Class Notes

Evelyn Dickenson Swensson ’45 was invited to lead the singing of patriotic songs at Arlington National Cemetery in conjunction with the National Conference of The National Society of Colonial Dames of America held in Washington, D.C. in October 2022.

Kay Baker Gaston ’58 reported that the Belmont Mansion Press published an updated version of “Dr. William A. Cheatham, Tennessee's First Mental Health Professional,” which was her master’s thesis submitted to Middle Tennessee State University in 1989. Copies are available at the Belmont Mansion gift shop.

Fonde Thompson Werts ’68 is semiretired in Brookhaven/Atlanta, working part time as a tutor for students in elementary grades through high school. In her spare time, she enjoys making quilts for family and friends and traveling. Recently, she and her husband traveled to Singapore to visit their daughter who lives and works there. She also enjoys using her training in teaching English as she volunteers to teach refugees who have come to the Atlanta area from Afghanistan, Ukraine, Burma, and other countries. Pantomime, drawing on the board, and using illustrations are her key strategies, and she comments that they laugh a lot — a universal language.

Virginia Dale ’69, a renowned scientist, returns to Mount St. Helens for ecological research each year following a blast from St. Helens that destroyed all organic and living organisms as it moved through the forested areas. She started her research in the early 1980s when she was a young scientist living in Washington state with a doctorate from the University of Washington. She currently lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, and is the director of the Center for BioEnergy Sustainability at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee.

Susan Handly Hammer ’71 is serving as the president of the board of trust at Currey Ingram Academy in Nashville, Tennessee.

Marty Parham Jones ’73 has a new grandson, Aiden, born in January of 2022.

Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle ’75 was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Nashville Business Journal's Best of the Bar. She was a partner at local law firm Trabue, Sturdivant & Dewitt from 1984 until 1995 and has served Davidson County as a judge for more than 20 years.

Trudy Ward Carpenter ’76 and her husband, Bill, were the recipients of the H.G. Hill Jr. Philanthropic Award presented by the YMCA. This award recognizes a deserving donor and member of the YMCA’s Heritage Club, and it is the club's highest honor. Generously sponsored by the H.G. Hill Realty Company, the award perpetuates the memory of H.G. Hill Jr. who served as chairman of the YMCA Board of Directors from 1950 to 1953 and again from 1965 to 1967.

Anne Schroeder Ducroquetz ’76 joined a wonderful group from the Class of 1976 that gathered at the home of classmate Lucy Adkins Organ ’76 to welcome Anne during her visit from France to Nashville.

Sharon Shockley Cape ’78 retired after 23 years at Bethany Christian Services and 30 plus years working in child welfare. She has given decades of her heart, time, energy, and leadership to adoptive families and impacted so many lives with her career.