Advancement
2020 | bob christian alumna of the year award Christy (McCaskill) Wendell ’69 2020 Recipient
This year’s recipient has an incredible life story and truly embodies the school’s mission of dedicating the mind to inquiry, the heart to compassion and life to service. Read about Christy’s many talents and fascinating journey over the past 50 years. And, she’s responsible for the unimaginable task of finding, connecting and bringing together her classmates after 50 years to host the first-ever class reunion for the classes of ’68 and ’69 in July of 2019! Christy (McCaskill) Wendell ’69
I was flabbergasted to learn I’d been awarded the Bob Christian Alumna Award for 2020. Sincere thanks to the HKIS Class of 1969 for my nomination and the awards committee for this honor. Hong Kong and especially HKIS have always held a special place in my heart. Ever since my father accepted an IBM assignment there in 1965, my life has never been the same. Having initially attended Maryknoll School, I was thrilled when HKIS opened in 1967. Some of my favorite memories were meeting classmates literally from around the globe, helping establish the library, working on the Orientale yearbook, prom, volleyball, and I was the first recipient of the Bob Christian Student Service Award in 1968. Much to my dismay, my father was transferred back to the U.S. after my HKIS junior year, but as the song goes…I left my heart and friends in Hong Kong! HKIS was a life-changing experience for me, instilling a true sense of diversity and inclusion with friends from all over the world, my perspectives and horizons were broadened beyond my wildest imagination. I genuinely value the education, the experiences and friendships to this day! As a student at Virginia Tech, I intended to become a Home Economics teacher, but a summer internship at IBM was my first career detour. I loved working in international human resources for the next 15 years. Two of my favorite positions were helping employees relocate to overseas assignments and teaching leadership and management development at the IBM Executive Education Center. I met my husband, Gray, at Mardi Gras and married in 1984. Our son was born a year later and our daughter in 1989. Sadly, our infant daughter died from delivery complications. His AT&T career took us to Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Texas. I was fortunate to be an at-home mom, but decided to return to my home economic roots, starting my own catering business and teaching culinary classes. Wilton Industries asked me to develop a consumer education program for marketing their culinary products. I enjoyed that “delicious” job for the next decade until my husband became ill and battled early Alzheimer’s for 12 years. Becoming the family breadwinner, I went to work for an entrepreneur in Paris, Texas initially to establish their human resources 6
DRAGONTALES SUMMER 2020
department. Over the next decade, I moved from HR VP to COO to President of his five companies… commercial construction, supply chain logistics, industrial ry HKIS diploma from storage, steel Christy receiving honora Interim Head of IS’s HK Dr. Ron Roukema, fabrication, and School, in 2019. real estate development (just a small leap from home economics, but utilizing my IBM experience and focusing on people development). After re-engineering and transitioning these companies to the owner’s sons, I started my own consulting business in 2008. Committed to lifelong learning and having taken college courses throughout my career, I finally graduated from Harvard Business School in 2007. When HKIS celebrated its 40th anniversary my husband was in hospice and I was unable to attend, but it did start me thinking about my classmates and the fact that we’d never had a class reunion. I began trying to locate the 56 members of the class of 1969 and planning a long-overdue reunion. The HKIS Class of 1968 asked to join us. We decided to meet in Seattle, Washington because Bob Christian, the first HKIS Head of School, now 92 years young, lives there. We were delighted our guest of honor was able to attend the first reunion of his first graduates! We enjoyed an extraordinary weekend and re-connection of long-lost friends at our golden reunion last year. Plans are already underway for our next gathering! Now retired, living life to the fullest and giving back wherever I can, I try to have a positive impact on others and a legacy of having made a difference. I enjoy community service, gardening, cooking, genealogy research AND keeping in touch with HKIS classmates. Be sure you stay updated with HKIS Alums … your 50th class reunion will be here before you know it! n
