Looking Forward

MPS summer roadshow

Miss Porter’s is hitting the road this summer! Look out for Head of School Dr. Katherine G. Windsor as she travels throughout New England to share with you about learning and life at Farmington:

TUESDAY, JULY 9

Kennebunkport, Maine

MONDAY, AUGUST 12

Mount Desert, Maine

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14

Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts

THURSDAY, AUGUST 15

Nantucket, Massachusetts

FRIDAY, AUGUST 16

Little Compton, Rhode Island

Visit porters.org/calendar for the most up-to-date event details, or email alumnaerelations@ missporters.org with questions.

JUNE 25–28, 2024

Building female leaders in education

Current and aspiring women education leaders across the country will gather at MPS from June 25 to 28 for Wonder Women, an experiential training program to build their leadership skills, habits and mindsets. Co-hosted by Porter’s Center for Global Leadership, the four-day event will focus on topics such as exploring personal authority at work, leveraging the strengths and networks of female leadership, and using design thinking to achieve organizational change. Among the speakers will be Head of School Dr. Katherine G. Windsor. Geared to women working in diverse roles in K–12 education, the event will help participants including Ancients who participate develop their ability to perform as authentic, creative and effective leaders.

AUGUST 14, 2024

See you at our summer social!

Miss Porter’s Ancients and other members of the school community are invited to our annual summer reception on Martha’s Vineyard. Hosted by Ancients and parents, this popular summer tradition brings together current, past, and incoming MPS students and their families for socializing over cocktails and mocktails. Head of School Dr. Katherine G. Windsor will share an update on Miss Porter’s School today and goals for the school in the coming years.

Make your voice count

In order to better understand, represent and engage with our population of graduates, the Alumnae and Development Office is collecting data through our ongoing Ancient Census. More than 1,700 Ancients have already responded have you? If not, email alumnaerelations@missporters.org to receive your unique ID and survey link. Help us make gains in our diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging practices by completing the Ancient survey!

1955

Bev Sutherland and Jane “Goodness” Olayiwola ’10, the first recipient of the 1955 Memorial Scholarship. Here, they enjoyed meeting for lunch in Woodbury, Connecticut.

1978

A group of Ancients gathered in New York City to celebrate the opening of “Divine Pathways,” a textile installation by Anne Patterson. Installed in The Cathedral Church of Saint John, it featured an immense field of colorful ribbons Patterson calls “light pathways that are connecting heaven and Earth.”

1984

Nancy Tupper Ling has published a new children’s book titled “One Perfect Plan: The Bible’s Big Story in Tiny Poems.” The picture book introduces young readers to the story of the Bible through fun, engaging poems and breathtaking illustrations.

Nancy Tupper Ling writes: “Look at the amazing panel of stained glass that fellow classmate and friend Fiona Clark created for our home. This is one of four panels. She’s so talented!”

Submitting your note!

Aug. 1, 2024

DELIVERING PHOTOS

Please submit your digital photos at the highest possible size and resolution. Photos must be sized 1 MB or larger.

Please note that we are not able to publish all photos submitted for Class Notes.

BY EMAIL

Share your note via email: classnotes@missporters.org.

THINGS TO NOTE

If emailing from your phone or computer, make sure that the software doesn’t shrink or compress your photos. Lowresolution or low-quality photos may not be included.

Digital photos are preferred. Prints may be mailed, but we cannot return them.

Please provide the full name and class year of every Ancient in the photo (from left to right) and the date and location of the occasion. Include your name, your year and a caption for every image.

1989

Amanda Marcantonio Reynal has published her first book, “Designing Rooms with Joie de Vivre: A Fresh Take on Classic Styles.” She stopped in New Canaan, Connecticut, for a book signing and Q&A that was hosted by Ancients Julia Ballentine Peter ’88 and Hilary Auchincloss Wittmann ’88.

Left to right: Ashley Prymas ’92, Alison Frye Cabot ’86, Sara Hannafin ’88, Theo Rand Dotson ’88, Kathryn Knight Sellschop, Katie Cassidy Sutherland P’23, Hilary Auchincloss Wittmann ’88, Amanda Marcantonio Reynal, Julie Ballentine Peter ’88, Kate Zipser Crooks ’88, P’19, Tina Crisp Miller ’87 and Suzannah McLain Smith ’88. Not shown: Joan Esposito Brothers ’88, Amanda Lehman ’88 and Jen Roberti.

1997

While working at Park Hill Orchard in Easthampton, Massachusetts, Rachel Jennings stumbled upon an artwork titled “Miss Porters the Rolling Giraffe.” Artist Elizabeth Denny found the MPS sign while exploring the Mill River in the state. Rachel writes: “I guess Miss Porter traded in her bun for some ossicones!”

2001

Priscilla (Bisnath) Ramcharan recently self-published “Globalization of Hearts,” a book about the lives and interests of two globally minded Trinidadians, one living in Denmark and one living in the United States. Ramcharan founded and runs Project Love Global, a nonprofit that helps children in need who live in Trinidad.

Kelly Washburn was honored as a top nurse practitioner in providing transgender health and medical services. The list, which was published in the winter 2023–2024 edition of Portland Monthly magazine, was developed through a survey of health care practitioners in Oregon.

2010

Margaret Abigail (Abbie) Pratt became engaged to her partner, Riley, who planned a touching proposal that incorporated one of Abbie’s favorite Porter’s traditions: the New Girl ring ceremony traditionally held at the gazebo during Singing in the Garden. Riley reached out to Porter’s to obtain the gazebo’s dimensions, and engaged a carpenter to create a miniature replica. Following another Porter’s tradition, Riley mailed out yellow ribbons to Abbie’s loved ones for them to write their best wishes. During a getaway to Asheville, North Carolina, where the pair stayed in a decked-out treehouse in the Appalachian Mountains, Riley proposed to Abbie with a handwritten letter and presented the gazebo, which contained an engagement ring and the ribbons. “It took her breath away and created many happy gasps and tears,” Riley writes. “We hugged for a while, kissed, and she said, ‘A million times, yes.’”

2012

Ancients gathered in Boca Grande, Florida, for the wedding of MacKenzie Johnson Platt

Suzanne Tompkins Ramseur ’43 | 7/10/2023

Katherine P. Ramseur 1971 Daughter

† Sylvia Buffinton Tompkins 1951 Sister-in-law

Iris Jennings Vail ’46 | 11/29/2023

† Beatrice Black Bremer 1921 Mother

Siri Vail Burki 1971 Daughter

† Annie B. Jennings 1874 Great-aunt

Anne Larsen Simonson ’47 | 12/10/23

Susan Z. Ritz 1971 Daughter

Vivian Weyerhaeuser Piasecki ’48 | 7/10/2023

† Lynn Weyerhaeuser Day 1949 Sister

Vivian Day Stroh 1975 Niece

Joan Lewis Danforth ’49 | 6/12/2023

† Annie Burr Auchincloss Lewis 1920 Aunt

Leonora Moffat Ellison ’49 | 9/29/2023

† Edith Moffat Harding 1939 Sister

† Harriett Moffat Sheeline 1940 Sister

† Mary C. Sheeline 1975 Niece

Leonora M. Sheeline 1976 Niece

Anne Gibb MacKenzie ’49 | 11/4/2023

† Elsie McIlwaine Gibb 1924 Mother

† Joan Gibb Widdifield 1945 Sister

Blair MacKenzie Van Brunt 1979 Daughter

† Elizabeth Wiese Holcombe 1942 Aunt

Claire McIlwaine Porter 1965 Cousin

Anne McIlwaine Hemingway 1966 Cousin

Jane McIlwaine Berry 1969 Cousin

Audrey Holding McCargo ’49 | 9/30/2023

Heather M. McCargo 1978 Stepdaughter

† Marian McCargo Bell 1949 Sister-in-law

Andria Rowley Lawson ’50 | 9/22/2023

† Dorothy Curtis Rowley 1922 Mother

Andria F. Lawson 1981 Daughter

Jean Campbell Beaven ’51 | 12/19/2023

Elizabeth Campbell Ashby 1950 Sister

Barbara Hunt Campbell 1959 Sister-in-law

Patricia Derr March ’52 | 6/15/2023

† Lowrie Sage Flagg 1917 Cousin

† Katharine Derr Barney 1918 Aunt

† Harriet Haight Shutt 1926 Aunt

† Marjorie Flagg Strawbridge 1938 Cousin

† Mariana Mann de Saint Phalle 1948 Cousin

Nancy Mann Israel 1949 Cousin

Dorothy D. Darling 1968 Cousin

Carlin Whitney Scherer ’52 | 12/15/2023

† Hope Richardson Simonds 1926 Mother

† Hope Norton Iaccaci 1920 Cousin

† Virginia Goldsbury Flower 1926 Godmother

† Clara Legg Scherer 1927 Mother-in-law

† Elaine Richardson Woodward 1933 Aunt

† Elizabeth Simonds Maynard 1947 Stepsister

† Elaine Scherer Romaine 1954 Sister-in-law

Priscilla Harding Heublein 1955 Stepsisterin-law

† Holly Simonds Callery 1958 Stepsister

Nannette Foss Orr 1958 Cousin by marriage

Lansing Simonds Moran 1962 Half sister

Elizabeth Maynard Gordon 1975 Stepniece

Catherine Whitney Welles 1979 Niece

Dorothy B. McCagg 1980 Stepniece

Ashley Romaine Sczupak 1987 Niece by marriage

Caroline R. Welles 2008 Great-niece

Joan McCance Warner ’52 | 12/29/2023

† Louise Haviland McCance 1925 Mother

Caroline H. Warner 1981 Daughter

† Elizabeth Ferguson McCance 1927 Aunt

Anne Robinson Warner 1948 Sister-in-law

† Louise Shepard Walsh 1949 Cousin

Ellen McCance Parker 1954 Cousin

Suzanne McCance Huguley 1979 Cousin

Catherine Parker Hyotte 1996 Cousin

Ella L. B. Warner 2020 Granddaughter

Clarissa L. Parker 2023 Cousin twice removed

Anna Taylor Caleb ’53 | 8/12/2023

† Mary Hammond Taylor 1924 Mother

Florence Hammond Phillips 1954 Cousin

Briggs Jones Coleman 2001 Relative by marriage

Mary Burke Engstrom ’53 | 11/14/2023

† Phebe Thompson Burke 1950 Sister-in-law

Hannah Patience 2015 Granddaughter

Eloise F. Palkimas 2024 Granddaughter

Margaret Rice Stout ’55 | 12/16/2023

† Clare Kellogg Stout 1925 Mother-in-law

Hope Stout Connors 1955 Sister-in-law

Hope B. Connors 1981 Niece

Cynthia G. Stout 1983 Niece

Pamela Romaine Beckett 1984 Niece by marriage † Deceased

Katharine W. Kean ’57 | 7/25/2023

Diana Chapman Kamilli ’59 | 8/2/2023

† Carroll Ferguson Chapman 1926 Mother

† Elizabeth Ferguson McCance 1927 Cousin

† Marion T. Osborn 1957 Cousin

Helen Osborn Braun 1958 Cousin

Caroline J. McCance 2012 Second cousin

Clarissa L. Parker 2023 Cousin twice removed

Lillian Taggart Andrews ’60 | 5/21/2023

† Eunice Parish Atkins 1902 Grandmother

† Dorothy DuPuy Taggart 1931 Mother

Marion Taggart Silliman 1955 Sister

Susan Taggart Ruhl 1957 Sister

Ann Taggart Gordon 1964 Sister

† Eunice DuPuy Culver 1926 Aunt

Elizabeth Taggart Fitzsimmons 1962 Cousin

Isabel Lucom Clark ’65 | 9/15/2023

Amanda M. van Voorhees 2006 Stepniece

Laura B. Gary ’76 | 12/12/2023

Laura Gary Thorne 1959 Aunt

Tracy D. Gary 1969 Stepaunt

Katherine N. DuHamel ’77 | 10/8/2023

Elizabeth G. DuHamel 1978 Sister

Emily DuHamel Brower 1981 Sister

Charlotte N. DuHamel 1987 Sister

† Grace Tingue Curran 1926 Great-aunt

† Polly Park Dyer 1949 Aunt

Neva Dyer Egan 1972 Cousin

Amenity J. Applewhite 2001 Second cousin

Anna I. Kirk 2011 Niece

Grace C. Williams-DuHamel 2011 Niece

Alexandra N. R. Licholai 2022 Niece

Sarah Murphy Means ’77 | 11/29/2023

Jane Murphy Barton 1972 Sister

Rebecca Clothier Case ’85 | 12/18/2023

† Melinda Clothier Biddle 1976 Sister

† Sarah Fisher Bond 1870 Great-greatgrandmother

† Juliette Bond Massey 1897 Greatgrandmother

† Gladys Bond Baxter 1911 Great-aunt

Annabelle Evans Stiffler 1982 Cousin

FORMER EMPLOYEES

John Rosati | 7/1/2023

Buildings and Grounds, 1983–1995

Maria V. Sousa | 7/26/2023

Housekeeper, 1985–2005

In Memoriam

Margot Anne “Topsy” Larsen Simonson ’47, a trustee of Miss Porter’s School from 1981 to 1985, died peacefully on Dec. 10, 2023. She served on the school’s alumnae board from 1968 to 1971, and was the mother of Ancient Susan Z. Ritz ’71.

Born in New York City on Aug. 28, 1929, to Margaret (Zerbe) and Roy Larsen, Topsy spent much of her early life in Fairfield, Connecticut. After graduating from Miss Porter’s School, Topsy attended Sarah Lawrence College, and graduated in 1951 with a childhood development degree. In 1952, she married Gordon H. Ritz Sr. and they moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In 1957, the family, now including three children Susan, Gordon “Cracker” and Margot “Muffy” moved to Minneapolis.

While raising her children, Topsy volunteered for the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Guthrie Theater, Walker Art Institute, Jungle Theater, Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and the Minnesota Orchestra. She helped found the Children’s Theater Company and served as one of its trustees for more than three decades. Her final board member role was for The Friends of the Mississippi River.

Topsy raised her children and remained close with her first husband after they divorced in 1971. Drew C. Simonson, her second husband, was an avid traveler whose fly-fishing adventures took them to exotic locales worldwide. After Drew died in 1991, Harold H. “Sandy” Tearse Jr. brought his calm presence to her life until his death in 2016. At age 85, she fell for Kingston Fletcher, her cruise mate and steady companion through the rest of her life.

Topsy is survived by brothers Johnathan (Mary Peacock) Larsen and Christopher Larsen; her three children Susan (Ethan Atkin), Gordon (Leone) and Margot Ritz; her grandchildren Margot (Adam) Marquit, Charlotte Zwick, Erica (John) Abbett, Mitch Ritz, Daniel (Michelle) Otter, Nina (Matt) Otter, and Elisa Otter; and nine great-grandchildren.

Then

Originally a general store owned and operated by abolitionist Samuel Demming in 1809, “Jiggs” has also served as a U.S. post office, village store and safe haven for the Mende people, who sued the U.S. government for their freedom after being enslaved on the Amistad.

1800s

The building was recently renovated for use as a multipurpose space through a generous donation from the Sharp family. Dedicated in April, Sharp House is now used by Porter’s for classes, meeting space and community functions.