14 minute read
What’s New?
1988
Claire Heller Hargreaves ’88 �� and her husband Barry are heartbroken to announce that on Monday, May 20, 2024, John (“Jack”) Patrick Hargreaves, loving son, brother, and friend, passed away at age 20. Please pray for her family.
1989
On Saturday, November 8, 2024, Beth Kennedy Beavers, Jen Gehris Wells, Heather Sheldrick Thompson, Amy Strada Storey, Shane Petersen, Paul Wells, Dennis Wolstenholme and Doug Okay �� met up at the Wells’ home for a mini reunion. “All eight of us are members of the Class of 1989 and graduated 35 years ago! We had a great time watching our graduation and graduation party video, paging through yearbooks, and reminiscing,” writes Jen.
Share your latest milestones and accomplishments by submitting your news to Class Notes. Email alumni@paulvi.net to be included in the next issue. We can’t wait to hear from you!
2002
Rachel Andrews ’02 �� is Global Head of Meetings & Events at event technology company Cvent. In August, she won the Visionary Award from Smart Meetings at the Smart Woman Summit which celebrates exceptional leaders in the meetings and events industry.
2003
Nicole St. John Nesheim ’03 �� writes, “Antonella HensonVendrell ’18 was an absolutely amazing coach for my daughter in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We are thankful to have a fellow Panther in town!”
Class of 1994 Celebrates 30 Years
Thank you to James Nellis who organized a reunion for the Class of 1994 at Audacious Aleworks in Fairfax on October 12, 2024.
Pictured left to right, bottom row: William Leggett, James Nellis, Melissa Hish, Courtney Willis Banks, Gretchen Beasley, Lori Harkin Huse. Top row: Melissa Veneracion, Michael Kelly, Linda Matthews Johnson, Donna Prosser Thomas, Bonnie Velazco Criado, Tim Becker
For the Long Run Teammates Turned Coaches
As Paul VI students, Matt Mozingo ’99 and Tim Hish ’98 were teammates on the Cross Country team. This season, they have come full circle and are coaching the team together.
“Coaching at Paul VI has been a great experience. I benefited tremendously from my time at PVI and on the cross country team in particular, and it is a lot of fun to work together with the next generation of Panther runners. My favorite part of coaching has been witnessing our student-athletes improve over time and grow together as a team. It is really rewarding to see them put in the effort on a daily basis, and then having that effort pay off with improved results in our races.”
— MATT MOZINGO ’99, HEAD COACH
“Coaching with my former teammate on the same team where both of us became great friends has been one of my favorite things I’ve done in my adult life. PVI Cross Country gave me an understanding of teamwork and perseverance that served me incredibly well in my endeavors after high school. Being given the opportunity to help today’s PVI students learn how to persevere through adversity as a team and seeing firsthand the improvement in the runners over the season is extremely rewarding to me.”
— TIM HISH ’98, ASSISTANT COACH
2003
Fr. Nicholas Barnes ’03 and Mrs. Pam McCarthy, former PVI Spanish teacher, had an unplanned Advisory reunion recently. Pam writes, “My husband and I have been celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary this year and we attended the Diocesan Jubilarian Mass for couples celebrating 25 and 50 years. I was joyfully surprised to see one of my former students, advisee Nicholas Barnes ’03, (now Father Barnes), concelebrating the Mass for us! At the reception afterwards, we took our photo with Father Barnes.”
2004
Ryan Ferry ’04 and his wife Kati French Ferry ’05 welcomed their 8th child, Adonis Zeus Ferry, on June 4, 2024 in Fairfax, Virginia. Kati was also the keynote speaker at the American Women’s Interpretive Dance Conference in Orlando, Florida in July and hopes to be back to competing by December! Not Pictured.
2011
Meagan Astorino Gregg ’11 and her husband Alex welcomed Luca Xavier on August 8, 2024. Luca was baptized into the Catholic Church on October 26 at Saint Mary of Sorrows in Fairfax. “Siblings Kinsleigh and Lochlan are so in love with their new baby brother, and we’re all feeling so blessed,” writes Meagan.
2013
Although Taylor Kiechlin ’13 spent her two years in PVI Theatre on the stage, it took her less than a semester at University of Mary Washington to find her true home behind it — in stage management. While at UMW, she managed a record number of shows, with musicals as her primary focus. Her first professional contracts came while she was still in school, when she spent the summer of 2016 on La Cage aux Folles at Signature Theatre and the pre-Broadway tryout of Come From Away at Ford’s Theatre. After graduating in 2017, she worked at the Tony-Award recognized Williamstown Theatre Festival. In 2018, following a residency at Philadelphia-area theatre Bristol Riverside Theatre, she settled back in the DC area, where she has since become a very “booked and blessed" member of Actor’s Equity (AEA), the union of professional actors and stage managers. Over the course of her career she has collaborated with musical theatre legends such as Cynthia Erivo, Rachel Chavkin, Bernadette Peters, and Susan Egan, and has been on stage management teams for 30+ productions at many of DC’s most prominent houses, including Signature Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Ford’s Theatre, Round House Theatre, Studio Theatre, Folger Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, and Shakespeare Theatre Company. She also works on large scale events such as the annual Hispanic Heritage Awards aired on PBS and the Ford’s Theatre Annual Gala, spends summers stage managing at the Great Lakes Center for the Arts in Michigan, and has even dipped her toe in field of teaching, returning to UMW to mentor students alongside her former teacher. Currently, she is spending the holiday season as the AEA Assistant Stage Manager on the world premiere musical A Hanukkah Carol, or GELT TRIP! The Musical at Round House Theatre in Bethesda, and will be working on In the Heights at Arlington’s Signature Theatre this spring.
Back Home for Homecoming
We were delighted to welcome alumni and their families to our annual Alumni Tailgate held on Friday, October 11, on Alumni Hill at Luke McGuire Stadium.
Alumni Tailgate
High Flying Hero
TOP GUN’s Tyler Alger ’12
LT Tyler “JFK” Alger ’12 attended the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York where he earned his bachelor’s degree and was selected to go to the U.S. Navy flight school. In flight school, he was stationed in Pensacola, Florida; Corpus Christi, Texas; and Kingsville, Texas; where he flew the T-6B Texan II and the T-45C Goshawk. From there, he moved to Virginia Beach to learn how to fly the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in preparation to support the U.S. Naval Aviation enterprise in the fleet. He then joined the VFA-86 Sidewinders in Lemoore, California, a F/A-18E Super Hornet squadron that deployed to the European Theater on the USS George HW Bush, one of the Navy’s 11 nuclear powered aircraft carriers. “After completing my time at VFA-86, I was lucky enough to be selected to attend the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School, or TOPGUN, in Fallon, Nevada. Since graduating TOPGUN in December of 2023, I have been instructing Carrier Air Wings at the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center here in Fallon before they head out to sea to deploy,” writes Tyler.
2015
Marcela Luna ’15 married Stephen Abramowitz on August 17, 2024 in Somers Point, New Jersey. The couple met while pursuing degrees in Communications at James Madison University. They were married at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and had a reception at Linwood Country Club filled with family, friends, and a lot of dancing. Marcela’s bridal party included Gabriela Baker ’15 and Kaitlin Jahn ’15. Marcela and Stephen live in Somers Point, New Jersey with their dog, Kona, and they enjoy being at the beach year-round. Marcela works as an event coordinator and sales manager for a wedding venue and Stephen works in corporate affairs for a healthcare marketing agency. In the spring, they’ll be traveling to France for their honeymoon.
2017
Isabella Gordon ’17 graduated with her Master’s in Physician Assistant Studies, MPAS from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston and has begun her career in inpatient neurosurgery.
2019
2nd LT Jack R. Houser ’19 graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in Supply Chain Management from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK). Determined to lead others, Jack sought additional challenges as he enrolled in, and completed with honors, the UTK Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) program where he served as flight commander and inspector general. As a result of this competency as a leader in AFROTC training, he was presented with the National Defense Transportation Association award for transportation, logistics, and passenger travel. Upon commissioning to the U.S. Air Force, Jack serves as an Aircraft Maintenance Officer at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas, home of the 7th Bomb Wing.
Alex Horan ’19 attended Saint Anselm College, where he earned a double major in Criminal Justice and Behavioral Neuroscience and completed a Master’s in Criminology and Criminal Justice. At Saint Anselm, he walked on to the crosscountry team and was captain his junior, senior, and graduate years. Alex’s favorite highlight of college/grad school was participating in music ministry with Hilltop Worship, through which he played contemporary Christian music at Mass and Eucharistic Adoration. “Something I will always love PVI for is its ability to minister to its students and the community; even as a lifelong practicing Catholic I felt that my faith grew tremendously while at PVI. It was a joy to carry these same principles with me to college and to participate in the evangelization of my college community through music.”
Alex recently graduated from the New Hampshire Police Academy and is starting the field training evaluation program with the Hudson Police Department. Alex writes, “This is my dream job, and I credit a large part of any success I have had to the education of the Diocese of Arlington’s Catholic education system, and PVI. I definitively realized that I wanted to work in law enforcement while I was a student at PVI, and received constant guidance and encouragement from teachers, counselors, and advisors. PVI prepared me to do well in college and grad school, and college and grad school prepared me for the police academy. I’m incredibly grateful to the PVI community for my time as a Panther. The PVI community is in my prayers, and I ask that you also pray for me as we continue to strive to Live Jesus!”
2024
John Hohmann ’24 entered the Catholic Church this past summer, and received his First Communion and Confirmation. His friend Carson Hill ’23, another alumnus who was in Options, served as John’s sponsor, and a PVI group came out to support John on his special day. “We felt so much love. Carson helped and supported John and I am very grateful for Carson’s support; it shows what a wonderful person he is to help his friend through this spiritual journey," shares John’s mother Hope. “Our time at PVI has had a profound effect on our family, — we have never been happier and more connected to Christ."
Second Verse Singers
Hit the Right Note in College
“My time in choir was incredibly formative during my years at PVI, giving me some of my lifelong friends and unforgettable memories. I knew that in college this would be the first thing I would explore,” shares Gaby Flores ’22
Now at William & Mary, Gaby is a member of the Barksdale Treble Chorus, the college’s official treble voice ensemble. “I have met some of my best friends, served on the executive board, and performed in many places over the past two years. I have loved fostering the joy of singing, and I am so grateful to PVI for giving me the inspiration to do so.”
Cole Wade ’24 also values his involvement in music at PVI. “I was in the St. Cecilia Chamber Choir all four years and sang all types of music, from Disney princess songs to African spirituals to dramatic Italian ballads.”
Cole can now add another music genre to his repertoire: Japanese. He is a member of Kaminari A Cappella at Rochester Institute of Technology. “We arrange and perform songs exclusively from Japan, including J-pop, city pop and original soundtracks from Japanese media. We learn the Japanese to perform both visually and vocally, demonstrating how music transcends language.” Kaminari recently released its first EP, First Strike, now on Spotify and Apple Music.
