JOHN D. WALLACE ’48 ALUMNI SERVICE AWARD HELENA BRETT-SMITH ’73

In the early 1990s, as the HIV/AIDS epidemic was ripping through communities and the stigma of the disease ran deep, Helena Brett-Smith ’73 was a symbol of hope.

“One day, when buying an Amtrak ticket at the New Haven train station, the woman at the ticket office stopped short when I said my name. She burst out with a big smile and then proceeded to thank me for the care I had provided to one of her relatives. She had never met me in person before,” recalled Brett-Smith.

The first medical director of the HIV clinic at the Hospital of Saint Raphael (now the Yale-New Haven Hospital Saint Raphael Campus), Brett-Smith didn’t always plan on incorporating saving lives as a part of her day-to-day life.

“I took a bit of a wandering path,” she laughed.

A student of Miss Fine’s School and, following the merge, Princeton Day School, Brett-Smith has fond memories of her time at both schools. Whip-smart and curious, she eventually enrolled in a course about the human body. It was in the midst of that class that she considered for the first time the possibility of pursuing a career in medicine.

“Two PDS teachers warrant acknowledgment as having planted the seeds for my interest in science and medicine. Deirdre Bannon, who taught the sixth-grade course on the human body, used a wonderful age-appropriate book called ‘The Human Body.’ It was oversized, and filled with colorful images of the different body organ systems. In the ninth grade, Mitchell Bronk taught Upper School Physics. He made it an approachable subject by focusing on mechanical problems and the physics of everyday objects,” she recalled.

After graduating from what she described as “the secure environment at PDS,” the world she entered when she arrived at Yale at age 16 was both full of possibilities and also intimidating. How to choose a path – the “right” path – seemed daunting.

She took a year off between her sophomore and junior years, but when graduation came, her path into post-college adulthood still seemed unclear, even as it was rushing toward her. She said, “I was enticed by the idea of living in another culture and using a language other than English. I thought I could perhaps use the French I had studied in the dramatic classes with Madame Whipple back at PDS. The outcome was that I signed up for the Peace Corps and was assigned to the Ivory Coast, a French-speaking country in West Africa.”

There, she worked as an assistant to a French midwife addressing basic maternal and infant health needs such as vaccinations and malnutrition.

“The hands-on experience with limited medical tools made the responsibilities of being a physician seem less frightening,” she shared

After her return to the United States, Brett-Smith felt confident that medicine was her calling. She attended Stanford medical school and quickly grew meaningful relationships with her mentors and peers, but the HIV epidemic was spreading, and not even doctors were spared.

“During my time at Stanford, two of the faculty whom I most valued died of HIV,” she shared.

Once she completed medical school, she returned to New Haven for a Yale medical residency. Describing her experience in those early days of the HIV epidemic, Brett-Smith said, “The HIV epidemic was raging. The medical issues were challenging but also fascinating. The doctor-patient relationships were intense, often involving family members and even home visits.”

As her fellowship was coming to an end, she was recruited to the smaller Catholic hospital across town to build up its HIV care program. “I spent a very intense eight years building an HIV care program with a busy outpatient clinic, as well as taking a heavy load of inpatient infectious disease consultations,” she said.

She continued, “Burnout became an unrecognized issue. Then, out of the blue, a job recruiter called and proposed that I interview for a position working on clinical trials with some of the newer HIV treatments being developed at the Connecticut research site for Bristol-Myers Squibb. At the interviews, the people I met surprised me with their dedication and commitment to doing work that would help patients. One research physician had done HIV-related work at the National Institutes for Health – another had also been inPeace Corps!”

She later went on to hold a variety of clinical positions within BristolMyers Squibb until the Connecticut research facility was closed in 2017. She then spent several years at a small biotechnology company as the chief development officer until her retirement in 2021.

While her path may not have been the most traditional, Brett-Smith urges current students who may not know what their next steps are to consider a similar journey of self-discovery.

“I am thrilled to see the confidence and courage of the current generation of students, and glad that the range of opportunities has expanded so much,” she shared.

“But for those who still struggle with the question of what to do with their lives, the best advice I can think of is to let go of the quest for the right thing. Just jump into something – anything – with commitment. And from there, the next steps will come to you.” eight-and-a-half years so far. Also, owns and runs an alpaca breeding and fiber farm in Chesterfield, N.J., 22 years so far. Currently 27 alpacas. Retired from professional bank position in 2009 after 30 years.

Ellen Sussman is “still working full-time, both writing and teaching. Jean Beckwith Funk was my first friend when I started at PDS. We stayed close throughout school and then drifted apart for a while until we both ended up living in Short Hills, N.J. — and had our kids a week apart! We kept each other sane through the madness of those first couple of years. I moved away and again we drifted apart. But in September, Jean and I (and two other women) did a kickass eight-day self-guided inn-to-inn hiking trip in Scotland. And we had a blast! So here we are, fifty years after graduation!

Hank Bristol has “retired from teaching. Still working as an ordained deacon (Episcopal), artist and now grandparent!”

Lucinda Herrick has “retired from the corporate world and remains very active at the community level.”

Laurie Merrick Winegar reported that she is retired. “Met Susan Stix Fisher and Rick Albert in NYC last fall. We enjoyed a nice lunch and catching up. It had been a long time since we had seen each other. I went to Ireland with my daughter and her family for Christmas and New Year’s. We had a wonderful time. Hope all is well.”

Sally Rodgers Smith wrote: “I am very retired but working harder taking care of my three young grandchildren than ever I did teaching school. They are five, three and one, and very active!”

Kate Merlino is “Working part-time! Two parttime jobs, and part retired. Sometimes I confuse the parts.”

Steve Zudnak wrote: “I hope all is well in your camp. I am fully retired. I’m still blasting away, playing in my bar bands, and planning this year’s motorcycle trips. Still loving every second of this life chapter. I’ve been a diehard Eagles fan forever, so I’m certainly enjoying this year’s football. At this writing, they have won the NFC Championship game, beating the 49ers. My wife and I happened to attend that game. We had a great time, needless to say. Why don’t you tell us something about your exciting life? Stay well my friend.”

To answer Steve Zudnak’s request…John Moore: I have been retired for a few years and look forward to when my wife retires so that we can move about the country and maybe the world. I have two grown daughters living in New York and New Hampshire; four step-kids living in W.A., O.H., N.C. and T.N. with our 11 grandchildren; and our mini goldendoodle, all of whom keep us pretty busy. Since graduating from Connecticut College, I’ve lived in Marblehead, Mass., then San Francisco, then Fort Lauderdale, then Los Angeles and now in Connecticut. Very recently I have picked up paddle tennis after a 20-year hiatus, and plan to add tennis and pickleball to my “senior sports’’ pursuits. I’m lucky enough to live in an area that has many wooded walking trails for my energetic dog and me to work on our aerobic health! A couple of weeks ago my wife and I had the pleasure of a brief lunch with Jean Beckwith Funk and Paul Funk as they traveled up I-95 on their way to visit Jean’s brother, David Beckwith ’74. I’m still enjoying the fun we all had at our 50th reunion — we really are a lucky bunch to share so many great classmates! Bless you all.

1973

Cassandra Oxley cassandra.oxley@gmail.com

1974

Mary “Polly” Hunter White pwhite2224@gmail.com

Ethan Johnson sent: “I am still working at Morgan Lewis (a partner in this global law firm) in New York City and Miami. I plan to retire in the next year or two. Have three kids: Sarah (Bernard Clemm von Hohenberg), Austin (Lily) and Whit and two grandsons, Gustavus and Casimir.”

Ted Dowey wrote: “I am still working on the New York City water tunnels. I am hoping to connect our two (2) mile long, 14-foot in diameter, 600-foot tunnel under the Hudson River Bypass Tunnel (for which I was the design manager) to the leaking tunnel in 2023. After this, I might retire.

“I still do two bike trips a year with Sab Russo Cole Harrop, who used to join us, has opted out by moving to France. Planning to go to #50 (our class’s 50-year PDS reunion) in 2024 if all goes well.”

From me, Polly Hunter White: In 2024, next year will be our PDS class 50-year reunion!! This will be a milestone reunion for all of us. Please consider joining us in person, communicate by letter, email and/or send in photos. It will be important to remember those we have lost. If you cannot join in person, let’s try to fill our alumni Journal class page with as many updates, news from you, those we have not heard from ever or in a long time. We really do want to hear about you, all of you.

Yuki Moore Laurenti ymlaurenti@gmail.com

Mary Sword McDonough mollyswordmcdonough@yahoo.com

From Yuki: What a pleasure to hear from classmates near and far! Some are retired, some have grandchildren, but everyone is active and engaged.

Jeff Streed reported: “This has been a big year for us, as my wife and I have both retired from teaching and are now out and about catching up with friends and family in the states, Canada and Europe. We are so lucky that our three sons are all in Boston and forever amazed at how quickly our grandchildren are growing up while we grow no older!”

Following on the topic of grandchildren, Mary Lane wrote: “I have just become a grandmother for the fourth time in thirteen months! Thrilled to bits for my three and their lovely babies!!”

Davis Sherman reported both good and bad news: “My two grandsons (three and one) bring great joy to Anita and me. I hope other classmates have the pleasure of grandchildren as well. Bad news: domestic heating oil spills are incredibly difficult and expensive to clean up and not always well insured. If you use heating oil, check the integrity of your tank and the fill pipe (we had a fine tank, but the fill pipe rusted out) and check your insurance coverage. Clean-up costs for a hundred-gallon spill immediately observed can easily exceed a quarter of a million dollars in Massachusetts. We were lucky to be fairly well insured under a policy form no longer in use. More bad news: if you have adult children in the young immortal age bracket, insist that they get period medical checkups no matter what. My son was slow to recognize and seek treatment for a rare blood disorder arising from a genetic mutation that would have been picked up in routine blood work.” Davis ended his report with the sad news that, with no family connections to the Princeton community, we are not likely to see him at future PDS reunions.

Susi Vaughn Meade and her husband, Jim, are still living across the river in Newtown, Pa. He retired during COVID while Susi is still working part-time, but, in a job that “enables me to take a lot of time off when Jim has an itch to travel!

We travel a lot to Rochester, N.Y., to see our two-year-old grandson, Elo, (our eldest, Gillian, is his mom) and to the Chesapeake area to see our middle daughter, Cassie. Soon we will fly to Arizona to help our youngest, Kallie, move back to the East Coast. She has been doing travel PT for a year and is ready to settle down back East. We are going to make a road trip out of it and visit several national parks on our way home. Other trips on our own include spring trips to Florida, camping in western Pennsylvania, exploring Mt. Washington in N.H., weekends in Lewes, Del. This summer we plan to bike around Acadia National Park.”

Like many of us, Eric Dunn has turned 65. He continues to work full-time, while his wife, Susan, is now retired and “focusing on horseback riding. We live in Palo Alto, Calif. Son, Gregory, is married and lives in DC; both he and his wife, Ellen, work for the federal government. Daughter, Sarah, coincidentally also lives in DC and works for an environmental consulting firm. Had dinner with classmates Davis Sherman and David Apgar recently in Santa Cruz.”

Anne Russell noted: “So here we are 65… Not sure about the concept of being retired but more sleep and exercise are a nice alternative to the working pace. We are still living in St. Augustine, Fla., and involved with community happenings. My latest endeavor at meaningful employment has been pet sitting. I enjoy volunteering at a local school, which makes me deeply appreciative of my PDS education.”

For Lars Selberg, “2022 was a year of change for Julie and me. I tried to retire. We sold our house in Connecticut and relocated full-time to Maine. And I really retired (so why am I so busy?). Our daughter also moved and ended up a ‘soft hour’ from where we are, and we get to see her a few times each month. Our son is in California, working on his next startup (that whole mode of life is just so alien to this guy who retired after 37 years with the same company!) We took a trip to DC last summer and stayed with John Brinster on the way south and on the return — always good to see John. Bill McClellan lives further down the coast and we have plans to see him and Nelda.”

Ruth Barach Cox wrote that she is “still working in my private painting conservation studio, teaching interns, chairing a local chamber music performance board, playing the violin, and enjoying hiking and photography in my spare time. Greetings to one and all!”

Yuki Moore Laurenti: I continue to work at Princeton University and dutifully wear orange and black when, well, ‘on duty’ at alumni events. I juggle a number of community-service engagements (where I do not wear orange and black!), including service on the board of the Open Space Institute, a land conservation and environmental organization based in NYC, which has me in Charleston for a board meeting at the start of March. In January, we made our annual trip to West Palm Beach to visit a work colleague from my U.S. Trust Company of New York days — and while dining at Leila Restaurant in West Palm, from the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar face — Kip Herrick ! What a small world.

Best wishes to all for good cheer and good health in the coming year.

Kathy Kehoe kgkath@verizon.net

65! Seems unreal to me, and despite the onslaught of Medicare enrollment solicitations, which apparently are a rite of passage at this time, I am very much in denial. I used to think that being 65 meant being old, but I don’t feel old. And judging by the tales of globetrotting and biking you all have shared, I am not alone!

It is always lovely to hear about your exciting and more pedestrian pursuits. You all — we — never cease to amaze me with the diversity and commonality of interests, talents, and gifts that we possess and have shared with the world. For many of us, the old ties still bind and/or we’ve made new connections with classmates we may not have hung with back in the day. Nice.

It’s never too late to reconnect, and I was delighted to hear from Clarissa Bullitt with the story of her life since graduation. “After graduating from PDS, I attended BU for ~1.5 years, but then had an opportunity to move to Hong Kong, where I had my great ‘youth experience.’ I lived in HK and its environs for about three years and became a club DJ! I designed clubs, set them up, and played the ‘music.’ Ironically, my interest in East Asia developed to the point where I wanted to study its history and languages; so around ’82 I moved back to the U.S. and (finally) got my undergrad degree in East Asian studies at Columbia. I went to work as editor at the Asia Society for a couple of years, then moved to London to work as translator from/to Japanese. I moved back to Princeton to help when my father became ill. After his passing, I returned to Columbia, gained a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, then taught at Columbia and Barnard and had a private practice. I was married for 11 years and have two daughters, Emmy (26) and Claire (24). I was in the subway under the towers when the first one came down; for the next ~3 days I was camped at St. Vincent’s, trying to help families find loved ones, working with area hospitals and the Giuliani administration. Can’t say anything more about that here. Eventually I wound up running training programs for psychiatrists and psychologists at different hospitals and educational institutions — a Mt. Sinai affiliate in East Harlem for a few years, then out to LI at Stony Brook U and its hospital for 11 years — while raising my children. As the years wore on, changes in educational standards, clinical standards, and the imposition of insurance companies on clinical care, all led to increased disillusionment with my field. I retired to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., (aka ‘nirvana’) in 2019, right before COVID. I am now a content old woman, gardening and taking hikes with my two big doodles.”

Anne McClure Noel wrote: “All well here in V.T. Snow last night but not as much as they forecasted. And it’s supposed to be in the 80s where Annie Wittke Morrissey lives. With all this crazy weather happening I hope that our classmates have been safe! Annie came to visit in late fall, and we had a fun time exploring some of the area and as always lots of laughs! Both boys are engaged but no immediate wedding plans although I do think my youngest will elope! He can’t fathom spending that much money on one day when they could use it in a better way.”

Cory Fischer Sertl had quite the adventure to Argentina and Antarctica with Jennifer Walsh! Cory shared: “We were together on an awesome expedition on the National Geographic Resolution to Antarctica through the New York Yacht Club. Jennifer lives in Jamestown, R.I. most of the year where I am in the summer! Fun connection!”

Jonathan Stein checked in with a life change I’m seeing that many of us are experiencing — retirement. (Not this girl! I’m having way too much fun with my business still.) “I’ve retired from Hagerty after more than 18 years. There were incentives offered, and it seemed like a very good time to depart. I’ve launched Merkel & Stein, LLC, to continue my writing, editing, and consulting within the collector car world. I’ll also continue to judge at the major concours. In May, my daughter, Remy, and one of her oldest friends are meeting us in Johannesburg before we embark on a two-week safari in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. It is our way of celebrating our 40th anniversary, which comes a few months later. Next week I am scheduled to take delivery of another old MG. One was not enough.”

Sandy Shaw also offered news of a lifestyle change: “Last May, I retired from a career as CFO for a local private investment firm here in the Sun Valley area. One of the first things I did was drive across the country to move my son to N.Y. — it was a great adventure! He’s a registered architect working hard to make a change and break into the world of XR/AR design. After that I did a long road trip around the northwest — including attending a Mary Chapin Carpenter concert with Julie Stabler Hull — always a thrill to see her perform live! Mary Chapin’s ‘Songs From Home’ on social media during the early pandemic were a comforting treat — I highly recommend. I settled at home for the summer and trained for a fall bike trip around the Julian Alps area — really loved Slovenia. Came home with my first case of COVID — wah wah. Tons of snow early this winter — nice for skiing, but I am ready for spring, hiking and golf! The snow might be gone by June…Last April I had a truly wonderful mini reunion with Gwyneth Hamel Iredale, Eleanor Kuser and Julie Stabler Hull in Santa Barbara.”

Speaking of Gwyneth, her update also included their reunion: “Hello from the West Coast. I’ve been pretty busy still working at a software startup involving blockchain for real estate and title. The last PDS connection I made was last year on a visit with Sandy Shaw and Julie Stabler Hall to see Eleanor Kuser in Santa Barbara. We had a really nice time on our weekend jaunt sharing PDS memories around teachers who influenced us and also about figure and ice hockey skating; we were on the first women’s ice hockey team. After graduating, I went on to be a part of the first women’s team at Hamilton College. My 24-year-old son is at Pace University in NYC and a 20-year-old daughter is here in Eugene studying at a community college with hopes to transfer to the U of O (go Ducks!). My mother, Phyllis Hamel, at 95 says hello to her friends in Princeton. I welcome visitors. Just google my name if you want to connect on a visit to Oregon. Happy to host any classmates.”

In addition to a mention of the same mini reunion, Julie shared: “I will continue my work on the MAIA board in Guatemala until the end of 2023, and last year I was invited to join the science/research-based board of Save The Elephants in Kenya, which feeds my love for elephants and gets me to Kenya at least once a year. Last but not least, we have a second grandchild on the way!”

Apparently, Phil Thompson shared my enthusiasm for the work-a-day world still: “I am one of those rare birds, who is having fun at work (CTO of an education company). Helping my son build a house on the front of our property: even using wood from our own sawmill! Next month I’m off on a trip to Italy...Between grandkids and public service volunteering, I think I slept a few days ago! (LOL)”

The grass never seems to grow under Murray Wilmerding ’s wheels: “My partner, Cyndi, and I are taking it to the road this year. We hit that magic 65 and why not. Both my parents (Adela in 2020 and Lucius in 2018) passed at the age of 86.5. They were integral to PDS as trustees... and support. Mobility and keeping it simple. Our 47th? WOW. I am sure there is a spot to park it by the hockey rink or by the Great Road. Kids and grandkids are all doing well. COVID has been a challenge to the education system and to kiddos to all involved in teaching. Yes, I’m still biking. Age has brought the skin doc in to freeze a few...A sudden bout with arthritis (knee) gave me pause to reevaluate my three favorite food groups — hot grease, salt and sugar. Ok, kidding. Cycling definitely balances our love of good food. So many great memories exist for me with PDS, Lott, Denby, Jacobsen, Mr. Inky Dinky (Franz), Arlene Smith, Harry Skateon-Miller and many more. Looking forward to seeing PDS again.”

In response to my reminder that Bill von Oehsen’s home restoration will be featured on This Old House this spring, Tom Moore said: “Well, it’s a small world getting smaller! I bike by the house reasonably often, though I never noticed major construction going on. Maybe I was going too fast. :) I’ll be sure to stop in on my next ride.”

Bill provided an update: “I’m still working, albeit shorter work days. With the move to Massachusetts, my work is completely remote except for the occasional trip back to DC. It is considerably colder here, with much longer winters. So, I think we’ll have to plan an annual trip each February or March for a long vacation somewhere warm.”

Jay Trubee seems to balance retirement with work, but then again, I guess when our work is our passion it doesn’t really feel like work. “Just celebrated 29 years of Jillian’s Restaurant in Palm Desert, Calif.,—named after our first girl. Fed a lot of people over the years, a couple of presidents, but more importantly a few classmates. I recall Jeb Burns and Leslie Ring Burns, Billy Erdman, Julie Stabler, Eleanor Kuser; I know there are more I’m forgetting. Nick Brady got married here 20 something years ago. Don’t know if I’ll be doing it for 29 more years, as long as my feet hold out. We close for five months every summer and head East, brutally hot here in summer, but heaven in the winter. Never realized that I didn’t have to freeze in the winter. All the best, boy does time march on.”

Joanne Kind Hinton checked in: “Not a lot to report. Still doing real estate investment with GL Capital — the company owned by my son, Andrew, and his partner/wife, Jade. The best perks of working with them are being with Charlie and Anabelle, their children. We took two amazing trips in 2022: one to the Galápagos Islands, and one to Italy. Hoping to travel more in 2023. Would love to reconnect with anyone coming near Princeton; we still live in Bucks County, Pa.” I think most of you know that Joanne’s brother, Richard Kind, is an actor. She added this tidbit: “The show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. researches people’s family history. My brother was on the show with David Duchovny.” So, we can tune in and learn about her family’s genealogy, which is kinda neat.

As for me, Kathy Kehoe, life at the moment is filled with tending to aging pets’ needs and working to grow my e-commerce business in the face of economic challenges, so I’m very much tied to the day-to-day. Hopefully travel will come when we are no longer homebound with the animals, but in the meantime my youngest is at least getting out there on our behalf with a second trip to Scotland in May to spend time with his fiancée. They are working on her visa with hopes that she can move stateside by the end of the year.

Keep on keepin’ on, my fellow young ‘uns!

1977

Sandra Benson Cress sbcress@aol.com

Trusty PDS Class scribe, Sandra Benson Cress here, with some updates from the class of ’77. I managed to guilt-trip some classmates into submitting “news” and pics, by telling them that I was writing as my daughter recovered from an emergency appendectomy (is there any other kind?), AND that this sadly interfered with our plans to see Bruce Springsteen, yet again, at Portland’s MODA Center…to which Pete Buck responded: “So sorry to hear about the day you had. I hope the surgery went well! Bonus round…Which one of our classmates had a burst appendix while at school in fourth grade? Answer: Sam Fussell.” Funny the things we remember from so long ago. (I didn’t remember this little factoid).

Lisa Yokana shared: “I can’t NOT email after that call for help! Blake and I just got back from a week in Buenos Aires. 90 degrees to 30 is a rough shock! I’ve been working with a terrific school just north of the city, so we made it into a vacation too: wine tasting in Uruguay, a day on a typical ranch, a boat trip down the river delta, as well as lots of walking and exploring the city! Other exciting news is that my youngest and her husband are expecting the first grandchild in late April — and since they live around the corner, we expect to spend lots of time with our grandson! And so, I’ve decided to leave my teaching job after 15 years at Scarsdale High School to pursue more consulting as well as continuing to teach entrepreneurship at Iona University.

Hope this helps fill the column.” (Yes, Lisa, it absolutely did. And congratulations on the upcoming grandparenthood.) Oh, and back in November, Lisa ran the NYC Marathon! Way to kill it, Lisa!

Rod Paine chimed in: “What a terrible confluence of events! I’m sorry it had to turn out that way and I hope your daughter is doing well now. [She is] And that you got a tidy sum for the (Bruce) tickets. [I was grateful to get ticket costs recovered, as we also had a snowstorm]. I myself had an emergency appendectomy about 16 years ago and ended up in the hospital for 11 days. Yippee! About the Journal, sadly (or reassuringly) absolutely NOTHING is new with me. But your pitch was so sincere I jotted down the following ditty: Rod Paine is doing almost nothing new, still living on the UWS and taking the next step in a renovation, this time the kitchen. He’s off to the Netherlands in April to see the Vermeer exhibit and has found a 17th century townhouse in Amsterdam to rent. Spending a few days in Delft for the complete experience. Tulips galore on itinerary. Also planned is a side trip to Bonn for Beethoven fun, having missed this area the last trip. Will send pix.” This reminds me, I did get a Facebook message recently from Alice Britt , who told me that her husband,

Robert ’75, is the brother of our classmate Hendrik Gordenker, whom we haven’t heard from in eons, if ever, and that their younger sister Emilie Gordenker is the director of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. WOW!

Lex Arlett Kochman wrote: “We made the first of empty-nest downsizing moves to Bedminster, hoping to head to Charleston, S.C., next. Had my annual visit from Claire Treves Bezel with her yummy EVOO from the family grove and casale in Italy. It is the best you will ever taste.”

Claire Treves wrote: “Casale Sonnino extra virgin olive oil makes my world go round! After 45 years, Jan Baker and I reconnected because of you guessed it — our liquid gold! Golf is her game now, keeping her forever young and looking great. There is nothing like friends who knew you back when and remembered who your doubles partners were.

Cary Bachelder Dufresne and Melanie Thompson Fauchet ’78, are you out there???

Thank you Jan for reaching out and supporting our small family olive grove. #casalesonnino #romecountryvilla #bestitalianextravirginoliveoil.”

Harold Tanner shared: “The idea of relaxing as I approach retirement has not worked out. The more tension there is in the US-China relationship, the more people seem to want to know about Chinese military history. I’ve got more invitations to do talks, teach seminars and write stuff than I can handle and am trying to finish a book on war in modern China before the US and China go to war with each other. Sometimes I think back to that Chinese history class with Parry Jones, in a classroom down in the basement of Colross — a class that he taught using college level textbooks and at college-level expectations. I’ve still got the book — Immanuel Hsu’s “The Rise of Modern China.” That one class, which I took because everybody, it seemed, was taking European history and I wanted to be different, gave me a solid foundation for what somehow became my career. What else to say? Still enjoying life in Denton, Texas — a good town for local music, be it the sophisticated One O’Clock Lab Band, all-women psychrockers Pearl Earl, the nuclear polka of Brave Combo, or those punk rock paragons of bad taste and bad attitude, the Wee-Beasties.

Fight the TicketMaster/LiveNation monopoly capitalists—support local music! Oh bondage . . . OK, signing off now, best wishes to all!”

Rachel Abelson Hickson and her husband, David, celebrated the marriage of their daughter, Jessamine, to Jacob Schwartz on May 15, 2022, in Rye, N.Y. “It was a magical day and a great result after a multi-year postponement due to the pandemic.”

Clooie Sherman shared: “Nothing much to report, Sandra. Life in Seattle continues apace. All are well. My great-nephews are growing like weeds. We replaced our furnace with a heat pump. Trying to be good planetary citizens. That’s about it!”

Andrea Avery Renault wrote: “For everyone, these have been complicated times during the pandemic. My son, Remy, moved several years ago to Paris, which has its pleasures, like a great excuse to travel there frequently. COVID, however, definitely put a wrench into our plans several times. We were able to travel back and forth, but not without constant testing, delayed departures due to testing positive, and a missed shared Christmas in 2020. I hope you are all coming out of this period healthy and happy.”

Finally, from me, Sandra , it’s been a wonderfully busy summer/fall/winter (appendectomy aside) since we all gathered on the Great Road for our 45th reunion last spring. I spent July working as the transportation manager for the World Athletics Championships, which took place in Eugene, Ore. Then, in August I sang “in residence” with the Portland Trinity Cathedral Choir at St. Paul’s Cathedral (London) and St. George’s Chapel (Windsor Castle). It was truly bizarre, one month later, to watch Queen Elizabeth’s spectacular funeral service take place at the exact spot at St. George’s where we sang Sunday Eucharist and Evensong, with her body processing over Henry V’s tomb in the middle of the choir stalls and underneath the flags of the Order of the Garter. From London, I flew to Vigo, Spain, to walk 120km of the Portuguese route of the Camino de Santiago, a twice-COVID-delayed trip. I’ve been keeping quite busy with choral duties and flamenco classes, lots of reading and some non-profit volunteering as well.

Wishing you all a wonderful next six months. Feel free to drop a line anytime and let me know if you’re going to be passing through Portland, Ore.!

1978

Nora Cuesta Wimberg nlazz@mac.com

We started 2023 with a new puppy. Meet Leonardo Simba Wimberg (Leo), a Yorkie who was named after the month he was born in the zodiac sign Leo. Our beautiful Lucky passed away in November after 14 years of a good life; when I came across this little guy, I could not resist. We are still in South Jersey. My husband, Charlie, is a third owner of his cousin’s two funeral homes so he is busy after he thought he was “retired” from the electric company after 30 years. We do get down to Florida a lot to visit our families. Charlie and I went to Orlando for Thanksgiving; we rented an eight-bedroom house for the week and the entire family got together for Thanksgiving Day. I still volunteer at the Red Cross and the food pantry. Love both. It is wonderful to be retired and in control of my day’s activities. Hope everyone is doing great and I LOVE hearing from all of you, even if just a sentence. It tells me that we are all still connected.

Sue Fineman Keitelman wrote: “Nothing ‘earth-shattering’ to report. I am a reading teacher assistant at an elementary school and am teaching first to third graders phonics and decoding skills. Many of my students are not native English speakers, so although it can be challenging, doing so makes me realize how much I take speaking English for granted, especially when I try to help a child hear the subtle difference between the letters s and z or the sound of a short ‘e’ and short ‘i’. I’ve thought about possibly getting a third master’s degree so I can be a reading specialist, but I’m not so sure I have the ‘oomph’ to do that anymore!”

Brian Trubee wrote: “Not too much has changed with me since the last update, I am expecting my first grandson in April, I promise not to force people to look at photos of him when he arrives. I am looking at moving out of my rental house and purchasing a house at the Diamond Point Airpark near Sequim, Wash. My wife and I have been separated for a year now; life is good. I keep busy volunteering at the local fire department, build furniture, fly my plane, and keep busy in any myriad of ways. I plan on attending the reunion this May.”

Nancy Chen Cavanaugh wrote: “My husband, Steve, and I are still enjoying our home in North Carolina. Can you believe we’ve lived here for three years already? It does get cold in the winter, so we still have the change of seasons, but there has been no SNOW. My news is that I am finally back to volunteering at the local library. It is nice to feel useful, even in retirement. Also, I am dancing again! A new studio opened in Southport, N.C., and since there are so many retirees here, they decided to offer an adult ballet class during the afternoon. It’s perfect for me so I am very happy! Hope all is well with everyone. ’78 is great! Communicate!”

Chip Bristol wrote: “I don’t have much news other than I survived the holidays. I also had a book come out in December called, “Burning Faith.” It’s a story of a church that burns and how the people found their faith (and themselves) without a building. People seem to like it. It’s on Amazon. My other books are: “Spiritual Java,” “The Star” and “The Boy Who Likes to Wear a Red Cape.”

Sarah Jane Nelson wrote: “My first book, “Ballad Hunting with Max Hunter: Stories of an Ozark Folksong Collector,” is being released by the University of Illinois Press’s Music in America Series. I’ve already had my first book signing, and it was a BLAST! In April my husband, Andre, and I will travel to the Ozarks for my ‘Singing Scholar’ tour.

“We took a ‘sentimental journey’ back to Princeton in May. It was very moving indeed, especially when I realized that PJ’s Pancake House was still in existence. We took a walk in the woods behind the Institute for Advanced Studies; I played fiddle on the swinging bridge — just like the old days — well, sort of. Exciting Times!”

Sabrina Barton wrote: “Hi everyone. This is an interesting age/year for us. I hear talk of retirement. My version of that is taking a temporary break from gainful employment to spend some time writing screenplays. Two of my first scripts made it to the quarterfinals of the Austin Film Festival; that was encouraging. Sure wish I’d started writing about three decades ago. I’m in the midst of watching ghost-horror movies as research for a new project. Over Thanksgiving, I met up with my brother, Adam ’80, and my sister, Jessica ’77, to celebrate the occasion, and our father’s 90th birthday. If you’re looking for tips, my father attributes his longevity to racket sports and martinis. For those who know my family, Adam still lives in the Bay Area designing beautiful houses and Jessica still lives in Watertown working as a therapist. She also spends time in Truro, Cape Cod, managing her fabulous rental house — also known as the place we siblings and our families get together once a year. Martinis play a role in our Truro visits, racket sports not so much. We’ve got half the longevity game plan covered.”

Keith Baicker wrote: “I continue to stay active in photography. For the second year, I have had multiple photographs selected for the Friends of Colonial Lake Park fundraising calendar. I have also been approached about a part-time job as an in-house photographer for a company in the Cranbury area. Someone from their graphics department approached me at the last arts festival I attended as a vendor.”

Gail Reeder Pyke wrote: “We still have our house in Prospect, Ky., but happily spend most of our time in Florida. Our son, Jack, lives nearby in the Tampa area where he is a technology analyst.”

Barbara Vaughn wrote: “After 20 years in San Francisco, our family migrated east last spring. We’re back in NYC, spending time in Princeton with my dad and sister, Phoebe ’84, and in Litchfield County, Conn., where I’m establishing a new studio. My next solo exhibition opens August fourth in Sun Valley, Idaho, at Friesen + Lantz Fine Art Gallery. Please come by if you’re in the area, and in the meantime, I look forward to seeing everyone at our reunion this May!”

Greg Morea wrote: “After what happened to Barbara and me last holiday season, it was a pleasure to have a quiet Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year! In the span of a week, we had the entire family over to our house for latkes, went to our son, Joseph’s, for a feast of fish on Christmas Eve and spent Christmas morning at our daughter, Rebecca’s, house having breakfast. Yes, wonderful food is a theme here. Also, this is a big year for Barbara and me. In June we will celebrate 40 years of a blissful marriage, and at the same time, I will become a master shipbuilder at Electric Boat with 40 years of service. Looking forward to it.”

Allison Ijams Sargent wrote: “I am still writing and teaching ESL, but on the family front, our youngest, John, is getting married this summer on the Connecticut College campus, (the happy couple’s alma mater — also mine, my husband’s, my sister’s, her husband’s and many more). My daughter and her husband are having their second child which will make me a grandmother of two which cannot be possible! Hurray for our 45th reunion!”

1979

Catherine White Mertz cathywhitemertz@gmail.com

Evan Press evanrpress@gmail.com

Ben Dubrovsky : “My wife, Alice Waugh, and I continue to live in Lincoln, Mass., and our daughters continue to attend Berklee College of Music (Sarah) and Oberlin (Becca). Alice and I enjoyed the recent gathering of PDS alumni in Boston, and the impromptu gathering of some of our class members afterward. I’m looking forward to our next softball game in just over a year.”

Katie Jeffers: “In 2021, we sold our apartment in NYC and moved to N.J. It takes a village to find a place, and Rob and I are ever so grateful to Jane Henderson Kenyon and her inner knowledge about all things Princeton. In 2022, we found a home at Constitution Hill and have been under renovation. We are getting to the end and are looking forward to seeing our life’s contents, which has been in storage for almost two years!”

Karen Polcer Bdera : “The past few months have been fun — a visit to Aruba (first time back since the onset of COVID) and a trip to New Orleans to celebrate my youngest brother’s wedding. And also, not so fun — finally caught COVID for the first time, just three days before Christmas. It was an easy case, thanks to Paxlovid, but the timing was terrible. I am looking forward to doing the TCS NYC Marathon in November (#24 NYC, but #25 overall—might be the last one — we will see).”

Adam Gibson: “First of all, thank you for the outpouring of love and support. The past year has been challenging (with Kara’s youngest son dying in a car accident), but we have been able to cultivate joy in many ways, including travel, cooking and exploring parks for our nature photography hobby. We have been traveling — Spain, Mexico and across the country on various trips. We hope to get back East (we live in Indianapolis) in the coming months. Over the holidays, we took our children to Mexico to establish a new tradition. My architectural design work is keeping me quite busy and we are looking for a new home. Lots happening!”

Hazard Zenzie: “My wife, Kathleen, and I went on a scuba diving trip to Raja Ampat in Indonesia this past fall. We stayed at Misool Eco Resort, which was built on the site of a former shark finning camp. Except for contracting COVID (both of us) and nearly passing out one night after dinner (moi), we had a fantastic time. The coral reefs were spectacular: we saw an octopus, a cuttlefish, a manta ray, a tiger mantis shrimp, an electric clam, zillions of fish, and a blue ribbon eel (one of my bucket-list critters). After we returned to Boston, it took us about a month to feel normal again, but we would do it again in a heartbeat!”

Evan R. Press umpired 458 baseball games in 2022. He may never be the same. Daughter, Hartley, is graduating with her master’s degree in dosimetry from Suffolk University in Boston. She has already been fielding offers from various hospitals! Son, Nevin, is finishing his junior year at Trinity University in San Antonio. He accepted a terrific internship offer to stay in San Antonio for the summer to work for Valero. Evan is preparing for our 45th reunion in 2024 by attending his 40th Rollins College reunion this year in Florida. His ‘handler,’ Maggie, is going with him. If she survives, you just might meet Maggie in Princeton.”

As for me, Cathy White Mertz, here are a few highlights (and a lowlight) from the last few months: visited Noah in Albuquerque where he’s working on his master’s in French literature and philosophy; shattered my left wrist (stairs were involved); spent lots of time on the Cape with my mom and sisters (Wendy White Brockelman ’84 and Liz White Meahl ’86 — check out the Class of ’86 notes to see a pic of the three of us). Recently, a few of us (Ben Dubrovsky, Hazard Zenzie, John Partridge and I, along with most of our respective significant others) attended a PDS reception in Boston, where we were BY FAR the oldest alums in the room. Afterward, we walked over to Sólás Irish Pub for really good cocktails, and food. SO much fun!!

We are very sad to report that Caroline Hartshorne’s mother, the lovely Val Hartshorne, passed away in January. You have our deepest condolences, Caroline.

Our sincerest condolences to Jay Nusblatt , as well, on the death of his wife, Ilene, who passed away in February after a long struggle with scleroderma.

Until next time…

1980

Suzanne Albahary D’Amato suzannemndamato@yahoo.com

Karen Kelly k2pk@comcast.net

Keep your news and updates rolling into us. It’s always great to hear what our classmates have been up to throughout the years. Besides using email, you also can submit news and photos to us through the Princeton Day School Class of 1980 Facebook page or directly to Wavelength (pds.searchwavelength.com).

Virginia Gilbert told us about her recent cross-country move. “On Dec. 30, 2022, I moved from Los Angeles — the city I’d lived in for 36 years — to Asheville, N.C. As an empty nester whose office job became remote during the pandemic, I’m excited to live in a place that is more affordable, has better air, less traffic and a richer sense of community. I already knew people in Asheville when I moved but was pleasantly surprised to discover how easy it was to make new friends at the ripe old age of 60. There is a vibrant art and foodie scene here, and a gentler place that is conducive to mindfulness and creative pursuits. I’m so enthusiastic about this new phase of my life, in a brand-new city, that I started a Substack newsletter about it called Up and Gone To Carolina. Would love to see any PDSers who roll into town!”

Tim Murdoch sent this news via WaveLength: “I was recently featured in a story entitled, “What Business Leaders Can Learn from Lacrosse Legend Tim Murdoch” in Forbes magazine

(August 2022) with a story of my two-pronged career and a focus on positive leadership.

1981

Camie Carrington Levy camie@palousetravel.com

Kirsten Elmore Meister kmeister5@yahoo.com

Barbara Zeitler reported: “The big news is that after more than four decades, I have moved back to Princeton to be with my family. Five years ago, my mom married the man of her dreams. We all adore him. And he has three wonderful adult children who all live in the Princeton area.

My youngest of five went off to college last year, freeing me up to make moves. Three of my adult kids have settled in New York, one in Queens, one in Brooklyn and one in Manhattan, which is also where my granddaughter is. She is the light of my life these days. We are expecting her baby brother in April.

“One of my sons got married in December and just last week my daughter proposed to her boyfriend. So proud to have raised a feminist who is breaking through the gender stereotypes.

I am excited for the next chapter: Princeton Round 2.”

1982

Lorraine Herr LHerr@herr-design.com

Lindsay Suter, AIA, LEED AP, was honored by the Green Building Council with their

Green Advocate Award this year. The GBC is the premier non-profit institution for the development and implementation of sustainable design and “green” building. (Maybe you’ve seen one of their plaques on a LEED certified building). This is essentially their “lifetime achievement” award for architects and ecological/ community proponents. In his acceptance speech to the board of directors, Lindsey acknowledged, “On very rare occasions, you receive a compliment that you end up spending the rest of your life trying to live up to. This is surely mine.”

After finishing up a weekend of music and fun, Tom Marshall wanted to share photographic evidence of the epic gathering. Tom wrote: “We had an extraordinarily rare reunion of our PDS Class of ’82 band, And Back. We’ve gotten together over the years of course — but this was the first time in 30 years that all five members got together and wrote, played and recorded songs. We were at my house and Roger Holloway ’s house.”

And Back is made up of the following individuals: Marc Daubert, Dave Abrahams, Peter Cottone, Roger Holloway and Tom Marshall.

Lorraine Herr : Your trusty class of 1982 scribe began a new role in the fall of 2022. I joined the Kellogg School of Management as a career coach for the full-time MBA students. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy working with this remarkable cohort of talent from across the globe. Plus, the views of Lake Michigan from our offices aren’t too bad. If you visit Evanston, Ill., please look me up.

1983

Noelle Damico revdamico@gmail.com

Rena Whitehouse renawhitehouse@hotmail.com

1984

Edward Willard tcwillard@mac.com

Not much news submitted to me, but exciting news for us! Our youngest daughter, Jayne Willard, will be finishing her master’s in geology at Chapel Hill in May and has just accepted a position as a biological technician with the National Parks Service in Saint Paul, Minn. She will be continuing her research on beavers and their impact on local water systems, which is the basis for her master’s research. She now knows what she can spend her saved L.L. Bean gift cards on: warm clothes!

1985

Lynch Hunt lynchhunt@alumni.upenn.edu

Marisa Petrella sales4metoo@msn.com

1986

Mollie Roth mollie.roth@pgxconsulting.com

Liz White Meahl sent in: “Feeling a bit in the spotlight, sending something in for our typically empty Class of 1986 notes! Life in Maine happened when my husband’s employer offered it as an option. Portland has been a great place to live and raise our now adult kids. I am in the front office of a small expeditionary learning high school, which is challenging and awesome. After graduating from college, my son, Jack, started out in the corporate world and quickly determined that was not the right fit. He is now one of the two dedicated substitute teachers at the high school where I work! Nice seeing him daily and loving his work. My daughter, Sumner, is set to graduate this May, certified as a secondary high school English teacher. She will head back to Portland to pursue a master’s program in English. I am thrilled to keep our small herd in close proximity! As I write this, I’m on the Cape with my mom and my sister, Cathy White Mertz ’79, and we were all here a few weeks ago with Wendy White Brockelman ’84, too! During COVID, a number of us Zoomed and it was awesome seeing PDS friends. That was May of 2021! I see Christi Curtin McCarthy and Kelly Noonan O’Shea each year but am woefully out of touch with so many long-lost friends. So, there’s a Class of ’86 post. Tag, you’re it!”

1987

Sofia Xethalis sxethalis@yahoo.com.au

1988

Mike Lingle mlingletonic@yahoo.com

1989

Doria Roberts doriaroberts@yahoo.com

1990

Deborah Bushell Gans gansdebby@gmail.com

1991

Aly Cohen alycohen@yahoo.com

Kate Muccino Gandhi reported: “We are doing well! I don’t have a recent family pic (last one was last summer at a wedding reception, but Naveen is now even taller and different looking). Malena is studying cartooning at the School of Visual Arts in the Village. She wants to create her own video game characters, write and author her own books, and what else, we will see! Naveen is 16, heavy into sports (XC, swim, track) and overall doing great.”

Aly Cohen: It’s been a busy 2023 already! My boys are enjoying their eighth and 10th grade school years at PDS and are regularly consumed with PDS sports and travel lacrosse. My eighth grader just had Mini-Course Week, Chocolate Immersion…some of us may remember this mini-week option from 35 years ago!!

On a professional note, I’m thrilled to share that Simon & Schuster has offered me a new book deal to discuss how immune disorders and autoimmune diseases are strongly influenced by chemical exposures in our everyday lives AND how we can all protect, effectively manage and even improve our immune systems for better health and longevity (to be published in the fall of 2024).

It was a wonderful surprise to see my classmate, Tony Mack at the boys’ varsity lacrosse practice along with his wife, Kim!

1992

Sharon Thomas Haber sharon@maiaeducation.com

Judson Henderson jhenderson@callawayhenderson.com

1993

Darcey Carlson Leonard darceyva@gmail.com

1994

Cynthia Shafto Cynthia.678@icloud.com

Well, it’s official…hell is freezing over! Sightings of snow at the Hollywood sign and hailing in La La Land. Dusk skies filled with cotton candy clouds and it’s only day five of Lent; I believe in miracles, and I imagine by April sixth I will have won the lottery and student loans will be canceled!! I will take us all to Disneyland. Let us pray.

Speaking of miracles, I was surprised with a visit by our very own Maggie Seidel Waterhouse last weekend in town for the Frieze art show. She is the senior sales director at Sperone Westwater Gallery in NYC! I got a private tour of their collection and she kept all eyes on me as Larry David waited for her attention, savvy are her skills. Larry can wait!!

Although it has been 20 years since I’ve seen her, within an instant, I felt more seen than I have in nearly as long, truth. For me it was the reunion my soul was seeking. LOVE! Memories of who we were remind us of who we are. That the bonds of our Panther years will last forever, and I am eternally grateful for that and IT. I continue to believe the BEST has yet to come! Again, let us pray, I will accept no alternative. Until then I’ll be living in my Pink Noise wonderland waiting and watching for pigs in the sky.

Miracles continue as I have received some more updates to share:

Josh Anzel reported: “I live in San Francisco with my wife, Christina, and our daughter, Isabel (12), who is in the sixth grade. Our son, Dylan (15), is in the ninth grade at Phillips Academy in Massachusetts. I practice law in the area of affordable housing.”

Doug Berkman sent: “Your comments about the bond created so many years ago is timely. A bunch of us have had similar experiences getting together recently and feeling like no time has passed and we were all in unique company.

Andrew Katz was diligent in organizing a reunion for some of us guys this past fall: Andrew Katz, TJ Thornton, me, Alex Batcha, Pat Kerney and Andy Overman tailgated at the Penn-Princeton football game. After the game we had drinks at my place and otherwise spent the day catching up, making up for all the drinks we haven’t shared in 20 years and having a blast. Then in January, I was successful getting a crew of PDS guys to join into a long-running guys ski trip. Although I had seen Pat Regan at reunions and he had become a regular on the ski trip back in 2020, Katz and Overman hadn’t seen him in 20 years. Well, it didn’t take a minute to be back then. It was surreal. Anyway, as we all get older and kids go off to college for some of us (Katz) and others play with their grandchild (old man Regan) we are reminded how lasting and meaningful these friendships are.

Sarah Silverman Blaugrund lives in the Berkshires in western Massachusetts with her husband, Jeff, and two daughters, Irit, age nine, and Dalia, age seven. She’s been writing and performing as Sarah Aroeste (her mother’s family name) for the last 22 years as one of the few contemporary composers in Ladino, a 15th-century Judeo-Spanish language. She’ll be releasing her eighth album this spring, as well as her second children’s book. In the past year she got to hang with Kyra Skvir Frankel in the Berkshires and had a Jess Seid Dickler sighting while performing in Princeton in February! “Anyone swinging by the Berks, say hi!”

1995

Melissa Woodruff Mccormick mwoodruf99@yahoo.com

1996

Dana DeCore Falconi dana.falconi5@gmail.com

1997

Ellyn Rajfer Herkins ellynrajfer@gmail.com

L. Amanda Rabinowitz Plonsky mandyplonsky@gmail.com

1998

Giovanna Torchio Lockhart gray.giovanna@gmail.com

1999

Joanna Woodruff Rominger jbw1980@gmail.com

2000

Sapna Thottathil sapna.thottathil@gmail.com

I had the chance to recently catch up with two classmates: Gerald and Paris.

Gerald Eugene is based in Atlanta, Ga., (after many years in Washington, DC) and is finishing his master’s degree in educational leadership. His family is doing well; he has a bright 11-year-old son.

Paris McLean recently took on a new role at Montclair Kimberley Academy in N.J. as the assistant head of school for diversity, inclusion and anti-racism. Paris and I actually had a lengthy Zoom call after the mass shootings in LA and Half Moon Bay here in California that impacted Asian and Latinx communities... and we talked about racism, national politics, challenges facing young adults today and, of course, our own experiences growing up. While our conversation had its sobering moments, how nice it was to chat and reminisce with a friend from long ago!

Sapna Thottathil: And on a more personal note, I am excited to announce that I’ve taken on a new position in the University of California, as managing director for the Center for Climate, Health and Equity. Aside from adjusting to my new role, my husband and I are busily parenting our three young kids in Oakland, Calif., while fixing up our new home and garden. We miss the East Coast and hope to visit soon!

2001

Carolyn Yarian Morgan carolyn.morgan2012@gmail.com

Wilson Weed wweed1@gmail.com

2002

Aviva Perlman Fintz aperlman26@gmail.com

2003

Allison Marshall amarshall220@aol.com

2004

Katherine Chimacoff Dickens Mrskatedickens@gmail.com

Scott Rosenberg rosenbergse@gmail.com

2005

Hilary Richards Conger hilary.conger@gmail.com

2006

Jacob “Mendy” Fisch mendyman@gmail.com

Kunle Onitiri wrote that his first child was born! OluwaDemilade King Ajani Onitiri was born January 30, 2023, at Penn Medicine in Plainsboro, N.J., weighing 8lbs. 2oz.

I also heard from Hannah Tamminen, who is busy with both acting and teaching across New York and New Jersey. She wrote: “Hannah relocated from Los Angeles to New York, and from February 25 through March 26 will be performing in Shakespeare’s “Pericles,” with Target Margin Theater in Brooklyn. The production is being directed by David Herskovits with a cast of seven actors; Eunice Wong is in the title role. Additionally, Hannah is a faculty member in the Theatre, Film and Television department at Rider University and has also been teaching courses with Princeton Adult School.”

The Navy has sent me back to Washington, DC after assignments in Norfolk, Va.; Great Lakes, Ill., and San Diego, Calif. If anyone’s around DC, get in touch.

Thank you to those who wrote in. I look forward to hearing from more of you for the fall edition.

2007

Nina Crouse ninacrouse@gmail.com

Vishal Gupta vishgupta2@gmail.com

Alexandra Hiller Rorick ali.rorick@gmail.com

Maria Cannavo married Justin La Luz in November 2021 in Morristown, N.J. They hosted a beautiful wedding and celebrated with their closest friends and family, including several PDS alumni!

2008

Tessica Glancey Crampton tessicaglancey@gmail.com

2009

Ashley Smoots asmoots@gmail.com

Vinay Trivedi vt1090@gmail.com

2010

Anna Otis annaotis92@gmail.com

Alexandra Feuer Portale awfeuer@gmail.com

Emilie Hamel Chowdhury wrote: “In 2022, we welcomed our son, Vincent, to our family; Vanessa has become the best big sister! We’re taking full advantage of Sweden’s generous parental leave policies and will be back to work late in 2023.”

2011

Evan Seto eseto17@gmail.com