drive to DC, etc., etc., etc. So now here we are!”

Peter and Alyson White Igoe chime in that when the pandemic hit New Orleans, they were returning from a three-week cruise in the Baltic Sea, visiting Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Given the virus, however, they were forced to quarantine on-board for three weeks. But it wasn’t all bad; the cruise operator, Norwegian, provided beluga caviar and champagne without any upcharges and Peter and Alyson learned to play bridge from a Russian Grand Master who was also on board. Eventually they became brave enough to bid for Slam and are comfortable bidding Two Clubs … bold !

Palmer Snodgrass has also had a rough quarantine — actually, quite the opposite. He writes, “Having to quarantine in Hawaii wasn’t the worst, being forced to stay in our house on base that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. Pure torture. Sadly our hardship tour in paradise came to an end and we were forced back to Coastal Carolina. I’m now the Headquarters Squadron Commanding Officer for Marine Aircraft Group 29 and still flying Hueys.” Also, congrats to Palmer for his growing family!

Matt Hoffberg has some good news too — he and his fiancée, Maggie, have set a new date for the wedding (September 2021) in Puerto Vallarta. The happy couple also purchased and moved into their new house back in May. They moved in with a new pup, Cream Cheese, who is a spoiled rotten Chowdoodle!

Matt and Dorothy Crimi Laymon, along with their two daughters, Eleanor and Chiquita, are making the most of 2020. Matt recently secured a legal victory against the estate of John Wayne Gacey on behalf of the Wisconsin Clown Town Association for decades of business interruption and lost wages. Dorothy opened a boutique mask store in Fairhope, AL, catering specifically to women who recently had, let’s say, some work done. Daughter Eleanor was crowned the number one Jai Alai player

in Alabama for her age and continues nightly coaching sessions via Zoom with her Manila-based instructor. And baby Chiquita cannot wait for 2021 so she can visit the Panamanian banana plantation after which she is named.

If you have ever walked into a church and wondered what the symbols mean and why a style of architecture was chosen, Emily Sottile is happy to fill you in. As the director of the Sacred Space Studio at EverGreene Architectural Arts (Brooklyn), Emily has been restoring and designing churches across the country, and will be talking about how to read liturgical art and architecture in several episodes of the upcoming documentary series The Chair, about Cathedrals in America.

Richard Pearson writes that he’s been doing well. “When not trying to juggle parenting and work, I, along with a group of actors and scholars, have been making my way through the complete works of Shakespeare via Zoom. I’m occasionally joined by Sara Davis ’03. It’s actually the most acting I’ve done in a decade and an absolute delight!” Nice work — getting back to your roots!

Lastly from yours truly, C. Kyle and family actually got in some travel during this pandemic. We made it down to Cashiers, NC, for a couple of weeks in June and to the beautiful island of Nantucket in August. We did a lot of swimming, walking, and reading (what else is there to do these days?!), and recently finished Keith Richards’ Life autobiography, which is a stark reminder of just how my life is. ;)

Hope you’re all well c/o 2004. Please continue to weigh in: ckyleruss@yahoo.com

2005

15th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1–3, 2021

REPORTERS Brandon Couillard

brandon.couillard@gmail.com

Molly Fitzpatrick

mhfitz11@hotmail.com

Molly Chapman Wheeler and Logan Wheeler are moving to Bogotá, Colombia, this September for the next State Department assignment following a year in Savannah, GA, where Logan completed a master’s in sequential art at the Savannah College of Art and Design and Molly taught in a public charter Montessori school, both long-time dreams for a pair who rarely get time in the U.S. to pursue such ventures. Their two children continue to roll with the changes like pros!

As one of the few Ph.D.-trained genetic counselors and health disparities scientists in the world, Dr. Altovise Ewing has an unwavering commitment to eliminating health disparities. In June, Altovise joined the Roche Genentech team as a Global Health Equity Strategy-Senior Science Leader. Recently, she made history as the first Black woman elected to serve as a director-at-large on the National Society of Genetics Counselors’ Board of Directors.

Jodi Brannen is living in Seguin, TX, with her husband and two kids, Liam (4) and Wendy (2). She is still practicing OB/GYN and loving it. In fact, she’s loving it so much that she’s opening her very own practice where she’s excited to continue to serve the women of her area and to do so on her own terms.

This has been an interesting, yet productive year for Jane Anne Miller. She and her business partner reorganized their business and have launched Tailored Lifestyles Brands, which holds their three companies (Tailored Etiquette, Rush Readiness, and Tailored Concierges) that provide licensing opportunities across the United States. Nothing quite tries your entrepreneurial spirit than launching a new company during a global pandemic.

Jackie Ruick McCrary graduated with a master’s in counseling in May 2020. The ceremony itself was cancelled due to Covid-19, so her husband and sons threw her a “socially distant graduation” with neighbors, family, and friends (all 6 feet apart, of course, with lots of hand sanitizer). Following graduation, she joined a private practice in St. Louis, where she sees a variety of clients, but specializes in women’s issues and couples counseling.

Joanna Young Ridgway and her husband, Eric, both finance professionals, are excited to share the following: “Dallas, TX, September 30, 2020 — On the last day of the third quarter 2020, the Ridgway Family (‘Eric & Joanna’ or ‘brand-new parents’) completed the acquisition of Thea Marie Ridgway (‘Thea’ or ‘perfect

baby girl’). Thea arrived at 6 lb. 12 oz. and 19 inches. Integration is expected to take some time, though incremental costs are mitigated by the generous support of friends and family. Management admits a lack of prior experience integrating an asset of this type, though Eric and Joanna have committed to the board of directors that they, ‘totally got this.’ Leadership will shift as Thea has named herself CEO, CFO, COO, and chairwoman of the board and will also have an outsized share of voting rights. Operational costs will increase, but these costs are offset by immediate and substantial synergies, mostly snuggle-related. Joanna Ridgway, former CEO of the Ridgway family, said of the acquisition, ‘We couldn’t be happier to welcome Thea to the Ridgway Family. Who doesn’t love 3 a.m. meetings to discuss toxic asset dispositions?’ Eric and Joanna will happily never be the same.”

2006

15th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1–3, 2021

REPORTER

Caroline King Willson

Caroline.king.Willson@gmail.com

2007

REPORTER Mollie Briskman Montelaro

mollie.montelaro@gmail.com

2008

REPORTER Madoline Markham

madolinemarkham@gmail.com

Michael Towle and his wife, Jennifer, bought a home in Kittery, ME, and they say to come visit! Their plague project is performing fantasy-based, improv comedy shows with Dorks in Dungeons. If you want to stay connected and share a laugh, you can check out the show at twitch.tv/dorksindungeonsonline. Rachel and Lipscomb Davis welcomed William Lipscomb Davis V on March 31, 2020. “Little ‘Lip’ hasn’t met many people because of Covid-19, but we hope to take him to Memphis sometime soon,” Rachel writes.

Evan Williams and his wife, Jackie, welcomed their second child, Charlotte Jayne, into the world on January 30, just under the Covid-19 deadline. She joins 2-year-old Henry Robert (yes, Hank Williams) as well.

Rob Kneip writes that it took a pandemic to have a few major life events take place all at once. He and his family moved from NYC to San Diego in April to open a West Coast office for his firm. They also welcomed their second son, Greyson, in late July. “Starting to get a bit more normalized at this point but lots of changes,” he writes. “If anyone happens to be in the La Jolla area, would definitely be great to see folks.”

Haynes Kleimeyer Halbrooks and her husband, Andy, welcomed their second son, Nash Walker Halbrooks, in early September 2020.

2009

REPORTER Kelsey Griffith

kelsey.dean.griffith@gmail.com

Andrew Holt married Sarah Phipps on September 15, 2018. Griffin Morrisson ’08 and Brian Lainoff ’11 served in the wedding party. Andrew and Sarah had their first daughter, Evelyn Grace Holt, on June 9, 2020. Andrew works as a pulmonary/critical care physician at Mid-South Pulmonary Specialists in Memphis.

Carrie and Dougal Cameron welcomed baby number four, Helen Esther Cameron, on February 24, 2020. She has been such a joy for her parents, big sister, and two big brothers in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Leslie Rouse James and husband, Fielding, welcomed Marilyn Melou James on May 27, 2020. While they couldn’t have any visitors at the hospital due to Covid19, they were thrilled to bring Marilyn home to introduce her to her big brother, Hudson (3 years old)!

Stephanie Aughinbaugh graduated in August 2020 with her M.Ed. in curriculum and instruction from Texas A&M. Throughout her graduate work, she was reminded many times how well she was taught to write at Rhodes. Stephanie and her husband, Chris, are continuing to work from home for the foreseeable future, Chris for Texas Instruments and Stephanie for Uplift Education. They make their home in Dallas, TX.

Elizabeth Hartman married Derek Donovan at the beginning of the pandemic on March 28, 2020, in a field of bluebonnets with just their parents and officiant. She wore her great-grandmother’s vintage lace wedding dress from 1910. They had to postpone their original wedding plans, but are looking forward to celebrating with all of their guests in 2021. Meghan McCollough and Leah Stein ’10 were in the wedding party. Elizabeth is starting her ninth year as an elementary art teacher at Decker Elementary in Austin, TX. Teaching art virtually has been a new challenge!

Leslie Bailey Calicutt gave birth to her second child and first son, Russell Bailey Calicutt, Jr., on March 7, 2020. She was

actually at the hospital when her city’s first case of Covid-19 was announced. The family is enjoying the extra time at home together during this season of life.

Lauren Rodriguez Brill was named the 2019-2020 Teacher of the Year in San Diego, CA. A celebration was held over Zoom in May. She will start her seventh year teaching first grade online at the end of August.

Jane Metters LaBarbara and husband, Kirk, have welcomed new family members! Twins Abigail and Jasper LaBarbara were born in mid-April 2020. They are enjoying life at home with the dogs and chattering at Jane while she works from home.

Jasmine Medley Gipson sends a shoutout to team Thick Thighs, Thin Patience (including Caralee Barrett, Alanna Topps, Andrea Bell) during the Virtual LynxFit challenge! Jasmine said she “LOVED getting to work out with y’all and catch up! Y’all are badasses!” Jasmine also tied the knot with a special young man on Saturday, September 5, 2020! She married Maurice Gipson in her hometown of Little Rock, AR, with their closest family and friends. The happy couple lives in Columbia, MO, where Jasmine is recruiting young people for national service through City Year and her husband (Jasmine: “gah, I love saying that”) is the vice chancellor for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity at Mizzou. Jasmine is “ever missing Rhodes and my Lynx fam! #RollLynx”

Alexandra Carter has been spending all her time during the pandemic quite isolated in her art studio in Los Angeles, making work for a solo exhibition which will open late September through early November 2020 at a new gallery in downtown Los Angeles, Luna Anais Gallery. Turns out the pandemic has been pretty conducive to more productivity in the studio, so there’s somewhat of a silver lining for her!

Maria Cowley Quinn is the proud mother of Antoinette Cowley Quinn, born on October 11, 2019. Maria included a picture of her adorable child, taken when she was 5 months old.

Elizabeth and Peter Zanca ’10 welcomed Anne “Annie” Waller Zanca on September 9, 2020. Henry, 3, is very excited to be a big brother!

10th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1–3, 2021

REPORTER Alexandra Nobel Murry

amnobel@gmail.com

2011

10th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1–3, 2021

REPORTER Grace Weil

gracem.weil@gmail.com

2012

REPORTER Kelly Parry

kparry1211@gmail.com

2013

REPORTER

If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’13 reporter, please contact alumni@rhodes.edu.

2014

REPORTER Matt Washnock

washnockm@gmail.com

2015

5th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1–3, 2021

REPORTER Caroline Ponseti

caroline.ponseti@gmail.com

Will and Kate Morrison Murphy welcomed their new son, Matthew Garnett, on September 2, 2020.

5th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend October 1–3, 2021

REPORTER

If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’16 reporter, please contact alumni@ rhodes.edu.

2017

REPORTER Mason Brown

marymason.brown910@gmail.com

2018

REPORTER

If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’18 reporter, please contact alumni@ rhodes.edu.

REPORTER Junior Walters

jeffreywalters2@gmail.com

Walker Lee is scribing for a doctor before heading to medical school, while also beginning classes to get his pilot’s license.

Robert Stodola started law school at the University of Arkansas Little Rock

Madison Trusevich finally conquered her lifelong fear of heights and went skydiving for her birthday.

Jeanne Wilkinson went viral on TikTok not once, but twice.

Lucas Bradford won $750 watching the Kentucky Derby from his apartment in Greenville, SC. Jane Eskildsen has used her time in quarantine raising a growing family of house plants as she inches closer to finishing her master’s dissertation at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art.

Benton Parker has perfected recipes for three types of French bread, going on four.

Junior Walters spends most of his time cycling, a new passion, on “lunch breaks” while working from home.

John Mark Stodola learned to cut his own hair, and now also cuts Jonathan Clarke’s hair for him, his fellow classmate and roommate in Los Angeles.