T H E M A G A Z I N E O F E P I S C O PA L H I G H S C H O O L
Our Students’ Biggest Fans Celebrating Rob and Kathleen Hershey’s Final Season at Episcopal
| SPRING 2016
Contents ON THE COVER
HERSHEY’S EPISCOPAL 19 ROB The School that knows what it stands for, and the Headmaster who has been standing with it.
FRONT OFFICE 23 THE An exit interview with Episcopal’s 11th Headmaster.
26 WHEN A valediction for Rob Hershey, by Perry Epes ’65. FEATURES
WHAT YOU LOVE. THEN EAT IT. 29 DO Forrest Pritchard ’92 side-steps cubicle life in pursuit of an office in the great wide open.
IMAGINATION 33 PURE Pinkney Herbert ’72 on improvisation, imbalance, and art as an aphrodisiac.
START-UP STATE OF MIND 37 AAmanda Weisiger ’08 knows her success is not guaranteed. THE ARCHIVES 39 FROM Cartoons from yearbooks of yesteryear depict the sports, traditions, and scenes of springtime at Episcopal.
CHANGE 41 GRANTING Leah Kannensohn Tennille ’01 makes nonprofit dreams come true. A LIFE WORTHY OF ITS CALLING 92 REMEMBERING Reginald W. Burns ’72: 1954-2016. DEPARTMENTS
2 FROM THE HEADMASTER 4 EHS SOCIAL 5 EPISCOPAL UP CLOSE NOTES 42 CLASS Stump the Teacher: Frances deSaussure ’06 interviews Rick Stubbs;
Tad McLeod ’97 interviews Bobby Watts; and Parker Woltz Mackie ’04 interviews Gail Epes.
Prabhlean Kaur ’16
88 IN MEMORIAM Headmaster: Rob Hershey Director of Institutional Advancement: Christina Holt Director of Communications: Jen Desautels Editor: Johanna Droubay Class Notes Editor: Margaret von Werssowetz ’06 Contributing Editors: Katie DaRin, Jen Desautels, Matt Drake, Kirkland Hagerty, Elizabeth Henderson ’11 Photographers: Rebecca Drobis, Elizabeth Henderson ’11, Meg O’Connor, Cory Royster, Audra Wrisley Archivist: Laura Vetter
Designer: Linda Loughran Printer: Worth Higgins & Associates, Inc. Published by Episcopal High School for alumni, parents, grandparents, and friends of Episcopal High School. ©2016 Episcopal High School Please send address corrections to: Advancement Office Episcopal High School 1200 North Quaker Lane Alexandria, VA 22302 Or by email to dwr@episcopalhighschool.org
Episcopal High School does not discriminate in its admissions, or in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship programs, or in access to or treatment in any other School-administered program on the basis of religion, race, color, sex, ancestry, sexual orientation, disability, national origin, or any other protected category in accordance with applicable Federal, State, and local laws.
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From the Headmaster What I’ll Miss Most A mere 46 years ago, Kathleen and I had our first professional interview. It was with Episcopal High School Headmaster Flick Hoxton ’35 and his wife, Ruth, over dinner at the Country Restaurant in Williamstown, Mass. I remember it like it was yesterday, and the furthest thing from my mind was the possibility that all these years later I would be wrapping up my career at EHS. This past fall, I dodged emotions and resisted the realization that this is, indeed, the final year of my career in education. No longer capable of denying either, I am grateful now to reflect that these 18 years at EHS have been the most professionally fulfilling experience of my life! It has truly been a privilege and honor to serve this incredible community of students, faculty, alumni, and parents. The most frequent comment I hear is, “Well, I guess you are winding down now!” What I have discovered is that schools, and the people in them, do not wind down. Quite the contrary, we wind
• Purposeful and playful conversations with students over seated meals in Laird, and particularly my “adopted advisees,” who have invited me into their lives. • Being surrounded by colleagues so focused on the mission of the School and devoted to the well-being of students, understanding that “whatever it takes to help a student” defines their work. • All of the games and performances! Who wouldn’t like to claim regular attendance at so many athletic contests, plays, and concerts as an important part of their “work”? I love catching students in their best moments. • The “Headmaster’s Box” above Ainslie Court. I have watched, encouraged, coached, and even refereed countless basketball games from this special perch! • And very importantly, the Chicken Football. Where will I have my next one – a time-honored staple in the EHS tradition?!
I AM GR ATEFUL NOW TO REFLECT THAT THESE 18 YEARS AT EHS HAVE BEEN THE MOST PROFESSIONALLY FULFILLING EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE! IT HAS TRULY BEEN A PRIVILEGE AND HONOR TO SERVE THIS INCREDIBLE COMMUNIT Y OF STUDENTS, FACULT Y, ALUMNI, AND PARENTS.
way up, and then “Thud!” The end is upon us. I am dropping my barrier a bit during this spring semester, allowing myself to ponder the very real question: what am I going to miss about EHS? • The inspiration and empowerment of being in a community that truly knows what it stands for, driven by the ideals, optimism, and energy of young people. • The privilege to teach, learn, struggle, and laugh with students daily. How many schools have a tradition of students thanking teachers each day as they depart class? • My daily experience in Callaway Chapel – the bold and honest student Chapel Talks and the choir music so soothing to the soul.
There’s a humorous observation about those who retire from boarding school life. When people in the “real world” retire, they frequently go to assisted living. When you retire from life in a boarding school, you go from assisted living to the “real world”! My children tell me I am in for a big adjustment as I depart this community, where my lawn is always mowed and broken appliances get fixed like magic. Kathleen and I have been blessed to be members of the EHS community, which so closely aligns with our beliefs. The role of Headmaster has asked me to be involved in developing programs, creating and constructing facilities, shaping the culture, and tending to the people. As we head down the Front Drive in June, it is the people of EHS who will forever be a part of who we are. Go Maroon! Sincerely,
F. Robertson Hershey 2
EHS Social
TOP ROW The Washington Program took over the @wethepeopledc Instagram handle on Dec. 9, 2015, live-posting pics from the Majority Whip’s office,
the Albert Einstein Memorial, the U.S. Botanic Garden, the Korean War Memorial, and the Chinese Embassy. SECOND ROW Sunset on the first day of the second semester (@episcopalskize); boys’ varsity basketball are the State VISAA D-1 champions, with a 67-63
win over Paul VI; the cross training team takes to the trails in snowshoes; ’60s-themed Winter Carnival; Headmaster Rob Hershey takes in the view of Hong Kong on his trip to Asia. THIRD ROW The campus covered by winter storm Jonas. BOTTOM ROW Opening night of “Bright Star” at the Kennedy Center; the WONDER exhibition at the Renwick Gallery; girls’ varsity basketball wins the ISL
Tournament 41-40 over Flint Hill; the Irving Penn Exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum; students wrote 144 letters to our generous donors on Thank-a-Donor Day, organized by YALP (the Young Alumni Leadership Program).
CONNECT WITH EHS Instagram @episcopalhs
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Facebook Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va.
Twitter @EpiscopalHS @EHSMaroon
YouTube EpiscopalHSVa
Flickr Episcopal High School (Maroon and Black)
Episcopal Up Close n VISUAL AND LITERARY ARTS
Daemon
“White Sneakers” by Bea Huffines ’16
Outdoes Itself
White
Episcopal’s student-run literary and arts magazine, Daemon, received stellar honors in 2015. The Virginia High School League awarded the 2015 edition of Daemon its Superior/Trophy Class rating, and the National Council of Teachers of English gave Daemon its Highest Award for the state of Virginia. The first issue of Daemon was published in 1957, and this is the top award Episcopal has ever received in the NCTE Program to Recognize Excellence in Student Literary Magazines.
In opaque definition, some may say ‘Tis honor, the absence of affliction. The virtue of honest man’s conviction. The theme each story seeks to relay In snowy chaste image, in virgin’s delay, Life from mother’s breast, it gives description. It paints not, yet fills the frame of fiction. Be in perfection that hath not decay. This color I wear in my appearance, The flesh for which I wish disappearance. Superiority they say it be, Yet it hath not the same meaning to me. For un-righted pride I pick not a fight, But shame it brings to the meaning of white.
STUDENT LITER ARY AND ARTS MAGAZINE WINS BEST IN STATE
The 2015 Daemon was led by Head Faculty Advisor Alison Poole; Editors-in-Chief Peyton Schwartz ’15 and Will Talley ’15; Art Faculty Advisors David Douglas, Frank Phillips, and Liz Vorlicek; and dozens of contributing student editors, readers, and designers. It featured 33 works of art, 22 works of prose, and 20 poems, including “White,” by Laura Bratton ’15, reprinted here beneath the photograph “White Sneakers,” by Bea Huffines ’16.
– L AUR A BR AT T ON ’15
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n CAMPUS NEWS
Euclid, Yankees, and Robots … Oh My!
REGIONAL SIEMENS FINALIST “It is a very significant accomplishment to be chosen as a Siemens finalist, and this is the first time in my memory that EHS has had a regional finalist in the Siemens competition.” – SCIENCE DEPARTMENT CHAIR KIM OLSEN
Carrie Oh ’16 was a regional finalist in the prestigious Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology. Her project, “On the size of the Euclidean sphere of influence graph,” focused on finding a better estimation of the maximum edges that a sphere of influence graph can have. The project aimed to help improve visual modeling technology, pattern recognition, and geographic information systems, ultimately leading to the potential development of higher-resolution images and more intelligent machines capable of better interacting with humans.
SEMPER FIDELIS ALL-AMERICAN BOWL
FOLGER SHAKESPEARE FELLOW
“Playing in the game was an absolute honor. It is always a football player’s dream to be named an ‘All-American.’”
“One of the coolest things I learned was that Shakespeare was never alive to see the publication of his works. A group of his close friends thought his work was so brilliant that they decided to publish it to keep it alive. They went around to actors who had previously worked with Shakespeare and asked them to write down as many lines as they could.”
– JOE GOFF ’16
A captain of Episcopal’s varsity football team, Joe Goff ’16, was selected to play in the fifth annual Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl on Sunday, Jan. 3, in Carson, Calif. The game was televised live on Fox Sports 1. The bowl is supported by the U.S. Marine Corps, and players are selected to represent the eastern and western halves of the country based not only on talent but also character. Goff, who has committed to play football at the U.S. Naval Academy next year, was joined by Head Varsity Football Coach Panos Voulgaris, who was selected to coach the running backs in the game. Playing for the East, Goff helped the team take down the West in a 28-13 win.
– GABY CRUZ ’17
The Folger Shakespeare Library Lily McKee High School Fellowship is a highly selective, semester-long program at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. This year, Gaby Cruz ’17 was selected to participate. Beginning in September, she travelled into the city once a week for scholarly seminars, rare book talks, performance workshops, group projects, and independent research.
Regional Siemens Finalist Carrie Oh ’16
Joe Goff ’16 and Coach Panos Voulgaris at the Semper Fidelis AllAmerican Bowl 6
THEOLOGIAN-INRESIDENCE “It is not the kind of Christianity that constrains people’s behaviors; it’s the kind of Christianity that challenges people to act and makes people want to act. It’s not about telling you that you did something wrong; it’s about inviting you to do something right.” – REV. GIDEON POLLACH ON SHANE CLAIBORNE’S MINISTRY
This year’s Theologianin-Residence was Shane Claiborne, a leading figure in the New Monasticism movement and a social activist who advocates for nonviolence through service to the poor. Shane is the author of several books, including “Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals,” “Follow Me to Freedom: Leading and Following as an Ordinary Radical,” and “Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals.”
SCHOL AR-INRESIDENCE
VEX ROBOTICS TOURNAMENT
“Professor Truex is living proof that intellectualism and a sense of humor are not mutually exclusive. In his classroom presentations and his informal conversations, he was able to illuminate very complex economic, political, and historical issues for our students.”
“The team learned a lot at this tournament and networked with fellow competitors from the region. Their success at their first meet ever was truly remarkable.”
– ASSISTANT HEAD FOR ACADEMICS MARY FIELDER
Dr. Rory Truex visited campus Jan. 26-29 as part of the Ben Geer Keys Scholarin-Residence program. An assistant professor at Princeton, Dr. Truex teaches politics and public policy and researches the Chinese government, politics, and economic systems. He is currently investigating China’s National People’s Congress and the politics implemented in their dictatorial systems. Dr. Truex’s research has been featured in the Wall Street Journal’s China Real Time Report, The New York Times (Chinese), and Phoenix Magazine (Chinese).
– SCIENCE DEPARTMENT CHAIR KIM OLSEN
The EHS robotics team had its inaugural run on Feb. 7 at the VEX Robotics Nothing But Net Fairfax Regional Qualifier. Four students from EHS competed in the VEX robotics tournament, an annual event in which teams build innovative robots designed to score the most points possible in qualification matches, elimination matches, and skills challenges. Juniors Miki Grzywacz, Jerry Kuo, Jack Streed, and Caelen Wang spent a combined 50 hours of their weekend free time building and testing their competition bot. The team placed into the top bracket of elimination rounds, making it as far as the tournament quarterfinals.
DAMN YANKEES “This was one of those magical productions in which we got a lot of kids involved in theater for the first time, but we had excellent student leadership from the veterans, too. It was easily the most fun I’ve had working on a musical at EHS!” – DIRECTOR OF THEATER MEG O’CONNOR
EHS Mainstage presented the musical comedy “Damn Yankees” in Pendleton Hall Feb. 18-20. Meg O’Connor says they chose the show in large part because every October, German and English teacher (and baseball super fan) Dr. Rick Dixon says to O’Connor, “Why not do ‘Damn Yankees’?” This year, O’Connor took a close look at the script and decided it was the right project at the right time. Dr. Dixon even made a cameo as the Commissioner of Baseball.
EHS MainStage excelled at the Southeastern Theater Conference in North Carolina in March. Team and award winners include: (front row) Gaby Cruz ’17, Maddy Gale ’16, Melanie Hoffmann ’18, Brooke Webb ’16, Daman Yang ’19, Lauryn King ’17, Nate Lambert ’16, and Maddy Warrell ’18; (back row) Lachlan Warrell ’17, Lenin Cruz ’16 (Best Supporting Actor), Julia Messenger ’18 (All Star Cast), Tommy Dixon ’16, Roysworth Grant ’17, Noah Collins ’17, Bay Cohen ’19, Lydia Webster ’16, and Mady Hand ’18. The team was also awarded Best Costumes (designed and sewn by Director of Theater Meg O’Connor) and the highest possible ratings from the judges. The cast of this year’s winter musical, “Damn Yankees”
WOMEN’S HISTORY DAY “The program gave us an opportunity to invite to campus some of the most engaging and dynamic leaders from diverse backgrounds. We hope to start a tradition that shows the EHS community the ways that women have made an impact on global and national challenges.” – DIRECTOR OF THE WASHINGTON PROGRAM JEREMY GOLDSTEIN
In celebration of Women’s History Month, the Washington Program invited women leading the way in their respective fields to visit campus on March 16. Speakers included, among others, Dr. Pranoti Asher, education and public outreach manager at the American Geophysical Union; Pauline Weger (Lexi ’18), EHS parent and founder of Quotabelle; and Alison Wright, National Geographic 2013 Traveler of the Year. In addition, Bailey Cox of the Malala Fund and Rukky Ezi-Ashi ’15 screened “He Named Me Malala,” a documentary about the fight for girls’ education.
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n GR ATITUDE
Thank-a-Donor Day Students, faculty, and staff wrote 144 letters to donors thanking them for their support of the 2015-16 Roll Call. The Roll Call, Episcopal’s annual fund, provides unrestricted, immediate-use dollars that support all aspects of the EHS experience: the rigorous curriculum, dedicated teachers, and extracurricular opportunities that define the boarding school experience. YALP member Nate Lambert ’16 wrote to a donor, “Through EHS I have had so many incredible experiences that I never would have had at another school, like performing our original show ‘Helpless Doorknobs’ at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland.”
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n MUSIC AND BL ACK HISTORY
Go-Go Symphony In a frenetic burst of energy, the Go-Go Symphony lit up the chapel stage on Feb. 17 in honor of Black History Month. Episcopal’s Black History Month program honored the contributions and achievements of African Americans in the United States through on-campus presentations and performances and off-campus experiences organized by Dean of Institutional Diversity Carolyn Lewis. The Go-Go Symphony fuses funky dance music and classical orchestra compositions, bringing viewers to their feet with lively rhythms. Musical finesse and expertise combine with funk’s raucous discord to give the Go-Go Symphony a unique and contagious sound. A sub-genre of funk music, go-go originated in Washington, D.C., in the 1970s and was popularized by the “Godfather of Go-go,” Chuck Brown. Go-go centers around swinging polyrhythms (two or more rhythms at a time) and audience participation – and most of the juniors, seniors, and faculty who attended the Go-Go Symphony performance at Episcopal found it impossible not to participate.
BL ACK HISTORY DAY Each class participated in activities that celebrated black culture and highlighted the historical significance of the Civil Rights Movement. • The freshman class traveled to Mt. Vernon, home of George Washington, for a tour exploring the journey from slavery to freedom. • The sophomore class split into two groups, traveling to the AfricanAmerican Civil War Museum and to the Newseum’s exhibition, “1966: Civil Rights at 50.” • Keynote speaker and NASA Administrator Maj. Gen. Charles F. Bolden, Jr. spoke to students about his experiences as the first black administrator of the agency and the path that led him there.
While hesitant at first to jump to their feet, the audience soon warmed up to the idea of dancing in chapel, and that’s when the celebration really got started. When the audience members began to feel the go-go groove, there was no stopping the crazed ruckus that ensued. Students and faculty members alike twisted and jumped to the rhythm of the music blasting through the hallowed hall, singing and shouting along with the band. In one highly entertaining instance, JuJu, the band’s energetic drummer, led the crowd in a round of “Hot barbecue, hot chopped barbecue” in an effort to teach the rhythm of go-go music. The band then called for three volunteers, who learned how to play the go-go beat on the drums. With the student volunteers leading the band, the atmosphere became even more energetic.
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n ATHLETIC S
Winter Wins
Jack Kim ’16 and Carson Goodwyn ’16 The girls’ and boys’ indoor track and field teams put in significant time on Cathcart Track in Flippin Fieldhouse, and it paid off at the annual Hoxton Invitational Track and Field Meet. The girls’ team placed first in the team competition, and the boys’ team finished second overall, running some top times for the season. Seniors Roderick Sims and Carson Goodwyn both broke longstanding school records this season. Sims jumped 6 feet 6 inches to take first place at the PR Invitational, and Goodwyn ran 1:21.26 to place runner-up in the 500-meters at the state championships.
Stew Spurry ’16 The wrestling team’s season was punctuated by some strong individual performances from wrestlers such as senior leader Stew Spurry, who took home his first IAC title and went on to place second at the state championships, qualifying for the Prep Nationals Tournament. Fellow teammates and workhorses Alexander Block ’17 and Andrew Denning ’16 each finished second in their respective weight class at the IAC Championships.
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Thomas Williamson ’19 and Nicole Carino ’19 The boys’ and girls’ varsity squash teams each had stellar seasons. The boys’ team finished the season 12-2, which included a team championship trophy from the MidAtlantic Squash Tournament and a long run in the U.S. Squash Nationals, where they finished fourth in their division. The girls’ team ended the season with two tournament trophies, taking home the championship plaques at the Mid-Atlantic Squash Tournament and the Episcopal Invitational. Both teams retained their respective rivalry cups, with the girls overcoming Madeira for the Hayden-Faunce Trophy and the boys’ squad retaining the coveted Amos-Willett trophy with two decisive wins over Woodberry Forest. The boys’ and girls’ JV programs continue to bring new talent into the game as well, with a combined record of 25-0.
Nick Reed ’16 The boys’ varsity basketball team had a remarkable run in league play, clinching the regular season title with a clutch victory over Bullis on their home court after falling to them earlier in the season on Ainslie Court. The Maroon went on to win the IAC Tournament with a thrilling victory over St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes in the championship game, clinching the No. 1 seed going into the State VISAA D-1 Championship, which EHS also won.
Kailyn Shepherd ’19 The girls’ varsity basketball team enjoyed a successful run this season, going 17-7 in their regular season. They played their best basketball in the season-ending tournament to win the ISL-A title with a thrilling one-point victory in the championship game against Flint Hill. The Maroon took their tournament title momentum into the state tournament and won their first round match-up convincingly to advance to the state tournament quarter-finals for the first time since 2001.
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n PHOTOGRAPHY
Eye of the Beholder GLIMPSES FROM DAVID DOUGL AS’S PHOTOGR APHY STUDENTS Anna Smith ’18
Zoe Ashburn ’16 Kelsey Anderson ’16
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Katie Burnham ’16
Prabhlean Kaur ’16 Helen-Anne Gable ’16 Max Smith ’16
Wyndham Williamson ’16 Emily Mears ’18
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- Juliette Eberle ’16
n COMMUNITY
HUMANS OF EHS JULIETTE EBERLE ’16 CREATED THE HUMANS OF EHS FACEBOOK PAGE TO HELP THE EHS COMMUNIT Y GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER IN A DEEPER WAY. VISIT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/THEHUMANSOFEHS/ TO READ MORE. Why did you start Humans of EHS? I got my inspiration from “Humans of New York.” Other schools have also created their own “Humans of,” but I think they often fail to capture the spirit of the original. These schools’ “Humans of ” posts are more like status updates than nuggets of wisdom. I wanted to challenge the trend and give our community insights into the people that make up our Episcopal. What has surprised you? When I perceive someone one way, and then something they say in an interview dramatically changes my view of who they are. My favorite moment is after an interview when I see the world with a new perspective because of something someone said. What do you hope Humans of EHS achieves? Unlike “Humans of New York,” at Episcopal we know all of the students, faculty, and staff. My goal is to create a deeper connection within my community. Yes, by going to a small school you know everyone’s name, but do we really know them?
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THE WORLD
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THE
ROLL CALL
BRINGS US
CLOSER.
IS CLOSER HERE
Closer to the center of global politics, breakthroughs in sustainability, artistic risktaking, and a thriving start-up community. Closer to our true selves and closer to each other. At EHS, transformative learning experiences and meaningful relationships are possible because of your generous support of the Roll Call.
Make a gift to the Roll Call today at www.EHSRollCall.org.
FEATURE B Y J E N D E S AU TE L S
ROB HERSHEY’S EPISCOPAL The School that knows what it stands for, and the Headmaster who has been standing with it.
IT MUST BE EASIER TO TAKE OVER WHEN THERE IS A DIRE NEED FOR CHANGE. IF IN THE MIDDLE OF A CHALLENGING OR TROUBLING TIME, A NEW FACE APPEARS AND UNROLLS MAPS OF STRATEGY, AND THEN LEADS TROOPS TO HIGHER AND DRIER GROUND, CONFIDENCE IS NATURALLY IGNITED AMONG HIS FOLLOWERS. WITHOUT A GREAT NECESSIT Y FOR IMMEDIATE CHANGE OR ACTION, HOW DOES A NEW LEADER PROVE THAT HE IS WORTHY? HOW DOES HE MAKE HIS MARK? HOW DOES HE MAKE A DIFFERENCE FROM THE VERY START? FOR ROB HERSHEY, THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE: PURPOSE.
Like life, legacies begin on the first day. In 1998, when Rob was named the 11th Headmaster, the School was in a really good place, and his marching orders were clear – keep the School in a really good place. He didn’t need to make great waves. He needed to listen and observe. He needed to take long walks around campus. He needed to let the School become part of him, like it had been for all those who had come before him. He needed to be silent and thoughtful. He needed to have purpose. Purpose has been behind every decision, large or small, that Rob has made in the last 18 years. Everything Rob does is on purpose and for a purpose.
IT TAKES A VILL AGE. Being the Headmaster at Episcopal “is like being a mayor of a small town,” says Tim Jaeger, assistant head for student life. And if you were to walk around campus, the charming homes, beautiful trees and gardens, and brick walkways could for a moment have you believing that you had been transported out of the loud and bustling D.C. metropolitan area to an oasis hidden behind wrought-iron gates. And in this village there are students and families and dogs, where each day, everyone wakes with the same purpose: to get as much out of the School as they can, and to give as much to the School as they can. “We’re all intertwined in our lives here,” says Jaeger. Rob is responsible for the village, ensuring that neighbors get along. And he is in charge of everything: the landscaping, the
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buildings, and the air conditioning. He has to make sure it all works, all the time. Jaeger says, “Heads of schools have so many demands on them. They’re always called upon to be something to somebody.” Rob got to know people. From his first day, he made it his priority to really know the School. He wanted to know more than what was on the surface or written in an admissions piece. He wanted to know how it operated and who the people were that were the bones of this place. Rob’s predecessor, Sandy Ainslie ’56, was an Old Boy whose connection to the School was long and ran deep. Rob’s connection to the School seemed sparse and insignificant when compared with Ainslie’s. “We all wondered how Rob was going to fit into this,” says Jackie Maher, the former assistant head for academics. But Rob did not focus on the history that he did not have; instead he allowed himself from the very beginning to be absorbed into the community so fully that he lived it, walked it, and breathed it, every single day. His determination to learn and understand the School endeared him to the community. “He believed in the School, and he believed in what we stood for,” says Maher, “and you felt that.” In the letter announcing his retirement, Rob wrote, “As the first non-alumnus to lead this School since its earliest days, I arrived on campus with a fresh view of every aspect of the EHS program and culture. What I discovered, and have since made every effort to sustain, was a School that knows what it stands for with time-honored foundational values of honor, responsibility, and respect for others.” Rob found purpose in the School’s values; he believed in those values, and he honored them. “I think leadership really means knowing yourself and being comfortable with who you are. It means knowing who and what Episcopal is,” says French teacher Eleanor Moore. “I think that’s one thing that Rob has always kind of driven home: we know who we are, and we stand for who we are. I think being a leader means identifying with that, setting goals, and moving toward those goals with the confidence that you are doing the right thing. Leadership takes creativity and purpose.” Rob’s purpose has always been to move forward together. He does not make decisions unilaterally. He looks around and makes sure everyone understands why certain decisions are made. If someone does have questions or disagrees, he listens. “You have to prove to Rob why you feel the way you do,” says Maher. “You can’t just be. He wants to hear your side. And while he might not agree, he will give you his reason.”
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With any long tenure at a school typically comes a long list of a retiring headmaster’s achievements and accomplishments. And Rob’s tenure is no exception. However, Rob’s measurement of his own success is not determined by square footage or LEED ratings. Certainly, one cannot ignore the beautiful buildings (Baker Science Center, Hoxton Dorm, the Ainslie Arts Center, the Hershey Athletics Center, and Townsend Hall) or the renovated spaces (Hummel Learning Center, Penick Hall, and currently Stewart Gym) that have been constructed or improved under his leadership. But to Rob, it is what is inside the buildings that matters the most: the students. HE KNOWS THEIR NAMES (ALL OF THEM). Rob is on the sidelines, in the stands, in the dining room, in the audience. He is the most loyal and enthusiastic supporter of any one student. He is everywhere because he wants to be there, not because he feels like it is required. “The kids notice if he’s not there because he has set such a high standard,” says Jaeger. Rob knows the students, and he knows what is going on with them because he is out there, among them, living and growing up with them. “He made an effort to be involved in each of our lives,” said Alix Dejean ’00. “He walked around campus to get to know each student.”
The students were the purpose behind the expansion of the Washington Program and the Leadership and Ethics Program, which can “open the eyes of the students to see what the possibilities are,” says Moore. “These programs have the potential of igniting interest in the students. They will discover more about themselves and more about what they want to learn.” Rob has more than proved himself worthy of the calling to be the School’s Headmaster 18 years ago. He was exactly what the School needed in 1998, and though he will be physically gone from campus, the wisdom, life, and purpose he gave to the role of Head of School will serve as his legacy for generations to come. “Rob didn’t rescue us from anything,” says Maher. “We didn’t need rescuing. You never felt he was going out for his own glorification or his own sense of importance. The School was important. Everything fit into the School. I admire him for how he held true, and for 18 years held true, to the values of this School. He never lost sight of that.”
THEN 939 WEEKS
18 YEARS
DAYS NOW 6570 157680 HOURS
BY THE NUMBERS
2016
1998 405
65%
ENROLLMENT
35%
50%
440
50%
459
APPLICATIONS
646
41%
107
COURSES OFFERED
140
31%
31
ADVANCED, COLLEGE LEVEL, HONORS COURSES
45
45%
54
FULL-TIME TEACHING FACULTY
68
26%
$63 MILLION ENDOWMENT = $214 million HOW MANY DIPLOMAS ROB HAS HANDED OUT
INCREASE
INCREASE
INCREASE
INCREASE
240% INCREASE
ALMOST 1900
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FEATURE BY JOHA NN A D RO U B AY
THE FRONT OFFICE An exit interview with Episcopal’s 11th Headmaster.
ROB HERSHEY IS NOT AN EASY MAN TO CARICATURE. HE IS NOT SOMEONE WHOSE PERSONAL TICS AND TR AITS MAKE HIM STAND OUT IN SHARP RELIEF FROM HIS ENVIRONMENT. I MEAN THAT HE IS SO CLOSELY ALIGNED AND ASSOCIATED WITH THE VALUES AND CHARM AND L ANDSCAPE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL THAT HE IS THE ENVIRONMENT, THE BACKDROP AGAINST WHICH OTHERS STAND OUT AND SHINE. Step into his office and you may not take particular note of the décor – the white crown moulding, the dark hard wood, the deep and dusty blue accents. You may not have time to notice the strip of wall with nary an inch to spare for further honors and diplomas. Your gaze may not have time to settle on the tidy quartet of archival campus photographs depicting the front gates before the Front Drive was tree-lined, Liggett Hall before it was ensconced in greenery, the pre-Callaway chapel with its less lofty ceiling, and Hoxton House when it was more of a house and less of an icon. You will likely glimpse the bounty of brightly colored family photos that watch tenderly over Rob from the bookshelves behind his desk, especially the four jubilant grandchildren that know Episcopal’s 11th Headmaster only as “Pa.” The darlings in these snapshots posture goofily, fearlessly in front of tomes timeless and topical: “Millennials Rising,” “The War Against Boys,” “How Girls Thrive,” “Things Fall Apart,” “Habits of the Heart” (two copies), the Bible … But I say you won’t have much time to take in any of this because once you set foot in his office, or his presence, Rob will take you by the eyes and make you feel at home. And home is a place where we don’t pay much attention to the scenery because it’s all so familiar. Home is not so much a
setting as a feeling. It’s an ease and a comfort and a confidence, a place to relax, be yourself, and then grow.
When you were a little boy, what did you dream of becoming?
One of the dozen or so printed sayings and excerpts pressed beneath the glass of Rob’s desktop. He looks down every day at the wise words of clergymen, educators, a Supreme Court justice, an EHS alumna, a former faculty member, Winston Churchill, a Chinese proverb, the Bible, and another legendary headmaster – Harry Potter’s Albus Dumbledore.
My dreams were not about career. I think my dreams were more about relationships, and about a quality of life that I might have with work that I would enjoy and a family and all the people around me. I simply was not a careerist as a youngster. In fact, I attended Williams College, and Williams was so committed to the liberal arts that we didn’t spend a lot of time gearing ourselves for the next step. Our conversations weren’t about what company, or what job, or what interview. Senior year, like everyone else at Williams, I entertained ideas. I wrote off for the Harvard Business School application. I interviewed with a couple of national firms. I did those things because that’s what everyone else was doing. It seemed like a natural next step. But no bells were going off! Coming down the stairs in the career counseling office one day, there was a bulletin board
“Right behind me, staring at me every day, are all of my grandchildren. Looking over my shoulder, making sure that Pa is doing what he’s supposed to be doing, and working hard.”
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THE FRONT OFFICE
announcing who would be visiting campus. I stopped, I looked up, and I saw that Episcopal High School, Woodberry Forest, Princeton Day (N.J.), and Tower Hill (Del.) were sending representatives to campus to interview seniors for teaching positions. For the first time, bells did go off. I thought, “Oh my gosh, I can make a living doing something I love, something that excites me.” So I had interviews on campus with these visitors. In fact, the ultimate irony is, my first job interview ever was with Ruth and Flick Hoxton ’35.
What was your worst moment here at EHS?
On a recent trip to Asia to visit alumni and families of current students, Rob received this jade dragon as a gift. On the bottom of the dragon, “Rob Hershey” is translated into Chinese characters. “There were people who got on trains and planes and travelled 700 or 800 miles to join us for dinner because we had taken the trouble to come to their country. In their presence, you recognize how deep this experience is and how it’s really in many ways a spiritual journey. It’s not about one team or one course or getting ahead. It’s about a very deep regard for education and the mission we’re all on together.”
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My worst moments have been when others in our community have faced their worst and most unthinkable moments. None of the high drama that a headmaster faces has even gotten on the scoreboard relative to those. There have been a few low moments with serious discipline issues, but they pale in comparison with the personal tragedy and loss members of this community have experienced. I’ve often said that in a boarding school – and it’s accentuated in a 100 percent boarding school – that you are the educational leader, but you are also the pastor and the mayor. Not that I do any or all of those well, but I fully acknowledge, accept, and understand that in this community, my role transcends the daily educational experience and pertains to the lives of faculty, and the lives of students, and the lives of families.
What is it like to have everyone looking to you at important moments? One time during a really tough week of discipline, I got a handwritten note from a 10th grade student. It said, “Dear Mr. Hershey, I am concerned for you. You look tired. I know it’s been a hard week. You look down. I want you to know that we all look up to you at times like this, and I want to see you walk happy again. Take care of yourself.” Even when you’d like to be invisible, you aren’t.
Does that ever weigh too heavily on you? No, I think all my life I’ve had an overdeveloped sense of responsibility. It’s my job, and I take it on. Now, there are occasional moments of honesty with myself, and I realize, “Rob, you can’t solve everybody’s problems” – momentary glimpses of my true vulnerability and humanity! But if it’s my job, I’m going to do it as long as I can stand. I would argue that the decision to retire probably connects to that. I would do this work until I’m 100. But what I call the “Big R” on my back for Responsibility – it is heavy. There is probably a finite amount of time that you can carry that responsibility for 450 young people, and 100 faculty and staff and their families.
How will you spend your retirement? The first thing I am going to do is try to reconfigure my approach to time. I’ll have some, first of all, and I’ll make some choices about how to spend it. What I look forward to more than anything is having the time to pursue my priorities in an unhurried, unconflicted way. Less multitasking, more focus.
What might some of those priorities be? I don’t even know! I’ve never had a chance to slow down and sift through them. I’m sure they will start with family. Giving more of myself to those around me than I am able to do now. Being available to live life on others’ timetable instead of my own. Up to now, if something was going to include me, it would have to fit into the small gaps in my schedule.
What is your proudest achievement here? My proudest achievement, first and foremost, has been to lead a community that I believe in so deeply. I feel that I have a role in this community; it’s not about me. I feel honored to have been able to serve Episcopal. I know there will be lots of people that will see readily the improved facilities. But actually, I am much more proud of the people and the culture of EHS and how that has evolved during my 18 years here. What makes me most proud is that all of our work together has generated a place that people are looking at and saying, “I’d like to be a part of that.”
In only the last three years in your 46-year career in education, Episcopal has redesigned its Washington Program, launched a new Leadership and Ethics Program … How have you maintained such a break-neck pace? It probably drives everyone from my colleagues to my family nuts. You sort of never “get there.” The fun part for me is the journey, the creating, the working together to make it happen.
Is that drive toward excellence something that one is born with, or is that something that we’ve figured out how to cultivate in our students? I think some people have a higher propensity to it than others. At EHS we value those sorts of people, we attract them, and we want them to
be here. I think that’s part of it, but part of it is the culture. If you look left or right here as a student or as a faculty member, you are going to see engaged, motivated people who want to do well. One of my favorite things about EHS is that we don’t define our work by the school clock. We are just hitting at it all day long in different ways, at different times.
What has been your biggest challenge? It’s the challenge inherent in leading a human enterprise of 450 students, 100 faculty, families, constituents, staff … It’s the challenge of bringing everyone together and moving forward with purpose and momentum. It’s not a problem, but it is the ultimate challenge. You’re talking about so many different people of different ages, different perspectives, and different angles on the School. How are we going to get all those people to feel that EHS is the special place that it is, that it is a place that deserves their involvement and best effort? That’s the challenge, knitting all the “puzzle pieces” together. A school has to have a clear identity if you’re going to succeed. We’ve seen so many schools that have excellent programs, excellent academics, excellent this or that, but there’s not a coherence. There’s not a strong institutional identity. There’s not a philosophic core that helps bind it all together. The biggest challenge is in reinforcing that core, knowing who we are, making sure that as we go forward it aligns with what Episcopal stands for, while also trying to strengthen and improve it.
Maybe your biggest challenge is your greatest strength. There seems to be a very cohesive mission here, a shared vision for the School. What this institution believes in and cares about is so much a part of me, and I align with it so readily. That’s why I feel so fortunate to be here.
“These pictures have been here forever: the ocean at Virginia Beach and coming up the front drive to Hoxton. Those are the two cornerstones of my life, and they sit right here on the corner of my desk and look at me every day.”
“This picture was the first picture that was ever on a wall in an office of mine, and it has always travelled with me. It’s sort of a European park, someone walking alone, thinking. Somewhere that touched me and seemed appropriate for the work I do. I’ve had people say, ‘Yep, being headmaster is a lonely walk in the park, isn’t it?’ I don’t see that person as lonely. I see that person gathering his thoughts about this world around him. Maybe that’s what I’ve done a lot during my 46 years in education.”
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FEATURE B Y PE R R Y E PE S ’ 65
WHEN A Valediction for Rob Hershey Headmaster, EHS 1998-2016
-1The four columns of our past, much thanks to you, have not gone brittle in place. Your forethought has leveled seedbeds where old custom blooms with a fairer face. If Kipling deigned to play the common touch, you’ve nudged the helm with unposed grace, calling the young themselves to choose when future worlds receive their fast embrace. When, not if, we can fill our given minutes with sprints of creation at a distance pace, the world that’s closer will run in this place to seat mens sana in corpore uno, one whole gentler human race.
-2How you’ve breathed to life daily what the school has always known it believes in . . . How you were with us in all we weathered together three successive Septembers early in your tenure: 9/11, the sniper, and Hurricane Isabel. How you were with us—fortiter, when you gathered the whole school body in chapel to sit calm, and strong, teachers with advisees, some of whose parents worked in the twin towers, and we wrapped the children tight in loco parentis, praying for relief as a gift abounding of news that blood relations, all our family now, had got out before the towers collapsed. How you were with us—fideliter, when storm winds knocked out civilization, and without God’s primal gifts of light and water we were pushed within 48 hours of total evacuation, but you kept our days and nights on course, trusting the power would return in time. How you were with us—feliciter, when the sniper’s random prowling forced us to draw in to the center of campus, out of visibility from the perimeter, and you graciously admitted, at a faculty meeting, to ducking and dodging like everyone else behind your car while filling up at a gas station. Still you’ll be with us in the great halls you leave behind: Ainslie Art, Baker Science, New Centennial to complement the Old Centennial Gym, the new whole soon to be aptly named the Hershey Athletics Center. Still we can hear the purest voice of your continuing presence in an interview you gave the student paper, the just-now on-line Chronicle, when you gave away your Richmond upbringing by allowing that your favorite menu in the rehabilitated school kitchen on the ground floor of lofty Townsend Hall (new digs for English and History) remains that universal comfort food of grilled cheese sandwiches and to-mah-to soup.
Illustrations by Maizie Clarke ’04
Perry Epes ’65 taught English at EHS for almost three decades before retiring in 2014. Perry is a poet and the author of “Nothing Happened,” a book of poems published in 2010. EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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FEATURE B Y K ATIE D A R IN
DO WHAT YOU LOVE. THEN EAT IT. Forrest Pritchard ’92 side-steps cubicle life in pursuit of an office in the great wide open. “YOU SIT IN TR AFFIC AND YOU SIT IN A CUBICLE AND YOU STRUGGLE TO MAKE ENDS MEET.” THAT WAS THE FUTURE FORREST PRITCHARD SAW STARING HIM DOWN AS HE APPROACHED HIS COLLEGE GR ADUATION IN THE MID-’90S. BUT FORREST CHOSE A DIFFERENT PATH. Armed with optimism and limited agricultural experience, Forrest dismissed the advice of his family, friends, and local farmers by taking over his grandparents’ farm in Berryville, Va. “We have been sold this solution of, you get a degree, you get a job, you go to work for some place for 40
years. Then you retire. It’s kind of a hollow contract in a lot of ways.” Forrest was determined to make his grandparents’ farm profitable after decades of loss growing genetically modified corn and soybeans. The first growing season was plagued with drought, so Forrest and his family knew the profits wouldn’t
DO WHAT YOU LOVE. THEN EAT IT.
be huge. But they never expected to hear the farm manager say that the bottom line was a mere $1,816. Actually, they misheard. The real number was $18.16. The struggle was real. Forrest changed course, transitioning to an organic and sustainable method, raising free-range cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and chickens, and selling exclusively to farmers’ markets. As a student returning home from Episcopal and the College of William and Mary over the years, he saw with increasing frequency neighboring farms being sold off and turned into subdivisions and strip malls. Forrest was shocked to see these once fertile pieces of land paved over. He knew if he continued on with the same industrial farming practices, his grandparents’ farm would be next.
to be writing their own books, who aren’t going to be doing TED Talks. I thought it would be best to show who organic farmers are by finding people that looked very different, who were a mixture of men and women, a mixture of different ages who all grew different things, under the idea that the American farmer isn’t this 58-year-old guy in big overalls. A white guy with a beard, which is kind of our iconic Old MacDonald farmer. I want people to be able to pick up the book and see themselves in it, see their communities in it, and then see that sustainable farming is a nationwide phenomenon that has been around as long as America has been here.” Forrest knows that being a farmer is not a glamourous profession, and there is no such thing as a typical day on
Twenty years later Forrest’s farm, Smith Meadows, “In a world of celebrity chefs and food is thriving. It is one of the oldest grass-finished farms in the country and sells at six different farm- bloggers, it occurred to me that maybe people ers’ markets in the D.C. area every weekend. His who actually grow the food might know a first book, “Gaining Ground: A Story of Farmers’ Markets, Local Food and Saving the Family Farm” little bit about how to cook it as well.” (2013) chronicles his experience of rebuilding the farm into a successful business. It made the New the farm. All farms are susceptible to weather and predYork Times bestseller list and was named a top read by ators; the challenges and setbacks being an all too comPublishers Weekly and The Washington Post. mon thread connecting the stories of the farmers Forrest interviewed. “Growing Tomorrow” gives the reader a peek This past fall, Forrest published a new book, “Growing into these farmers’ lives, from a father-and-daughter team Tomorrow: A Farm-to-Table Journey in Photos and at Hayton Farms Berries in Mount Vernon, Wash., to a Recipes.” To write the book, Forrest traveled across the family at Ozark Forest Mushrooms in Salem, Mo. Their country with photographer Molly Peterson hopstories are complemented by beautiful ing to provide a snapshot of America’s farmers. photography and more than 50 recipes He got the idea working at the farmers’ markets, straight from the farmers’ own kitchmeeting customers, and hearing other farmers’ ens. Forrest wanted to show people stories. how easy, simple, and delicious it is to cook with these ingredients. “Only 2 percent of people grow food for a living, but 100 percent of us eat it,” says Forrest. “How He says, “In a world of celebrity chefs could I best connect more customers to these and food bloggers, it occurred to me farmers? Especially farmers who aren’t going that maybe people who actually grow the food might know a little bit about how to cook it as well.” Forrest Pritchard ’92 is a seventh-generation farmer and bestselling author. He runs Smith Meadows in Berryville, Va. Above: Forrest in EHS Issue working at the farm over the summer, photo courtesy of “Gaining Ground.” Left: Forrest at Smith Meadows, photo courtesy of Molly Peterson.
Photo credit previous page: Molly Peterson
Red Chili Con Carne FROM MATT ROMERO FARMS Serves 3 or 4
FORREST’S TR ANSITION FROM FARMER TO AUTHOR IS L ARGELY CONNECTED TO EHS. In the acknowledgements of “Gaining Ground,” Forrest thanks former EHS faculty members Perry Epes ’65, Fraser Hubbard ’68, and Bill Hannum for cultivating his love of literature and storytelling, as well as a belief in the process. “‘Gaining Ground’ is dedicated to my teachers,” Forrest told us, “especially the ones who taught poetry. I think farming frankly has a lot of overlap with the poetic process. A belief in something that’s beautiful, that’s bigger than what you are, that you can share with other people. But you don’t wear a suit and tie and drive a BMW to your farm. You don’t drive a Lexus to your poetry readings. It’s the same reason teachers do what they do – they want to do something meaningful with their lives.” Just as Forrest’s teachers inspired him, he is inspiring today’s Episcopal students. His books are being used as a resource for the History and Politics of Food course taught by social studies teacher Heidi Huntley. Forrest hopes students learn how deeply collaborative and necessary the job of farming really is. Everyone needs to eat, so growing food is one of the most significant things a person can do. “What an incredible way to interact with our communities, with our neighbors.” Forrest believes that organic farming, and food production in particular, gives young people a viable pathway for opting out of the rat race. A pathway of self-reliance, of independence, of participating in their communities and the environment. His advice to would-be farmers? Do what you love. Whether that’s growing blueberries or corn or raising animals, it’s important to throw yourself into it fully. “Farming is incredibly hard work. It’s physical, hard work. There’s no getting around that.” But farming isn’t feasible or practical for everyone, so what can the urban consumer do? Forrest stresses supporting local farms through farmers’ markets, of course, but beyond that, consumers should think about where their food comes from. “We think food just happens. If you go to a restaurant, the food’s there. You go to a supermarket, the food’s there. If you want to be a better consumer, grow some of your own food. Grow some basil on your windowsill. Grow some tomatoes on your
This rich, hearty chili pairs wonderfully with freshly made beans and tortillas. 2 ounces Romero Farms red chile pods, if available in your area, or other red chile pods, stemmed and seeded 4 cups water + extra as needed 1 pound ground meat (beef, pork, turkey, elk, or buffalo) ¼ cup unbleached all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon chopped garlic 2 teaspoons kosher salt 1. Place the chiles in a large saucepan and cover them with water. Cover the pot and bring to a boil; boil for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the chiles soak for 10 minutes. Drain the chiles, reserving the cooking liquid, and place them in a blender with 2 cups of the cooking liquid, adding up to 3 cups if necessary. (Caution: Do not overfill the blender.) Purée at the highest speed until smooth, 4 to 5 minutes. 2. Brown the ground meat in a heavy-bottomed 6-quart Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the flour, garlic, and salt and cook for 5 minutes. Add the puréed chiles and 4 cups water. Simmer for 15 minutes, adding additional water if necessary to thin the chili to your desired consistency. Serve with your favorite accompaniments.
Recipe from “Growing Tomorrow: A Farm-to-Table Journey in Photos and Recipes,” copyright ©Forrest Pritchard, 2015. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment. Available wherever books are sold. theexperimentpublishing.com
eighth of an acre, your townhouse lawn. Guaranteed, if you do that, you will never go to a grocery store or a restaurant and think anything is expensive ever again. We’re a nation of food experts who have never grown anything. It will give you appreciation for the work that goes into it, but the satisfaction – it’s incredible.”
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FEATURE B Y J O H AN N A D RO U B AY
PURE IMAGINATION
Pinkney Herbert ’72 on imbalance, improvisation, and art as an aphrodisiac.
THE EWING GALLERY OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE AT THE UNIVERSIT Y OF TENNESSEE KNOXVILLE MOUNTED A 30-YEAR SURVEY OF THE ART OF PINKNEY HERBERT IN NOVEMBER. “DISTILLED: THE NARR ATIVE TR ANSFORMED” WILL TR AVEL AROUND THE COUNTRY, EXHIBITING PINKNEY’S JOURNEY FROM FIGUR ATIVISM TO ABSTR ACTIONISM. THE FOLLOWING ARE EXCERPTS FROM AN INTERVIEW WITH PINKNEY CONDUCTED IN FEBRUARY. “In kindergarten there was a girl named Katie who I had a crush on. She came by and paused in front of a tempera painting I was doing. She looked at it, and I liked her, so I gave the painting to her. She smiled and kind of lit up and I thought, Oh my God, there’s some power here. “I remember painting as much as I could at Episcopal and took as many classes from Mr. Lisanick as I could. I was really blown away when we had field trips to Washington. Going to the Corcoran Gallery was very moving, and the National Gallery was great. “We had an art cabinet in our kitchen when my two daughters were growing up. They would come down for breakfast, and before they even ate anything they would pull out markers and pens and paint and just make work. It was like brushing their teeth. It was second nature. “I’d let them use power tools in my studio. It would scare the living daylights out of my wife. But they had to learn. Nail guns… They were careful. Nothing happened. “A lot of great work comes out of a sense of anxiety or a sense of need, and that creates an edge.
Pinkney Herbert ’72 in his Brooklyn studio.
“As artists I think it’s important to have a sense of imbalance so that we can try to put things into focus or back into balance. A sense of duality creates a sense of tension, and every great work of art has a sense of tension to it. “I’m not out to make pretty pictures. I always promised myself I wasn’t going to look over my shoulder, I wasn’t going to pander or make work just in order to sell. I’ve never wanted to give my audience something that’s easy. “You don’t have to be an artist or an art historian or a rocket scientist or an art lover to respond to my work. You can just be who you are. I really appreciate and welcome all kinds of interpretations. The conversation is what we’re trying to have here. That’s what art is about. Making connections. “I’ve had some dry spells. I’ve had those moments, and that’s when I like to change medium. I’ll do sculpture, work three-dimensionally. I’m not very good at it, but it’s a different behavior. You’ve got to change your behavior. Sometimes I’ll practice some yoga, or I’ll put on a different kind of music. “I still love the Woody Allen saying, ‘Eighty percent of success is just showing up.’ We all make excuses. If all you do in the studio is sit and look, that’s productive, that’s good. Just look.”
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PURE IMAGINATION
Pinkney Herbert received his B.A. from Rhodes College and his M.F.A. from the University of Memphis. He maintains studios in Memphis and New York, and he is the founder and director of the alternative gallery Marshall Arts. He has also taught painting and drawing at a variety of schools and universities, including the University of Memphis. Learn more at www.pinkneyherbert.com.
“Windows,” 2012 Oil and digital print on panel, 18 x 24 inches, collection of Beau Wilson ’72
“Launch,” 1985 Oil on canvas, 24 x 29 inches, collection of Creighton Michael and Leslie Cecil
“Circuit Cymbal,” 2013 Oil and digital print on panel, 48 x 36 inches
“Portrait,” 2015 Pastel and ink on paper, 41 x 29 inches
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“The structure of this painting is loosely based on musical notation, where the lines going across the painting are like a staff and the ovals are like little notes. I’m trying to create a sense of sound. Music is a huge influence on what I do. Is it possible to create sound in a painting? • Most people call it the ‘visual arts.’ Okay, well, I also want my paint to be juicy. I want you to start salivating when you look at some of my sexy paint because I had a good time mixing it up, like a cook. Sometimes I have to be careful and say, ‘Don’t eat this’; it looks like candy, pastry. • You can see the movement and energy in some of the work. It is celebratory. It has a sense of fire or noise. When I work, I work like a jazz musician. I improvise, and I work intuitively. Living in Memphis, you’ve got some great funky music, blues. My street is a block away from Sun Studio where rock and roll started with Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash and Sam Phillips.”
“Love in LIC,” 2013 Oil and digital print on panel, 8 x 10 inches “This is a small painting, but it has a feeling of being larger. And it’s a happy painting. It’s got this central feeling of light and movement. • My wife and I were living in a small spot in Long Island City, which is in Queens. It’s one stop from Grand Central, right close to the East River, and we were just having a really good time because we were living in the studio; it was a live-work space. The kitchen was right there, and the bed was there... We were just having a wonderful time. • I’m also an armchair lover of astronomy, and these things floating around and moving around, they’re like orbits. I could’ve called it ‘Orbit,’ and that would’ve been more specifically about science and astronomy. It’s a little more romantic calling it ‘Love in LIC’ because not everyone knows what ‘LIC’ is. • When you encounter a big work, it overwhelms you in a way. You can walk into it. I’ve done plenty of big paintings and I enjoy that, but I also like a jewel, a small painting that has an intimacy and is easy to live with and change, too. I encourage people to change some of the pictures that they have in their homes and hang them in different parts of the house and see new things.”
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FEATURE B Y E L IZ AB E TH H E N D E R SO N ’ 11
A START-UP STATE OF MIND Amanda Weisiger ’08 knows her success is not guaranteed. FOR AMANDA WEISIGER ’08, THE EXCITEMENT OF WORKING FOR A SMALL COMPANY FAR OUT WEIGHS
THE
RISKS
ASSOCIATED
WITH
TODAY’S START-UP WORLD. AMANDA IS VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING AT HOUSE ACCOUNT, A
SOFT WARE- AS- A -SERVICE
COMPANY
THAT
PROVIDES MARKETING AND SALES TOOLS TO INDEPENDENT RETAILERS. HOUSE ACCOUNT’S MAIN CLIENTS ARE SMALL, LOCALLY OWNED BOUTIQUES THAT UTILIZE HOUSE ACCOUNT’S MOBILE APP TO MAINTAIN THEIR E-COMMERCE. THROUGH THE APP, CUSTOMERS CAN SHOP AT ANY OF HOUSE ACCOUNT’S 450 LOCAL BOUTIQUES ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
Amanda’s entrepreneurial spirit led her to pursue a degree in human and organizational development with a track in leadership and organizational effectiveness from the Peabody School at Vanderbilt University. After four years in Music City, Amanda took a job in New York with SWW Creative, a start-up consulting and production agency. There Amanda worked to produce events and fashion shows and forge creative collaborations between companies. The agency’s clients included Hermès, the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Penske Media Corporation, and IMG Fashion Worldwide. It was a high-intensity, eye-opening experience that included a round-the-clock work schedule. In 2012, longtime family friend Laura Vinroot Poole approached Amanda about bringing her talents to House Account. Amanda moved back to her hometown, Charlotte, N.C., and has been working with House Account for three years. Amanda began as an editor and steadily took on more responsibilities as the company has grown. Now vice president, Amanda is involved in marketing and operations and content and financial management. One of the most appealing aspects of working in a start-up environment is “having the opportunity to wear many, many hats,” says Amanda. “The chance to be involved in all aspects of the business, from marketing to sales to finance to tech, is priceless.” The start-up environment, while certainly exciting and dynamic, is not without its challenges. Amanda says, “A start-up atmosphere brings something new to the table every day. I can safely say I have never been bored in this ever-changing role.” Does the pressure make her nervous? “Yes, absolutely. It can be very nerve-wracking having so much responsibility and knowing that if you make a mistake, it really falls on you.” Amanda says she has learned how to overcome her nerves after years of experience. Amanda’s advice for anyone interested in a career in the fast-paced start-up industry is simple: You’ll never get what you don’t ask for. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you think you’re worth. She says, “Corporate life was never somewhere I imagined myself. Even when I was an intern, the companies where I worked were always very small. I love to have my hands in things and make an impact. When you’re a part of such a small team and your opinions are heard, it is a rewarding process.”
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Whispers 1921
Whispers 1946
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Whispers 1961
FROM THE ARCHIVES B Y L AU R A V E TTE R
SPRING SCENES Cartoons from yearbooks of yesteryear depict the sports, traditions, and sights of springtime at Episcopal.
Whispers 1930 Whispers 1920
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Whispers 1966 EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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RE U N
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JUNE 10 & 11, 2016
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Return. Reconnect. Dance. Debate.
Carry on. Stay up late. Be yourself.
Feel like a kid again.
CELEBRATING THE CLASSES OF 1956 1961 1966 1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011
Granting Change Leah Kannensohn Tennille ’01 makes nonprofit dreams come true. BY KI RKL AND HAGE R T Y IT ONLY TOOK ONE WEEK FOR FORMER EHS FACULT Y GAIL AND PERRY EPES ’65 TO CHANGE THE TR AJECTORY OF LEAH KANNENSOHN TENNILLE’S LIFE. BORN AND R AISED IN LEXINGTON, KY., LEAH HAD NEVER CONSIDERED BOARDING SCHOOL BEFORE SHE MET GAIL AND PERRY AT KANUGA, A RETREAT OF THE EPISCOPAL DIOCESE IN THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS. LEAH LEARNED A LOT ABOUT EPISCOPAL DURING THAT FATEFUL MIDDLE SCHOOL SUMMER, AND THE EPESES ENCOUR AGED HER TO APPLY.
As a student at EHS, Leah discovered her passion for the classics and community service. Today she is a member of Episcopal’s Advisory Council, serves as a class correspondent and Reunion volunteer, and co-chairs the Young Alumni Leadership Society. President of Strategic Funding Group, which secured an impressive $54 million in funding for their clients in 2015, Leah has found her calling, and we wanted to learn more. How did you become involved with the Strategic Funding Group? When I was a junior in college, I began studying for the LSAT. My mom is a former prosecutor, and it just seemed like what I was supposed to do, but my heart wasn’t in it. My dad, who founded Strategic Funding Group in 1990, suggested I work for him. I honestly didn’t know all that the firm did at that point. If asked, I always said, “My dad writes grants for nonprofit organizations.” I started working for him as a research assistant, helping grant writers gather data for grant applications and researching funding sources for clients. I realized it was the perfect fit for me: a combination of creativity (identifying and packaging funding sources to help clients meet their goals), research (I love a challenging research task), and writing (I am a technical writer through and through, and this field is perfect for that). After working my way up from research assistant to grant writer to chief operating officer, I became president of Strategic Funding Group in 2012. Tell us about a project that you’ve worked on with SFG that you were particularly passionate about. My true passion is workforce development. Right now, we are working on several Department of Labor Tech Hire grants, which will fund new and innovative training services targeted at youth and young adults, ages 17-29, to give them the skills they need to get well-paying, high-growth jobs across industries such as IT, healthcare, and financial services.
Tell us about a project that you’ve worked on with SFG that did not receive funding. This is one of the downsides of my job. Sometimes the projects I think will absolutely get funded, don’t, and vice versa. One of the first grants I wrote was a Department of Housing and Urban Development Rural Housing and Economic Development grant for a client in rural Kentucky. I felt great about the project and the partnerships, and I was really excited to bring some much-needed support to an area of my home state that really needed it. But it didn’t get funded, and I was pretty bummed. Unfortunately, that is just the way it goes in this business. You have to remember that there is a lot of need across the country. What is most challenging about your job? Most rewarding? The most challenging part of my job is remaining somewhat detached and objective on projects that pull on your heartstrings. In doing so, I can craft a better funding strategy for my clients, making sure we send out quality, persuasive applications. The most rewarding part of my job is seeing such projects receive funding and then hearing about how successful it is. One of our clients just opened up a homeless health clinic in Louisiana and sent me a picture of the clinic’s first patient. There’s nothing better than that! Anything else we should know about you? I’m married to Dre Tennille [who attended EHS in 1996-97], whom I missed at Episcopal by two weeks! Our son, Townsend, is two, and will absolutely attend EHS. We also have a boykin spaniel, Mae West. I am a board member for the Urban League of Greater Atlanta (with Ken Hodges ’84), and I serve on Missions, Finance Committees at St Anne’s Episcopal Church (with Jim Sibley ’65).
Photo credit: Saldivia Jones
EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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Class Notes There are several ways to submit Class Notes:
’41
Dulany deButts 4800 Fillmore Avenue, Apt. 1256 Alexandria, VA 22311 (H) 703-998-3051 ddebutts.@verizon.net
I have some news for a change. Well, Carrington Herbert obliged me by calling one evening. He and Mary are still living on the farm in South Carolina. They are doing well considering their age. Mary still does some hunting. She grew up in The Plains, Va. It’s time for more calls; you see, none of you seem to be answering the phone! You might think I’m a scammer. No, I would like to hear from folks. Do call me at 703998-3051, or write the School and I’ll get the letters.
’42
Class Correspondent needed.
If you’d like to volunteer to be the class correspondent or just to share an update, please contact your alumni programs officer, Margaret von Werssowetz ’06, at mrw@episcopalhighschool.org or 703-933-4023.
’43
John Melvin P.O. Box 1770 Pawley’s Island, SC 29585 (H) 843-237-9815 jmel@sc.rr.com
David “Farmer” Carr called recently just to chat. He and Marty are doing well despite trouble with his leg. The latter problem has improved markedly in the recent past. When they venture out it is with aid of his crutches. He was in good spirits and only called to “touch base” with me. I hear most regularly from Randy Hudgins ’42 and Walt Rogers, both located in Virginia and doing well. For myself, I suffer from many of the age-related 42
1. Submit news online through the alumni portal at www.episcopalhighschool.org; 2. Contact your Class Correspondent by phone, mail, or email; 3. Write your news in the space provided on the Roll Call remittance envelope and mail it with your annual gift; or 4. Send news to your Alumni Program Officer* by phone, email, or mail to 1200 N. Quaker Lane, Alexandria, VA 22302. * Alumni Program Officers and their assigned classes are: * Classes up to 1953: Margaret von Werssowetz ’06, 703-933-4023 or mrw@episcopalhighschool.org * Classes of 1954-73: Matt Drake, 703-933-4026 or mhd@episcopalhighschool.org * Classes of 1974-92: Margaret von Werssowetz ’06, 703-933-4023 or mrw@episcopalhighschool.org * Classes of 1993-2015: Kirkland Hagerty, 703-933-4167 or khm@episcopalhighschool.org
maladies, but, I rise in the morning and go to bed at night, never being quite certain of what occurred in between!
services, exercise programs, and all forms of entertainment. It really was a good move for us.
’44-’46
I talked with George Francisco, and he said he is doing fine in Houston and enjoys lunch every once in a while with Bill Lummis.
Class Correspondents needed.
If you’d like to volunteer to be the class correspondent or just to share an update, please contact your alumni programs officer, Margaret von Werssowetz ’06, at mrw@episcopalhighschool.org or 703-933-4023.
’47
Harvey Lindsay One Colley Avenue, Apt. 900 Norfolk, VA 23510 (H) 757-423-1877 (O) 757-640-8202 harveylindsay@harveylindsay.com
I am still working a little (not very much) at our company and I am in my 62nd year in commercial real estate. Several years ago Frances and I moved to a retirement community near downtown Norfolk, and this has been a good situation for us. I would strongly recommend it to any of you that might be thinking about this. They take care of our meals as well as provide medical
Stuart Gilchrist moved to a retirement community in Williamsburg called Williamsburg Landing, and I’ve had the opportunity to see him on several occasions. Unfortunately he lost his dear and wonderful wife, Mary John, a few months ago. Stuart seems to be doing fine, and we still talk about EHS. I talked on the phone with Hugo Blankingship, and he is still practicing law in Fairfax, Va. He and his wife live in the town nearby, and they seem to be doing great. He said he lives just 15 miles from The High School and has an opportunity to keep up with what is going on at the School. I talked with the Rev. Peyton Craighill, and he said that he and Mary are doing great and enjoying living in Lexington, Va., in a retirement community.
SUBMIT YOUR CLASS NOTES ONLINE! Just go to the homepage and click on “Alumni” and then “Submit A Class Note.” For help with passwords or login, please contact the Advancement Office.
his encyclopedic baseball memory, recalls made two spectacular catches in the 1946 Woodberry baseball game. Bob Richardson was the Phil Rizzuto (N.Y. Yankee shortstop) and Chris Holland was the Charlie Keller (N.Y. Yankee left fielder) on Coach Bill Ravenel’s 1948 baseball team. Bob missed ’48’s 65th Reunion but is still thinking of attending a 70th, although one isn’t scheduled. Bob wants to show up in a sports jacket he bought for $5 from Chris 68 years ago to prove that he can still wiggle into it.
Eddie Leake ’47 wearing his 50th Reunion hat in Oxford, England.
I keep up with Ed Leake, and he seems to be doing great. He has recently been on two wonderful trips to England and Cuba, and we are talking about plans for our 70th Reunion at EHS. Hunter deButts is spending about half of his family’s time in Charleston and the other half in northern Virginia. Hunter has 10 grandchildren, three of whom have graduated from EHS. Hunter was a great athlete at EHS, lettering twice in football and twice in track. His son, Boota ’76, is the CFO at EHS. He was also a great athlete at Episcopal.
’48
Hugh Richardson 1819 Peachtree Road, NE, #200 Atlanta, GA 30309 (O) 404-351-0941
“Hammering” Henry Schacht, our best baseball hitter when he wasn’t throwing strikes as our top pitcher, called from Vero Beach, Fla., to say that he and Lockwood Rianhard, our diminutive scholar and academic giant at Yale, were expecting several schoolmates for a March 2016 mini-reunion at Vero Beach. Henry and Lockwood hoped to see: Head Monitor “Cap’n” Jack Clarkson and Kirk, who Henry says now lives full time at Ponte Vedra, Fla.; EHS Athletics Hall of Famer Charlie Gamble ’50 and wife Judy; Hunter McGuire ’47 and wife Alice; and Stuart Gilchrist ’47, who Henry, with
Keen-witted Ed Gregory, a 1952 Princeton graduate who died of leukemia at his New Castle, Pa., residence April 11, 2015, wrote his own obituary for the Princeton Alumni Weekly before his death. This was unusual because each Princeton class has its own memorialist, and Ed was not his. Here is his lead paragraph in the alumni magazine: “Ed Gregory did the best he could – which wasn’t too bad. He was born in rural Virginia. Unathletic and insecure, he was your typical nerd as a boy. But he had a couple of things going for him. He was a good student, and he had parents who were able to have his teeth straightened and to send him to a good school.” That school was Episcopal, where he definitely was not a nerd, was continuously on the High List, lettered in tennis, was sports editor of Whispers and the Chronicle, and got along well with Headmaster R.P. Williams 1904. At Princeton, Ed was an editor of the Daily Princetonian, majored in economics, and took his meals at Elm Club. He received his MBA from Harvard and was an officer in the Coast Guard. He spent his business career with DuPont Co. and is survived by his wife, the former Kathy Gray, and five children. News from other classes: Eddie Leake ’47 graduated from THE High School in 1947, from THE University where he belonged to THE Hall – St. Anthony – in 1951, and then saw combat with THE Marines as an officer in Korea with his pal Harvey Lindsay ’47. He is pictured wearing his 50th Reunion hat in Oxford, England, on one of the tours sponsored by UVA in 2015. Eddie is a student of battle sites of the War Between the States. He recalls that Gen. Stonewall Jackson was mortally
wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Va., where his left arm was amputated. Eddie points out that Jackson is buried in Lexington, Va., but his left arm is buried in Chancellorsville under a grave stone which reads, “Arm of Stonewall Jackson, May 3, 1863.” For those whose forefathers fought for the South, it is sad to learn that certain elements are trying to remove statues, monuments, and carvings of Confederate leaders. JUST ARRIVED: A welcomed letter from thoughtful class notes editor Margaret von Werssowetz ’06 about her conversation with Phil Hammond, who told her how Mr. Callaway “saved his academic life.” See the sidebar on page 44 for Phil’s recollection in his words.
’49
Class Correspondent needed.
If you’d like to volunteer to be the class correspondent or just to share an update, please contact your alumni programs officer, Margaret von Werssowetz ’06, at mrw@episcopalhighschool.org or 703-933-4023. Bodley Stites reports, “Some deterioration at 84, no major diagnoses. (Some peripheral neuropathy, cause not known, mild Parkinson’s.) Tennis game very poor. Some P.T., a little Tai Chi. Wife, two sons, one daughter, one granddaughter, and six grandsons. Handwriting poor. Very lucky and thankful.”
’50
Gish Anderson 109 Oak Hill Lane New Bern, NC 28562 (H) 252-635-6562 gishgay@earthlink.net
’51
Walter Reed (H) 707-448-3347
The Class of 1951 had an epic 65th Reunion this past November! Dick Rutledge led the charge by planning the whole program and making sure as many people returned as possible. Many class members arrived early to attend the Hall of Fame luncheon to observe EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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CLASS NOTES
A Second Chance B Y PHIL HA M M O N D ’ 48
There are defining moments in one’s life such as marriage day, first child, special career happenings, grandchildren, and the first day of retirement. I have those also, but one of the other most defining times in my life occurred at EHS. I was a junior when arriving and wanted to finish in two years. I had to take Algebra 4 my first year, and I had only a smattering of that subject in Greensboro High School. I struggled my first three months in Mr. Callaway’s class and passed the first exam in December but failed the March exam, which meant I failed the course. Mr. Callaway came to see me and a few others who failed and said he would give us a makeup course with another exam in May, and if we passed the exam, we passed. The exam was given, and I will never forget going to look at the posted grades near the dining room. I PASSED with a 79. It meant I could go on the next year with higher math and had the opportunity to graduate with my class. I will never forget Mr. Callaway and his giving me a second chance. I miss him. Phil Hammond ’48 keeps the bill Mr. Callaway sent his mother for this makeup course framed on his wall: $10 for “tutoring.”
William B. Ravenel’s induction. Hall of Fame Committee member Hardy Patten was the driving force in nominating Mr. Ravenel for his dedication as a football, basketball, and baseball coach. Tom Hunter and his lovely wife, Isabelle, called in to share a presentation of photos chronicling Tom’s fascinating career as a model, actor, director, writer, and more. Check out his book “Memoirs of a Spaghetti Cowboy” to read all about it if you missed out! Lee Marston could not attend but organized a fabulous tour for all of his classmates of the new chapel at the Virginia Theological Seminary, where he is a board member. Julian Robertson, after receiving Episcopal’s Distinguished Service Award on Friday night, sat down with classmates on Saturday to talk politics, economics, and more. The class was then visited by the Rev. Gideon Pollach, the School’s chaplain, to discuss faith at EHS, and then had an introduction to the next Head of School, Charley Stillwell, by Rob Hershey and the current trustees. Hope everyone is doing well, and please send your news to EHS! 44
’52
Harte Crow (H) 603-643-5007 hcahcrow@gmail.com
Fred “Grover” Cleveland writes, “Just celebrated my 81st birthday, but 81 is only 16 in Scrabble. Expecting first great-grandchild in February 2016.” Tom Mabley reports that “he has hung up his tennis racket, but the racket claims it acted first.” Harte Crow also passed along this update from Tise Eyler: “Coincidence just overtook me! Received the fall 2015 issue of the EHS magazine, and I was married this fall on October 17, 2015, at the Jekyll Presbyterian Community Church on Jekyll Island, Ga. Reception was held at the Jekyll Club Hotel. “I have lived on Jekyll Island since June 1985, having bought my home in the spring of 1983 while completing my final Navy assignment as Chairman Department Organization and Personnel Management at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort McNair, Washington, D.C. “Bob Montague was able to attend the wedding. A four-page article about the wedding appeared in an Atlanta (Peachtree
City) magazine. My wife’s name is Devy Rose Eyler. She is a published author, having written a book about her life titled “No Mama, I Didn’t Die, My Life as a Stolen Baby,” using her previous name Devereaux R. Bruch. “My wife, Pat, of 58 years died in May 2014 from lung cancer. Through a Christmas card, I reconnected with a girl I had dated 61 years ago at the Naval Academy. She had lost her husband to cancer and Alzheimers. At age 82, after three pacemakers and aortic valve replacement, I am ready for a new life!! Hope to see you all at the 65th Reunion in 2017!”
’53
Ed Mullins (H) 803-782-3027 (O) 803-733-9401 ed.mullins@nelsonmullins.com
Ed Mullins is beginning his 58th and final year of the practice of law. Ed and Andrea unfortunately were displaced by the October 2015 flood in Columbia, S.C. They are living in Ed’s sister’s home while repairs are being made and will probably be there for a total of five to six months. Believe it or not the week after the flood their large front beach house at Litchfield Beach on the South Carolina coast suffered substantial damage from a fire. They own
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hobbling injuries and Fritz having reached 80, are entering regional and national tennis doubles tournaments. Fritz continues as a volunteer chaplain at the Shepherd Spinal Center, where he assists in Sunday services and entertains patients there with his band, Fritz and the Neighbors. He is still planning to attend East Tennessee State College for a semester to take a course in bluegrass music and storytelling.
Tise Eyler ’52 married Devy Rose Bruch on Oct. 17, 2015. His EHS classmate Bob Montague ’52 bore witness to the merriment!
it with 12 other families, and they will be out of it for a total of six months. Ed writes, “You always need a little humor for situations such as this. The day after the fire one of the other owners, who knew of our flood issues, called to see if we had heard about the fire. He said that he was calling to tell me that it had been determined that it was my 1/13 that burned. Needless to say I’ve been delving into the book of Job to see how he handled similar situations. The good news is that there was insurance coverage on both houses, and my sister’s house is rent-free. However any care packages will be gladly accepted.” Many other classmates reported to Ed: Reid White writes from Lenox, Mass., “All we are doing now is hunkering down for a long cold winter, as all New Englanders must. (Most of our class must be hitting golf balls in Florida or some such.)” Samuel Holt: “When we get our age, it’s the little things, especially those that are really big. My biggest story relates to my birthday (and who’s counting at our age?). I knew that my ladyfriend met the ‘three B’s’ test our mamas told us to look for: beauty, brains, and breeding. She also proved to be sneaky, putting together a surprise four-day
birthday visit to an island in Florida, where she had a house for my three children and four grandchildren. All had cover stories, which made it a complete surprise. To get to see the little ones play on the beach in beautiful warm weather before my daughters went back to jobs in Paris and Scotland was a wonderful, lifelong memory. And – now especially for ‘kids’ our age – isn’t it really about memories? And isn’t it why we read alumni publications, to trigger those from The Holy Hill? Still in D.C. and glad to see any classmates.” Austin Moore reports that he has put the farm he owns in a family trust that the family can run and utilize but cannot sell. It abuts beautiful Lake Murray just outside Columbia, S.C. Included on these pages is an aerial photo Austin took himself. On the left side of the picture, you can see a white building complex that is his home. A few years ago he added on to this, and most recently refurbished the outer houses. He especially did so to the barn, which houses the horses that are trained and ridden by his two daughters, Alexandria and Adrianne. He is healthy, doing well, and sends his warmest regards to his classmates. Fritz Van Winkle and his brother, Ed Van Winkle ’48, having recovered from
Ed Hutchins and his wife, Lenora, are hale and hearty and still living in Mesquite, Nev., about an hour drive from Las Vegas. Ed advises daily stretching exercises to better your health. He returned to the East Coast after 20 years to attend the wedding in Winston-Salem of his grand-niece Kate Woltz ’05, who is the granddaughter of Ed’s brother, Fred Hutchins ’51. During that trip he had the good fortune of having lunch with John Burress ’54 and Charlie Tompkins ’54, both of whom appeared to be doing very well. He asks that, if any of you are coming to Las Vegas, you please call him ahead of time so he can meet and visit with you there. Jackie Duer and Marge took a trip on the Queen Mary in September. It was one of many that they have taken on the Queen Mary, and this time it was to Hamburg, from which they went to Berlin where they spent most of the time. He says that Berlin is a very attractive city, and its cleanliness is especially impressive. They also spent some time in Hamburg. It, too, is a beautiful city and appears to have more canals than Venice. Jackie is still somewhat hobbled with sciatica causing pain in his leg. He uses a walker some but is persevering very well and looking forward to our 65th Reunion. Tommy Rivers retired from the practice of OB/GYN on Oct. 15, 2015. Tommy has seven children – five by his first wife and two came along with his second wife. They are both thankful to still be hale and hearty. The oldest daughter is a neonatal nurse in Virginia. One of his sons is an emergency room physician, and his son’s wife is a radiation oncologist. Tommy’s wife is still a math professor at the College of Charleston and is currently teaching a course in statistics. EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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CLASS NOTES
Finally, Jon Bryan writes, “As the shadows lengthen, so grows my appreciation for what The High School imprinted into my way of life. And now, not to overstate the case, I’m getting it, what old Tennyson imagined about Ulysses: ‘All experience is an arch wherethrough Gleams that untraveled world whose margin moves ... Death closes all; but something ere the end, Some work of noble note, may yet be done ... Though much is taken, much abides; and though We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are – One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.’ We are a strong class. Gaudeamus igitur.”
’54
Charlie Covell (H) 352-336-0127 (O) 352-273-2023 covell@louisville.edu
This is the year most of us have or will have turned 80. Our next scheduled Reunion is our 65th, to be held in June 2019. Do keep in touch. Best wishes and good health to you all. Mort Boyd writes, “Nothing much to report. Have been in contact with John Burress, Robert Wilson, and Charlie Tompkins about our friend and classmate Bob Baker who recently had a stroke. He’s in rehab now and evidently doing well. Proud to read Episcopal’s drama team is performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. I had the privilege of attending the festival a number of years ago. What an honor for EHS!” John Burress wrote that he and Charlie Tompkins regularly attend UNC football and basketball games together and both are healthy. Charlie T. never misses a Panthers game, including the Super Bowl. Robert Wilson recently drove from South Carolina 46
Aerial photo taken by Austin Moore ’53 of his family farm abutting Lake Murray outside of Columbia, S.C.
to Durham to visit Bob “Be Bop” Baker, who is doing some physical therapy after a recent stroke. Robert reports Baker is perfect mentally and still talks all of the time. Will Bridgers writes, “I am entering my 51st year in wealth management (Morgan Stanley) and keep putting off the thought of retirement. Hilton Head Island is chiefly a retirement community, and so many here look so bored and miserable that I have decided to stay busy until I can leave with a mission. I’m keeping active: going to the gym regularly, and Pluma, my wife, has me going to yoga practice. I should be attending graduation for a granddaughter this spring at The High School, but she and her sister chose VES, which disappointed me. But I have two grandsons hopefully applying in a couple of years. Our next Reunion is about the only time I get to reconnect with our classmates. Please, let’s stay in touch.” From Larry Creson: “We here in the midSouth were pretty much spared the winter onslaught, missing one day of work. I may very well be the least adventurous and least travelled member of the Class of ’54. I am still working full time as a U. S. administrative law judge with social security, hearing disability cases. I’m married for the third time (one divorce and one loss to leukemia). I am dealing with one of the lesser forms of leukemia/lymphoma, but the docs say it’s entirely manageable and I should remain symptom free. I’ve worn out so many joints that I no longer play golf (or any other of my fun games – tennis, soccer, handball,
etc.), but I can still draw and drink martinis. By the way, like you, Charlie, I remained very involved with soccer after school days, and participated in the development of both youth and adult amateur programs here in the Memphis area, playing on Sunday afternoon until well into my 50s. In fact, I wrote and illustrated a pamphlet on the rules of the game, which was published and sold around here for several years. Also my son, Larry III, became quite a player, being a member of the professional indoor team here in Memphis, and ending his career as a coach and executive director of a very large youth program here. (I say “ending” as we lost him to a brain tumor last year.) Although I still do some drawing, my hands are not as steady as they were, so my skills are somewhat limited.” Harry Gamble: “I am still practicing law in Selma, Ala., but on a reduced basis. Molly and I enjoy travel and spending time at our house on Perdido Bay, where I have a sailboat and other various watercraft. When it gets too hot here, we enjoy Molly’s family house in Waynesville, N.C., which we share with her siblings. All our children and grandchildren are now in Birmingham, Ala., only about an hour and a half away. Regards to all, and Roll Tide!” Gill Holland writes, “We have been at the Pines in Davidson for three years. It is a friendly place. I am on the Learning in Retirement committee. We invite speakers from Davidson College who give talks every Monday morning. Last Monday, Dr. Joseph Gardner in the D.C. theater
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department spoke on “Scenic Imagination in Theatre Today.” He showed many slides. Quite fascinating. I particularly enjoyed introducing him because he was in a class of mine on British Romantic poetry back in the late sixties. There are two opportunities to write here at the Pines. THE PINEPOST comes out every other month. Each issue has a theme. In “Time to Laugh,” I wrote a little piece on laughing in China entitled “Chortling in China.” In the issue on favorite foods, I wrote about a meal in Salzburg (in 1957) in a restaurant inside an abbey that is one of, if not the, oldest in Central Europe. Charlemagne is said to have eaten there!! The weekly Activity Bulletin has a column for a 300-page book review. I have submitted a number of those. Oh yes. Davidson Learns offers a generous set of courses for older folks. (It is not part of the college.) In March/April I am offering an “Introduction to Classical Chinese Poetry.” A note from Jack Jones: “Charlie, we have now 10 grands and adding number 11 in May, a girl named Lily. Mimi and I are doing well. Had a beautiful trip down the Middle Fork in Idaho for a week in July with Mark’s family.” From John Mason, whom I saw at the 2015 Reunion: “It was good to see people from our years who, for whatever reason, weren’t in the ’54 group (Jim Cathcart ’55, Rives Richey ’55, Ted Mollegen ’55, et al.). I used to like snow, but those days are long gone. Too many years in the equatorial tropics. Right now snow drifts keep me from rounding up rookie birders to join me in checking out waterfowl up and down the Potomac. One item of news: I’m still plugging away at learning Arabic. The effort comes from Spanish, which I speak. It has thousands of Arabic words, from Spain’s Moorish Occupation. (My last name, for instance, is the same word in both languages. And “cotton” and “sugar” are Spanish words that come from Medieval Arabic.) I’m hoping one day to read their newspapers and maybe the Qur’an in the original. But I’m getting old faster than I’m learning it, so I rely on bilingual books, with Arabic and English on facing pages. Windows into other cultures, such as this one, have opened to me through languages for much of my adult life.”
From Bill Pender: “On Jan. 9, at my residence in Charlotte, I enjoyed my finest hour at a party celebrating my 80th birthday, which was hosted by my wife and four children with their spouses. Among the many friends who were present, whom I have known over the span of many years, were fraternity brothers and EHS alumni Buck Shuford ’55, Bailey Patrick, Jr. ’53, and Robert Mason, Jr. ’52. Great memories, with no fact checks, were exchanged. “I enjoy, despite minor arthritis, reasonably good physical health and have retained some cognitive skills. I routinely take walks with my daughter’s 13-year-old standard poodle who has a much healthier gait, and I also engage in unimpressive workouts with weights. Although an active member of the North Carolina Bar, I do not practice but continue to enjoy the sharp intellect of good lawyers whenever I see them socially or in civic/church groups. “As warm weather approaches I look forward to rustic living at ‘Dogpatch,’ our wilderness mountain home in Avery County, N.C., where, due to its four-wheel drive location, we do not expect many casual drop-in visitors, but we always love receiving friends and family members with their guns and dogs. The game lands and the Appalachian Trail are within an easy hike and give me the opportunity to create, with the help of my children, a ‘boot camp’ for my eight grandsons, which will hopefully assist their physical, mental, and spiritual development. Although I do not hunt and seldom do any shooting, I maintain strict rules of gun safety and insist on compliance with hunting regulations. “I continue to become more and more radicalized in my love of American and European history. From the time many years ago when I founded, with the help of history professors at Davidson College, the Davidson Civil War Round Table, I have been a guest speaker at book clubs, civic clubs, and most recently at the last meeting of the Senior Scholars of Queens University, where I presented a bullet point lecture on the battle of Gettysburg with maps and iconic photographs. This battle, which was fratricidal respecting my family, has always gripped my interest. One of my great-grandfathers was a
battle surgeon assigned to the N.C. 28th Regiment, Lane’s Brigade, and his brother, my great-great-uncle, was a Union officer who commanded a battery that helped repulse what is popularly called ‘Pickett’s Charge’ on the third day of the battle. “Recently I have become part of a prison ministry program sponsored by the Presbyterian Church of America. So far I have no verifiable evidence that I have induced a conversion experience for anyone, but it seems like a noble undertaking for a sinful old man. “My warmest regards to you and all my classmates.” Finally, I had an email exchange recently with Kirk Williams and had hoped to see him in D.C. when I was scheduled to participate in a relative’s memorial service. Unfortunately, the big snowstorm “Jonas” caused cancellation of my trip. Maybe I will see some of you at the next Reunion.
’55
Sandy Wise (H) 614-766-1511 (O) 614-447-0281 hawppmd@aol.com 65th Reunion: June 2020
’56
Terry Cooper (H) 434-202-8066 (O) 703-931-8172 terry@cooperresearch.us 60th Reunion: June 10-11, 2016
Richard Sherrill sent in a report. “Long retired but still running three management development programs every year and managing our 16 rental units. This fall I set up four webcams on our island in Canada so I can watch the winter storms come in.” Peyton Hawes writes, “We moved back to our farm in Elberton, Ga., last year. To everyone’s surprise, Mary loves it as well. We are just raising a few cows, consistently repairing equipment, and watching pine trees grow.” Class Correspondent Terry Cooper writes, “In preparation for our 60th Reunion June 10-11, I took an informal survey of our EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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classmates. Some of the findings: No one reported having any great-grandchildren. The greatest number of grandchildren reported was 11, by Walter Klingman. The smallest number was one, a girl of less than two years, by Henry Townsend. Only one brave soul nominated himself for being in the best physical shape: Norris Nielsen. Nonie’s account was so delightful that I’m reprinting it in full: “At EHS I did everything possible to gain weight and not be the lightest football lineman at 170 pounds. I accomplished this over the next four years at Vanderbilt, getting out at a svelte 240, which I have been fighting ever since. Twelve years ago, after discovering I had both prostate and bladder cancer in a three-month time period and recovering from two operations, I decided to once again get in shape, since I was told I was going to live and couldn’t use dying as an excuse. “For the past 12 years I have been going three times a week to a fitness trainer who delights in torturing me by assigning push-ups, chin-ups, and running up nine flights of stairs two at a time. Also, like Ronald Reagan, my hobby is splitting firewood with wedges and a sledge hammer, although in a concession to old age, I did buy a gas-powered splitter a couple of years ago. As either Emerson or Thoreau once said [actually, it was Henry Ford], he liked splitting firewood because it warmed him twice. And it certainly does.” I can relate to the stair-climbing. When I lived in Arlington, I had a trainer who operated out of a fitness center on the 18th floor of a Bethesda office building. He had me and my ladyfriend run from the fourth floor to the 18th four times each session, a total of 56 flights of stairs. My ladyfriend finished ahead of me almost every time – but then she weighed less than 110. (Now that I’m my own trainer, I don’t prescribe stair-climbing anymore.) I also got one nomination for most out-ofshape from Henry Spalding. But, he adds, “I am in good shape for the shape I am in.” In other age-defying news, Nonie Nielsen reports that Pickslay Cheek “is probably the oldest licensed race car driver in 48
America. He says that his son does the driving and he is just the mechanic, but I know better than that.” I also asked about classmates’ children’s accomplishments of which they were most proud and got a totally unexpected nomination from Henry Townsend: his daughter Antonia founded theenclosed. com, a purveyor of “decadent” knickers (i.e., panties). That prompted Fred Wright to comment that he’d rather be decadent than in good shape. Fielder Israel reports that he and his wife Gretchen continue to do missionary duty in France on behalf of Community Bible Study International. A number of classmates expressed regret at the Dec. 30 passing of our classmate Andy Wise. His passing reminded Nonie that all three of his EHS roommates – Bill Anderson, Ed Dudley, and Willie Parrott – have passed on. And now it’s my sad duty to report that, on Jan. 23, we lost another classmate, Stewart Bryan. His obituary was in the Richmond Dispatch-Times on Jan. 23, and an abbreviated obituary can be found in this magazine. The Richmond Dispatch-Times obituary notes that Stewart was a strong advocate for ‘transparency,’ the notion that the public should be able easily to find out what government is doing and why, so as better to hold government accountable. That got me to thinking: Those of us who entered in the fall of 1952 were rats not only with Stewart but with Joe Dunn ’55. Joe was the son of another crusading journalist, the publisher of the Princess Anne Free Press, an independent newspaper that fought the political machine that then governed Virginia Beach. Joe has also passed on, regrettably. I pray for good health for the rest of us, and at cocktail hour I’ll toast to that also! Only a few more weeks until the 60th Reunion June 10-11. We hope to see everyone back on the Hill!!
’57
Louie Gump (O) 423-282-3933 lhg703@yahoo.com 60th Reunion: 2017
Dillon Wooten writes, “I’m active in commercial real estate, with three daughters and four grandsons that are 8, 12, 13, and 15. Still play golf and tennis. Married to Sue Wooten 49.5 years. Hope to go to Reunion in 2017.” Henry Blake reports, “All is well with me. Hope to get up to EHS for a visit before summer. Juliet, my No. 8 grandchild, is matriculating there along with senior Stephen Faris ’16. The biggest news is that I have two more alpacas born about August 1 last year – Sweetie Pie and Buddy Boy. Now I have five at Blake Alpaca Ranch in Livingston, Mont. Now that IS news! Tom Davenport writes, “I have finally finished the sequel to ‘A Singing Stream’ and released this new film with the old 1985 film ‘A Black Family Chronicle’ on a DVD that we are distributing to public libraries and Public TV in the South. It is hard to believe, but I think these are the only films that look at African-American history through the history of one family, the Landis family from Creedmoor, N.C. I am in touch with Phil Carter who lives mostly in Maine now and writes poems. Also with Shep Ansley, whose beautiful and talented wife Boyce arranged a tour of Mt. Vernon for our last EHS Reunion. I also have talked with Ken Ringle, who has retired from the Washington Post and writes novels and poetry, too.”
’58
Surry Roberts (H) 919-828-2245 surryroberts@adventure777.com 60th Reunion: 2018
Richard Durham is enjoying his masters swimming with Germantown Masters Swim Club! Surry Roberts writes, “Several have written to send more thanks to Anna Kate and Hayne Hipp for diligently organizing and gracefully hosting our Pawley’s Island gathering, a magnificent adventure!”
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to Duke before transferring to Moravian in Bethlehem.”
Shep Ansley ’57 at lunch at the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C., with Philip Faris ’13 and Stephen Faris ’16. Philip and Stephen’s grandfather, Henry Blake ’57, was Shep’s roommate at EHS, and the two are still close friends today.
Rick Pietsch writes to invite any and all to their home in Charlottesville and also in Naples, Fla. After Pawley’s Island, there were perhaps many thoughts about what comes next! In contemplation of the hereafter, Carl Ragsdale remarked that frequently when he goes from room to room, he wonders “what am I hereafter?” Hayne Hipp says, “If I said, which I did not say, what Pope Shuford said I said, I surely would have been referring to the richness of life!” We know that Pope has never considered an untruth. In turn, we all know for sure that Hayne is the richest man in the whole world! Charley Matheson ’59 and Helen Grassi ’03 at Prince’s Court in Mclean, Va.
Tommy Boyd writes to pay tribute to Venable Minor. Ven was known as “Piggy” or “Hippo,” which was his cad’s nickname as well. Tommy visits Ven’s grave on walks with his lab, Ella, in the University Cemetery about 150 yards from his home. Ven’s parents and brother Raleigh are buried there, the very place “where we will be planted as well.” Jim Cook relates that his mail in the frigid north comes in by dog sled. He had one correction for the alumni news that he roomed with Ven for “not one year, but two! We had a blast at EHS, on home-and-home visits, and in the summer.” They all had a great time at St. Anne’s School!
’59
J.D. Simpson (H) 501-663-8631 (O) 501-377-2110 jdsimpson@stephens.com 60th Reunion: 2019
Bill “Droopy” Flippin reports, “John Charles Gifford Hutchison (Sandy, Hutch) was inducted into the Moravian College sports hall of fame on Friday, Nov. 14, 2014. Sherry and I attended as Sandy was honored for his prowess at golf, which was not a competitive sport at EHS during our years there. Sandy and I continue to communicate through the electronic devices that were not available during our stay at The High School. Sandy went on
Sandy Hutchison responds, “Bill, thanks for the compliment and thanks for being a longtime friend. It was a real surprise, as in those days we played for the enjoyment and just playing was all I ever cared about. In those days, we played match play, and I still chuckle about my two losses, both to the same person. He wore tennis shoes, gray flannel pants, shirt, tie, and an argyle sweater and the Floppy Tennis bucket hat – it had a green plastic shade on the underside of the front brim. His clubs were vintage (multiple makes), and his golf bag must have been pre-WWII. But, he was really an excellent golfer. As he said, ‘I play just for something to do.’ He shot 67 at Bethlehem Municipal, and in those days, that was fantastic. I keep thinking he was from Fairleigh Dickinson University – I remember playing them at their course in rain, sleet, ice, snow, and very cold – but we played all 18 holes. Moravian was in the MAC Conference, which in the 1960’s included 37 different institutions including Bucknell University, Drexel University, Franklin & Marshall College, Gettysburg College, Temple, Fairleigh Dickinson, Lasalle, Haverford College, Muhlenberg College, New York University, Princeton University, Rutgers University, Stevens Institute of Technology, Susquehanna University, Swarthmore College, University of Scranton, Gettysburg, Hofstra, Wilkes, Juniata, Upsala, Lycoming, Lebanon Valley, University of Delaware, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, Lehigh University, Ursinus College, Western Maryland, and Widener University. The year I won, the event was at the University of Scranton at Fox Hills Country Club in Pittston, Penn., on May 14. It was the only conference event played as stroke play, as all matches were match play. One hundred players representing 25 teams played 36 holes in one day. Sunrise was supposedly 5:45 a.m., but it was misty and foggy and below 50 degrees. Somehow we got 100 players around the course for 36 holes. Sunset was about 8 p.m., but with the overcast, it was like dark when we started and dark when we finished.”
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’60
Bill Drennen (H) 304-876-1236 (O) 304-876-6400 wmdrennen1@me.com 60th Reunion: 2020
Bill Drennen reports that he is “hanging out with Hoxton Financial in Shepherdstown, W.V. – great spot!”
’61
Bill Julian (H) 434-202-8859 waj43@msn.com 55th Reunion: June 10-11, 2016
Several of us have expressed interest in meeting at our 55th Reunion on June 10-11; I hope more will come. I just read that group showers in schools are unacceptable to the younger generation. Does this say something about us? Or them? It’s definitely time to bring back the draft and basic training.
’62
Al Berkeley (H) 410-243-7859 alfredberkeley@gmail.com 55th Reunion: June 2017
Kemble White writes, “I talked with JTO [former Assistant Headmaster John Talbot Ordeman] recently. He and Mary are enjoying life on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. After reviewing the epic achievements of the wrestlers and football players of our time, he really lit up when we turned to the conquests of Monty Gray, Mills Thornton, and Wright Doyle on “It’s Academic.” Kathleen and I have enjoyed Santa Barbara for almost 15 years and seem to get back East mostly for reunions. I continue to enjoy the practice of law which, for me, is tax controversy work.”
’63
Cotten Alston (O) 404-310-0541 cottenalston@gmail.com 55th Reunion: June 2018
I found myself seated in the SFO airport after the family pilgrimage to visit our oldest daughter’s firstborn, our first grand, and the son-in-law’s male heir in Menlo Park! I 50
Sandy Hutchison ’59 during his college years.
Sandy Hutchison ’59 was inducted into the Moravian College sports hall of fame on Friday, Nov. 14, 2014.
looked up at the jostling crowd and there was professor/arbitrator/farmer/father/ attorney Francis McGovern…possibly the only man in the airport in a suit and tie (UVA colors). He’d been teaching at Stanford, I think. What is it…six degrees?!
with our new community, and our ‘latch string’ is always out. I remain fortunate to continue to commute to Houston as my healthcare business strives to stay in front of ObamaCare, the declining Texas oil patch, and the general economic malaise.”
Valerie’s and my new grandson is baby Jack. All are healthy, catching up on their sleep, and enjoying that brave new world! He is one cute little dude, and I wonder what distant grandparents did before texting and the Internet. Daily changes are amazing. One day a Left Coast surfer dude?!
Lot Ensey, our ever-mysterious classmate, checks in from afar: “Three or four years of growing a long white beard have left me in trouble at Christmas time. Little girls run up to me and scream ‘Santa! Santa!’ and then they jump into my lap and start telling me what I can get them for Christmas.” (Don’t even ask for his answer…)
A recent sighting in Atlanta of the Traveling Stallworths and Mary Carol and Jeremy Taylor for a mega-celebration of Stallworth family anniversaries: 175-year celebration (75+65+40=175) of loving and living held in January this year; Jim Stallworth at 70 + married for 40 + Peg, the younger lady = 175! As only the Stallworths would have it, the party was happening at the Painted Pin, a totally hot entertainment spot owned/operated by son William Stallworth ’00 on Miami Circle in Atlanta, featuring Peg’s custom-made dart board, bowling, and full food and beverage. William’s partner, Justin Amick, is married to Hannah Huffines Amick ’99! “The folks who came from near and far had a grand time, and Peggy and Jim continue to feel humbled and honored by all who attended. Life is wonderful! Please visit them at their paradise on the Intracoastal Water-way (North Carolina) if ever one is near!” Jeremy Taylor reports, “I am grateful for our brief visit in Atlanta. It left me thirsting for more! A few years ago, Mary Carol and I moved from Old Town Alexandria to Irvington in the northern neck of tidewater Virginia. We miss Old Town but are thrilled
Strother Scott has a new puppy and a tractor according to Facebook, and there is more … (of course one day, such school publications will go straight to FB for class notes!) Strother has retired after 42 years at the same job, investment banking at Scott & Stringfellow, under five different corporate names and a series of owners, the last being BB&T. He is trying his hand at beekeeping, with eight hives, and continues running two websites. Having cut his teeth on school reunion websites with our 50th, he has now taken on his Trinity College Class of 1967 50th reunion using a system from Reunion Technologies, founded by Hugh Wachter ’64, which Hugh is also using for his EHS 50th this year. It is a pretty good system, and much better than what we had two years ago.” Sam Smart reports, “I’m impressed with your ability to ‘run into’ so many people from EHS. “We had a great trip on the Rhine with Viking Cruises in December from Basel Switzerland to Amsterdam. The Christmas markets were in full swing, so that was an added bonus. First time we had done that type of cruise, and it was a blast. Next month we go to India for two weeks
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Jeremy Taylor ’63, Cotten Alston ’63, Hank Stallworth ’67, Joe Stallworth ’03, Roger Gant III ’75, Jim Stallworth ’63, and William Stallworth ’00 at the Painted Pin in Atlanta.
from his core biz, Little Planet, and is leaning more and more into sons Charlie and Andy’s ’01 world of Bellemeade Bourbon, based in Nashville. I know enough to be dangerous about the world of distilled spirits that they are operating in, and it is a fascinating and dynamic universe. Bill reports that they “need more inventory”… I’m guessing that means that business is good! Andy ’01 is now engaged to be married, so we know that he will be slightly distracted in the run-up to nuptials … good thing that Bill is around to pick up any slack! Industry reports are that “bourbon” is just at the beginning of a huge run-up in popularity over the next decade. Rock on, Bellemeade! I get confused with dates and pronouncements and publication of the EHS magazine, but our friend Jim Morgan has passed away. I remember Jim in many ways at and long after EHS, but his handling of his sister’s hiding in New Zealand with her daughter must’ve taken some steel parts to make it all work and then to handle the hot press thereafter. November sad news of Tom McCarthy’s passing in Draper, Va. Our sincere condolences to his family. Onward and upward.
The Stallworth family: Joe ’03, Peggy, Jim ’63, and William ’00 in Atlanta.
with the Garden Club of Virginia … Laura has been active in the local club for years, so we thought it would be a good way to cross that off the bucket list. We will make the California trip to Chico in April to visit the two youngest grandkids (and their parents). I’m still seeing patients three days a week, and it’s still enjoyable so I’ll keep it up for a while yet.” I think that Sam has it all figured out … living the dream! Ben Fuller: “Weather here in Maine has been really horrible, too warm, hours of driving needed to get ice boating, skiing, or skating. Did get my 200k on the erg (the indoor rower) between Thanksgiving and Christmas in preparation for the spring canoe and kayak racing seasons; may be doing a 300-miler on the Chesapeake in May. Up at the Penobscot Marine Museum still working on a massive image scanning and cataloging project for 20,000 back images of the National Fisherman. Got a
chance to put a month in Switzerland in September as part of a C Class catamaran racing team.” The mere thought of all that exercise makes me tired…congrats, Ben, on staying with it … Visit www.washingtonpost.com and search for the article “Older adventurers stay young at heart rafting the Grand Canyon’s rapids.” Our man Walter Nicklin, international traveler and climate activist, just back from the huge Paris Climate Conference, is floating down the Colorado. Seventy might be the new 50, but I am still fascinated by some of the stuff that our classmates are doing … it makes me feel like a sedentary slacker! I sometimes think that I zigged when I should’ve zagged … I’m proud to know these guys. And speaking of living the dream, Bill Nelson reported in a nice phone call that he is spending more and more time away
’64
Alex Jones (H) 617-497-2387 (O) 617-469-2582 alexsjones2@gmail.com 55th Reunion: June 2019
Tigger Alexander has been in the shoe business for years, and though he lives in Charlotte, much of his focus has been China. I caught up with him to seek some insight from his perspective about what is happening in China economically through the prism of his experience with shoe manufacturing there. “It’s time to leave,” he said. Why that is so is illuminating: When Tigger and his partner, C.K. “Ronson” Lin – a Taiwanese – first went into shoe manufacturing in China nearly 30 years ago, the Chinese were hungry for off-shore partners who could upgrade the quality of the goods being produced. “Made in China” at that time was not a brand to give reassurance. These joint ventures were far more efficient EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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and quality-minded than similar strictly Chinese operations because the Chinese motivation was full employment, and the joint ventures wanted to make a profit. And they did! The profit was a function of operating expertise and the work culture that came with off-shore partnerships, but even more significant was the fact that Chinese labor was cheap. The cost of labor was about $0.18 an hour 20 years ago. Now, because of pressure for higher wages, that labor cost has risen to about $1 an hour, and the companies that had once been profitable are leaving for places where labor costs are far lower, such as India and Bangladesh. Add to this dollar-and-cents core issue the added problem that the Chinese way of doing business makes it extremely difficult to get money out of China. “The factories, the production are moving somewhere else,” Tigger said. And the effect is that China is losing millions of jobs in the low-skills area, which is a core part of China’s social fabric as well as its economy. And how do these companies leave? Fearfully. Ronson is returning to Taiwan – something that makes him “giddy as I’ve ever seen him,” Tigger says. But he is leaving abruptly and leaving behind a manufacturing firm whose employees will return after the long Chinese New Year – something like Thanksgiving to Christmas, a long holiday – to find the company shuttered. It’s the only way out. This situation is mirrored in scores of similar joint-venture manufacturing firms all across China. Promises of prosperity and higher wages have priced China out of the market, similar to the way manufacturing became too expensive in the United States. And now China, like the U.S. before it, is having to juggle the difficult conflict between market efficiency and social dislocation. For Tigger, manufacturing in China is likely over for good. Now he’s flirting with Brazil and no doubt practicing his samba.
’65
Jim Sullivan (H) 615-292-3536 (O) 615-327-5759 jsullivangrayson@gmail.com Richard Lee (H) 617-497-4523 dlee60@verizon.net 55th Reunion: June 2020
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The Class of 1965 in front of Bryan Library during their 50th Reunion celebration at EHS.
Humphrey Tyler ’65 and Richard Lee ’65 recreate their graduation day during their 50th Reunion in June 2015.
Well, we concede a modest error in the last iteration of our class notes – uh, no Reunion photographs. Consequently, we add a few now just to underscore the ravages of time and provide inspiration for the Class of ’66’s half-century celebration. That rendezvous occurs on the weekend of June 9, as CEO Bill Peelle ’66 extends an invitation to all members of the Class of ’65. Richard Gwathmey notes that it may be the last opportunity to have doors held open for you, and thereby heartily endorses attendance. Ben Martin – certainly one of the more accomplished historians to emerge from our alma mater’s midst – sends his regrets for having missed our 50th. (Jim Seidule had called him to attend the opening of the new history center, but obligations elsewhere precluded such.)
Ben has completed what he believes to be his last book, a biography of French writer and Nobel Laureate Roger Martin du Gard, one of the best known authors in the West just prior to WWII, but now largely forgotten. Ben’s effort will likely induce a resurgence of recognition for the man and his work, particularly for du Gard’s unfinished novel centered upon France during the occupation. Jack Bowman’s devotion to history reflects a more localized bent. As chapter president for the Sons of the American Revolution in the Hickory, N.C., area, he is overseeing a national event commemorating the Battle of Ramsour’s Mill, a fierce 1780 exchange between patriots and loyalists. Jack observes that in a culture now ever-disposed to the here and now of modern technology,
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getting the message out on how our freedoms were derived is a challenge. And it is hard to keep up with Ward Carr. Followers of this column know that Ward has divided his time over the decades between promoting American sports in Europe and chronicling the experiences of surviving German military veterans. (As an American, Ward may well be in a less politically loaded position to promote this effort.) Obviously, it is a largely diminished population. Ward announces a recent collaboration with U.S. military historian and author Flint Whitlock in sharing some of his transcripts. He has offered some of the archives to Episcopal. And, as always, he extends an invitation to classmates or their offspring to visit him if in Germany. And in the “Small World” category, Jamie Totten reports that while ambling with his dogs along the old railroad tracks on Florida’s Gasparilla Island, he smacked into former VMI Brother Rat and EHS faculty member Bobby Watts. This sort of thing seems to happen to Jamie a lot. Many will recall Bob Dylan’s lines, “time is a jet plane; it moves too fast.” For those who could not attend the 50th, keep in mind the 55th in 2020.
’66
Jack Sibley (H) 404-237-2803 (O) 404-614-7551 jsibley@hptylaw.com 50th Reunion: June 9-11, 2016
The 50th Reunion Committee, led by Bill Peelle, reports: Reunion Weekend is fast approaching, and the excitement is continuing to build! The participation is astounding. So far the following members of the Class of ’66 are planning to attend: Frank Barnwell, Juno Brantley, Blair Buck, Hewitt Chapman, Whitt Clement, Rogers Cockrill, Tom Dashiell, Sam Dawson, Bruce Forrester, Syd Gervin, Nat Gregory, Jenks Hobson, Howell Hollis, Charles Holt, Pat Houstoun, Ned Johnson, Bo Otto, Chris Parrish, Bill Peelle, John Pinder, Bill Preston, Don Robinson, Sandy Rowe, Jack Sibley, Henry Smythe, John Spears,
Bill Stanton, Phil Terrie, John Train, Bob Trout, Wick Williams, Randy Wyckoff, and Pete Young. Additionally, the following classmates are either trying to work on logistics, resolve schedule conflicts, or convince spouses: Bryan Baldwin, Dick Byrd, Howard Bucknell, Bob Davis, Locke Galbraith, Pete Hayward, Bill O’Keefe, Bill Perry, and Billy Whittington. Taking into account deaths and folks we cannot find, we currently have 75 percent participation, a remarkable and commendable achievement. And continuing the recent efforts to broaden the involvement of proximate classes, we can already report attendance by Richard Bray ’65, Dick Dulaney ’67, Jim Everett ’67, Bill Flowers ’67, Jeff Gayle ’67, Richard Gwathmey ’65, John Hooff ’67, Brooke Spotswood ’65, and Will Ravenel ’67. Special guests will include former masters John Howard, Jack Ordeman, and Jim Seidule. To add your name to the list or to learn more about the weekend, take a look at the 50th Reunion website: www.episcopalhighschool.org/50threunion. Phil Terrie has been working on a Reunion Bio Book and looks forward to sharing the finished product with everyone prior to Reunion Weekend.
’67
Charles Coppage (H) 252-473-3893 (O) 252-480-2568 charles@nccoppagelaw.com 50th Reunion: June 2017
Peter Howell was awarded the Ruth Ryner Lay Award for Lifetime Achievement in Tennis by USTA-Georgia. He is a member of the GA Tennis Hall of Fame, the GA Professional Tennis Hall of Fame, and the USPTA-Southern Division Hall of Fame.
’68
Walker Moore (H) 864-543-1514 (O) 864-941-0666 moorew327@aol.com 50th Reunion: June 2018
Geddes Dowling writes, “In June, I was delighted to run into Jamie and Bill Old as they navigated the waterway north. How many captains are there in the Class of ’68? Bruce Sanders is an ‘admiral’ with a fleet of boats!” Walker Moore reports that we are working on our 50th Reunion for June 2018 and have received contact updates from many classmates. However, we are still missing information from some members of our class. If anyone can help us close the loops and locate the following individuals, please let me know!! Armfield Cannon, Joe Hatch, Arthur Jackson, Bob Rhett, Rob Rinehart, Albert Tieche, George Williams, and Dave Wright.
’69
Kinloch Nelson (H) 585-385-3103 (O) 585-264-0848 kinloch@rochester.rr.com Marty Martin (H) 919-787-5804 (O) 919-272-2106 marty_martin@bellsouth.net 50th Reunion: June 2019
Marty Martin reports, “Charley Frazier ’68, Ed Inman ’68, and John Genet sailed their trawler, the MAGIC SHOW, 350 miles across the Gulf of Mexico in November. Heavy weather but they arrived safely after two days. John attended Jim Morton’s induction into the EHS Athletics Hall of Fame. Rob Whittle recently published his novel “Pointer and The Russian,” which is set against the backdrop of historical events ranging from Tsarist Imperial Russia through the Cold War and the days leading up to the Cuban missile crisis. Both books are available on Amazon.com, where he has received five-star ratings to date, in both paperback and Kindle versions. This is the sequel to his first novel, “Pointer’s War.” Rob reports he is in the early stages of writing his third novel. My quick review: Rob Whittle is clearly honing his craft as an author in his newest novel, which you won’t want to put down. “Pointer and the Russian” is a fast-paced EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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novel that links Tsarist Russia and the Cuban missile crisis. CIA operatives Pointer and his wife, Elizabeth, confront a bloody Cossack Russian, hardened by his country’s wars and the aftermath of the Bolshevik revolution, who is intent on starting World War III on American soil. History records the danger of Soviet nuclear weapons during the Cuban missile crisis. “Pointer and the Russian” takes an interesting twist which is relevant to today. He’ll keep you at DEFCON 1. Stay tuned for Pointer’s next adventure.
Old Boys gathered for a picture with former faculty member Jim Seidule during Jim Morton’s induction into the EHS Athletics Hall of Fame. Pictured are: Kinloch Nelson ’69, Marty Martin ’69, Howard Hudgins ’69, John Genet ’69, Jim Seidule, Jim Spaulding ’69, Jim Morton ’69, Bill French ’69, and Jim Everett ’67.
Kristin and T. Lad Webb welcomed their first grandson, Thomas Ladson Webb, born Dec. 28, 2015, to Xandria and Ladson Webb ’97. He is the third living generation of Thomas Ladson Webbs and the ninth in consecutive Webb generations. He anticipates becoming a member of the EHS Class of 2034. Jan and Peter Vandevanter have been traveling in the Southwest. They fell in love with the Sedona area, to which they plan to return. They spent February in Scottsdale until the spring training baseballs began to fly in March.
’70
Jim Newman (H) 253-677-4697 newman_jim@comcast.net 50th Reunion: June 2020
Jim Newman has graciously accepted the honor (i.e., duty) to serve as our class correspondent. Jim has made most of our Reunions over the years, loves The High School, and has an incredible memory from our days on The Holy Hill. When he calls or emails you, please respond. We really do want to know how you are and what you’re up to. I (Craig) will still focus on Reunions, and we have the Big One – our 50th – coming in just four years!
’71
Geoff Snodgrass (H) 504-895-4200 geoff@snodgrassplc.com 45th Reunion: June 10-11, 2016
Holly and I toured New Zealand in January with my sister and brother-in-law, Susan and ‘Dubby’ Wynne. We stayed at some 54
Three generations of T. Lad Webbs! T. Lad ’69 with son Ladson ’97 and grandson Thomas Ladson Webb, born Dec. 28, 2015.
Verne Morland ’69 and Marty Martin ’69.
amazing places including two properties owned by Old Boy Julian Robertson ’51, who is committed to preserving the country’s indigenous species in addition to providing luxury lodging and magnificent golf courses. If you haven’t been to New Zealand, put it on your bucket list. Speaking of EHS connections, we ran into Harry Burn ’62 and his wife, Jeanie, on our last day in New Zealand. I asked Harry for a re-exam in algebra. The last one didn’t go too well. Our son Palmer is a major in the Marine Corps and is currently serving as Air Officer to Marine Special Operations Command in Iraq. His wife presented us with our second grandchild (a girl!) three weeks before he deployed. Younger son Chris was married on Halloween to Tyler Feagin in Austin, Texas, where they are enjoying their respective jobs in IT and jewelry sales.
In other news, Cheshire Rhett reports that he has a new knee. Congratulations, Cheshire. Any new hips out there? Only a few more weeks until Reunion Weekend – June 10-11. We hope to see everyone back on the Hill for the festivities!!
’72
Beau Wilson (H) 212-588-0363 (O) 212-603-6185 beauatciti@aol.com 45th Reunion: June 2017
I retired in 2015 from a 38-year career in banking and wealth management with Citibank and Morgan Stanley, respectively, and hopefully will improve my golf handicap in Blowing Rock, N.C. Howell Morrison reports that his daughter, Emily, was married last October to the son of Jenner Wood ’70, Jenner IV ’06,
SUBMIT YOUR CLASS NOTES ONLINE! Just go to the homepage and click on “Alumni” and then “Submit A Class Note.” For help with passwords or login, please contact the Advancement Office.
Finally, our Class of ’72 will gather for a golf outing on June 25 in Linville, N.C., hosted by Goober Patton and Zero Brown. All are welcome!
’73
Porter Farrell (H) 817-732-4315 pfarrell@farrellcompany.com 45th Reunion: June 2018
Jim Morton ’69, Bill French ’69, Jim Spaulding ’69, and Bill Lewis ’69.
’74
Bill Stokes (H) 919-493-7481 (O) 919-490-7141 billstokes972@yahoo.com Gilliam Kittrell (H) 919-788-8171 (O) 919-876-7411 gillkitt@bellsouth.net 45th Reunion: June 2019
’75
Willie Moncure (C) 703-836-2596 william.moncure@raymondjames.com Hunt Burke (H) 703-768-1705 (O) 703-684-1645 huntandmolly@verizon.net 45th Reunion: June 2020
Geoff Snodgrass ’71 and family in New Zealand.
in Charleston. They are both graduates of UNC Chapel Hill and are living in Charlotte. Later in the month, I ran into Howell and Erwin Morrison at the Order of St. John investiture in Dallas; Erwin “made the cut,” and we’re still “passing the box” on Howell. Hopefully, the “jury is still out on Howell’s admission”! Pinkney Herbert’s artwork is traveling throughout the Southeast for the next three years. The exhibition, Distilled: The Narrative Transformed, is a 30-year survey of his work in abstractionism. I viewed the exhibition last fall at the Ewing Gallery at University of Tennessee, and
Mayor Moncure and Ecumenical Patriarch Burke (Class Correspondents Willie Moncure ’75 and Hunt Burke ’75) discuss worldly matters and “what the heck we are going to talk about in the next class notes!?”
further exhibitions include Murray State University in Kentucky, the University of Alabama, and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans. Read more on page 33. Billy Bell reports that he continues his practice in vascular surgery and proves that the apple does not fall far from the tree: His son, William ’03, is doing a sixyear fellowship in oral and maxillo facial surgery at LSU, and his daughter, Helena, is finishing her fifth post-graduate degree with a master’s in accounting after a law degree, LLM in tax accounting, and two MFAs in writing!
Hunt Burke: William, I don’t know who thought it was a fun idea to dump us in a cab at 2 a.m. and drop us at 14th Street in D.C. after the party! But when I find out… Willie Moncure: Huntly, Huntly – too many people are going to claim credit for that. Praise Jesus my son picked up AND sent a paid-for Uber to bring us back to The Great State of Virginia! H: OK, can you confirm that my old roommate Rob Saunders and his wife, Melissa, are living only two-and-a-half blocks from you in New Alexandria now? W: Indeed they are, and they borrow more than just a cup of sugar when they and their four-legged child drop in. They did manage to attend the Alexandria Assembly with bodyguards of Lucy and John O. Goddin ’77 on left, Laurie and Wells Goddin on right. H: Everyone shaking a leg? EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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CLASS NOTES
W: O - Yes! John O. in his “Toed Ninja Slippers” with your sister Lucy slippin’ and slidin’ in style. Churchill Hooff was presiding and dealing with it all as best he could. H: Well, William, in our next edition we are going to throw darts at our class list; those that don’t answer our calls will find their name in print, in precarious situations around the world! W: O Huntly – let’s get started now!
’76
Boota deButts (H) 703-998-1487 (O) 703-933-4092 whd@episcopalhighschool.org 40th Reunion: June 10-11, 2016
Greetings, my fellow members of the Legendary Class of 1976! I hope this missive finds you all healthy and happy. First off the bat, due to technical difficulties on my part, Howard Smith’s “selfie” of him and Mr. Rice, which was supposed to have run in my previous column, is now enclosed. Howard’s caption, “A Thing of Beauty,” says it all! Now on to more current things. Believe it or not, his Judgeship Larry VanMeter is running for the Kentucky Supreme Court this November 2016. He, and I quote, “Urges all my classmates, living or deceased, to come vote early and often.” His campaign Facebook is Judge VanMeter (I still can’t get used to that!), and website is www. judgevanmeter.com. Vote for him so he can bring home the bacon!! He is coming back for our 40th Reunion! Speaking of our 40th Reunion, Dr. Edward Morrison (I can’t get used to that either!) is coming back, and he is bringing his five children! Why? I don’t know, but then Edward has always been a little crazy. Actually “little” is too much of an understatement for him! He sent me a lengthy note about a bunch of people he has seen, and as far as I can figure out, not one of them has any connection to Episcopal, except Penn Owen who was class of 1977. George Cornelson checked in and is doing fine in Charlotte. I am writing these notes the Monday after the Super Bowl, and the frenzy that the city had worked itself into has subsided quickly. George reports that he sees the stalwarts of our class living in Charlotte: Bill 56
Mitchener, Al Rhyne, and Dalt Ruffin. He claims Dr. Rhyne (now that doesn’t surprise me!) is keeping our generation and older mobile. George went out skiing in Jackson Hole with a ’76 wannabee, David Jones ’75, whose son David ’17 is a junior here at Episcopal. He also mentioned that he crews for Clay Burkhalter whenever he can. If you remember, Clay is a captain and restauranteur out of Stonington, Conn., and has the tough duty of sailing private yachts down and back to the Caribbean. Someone has to do it, and George might as well go along for the ride. I regularly see Ab Boxley, who is on the Board and whose son Charlie ’19 is a freshman here. Robert Cunningham was on campus this fall for The Game, and he was in fine form. Tench Coxe came through and stayed with us a couple of nights to visit with his son Tench ’17 and catch a couple of games. Young Tench is a junior here and is on the boys’ varsity basketball team. Now I want to spend some more time talking up our 40th Reunion. We need to have a big turnout. Shelley and I plan on hosting our class dinner at our house here on campus. Let’s fill the place up. No excuses. If Edward is bringing all of his brood, everyone can make it. And to entice everyone, Alex Liu will be the Master of Ceremonies. He has asked that we hold the following competitions at the Reunion. Please don’t be scared off. Chrome Dome Award – Edward and I are in the running. Except I just don’t see it! Gray Locks Award – He thinks Ab is a shooin on this one, but things change quickly. Girth Award – Absolute and relative to 1976. Alex on a pound-for-pound, inchfor-inch, basis is in the running! I’m thinking Mini Me Sumo Wrestler! The Comeback Award – Who has not returned to campus since graduation? Alex threw out Mark Lange’s name and the Swifts, who never graduated! Most Outstanding Children – Absolute and relative to their dads. Lots of entries for this one. I am sure Alex will come up with a few more once he gets lubed up! So everyone,
“A Thing of Beauty.” Howard Smith ’76 takes a selfie with the legendary Ed Rice.
spread the word. We had a hardy group here for our 35th, and it was so much fun, we all pledged to get more of our classmates back for our 40th. None of your ghosts are around anymore to haunt you, except for maybe Mike Miller! Bury any hatchets you might still have! Forgive any transgressions you did to someone else or that were done to you. In many ways, this isn’t the same place you graduated from 40 years ago, but then again in many ways it is the same. You need to come back and see for yourself. Take care!
’77
Class Correspondent Needed 40th Reunion: June 2017
Caleb King continues to work hard on his hydropower projects in Rwanda, and also a new project: making fiberglass pipes to carry water for his projects; it’s not just a “pipe dream”! This year, Caleb and his wife, Louise, also started a local NGO called Heal Rwanda to serve as an umbrella for many of their other outreach ministries, including supporting 75+ orphans and other vulnerable children. They have a weekly Bible study in their home with some of these children and are also quite involved with their local church, where Caleb and Louise both teach Sunday School, preach on occasion, and enjoy the Sunday morning Bible study. The children – Sarah, Hannah, Caleb, Jr., Lydia, and Moses – are doing well, and they all enjoyed going to the U.S. this past summer.
SUBMIT YOUR CLASS NOTES ONLINE! Just go to the homepage and click on “Alumni” and then “Submit A Class Note.” For help with passwords or login, please contact the Advancement Office.
’78
watched the School grow in stature and importance, without losing that special sense of community we enjoyed more than 30 years ago.
’79
As my daughter leaves The High School, keeping the personal connection to EHS will be challenging. However, I take solace knowing that you, too, will be inspired by Edward Brown’s personal communications campaign, and I routinely will be inundated with cards and letters from each of you.
Edward Brown is right. The world has become too impersonal. “Everything is texted and tweeted and emailed to thousands of people … what happened to conversation between two people?”
’80
Jim Clardy (H) 704-332-4195 (O) 704-339-2015 jim_clardyjr@ml.com 40th Reunion: June 2018
Bill Hughes (H) 203-861-1641 hughesbill@aol.com 40th Reunion June 2019
Edward Brown (it has always been Edward Brown) is on an old-school, chest out, rant and is personally taking back personal communication by dedicating himself to writing a 1,000-word letter a day for 500 days. He started his communication campaign last March, and I am honored to be the recipient of letter 300. Frankly, Edward Brown wrote one of most meaningful and inspired letters I have ever received, transporting me back to 1979 and the three years before and reminding me of classmates of old. Well done, Edward Brown, well done. In that 1,000-word letter, Edward Brown writes that he lives in Baltimore City and is teaching school at Randalstown High School in Baltimore County. Two years ago, he published a book with John Unitas, Jr. called Johnny U and Me, which sold an impressive 5,000 copies. Gordon Lowman is doing just fine. Married for 27-plus years, Gordon has two children: Christopher, a graduate of the Naval Academy, and Miranda, a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill. Gordon works out of Charlotte, plays competitive tennis, and must have been disappointed about the Clemson – Alabama result. Gordon promises to make it to our next Reunion. My daughter, Ryland ’16, is graduating from Episcopal in June, bringing an end to the eight-year association with Rob Hershey and the incredible faculty, students, and alumni of The High School. Between Chase ’12 and Ryland, I have
Staige Hoffman (H) 813-597-5059 staigehoffman1@aol.com 40th Reunion: June 2020
I hope all is well with everyone. It is great to hear from one and all. As I said previously, we had a great time at the Reunion in June 2015. Yes, it has been 35 years … but who is counting? I recently heard from the following: David Ingle writes: “All is good in the Lowcountry! Had an outstanding duck season alongside Pierre Manigault and Francis Johnson ’81. I was in the company of Rob Wilson the other night, and he is doing very well! I am testing the waters for the possibility of a second daughter attending The High School, so may be back soon. Still not happy about WFS vs. EHS tie …” David, I think many of us share your sentiments on last year’s WFS game and the tie. I happen to have some WFS friends here in South Tampa, and it is tough to discuss it with them. David Osborn writes, “I recently joined Waterstone Mortgage’s Atlanta office. I have been helping folks purchase and refinance residential real estate for the past 14 years in Georgia and now in 30+ states. Feel free to contact me at dosborn@waterstonemortgage.com if I can help. I’ve also been able to indulge my passion for international travel the past few years, making new country and repeat voyages to numerous Latin American and European destinations especially. Still active cycling and trying to enjoy life to the fullest!”
Thank you, David, for reaching out, and I am sure that we have an active Atlanta EHS group. James Joslin writes, “I am working as transportation manager for the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle in Raleigh.” James also said that he and Beth’s daughter Madeline is a freshman at the University of Vermont. Thank you, James, for the update, and all the best to you, Beth, and Madeline. I hope all is enjoyable for her at UVM. Tacker LeCarpentier writes that he is busy handling structured claims settlements in North Carolina, and all is well in the Triangle area. Thank you, Tacker. Keep me posted on which EHS alumni you come across for future class notes. Jeff Flynn checks in to say that his and Becca’s son Court will now be attending Washington College in Chestertown, Md. Thanks, Jeff, and I trust that all is well after the major snow in January. Please do not hesitate to keep the emails coming. Pictures are always appreciated. Can I have a response as to who has had or does have a child attending The High School? I can think of more than a few, but let’s see where we stand for the Class of 1980 legacy count. Take care, and thanks to all.
’81
Seward Totty (H) 859-268-8673 (O) 859-514-6434 seward.totty@gmail.com 35th Reunion: June 10-11, 2016
I wanted to use this space to attempt to drum up awareness and excitement for our upcoming class Reunion on June 10-11. For those of you who may use Facebook, I have created a group called “EHS 1981” that any of us can use to share travel plans, stories, and news. Simply search “EHS 1981” and you will find it. Knock on the door, utter the secret password, and I will grant you admittance. EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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CLASS NOTES Stump the Teacher
Rick Stubbs (EHS Faculty Since 1977)
Falling Hard BY FR AN C ES D E S AUSSURE ’ 06 RETURNING TO CAMPUS FOR SENIOR YEAR AT EHS, I WAS EXCITED FOR MY THIRD AND FINAL SEASON OF SOCCER WITH COACHES LIZZY RICE AND RICK STUBBS. ONE DAY, HALFWAY THROUGH THE SEASON, THE R AIN FORCED US TO PR ACTICE IN FLIPPIN, AND MR. STUBBS THOUGHT THE TR ACK MATS WERE THE PERFECT PL ACE FOR ME TO PR ACTICE DIVING ON THE GROUND. I HAD
Math teachers Rick Stubbs and Frances deSaussure ’06.
ONLY RECENTLY BECOME A GOALIE BECAUSE BOTH OF OUR REGUL AR GOALIES HAD BEEN INJURED, SO THIS WAS NOT A HABIT TO WHICH I WAS ACCUSTOMED. MY GUT REACTION TO A BALL COMING MY WAY WAS CERTAINLY NOT TO THROW MY BODY IN FRONT OF IT. BUT PR ACTICE AFTER PR ACTICE, MR. STUBBS PATIENTLY REPEATED HIS INSTRUCTIONS AT THE SAME TIME THAT MY INSTINCTS FOUGHT AGAINST THEM. IT CERTAINLY WASN’T PRETT Y, BUT OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR, BOTH INSIDE HIS MATH CL ASSROOM AND ON THE SOCCER FIELD, MR. STUBBS TAUGHT ME HOW NOT TO FEAR THE GROUND, HOW TO BE OK WITH FALLING AND FALLING HARD, HOW TO PUT EVERY THING ON THE LINE FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THE PEOPLE AROUND ME, AND HOW TO FIGHT FOR THE THINGS THAT MATTER. I CARRIED THESE LESSONS THROUGH COLLEGE AND MY FIRST YEARS WORKING IN SCHOOLS, AND I AM NOW HONORED TO CALL MR. STUBBS A COLLEAGUE AND TO CONTINUE LEARNING FROM HIS EXAMPLE.
FRANCES DESAUSSURE: If you had one free day all to
yourself (no work obligations or travel restrictions), how would you spend it? RICK STUBBS: Probably playing a round of golf on a nice course with friends, then with friends later for a meal. My tastes are very simple. You grew up in a boarding school environment at Milton Academy, where your parents worked. How did your parents and their careers influence you? Probably less than one might think. The day/boarding school (I was a day student, as my parents lived off campus) life was something I really enjoyed – playing sports, developing close relationships with peers and faculty – and it seemed like an environment in which I would like to spend my career if I could fool someone into hiring me.
58
What is one of your fondest memories of Episcopal? It is impossible to pick one. Being mentored in my early years by Lu Geer. Coaching a team that won an IAC soccer title in 1981. Returning to campus after my father’s funeral and finding that my advisee group had put together a meal for us all. What do you think has been one of the most positive developments during your time at Episcopal? The improvement in tone on campus with regards to student treatment of others. It is a much more positive, supportive environment. What was your best summer vacation ever? Again, I can’t pick one. I really enjoy visiting our national parks with my camera and family. Alaska, Hawaii, Glacier National Park, the Pacific Northwest ... Of course, if I can get a few rounds of golf in when I’m not traveling, that helps. I sure wish I was good at it, though ...
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As I wrote there, 35 years is a long time. We’ve all gone on to do different things with our lives, but for those two, three, or four years, our paths all intersected. We survived the great demerit purge in the spring of our senior year. We were allowed to smoke cigarettes (with parental permission). We all remember exactly what it feels like to wake up to “second bell for breakfast!” in the middle of the “winter bitch” in late January. We remember very well the distinct smells of the dining hall, the cramped seats in the second floor study hall, and the irresistible urge to fall asleep in those big chairs in the pit on the first floor of the learning center. We remember Nurse Settle, Flip, Helium Foot, Sax, and all the faculty and staff who helped mold us. These all are things to be celebrated. Together. I’ll hope to see you all in June!
’82
Dave Coombs (O) 804-934-4707 david_coombs@cable.comcast.com 35th Reunion: June 2017
’83
Frank Vasquez (H) 804-767-5096 (O) 888-343-6245 Ext 5249 rfvasquez@yahoo.com 35th Reunion: June 2018
Borden James ’83 is living and working in San Francisco. He is married and has two beautiful girls, proving again that good things happen to good people.
’84
Sam Froelich (H) 336-288-5711 froelich@me.com 35th Reunion: June 2019
’85
Thorne Gregory (H) 203-655-7139 (O) 212-500-3049 tgregory@marathonfund.com 35th Reunion: June 2020
The Class of ’85 had one of the highest increases in Roll Call participation in both capital raised and number of contributions in 2014-15. Congrats! I will see Robert Avinger in Nashville this weekend. I also
hope to see Rev. Leigh Spruill ’82 just in case Robert gets me in trouble.
’86
Art Taylor (H) 703-273-8331 art@arttaylorwriter.com 30th Reunion: June 10-11, 2016
Our 30th Reunion is fast approaching – hard to believe! – and I know so many of us are looking forward to seeing one another in June. Back in the fall, our update in these pages focused on alumni submitting news for the first time – big recaps of lives and careers over these three decades. This time out, the news is briefer but no less momentous, most of it related to kids and all of it underscoring how varied our experiences are in that department here at a milestone reunion. Just as Spencer Connerat chimes in that he’s expecting his first child soon, David Lewis reports from Columbus, Ga., that he’s been doing a lot of pre-college stuff with his own children, one a senior in high school, one a sophomore. “Looking at UGA and AU,” he writes. “Don’t feel old enough for college kids.” Jim Bard writes from Atlanta with one child already in college; his son is a freshman at Georgia Tech, and he has a daughter in high school as well. And word has it that Rob Jones sent his oldest son to boarding school just recently – “unfortunately not EHS,” writes Tom Roback, who shared the news. I’m juggling a 4-year-old myself these days – bright and busy at all times. And writing this in the midst of the landmark blizzard here in northern Virginia (five days home at this point), I mean that word “juggling” almost literally. Look forward to seeing folks in June – and not just for the warmer weather!
’87
David Haddock (H) 571-286-9486 (O) 703-854-0334 davidhaddock@yahoo.com 30th Reunion: June 2017
’88
Will Burdell (H) 505-259-9068 (O) 912-638-3611 willburdell@ymail.com 30th Reunion: June 2018
’89
Todd Waters (O) 252- 503-9058 toddwaters3@gmail.com 30th Reunion: June 2019
’90
Zan Banks (H) 404-252-7848 wabanksjr@gmail.com 30th Reunion: June 2020
’91
Will Coxe (O) 803-404-0984 williecoxe@gmail.com 25th Reunion: June 10-11, 2016
William Coxe writes, “Laura Saunders and I were married on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015. A small family ceremony was held at Laura’s mother’s house in Laurens, S.C. We barely escaped the 1,000-year flood but managed to get married and spend our honeymoon in St. John. Laura is an attorney, and we eventually plan to make our home in Greenville, S.C. Look forward to seeing all of you in June at our 25th Reunion!!”
’92
Fred Alexander (0) 704-641-4858 fcaiii@yahoo.com 25th Reunion: June 2017
In reporting for the Class of 1992, I wanted to catch up with Erek Barron. To the best of my knowledge, he is the only member of the class that is in politics. Erek is in the Maryland House of Delegates representing District 24. Before moving to private practice, Erek was a prosecutor for Prince George’s County and became a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice specializing in criminal conspiracies and gang cases. Perhaps Erek should have been featured on the HBO show “The Wire.” In addition to the services mentioned above, he was a policy advisor to then-Senator EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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Joe Biden, and later as an appointee to President Obama’s Transition Team where he worked with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and advised the President’s administration on justice and civil rights issues. Pretty impressive list of accomplishments, and Erek has forgiven me for missing my block in a game against Fork Union where he got hit right as he got the ball. He didn’t fumble there, and I should have known then of the great things to come for him, as he handled the pressure well. In other news, our family welcomed our third child in October, Sara Audrey Alexander. She is great. In the last issue I lamented that perhaps I wasn’t thinking straight when confronting the potential challenges of a third child, but I sure am happy about the way things turned out! Also of note, it’s not too early to start thinking about our 25th Reunion coming up in June 2017. I have been to all of them but the 10th, and I’ve never had a bad time. You will surprise yourself with the joy you experience catching up with old classmates. Finally, do not hesitate to call me or email me with what you are doing. I am interested to find out, and I believe the rest of your class is, too.
’93
Walker Lamond (O) 212-496-9195 walkerlamond@mac.com 25th Reunion: June 2018
While the brightest and most powerful business leaders in the world met at the Davos Economic Summit in Switzerland, Lee Vaughan, Gary Graham, Ryan Craig, Trey Bason, Harrison Thurston, and Griff Gideon met on a fishing boat off the coast of North Carolina to discuss the feasibility of procuring Bojangles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner without having to actually stop fishing. Meetings ended without a multilateral resolution. I hear that in the absence of an EHS alternative, some of our classmates including Lee, Ryan, Victor Maddux, and Chris Jacobs are attending the father–son sports camp at the Woodberry Forest Agriculture and Technical School down in Orange, Va., 60
Harrison Thurston ’93, Griff Gideon ’93, Lee Vaughan ’93, Gary Graham ’93, Trey Bason ’93, and Ryan Craig ’93 present their new line of sunglasses while shark fishing in North Carolina.
this summer. In fairness, I hear it’s a great program and wonderful opportunity to spend some time with your kids and show them how to sneak off dorm. A big congratulations to Jim Pattillo who, in addition to practicing law, coached his fourth grade flag football team to a victory in the Birmingham, Alabama City Championships. His team of gritty scrappers won on a Pick-6 with just six seconds left on the clock, which is right about when Coach McSwain used to put me into the ballgame. In only slightly less exciting news, Jim and his wife just welcomed their fourth child and clean-up hitter Andrew Forrest Patillo, born April 2, 2015. After serving 18 months at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, Will Adams is back stateside and based in South Carolina at Shaw Air Force Base working for ARCENT as the desk officer for Qatar and 1st TSC, which I believe stands for Theater Sustainment Command and not Tales of Shelor Chemistry. His daughter Abby is a freshman at Ridgeview High in Columbia, and in March, Will is making his annual trip to Bike Week in Daytona Beach. Kevin Nierle writes that he and his wife Jen Pohanka Nierle ’94 are “living the dream” in North Carolina, which if it’s anything like my dream involves Georgia’s fried chicken, stolen Iraqi gold, and the cast of Downton Abbey. This past fall Kevin and Jen were back on campus for the Woodberry game and Jen’s induction into
Will Adams ’93 in “full mess.”
the athletic hall of fame, as part of the 1993 field hockey team. They travelled north with Don Pocock’s family and bumped into lots of familiar faces including Whit Morgan, Steve Castle, and our beloved Head Monitor Patrick Scott. Leigh Webber continues to amaze with her photography. As of this writing she is on a trip to Cuba with an arsenal of cameras in an attempt to capture the beauty of that unspoiled country before John Wrenn opens a Chick-Fil-A on the Malecon in downtown Havana.
SUBMIT YOUR CLASS NOTES ONLINE! Just go to the homepage and click on “Alumni” and then “Submit A Class Note.” For help with passwords or login, please contact the Advancement Office.
Val Hawkins is a travel-loving architect and the father of two lovely, jet-setting young women. Last year found the D.C.based family visiting Athens, Tulum, Tokyo, and, of course, their beloved France. Most recently, they have returned from a spectacular trip to India in time to enjoy the snow-covered streets near their home in Georgetown. Congratulations to Dr. John Wilson, a primary care physician, who married his ski-bunny sweetheart in September at their place near Mad River Glen in Vermont. John and his spouse honeymooned in Montreal searching out snow during the unseasonably warm winter. I often linger over John’s Instagram pics of fresh powder when the mercury in the desert hits 120. As for your humble correspondent, after a thrilling three years in Doha, Qatar, I am taking my talents to Amman, Jordan, where my wife will be stationed at the U.S. Embassy, and I will presumably lead my three children on a series of high-stakes capers to keep archeological treasures from falling into the wrong hands. Also, carpool. But seriously, Jordan is a great hub for some exciting travel, so if you have been contemplating a trip to the Middle East, please look me up. I’ll be the one holding the white flag.
The following members of the 1993 field hockey team attended their induction into the EHS Athletics Hall of Fame this past fall: (front row) Patrice Scott Williams ’95, Melanie Bartol Jones (Coach), Ruth Rainey Shrum (Coach), Amy Fannon Cupic ’94, Augusta Brown Holland ’94, Jennifer Pohanka Nierle ’94; (second row) Emily Fletcher Breinig ’94, Kate Foley Stith ’94, Gioia Boria Berna ’94, Gray MacNair King ’96, and Siri Pistenmaa Renier ’94.
’94
Emily Fletcher Breinig (O) 214-234-4242 fletchee@hotmail.com 25th Reunion: June 2019
The 1993 Field Hockey team was inducted into the Hall of Fame in November 2015 during Spirit Weekend. It was so much fun to have many of the players back together for the weekend. The following were there for part or all of the festivities: Patrice Scott Williams ’95, Amy Fannon Cupic, Augusta Brown Holland, Jennifer Pohanka Nierle, Emily Fletcher Breinig, Kate Foley Stith, Gioia Boria Berna, Gray MacNair King ’96, Siri Pistenmaa Renier, Cynthia Hill ’95, and coaches Ruth Rainey Shrum and Melanie Bartol Jones. It brought back many memories to see some of the parents and siblings who used
Ralph McGee ’94 and Thomas Whitney ’01 duck hunting in Arkansas.
to cheer us on attend the lunch as well. Among them were Amy’s mom; Patrice Scott’s mom and siblings, Pete ’90, Pat ’93, and Portia ’97; Gray’s parents; and Kate’s parents. Peryn Harmon Graham and T.J. Wilt ’95 are both on the EHS Board and attended the lunch, too.
Patrice ’95 attended the football game with her young children. Her brother, Pete ’90, was there with his wife, and they have since welcomed a baby into their family. Patrice’s sister, Portia ’97, and his brother, Pat ’93, were also there and seemed great!
Here are updates on as many of those there that I caught: Gioia and her husband are physicians and live in Connecticut with their family. She works in critical care, and I think he teaches at Yale.
Siri was a fantastic sport to attend, as she was expecting her second child within days of Spirit Weekend. She, her husband, and daughter have since welcomed a baby. EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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Kate was there with her husband, three kids, and parents. Augusta was there from Kentucky for the Friday lunch. She has three kids and serves on the Board of her family business and others. Cynthia and her son were there on Saturday from California. Gray ’96 and her husband and son were at the lunch and game and live in the D.C. area; Gray is a new board member at EHS. Amy is settling back into the Northern Virginia area well and is an administrator of a Montessori school. Jennifer and Kevin Nierle ’93 were visiting EHS with their daughters, as their oldest daughter was touring and interviewing with the School. Jennifer teaches kids with special needs. Coach Ruth Rainey Shrum works at a school near Annapolis, and she and Coach Melanie Bartol Jones both seemed fantastic. Other news… Ralph McGee shared that he and Thomas Whitney ’01 went duck hunting in southeast Arkansas this January. Good times! Katrina Kasten Billig shared that they had their second child, Frederick George Billig, two years ago, and apologized for the delay :). Happy Big 4-0 to all those reaching that big milestone this year!
’95
Sarah Baltimore McElwain sarahbmcelwain@yahoo.com Pence Craddock Scurry maryspencercraddock@hotmail.com 25th Reunion: June 2020
We so enjoyed seeing almost half of our class this past summer for our 20-year Reunion and missed those that were unable to attend. We would love to stay in touch and provide updates via class notes, as we know so many of you are making great 62
Tyler Meurlin ’96, Rogers Cockrill ’97, Tyler’s father, and friend Matt Brock during their annual (and successful!) duck hunt at the Cockrill family farm in Arkansas. Not pictured: Rogers Cockrill ’66.
strides in your home, work, and communities. We want to hear all about it! Please feel free to send any updates you would like to share to Pence Craddock Scurry or Sarah Baltimore McElwain, and we will make sure you are published!
’96
Luke Zehner (H) 571-338-1389 zehnerlj@gmail.com Temple Forsyth Basham (H) 804-447-4238 templefbasham@gmail.com 20th Reunion: June 10-11, 2016
Tyler Meurlin joined Rogers Cockrill ’66 and Rogers Cockrill ’97 for an annual duck hunt on the Cockrill family farm in Tillar, Ark., this past December. Temple Forsyth Basham writes: I guess the Valentine’s Day commercials and cards are getting to me because lately I’ve been feeling sentimental and sort of romantic about Episcopal. Call me cheesy, but I’ve started thinking of our upcoming 20th Reunion as a wedding anniversary of sorts. A celebration of our 23+ years of knowing each other. Of our first introduction that night on the Strip and all that we endured over the next three years: brutal winter mornings, slightly awkward seated meals, more than a few demerits, petty teenage drama, ruthless professors, and agonizing exams. And though it wasn’t always easy, most of us probably wouldn’t change a thing because since those formative years,
Constance “Coco” Bryan Eubanks, daughter of Hampton Moore Eubanks ’96.
we’ve come a long way, baby! It’s true that some of us have come further than others (won’t mention names), but we’re all pretty awesome people regardless. Overall, our class is a shining example of how smart and incredibly good-looking people can make the planet a better place by crushing it in the business world and spawning equally attractive young folk to carry the torch. Hampton Moore Eubanks can pat herself on the back for doing just that with the birth of Constance Bryan Eubanks (“Coco”) in November whilst serving as marketing guru for moms-to-be at Virginia
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Spotify, actually, so if you use that app, check out her musical taste. She had a great visit over Christmas with Nicole Nicolette Mace. As many of you may know, Nicole’s husband had a brain aneurysm in 2015, obviously having a dramatic impact on their world. Lindsay says that Nicole was in great spirits and that her strength is an inspiration. Lindsay also plans on getting together soon with Mary Cunningham. You may also recall from a couple of issues ago that Mary was diagnosed with MS and has taken that as a major challenge that isn’t to be shied away from. Check out Mary’s website when you have a moment: www.thrivewithms.com. Kate Crawford Schackai’s ’97 son with Senator Rand Paul. Kate previously worked for the Senator’s father, Ron Paul.
Commonwealth University Medical Center. Menard Doswell has a new daughter, Morgan Michael Doswell, born Jan. 4. Richard Punches kills it as managing director for Houston’s EIG Global Energy Partners and father of sons Richard (3) and Bo (1). He met Hansell Watt and Evan Remmes with their combined six sons last year in Sea Island. Randy Shelley is taking the literary world by storm as graduate student and teacher at Hollins University, politely requesting you address him as “Professor” at the Reunion. He and Sarah Akridge Knutson and Brian Knutson stayed with us in Richmond to relive the good ole days. Sarah is far too modest to tout her professional accomplishments but suffice it to say she’s a real estate badass in D.C. Fellow B.A. Gray MacNair King turned down a starring role on the “Real Housewives of Potomac” citing “artistic differences.” What do they all have in common? They’re all coming to our Reunion and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU READING THIS BETTER COME, TOO!! (If you know a classmate too lazy to read this, remind them to come with this text message: smiley face + red wine glass + beer mug.) Don’t hide your good-looking, successful self away! Be there June 10-11 to celebrate our 20ish years of being together in an unbreakable bond called The High School, AND to toast how we’ve managed to make it past the awkward years – except for Garland Lynn, but he’s nearly there – to become grown women and men. Happy
(Almost) Anniversary, ’96ers. In honor of our June milestone, I’ve written a poem: Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, If You Don’t Come, We’ll Talk About You. Love, Temple.
’97
Bill Allen (H) 919-781-0805 (O) 919-784-8371 williamwallen@gmail.com 20th Reunion: June 2017
Hey Folks! Let the countdown to our 20th Reunion begin! By the time you get this, we’ll be just shy of one year away; make your travel plans now, and let’s make sure to have a high turnout. Everyone must be out climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro or something because feedback was a little sparse this time around. I did, however hear from some folks who don’t make a habit of dropping in, which was great. And, of course, the updates I DID receive are amazing. A lot of us are off doing fun, inspiring, or amazing things, and I’m glad to share it all. Lindsay Wolfington Collins continues to have a great career in the television business, curating music for shows like “The Royals,” “Shadowhunters,” and “Pitch Slapped,” and an upcoming movie called “Dance Camp.” You can find her work on “The Royals” on
Finny Akers is always a sucker for my guilttrip emails, so he gave me a good update, as usual. He still works for Ralph Lauren and runs the flagship, 5th Avenue Polo store, but he has also established his own training and nutrition business that has started to explode! Check out his website also: www. finnyfitness.com. He has a message for all of you: “Everyone in our class needs to get back in the best shape of their lives now… Our Reunion is coming up! I’ll get you in photo/Reunion/make-your-ex-boyfriendor-ex-girlfriend jealous shape in 30 days!” It’s worth pointing out that I am a client of Finny’s. At the time of this writing, I’m only a week in, but I’m excited about the road ahead. Mission will be accomplished if he can successfully get me down from amorphous blob (‘maw-fus blau!) to dad bod by summer. Because he can’t sit still, he’s also getting his CrossFit L1 coaching license and will compete in this year’s CrossFit Open. Presumably, there will be a lot of rope-climbing and tire-throwing at that competition. In a follow up to the last edition, Xandria and Ladson Webb welcomed their son, Thomas Ladson Webb IV, on Dec. 28! Shortly thereafter, they moved to Virginia Beach, where Ladson started his third year of a five-year BS/MS in mechanical engineering at Old Dominion University. It sounds like he already has plans to connect with our other Va. Beach resident, Shriti Patel Moore. Scott Harris has taken a break from his hard-partying ways and is planning on running his sixth marathon in April. This EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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CLASS NOTES Stump the Teacher
Bobby Watts (EHS Faculty 1992-2014)
With Every Fiber BY TAD MCL EOD ’ 97
I MET BOBBY WATTS MY FIRST WEEK AT EHS. HE WAS THE HEAD COACH OF THE JUNIOR FOOTBALL TEAM, AND L ATER MY JV BASEBALL COACH. WHILE NOT MY OFFICIAL STUDENT ADVISOR, HE QUICKLY
Bryan Pinckney ’98, Nick Carosi ’97, Bobby Watts, and Tad McLeod ’97
BECAME A GO-TO PERSON WHOM I LOOKED TO FOR GUIDANCE ON THE ATHLETIC FIELD AND IN LIFE. HE REMAINS SO TO THIS DAY, AS WE ENJOY CATCHING UP PERIODICALLY ABOUT CURRENT EVENTS WITHIN OUR FAMILIES.
TAD MCLEOD: What do you miss most about being on
campus?
What book has most influenced you? On a personal level, “As a Man Thinketh” by James Allen (1903) has had the most impact, with M. Scott Peck’s “The Road Less Traveled” (1978) coming in second. Allen’s tome is very brief, so it is easily “in reach” of everyone. Peck’s book was helpful when I was a young adult and looking for answers.
BOBBY WATTS: Interacting with the students inside and out
of the classroom is easily Number One – the finest collection of young people in America! A close second is watching and cheering for the athletes, proudly wearing the Maroon and Black and competing with every fiber. Many people may not know that you previously worked in the oil industry. Why did you leave the oil business and pursue teaching? There was an ownership change in the business, and I began to think, at age 45, about how I wanted to spend the rest of my working years. I had prior experience teaching and coaching at Virginia Episcopal School under the leadership of former EHS Headmaster Sandy Ainslie ’56, so I knew what a fulfilling life it was to be on the campus of a boarding school. And wasn’t I lucky to be able to return to this way of life at another school under the leadership of my mentor! Has anything about retirement surprised you? The absence of a rigorous daily schedule is an obvious part of retirement, but actually experiencing it has been a very different sensation, a combination of personal freedom and the desire/need to be productive in some fashion. And on a very practical level, there is the need to avoid “having too much month at the end of the money” (to quote a sage EHS faculty colleague).
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Professionally, I have two important books as well. “The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution” (1967) by Bernard Bailyn changed the interpretation of the beginning of the American Revolution and the way I looked at history and the teaching of it. Fernand Braudel’s “The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II” Volume I (1995) showed me how sweeping and magisterial writing about history could be. Both books are “beyond compare.” Tell me about something funny that occurred while on dorm duty. “Funny” may not have been the right descriptive word when the incident occurred, but it was certainly instructive at the time and humorous in retrospect. Unbeknown to the student involved, a Friday night dorm duty switch had been made with my assuming the responsibility. During the course of the evening, the student was engaged in some billiards play off campus, along with the consumption of alcohol. When he returned to campus and learned that I was on duty, he proceeded to take a long shower before signing in. When the moment of truth finally arrived in the duty office, it was not a difficult situation to size-up, and the wheels of EHS justice rolled from that point. The student involved became an advisee of mine the next year and is, no doubt, a proud graduate of The High School.
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it managed to keep the boys in an unusual state of friendliness with each other the whole time. J.W. Perry and his family drove into the city one morning and met us at the Natural History museum, and we managed to snag a picture of all the Allen and Perry boys with Teddy Roosevelt, a President who without a doubt would have been a member of the Einstein Club had he been at EHS with us. It’s always great to see JW; they recently moved from Manhattan out to the suburbs, and he said that everyone is much happier out there.
Sons of J.W. Perry ’97 and Bill Allen ’97 at the Natural History Museum in New York City.
was recently named one of the South’s Best Shops by Southern Living Magazine. Jim Goodwin, as enthusiastically as always, wrote in with a good update, too. He and Courtney just celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary! As I mentioned last time, they are now officially McDonald’s owner/operators, and they are currently in the process of adding their fourth restaurant in Fayetteville. The empire is building! Like many of us, it’s mostly work and parenthood for Jim, but the two of them did manage to gas it down to St. John for a much-needed getaway. They forgot to bring BA with them though.
Sons of Bennett White ’97.
In other wedding news, the old buzzard himself, Jennings Morrow, is getting married in April! We’re all excited for the Pterodactyl, and I expect to see a lot of familiar faces in Charleston for the big event. If I survive the weekend, I’ll provide a little update for the winter issue.
one will be the Nashville Country Music Marathon. I didn’t ask him to clarify if that’s actually a race or if he just has to listen to bro country for three-to-four hours straight. I’m not sure which one is the more difficult challenge. He ran the New York marathon in 2014 and the Marine Corps marathon in 2015. In the midst of busy work and personal schedules, Scott has found long-distance running to be his favorite hobby. Although, he’s recently rediscovered his affinity for the flute, so there’s that.
Kate Crawford Schackai is doing well, living in New Hampshire. She used to work for Ron Paul and sent in a pic of her son hanging out with Sen. Rand Paul. Awesome!
Carter Hancock Johnston and sister Alston Armfield Daigh’s ’05 clothing line and eponymous shop CCH Collection
Back in November, we surprised our two oldest boys with a quick trip to New York. The trip was awesome, and the surprise of
Bennett White wanted everyone to know that he’s working and chasing three boys around.
And, in December, I managed to grab a couple of brewskis with Price Balderson, who was in Raleigh for the weekend visiting family. He’s still active in the Navy, but he and his family recently moved from San Diego to Memphis as part of a career adjustment for him, and also because the weather in Memphis is so much better than in San Diego. In January, we were in Alexandria one weekend and managed to catch up with Lucy Whittle Goldstein, both on campus and later over dinner. As some of you may know, Lucy is the girls’ JV squash coach, and the timing of our arrival into town allowed us to watch Lucy show off her sideline skills! Jeremy was on campus hook-up patrol all weekend, so he couldn’t come to dinner (although he nearly ran us all over on his skateboard in the gym…), but we did get to finally meet Jane, and she and my son Charlie made a quick friendship. It was great to see Lucy again, and even greater to know that she’s back at our alma mater wearing maroon and black, and shaping the next generation! That’s it for this time, folks! I have no clue when the school will begin to mail out information for the reunion weekend, but you guys can all do math: 2017 will be our 20th!! It’ll be here before we know it, and I hope to see all of you there next year! Shriti Patel Moore writes, “It’s been a huge year! Newly married, bought a house, and gave birth to Alexander Patel Moore, who was 6 months old on Nov. 15. Life is busy and great! Miss you all!”
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’98
Katherine Moncure Stuart (H) 540-672-4258 katstu@gmail.com Andrew Nielson (o) 615.777.6382 anielson@servicesource.com 20th Reunion: June 2018
Class of 1998, send us your news!! We want to hear what you’re up to!
’99
Becky Kellam beckykellam@gmail.com 20th Reunion: June 2019
Aria and Isabel, daughters of Grace and Stephen O’Donohue ’99.
I hope everyone has recovered from the holidays – I am already ready for warm weather! Annie Graf just moved to N.Y.C. and is doing PR for law firms. Having lived in Miami and most recently San Diego, I can only imagine that she is also ready for some warm, sunny days! Annie says she is looking forward to reconnecting with EHS alums in and around the city. Prather Smith Claghorn is still living in N.Y.C. and welcomed her second son, Oliver Beeland Claghorn, on Dec. 30 weighing 6 pounds 7ounces and measuring 19.25 inches. She reports that big brother Jack is very excited. Congratulations, Prather!! And call Annie to show her the sites (or to babysit)!! Stephen O’Donohue has lived in Brooklyn a little over five years and works as a patent litigation attorney. He has two daughters: Aria (2) and Isabel (1 month). I vote for an N.Y.C. reunion!! Ravenel Richardson had twins Oliver and Tess on November 11. Congratulations, Ravenel and Stephen!
’00
Schuyler Williams schuyler13@gmail.com Maisie Cunningham Short maisieshort12@gmail.com 20th Reunion: June 2020
Hopefully everyone’s 2016 is off to a great start! All is well in L.A., and I’m loving 66
Baby Oliver with big brother Jack, sons of Prather Smith Claghorn ’99.
Oliver and Tess, Ravenel Richardson’s ’99 twins.
working in business development for an equity management firm. Lots of travel, but fortunately I get to visit cities with EHS alum from time to time and have had fun seeing Lauren Kemp Bonapfel and Betsy Watts Metcalf in Atlanta and Brittanny Wildman Meierling in D.C. My mom moved to Delray Beach last year, and it has been fantastic getting to see Elizabeth Hossfeld and Ryan Craft whenever I’m in town. Elizabeth and Ryan have their hands full with baby Decker, who was born in April. My class notes wing lady Schuyler Williams is still living in D.C., working for the Wall Street Journal and loving both! She continues to see Hattie Gruber when she travels to N.Y.C. and can report that Kiss the Ring New York is thriving. She also regularly sees a solid EHS crew, including Brenton Hardee ’02, Will Nisbet ’01,
Laurance Frierson, Grant Brown ’02, and McCoy Penninger ’02. Carlie Hooff Casella made it back for the WFS game and introduced little Charlie to his future high school! After a few years in Nashville, Carlie and her husband, Dan, will be relocating to the D.C. area this summer, so Schuyler is very excited to see them more often! I’m sneaking in one last visit to Nashville later this month before the Casellas move and welcome their second child later this spring. Lauren Kemp Bonapfel also got to visit with Carlie in Nashville; Kate Lummis in New York; and Elizabeth Horsey, Miranda Thompson, and Lisa Manning when they were in Atlanta for a girls’ weekend at Kate Leggett Mabry’s house. That
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finishing up a fellowship in Surgical Critical Care at St. Luke’s University Health Network in Bethlehem, Pa. The Painted Pin, co-owned by William Stallworth, was written up in Business Insider Magazine as one of the 50 coolest new restaurants in America for 2015.
’01 Class of 2000 classmates Lisa Manning, Miranda Thompson, Elizabeth Horsey, and Kate Leggett Mabry with Kate’s daughter, Ingrid, during a fall visit in Atlanta, Ga.
Taylor Gillis Clement (O) 910-693-0032 tgclem@gmail.com Leah Kannensohn Tennille lktennille@gmail.com 15th Reunion: June 10-11, 2016
The Class of 2001 is full of exciting news of babies this spring. Perrin Dent Patterson and husband, Jim, welcomed Catherine Julia Patterson on July 30, 2015! She reports that Julia has been such a fun addition to their family, and she can’t wait to show her The High School soon! Carey Parker and his wife, Annie, welcomed their little girl, Mary Evelyn (Evie) Parker, into the world on Sept. 5, 2015. In October 2015, Carey began practicing law with his father, David Parker, in Statesville, N.C. at Parker Law Offices.
Lauren Kemp Bonapfel ’00 and Kate Merrill Lummis ’00 met up in New York.
Jamie McNab ’00 and wife Stephanie Henson on their wedding day in Sea Island, Ga.
crew had a blast reminiscing over Kate’s photo album that contained some amazing mass meeting photo footage.
for the National Championship game. Jordan Phillips and his wife reported that life is great in Charleston and their daughter Abigail was born in December.
Also in ATL, Betsy Watts Metcalf writes that she, David, Grace (2), and Laney (3.5) are doing great. Betsy has just started a new job as a consultant with Teegarden Education Group, working with families who are considering day and boarding schools, helping them determine which school is the best fit for their child and assisting them with the admissions process.
Lillian Smith Teer is living in Wilmington and working as a Credit Officer at Live Oak Bank. She gets to catch up with James Doswell, Allison Jones Hubbard, James Barmore, and Schulyer Williams when they come down to Wrightsville Beach to vacation in the summer with their families.
Babies abound – Lawson Burnat and his wife, Laura, just welcomed Kayla Mathis Burnat to the world on January 5th. Laura is a Clemson grad and got Kyla in the spirit
Franz Yanagawa will be moving to Maryland this summer to do a fellowship in Acute Care Surgery at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He is currently
Lacy Baldwin Noble, husband Joey, and son Harrison (2) welcomed Robert Baldwin “Win” Noble into their family on Oct. 16, 2015. They are thrilled. Lacy and Joey have spent some time recently with Becky Arnesen Jenkins ’00 and her husband, Peyton. Becky and Peyton just welcomed their new baby boy, Jack, in February. Lauren Sims Polak and husband Chad welcomed their daughter, Greyson Jean Polak, to the world on Nov. 3. Lauren reports that she has been a great baby and she’s loving being a mom. Hanley and Beezie McLaughlin Sayers welcomed their fourth child on Dec. 17, 2015. “Rosa Litton” Lockwood Sayers, nicknamed Posy, was joyfully received by big brothers Joseph Hanley Sayers IV (Hanley, 7), Hodges McLaughlin Sayers (Mac, 6), and big sister Mary Emmet EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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CLASS NOTES
McLean Sayers (Mamie, 3.5). Hanley and Mac attend River Oaks Baptist School. Mamie attends The House at Pooh Corner. Hanley III enjoys his job at Goldman Sachs, and Beezie is happily busy at home with the kids in Houston, Texas. In addition to all the baby news, we’re excited to hear that so many of our classmates are loving their jobs and have formed close friendships with other EHS grads. Elliott Conklin reports he’s been living in D.C. with his wife, Elizabeth, for five years now. He’s a clinical psychologist working in education and private practice, and in the early stages of planning a mental health nonprofit in the D.C. area. He spends time with Rashad Kawmy and his family pretty regularly for occasional backpacking trips or weekend runs. Libby Seaton Ayoob and husband Nic are coming up on one year in April and are happily settling into married life. They still live in Atlanta, Ga., where she teaches at Marist School and gets to see Riddick Beebe ’04 often, as he is a fellow faculty member. She is also in touch with Jonathan Lee, who made it to their wedding with his sweet girlfriend, Lauren Zelewski. Libby has also recently been in touch with Sarah Eissler Rhodes, who is loving motherhood, as her little Evelyn is now 18 months. She and her husband Ben live in Richmond, Va.
Members of the Tennille family traveled to Las Catalinas, Costa Rica, this winter. Pictured here are Hunter Carson, Lee Tennille Carson ’01, Tyler Wilkens, Katie Tennille, Leah Kannensohn Tennille ’01, Dre Tennille, Hunter Carson, Jr., and Townsend Tennille.
Kayla Burnat, daughter of Lawson Burnat ’00 and wife Laura, representing the Clemson Tigers.
Lauren Sims Polak ’01 with husband Chad and daughter Greyson.
Posy Sayers, daughter of Beezie McLaughlin Sayers ’01, with older siblings Hanley (7), Mac (6), and Mamie (3.5).
Harrison and Win, sons of Lacy Baldwin Noble ’01.
Emily Klim Schott and husband Kevin have just moved into a new home in Houston and are expecting a baby in March. It sounds like everyone is doing great and looking forward to celebrating our 15th Reunion together this summer.
’02
Andrew Farrar (C) 919-616-6636 asfarrar@gmail.com Artie Armstrong (C) 805-341-5233 artiearmstrong@yahoo.com 15th Reunion: June 2017
Thanks to Millie Tanner Rayburn and Anne Arnold Glenn for collecting the ’02 notes for many years. Please send 68
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your updates and pictures to Andrew at asfarrar@gmail.com or Artie at artiearmstrong@yahoo.com. Rich and Anna Bryan Lynott have a little one on the way; stay tuned for updates! Matilda Reuter Engle and her husband, Jon, are also expecting a baby in early 2016. Cappy Gilchrist, wife Blair, and daughter Wells (2 in May) live in Richmond, Va., where Cappy works in the communications office at St. Christopher’s School. Catherine Julia Patterson, daughter of Perrin Dent Patterson ’01.
Cappy Gilchrist ’02 and daughter Wells celebrating July 4 last summer.
Grant Brown is in in his fourth year of teaching at St. Albans, and will be graduating from Middlebury’s Bread Loaf School of English this summer in Vermont. Grant, McCoy Penninger, and Jack Zimmerman WFS ’02 compete on the Gutterfingers bowling team in the DC Bowling League. Will McGettigan and wife Julie welcomed Ella Jane McGettigan on July 14, 2015. Ella’s “first snow” pic is about as good as it gets.
Big sister Betsy with baby William Hayward Wright, children of Anne Lummis Wright ’02.
Will McGettigan ’02 celebrating daughter Ella’s first snow!
Kit McLendon is still in Aspen and loving it. After years of working as a head guide for The Little Nell Hotel, Kit recently opened Rich Valley Adventures where he specializes in luxury camping, fly fishing, horseback, hiking, biking, snowmobile tours, and other outdoor adventures. Check out Rich Valley Adventures on the web and social media. Louise Burton Copeland: “Big Year! I got married in October to Lee Copeland in Cashiers, N.C. Sarah Rienhoff, Elizabeth Mathison Maricich, Katharine Hutchison Merritt, and India DeLashmutt were bridesmaids in the wedding, and Rev. Verdery Kerr ’67 officiated. Lee and I moved from New York to San Francisco in early 2015, and I am in the process of starting an interior design business. Since moving in the spring, it has been fun getting together with Sally Widdowson Colwell and Peyton Grubbs Lister ’97!”
Noah Samuel Stowers, son of Alicia Mincey Stowers ’02.
Nolan Pax Stowers, son of Alicia Mincey Stowers ’02.
Suzanne Pinckney Pflaum: “Jake and I have moved back to Portland, Ore., after an adventurous, challenging, and rewarding year living in Australia, India, and Indonesia. The work that took us abroad EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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was interesting but didn’t pan out as we had hoped, so we decided to move on. All good learning and no regrets. I now work as a strategist at a community-centered design firm called Context Partners. I get to ride my bike to work every day and come home to play with our new addition to the family, a pound puppy named Mango!” Catherine Bass Black: “After completing my MBA at Emory University in the spring of 2015, my husband, James, and I relocated to Springfield, Mo. I am playing a dual role with Bass Pro Shops (no relation): I currently leading national talent acquisition and am the head of community affairs. It has been awesome to be a part of an incredible brand while taking time to enjoy more adventures outdoors in the Midwest. We also recently added a new golden retriever puppy, named Biscuit, to the family. McCoy Penninger: “I married Scottie Coleman in October in Cashiers, N.C. The wedding was well attended by EHS alums (Wilkes Evans, Raymond Singletary, Will Corbitt, Andrew Farrar, Franklin Mackie, Grant Brown, and others) who didn’t let Hurricane Joaquin’s torrential downpour dampen the mood. In February, I watched the Panthers almost bring the Lombardi trophy back to Carolina. Huntpat Williams was an awesome host.” Alex Hume: “I have been living and working in Alexandria for about five years now and just bought my first place down the hill from EHS in the Del Ray part of Alexandria. I work in Crystal City, Va., supporting the Department of Homeland Security as a manager within Grant Thornton’s federal management consulting practice. Was fortunate to travel on some great trips the past couple years, visiting New Zealand, Tahiti, Nepal, and even Tibet. Still playing some tennis but prefer a new hobby called platform tennis, where I play in a league in D.C. with two other EHS grads, Victor Maddux ’93 and Chris Jacobs ’93.” Alicia Mincey Stowers: “I’m living in Kirkwood, Mo., outside Saint Louis working at Washington University School of Medicine as a nurse. My husband, JohnMicah, and I welcomed our second son, 70
The EHS crew at Louise Burton’s ’02 October wedding to Lee Copeland in Cashiers, N.C.
Nolan Pax, last August. Our oldest son, Noah Samuel, will be starting kindergarten this fall. I am doing extremely well. We are already fielding questions about when we will have another child. The answer: quite possibly never. I recently visited D.C. and went to dinner with Kathy Weglein Zito, Azizi Jones, and Shanda Cooper. It was awesome seeing them again. They are all gorgeous and seem happy. I hope all is well with you and yours.” Carter Moore: “I moved to Australia in April 2013, and it’s been an amazing lifestyle change from D.C. I live in Canberra with my partner, although we’ll be moving soon to a country town to have space for our son, due in June. I work at a nonprofit that provides health policy advice to governments. Nothing exciting – pays the bills. On the side I’ve been focused on building a career as a writer, and I may have some publication credits under my belt soon. Fingers crossed!” Anne Lummis Wright: Anne and Doug welcomed their son, William Hayward Wright, on Nov. 19, 2015. Big sister Betsy is thrilled with the newest addition to the family! Daphne Allen Fair: The Fair family welcomed their third boy, Whitaker Carl Fair, this past September. Daphne is still working at Episcopal in the Admissions Office as the associate director. She reports that “life is good!” Andrew Farrar: “After coaching and teaching for three years in Dallas, I moved back to Richmond in June 2014 to work for
Whitaker Fair, son of Daphne Allen Fair ’02.
the Virginia chapter of USA Wrestling. Richmond is a cool city, and I’m enjoying work, which has me on the road a good bit. I’m loving being back on the East Coast and am looking forward to heading down to the Rio Olympics next summer to work for USA Wrestling. Artie Armstrong: “I haven’t been up to much in particular. After a four-year stay in cold New Hampshire, I relocated to sunny Las Vegas, Nev. Since then I have seen the likes of Andrew Farrar, Kit McLendon, Hunt Kushner, Ryan Larson, Elliott Pierce ’03, and that’s about it. I had planned on playing a revealing role in Kat Hutchison Merritt’s bachelorette party, but I was passed over for a non-ginger! I have spent the last year in the solar game, spreading photovoltaics to the masses. I’m
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Chad Lockhart married Lindsey Duhamel in May 2015. They now live in Houston, Texas, where Lindsey works as a NICU nurse, and Chad works in Hospital Administration for HCA Healthcare. Lauren Pirrung Gilbert and her husband, Grant, celebrated the arrival of their son, Robert Pierce Gilbert, on Jan. 19 in Charlotte, N.C.
Class of 2003 classmates Ian Beed, Matt Horton, and Sanford Zeigler caught up at a local San Francisco dive bar when Matt was visiting stateside.
Ian Beed and his wife, Mary, recently moved to San Francisco, where Ian is working for Slalom Consulting. Since moving to San Francisco, Ian has been able to catch up with Episcopal alumni Matt Horton and Sanford Zeigler. Annabell Jones McNew and Steven McNew would like to announce the birth of their son, Walter Ames McNew, who was born on Feb. 18, 2015. Jess and Lee McLaughlin III welcomed their first child, Lee Massey McLaughlin IV, in November 2015. They have moved back to Lexington, Va., to raise their family and continue to help direct Camp Maxwelton for Boys and Camp Lachlan for Girls in Rockbridge Baths. Lee and Jess are also real estate agents with J.F. Brown Real Estate Services in Lexington (broker Jim Brown ’76).
Hannah Ellington ’03 with husband Colin Alexander.
Lee McLaughlin ’03 with his wife, Jess, and their son Lee Massey McLaughlin IV.
getting bored of that, so may move on soon, time will tell. I hope all from the class of aught two are doing well, and I hope we finally start a tradition of actually writing in for our class notes. Until next time, enjoy that terrible East Coast weather!”
Elizabeth Dawson Whichard, daughter of Jordan Whichard ’03.
’04
Caitlin Smith (C) 337-302-2444 caitlin.ann.smith@gmail.com Harrison Gilchrist (H) 804-443-5247 chgilchr@gmail.com 15th Reunion: June 2019
Harrison and I hope everyone is doing well! We’ve got marriages and newborns to report!
Alden Koste Corrigan (H) 443-783-4659 alden.k.corrigan@gmail.com 15th Reunion: June 2018
’03
Bo Stover moved to East Grand Rapids, Mich., and got married Sept. 12, 2015, to Monica Joy (Wickering) Stover. Upton Stover ’08 was the best man, and Nick Stewart was a groomsman.
Jordan Whichard and his wife, Jessica, were very excited to welcome their daughter, Elizabeth Dawson Whichard. She was eager to get the most out of 2016, arriving nine days early on Jan. 2.
Katie Arnold McCurry and her husband, Charlie, welcomed a son in December – Edward Camp McCurry. They are all doing well and enjoying adjusting to life as a family of three. EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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CLASS NOTES Stump the Teacher
Gail Epes (EHS Faculty 1991-2008)
To Wake Again BY PARKER WOLTZ MAC KIE ’ 0 4 I AM GR ATEFUL TO HAVE ATTENDED EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL WHEN THE REV. GAIL EPES AND PERRY EPES ’65 STILL LIVED ON THE HOLY HILL. AS MY ENGLISH TEACHER, MR. EPES CULTIVATED MY APPRECIATION FOR THE WRITTEN WORD. AS MY CHAPL AIN, REV. EPES MOLDED MY FAITH. TOGETHER, THESE T WO INDIVIDUALS MODELED A MARRIAGE BUILT ON A DEEP FOUNDATION OF LOVE AND MUTUAL ADMIR ATION. I REMEMBER THINKING, “THAT’S WHAT I WANT.” I’M LUCKY TO HAVE FOUND IT. WHEN MAC AND I DECIDED TO GET MARRIED, I COULD NOT IMAGINE ANYONE BUT REV. EPES OFFICIATING, AND OFFICIATE SHE DID! PERHAPS MORE SPECIAL THAN HER LEADING US THROUGH OUR VOWS, HOWEVER, WAS MEETING WITH HER AT HOME ON CAMPUS TO PREPARE FOR THIS LIFE TR ANSITION. MAC AND I SAT ON HER COUCH ON A COLD WINTER’S DAY, JERRY MAY SNOOZING BESIDE US, AND TALKED ABOUT WHAT IT MEANT TO BE MARRIED. I AM GR ATEFUL THAT MRS. EPES HAS CONTINUED TO GUIDE ME, LONG AFTER MY DAYS OF ENJOYING HER HOMILIES IN CHAPEL CAME TO AN END.
PARKER WOLTZ MACKIE: Tell us about Time’s End. What is
the house like and how do you spend your time? REV. GAIL EPES: “Spending time” is an awakening phrase for
me to consider, here in this timeless place where each minute dazzles with value. My husband wrote that we bought this house “to wake again.” The house was built in 1749 by Quaker settlers and is typical of the stone farm houses found in Loudoun County. The challenging thing for us is that it’s ours – no Maintenance Department to call when I suddenly spot orange fuzz growing on the plaster wall of the upstairs bathroom. With the house came 15 acres, and my scholarly husband joined me as farmer, planting potatoes and tearing down pea vines to make room for morning glories. We are learning to plant by the moon. Now it’s winter, which means hauling a lot of logs into the house to keep two wood stoves going, filling the feeder for birds busy with being alive, keeping an eye on the cows in the next field, waiting for the first calf to appear, a drop of licorice in the white snow. During the blizzard, we began reading Henry James’s “The Ambassadors” aloud. Have to stay awake!
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I’m taking riding and writing lessons, volunteering at Sprout, a beautiful therapeutic riding establishment where my nonprofit Dropping the Reins (bringing caregivers to horses) will soon be located. So, the rhythm of our days is different. At Episcopal, we lived by a school schedule in which we thrived. Here, the edges between activities blur a little, allowing for sitting in summer on the porch, standing in winter by the window, gazing at God’s gifts to us, this time, this place. What brings you joy? Living here. Every morning we walk our dog, Jerry May, up Crooked Run Lane, and many afternoons we walk to the Lincoln Post Office. We’ve started taking classes on Quaker spirituality and often attend Goose Creek Meeting, just up the road. We are learning the language of the land by watching daily changes. My husband turns our days into poems. At noon we go to the nearby barn to feed lunch to our old horse Scooter who needs extra calories. I think of our life as one of tending – to animals, to this farm, to each other. We miss our EHS friends and having the bright vigor of students all around us. It’s funny to realize at dinner that there are only two of us at the table eating a meal we had to think up, buy, and cook. We’re hungry for news from the young,
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Gail and Perry Epes ’65 at the wedding of Parker Woltz Mackie ’04. Mrs. Epes served as the officiant.
and are grateful our friend Eamon Coy ’04 lives nearby. It makes me happy still to officiate at weddings of former EHS students. How well I remember yours! What is your favorite memory from your time at EHS? The day coeducation began and girls arrived on campus. It wasn’t only the excitement and energy; it was, the incarnation of possibility, of something new within something old, the capacity of humans to risk, stretch, try, shake the foundations. So much preparation had gone into that change, and it was wonderful to witness its beginning. We will always be learning how to live together, but we began in strength. And that first Forty-Eight, oh, my, our own pioneers! You and Mr. Epes call God “Is.” Why ? One year when I was very angry with God for having only male names and pronouns, I went on a Vision Quest in the mountains of North Carolina. I was longing for a name I could give God that wouldn’t conjure up the man in the sky. I remember walking along in a temper, saying out loud, “I don’t know anything about God. I only know that God IS.” Then I started to laugh. I had found my name.
After all, when Moses asks for God’s name at the burning bush, he hears, “I AM has sent me to you.” Later I found my favorite theological book called “She Who Is” by Elizabeth Johnson. It helped me with my struggle with language in the church. One day when Perry was praying our usual grace, he said, “Bless, oh Is, this food to our use…” and we have been praying that way ever since. What are you most proud of? I’m most proud of and grateful for being the first female chaplain at Episcopal High School, for the privilege of working with Marc Andrus, Thom Hummel, and Phillip Craig in chapel, and above all proud of the students for the evolution of Friday chapel. Once the chaplains dreamed aloud, “Wouldn’t it be great if the students took a day?” They did, and made it a beautiful and powerful part of school life. Finally, I loved my Bib Theo classes and those many nights of dorm duty on Evans and Anderson. All those students were the face of IS to me.
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More baby news from Madison Penninger McLemore! Elsa Marie McLemore was born during the Columbia, S.C., 1,000year flood. Madison writes, “We had no water in the hospital and monitored our home for flooding via baby monitor! Luckily, our home was fine, but the neighbors’ homes were destroyed. Elsa has been so much fun, and we recently took our first beach trip to Litchfield, S.C.” Madison still works as a senior Prosthetist at the Columbia, S.C., Hanger Clinic. She has fit some very interesting new technology such as microprocessor knees and feet, 3-D print hands, and myoelectric arms. Dorothy Hutchison Driscoll married Irving “Sears” Driscoll III on Nov. 7, 2015, at Fearrington Village, N.C. She writes, “It was great having some of the EHS community there to celebrate our big day!”
Katharine Ragsdale ’04, Ginny Hopper Edwards ’04, Anna Henderson Brantley ’04, Dorothy Hutchison Driscoll ’04, Kat Hutchison Merritt ’02, Allie Tanner Palmer ’04, Mary Peterkin Worthington ’04, and Caroline Mathison ’04 at Dorothy’s wedding.
’05
Ellie Frazier kefrazier8@gmail.com 15th Reunion: June 2020
Will Damron is an award-winning audiobook narrator in Los Angeles, with nearly 100 credits in the business. When not in his vocal booth, he’s pursuing screen acting and writing projects. Madison Murray Carlos and her husband, Adam, welcomed their daughter, Clementine Gray Carlos, on Sept. 17, 2015, and Madison writes, “She’s a happy, healthy, amazing little human being. We are gobsmacked with love for Clementine.” They are still living and loving life in the small ski town of Telluride, Colo., and welcome any and all visitors, winter or summer.
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The EHS crowd at Dorothy Hutchison Driscoll’s ’04 wedding: (front row) Ginny Hopper Edwards ’04, Caroline Mathison ’04, Allie Tanner Palmer ’04, Irving “Sears” Driscoll III, Dorothy Hutchison Driscoll ’04, Mary White Martin ’04, Mary Peterkin Worthington ’04, Kat Hutchison Merritt ’02, Katharine Ragsdale ’04, Anna Henderson Brantley ’04, and Abby Hart ’10; (back row) Wylie Hutchison ’07, W. “Dean” Smith ’90, Elizabeth Mathison Maricich ’02, Odie von Werssowetz ’04, Hunter Mitchell ’05, Caitlin Smith ’04, and Clarence Mills ’03.
Alexandra Varipapa and her fiancé, Brian Morse, were thrilled to welcome their baby girl, Sloane Marilyn Morse, on Dec. 17 at NYU Langone. They are living in the West Village of N.Y.C. Brian and Alexandra can’t wait to finally get married, after a two-plus-year engagement, on June 4 in Alexandria!
She’s looking forward to another visit soon to meet Alexandra’s daughter!
in the United States after traveling Bolivia for 1.5 months post-Peace Corps.”
Taylor Embury married Yana Rubtsova on Dec. 14th. They met in Central Park back in July – congrats to the happy couple!
Andrew Monson will finish up his MBA in 2016. His daughter, Ava, is now 7 months old and is crawling and starting to talk!
Christina Swaim is living and working in Charleston, S.C. One of her highlights this year was spending the weekend in N.Y.C. with Ellie Frazier and Alexandra Varipapa this past fall for Alexandra’s baby shower.
Tim Hoisington recently finished his Peace Corps service in Nicaragua. He writes, “It was a great experience – I learned a lot, made a lot of great friends, and fell in love with the country. Excited to get resettled
Lila Warren continues to work at the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources as a Fish Biologist. She was able to take some time off in 2015 and travelled to Oregon and Washington to backpack and fish in
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the Columbia River Gorge, to Hawaii to hike and kayak on Oahu, and Arizona to backpack in the Grand Canyon. Alston Armfield Daigh and sister Carter Hancock Johnston’s ’97 clothing line and eponymous shop CCH Collection was recently named one of the South’s Best Shops by Southern Living Magazine.
’06 John Joseph Fagan ’08, Upton Stover ’08, Bo Stover ’04 and wife Monica, Betsy and Woody Stover, Dick Boger (father of Burke Boger ’99), and Nick Stewart ’04 at Bo’s summer wedding in Michigan.
Molly Wheaton (H) 504-288-1990 mewheaton@gmail.com Margaret von Werssowetz margaretvonw@gmail.com 10th Reunion: June 10-11, 2016
Hey everyone, it’s Molly Wheaton. Nothing too new down here in Austin. Last weekend, I went hiking at Pedernales State Park (it was 75 degrees in January!) with two fellow alumni who live in Austin: Liz McLean ’08 and Greg DiNardo ’09. Even though I live pretty far from most of my 2006 friends, I get to see a fair number of you each year, for which I’m quite grateful. I had a blast with several EHS alumni at Elizabeth Harrison Carrington’s and Caitlin Dirkes Simmonds’ weddings this past winter. But enough about me; here are everyone’s updates!
Madison Penninger McLemore ’04 and her sweet baby, Elsa, enjoy Litchfield Beach in January.
Clementine Carlos, daughter of Madison Murray Carlos ’05.
Kate Hanlan Hollo ’05 and Henry Kegan ’05 at their April 11, 2015, wedding in Florida.
Alexandra Varipapa ’05, fiancé Brian Morse, and daughter Sloane in Washington Square Park during Christmas.
Let’s start in New York. Holly Casey writes, “The biggest news for me is that I’m engaged! And getting married this spring!” Elizabeth Harrison Carrington writes, “I recently left NPR to start a new job as the manager of community and member success at SoFi. And just got back from honeymoon in New Zealand!” I’m definitely jealous of that trip! Harrison Jobe updates with, “I left NPR (and, very sadly, my work spouse, Elizabeth Carrington) at the end of last year and joined The New York Times in its news service and syndication division.” Malcolm Spaulding says, “So, I’m still in NYC and working on music. I put out my first single last month and am currently working on material for an EP. I also help put on a monthly open mic, and I tutor professionally to help pay the bills.” Out West, we heard from Spencer Brown, who writes “I ended my season coaching football at the University of South Dakota. We turned around the defense and EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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had a big win over the eventual National Champion, North Dakota State University Bison. With our success, I was able to take a job at N.C. State coaching the Linebackers and Nickels, and I’m happy to be back in the Southeast.” Christian Broyhill says, “I completed my master’s in clinical mental health counseling, spent a year working as a bilingual sexual trauma therapist, and had a baby! I still live in Denver and am hoping to make it to the Reunion this summer.” Honour Alston Thornton reports, “Just got back from vacation in Hawaii. Highly recommend the island of Kauai. Awesome trip, amazing weather. Now in California meeting my nephew, Jack, for the first time before returning to Chicago.” Reporting from the Delmarva area, Margaret von Werssowetz says, “Not much new from me except that Ned Waters and I are engaged and getting married in May! Still working at EHS, still living in D.C.” I’m really excited for that wedding – should be a great time. Thomas Light says, “Nothing too new to report, but Kate and I are in Charlottesville, Va., where I just finished my first semester of Darden School of Business at UVA. Also, Steve Shaw, Miller Cornelson, Walker Francis, Daniel Gottwald, and I went to Tallahassee in late January to visit my brother, Paul Light, who now lives there.” Ina Dixon comments, “I’m still living the dream in Danville, Va.! In my history fellowship with the Danville Regional Foundation, I’m using local history as a way to bridge racial divisions and empower a community! What could be better?! Also, I get to work with cool cats like StoryCorps (who, after coming to Danville, thought our stories were so awesome that they made a short animated film out of one). Oh, and now also in the evenings I’m ‘house faculty’ at nearby Chatham Hall, so I’m living on dorm finally.” Across the pond, Eliza Hopper reports, “Since seeing Ina and Holly in the last year, I’ve switched jobs and now work for a headhunting firm that places people in jobs in the arts – so if any of y’all want art jobs, I’m your girl. Big news of 2015 in the Hopper household was celebrating my sister Ginny Hopper Edwards’ ’04 wedding in May, where I caught up with a bunch 76
Lila Warren ’05 during a recent backpacking trip to the Grand Canyon.
Taylor Embury ’05 and wife Yana Rubtsova.
Julie Barraza ’06 married Thomas Boggs in Nov. 2015.
of EHS alumni, most of whom were wearing flower crowns. I’m super excited for Holly’s wedding in May and am currently penny-pinching to buy another ticket to our reunion in June. Do I have a 17-hour layover in Iceland?! Decisions, decisions. Wish I had anything more exciting to share at the moment…I got glasses and cut my hair. WOO.” He didn’t write in, but I also know that Daniel Gottwald recently moved to Singapore with his wife, Martha, so look them up if you’re ever there. Moving to the Southeast, Kingsley Trotter says, “I’m still thriving at Vanderbilt Law School.” Hm, can we get a fact check on
that one, Kings? Caitlin Dirkes Simmonds says, “I got married to college boyfriend Marshall Simmonds on Dec. 19, in Locust Valley, N.Y. We had such an amazing time celebrating with some Episcopal friends including Molly Wheaton, Sarah Montz Harcus, Peyton Killeen, Margaret von Werssowetz, Sofia Bautista, Honour Alston Thornton, Nea Fowle, Carrie Coker, Jack Pitney, Chris Williams, Clay Dunnan ’08, Kelly Trimble Fasciano ’05, and Diana Trimble ’07. We are still living and working in Charleston, S.C.” Speaking of Charleston, Jenner Wood married Emily Morrison there this past year, and many EHS alumni were in attendance. Included was Mason Tillett who didn’t write, but I know he is in business school
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at UNC-Chapel Hill. It also appears he has jumped on the Panthers bandwagon this season, but I guess we can’t blame him – they are about to play in the Superbowl. Julie Barraza reports from Louisiana, “I got married at home on the bayou in Monroe, La., on Nov. 21, 2015, to Thomas Boggs. Michael Barraza ’03, Aimee Barraza ’07, Daniel Barraza ’18, and Julie Zambie ’07 were all a part of the festivities.” And last but not least, Sarah Montz Harcus is still living in New Orleans with her husband, Bruce. I’m excited to see both of them for Sarah’s golden birthday later this month at the Florabama. Should be a classy affair. Franny Kupersmith van Os ’07 and her husband, Piet, pictured here after their wedding ceremony on Nov. 14, 2015, in Kemah, Texas.
See you all at Reunion on June 10-11!
’07
Katheryn Grover 213 Peachtree Hills Circle NE Atlanta, GA 30305 groverkatheryn@gmail.com (c) 804-513-1070 Clark Barber 3900 Tunlaw Road NW, Apt. 219 Washington, DC 20007 tbarber@executiveboard.com (c) 864-325-0940
Newlyweds Renee John Howard ’07 and Duane Howard in their getaway car.
With 2016 resolutions in full effect, the East Coast was slammed with a crippling snowpocalypse, leaving most D.C. residents wondering why they came back to the area after Episcopal. Clark Barber joined Jeb Leva, Griffin Johnson, Drew McGowan, Jay Fazio, and Will Holloway in their Foxhall home to weather the storm. Reports came in that others were stranded across the city, too. Katharine Farrar, Julie Zambie, and Kelsey Montz had a “Netflix and Chill” weekend in their apartment, while Sally Channell and Teddy Peterson both tried (and quickly failed) to navigate around the city through these tough conditions. With one or two snow days off, classes quickly resumed for Fritz Reuter, who is enrolled at George Washington University in their sustainable landscape design and architecture program.
Wylie Hutchison ’07 married Kate Horney on Sept. 26, 2015. Their wedding party included Wylie’s two sisters, Dorothy Hutchison Driscoll ’04 and Kat Hutchison Merritt ’02.
When D.C. wasn’t getting slammed with snow, Katharine Farrar and her brother, EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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Lyle Farrar ’04, were regulars at FedEx Field supporting their Redskins! In New York business news, Gil Lamphere let us know his new app has been extremely popular. For those who do not know about Gil’s app, Pick a Play, it is an online platform that enables sports fans to compete in live play-by-play contests. While watching a live football game on television, users submit their play outcome predictions using their smartphone. Points are awarded for correctly predicting the outcome of plays, and the users with the most points at the end of the competition win cash prizes. The platform is supported by ad revenue and does not require users to deposit any money; it is completely FREE to play! Gil is proud to say that they are now in Apple’s App Store! (Search: Pick a Play Football.)
Alexandra French, Anna Belk, Franny Kupersmith van Os, Jane Arnold Wylie, and Claire Schmitt (all Class of 2007) at Franny’s wedding.
Ford Phillips, also in N.Y.C., reports that life is great and enjoys working as the associate director of the Tilton Gallery. A little to the northwest, Ansley Stewart moved from Chicago to Minneapolis about a year ago and is still working as a sales engineer for SAP. With regards to living in Minnesota, she confirms, “First, yes, it’s freezing. Second, people really do say ‘oooh yah,’ and third, there are actually 10,000 lakes in Minnesota. I know this because I Googled ‘What happens in Minnesota?’ before moving here last July. But in all seriousness, I actually do love it here.” Visitors are welcome 365 days of the year – just don’t forget your coat.
Katharine Farrar ’07 and Lyle Farrar ’04 supporting the Washington Redskins in their Swaggy Time gear!
Cassie Findlay ’07, Victoria Friedman Thevenot ’07, and Molly Barber ’07 celebrating Victoria’s wedding this past fall.
Christine Salama just finished her master’s in education degree from the University of Florida in December 2015. After graduation she moved out to Denver and is doing school design and development for Denver Public Schools. In more news, wedding bells rang loud for our classmates last fall. In chronological order: Renee John married Duane Howard in Jacksonville, Fla., on Sept. 12, 2015. Her roommate from EHS, Van Nguyen Kagawa, and her husband were in attendance. Renee and her husband live in Tampa, Fla., and Renee works as a software developer for a wealth management company. 78
Jeb Leva ’07 attempts to hit Clark Barber ’07 with a shovel during the snowpocalypse. Meanwhile, his dog, Bonnie Leva, watches.
Victoria Friedman Thevenot ’07 with husband, Stephen, following their October wedding in N.Y.C.
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Congrats/best wishes to our newlywed classmates! We look forward to more updates – stay in touch!
’08
Lucy Glaize lglaize@gmail.com 10th Reunion: June 2018
Anderson Hackney Brown ’07, Wortie Ferrell, Wylie Hutchison ’07, Taylor Robison ’07, Danny Coale ’07, Andrew Farrar ’02, and Mason New at Wylie’s wedding in High Point, N.C.
The Class of 2008 does not have much to report this spring! Everyone is far out of the academic schedule and lifestyle, settled into adult life, and doing great things in their communities. Trina Brady got married on Jan. 2! She married Cahill Hooker in Raleigh, N.C. Check out the photos of their gorgeous wedding – of course there was a big group of EHS graduates there to support the Hookers’ nuptials! Maggie Antonsen got engaged this fall and will be one of the next to the altar.
Renee John Howard ’07 and Van Nguyen Kagawa ’07 with their husbands at Renee’s wedding on Sept. 12, 2015.
Later that month, Wylie Hutchison married Kate Horney on Sept. 26, 2015, in High Point, N.C. The wedding party included Wylie’s two sisters, Dorothy Hutchison Driscoll ’04 and Kat Hutchison Merritt ’02, and Taylor Robison. Anderson Hackney Brown, Danny Coale, and Andrew Farrar ’02 were also in attendance, along with former EHS faculty members Wortie Ferrell and Mason New. On Oct. 2, 2015, Victoria Friedman married Stephen Thevenot of Louisiana in N.Y.C. with a reception at the Gramercy Park Hotel. Cassie Findlay and Molly Barber helped to celebrate!
Franny Kupersmith married Piet van Os of La Jolla, Calif., on Nov. 14, 2015, in Kemah, Texas, at the Texas Corinthian Yacht Club. Franny shares: “The wedding weekend included morning yoga and competitive bride versus groom team match racing, during which all the sailors dressed in costume. The ceremony itself was held on the dock at the yacht club, on one of the longest docks that I have ever seen (see photo!). After the wedding, Piet and I spent two weeks in the Netherlands, traveling through where Piet’s family hails from. We met through mutual friends back in 2012, while we were both working for the America’s Cup in Newport, R.I.” Anna Belk, Claire Schmitt, Alexandra French, and Jane Arnold Wylie represented the EHS crowd.
Spencer McKenna still loves Boston! Spencer has made sure to get his fill of EHS friends these past few months. He reports that he had a great time with fellow ’08 grads at The Woodberry Game in November. We’ll spare you the list of who showed up for The Game, because there were so many members of our class there rooting for Maroon! Spencer was lucky enough to have the opportunity to catch up with EHS-ers in Charlotte, N.C., later in November. Two EHS reunions in one month! Last summer, Clark Wright and his brother ventured on a road trip from N.Y.C. all the way to California over the course of six weeks. The trip was filled with camping and staying in “luxurious Motel 6’s.” Sounds awesome! They made a point to include five different Major League Baseball Parks on their route. Aside from the MLB parks, Big Sur, and Yosemite State Park were the highlights. In other baseball news in Clark’s life, the baseball team he coaches won the championships for the second time this past fall for N.Y.C. and the Westchester area. He is hoping for a third championship title this spring. Go, Clark!! Not much is new for me – still out in Oregon, working, adventuring, and becoming a cider connoisseur. I’m very excited for EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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a handful of weekends on the East Coast this spring that will be filled with lots of Episcopal friends!
’09
Billy Hackenson (H) 703-757-0445 whackenson@gmail.com Kathleen Hullinger khullin@g.clemson.edu Stockett Marr (C) 540-905-2916 j.stockett.marr@gmail.com 10th Reunion: June 2019
Around the time these notes were being collected, we unfortunately lost our third classmate since graduation, Shadow Sebele. One of Shadow’s good friends and teammates, Greg DiNardo, was kind enough to submit this note to help us remember Shadow. Greg writes, “While Shadow was a phenomenal soccer player and athlete, he was an even better person. Shadow taught many to be grateful for what they have, be humble for their accomplishments, and to be kind to all. It is difficult to believe that he is gone, but the memory of his passion for life, happiness, and the game of soccer will always inspire a number of us from ’09. Shadow will be missed dearly, but never forgotten.”
Emily Urquhart, Elly Montague, Nikki Poppiti, Trina Brady Hooker, Grace Chesson, and Elizabeth Dale (all Class of 2008) at Trina’s wedding in January.
Hanes Dunn and Claire Channell traveled with friends to Bolivia over New Year’s. Ginna Oates is still living in San Francisco, loving it and teaching second grade at an all boys’ school. She has hung out with Khoury Ibrahim ’10 and Caroline Williamson, who are also living there. Ginna reports that she had an incredible, and much needed, reunion with Catherine Harrison, Bridgette Ewing, and Bess Trotter when they were all in Charlotte, N.C., for one night over Christmas. Katie Rozelle married Aubrey Thomas of Lubbock, Texas, on Oct. 17, 2015, in her hometown of Palm Beach, Fla. Katie Horton was a bridesmaid, and Kelly Wallace, Paula Pavlova, and Kathleen Hullinger were all there to celebrate! Katie is enjoying newlywed life, a new job, and the first addition to their family – a puppy named Maddie. 80
Patrick (Elly’s fiancé), Elly Montague ’08, Trina Brady Hooker ’08, and Cahill Hooker at Trina and Cahill’s wedding.
Jeila Martin Kershaw writes that her sister got married in May and they had an EHS crew at the wedding. She says it was “SO much fun” and that they talked about the Strip a lot. She is still living in New Orleans, loving it, and looking forward to seeing Kate Stover during Mardi Gras in a few weeks. But before that, a group of the girls are planning to surprise Frances Stone for her birthday in Atlanta! Carly Linthicum accepted an offer earlier this year to transition from Deloitte’s Federal Consulting practice to Deloitte’s Global Greenhouse team for a 12-month fellowship. She will be traveling the world developing and delivering consulting labs
for international clients all over. Good Luck, Carly. Kathleen Hullinger visited Billy Hackenson in San Fransisco. Billy was a great tour guide and showed her all the famous landmarks. The two continue to see each other when home in the D.C. area around the holidays. And lastly, Olivia Vietor made a trip to Dallas, Texas, to visit Kathleen. The two had a great time catching up, and even made it to a Garth Brooks concert. Wishing everyone a happy, successful, and great start to 2016. Please keep in touch!
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’10
Whitt Clement (H) 804-353-9333 wwc3uk@virginia.edu 10th Reunion: June 2020
Alexa Williams will spend 2016 in the heart of the presidential election. She reports, “I recently finished up as field director on a state senate race in Virginia and this winter worked as the special projects director with Hillary Clinton’s campaign in Iowa for the Caucuses, which kicked off the presidential primary season.” Catherine Harrison ’09, Bridgette Ewing ’09, Bess Trotter ’09, and Ginna Oates ’09 in Charlotte over Christmas.
Cameron Hawkins moved West. She writes, “I am now living in Steamboat Springs, Colo., fulfilling my Colorado dream and working with the Yampa Valley Sustainability Council and at Natural Grocers, a health foods store. Jordan Nulsen visited me on her way to Hawaii, and we had a blast exploring the beautiful Rockies.” Speaking of the Rainbow State, Sarah Cauthen reports that she can still be found in Honolulu, where she loves living the island life and continues to teach middle school English.
Hanes Dunn ’09 and Claire Channell ’09 at Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia.
Kathleen Hullinger ’09 and Olivia Vietor ’09 at a Garth Brooks concert in Dallas.
James Dorsett relocated from Australia to Raleigh to work for ADP, a payroll and human resources company. James attended Anthony Juker’s graduation at the Naval Academy and reports that Anthony, an officer, is training at flight school in Pensacola, Fla. He also sees Robert Kittrell, Rachel Hurley, and Brendan Luther in their North Carolina stomping grounds often. Chelsea Jack writes, “I loved running into Presley ’15 and Whit Goode ’17 on a New Year’s vacation to Great Exuma. I am still working at The Hastings Center, where I contribute to scholarship on the ethical dimensions of health and medicine.” Will Kalaris adds that he started a new job in September at CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce) in New York, where he is an analyst on the Equity Derivatives desk.
Paula Pavlova, Kelly Wallace, Katie Rozelle Thomas, Katie Horton, and Kathleen Hullinger, all Class of 2009, at Katie’s fall wedding.
Anthony Juker ’10 at his graduation from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
Kate Frediani graduated from Vanderbilt with high honors in 2014 and lives with EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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Emma Wiltshire and Juliette Crowther in D.C. Paul Blake reports, “I recently accepted a new job in Cali, Colombia, where I will be doing communications (writing/photo/ video) for a big research NGO focused on climate change, etc. – harkening back to my days on the EHS Service Council.” As for me, I still reside in San Antonio and hope to see many of you this year. As always, thanks for the updates. That’s all for now!
’11
Ambler Goddin (H) 703-683-4757 lag9qy@viriginia.edu 5th Reunion: June 10-11, 2016
While the past five years have led our class to great places away from The Holy Hill, June will find many of us back together celebrating our first Reunion Weekend and reconnecting with old friends. Hope to see you all there! Cat Lambert has been working as the Annenberg Fellow at Eton College, an allboys school in Windsor, United Kingdom, where she teaches Latin and Greek. She also coached David Cameron’s nephew in rugby! Collin Wiles has nothing exceptionally exciting to report; he just wanted everyone to know he is doing well.
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Solly Thomas played soccer at Sewanee and was captain of the team for his junior and senior years. He graduated from Sewanee in May 2015; after that he graduated from the Marine Corps’ Officer Candidates School. He is currently in Quantico, Va., as a second lieutenant and is training to be an infantry officer. Stewart Bova became a godfather this last September! Preston Cory and Elizabeth Henderson are living together yet again in Glover Park. Preston is working for a Virginia Congresswoman on Capitol Hill, and Elizabeth is working in communications on The Holy Hill. They are thrilled to be back in the District. Amanda Acquaire is working as a Business Analyst at Fidelity Investments in Boston, Mass., and has recently initiated a Snapchat saga with Elizabeth Henderson. Lucas Ford started working as a Financial Analyst for a R.E.I.T. by the name of Conrex down in Charleston, S.C. Caroline Andress is getting her master’s at Georgia Tech in mechanical engineering.
’12
Ryan Bennert (H) 252-633-3082 reb31@duke.edu 5th Reunion: June 2017
Reid Nickle is living in D.C. and is working for Gula Graham, the political fundraising firm he did his senior seminar with. Additionally, he is able to hang out with Attison Barnes, Colin Thomas, Jack Susanin, and Miles Barkley all the time. Unfortunately though, he is living with someone who went to Woodberry.
I’m sure the Class of 2012 has been busy with everything that comes with the impending completion of university life! Job interviews, graduate school applications, internships, and gap year plans seem to consume every thought! Exciting things are happening for the Class of 2012.
Robert Amico has been working on a play in Portland, Ore., as part of the Fertile Ground Theatre Festival. The play, Baba Yaga, was inspired by Baba Yaga, the witch from Russian fairy tales. For the piece, he performed as Ivan, the classic hero of Russian fairy tales, and made shadow puppets. The show opened on January 24 and has been a huge success! Theater and art have been going well in Portland!
Austin Conger was a debutante in North Carolina over the Christmas holiday. Congratulations, Austin! As a member of the executive team, Stuart Agnew’s life has been consumed by Carolina For The Kids, the UNC Dance Marathon that will take place on April 1 and 2! She still continues her job search and is about to start the placement process
Cameron Hawkins ’10 and Jordan Nulsen ’10 in Steamboat Springs, Colo.
for Princeton in Africa. Fingers crossed that Stuart gets picked to be a fellow next year! A senior football player at Williams College, Johnny Bond was awarded the Michael Meredith Reily ’64 Award at the end of this year’s football season. The award is determined by a vote of the players and honors the player who best embodies the spirit, ideals, and character of the team. Congratulations, Johnny! Sarah Claiborne is graduating from UNCChapel Hill this spring and was just invited to Phi Beta Kappa. Wow! I will still be at Duke next fall, finishing up my minors in English and Italian. With another semester left in my undergraduate experience, I don’t have to start the intense job search quite yet, so I’m applying to museum internships around the world. Kudos to all of you who have careers and graduate school on the horizon! From what I can see on social media, it seems as though you are all doing well! Please consider contributing any exciting updates and happenings to class notes in the future! God bless the Class of 2012 and God bless The High School.
SUBMIT YOUR CLASS NOTES ONLINE! Just go to the homepage and click on “Alumni” and then “Submit A Class Note.” For help with passwords or login, please contact the Advancement Office.
’13
Class Correspondent Needed 5th Reunion: June 2018
If you’d like to volunteer to be the class correspondent or just to share an update, please contact your alumni programs officer, Kirkland Hagerty, at khm@episcopalhighschool.org or 703-933-4167.
Class of 2012 classmates Jack Blaine, Buck Armstrong, Armour Shaw, and Michael Vance attended one of Johnny Bond’s football games at Williams College.
Jihyun Lee reports, “Virginia Wright, Ali Alford, Sarah Merrill Barringer, Kate Bickley, Read McNichols, and I met up for the UNC vs. UVA football game this past fall. While we were visiting Chapel Hill for the weekend, we also got to see Miller Winston and a lot of other EHS alumni, current EHS students, friends, and family!” Celeste Vandeventer lived in Darjeeling, India, in the Himalayas for a month this fall doing an independent research project on community-based conservation and adaptation to diminishing spring water. She also spent some time volunteering at the Kiran Institute in Varanasi. Abby Fralin and Haley Lyerly studied abroad in Florence, Italy, and traveled throughout Europe. Haley notes skydiving in Switzerland as one of the most memorable moments of her time abroad.
Class of 2013 friends Virginia Wright, Ali Alford, Sarah Merrill Barringer, Kate Bickley, Read McNichols, and Jihyun Lee met up for the UNC Chapel Hill vs. UVA football game this past fall.
Anne Page is studying in Dublin at UCD and playing lacrosse for their program. Sydnor Kerns attended a study abroad summer program in Mendoza, Argentina, that focused on wine economics and Latin American development. Maggie Graney reports that it was so great to be back with friends at Kate Bickley’s debutante ball over the holidays! “I miss my high school friends so much when I’m at school now, but we never fail to pick up right where we left off.”
Lucy Douglass ’13 and Maggie Graney ’13 at classmate Kate Bickley’s debutante ball.
Crawford Horan, Maggie Graney, and Lucy Douglass (all Class of 2013) celebrated with Kate Bickley at her debutante ball in Macon, Ga., over the Christmas holidays.
’14
Cici Sobin cici.sobin@gmail.com 5th Reunion: June 2019
Babbie Andrews’ family traveled to Columbia, S.C., to support an event for EHS THE MAGAZINE OF EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL
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CLASS NOTES
the Republican presidential candidates that was hosted by her grandfather’s foundation (Jack Kemp Foundation), which is now run by her uncle Jimmy Kemp. Over the course of a day, Senators Paul Ryan and Tim Scott had conversations with candidates Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, John Kasich, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, and Chris Christie! Carly Fiorina and Trump didn’t attend. Babbie spent the day meeting each candidate and listening to great conversations! Ike Kilis is working on the development team for an app called My Last Night Out. The app is designed to promote safety on college campuses. Similarly, Laurelle Jacques is busy working on developing a social networking site for female professionals. Laurelle continues her sideline reporting for William and Mary athletics. Ania DeJoy joined the Alpha Phi Sorority at Duke University as well as an a cappella group called Rhythm & Blue. Ania has recently declared her double majors in Slavic and Eurasian Studies as well as in Russian and Music. Rachel Vadhan was recently selected to be the vice president of programming for the Sigma Kappa Sorority at the University of Virginia. As VPP, Rachel is charged with managing the chapter’s calendar as well as organizing educational programs. Rachel also works at Hartford Lab as a growth associate. In her role, Rachel manages Hartford Lab’s social media platforms. Rachel studied abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark, with the UVA Mcintire School of Commerce in May 2015. Over the past year, Savannah Lambert has volunteered for the Petey Greene Program. The Petey Greene Program promotes educational opportunity for incarcerated people by training students to tutor in different types of prison and jail facilities. Savannah tutors at a juvenile facility through their VisionQuest Lee Prep program. Liz Martinelli was selected to join a team of 18 people to develop an advertising campaign for the National Student Advertising Competition. Liz is working specifically on the Media and Creative Advertising 84
Babbie Andrews ’14 (second from left) with friends, family, and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan at an event hosted by the Jack Kemp Foundation.
teams for Southern Methodist University. Advertising schools across the country participate in the ongoing competition to design the best advertising campaign for Snapple. Teams will present to and be judged by a board composed of the company’s executives. As a member of Rutger’s chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Ileanie Alifonso spent her winter break traveling down to St. Louis to join Urbana, a Christian student-run mission conference. Grace Falken remains heavily involved in the cross country and track and field teams at Davidson. This spring, Grace is studying economics in Stockholm, Sweden. Sam Armm spent last summer working at the Northern Virginia 4-H Educational Center, teaching an outdoor cooking class for kids ages 9-13. He is also a member of the musical theater group The Footlighters and the FIJI Fraternity at Case Western Reserve University.
Willie works to support the consolidations team’s orthopedics division, DePuy Synthes. Annalee Walton transferred to the NYU Tisch School of the Arts to major in film and TV production. Annalee is currently working on a short documentary series “War Ink” about veterans’ tattoos and their stories.
’15
Presley Goode pgoode2@gmail.com Tyler Hartmeyer tigerpearson97@gmail.com Morgan Linebery morganlineberry12@gmail.com 5th Reunion: June 2020
Will Slade played rugby with the Santa Clara University team in Argentina over Spring Break.
During her first semester at Harvard, Elizabeth Ashford met lots of new people, studied, and spent most of her time in the boat house preparing for rowing’s spring season. Now that she has managed to learn all the different aspects of her life at Harvard, she has decided to tutor kids at a nearby middle school and is planning on joining several clubs.
Willie Edgerly has spent the last year working full time for Johnson and Johnson.
Eric Smith really enjoyed his first semester at Williams and enjoyed being a member
SUBMIT YOUR CLASS NOTES ONLINE! Just go to the homepage and click on “Alumni” and then “Submit A Class Note.” For help with passwords or login, please contact the Advancement Office.
of the varsity football team, although he hopes the team does better next year. Lucy Catlett has been leading hiking backpacking trips for the outdoors club at UVA. Over spring break, she will be volunteering with the Oregon National Park Service to learn more about the park maintenance and the work of park rangers.
EHS alumni gather together before UVA’s first home football game. Go Hoos! Go High School!
Teddy Wilhelm had a great first semester at Dickinson and is looking forward to the beginning of the baseball season as a member of the Dickinson baseball team. He also plans to declare as a political science major. Elizabeth Collett is loving U.Va., where she recently pledge Kappa Kappa Gamma. In December, Elizabeth became a docent at the University’s museum, and she just began interning at a local Charlottesville art gallery.
Jay Forehand ’15 and Calvin Lawson ’15 ran into former EHS faculty members Bobby and Elizabeth Watts at a VMI football game. Elizabeth snapped this photo of the boys and reports that Jay and Calvin seem to be surviving their first year at VMI.
Pendleton Bogache ’15, Elizabeth Ashford ’15, and Tyler Hartmeyer ’15 met up in N.Y.C. over the holidays.
Timmy Phillips ’15 and Eric Smith ’15 after a scrimmage between Notre Dame and Air Force.
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CLASS NOTES
M A RRI AG E S
BIR T HS
Armand Tise Eyler, Jr. ’52 to Devy Rose, Oct. 17, 2015.
Andrew Forrest Pattillo to Amy and Jim Pattillo ’93, April 2, 2015.
William MacAllister Coxe, Jr. ’91 to Laura Saunders, Oct. 3, 2015.
Hamilton Bronson Morrison to Mimi and Ham Morrison ’93, Oct. 30, 2015.
John Anderson Wilson ’93 to Britton E. Rogers, Sept. 19, 2015.
Constance Bryan Eubanks “Coco” to Ben and Hampton Moore Eubanks ’96, Nov. 8, 2015.
Ryan McCoy Penninger ’02 to Scottie Coleman, Oct. 3, 2015. Louise Holt Burton ’02 to Lee Copeland, Oct. 24, 2015. Charles Daniel Lockhart ’03 to Lindsey Duhamel, May 23, 2015. Courtney Jaleh Kershaw ’03 to Robbins Taylor, May 31, 2015. George Woodward Stover III ’04 to Monica Joy Wickering, Sept. 12, 2015.
Alexander Patel to Eric and Shriti Patel Moore ’97, June 15, 2015. Caroline Grace McLeod to Catherine and Tad McLeod ’97, Feb. 18, 2016. Thomas Ladson Webb IV to Xandria and Ladson Webb ’97, Dec. 28, 2015.
Dorothy Lee Hutchison ’04 to Irving Sears Driscoll III, Nov. 7, 2015.
Tess Ravenel and Oliver Stewart Richardson to Stephen Lewis and Margaret Ravenel Richardson ’99, Nov. 11, 2015.
Taylor Harrison Embury ’05 to Yana Rubtsova, Dec. 14, 2015.
Isabel Marie O’Donohue to Grace and Stephen O’Donohue ’99, Dec. 9, 2015.
Julie Caroline Barraza ’06 to Thomas Boggs, Nov. 21, 2015.
Oliver Beeland Claghorn to Jake and Prather Smith Claghorn ’99, Dec. 30, 2015.
Caitlin Bevins Dirkes ’06 to Marshall Simmonds, Dec. 19, 2015. Renee Mary-Ann John ’07 to Duane Howard, Sept. 12, 2015. Wylie Gibson Hutchison ’07 to Kate Horney, Sept. 26, 2015. Victoria Miranda Friedman ’07 to Stephen Thevenot, Oct. 2, 2015. Frances Dabney Kupersmith ’07 to Piet van Os, Nov. 14, 2015. Katharine Shannon Brady ’08 to Cahill Hooker, Jan. 2, 2016. Katherine Maureen Rozelle ’09 to Aubrey Thomas, Oct. 17, 2015. 86
Morgan Michael Doswell to Sarah and Menard Doswell ’96, Jan. 4, 2016.
Abigail Sara Phillips to Megan and Jordan Phillips ’00, Dec. 11, 2015. Kayla Mathis Burnat to Laura and Lawson Burnat ’00, Jan. 5, 2016. Catherine Julia Patterson to Jim and Perrin Dent Patterson ’01, July 30, 2015. Mary Evelyn (Evie) Parker to Annie and Carey Parker ’01, Sept. 5, 2015.
Rosa Litton Lockwood Sayers to Hanley and Beezie McLaughlin Sayers ’01, Dec. 17, 2015. Ella Jane McGettigan to Julie and Will McGettigan ’02, July 14, 2015. Whitaker Carl Fair to Eric and Daphne Allen Fair ’02, Sept. 26, 2015. William Hayward Wright to Doug and Anne Lummis Wright ’02, Nov. 19, 2015. Walter Ames McNew to Steven and Annabell Jones McNew ’03, Feb. 18, 2015. Lee Massey McLaughlin IV to Jess and Lee McLaughlin III ’03, Nov. 16, 2015. Elizabeth Dawson Whichard to Jessica and Jordan Whichard ’03, Jan. 2, 2016. Robert Pierce Gilbert to Grant and Lauren Pirrung Gilbert ’03, Jan. 19, 2016. Cyrus Wiley Grandy VII to Gray and Wiley Grandy IV ’04, July 6, 2015. Elsa Marie McLemore to Thomas and Madison Penninger McLemore ’04, Oct. 6, 2015. Edward Camp McCurry to Charlie and Katie Arnold McCurry ’04, Dec. 27, 2015. Clementine Gray Carlos to Adam and Madison Murray Carlos ’05, Sept. 17, 2015. Sloane Marilyn Morse to Brian Morse and Alexandra Varipapa ’05, Dec. 17, 2015.
Robert Baldwin “Win” Noble to Joey and Lacy Baldwin Noble ’01, Oct. 16, 2015. Greyson Jean Polak to Chad and Lauren Sims Polak ’01, Nov. 3, 2015. SUBMIT YOUR CLASS NOTES ONLINE! Just go to the homepage and click on “Alumni” and then “Submit A Class Note.” For help with passwords or login, please contact the Advancement Office.
As a student, you felt like he knew what your dreams could be, and he wanted to support your dreams.” – ALIX DEJEAN ’00
The F. Robertson Hershey Tribute Campaign is an opportunity to honor the lasting impact our 11th Headmaster has made on the Episcopal High School experience.
Make a gift at episcopalhighschool.org/tribute or call 877-347-1839.
In Memoriam William Francis Smith ’42
Augustus Winniett Peters ’45
At Episcopal, Mr. Smith played tennis and ran track. After EHS, he attended the University of Virginia and the U.S. Navy Officer Candidate School, where he earned the rank of ensign and participated in World War II in the Pacific. Upon graduation, Mr. Smith returned to Alexandria where he taught at George Washington High School. He then began his lifelong career in banking, working at Burke & Herbert and Alexandria National. Mr. Smith authored “A Seaport Saga: Portrait of Old Alexandria, Virginia” and established the William F. Smith Special Collection of historic photographs at the Alexandria Library. Mr. Smith is survived by his wife, Nancy Jane Leith Smith; three children; six grandchildren; and his brother, Charles Henry Smith, Jr. ’39.
At Episcopal, Mr. Peters was a member of the Missionary Society, the Hop Committee, and the E-Club. He was a Monitor, Waiter, captain of the varsity basketball team, and member of the varsity football and baseball teams. After EHS, Mr. Peters graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mr. Peters was the CEO and chairman of the Jas. I. Miller Tobacco Company, the CEO and chairman of the Standard Commercial Tobacco Company, and a director of the BB&T Corporation. He also served in the U.S. Navy. He is survived by his sons, including Coalter Paxton Peters ’74; his half brother, William Coalter Paxton, Jr. ’55; his sister; and many grandchildren. Other EHS relatives include his son, Augustus Winniett Peters, Jr. ’71.
Henry Burnett ’44
Dr. John Russell Gill, Jr. ’46
At EHS, Mr. Burnett was a Monitor and served as secretary and vice president of the Fairfax Literary Society. He played football, basketball, and tennis and was a member of the Hop Committee, Whispers Board, E-Club, Missionary Society, and Advisory Board. After Episcopal, Mr. Burnett received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and remained in the Naval Reserves for many years. Henry joined the Fowler White Gillen Yancey and Humkey firm in 1950 and remained with such firm or its successors until his retirement in 2014. He received the Joe Eaton Unsung Hero Award given by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Mr. Burnett is survived by two daughters, a granddaughter, four grandsons, and three great-grandchildren. EHS relatives include brother Lucien Dallam Burnett, Jr. ’42, son Henry Stewart Burnett IV ’84, and nephew Lucien Dallam Burnett III ’71.
At Episcopal, Mr. Gill won the Shakespeare Medal. He was a member of the JV football team, the track and field team, the Missionary Society, and the Cum Laude Society. After EHS, Mr. Gill graduated from the University of Virginia. He attended the University of Virginia Medical School and then completed his internship at Washington University Medical Center in St. Louis and his residency at Duke University Medical Center. He received a fellowship and spent one year in Copenhagen. When he returned to the United States, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he began his 30-year career as an endocrinologist at the National Institutes of Health. During his career, he contributed to many important research discoveries in the fields of hypertension and diseases of the adrenal gland. Mr. Gill is survived by his wife, Cathie; three children; and four grandchildren. EHS relatives include his brother, Thomas Dew Gill ’52.
of Alexandria, Va., died Nov. 13, 2015.
of Miami, Fla., died Sept. 23, 2015.
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of Wilson, N.C., died May 7, 2015.
of Washington, D.C., died Oct. 11, 2015.
Edward Davis Gregory, Jr. ’48
Fritz William Orr, Jr. ’51
At EHS, Mr. Gregory was a member of the Fairfax Literary Society, the Missionary Society, Both Halves, and 8:30 Club. He was a Librarian and Sports Editor of Whispers. He also participated in 12th Night and played tennis. After Episcopal, Mr. Gregory graduated from Princeton University and received an MBA from Harvard Business School. He served as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard. Mr. Gregory worked for the DuPont Company in Wilmington, Del., where he served for 35 years, and where he retired with the title of assistant treasurer. EHS relatives include his brother, John G. Gregory ’52.
At Episcopal, Mr. Orr was a Monitor, Waiter, and member of the Missionary Society. He participated in choir, played B-squad football, and ran track. After EHS, Mr. Orr graduated from Auburn University. He owned and operated a farm in Palmetto, Ga., for several years. He then served as owner and director of Camp Merrie-Woode for Girls in Sapphire, N.C., and facilitated its transformation into a foundation. He then served as the director of Camp Calvin in Hampton, Ga., for many years and a trustee of the Quitman Presbyterian Home where he spent the last few years of his life. During his retirement, he worked as a real estate appraiser in Cashiers, N.C. Mr. Orr is survived by his wife, Dorothy Quarles Orr; a son and daughter; three grandchildren, including Mary Peterkin Worthington ’04; and a great-granddaughter.
of Kennett Square, Pa., died April 11, 2015.
Echol Speina Marshall, Jr. ’48
of Austin, Texas, died Jan. 30, 2016. At EHS, Mr. Marshall was a Monitor, played football, and ran track. He was a member of the Cum Laude Society, Missionary Society, Glee Club, 8:30 Club, and Egypt. He also participated in Stewart A.C. and choir, and was treasurer of the Fairfax Literary Society. After Episcopal, Mr. Marshall received his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia. He then served in the Marine Corps as a captain in the Korean War. A native Virginian, Mr. Marshall moved to Austin in 1984 to work as an engineer for 3M. Mr. Marshall is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; a daughter; a grandson; a niece; and a grandnephew and grandniece. EHS relatives include son Echol Speina Marshall III ’76 and granddaughter Claire Genevieve Simon ’11.
of Quitman, Ga., died Oct. 12, 2015.
John Stewart Bryan III ’56
of Richmond, Va., died Jan. 23, 2016. At EHS, Mr. Bryan was a Monitor and member of the Hop Committee, Fairfax Literary Society, Missionary Society, and Glee Club. He was also in the choir and played football. Mr. Bryan supported Episcopal throughout his life and served on the Board of Trustees for many years. After EHS, Mr. Bryan attended the University of Virginia and then served active duty as an infantry officer in the Marine Corps. He returned to U.Va. for one year of law school. Mr. Bryan pursued a career in the newspaper business, eventually succeeding his father, D. Tennant Bryan 1925, as the president and publisher of the Times Dispatch and Richmond News Leader. He later joined Media General, a holding company for his family’s newspaper and television properties, as the chief operating officer and was elected chairman, president, and CEO. In 2003, Mr. Bryan was inducted into the Greater Richmond Business Hall of Fame, and in 2012, he was the recipient of the George Mason Award for his contributions to the advancement of journalism in Virginia. Mr. Bryan is survived by his wife, Lisa-Margaret “Lissy” Stevenson Bryan; two daughters; and five grandchildren. Mr. Bryan had numerous EHS relatives, including John Stewart Bryan 1889, Thomas Pinckney Bryan 1901, David Tennant Bryan 1925, John Stewart Bryan, Jr. 1928, EHS Trustee Alexander Hamilton Bocock ’86, and Bryan Knowles Wisner ’00.
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IN MEMORIAM
Anderson Wise ’56
Thomas James McCarthy, Jr. ’63
At EHS, Mr. Wise played football, baseball, and basketball, and was a member of the Dramatics Club. After Episcopal, Mr. Wise attended the Virginia Military Institute, where he obtained a B.A. in history. He then earned his J.D. at the University of Virginia. Following law school, Mr. Wise completed Basic Infantry Officers Training School at Fort Benning, Ga. He served in the U.S. Army for two years, earning the rank of captain. In 1997 Mr. Wise formed the law firm of Schwerzmann & Wise PC. During his career, Mr. Wise served as Jefferson County Attorney and as an assistant counsel to New York State Senate Majority Leader Warren Anderson (R-Binghamton). Mr. Wise was preceded in death by his first wife, Joanne Smith Wise. He is survived by his wife, Donna Stone Wise; four sons, including EHS Trustee R. Halsey Wise ’83 and David Anderson Wise ’86; 11 grandchildren, including Richard Halsey Wise, Jr. ’15, Olivia Anderson Wise ’15, and Coleman Robinson Wise ’19; and his brothers, Richard Sargeant Wise ’64 and Henry Alexander Wise, Jr. ’69.
At Episcopal, Mr. McCarthy was a Monitor, managing editor of the Chronicle, schoolroom keeper, organist, and varsity football trainer. He participated in Missionary Society, Blackford Literary Society, and A. A. Shop. After EHS, Mr. McCarthy earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Washington and Lee University and a J.D. from the University of Virginia. Mr. McCarthy was a longtime partner in the Pulaski law firm of Gilmer, Sadler, Ingram, Sutherland and Hutton. He was appointed as attorney for Pulaski County, the Industrial Development Authority of Pulaski County, the Pulaski County Public Service Authority, and the Pulaski County School Board. He also served as one of Pulaski County’s Commissioner of Accounts. In 1970, Mr. McCarthy joined the U.S. Army Reserves and retired with the rank of colonel. He was decorated with the Legion of Merit Medal and the Meritorious Service Medal. Mr. McCarthy is survived by his wife, Jennifer Kirby McCarthy; his stepdaughter; and two step-granddaughters.
of Watertown, N.Y., died Dec. 30, 2015.
Tain Pendleton Tompkins ’60 of McLean, Va., died Jan. 3, 2016.
At EHS, Mr. Tompkins was a Monitor; Cheerleader; and member of the Athletic Advisory Board, the Chronicle and Whispers Boards, the Missionary Society, the E-Club, Dramatics, and the Wilmer Literary Society. He received the Joseph Bryan Medal; played football, soccer, and baseball; and was a Greenway baseball umpire. After EHS Mr. Tompkins received a B.A. in English from Washington and Lee University, an M.A. in international relations from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and an M.A. in creative writing from The Johns Hopkins University. Mr. Tompkins joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1969 and was given assignments all over the world, including in Zimbabwe, Australia, Portugal, Vietnam, Lebanon, Israel, and England. He was the husband of Grace Muller Tompkins and father of two daughters.
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of Draper, Va., died Nov. 1, 2015.
James Neal Rassman ’67
of Wilmington, N.C., died June 7, 2015. At EHS, Mr. Rassman was a Waiter and a member of the E-Club and the Fairfax Literary Society. He played football, and in track he established the 220-yard hurdle record that stood for many years. After Episcopal, Mr. Rassman received his undergraduate degree from Washington and Lee University. He later received a master’s degree in landscape architecture from Texas A&M University. Mr. Rassman was a landscape architecture professor at Texas Tech University, the College of Charleston, and Kansas State University, where he received the “Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award” in 1985. He traveled extensively throughout his life studying and photographing gardens and historic landscape design. Mr. Rassman is survived by his sister, nephew, and niece, Tyler Bates Novak ’96.
Reginald Wilbur Burns ’72
of Cloverdale, Ca., died Jan. 7, 2016.
William Riley Deeble III
of Vineyard Haven, Mass., died Feb. 18, 2016.
At EHS, Mr. Burns was Head Monitor, a member of the Honor Committee and Student Curriculum Committee, and vice president of the Pithonian Society. He played soccer, squash, and tennis. Mr. Burns was Episcopal’s first AfricanAmerican student. In the 1972 edition of Whispers, Mr. Burns was voted “Most Likely to Succeed,” “Best Monitor,” and “Most Respected.” After Episcopal, Mr. Burns received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mr. Burns then moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and worked for United Airlines and Qantas Airlines. Active in politics, Regi worked on the 1992 Clinton campaign, and in 1996 he was selected as a delegate to the Democratic Convention. Mr. Burns learned Creole and Cajun cooking while working as a caterer in New Orleans, and he studied under a Thai chef in San Francisco. Mr. Burns is survived by his husband, Michael A. Hoban; his brother; and his nieces and nephews. Read more about Mr. Burns on page 92.
Abel “Shadow” Sebele ’09
of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, died Jan. 7, 2016. At EHS, Mr. Sebele ran track and was a member of the indoor 4x400 state record-holding relay team. He was also a captain of the soccer team, including the 2009 state championship team. After Episcopal, Mr. Sebele attended West Virginia University, where he was a midfielder for the Mountaineers. Mr. Sebele graduated from WVU in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in sports management. He went on to play for the Des Moines Menace of the USL Premier Development League, the indoor Wichita B-52s, and then the outdoor Wichita team in the National Premier Soccer League. In 2015, Mr. Sebele joined the San Diego Sockers, a professional indoor soccer team. Mr. Sebele is survived by his mother and father, Simo Moyo and Ezekiel Dlubhe Sebele; two sisters, Yekelani and Steffinah; two brothers, Ndumiso and Sabelo; his EHS guardians, Doug and Diane Kehlenbrink; and their son, Peter Kehlenbrink ’08. A memorial service was held at Episcopal on Jan. 17.
Mr. Deeble was a beloved member of the EHS faculty for over 40 years, serving the School as a history teacher and coach of varsity wrestling and cake football. He was inducted into the EHS Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013. Whether coaching wrestling, cake football, or tennis, Riley was an outstanding and devoted mentor, teacher, and trainer. His friend and colleague Jim Seidule remembers that for many years he coached all three seasons, and for each sport, “he was the same hard worker, specializing in having his athletes in shape, teaching the fundamentals, and winning. Yet I do not think he had any athletic background in any of those three sports. Like all the coaches during my years, we were amateurs. We were teachers first. Mr. Deeble developed into an excellent coach, highly respected by his athletes, the faculty, and his competing coaches.” The Class of 1954 was the first class that Mr. Deeble saw through four years at EHS, and in 2004 he used the opportunity of the class’s 50th Reunion to share some thoughts about the School. “Most of what I learned about EHS came from observing and listening to the students, who have been in general the most courteous and kind in enlightening me as necessary,” he wrote. “Two attributes impressed me from the first: the importance of the honor system as they cooperatively maintain it, and the intense loyalty of alumni, as seen most dramatically in the numbers at Reunions, but also in their ongoing support of the School’s growth.” Mr. Deeble loved the School, and the School loved him. Before coming to Episcopal, Mr. Deeble graduated from Yale University in 1943 then served for three years in the U.S. Army during World War II. In 1948, he began working for the Central Intelligence Agency, and in 1951, he joined the EHS community. He retired from EHS in 1992.
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Remembering a Life Worthy of Its Calling Reginald W. Burns ’72: 1954-2016 B Y J E N DES AU T EL S
THERE MUST ALWAYS BE A FIRST. In December 1965, the EHS Board of Trustees voted unanimously to admit “any and all qualified applicants” to the School. And in the fall of 1968, the first integrated class at Episcopal High School began their freshman year. Two members of that class, Regi Burns and Sam Paschall, were African American boys from North Carolina, and they were the School’s first. This January, a few short weeks after the 50th anniversary of the Board’s decision to integrate the School, one of those first boys, Regi Burns, died. In response to his passing, members of the Class of 1972 shared stories and reflections on their time at EHS with Regi. While the integration of EHS was peaceful, primarily because of the steadfast leadership of Headmaster Archibald Robinson Hoxton, Jr. ’35, the impact that Regi had on the School and his classmates was tremendous and noteworthy. 92
Imagine the weight of that responsibility in being a “first.” Regi was barely a teenager, still a boy, and suddenly the face of the most significant change in a School’s history. What was going through his mind as he came up the front drive the first time? Was he afraid? Did he wonder how he had become this crucial change agent for the school community? Did he feel the pressures of what this meant to all those he represented back home and around the country? Following the School’s decision to integrate, Headmaster Hoxton coordinated with the Stouffer Foundation to recruit and identify academically strong candidates, and the School independently decided who to admit after careful consideration of their credentials. In a March 1968 letter to the alumni community announcing the School’s decision to integrate, Headmaster Hoxton wrote:
“In carrying out the policy put in writing by the Board two years ago, I believe that we are partially fulfilling our duty to our country and to the boys, both white and black, who will attend EHS. We must do all we can to educate them for life in the second half of this century.” Classmate Randy Metcalfe ’72 reflects on Regi’s acceptance to EHS. “He was the perfect candidate to break the color barrier,” he writes. “They couldn’t have chosen a better example. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in the Admissions and Headmaster’s Offices when they were discussing who would be first. He handled everything with a grace that seemed so easy, but was obviously much more difficult than any of us could have imagined.” The pressure to make the most of the opportunity extended beyond what Regi faced on a daily basis at EHS; he had
people at home who needed him, too. John McIntosh ’72 remembers Regi telling him “about the car loads of men who occasionally pulled up outside his home in Winston-Salem, unannounced, before Regi ever came to EHS, to let him know just how much they were counting on him.” The enormity of who Regi was to the School and what he stood for pales in comparison to how he must have felt – being who he was – at EHS. Jim Burke ’72 writes, “I had no appreciation for what Regi went through just to get into the School, and I had no idea that he was destined to become such a superstar.” Classmate James Coleman ’72 writes about those early days in the fall of 1968. “When the Class of 1972 first assembled, we immediately became Rats at the bottom of the School’s food chain. The amount of change was intense; we were away from home for the first time, adhering to a set of rules designed to break us down and prepare us for assimilation into the student body. “As hard as those first weeks were for most of us, I can’t imagine how they were for Regi who was facing a level of pressure the rest of us couldn’t possibly understand. Yet Regi navigated that year with his trademark sense of humor, gaining universal respect and setting the bar for those who followed.” It is Regi’s grace and generosity of spirit that his classmates remember most about him. Bank Hipp ’72 writes, “Regi was so remarkable in so many ways – incredibly intelligent, impeccable integrity, and the definition of grace under pressure. Most importantly, he was a good guy. And Lord knows how he made it look so easy.” “I don’t ever remember Regi once being cross, or grumpy, or anything other than cheerful and gracious,” says Dal Burton ’72, “despite the pressures of being a trailbreaker at a Southern white prep school.”
Regi epitomized living by example. “Imagine being respected and loved and living a quality life,” writes Howell Morrison ’72. “Regi did it all. How much he taught us through his example.” Regi took what must have been an excruciatingly isolating time in his life and made it matter; he made it mean something. He gave merit to the School’s decision to integrate the School by being himself – a natural leader, a hard-worker, a kind and profoundly decent person. “He was one of the most genuine people I have ever met, and he was always happy to generously lend a hand if you were struggling,” shares Jim Burke ’72. The School was better because of him, and his class was stronger because of him. He led a life of purpose. He made others want to be better. “Why was Regi such an effective leader?” writes Scott Farrar ’72. “Why so loved? On reflection, I believe it was his grace in handling the overwhelming irony of the situation. How can one who is defined and singled out as different actually and authentically be one of us? Not only be himself as one of us, but lead as one of the best of us? Courage comes to mind – intelligence, vision, sense of humor.” Considering the love and respect that Regi’s classmates had for him, it was no surprise when he was elected Head Monitor. No law or vote demanded he be given that role; he earned it – simply by being Regi. Heath Alexander ’72 remembers being angrily confronted by an older alumnus about the selection of Regi as Head Monitor. “I just shook my head,” he writes, “and said, ‘You just don’t get it. He was the obvious choice. If you knew him, you’d say the same thing.’” Regi received the W.A.R. Goodwin, Jr. Memorial Bowl at the 1972 commencement in recognition of his service to the School as Head Monitor. The Bowl stayed with Regi long after that day and was always displayed on the living room mantle of Regi’s home.
During a chapel service days after Regi’s passing, the Rev. Gideon Pollach reflected on Regi’s legacy. “I think about the act of courage that it took for Mr. Burns to come to EHS. The act of courage it must have taken him each day to be one of the only faces of color on this campus. I have heard from many Old Boys across the country who remember Regi well and fondly, who speak of him as an amazing pioneer, scholar, and school leader. All of us have a chance to be similar courageous actors in this place. We have the chance not only to study lives of principled leadership and courage, but to live them.” Pat Stewart ’72 writes, “Regi gave so much to his classmates and friends at EHS. Maybe most of all, he gave us his very person; graciously and courageously, he threw his lot in with us, a mostly Southern band of white guys. He played a big part in helping a disparate group of kids grow into a family of brothers. I thank God for those few years I was privileged to share with Regi. May he rest in peace and in the knowledge that he lived a life worthy of his calling.”
READ MORE ABOUT REGI BURNS ’72 IN HIS OBITUARY ON PAGE 91. “Regi has meant a great deal to all who have known and been acquainted with him. The display of peerless leadership, warm personality, and sometimes restrained anger showed to us an amazing composition of characteristics which seem to border on the unreal. A Black student, an honor student, a head monitor, etc., Regi has meant a lot to Episcopal High School. He has been a cogent liaison between faculty and students, an ambassador of integrity, and a catalyst of good will amongst us.” – 1972 WHISPERS
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HERSHEY HYDRANGEAS: As Kathleen and Rob Hershey pack up their belongings this spring, white, pink, and blue hydrangeas will blossom in their yard. The Hersheys are particularly fond of these essential southern flowers, which border the Headmaster’s residence. We wish Rob and Kathleen a long, happy, and healthy retirement, and thank them for their 18 years of fervent and visionary leadership.
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