Academic EXCELLENCE | Personal ACHIEVEMENT | SUMMER 2016
A MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNAE, PARENTS, AND FRIENDS
175th Anniversary Special Edition
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Board of Trustees 2015-2016 Theodore D. Bratton, Chair Gloria Taft Becker ’92HS, Vice Chair Martin H. Brinkley, Secretary William C. Monk Jr., Treasurer Members At-Large Gloria Taft Becker ’92HS, Raleigh, N.C. Anna Neal Blanchard ’76HS, Raleigh, N.C. Martin M. Boney, Raleigh, N.C. Theodore D. Bratton, Raleigh, N.C. Martin H. Brinkley, Raleigh, N.C. Barbara Eagleson Cain ’65C, Wilmington, N.C. Caren Threshie Camp ’71HS, Alexandria, Va. Eric W. Evans, Raleigh, N.C. Carter Warren Franke ’75HS ’77C, Owings Mills, Md. Sallie Harris Glover ’81HS ’83C, Raleigh, N.C. R. Gordon Grubb, Raleigh, N.C. Hubert B. Haywood III, Raleigh, N.C. Kenneth B. Howard, Raleigh, N.C. Lynn Cowell Ives ’85HS ’87C, Rocky Mount, N.C. Burns Jones, Greensboro, N.C. W. Scott Mahoney, Raleigh, N.C. William C. Monk Jr., Greenville, N.C. Lane Turner Nash ’72HS ’74C, Raleigh, N.C. Elizabeth Rasberry Pitts ’79C, Charlotte, N.C. Sallie Shuping Russell ’75C, Chapel Hill, N.C. F. Jefferson Stocks, Raleigh, N.C. Gray Clark Stoughton ’78HS ’80C, Greenville, N.C. Jeffrey M. Szyperski, Irvington, Va. Nancy Kerr Thomason ’73HS ’75C, Dunwoody, Ga. Margaret Longley White ’79C, Greensboro, N.C.
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Mission Statement Saint Mary’s School, a community dedicated to academic excellence and personal achievement, prepares young women for college and life.
SUMMEr 2016 | VoLUME 101, NUMBEr 2
Founded in 1842 in the Episcopal tradition, Saint Mary’s School is an independent, college-preparatory, girls boarding and day school dedicated to academic excellence and personal achievement for grades 9-12. Saint Mary’s School admits high school girls of any race, color, religion, national, or ethnic origin.
Administration Monica M. Gillespie, Ph.D., Head of School Tim Healy, Dean of Students
oN thE CoVEr
Laura Novia, Director of Marketing and Communications
Historic lithograph drawn by
Leslie Owen, Dean of Teaching and Learning
Mrs. Blessner of Saint Mary's
Julie Ricciardi, Director of Development
in the 1800s.
Kim Slade, Director of Admission Sally Woods, Chief Financial Officer Saint Mary’s School Magazine Published twice each year by Saint Mary’s School
CONTENTS
900 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, N.C. 27603-1689 919-424-4000 www.sms.edu Editor Mary Virginia Swain ’77C Director of Public Relations and Publications
175 Years of Educating Women Saint Mary’s — A Hardiness Zone for Generations of Girls
mvswain@sms.edu Class News Editor Emory Rogers Church ’74C Contributors: Monica M. Gillespie, Ph.D.; Dee Williamson Marley ’77HS; Margaret McGlohon ’81C;
Alumnae Council Message Head of School Message Academic Excellence
Jean Redding ’72HS; Julie Ricciardi; Kim Slade;
News Briefs Personal Achievement
Design Heath Hilliker, Senior Marketing Coordinator
Admission News Athletics News
Printing Metro Productions, Raleigh, N.C.
Calendar of Events Event Photos Milestones Class News
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IN EVERY ISSUE
Jeannie Norris; Laura Novia; Ainsley Powell; Martha Stoops; Mary Virginia Swain ’77C
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MESSAGE from the ALUMNAE COUNCIL Dear alumnae, As we embark on our yearlong celebration of our 175th anniversary year, we begin with a new strategic plan, increased enrollment and greater alumnae support. The school’s strategic plan, which will guide Saint Mary’s through the next five years, is the work of many people who care deeply about our school, including alumnae, administrators, board members, students, and parents. We believe that it paints an inspiring picture for the future of our school. Throughout this issue of the magazine, you will find recurring messages of strength, resiliency, and adaptation. It is clear that we would not be here 175 years after Aldert Smedes established Saint Mary’s had we not always been “on the move,” adapting to
changing times and the changing needs of girls and young women. The mission of the Alumnae Council is to honor our past while securing the future of Saint Mary's through our connection to one another. Our gifts of time, talent, and treasure support students, faculty, and our lovely campus where shared experiences, friendships, and learning become an important chapter in an alumna’s life story. Just as those who came before us laid the foundation for us, our efforts today will strengthen that foundation for generations of girls who follow. The power of Saint Mary’s transcends time and place. There are many ways to support our legacy, both in your hometown or region
and on campus. Plan to attend an event. Volunteer to help start a regional Saint Mary’s alumnae chapter. Reserve your spot at the 175th Gala, to be held May 12, 2017. Join the Heritage Society. Be a champion of our school in your community for potential students and, most importantly, make a gift to the Annual Fund to be a part of building the future of Saint Mary’s. Thank you for your support and your passion. It is what being a Saint Mary’s girl is all about! To faithful friends and comrades sure, Dee Williamson Marley ’77HS and Jean Redding ’72HS Alumnae Association co-presidents
Saint Mary’s Alumnae Council Mission Statement As ambassadors, the Saint Mary’s School Alumnae Council promotes and preserves the traditions and values of Saint Mary’s in order to support the school in developing and preparing our future leaders.
2015-2016 Alumnae Council
Pridie Clark Ariail ’69C Vicky McKenzie Armes ’62C Merritt Atkins ’99HS Diane Becton Gupton ’77HS Lynn Purdie Brennan ’62C Elizabeth Spratt Cooper ’93HS ’95C Anne Finley ’91C Melrose Whitfield Fisher ’72HS ’74C Jane Bratton Fleming ’76HS ’78C Ashley Dawson Forbes ’95C Libby Holding ’78C Elizabeth VanDyke Johnson ’91C Joan Comer Johnson ’87C Britt Vice Kirkbride ’82HS ’84C Susanne Owens Logan ’73HS ’75C Dee Williamson Marley ’77HS Mary Anne Creech McIntire ’65HS Michelle Oppegaard ’93HS ’95C Rebecca Pace ’85HS Michelle White Porter ’87HS Sandra Ray ’82HS ’84C Jean Redding ’72HS Allison Sprock ’82HS ’84C Eliza Jenkins Stoecker ’96HS Georgia Worthington Sullivan ’77HS
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Sue Jett Russler Taylor ’89HS ’91C Heather Moore Thompson ’88HS ’90C Melissa Morrisette Tillman ’88HS Heather Clark Warren ’89C ’91C Cassie Warrington ’93HS ’95C Margaret Overcash White ’98HS Charlotte Hill Wickham ’82HS Stephanie Bishop Williams ’90HS Blanche Williamson ’76HS Leslie Allred Yates ’96HS ’98C
2015-2016 Young Alumnae Advisory Board Stuart Anderson ’11 Blair Barnett ’11 Louise Mann Clement ’11 Lindsey Johnson ’11 Maggie Pearce ’11 Gates Killian ’10 Joi Marlowe ’10 Louise Orr ’10 Betsy Church ’09 Becca Vinson Hamilton ’09 Emma Carol Lewis ’09 Lauren Vitek ’09 Chelsea Ward ’09
Martha Cox ’08 Sarah Staton Nash ’08 Mary Brown Taylor ’08 Sam Vaillancourt ’07 Nancy Vander Veer ’07 Anna Zevenhuizen ’07 Lauren Robbins Dickson ’06 Kyle O’Garro-Moore ’06 Taylor Rice ’06 Ila Walker Bittner ’05 Claire Cosgrove ’05 Katie Skinner ’05 Katie Whitmore Allred ’04 Britt Carl ’04 Charlotte Smith ’04 Laura Fanjoy ’03 Kate Yandell Reece ’03 Anne Kenan Barnard ’02 Adair Calamos Blount ’02 Hallie Sessoms Kennedy ’02 Catherine Mullen Palmer ’02 Kathryn Calder Barmore ’01 Grayson Glisson Nichols ’01 Emily Smith ’01 Claire Spruill Tyler ’01
Saint Mary’s School | www.sms.edu
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MESSAGE from the Head of School
A Remarkable History By Monica M. Gillespie, Ph.D., Head of School
Few institutions can stand the test of time. Even fewer thrive. Saint Mary’s School is the second oldest Episcopal all girls’ school in the country, and our history tells the story of courageous leadership and of the power of resilience. For 174 years, Saint Mary’s has been living its mission, which in its most essential articulation, has never changed. We believe in educating girls. Our solid foundation is built upon the belief that educated women can, and should, make a difference in their world. Our enduring mission to prepare girls is as relevant today as it was in 1842. We challenge each young woman to embrace the habits of an intellectual life and empower her to serve and shape her world. We understand that the values of respect, integrity, and honoring the worth and dignity of every individual are as important today as they were when the school was founded 174 years ago. These values are enduring and never go out of fashion or lose followers on Twitter.
We begin our 175th anniversary year filled with appreciation for our past, excitement about our present, and inspiration for our future. We are inspired by our current students and alumnae, some of whom are highlighted in this magazine, whose lives are shining examples of our core beliefs. Their stories and those of thousands of alumnae prove that educated women can and do make a difference in their world.
Monica M. Gillespie, Ph.D. Head of School
Throughout our remarkable history, Saint Mary’s has benefitted from generations of women and men, like Aldert and Sarah Smedes and Margaret Jones Cruikshank, who demonstrated the importance of leadership and resiliency, especially during challenging times when our beloved school needed courageous guidance. With every setback, we became stronger; with every success, we gained confidence. Saint Mary’s never lost sight of the mission and took every opportunity to evolve over time, staying relevant and important in the lives of young women and their families.
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175 YEARS of EDUCATING YOUNG WOMEN
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The Early Years: a foundation of resilience and purpose This is the first in a series of articles focused on the 175-year history of women’s education at Saint Mary’s School from 1842-2017. In this article, we focus on resilience during the school’s early years from 1842 through the Civil War and Reconstruction.
ith a 175-year history of resilience, resolve, and a strong sense of purpose, Saint Mary’s School has stood the test of time and remains true to its original mission of excellence in education for young women. Saint Mary’s is distinct in its longevity and relevance across generations. Since opening May 12, 1842, Saint Mary’s has stood firm in its dedication to academic excellence for girls. It has thrived by adapting to the challenging and changing times in the history of the nation, the world, and the school – from the Civil War to the World Wars; from the Great Depression to the turbulent ’60s; through societal and technological progress; and through ever-changing trends in women’s education. Through it all, Saint Mary’s has instilled resilience in its students, both by example as a longstanding institution and through intentional teachings in the classrooms and real-life experiences. The celebration throughout the 2016-2017 school year of 175 years of excellence in education for women will honor and celebrate the success of the school in delivering to many generations the original mission inspired by the conviction of Saint Mary’s founder, the Rev. Aldert Smedes, that “an educated woman can make a difference,” a tenet as relevant in the 21st century as it was in 1842.
In the Beginning When Smedes opened the doors of Saint Mary’s to the “Original 13” students on May 12, 1842, educational opportunities in the state and nation were expanding significantly for women, after earlier years when public education was limited, and when women were often discouraged from pursuing, or even denied, a chance at a formal, traditional education. Some even believed that women could not handle the rigor of academia. Coming from a family of strong women and through his experiences with his family’s girls’ school in New York, Aldert Smedes knew differently. Smedes’s mother, Eliza Sebor Isaacs Smedes, opened a boarding and day school for girls in the large Duane Street home in New York City occupied by Aldert and his wife, Sarah Lyell Smedes. Aldert and his sisters, Sarah and Mary Smedes, assisted their mother in the care and education of her pupils. When in later years the Raleigh newspapers described Aldert Smedes’s career, they often referred to his “large and fashionable school in New York City.”
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Saint Mary’s Main Building, now Smedes Hall, 1800s, courtesy of the North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library
Through their work with their family’s girls’ school, “Aldert and Sarah Smedes had found their calling,” writes Martha Stoops in The Heritage. With Aldert Smedes needing to move south for health reasons, the next step in Saint Mary’s history came when he met Levi Silliman Ives, North Carolina’s Episcopal bishop, who was seeking to open a girls’ school on the site of the failed Episcopal School of North Carolina for boys, which opened in 1834 and closed in 1838. Smedes and Ives met, either by coincidence or by divine intervention, in New York City in the fall of 1841. During their conversation, they found that Smedes wanted to open a girls’ school in Raleigh, and Ives was looking for someone to open a girls’ school on what is now the Saint Mary’s campus. The rest of that story is 175 years of Saint Mary’s history.
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Aldert Smedes called his institution simply, Saint Mary’s School. In those early years, students ranged in age from kindergarten to high school and college. Martha Stoops writes, “By the time he founded Saint Mary’s, Aldert Smedes was well along in the process of evolving his philosophy of education. As the years progressed, he became absolutely sure that the Saint Mary’s way was the best way to educate young women. Smedes hoped to transform society gradually through the influence of educated women.” The year 1842 was a good time to open a girls’ school and, by all accounts, Saint Mary’s School was a success from the beginning, with a sustained period of growth, prosperity, and tranquility, through the 1840s and 1850s. With the reputation of his school and his own respected place in the
community firmly established, Smedes had every reason to look forward with confidence. But, the 1860s brought a brutal Civil War that divided and devastated the nation and brought the Union Army to the Grove at Saint Mary’s. the Civil War and Saint Mary’s School “In the decade 1860-1870, Saint Mary’s experienced what must surely be accounted the greatest crisis of her first 100 years of her existence,” writes alumna Emilie Smedes Holmes of the Civil War years in Life at Saint Mary’s, a historical account of the first 100 years of the school published for the centennial celebration in 1942. “That the school not only survived but emerged from it victoriously must be ascribed to the greatness of its founder.”
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Saint Mary’s Chapel, 1800s, was referred to as the “little brown Chapel that we love.” It was later expanded and painted white.
"That Smedes was able to keep the school open and continue to focus on educating the young women through war times is a testament to the resilient resolve of the leader and the school."
Holmes writes, “There seems to have been little question of closing the school during the war. Instead, her doors were flung wide open and women of means found refuge under her hospitable roof.” Because Saint Mary’s was considered a “good school and a safe place,” daughters and nieces of both Union and Confederate generals attended school together at Saint Mary’s during the war years, including Mildred Childe Lee, daughter of Robert E. Lee. Confederate President Jefferson Davis’s
wife, Varina, and their children lived for a time at Saint Mary’s until it was deemed safe for them to return to Richmond.
but it took a herculean effort on the part of Aldert Smedes to feed and care for the campus community through the lean war years.
That Smedes was able to keep the school open and continue to focus on educating the young women through war times is a testament to the resilient resolve of the leader and the school.
Serious food shortages posed a great challenge throughout the south. Feeding the students at Saint Mary’s was a constant struggle, but no one ever went hungry. Smedes was forced to turn to bartering for tuition. It is written in Life at Saint Mary’s that "Katharine Russell Clements entered Saint Mary’s by her father on a bale of cotton.” Other girls enrolled with the payment
Supplies were limited and inflation caused prices to skyrocket, impacting the cost and availability of food, textbooks, paper, slates, and pencils. The school remained solvent,
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Saint Mary’s founder, the Rev. Aldert Smedes
of a barrel of flour, a sack of meal, a side of bacon, or bushels of corn. Saint Mary’s garden provided fresh vegetables. A campus well provided fresh water. Meat was harder to come by, however, Smedes was usually able to get ham, turkeys, corned beef, and lard, although at great expense. By 1863, the realities of the toll of war were setting in throughout the South and on Saint Mary’s campus. Saint Mary’s students suffered personal losses of brothers, sweethearts, and fathers who died on the battlefield. Many traveled home from school to attend funerals for their fallen loved ones. Aldert and Sarah Smedes lost two sons, Edward and Ives, to the war. As Union General Tecumseh Sherman and his army marched towards Raleigh in the spring of 1865, the city braced for the arrival of Union troops amidst great excitement. Downtrodden Confederate soldiers began to pass through Raleigh and by Saint Mary’s campus. General Oliver Otis Howard’s union troops and officers camped for weeks in tents in the Grove at Saint Mary’s. Confederate fortifications designed to protect the capitol ran through the west side of Saint Mary’s campus just beyond the Chapel.
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“The presence of the Union troops created great excitement on the campus, but the school’s rector, Aldert Smedes, and his teachers did their best to see that life went on as usual. In the Grove at Saint Mary’s School, all was orderly. General Howard told Smedes that ‘nothing was to be feared from his troops,’” writes Stoops in The Heritage. In late April, General Sherman visited in the large parlor in the main building (now Smedes Hall) with the Rev. Smedes, saying that he was “charmed with the polite reception” he received. “So charmed,” alumna Mary Bayard Clarke reported, that “after saying adieu he turned at the bottom of the steps for a parting bow.” Unfortunately, the girls were making ugly faces, and some were shaking their fists. Sherman was so amused that he later told the story himself. Stoops recounts the activity on campus as the war came to an end in May. “On the eve of the expected fall of Richmond, Aldert Smedes called the Saint Mary’s family together in the Chapel. He spoke of the evils of war and ‘the fierce and dreadful passions it inflames.’ Smedes spoke at length about the destruction, the waste, the terrible loss of life.”
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Amidst much poverty and devastation in the South in the aftermath of war, Saint Mary’s successfully stayed its course, one of the few schools in the region to remain open throughout the war. In fact, despite the political, social, and economic upheaval of the Reconstruction years, life at Saint Mary’s remained relatively unchanged. In its first major test of its mettle, Saint Mary’s carried on, committed to its mission to educate young women and prepare them for life. Throughout Saint Mary’s history and changing times, the school’s mission and core values have remained remarkably true to Smedes’s original vision and dream. Indeed, it is an unwavering sense of resilience since the earliest years that has brought the school to its 175th year of successful, continuous operation. Today, Saint Mary’s School, a community dedicated to academic excellence and personal achievement, continues to educate and prepare young women for college and life. To accomplish this mission, Saint Mary’s School challenges each young woman to embrace the habits of an intellectual life, engages her with the past and the emerging future, and empowers her to serve and shape her world, which sounds a lot like Smedes’s belief in 1842 that educated women can and do make a difference in the world around them. Top: All-school photo in front of West Rock, 1895. The Rev. Bennett Smedes, second rector of the school, is standing, far right. Middle: The Grove in 1863, from Mildred Lee’s scrapbook Botton: Group photo on the steps of the Main Building, now Smedes Hall, 1869 Photos courtesy of Saint Mary’s School Archives, Sarah Graham Kenan Library
Mary Virginia Swain '77C ********************************* Sources: The Heritage: The Education of Women at St. Mary’s College, Raleigh, North Carolina, 1842-1982, by Mar-
tha Sprouse Stoops, professor emerita of history
Life at Saint Mary’s, by Katherine Batts Salley, editor; Katharine Drane Perry; Emilie Smedes Holmes; Alice Duggar Grimes; Nell Battle Lewis; Jane Toy Coolidge; Anna Brooke Allan; and Elizabeth Warren Thompson, art editor, published by the University of North Carolina Press, 1942 National Women’s History Museum Saint Mary’s Bulletin, March 1942, Series 31, No. 2
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Saint Mary’s —
a Hardiness Zone for Generations of Girls by Jeannie Norris
ing how to embrace rather than be defeated by Celebrating Saint Mary’s anniversary inspires challenge. Much of this work pivots on the esus to reflect on what allows an organization sential task of listening to girls. We take the time to persist, adapt to change, and thrive for 175 to sit with girls and hear what they are saying. In years. We are talking about resilience, the cathis way, we validate not only their feelings but pacity to recover from setbacks, to bounce back their ideas, and girls come to believe that their in response to challenge. Interestingly, as eduideas are valuable and have merit. When girls are cators, we are very focused on developing resilconvinced that their thinking is valuable, they deiency in adolescent girls because being able to velop a solid core that can always be adapt to change and cope with diffiaccessed. Without a reliable, secure culty is essential if girls are to thrive Allowing a center, no resilience is possible. and have fulfilling lives. 13-year-old
to create her In our purposeful engagement with Researchers in adolescent girl develgirls, we create structures and exopment have been studying resiliency own plan for periences that foster growth, what for years. What they have found is raising a C in psychologist Elizabeth Debold that the capacity to cope when conAlgebra to a B describes as “relational hardiness fronted with life’s stresses is related zones—a context in which girls to girls believing in themselves and is resiliency can experience greater control, developing a sense of purpose; to training. commitment, and challenge.” In their having a toolbox of positive other words, we provide what girls coping skills; and to their being surmost desire: connectedness, not just with parrounded by people who believe in them and ents but also with teachers and friends. In this encourage them to persist when the going gets relationship-rich environment, then, we create rough. It is the responsibility of parents and other the conditions in which competent and resilient close family members to nurture resiliency from girls can grow. the time a girl is young. Not overreacting when a toddler skins her knee, for example, is resilSaint Mary’s has been cultivating this rich soil iency training. Allowing a 13-year-old to create for 174 years, and we wondered how alumnae her own plan for raising a C in Algebra to a B is would describe their experiences in developresiliency training. ing resiliency decades ago when they were students at the school. To gain insight on this When a girl enrolls at Saint Mary’s the resilientopic, we asked alumnae, as well as current stucy-training team expands dramatically. Now a dents, to respond to questions about how the girl is surrounded by dozens of teachers, coaches, school fosters the capacity to “pop back.” We advisors, and peer mentors who provide encourthink you will enjoy reading their responses. agement and support for strengthening her belief (continued on page 12) in herself, finding purpose in her life, and learn10
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SOURCES Jeannie Norris, Parenting Great Girls: Giving Our Daughters the Courage to Live Authentic and Confident Lives (Pittsfield, MA: 2012), 196. Elizabeth Debold et al., Cultivating Hardiness Zones for Adolescent Girls: A Reconceptualization of Resilience in Relationships with Caring Adults, in Beyond Appearance: A New Look at Adolescent Girls, ed. Norine G. Johnson, Michael C. Roberts, and Judith Worell (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1999), 190.
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In what ways has Saint Mary’s helped you develop a personal sense of purpose and to believe in your capacity to create positive change in the world? Coming out of middle school, I never saw myself as a leader. But Saint Mary's has given me the confidence and courage to step out of my comfort zone and pursue leadership positions on campus... Saint Mary's gives you the freedom and opportunity to be who you are. ─ Mary Catherine Beecy ’17 Through my community service hours, I am able to see change before my eyes... I see how I can make a positive change in the lives of the people I serve. ─ Grace Patton ’19 I had more opportunities to vocalize my thoughts and ideas, which helped me connect with my peers and teachers in a way that let me realize that I can make a difference. ─ Talley Morton ’16 I think the greatest inspiration I received from Saint Mary's was being given the opportunity to see others lead and achieve by example. Their passion was inspirational and certainly made me feel worthy to follow in their footsteps, albeit in my own way. ─ Llewellyn Sherrod ’82HS ’84C I was able to identify my strengths and weaknesses and evaluate accomplishments as well as failures… This process helped build confidence that throughout the years has enabled me to have a significant impact on many different environments. ─ Chip Augustine Rabon ’59C
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How important was it to you that there were people at Saint Mary’s who listened to you, heard your point of view, responded to your questions, and engaged with you about your feelings and ideas? Having people at Saint Mary’s who listen to me, hear my point of view, respond to my questions, and engage with me about my feelings and ideas is the most important element. Without having people that have those characteristics, I wouldn’t be able to get feedback. These characteristics are what make Saint Mary’s the loving community it is. All of my teachers listen to my opinions and the questions I have in class. ─ Grace Patton ’19 Ms. Jackson, Coach Monroe, Ms. Webb, and Dean Rundles all were awesome listeners in their own ways. I was encouraged to expand my thinking and explain myself... this was a significant way in which I learned to think independently and analyze situations from multiple points of view. ─ Talley Morton ’16 When I was looking at schools, I didn’t want my relationships with the faculty to just be classroom based. I wanted to feel comfortable around them and be able to come to them about anything even if it wasn’t academic. At Saint Mary's, the people I have connected most with have been my advisor and the dorm faculty, even when some of them are my teachers. ─ Mary Catherine Beecy ’17 There were numerous administrators, teachers and students that were great cheerleaders for me. ... Mr. McRae had the patience of Job in explaining complicated math concepts.
Mr. Tate brought the pages of Shakespeare alive in ways that we could understand. Dr. Hume helped me value the history of the Roman Empire and piqued my interest in traveling to those areas. Ms. Wooten taught me how to put my thoughts and ideas on paper... Dr. Gilbert taught me how to decipher Latin root words which served me well later with medical terminology. Coaches Alexander and Knotts taught me the value of being a team player and the joy of sweet victory. ─ Harriet Adams ’86HS ’88C The girls see how important their success is to Saint Mary’s, and this mission sends the message that the school believes in them. ─ Carson Joyner Clark ’75HS
What skills did you learn at Saint Mary’s that have given you the capacity to persist through challenges and bounce back from life’s stresses? Saint Mary's has taught me to appreciate not only my strengths, but also my weaknesses. ... I have been given the confidence to persevere through my challenges and step out of my comfort zone so that I can be the best version of myself. ─ Mary Catherine Beecy ’17 I have learned to rely on myself more, be a self-advocate, and have more confidence in my pursuits. I love knowing “I am in charge...” I am encouraged at Saint Mary’s to express myself and to stand up for what is right for me. ... I grow more confident each time I take a chance and will continue to place myself out in front of the opportunities that I want. ─ Grace Patton ’19
with new events together or meeting with administration to understand the reasoning behind something, communication is tremendously important for building understanding, community, and trust. ─ Talley Morton ’16 Personal skills learned and enhanced at Saint Mary’s included determination, perseverance, objectivity, flexibility, analytical thinking, problem-solving, dependability, and responsibility. ─ Chip Augustine Rabon ’59C I consider my years there to have been a 360-degree learning experience. ... The immediate outcome may not always be the most important lesson... I learned some valuable lessons that have enabled me to achieve my life goals while appreciating the journey. ─ Llewellyn Sherrod ’82HS ’84C Saint Mary's laid the cornerstone in developing my integrity, determination, tenacity, and work ethic, giving me the courage to start three companies, publish a book, speak nationally for the American Physical Therapy Association, and serve on three nonprofit Boards. ─ Harriet Adams ’86HS ’88C Saint Mary’s girls know that a plan and hard work will get you to the finish line. While success is applauded, so is doing your best. ... Showing growth is recognized as an accomplishment. Learning that not "winning" is not the same thing as failure makes it less daunting to try new things and just appreciate the value of the new experience itself. We learn that an earnest attempt at something new takes courage. So Saint Mary’s teaches girls courage. ─ Carson Joyner Clark ’75HS
Saint Mary's taught me how important it is to communicate. Whether it's talking to members of your club to come up
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ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
Commencement 2016 Handkerchief drops on 174th session
The sights and sounds of Pomp and Circumstance filled the Grove Sunday morning, May 22, 2016, as 61 seniors graduated from Saint Mary’s School. Head of School Monica M. Gillespie, Ph.D. and Board of Trustees Chair Theodore D. Bratton presided over the commencement exercises. It was a glorious Saint Mary’s commencement day in the Grove, as the graduates turned their tassels and their Saint Mary’s rings. As the graduates made their way to the center sidewalk for the official procession, underclasswomen presented each graduate with an iris to carry and later place in the Class of 1987 urn before stepping onstage to receive her diploma. Valedictorian Wei “Estelle” He ’16 of Shenzhen, China, delivered the valedictory address.
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Talley Morton ’16 of Rockville, Md., delivered the senior commencement address, having been elected by her classmates as the senior commencement speaker. The Rev. Dr. Lauren Winner delivered the commencement address. Following the speeches, special commencement awards were presented. The Chorale and Voice Ensemble offered special music, Astonishing, by Jason Howland, arrangement by Ed Lojeski. Head of School Dr. Monica Gillespie offered parting remarks to the graduates.
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Saint Mary’s Commencement History Although the school was founded in 1842, the first commencement at Saint Mary’s was not held until 1879. Martha Stoops describes commencement day in her history of Saint Mary’s, The Heritage.
Top left: Chief Marshal Hope Voelkel ’17 drops the handkerchief and declares the 174th session at Saint Mary’s to be officially closed. Bottom left: Talley Morton ’16 was elected by her classmates to be the senior commencement speaker. Right: Valedictorian Estelle He ’16 delivers the valedictory.
Following the final singing of the year of the School Hymn, Chief Marshal Hope Voelkel ’17 stood at the top of the steps of Smedes Hall, directly beneath the lantern adorned with Saint Mary’s blue ribbons, to drop the handkerchief and declare the 174th session at Saint Mary’s to be officially closed. After the traditional handkerchief drop, the graduates tossed their caps, the marshals walked into Smedes and closed the doors on another Saint Mary’s commencement. Baccalaureate preceded the commencement exercises in the historic Saint Mary’s Chapel with Chaplain Ann Bonner-Stewart presiding. By all accounts, Saint Mary’s commencement embodies personal touches of academic excellence, personal achievement, friendship, tradition, grace, honor, dignity, and courage that are hallmarks of the Saint Mary’s experience. Once again, Saint Mary’s graduating class boasts 100 percent college acceptance to a broad range of outstanding colleges and universities around the nation and abroad. Students will be matriculating as nearby as N.C. State University down Hillsborough Street to as far as St. Andrew’s in Scotland. Members of the Class of 2016 have been offered more than $2.7 million in merit scholarships. The graduates leave Saint Mary’s School as resilient lifelong learners, well prepared for college and life. Mary Virginia Swain ’77C
“The most thrilling of public occasions in the late 1800s were those of commencement week at Saint Mary’s, when the concerts and other entertainments drew crowds. Commencement day (usually a Thursday) was a more solemn occasion. The opening exercises were held in the parlor from a platform decorated with ‘floral gifts.’ The graduates, wearing long white dresses, read their senior essays; usually several essays were in another language. After the exercises in the parlor, the whole school and the visiting clergy proceeded to the Chapel singing hymns. In the Chapel, Smedes read the honor roll and distinctions and gave a brief talk to the graduates. Nearly always, the main address was given by the Episcopal Bishop of North Carolina. After receiving their diplomas tied with blue and white ribbons, the graduates knelt for the Benediction. And then, as a graduate of 1895 wrote, ‘It was all over but the parting and the tears and the love that we will always have for our Alma Mater.’”
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ACAdEMIC EXCELLENCE
AWArd WINNErS! Zixin “Sarah” Lin ’16 of Shenzhen, China, was the recipient of the 2016 Cooper Medal, in recognition of achieving the highest G.P.A. for the year.
Darden Grubb ’16 of Raleigh, received the Catherine Ruth Proctor Award, presented by the Saint Mary’s chapter of the National Honor Society in recognition of the student making the greatest scholastic advancement over the past four years.
Samantha Sloan ’16 of Dillon, Mont., was chosen to receive the King Medal, awarded each year to the graduate, who, in the opinion of the faculty, has most consistently practiced good citizenship at Saint Mary’s and inconspicuously served as an example to others.
C ongrat ulat ions! The f o l l ow ing senior s received t hese t o awards: p Sara Nderitu ’16 of Cary, N.C., was the recipient of the 2016 Georgia Lee Kinsey Award, presented by Saint Mary’s Chapter of the National Honor Society to the graduate who has accomplished the greatest scholastic advancement over the past two years. Tori Hester ’16 of Cary, N.C., was the 2016 recipient of the Niles Medal for finishing with the highest G.P.A. over her years at Saint Mary’s.
Gabrielle Fougerousse ’16 of Newburg, Md., is the 2016 Marian Drane Graham Award winner, as chosen by a committee of alumnae, students, and faculty. This award was established in 1968 as a memorial to Marian Drane Graham, Class of 1919, wife of Frank Porter Graham, former president of the University of North Carolina and a former U.S. Senator. The award is made each year to a graduate who exemplifies Marian’s “reverence and humility of spirit, scholarship without pride of excellence, zest for life, faith and fortitude." Caroline Fountain ’16 of Raleigh was voted by her classmates to receive the Margaret and Ann Highsmith Medal, awarded to a graduate who exemplifies the Christian idea of helpfulness to others motivated by her genuine love for all members of the school community.
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Saint Mary’s School | www.sms.edu
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NEWS BRIEFS
Saint Mary’s launches search for 14th head of school Head of School Dr. Monica Gillespie announced April 25, 2016, to the Saint Mary’s community that 2016-2017 would be her final year at Saint Mary’s School. In a letter sent to alumnae, parents, faculty, staff, trustees, and friends of the school, Gillespie wrote, “In 2012, I made a commitment to steward the school for five years. Now, four years into my tenure, I am proud of where we are as a school and grateful for the opportunity to be part of this exceptional community. We have an inspiring vision for Saint Mary’s and a new strategic plan with ambitious goals that will make that vision a reality. Our admission progress has been incredible, and our enrollment continues to grow. Our fundraising efforts have resulted in increased annual giving and greater philanthropic support of our compelling mission. We are poised to celebrate the school’s extraordinary capacity to adapt and remain relevant through 175 years.” Gillespie noted that as her children are settling into college and careers, she is moving to “the next chapter in the life of my family... and am inspired to explore new professional pathways.” In his letter to the Saint Mary’s community, Board of Trustees Chair Ted Bratton praised Gillespie for her leadership and the passion and energy she has brought to her work at Saint Mary’s School. Bratton acknowledged that under Gillespie’s leadership as the 13th head of school, Saint Mary’s has increased enrollment and financial assistance for middle-income families, expanded academic offerings, strengthened student life curriculum and the residential program, increased compensation, benefits, and professional development
opportunities for faculty and staff, among other accomplishments. Following Gillespie’s announcement, the board of trustees appointed a head of school search committee to begin the work of identifying the next head of school for Saint Mary’s. Co-chairs Lane Nash ’72HS ’74C and Marks Arnold P’11 are leading the search committee which includes Board Chair Ted Bratton P’05,’09, Board Vice Chair Gloria Becker ’92HS, Board Finance Chair Eric Evans P’12, ’14, Trustee Carter Franke ’75HS ’77C, Parents Association President Lucy Fountain P’14, ’16, ’18, and Lisa Grabarek, a Saint Mary’s faculty member since 2002. The board has engaged Bill Clarkson and Marguerite Lloyd, both of Carney, Sandoe & Associates, to serve as search consultants. Clarkson and Lloyd bring extensive experience and deep knowledge of the work and culture of schools similar to Saint Mary’s. Clarkson and Lloyd visited Saint Mary’s in May to meet with individuals and small groups from various school constituencies to gather information about the school and the qualities desired in the 14th head of school. “We look forward to the coming year with Monica and the opportunities it will provide for our community to reflect on all that has been achieved during her tenure, and to thank her for all she has done for Saint Mary’s School,” says Bratton. More detailed information about the head of school search can be found on our website at www.sms.edu/about-us/headof-school-search.
Rectors, Presidents, Heads of Saint Mary’s The Rev. Aldert Smedes, D.D. (Rector) 1842-1877 The Rev. Bennett Smedes, D.D. (Rector) 1877-1899 The Rev. Theodore DuBose Bratton, D.D. (Rector) 1899-1903 The Rev. McNeely DuBose. D.D. (Rector) 1903-1907 The Rev. George William Lay, D.D. (Rector) 1907-1918 The Rev. Warren Wade Way, D.D. (Rector) 1918-1932 Margaret Jones Cruikshank (President) 1932-1946 Richard Gabriel Stone, Ph.D. (President) 1946-1969 The Rev. Frank Warren Pisani, D.D. (President) 1969-1976 John Thomas Rice (President) 1976-1986 Clauston Jenkins, Jr., Ph.D. (President) 1986-1999 Theo Wilkes Coonrod (Head of School) 2000-2012 Monica M. Gillespie, Ph.D. (Head of School) 2012-2017
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NEWS BRIEFS Saint Mary’s School earns SAIS/SACS reaccreditation Saint Mary’s School successfully completed the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS)/ Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) reaccreditation process in March, culminating with a campus visit from the reaccreditation team.
Saint Mary’s convenes Board of Visitors meeting Saint Mary's School convened the annual meeting of its Board of Visitors, October 9, 2015. Approximately 150 educators, civic and business leaders, and other professionals from 11 states met on campus for discussions and presentations on the theme Entrepreneurial Education: Teaching Girls to Create Opportunity and Leverage the Potential Within. Kate Johnson, GE Chief Commercial Officer and CEO of GE Intelligent Platforms, framed the topic in a keynote address. Her daughter, Zoe Johnson ’16, welcomed her mother to campus and introduced her. Dr. Mary Hinton ’88HS was convener for the meeting, which included afternoon workshops led by Saint Mary's students and faculty. Dr. Hinton is president of the College of Saint Benedict, a liberal arts institution in St. Joseph, Minn. The Board of Visitors creates an annual venue for an exchange of ideas on the future of education in this country, specifically the education of girls and young women. Through this annual meeting of business and professional people, Saint Mary’s School acts as a convener around topics related to the advancement of girls and women, gains fresh insights from those outside the school, and stays abreast of national and global trends. The annual dialogue informs the school’s ongoing work with students.
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In a March 1 letter to the school community, SAIS/SACS team representative Kay Betts said, “On behalf of the reaccreditation team, I’d like to express our thanks to all of you in the Saint Mary’s community. We have talked with many groups – faculty and staff, students, parents, alumnae, and board members. All of them love the school whole-heartedly and are open, articulate, confiWe have talked with many dent, and unselfgroups – faculty and staff, conscious in their students, parents, alumnae, support of Saint and board members. All Mary’s program of them love the school and purpose. whole-heartedly and are open, articulate, confident, “We’ve been privand unselfconscious in their ileged to know the support of Saint Mary’s aesthetic that deprogram and purpose. fines an important aspect of a Saint Mary’s education through witnessing music, drama, and dance performances. We’ve participated in the educational and spiritual programs in Chapel, faculty development, and Exploration Days. Through these experiences we’ve seen a school in a phase of rapid development, as it strives to embrace rich traditions while implementing strategies for the future. Your community is maintaining this balance with grace, poise, and mobility. “The team commends the entire community for the thoroughness of your planning efforts and your continued focus on your ambitious strategic imperatives. “The visiting reaccreditation team finds that you have met all standards and indicators, and we will be recommending you for reaccreditation.” The reaccreditation process will be complete upon receipt of an official notice from SAIS.
Saint Mary’s School | www.sms.edu
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Saint Mary’s dedicates new and improved North Carolina Highway Historical Marker This May, the State of North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program bestowed a new and improved marker upon Saint Mary’s School, replacing the original marker established in 1941. Both markers were placed on the eve of milestone years for the school. When the original marker was established in 1941, the school was kicking off its centennial celebration for the 1941-1942 year celebrating 100 years of continuous operation. In 2016, the dedication of the marker served to kick off the school’s year-long celebration of 175 years of excellence in education for young women, which will culminate on the 175th birthday, May 12, 2017. The now-retired original marker, which was 75 years old, was worn with age, and the state has since changed the 1940s style of the marker from all capital letters, which studies show makes text harder to read, to a standard combination of capital and lower case letters. The new marker was dedicated at the end of the school day, Thursday, May 12, which was Saint Mary’s 174th birthday. Ansley Wegner, administrator of the North Carolina High-
way Historical Marker Program, was on hand to represent the state and to help celebrate the occasion. Head of School Monica M. Gillespie, Ph.D., welcomed the crowd to the dedication ceremony. Gloria Taft Becker ’92HS, vice chair of the Board of Trustees, offered greetings on behalf of the school and remarks to put the historic occasion in perspective. Chaplain Ann Bonner-Stewart wrote a special prayer. Outgoing Student Government Association President Andy Smithey ’16 and incoming SGA President Jane Brown ’17 unveiled the marker, which had been concealed with an official covering bearing the logo of the North Carolina Office of Archives and History. Saint Mary’s 2016-2017 marshals – Hope Voelkel ’17, chief marshal; Ella Bristow ’17, Jane Ives ’17; Leann Kelly ’17; Vaughan Poole ’17; and Ashton Vermillion ’17 – presided over the ceremony. Strains of Hail, Saint Mary's were heard along Hillsborough Street as energetic and joyful students who attended the event lead the closing of the ceremony with the singing of the school song.
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PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT Student Achievements Stagecoach wins awards Saint Mary’s yearbook, The Stagecoach, is a longtime beloved publication chronicling each year in the life of the school, and these days, it is winning state and national awards. The 2015 Stagecoach won second place in the North Carolina Scholastic Media Association competition for the traditional baby advertisements and third place for photography in the category of small schools. Co-editors-in-chief for the 2015 Stagecoach were Lyndsey Jones ’15 and Hayley Scialdone ’15, who, along with their staff, were notably innovative in their approach to the yearbook. The 2016 Stagecoach has earned honorable mention recognition in Balfour’s 2016 Best Of publication, placing Saint Mary’s yearbook in the top 13 percent of Balfour’s publications nationwide. The 2016 yearbook has also been chosen as a National Sample, an honor of which less than three percent of Balfour’s yearbooks earn. Gabrielle Fougerousse ’16 served as the 2016 yearbook editor-in-chief. Instructor of Visual Arts Colin Murasko is the yearbook class instructor and advisor. Balfour is one of the nation’s leading publishers of school and university yearbooks.
Saint Mary’s students excel in N.C. National History Day competition Olivia Ng ’17 earned first place in this year’s state of North Carolina’s National History Day (NHD) senior research paper competition as well as the $250 medical history prize for her paper, Dorothea Dix’s Exploration and EnN.C. National History Day winners counters in her Quest for Mental Health Reform in an Under-informed Society and World. Other participants in the competition from Saint Mary’s were Mary Hunter Russell ’18 and Kennon Later ’18. Miss Russell’s paper, Portugal and Africa: Portugal’s Benefits from Exploration, Encounter, and Exchange in Africa, won $100 special prize for its relation to non-American history. Miss Later’s paper was titled, An Involuntary Tourist: Carlo Levi’s Distant Explorations, Strange Encounters, and Slight Exchanges in Southern Italy. “I am extremely proud of the year-long effort and accomplishment of these girls and other Saint Mary’s students who participated in this year’s NHD competition,” says Director of Kenan Library Diana Williams. “They worked long hours throughout the year researching and writing their papers, meeting with judges as part of the series of competitions, and revising and improving their papers along the way.”
Science Olympiad teams win and place at state competition Congratulations to Saint Mary's varsity and junior varsity Science Olympiad teams on a fun and successful effort at the N.C. Science Olympiad competition held at Campbell University, Saturday, March 19, 2016. The teams competed strongly, with first to sixth place finishes in various categories, but the true reward was in the shared educational experience and intellectual challenge. The varsity team finished 16th overall of 22 varsity teams competing, and the junior varsity team placed fifth. Thanks to Dr. Kevin Greenwood, instructor of science, for leading the team.
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2016 Science Olympiad Team
Saint Mary’s School | www.sms.edu
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Molly Paul ’16 named 2016 Top Young Entrepreneur Graduating senior Molly Paul ’16 has been busy this spring presenting at numerous conferences. Paul was a speaker at the North Carolina Association of Environmental Education Centers' spring meeting of the Membership, March 4, at Haw River State Park, Browns Summit, N.C. She was also a panelist at Molly Paul '16 the Women + Girls Research Alliance, April 15, at UNC-Charlotte, on the topic Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) as a Path for Economic Mobility. In addition, Paul was named one of the 100 Top Entrepreneurs of 2016 by the National Federation of Independent Business's Young Entrepreneur Foundation. These 100 seniors from across the country win scholarships for starting successful small businesses. Paul is the founder of Raleigh Aquatic Turtle Adoption, a STEM leadership camp, and Molly’s Turtle Soaps, which has raised tens of thousands of dollars for North Carolina conservation education centers.
Music students excel in competitions Saint Mary’s music students excelled in various competitions this spring. Students won awards and honors at the 2016 Young Artist Auditions Piano Competition held in March at Meredith College. Tra My Ha ’18 won first place in the Intermediate II category. Estelle He ’16 earned second place honors in the Young Artist I division. Lillian Liu ’17 won a second place award for outstanding performance for girls in grades 9-12. Lucy Liang ’19, Jessie Bai ’18, Sophia Ke ’17, Hannah Ueland ’17, Emily Yang ’17, Gloria Wan ’16, and Emily Weatherspoon ’16 won honor ratings in the competition.
Saint Mary's piano students
Marelle Cooper ’17 earned an honor rating at the 2016 North Carolina Federation of Music Clubs competition. Lillian Liu ’17 and Emily Yang ’17 earned honor ratings at the 2016 North Carolina Music Teachers Association Piano Contest.
Grace Battle Thompson '18
Caroline Melamed '17
Art students exhibit at Meredith College Saint Mary’s visual art students Melanie Davis ’17, Caroline Melamed ’17, Bonny Smith ’17, and Grace Battle Thompson ’18, exhibited work this spring in the Fine Arts League of Cary Teen Art Show at the Gaddy Hamrick Art Center in the Frankie Weems Art Gallery at Meredith College.
Bonny Smith '17
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Melanie Davis '17
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AdMISSIoN
aint Mary’s School is a special place. Part of what makes it special is the opportunity it gives girls to be part of a vibrant learning and living community. The benefits of our lively 24/7 campus are many for both day and boarding students, and as Saint Mary’s School continues to build a culture of one community, where boarding and day students fully engage in school life together, we think boarding for local students at Saint Mary’s is one of our area’s best kept secrets!
If I had to give three pie ces of advice to local fam ilies considering boarding, they would be – first, if you have any int erest in boarding, do it! Follow your heart. You will neve r kn ow how great the boarding comm unity is until you try it! Se cond, living away from home brings your family so much clo ser. My family cherishes the time we sp end together, and it’s no t FFF (forced family fun) anymore! La stly, I would recommend bri nging a camera, because you are not going to want to for get the longlasting memories you wil l make here. – Suiter Ra gland ’18
Why boarding? • Boarding fosters greater independence and prepares students well for life in college. Without parent supervision, boarding students quickly learn to manage their time, do their laundry, negotiate roommate relationships, and become the leaders in their own lives. • There is value in the additional time boarding on campus can afford students. Without the daily commute to and from school, girls have more time to study, meet with teachers, pursue extracurricular activities, explore new interests, or hang out with friends. • Students appreciate the social aspect of being on campus with their friends and the depth of connection and relationships they are able to experience living with others in community.
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My life has been enriched by beco ming a boarder because I’ve gotte n the opportunity to get closer with the girls from othe r places that live in my dorm and ha made some of th ve e best friends. – Br idget Sullivan ’19
Saint Mary’s School | www.sms.edu
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I chose to board at Saint Mary’s because of the opportunity to enrich my high school experience... to be able to take part in more activities and be more involved. – Josie DeRonja ’19
immersed ah is fully n n a v a S munity. rder, ary's com As a boa M n t in a S , has bee mplete activities re in the co o , m s e s in las ipates d voice c She partic dance an re o n m ie e k f fr ds. able to ta r group o e h d ulty e d n xpa to the fac d te c e and has e n n o as "real is more c iews them v Savannah d n a , s port her. familie le to sup b and their a il a v a to an ho are ssomed in lo b people" w ly e it and has defin o is ready h w y Savannah d la r g – Jennife ent youn dult life. independ a d n ) a 6 e ’1 colleg h Gibson eager for f Savanna o t n re a P ( Turnage
our life nriches y e e c n e ri e g expe s becom e boardin iendship fr r u ich o h Y I think th w . ay nt, holistic w depende in re o id an d m I in a very lass. come c e f b o u t o u y o .. stronger. ss in and and lived for succe summer p t u s a u p o y is th le with sets New York omfortab c in ry ip e h v s lt e intern hich I fe ion to th myself, w at transit th f t o a e g there by s rdin e ea that boa ribute th e tt c a n I e d d fi n a con thers ’16 ence and enni Stru J – independ . e m ry’s gave Saint Ma
Boarding has yield ed the hig on investm hest retu ent for th rn e growth of our da and matu ughter. ...W rity e all know a financia boarding l sacrifice is but is the more imp re anythin ortant th g a n your dau future? .. ghter ’s .Make the investme never reg nt. You w ret it! The ill benefit to the joy w our famil e see in o y is ur daugh from a 16 ter as she -year-old g rows g ir l to a brill confiden t young w iant selfo man. – J (Parent L im Crump izzy Crum ton pton ’18)
Boarding initiatives To encourage Triangle-area families to consider the benefits of boarding for their daughters, Saint Mary’s has implemented several new initiatives over the last few years. Seasonal boarding, for instance, allows girls to live on campus for approximately 12 weeks, during which they get the full residential life experience. Girls have enjoyed the seasonal boarding experience so much that several seasonal boarders have moved to full-time boarding and even become dormitory prefects. Our Capital Scholarship*, established five years ago through the generosity of a Saint Mary’s alumna, is awarded each year to one incoming 9th grade student from the Raleigh area who has demonstrated a genuine interest in fully integrating herself into the Saint Mary’s residential community. While the recipient is encouraged to board during her 9th grade year, she is required to board during her 10th, 11th, and 12th grade years.
The recipient receives a $5,000 scholarship her first year at Saint Mary’s and a $15,000 scholarship for each of the following years through her graduation from the school. The 2015-2016 school year marked the first in which we have had a Capital Scholar in every grade level. Thanks to seasonal boarding, the Capital Scholarship, and other efforts, the number of Raleigh-area boarding students at Saint Mary’s has increased each year for the past five years. We look forward to these numbers continuing to grow and are happy to welcome five day students to campus next year as full-time boarding students. *If you would like information on how you can contribute to the Capital Scholarship program, please contact Director of Development Julie Ricciardi at 919-424-4114 or jricciardi@sms.edu.
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AthLEtICS
Andy Smithey '16, seated, with her monther, Sabrina Smithey Tori Hester '16, seated, wtih her parents Robin and Douglas Hester
Saint Mary's School student-athletes commit to Washington & Lee athletics The probability of high school student-athletes continuing their athletic careers on NCAA teams in college is slim. According to the most recent NCAA statistics, conducted by the National Federation of High School Associations, only 7.4 percent of girls high school swimmers moved on to compete in the NCAA, along with only 3.8 percent of girls high school basketball players progressing to the collegiate level. Continuing a proud tradition of sending one or more Saints studentathletes to the collegiate ranks, the school is pleased to announce this year’s NCAA academic/athletic commitments. Saint Mary’s School seniors Tori Hester of Cary and Andy GassawaySmithey of Charlotte committed this winter to play college athletics at Washington and Lee University (W&L) in Lexington, Va., when they enroll for the 2016-2017 academic year. Hester will join the swim team at W&L, and Smithey will play basketball for the Generals. The commitments were celebrated in a ceremony held during community dinner in Chan-Poyner Hall, February 3, 2016. Tori Hester was captain of Saint Mary’s School’s varsity swim team. She has been the MVP during each of her seasons at SMS and a twotime member of the All Saints athletics
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all-star team. She was a member of the 2014 YMCA long course national championship team and has been a NASA junior national championship qualifier. She led the Saints to a winning season in 2016, including a sixth-place team finish of 20 teams at the NCISAA state meet. Brent St.Pierre, Hester’s Raleigh Swimming Association coach, says, "Since coming to RSA in 2013 and taking on the daunting task of rebuilding this historic program, my goal has been to build it with character people rather than just talented people. Tori, however, is that fantastic combination of both. She has become a tremendous asset both in and out of the water. My only complaint about Tori is that she is graduating. I've always said I can replace talented athletes; the difficulty is replacing talented human beings." Andy Smithey was captain of Saint Mary’s varsity basketball team and has been the MVP for each of her seasons and a two-time selection to the All Saints athletics all-star team. She was named to the Triangle Independent Schools Athletic Conference (TISAC) all-conference first team for the past three seasons, made the 2016 NCISAA All-State Team, and was selected for the 2016 North Carolina Private School All-Star Game, played at Providence Day School in March. She scored her 1,000th point in her high school career midway through her senior season and finished her career as Saint Mary’s second-leading all-time scorer with 1,230 points.
Saint Mary’s School | www.sms.edu
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ALUMNAE
Giving Circles
Founding members of Saint Member’s newest giving society met to toast the kickoff of our 175th year of festivities in May. Giving Circle members sustain leadership gifts from $5,000-$15,000 or more per year to Saint Mary’s Annual Fund, which is, after tuition, the largest revenue source for current year operations. Giving Circle members serve as ambassadors for the Annual Fund and encourage other alumnae to join with them in ensuring robust annual giving for Saint Mary’s.
Giving Circle members Mike Becker, Gloria Taft Becker '92HS, Lane Turner Nash '72HS '74C, and Margaret Longley White '79C toast to the kickoff of the 175th year.
We are grateful for the leadership and generosity of the following Giving Circle members: Louise Landauer Allred ’58HS ’60C Betty Copeland Becher ’60C Gloria Taft Becker ’92HS Anna Neal Blanchard ’76HS Marjorie Bryan Buckley ’60C Mary Louise Bizzell Burress ’56C Sallie Thorpe Cahill ’87HS ’89C Barbara Eagleson Cain ’65C Jessica Thomas Capps ’95HS Alleen Cater ’63HS ’65C Carter Warren Franke ’75HS ’77C Sallie Harris Glover ’81HS ’83C Corbin Hogaboom ’78HS ’80C Elizabeth Stewart Long ’78C Kathryn Scott Long ’73HS ’75C Linda Kerr Moore ’69C Susan Spaulding Mullin ’63HS Lane Turner Nash ’72HS ’74C Nina Andrews Peyton ’65C Elizabeth Rasberry Pitts ’79C Susan Creech Rankin ’74HS Sally Dalton Robinson ’51HS Sallie Shuping Russell ’75C Gray Clark Stoughton ’78HS ’80C Maura Moylan Sullivan ’87HS Nancy Kerr Thomason ’73HS ’75C Margaret Longley White ’79C Margaret Williams Williams ’78HS ’80C Blanche Williamson ’76HS (List reflects members as of June 9, 2016)
Regional chapters are being resurrected, and the Alumnae Council, along with the Development Office, needs YOU! Saint Mary's chapters are based on geographic locations throughout the world that enable alumnae to remain close to their alma mater, regardless of locations. Each year, our regional chapters will host a variety of fun, convenient ways to network, socialize, and serve in your own communities while strengthening your ties to Saint Mary’s.
Chapter leaders are welcomed to campus for a training day and work to host core events each year such as: Annual Welcome Regional Event Saint Mary’s Day of Service Saint Mary’s Day If you are interested in creating a regional chapter in your area, please contact Margaret McGlohon ’81C at memcglohon@sms.edu or (919)424-4171.
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2016-2017 CALENDAR of events Celebrating Saint Mary’s 175th year | Classes for the 175th session begin on August 29 Save the dates and join us for these special events. For a complete calendar of events throughout the school year, visit www.sms.edu. Regional alumnae events will be added to the Alumnae web page as they are scheduled. Events are subject to change due to weather and other unforeseen circumstances, and changes will be announced as soon as possible.
G ive ! k c a B
36th Annual Lighting O' the Grove
Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service January 16
December 4, 7 p.m. In the Grove
October 12-14
Triangle Mothers Admission Event
Board of Trustees Fall Meeting
November 1
September 16-17
October 13
Family Weekend
Alumnae Council Fall Meeting
November 4-5
September 27
October 13
November 5
September 15
Admission Day Student Shadow Day September 28
Wake County Alumnae Event October 14
Admission Day Student Shadow Day 26
Fall Theatre Production Smedes Parlor Concert Paderewski Festival
Board of Visitors
November 15
October 27-28
December 2-3
Chorale Music Theater Revue October 11
Founders’ Day Chapel celebrating 175 years
Admission Overnight Visitation
Triangle Fathers Event Orchesis Fall Concert
Saint Mary’s School | www.sms.edu
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175th Gala Celebration May 12 Saint Mary's School
December 4, 6:30 p.m.
February 24
April 19-20
December 4, 7 p.m.
March 1
April 21
January 16
March 3-4
Lessons and Carols Chapel Service Lighting O' the Grove
Granddaughters Club Luncheon Ash Wednesday Chapel
Board of Trustees Spring Meeting Grandparents & Grandfriends Day
Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service
Spring Theatre Musical Production
April 27
January 16-17
March 10
April 28
Admission Overnight Visitation
Career Day
February 10
Admission Special Invitation Weekend
Alumnae Council Winter Meeting February 13
African-American Read-In
April 7
April 7
Spring Alumnae Council Meeting April 7
February 15-16
Board of Trustees Winter Meeting
Athletics Hall of Fame
Chorale Spring Concert 7th Grade Admission Sneak Peek May 12
175th Gala Celebration May 12-13
Reunion May 21, 10:30 a.m.
Commencement for the 175th Session In the Grove
Reunion
for classes ending in two and seven
May 12-13 Saint Mary's School
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EVENTS
DURHAM/CHAPEL HILL March 16, 2016 Home of Paige Ward ’75C
Jean Neville ’65HS ’67C, Melrose Whitfield Fisher ’72HS ’74C, Lanier Brown May ’78HS ’80C
Diane Tyndall ’08, Sarah Wilson Woodard ’73HS, Ann Schoonover, Bonnie Schaefer Bevan ’72HS
Caroline Detgen Hughes ’82HS, John Hughes, Mary Roundtree Moore ’66C
Lucy Falk, Jean Neville ’65HS ’67C, Val Tullai Williams ’74HS Margaret McGlohon ’81C, Ginger Vann King ’58C, Bill King, Paige Ward ’75C, Pam Evans ’78C
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GREENVILLE, N.C.
March 23, 2016 Home of Tommy and Gray Clark Stoughton ’78HS ’80C
Adam Zipf, Jillana Lamm ’01, Louise Johnson Clement ’81HS ’83C
Sam Kattan ’11, Tiffany Miller Clark ’82HS, Gray Clark Stoughton ’78HS ’80C
Sydney Sager Womack ’70C, Jane Darden Brown ’71C, Cheryl Lee Taft ’68C
Carol Brown Nash ’77HS, Katie Bradbury, Louise Johnson Clement ’81HS ’83C, Lou Latham Miller ’69HS ’71C Nelson Blount Crisp ’56HS, Janet McGlohon
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EVENTS
AROUND THE WORLD
Marshall Young Smith ’70C, Pridie Clark Ariail ’69C, Alice Haywood Robbins ’63C, at Pine Needles Resort, Southern Pines, January 13
New York City young alumnae gathered Sunday, January 31, at the Marriott Marquis on Broadway. Front row, left to right: Kat Landi ’08, Kathleen Kelley ’00, Arrington Clark ’09; back row: Betsy Bryan Pitts ’09, Yasamin Haghshenas ’11, Susan James ’04, Alumnae Director Margaret McGlohon ’81C
Marshall Young Smith ’70C, Olive Camp Johnson ’44HS, Bonnie Bell McGowan ‘75C, at Pine Needles Resort, Southern Pines, January 13
San Francisco area alumnae gathered with Head of School Monica Gillespie, Thursday, February 25, at the Marriott Marquis. Front row, left to right: Monica Gillespie, Susan Stephenson ’85HS ’87C, King Risley Sams ’50HS ’52C, Jane Cheshire-Allen ’68HS ’70C, Julia Austenfeld ’11, Kristina Wharton ’05; Back row: Liza Fleury ’03, Braz Shabrell ’03, Gabe Bratton ’05
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Saint Mary’s parents in Beijing, China, gathered with Admission Director Kim Slade in December. Pictured seated, left to right: Xia Hu (Isabella Xue ’18), Lisa Chai (Lily Zu ’19), Kim Slade, Xiaojie Qiao (Jesse Bai ’18); standing left to right: Xiaomei Hu (Susan Su ’18); Meifang Liu (Shelly Zhu ’18), Xiangli Cheng (Wendy Zhang ’19), Tracy Chen (Lucy Liang ’19), and Franklin Liu (Lillian Liu ’17).
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WAKE COUNTY YOUNG ALUMNAE December 8, 2015 Artspace, North Hills
Julia Sibert ’07 and Morgan Gibbs Sobin ’07
Mary Stewart Bailey ’09, Mary Southgate Dickson ’09, Ferebee Frazier ’09, Sara Williamson ’09, Lacy McClure ’09, Becca Kilgore ’09
Sara Williamson ’09, Lacy McClure ’09, Lauren Vitek ’09
Meg Stacy ’03, Margot Childs Stanley ’03, Shea Vause Gravely ’03, Emily Rudkin Day ’03
Lauren Robbins Dickson ’06, Margot Childs Stanley ’03, Hollan Rudolph Young ’02
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EVENTS
REUNION WEEKEND April 29-30, 2016 Saint Mary's School
Glenn Norman Dickens ’56C and Nancy Mallon Towe ’56C received their 60th reunion medals.
Members of the College Class of 1981 enjoy the Friday night cocktail party in Smedes Hall.
Members of the High School Class of 2001 enjoy the cocktail party as part of their 15th reunion.
College Class of 1991 classmates attended Saturday’s alumnae chapel service. College Class of 1996 friends at the Friday night party.
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Members of the College Class of 1966 received their 50th reunion medals.
Members of the College Class of 1961 gathered for chapel on Saturday morning.
College Class of 1976 friends enjoyed the Saturday events on campus.
College Class of 1986 classmates at the Friday night cocktail party in Smedes Hall.
Members of the College Class of 1971 celebrated at the Friday night cocktail party on campus.
Friends from the High School Class of 1986 reunited Friday night on Smedes Terrace.
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EVENTS
HEAD OF SCHOOL DINNER May 12, 2016 Saint Mary's School
Zack Bacon and Blanche Robertson Bacon’53HS ’55C
David Ward, Libby Reese Ward ’55C, Eve Hargrave Smith ’53HS, Sherwood Smith, Flo Winston, Charlie Winston
Kevin Yates, Leslie Allred Yates ’96HS ’98C, Tim Capps, Jessica Thomas Capps ’95HS
Saint Mary's parents: Rose Finley, Paige Marsh, Lucy Fountain, Claire Bristow Margaret Longley White ’79C, Ann Penton Longley ’52C, Emily Longley ’81HS ’83C
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GRANDPARENTS & GRANDFRIENDS DAY April 15, 2016 Saint Mary's School
Alice Maxey ’19 and Kit Pannill
Alice Garcia and Tati Rummel ’17
Jane Fitzhugh and Zoe Johnson ’16
Sue Battle Moore ’63C, Grace Battle Thompson ’18, and Ben Moore Cokie Roberts and Regan Roberts ’19
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MILEStoNES
IN MEMorIAM Mary Leigh Gaither Overton ’37C, February 5, 2016
Ruth Hayes Gayle ’45C, May 5, 2016
Margaret Rose Long ’54HS, February 10, 2016
Helen Valentine Schwartz ’37HS ’39C, March 18, 2016
Mary Jane Casstevens “Cass” Booker ’46HS, February 16, 2016
Joan Delano Johnson ’54C, January 2, 2016
Ruth Daniel Bates ’37C, April 8, 2016
Logan Vaught Hurst ’46HS ’48C, former alumnae secretary, August 28, 2015
Mary Ann Hofler Davis ’56C, February 24, 2016
Julia Smallwood Wernicke ’37C, April 11, 2016 Sybil Vogtle Caldwell ’38C, January 19, 2016 Jessie Skinner Gaither ’37C, April 15, 2016 Rebecca “Becky” Wyse Norman Leager ’38C, December 4, 2015 Bettie Thorp Feather ’40HS ’42C, October 1, 2015 Betty Wales Silver Howison ’41C, January 8, 2016 Anne Davis Reid ’41C, March 22, 2016 Margaret Blount Harvey ’41C, May 27, 2016 Shields Jones Harris ’42C, February 17, 2016 Sylvia Rogers Tart ’43HS ’45C, May 1, 2016 Antoinette “Toy” Quincy Siddall ’43C, April 3, 3016 Agnes “Cornelia” Tongue ’43C, April 5, 2016 Elizabeth "Libba" Royal Sutton ’43C, May 24, 2016 Mary Ann Crook Kramer ’43C, June 4, 2015 Hannah Lyon Dawson ’44C, March 29, 2016 Merrily Brooks McNamara ’44HS, December 19, 2015
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Emma Katie Guion Davis ’46C, March 10, 2016 Mildred “Millie” Chappell Allen Robinson ’46C, October 11, 2015 Rachel Kearney Davis ’47HS ’49C, December 22, 2015 Doris Green Brock ’47C, April 2, 2016 Sande Childs Jeter ’47C, December 2, 2015 Carolyn Hunter Shirley ’48C April 25, 2015 Jeanne West Foster ’49HS, April 15, 2015 Phyllis Costner Gillikin ’49C, July 25, 2015 Margaret “Peggy” Elizabeth Johnson ’50HS, April 28, 2016 Carolyn Harris Waugh ’50HS, October 20, 2015 Caroline Heath Davis ’51C, January 19, 2016 Katherine “Kit” Armistead Latimore ’51C, January 26, 2016 Edith Rogers Cameron ’51C, March 21, 2016
Ann Brady Knight Morgan ’56C, April 1, 2016 Jean Duke Trueblood ’57C, December 13, 2015 Martha Custis Umphlett ’58C, January 28, 2016 Martha Johnson Stallings ’58C, October 27, 2015 Caroline Cannon Harrington ’59C, November 23, 2015 Betty Kay Separk Vaughn ’60C, December 23, 2015 Harriett Rogers Drake ’62C, February 4, 2016 Frances Holcombe ’65C, February 28, 2016 Sandra Glenn Alderman Millican ’68C, December 15, 2015 Andrea Smith Bayne ’76C, February 23, 2016 Ann Victoria Evans Elliott ’78C, January 27, 2016 Eugenia Harris Leggett-Frank ’80C, May 7, 2016 Marjorie Maddrey, former staff February 28, 2016
Martha Bridger Shipman ’52C, January 19, 2016
Henry M. Read, former director of development March 1, 2016
Barbara White Peacock ’53C, January 20, 2016
Tammy Finch, former staff March 4, 2016
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Angie Hurtt ’11 and Sophia Regina Hurtt
MArrIAGES Sydney Brown ’81HS ’83C to Michael Cardone, December 19, 2015
Elizabeth Mills Grantham ’08 and Stewart Michael Grantham
Emily Russell ’95HS ’97C to Johnny Cram, May 21, 2016 Kimberly Moore ’98HS to Fritz Elsen, March 19, 2016 Bevin Prince ’00 to Will Friend, May 21, 2016 *Mary Catherine Benson ’01 to Joe Grew, May 28, 2016 *Hannah Small ’05 to Owen Jones, June 4, 2016 Morgan Gibbs ’07 to Zackery Sobin, May 14, 2016 *Jessica Clark ’08 to Andrew Stewart, March 25, 2016 Ferebee Frazier ’09 to Will Plyler, June 4, 2016 Perry Holding ’09 to James Bailey, May 21, 2016 Sidney Milholen ’11 to Ryan William Kinsella, December 12, 2015 Madison Haliloglu ’12 to Jesse Hervey, May 21, 2016 *Married in the Saint Mary’s Chapel
Mary Catherine Benson Grew ’01, Joe Grew, and Saint Mary’s friends
NEW BABIES Meade Horton Van Pelt ’88C, a daughter, March 17, 2016 Eliza Jenkins Stoecker ’96HS, a daughter, February 25, 2016 Kristin Woods Williamson ’97C, a daughter, May 8, 2016 Meredith Bell Hughes ’01, a son, December 11, 2015 Kelly Stocks Milam ’01, a son, February 27, 2016 Jessica Burke Mulkey ’01, a daughter, February 2, 2016 Macon Sykes Parsley ’01, a daughter, December 28, 2015
Kathryn Doll Adham ’03, a son, January 7, 2016 Christine Brunk Haney ’03, a son, January 31, 2016 Tootie Gaeta Najiec ’03, a son, March 27, 2016 Emily Stocks Walker ’04, a son, December 22, 2015 Paige Nelson Grimball ’06, a son, December 7, 2015 Roslyn Ragsdale Manning ’08, a daughter, January 6, 2016 Caroline Mayberry Stephens ’0S, a daughter, May 7, 2016
Lindsay Speros Robbins ’02, a son, April 18, 2016
Mary Diane Adkins Huerta ’11, a daughter, January 5, 2016
Cottie Barber Williams ’02, a son, May 9, 2016
Angie Hurtt ’11, a daughter, November 2, 2015
These milestones were compiled based on information received by the school by May 30, 2016. Every effort is made to include everyone for whom we have official confirmation by press time. If we missed you or your loved one, please send an official announcement to mvswain@sms.edu, or mail to Mary Virginia Swain ’77C, Saint Mary’s School, 900 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC 27603, for inclusion in the winter 2017 magazine.
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CLASS NEWS CLASS NEWS It’s all here – the latest and greatest news from alumnae in odd-year classes. Saint Mary’s extends a special thanks to the dedicated class secretaries who compiled and crafted these class newsletters, many who have served for decades. Even-year classes will be featured in the winter 2017 magazine. Alumnae in these classes will receive information to facilitate the reporting of news to class secretaries or directly to the school.
CLASS NEWS PoLICIES Due to the uncertain nature of certain types of news, Saint Mary’s does not publish news of wedding engagements or pregnancies. We publish news of marriages, births, adoptions ,or deaths, based on published news reports or direct phone or email contact with the Alumnae Office from the parties or immediate families. Please remember to include Saint Mary’s in your wedding announcement in the newspaper and please send birth announcements to the Alumnae Office for inclusion in the milestones section. Saint Mary’s Class Notes are published for each class once each year. Due to the extended nature of the production schedule for the magazine, class news is meant to be a once-a-year general update of your news for the previous year. We cannot guarantee the exact timeliness of your news, so please keep our advance deadlines in mind when submitting news. Saint Mary’s School reserves the right to edit class news for content, length, and timeliness. Photographs may be submitted for consideration for the class news to mvswain@sms.edu or Mary Virginia Swain, 900 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC 27603. Photos must be high-quality prints or digital .jpeg photo files of at least 300 dpi. Group shots should include Saint Mary’s alumnae (and spouses and children) only and must include a detailed listing of everyone pictured, including full names and class years.
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1939
hIGh SChooL ANd
1941
CoLLEGE
Adelaide Rodman Curtis Snyder ’39HS ’41C emailed her news from Norfolk, Va. She is a Realtor emeritus after 40 years as a real estate broker. “At 94, I am enjoying life.” She was a member of Junior League of Norfolk and regional director of the Association of Junior Leagues of America. While at Saint Mary’s, she was president of student body government. She notes, “I have very fond memories of my three years at Saint Mary's School and Junior College.” Bettie London Wooten Traxler ’41C writes from Greenville, S.C., “I am so very lucky that I am nearly 94 and still in my house of 66 years. No care giver yet!”
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hIGh SChooL
Shirley Frew Ivie writes that she still lives in Richmond, Va.
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CoLLEGE
Sara “Mell” Smith Edwards writes from Anniston, Ala., “God has been and still is good to me.” Mell is still driving, and enjoys bridge club meetings, hospital volunteering, and some yard work.
1949
CoLLEGE
Molly Oakey Brodie reports that she enjoys living at Plantation Village in Wilmington. Frances Minter Wooten plans to move to the Cardinal in Raleigh this September. “It will be special to be near my daughter, Yorke Wooten Sartorio ’75C, and her family, and Saint Mary’s, but sad to leave my Charlotte friends.” Nelle Clark Pender writes from Marietta, Ga., “I’m keeping track of great grands (7) and grands (7). I go to Fripp Island, but no more overseas travel. I rock on the porch and watch the birds—what excitement! Love of family and church fills our life—it is a wonderful life.” Ann Duncan Story writes, “We moved to College Walk a year ago. Lots of nice folks and nicely informal! Brevard is lovely!” Anne Townsend Overman ’47HS ’49C reports that she and Marion Turner Hubbard are looking forward to their 65th reunion at Chapel Hill, where they will have an opportunity to catch up when they room together. Anne lives in Virginia Beach, Va. Marion Turner Hubbard lives in Greensboro and is still active in the lumber business. She went to St. Simon’s for Easter and her cousin’s 95th birthday. She planned to travel to New York City in May for a girls’ weekend and will be in Holden Beach in August. “Still having fun after all these years,” reports Marion.
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Nancy Bobbitt Thompson
1951
College Louise Milliken Howard ’51C Dear Class of 1951 College: It was good to hear from Margaret Ann Brock Beaty and to know that she and her husband, Carroll, their three sons, and the sons’ families are doing well. She and Carroll stay busy with church and community services of various sorts. In the Winter 2016 issue of the Saint Mary’s alumnae magazine, I was very sad to read in “Milestones” about the deaths of two of our classmates: Al White Ward in September 2015, and Franky Allen Fanjoy two months later. During our time at Saint Mary’s, Franky and Al were fine examples of the well-rounded SMS student. I am sure that they are deeply missed by family and many friends. Grace Gordon Pless’s oldest grandson will graduate this spring from Ohio University. The following weekend, her granddaughter will graduate from the University of Colorado. In addition, she has four other grandchildren at schools in three different states. Travel has been a big part of the lives of Grace and Cecil. They continue to enjoy good health and send best wishes
to all classmates with a special invitation to visit Asheville. Stella Cobbs Anderson has moved to Talladega, Ala., to be near her family. She has a large family with four children, 10 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. June Bullard Winston’s family continues to grow. She has added two new great-granddaughters. I think that June and Stella might share honors for having the largest families of all our classmates. June took a wonderful trip in the Rocky Mountaineer from Seattle, Wash., to Banff, Canada. Nancy Bobbitt Thompson had hip replacement surgery this year, but bounced back in record time and was able to attend the reunion as the lone representative from our class in the class photo. She writes that she has two grandsons, one who graduated from UNC Medical School and is a general surgery resident in Wilmington, where he lives with his beautiful family. Sonoko Yamamoto Taylor writes from Lincolnton, where she moved in 2014. She sold her house, where she and her husband lived for 40 years, after he passed away, and now lives in a condominium just a mile from her daughter’s home. Her daughter has twin daughters who graduated magna cum laude from N.C. State in 2014. Her son and his family live in Charlotte, so she visits there frequently. She is recuperating from two broken vertebra, but slowly getting back to normal life. “I will be 90-years-old in October; I cannot believe it myself!” Many thanks to those of you who sent news. Let’s hear from more of you next year. I miss you when I do not hear from you. With love to all, Louise
1953
High School Blanche Robertson Bacon ’53HS ’55C is thrilled to have a granddaughter at Saint Mary’s. “Pell Williamson is a 10th-grader, an honor roll student, a great athlete, and really loves SMS. I am finally in the Granddaughters Club.” Betsy Webb Reeves has been living in North Palm Beach, Fla., since 2008. She and Sam have built a summer home in Cashiers. They have three grandchildren attending or graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill.
“North Carolina keeps tugging at our hearts,” she notes. Norvelle Plowden Walker writes from Summerton, S.C., “Sally Hodges, my roommate for two years, has a son, Will Muschamp, who will be coaching next year in Columbia, S.C., at USC, my college! He has been in Texas, Auburn, Florida and now comes to South Carolina. Sally says we’ll see each other again. What a coincidence!” Peg Smithdeal Tatum ’53HS ’56C writes from Loudon, Tenn., “My granddaughter, Erin, has a neat job with Twitter, loves her work, and travels a lot all over the world. My grandson, Austin, works at Ming Sports Entertainment, also in New York City, and travels a lot too. I don’t travel so much anymore, due to myriad health problems, but my family comes here regularly.” Peg’s son, Dr. Scott Tatum, still heads his otolaryngology department and travels around the world teaching surgery.
1953
College
Ann McColman Copeland moved to Southminster Retirement Home in Charlotte three years ago, and loves living there. Her husband, Jack, passed away last October. “I miss him but know he is not suffering. I would love to see more Saint Mary’s girls!”
1955
High School
Jane Walker Kerewich ’55HS ’57C writes from Charlottesville, Va. She says that she enjoys “traveling, UVA sports, lectures, bridge, good health, family, friends, and fun!” She looks forward to her College Class of ’57 reunion in the spring of 2017, and hopes everyone will make an effort to be there. Barry Bowen Gilmer ’55HS ’57C writes, “This has been an ‘interesting’ year for me and my family. This time last year we were in a rehab facility for three weeks after Fred had a hip injury from falling at church! He was nonweight-bearing for three months and about three days after he became able to drive the car again, I was bitten by a copperhead in my backyard. He rushed me to the ER, where my doctor boys met me for IV anti-venom.
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CLASS news Leading Ladies of Saint Mary's more competent teachers in women’s colleges, the parity of men and women in university posts and, above all, the rights of women to equal education, equal job opportunities, and suffrage. She also gave lectures in support of the YWCA and served as secretarytreasurer of the Southern Association of College Women. Emilie Watts McVea, seated far right, with Saint Mary’s faculty and the rector, the Rev. Bennett Smedes, center in top hat.
Emilie Watts McVea, Class of 1884 Nationally recognized educator and women’s rights advocate: 1867-1928 An outstanding scholar as a student at Saint Mary’s in the 1880s, Emilie Watts McVea went on to become a nationally recognized educator, ultimately serving as the second president of Sweet Briar College. McVea was born in Clinton, La., the daughter of Judge Charles and Emilie Rose Watts McVea. After Judge McVea’s death, Mrs. McVea moved with her young daughters to Raleigh to be near her sister, Mrs. John Esten Cooke Smedes, wife of the second president of St. Augustine’s College, and sister-in-law of Saint Mary’s founder, the Rev. Dr. Aldert Smedes. Young Emilie McVea was educated at Saint Mary’s School, where her record was outstanding. She remained active in Saint Mary’s alumnae affairs and in the Episcopal Church throughout her life. In 1886, McVea returned to Saint Mary’s to teach and became lady principal in 1989. She worked with the Rev. Dr. Bennett Smedes, the second rector
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of Saint Mary’s, to enrich the curriculum. She was, according to her students, an inspiring teacher who made her classes in literature and history “an unforgettable experience…an introduction to life.” After the death of Bennett Smedes in 1899, Miss McVea supervised the school until the new rector, the Rev. Theodore DuBose Bratton, was established. McVea then began long-planned advanced studies at George Washington University, where she received an A.B. degree in 1902 and an A.M. degree the next year. She taught English literature briefly at the University of Tennessee, where she was active in extension work with public school teachers. She became assistant professor of English literature at the University of Cincinnati, where she was elected dean of the women’s departments in 1909. Her career at the University of Cincinnati was distinguished and her contributions to the life of the city were considerable. When she left Ohio in 1916, she was honored at a civic reception with tributes from leaders of almost every reform movement of the time. She worked and lectured on behalf of many causes – child labor laws, better secondary schools,
She became the second president of Sweet Briar College from 1916-1925. Dr. McVea believed that the times demanded rigorous training of women and that women should attack the root causes of social and economic problems. She continued her interest in local and national affairs, lecturing widely on education and, during World War I, for the Federal Food Administration. In recognition of her contributions, she received the honorary Litt.D. degree from the University of Cincinnati and an honorary LL.D. degree from the University of North Carolina. In 1922, she was appointed to a four-year term on the board of visitors of the University of Virginia, the first woman member of that body. When she retired in 1925, Dr. McVea was made president emerita of Sweet Briar College. By then, she was nationally recognized for more than 40 years of service to the cause of women’s education. Written in 1991 by Martha Sprouse Stoops, professor emerita of history and author of The Heritage: The Education of Women at St. Mary’s College, Raleigh, North Carolina Sources: Raleigh News and Observer; St. Mary’s Muse; St. Mary’s School Bulletin; Life at Saint Mary’s; Sweet Briar College Bulletin
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Then the next week, I had back surgery, which worked very well until last fall. Now it seems I need more, and hopefully will have it scheduled by the time you read this. The GOOD news is, that I had a wonderful trip to Austin, Texas, to see my granddaughter Cary dance after her summer program with Austin City Ballet, and then had another wonderful trip with my photography friends here on a Road Scholar trip to Yosemite. And, I am planning another photography trip with Road Scholar next September to Colorado. God is good! Love to all.”
1955
College Blanche Robertson Bacon ’53HS ’55C is thrilled to have a granddaughter at Saint Mary’s. “Pell Williamson is a 10th-grader, an honor roll student, a great athlete and really loves SMS. I am finally in the Granddaughters Club.”
1957
College
Phyllis Wall Purdy writes from Calhoun, Ga. Her husband passed away in March 2015, after 14 years of ill health. Phyllis continues to be involved with the Literacy Council, Historical Society, St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, and the Retired Educators Association. She enjoys traveling to Ogden, Utah, to visit her daughter and granddaughter, and counts on summers in Atlantic Beach, as always. Jane Walker Kerewich writes from Charlottesville, Va. She says that she enjoys “traveling, UVA sports, lectures, bridge, good health, family, friends, and fun!” She looks forward to her College Class of ’57 reunion in the spring of 2017, and hopes everyone will make an effort to be there. Anne Powell Ward reports from Powhatan, Va., “We are enjoying our three great-grandchildren in our new home in Scottsville Retirement Community. We have been on two cruises so far this year.”
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High School May Eason Mills enjoys living on the North Carolina coast in tranquil Beaufort. She enjoys helping in community and church activities. She and her teenage grandson are planning a summer trip to London and Paris. McNair Currie Maxwell writes from RanFront Row: Martha Williford Zollicoffer, Jane Westbrook Thomason, Martha Brooks cho Palos Veres, Bricio Second Row: Glenn Norman Dickens, Marianna Miller Raugh, Sue Jett Russler, Warburton Redd, Margaret Brunson Hill, Ruth Watkins Barber Third Row: Pearla Calif. The Currie Sue Ann Revelle Lowe, Mary Louise Bizzell Burress, Susan Patman Day, Liz Oden Current, family is plan- Nancy Mallon Towe, Anna Murphrey Kreienbaum, Barbara Doar Cooper ning a big family versed with Betsy Lipford Delionback in reunion in Montreat in June. McNair and nearby Hoover, Ala., regarding future lunch her husband will celebrate their 50th wedplans, Betsy’s grandchildren, and an upcomding anniversary on July 23, and will have ing annual reunion in Florida with old camp a party at their house. Their children, Ashley friends. Eliza and Larry’s enjoyment of Birand Reynolds, who live in Oregon, will be mingham, Ala., has been amplified by having visiting and in charge of the festivities. The their son, Lawrence Jr., an attorney, now livcelebration will continue with a cruise from ing and practicing there. Betsy Lipford DeBarcelona to Rome in October. lionback ’57HS ’59C reports from Hoover, Ala, “My dear husband, Chris, passed away in December 2014. I am doing fine, due to College strong support from family and friends. They Joyce Batchelor Parks writes from Greenkeep me on the go. Love it!” Her longtime ville, S.C., “I have had a busy year. London friend, Martha Custis Umphlett ’58C, was the graduation present for Carrington, passed away January 28, 2016, in Wilmingmy only grand, who will be going to Wofton. Betsy and Martha had been friends since ford College in the fall. Also went to South they were campers every summer at Camp Africa—probably one of my favorite trips. Sequoya in Bristol, Va. Hope to see Saint Mary’s friends at Litchfield Beach this summer.” Eliza Southall Johnson and Eloise Cowles Murray College laughed uproariously as they reminisced and G.G. Saunders Buxton ’61C covered many topics in a recent two-hour, My thanks to Mary Virginia Swain ’77C at long-distance phone conversation! Eliza reSaint Mary’s for writing our letter last year. lates Christmas card news that Linda Harris At that time my husband was ill with panJones and Putney have moved to something creatic cancer, and he died March 15, 2015. new and smaller in Raleigh. Eliza also conIt has been a sad year, but friends and fam-
1959
1961
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CLASS news to touching base with friends. Charlotte Thorne Grant moved to Raleigh in late 2014 to be near family. She has enjoyed seeing Hadley Morgan Hines, Sue Bergamini and Molly Cooper Safrit. Amelia Yancey Bond was looking forward to our reunion. Her big news was an amazing mission trip to Ecuador last summer, followed by a visit to the Galapagos Islands. She loves seeing Janie Stronach Wood ’62HS ’64C and Dickie Robinson Front Row: G.G. Saunders Buxton, Hadley Morgan Hines, Linda Latham Tyler ’56HS ’58C in Sutton Second Row: Molly Cooper Safrit, Sue Bergamini, Lii Lii Ridenhour Viola, Amelia Yancey Bond Third Row: Ann Swindell Wyche, Janet Dawson, Edenton. Amelia plans Anne Metts Smith, Charlotte Thorne Grant plenty of trips to Annapolis, Md., now that ily have been wonderful. Time does help. I her son and his family have moved there. enjoyed seeing friends at our 55th reunion Next year I hope to have more news. In the in April. Ann Swindell Wyche retired in meantime have fun and stay well. June 2014 after teaching English at High Point Central. She has travelled to Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Paris, and will be spending part of this summer in Canterbury, College Sue Battle Moore ’63C U.K., and London. She also visits her sons Dear Class of ’63, Where is everybody? and grandchildren as much as possible. BeWhile the news is “slim” this year, it’s all sides travelling, she stays busy in High Point, good and I’m happy to report what I’ve serving on the board of directors of the High learned. Our classmate, “The Duchess of Point Arts Council, Alexander Martin ChapWindsor,” better known as Verna Gillam ter DAR, DKG, Chi Chapter, High Point Perry, is still holding court in Windsor, N.C., Literacy League, St. Mary’s Choir, and too and writes that she and family are all doing many others. She says, “Have fun while you well. She wishes the same for the rest of us. can!” She also retired from a part-time job From Dunn, Diane Croonenberghs Tilghteaching voice at UNCSA Community Music man reports that she and husband Granville School. Arden Fobes Scott and her husband, are enjoying spending time in Wrightsville Jack, returned to North Carolina four years Beach. Their favorite company is their four ago and are living in Penick Village in her grandsons (one seven- and three five-yearhometown, Southern Pines. Her husband’s olds). Sophronia “LeaLea” Hall Ivey is in health has delayed her from getting together Oxford, enjoying her husband’s retirement. with Molly Cooper Safrit, but they have She is busy with club meetings and fambeen in touch. She is delighted to be home, ily gatherings. LeaLea’s needlepoint kneeler and when the time is right, she looks forward
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project for St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church is still a work in progress, three years down and seven to go. Hopefully, there will be a story about these colorful kneelers in Our State Magazine, as well as the Episcopal publication, The Disciple. Bert Bradshaw Hall supposedly lives in Pinehurst, but from her news, she is seldom there. She and her husband are always on the go—Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Princeton, N.J., Tucson, Ariz., as well as Wrightsville Beach. Bert is looking forward to seeing Marty Fales Stanfield at Wrightsville this summer. It was wonderful to hear from Greensboro’s Mary Stella Leak Jones that her granddaughter, Stephanie Jones, is a freshman at Saint Mary’s and qualified to swim in the state swim meet. Mary Stella and husband Charlie celebrated their 50th anniversary last summer and are blessed to have seven grandchildren who are growing up much too fast. For our classmate “Go-Go Girl” Flo Pitts Carter, 2015 was another travel year. From Costa Rica in January, she was off to Alaska with the Carter family, where they enjoyed a cruise of the Inside Passage and then took the train to Denali. In September, Flo and her travel buddies (two of her Morganton friends) toured Madrid before going to Morocco. Flo rounded out her travel year with a trip to London to celebrate her daughter’s birthday. For 2016, Flo is taking a travel hiatus and staying put at Lake James, where she enjoys kayaking, paddle boarding, and driving the boat while Walter skis! In her “spare time,” she plays “bad golf” a few times a week, as well as stays active in community activities, D.A.R., and serving as president of U.M.W. Moving from North Carolina, I found Hilda Little Janes still in Pensacola, Fla. She and husband Ray enjoyed trips to Morocco and Cuba in 2015. They will be celebrating their 50th anniversary with a big party in June! From Rocky Mount, my news is slim. Granddaughter Grace Battle Thompson ’18 is a sophomore at SMS, and I have enjoyed serving as chairperson of the Grandparents Annual Fund for the past two years. Until next year, my best to all, Sue
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Joan Wickham Sugg ’65HS ’67C Charlotte Smith Purrington attended the wedding of Gray Anderson White’s son, John, in December in Charlotte. They had a wonderful visit. “Still the same wonderful Gray. She has the merriest blue eyes and she’s full of energy. Still plays tennis and golf, has friends galore and a busy schedule.” Charlotte’s daughter, Ginna, is living and working in Durham. She is a certified diabetes counselor and was training to cycle 200 miles in May as part of the Tour de Cure fundraiser for JDRF. This is her third year riding, and each year she rides farther. Daughter Lindsay lives in Raleigh after living in N.Y.C. and Philadelphia and dancing with the Pennsylvania Ballet. She is currently a soloist for Carolina Ballet. Son George is finishing up his last year at Kenan Flagler Business School in Chapel Hill. The Purringtons are pleased to have all three of their children close by. They enjoy traveling, usually planning trips on their own, but have found river voyages easy and fun. They also still enjoy time at the beach. Georgie Campen Thompson writes that she was sad to have missed the 50th reunion, but was not up to the trip. “Life has not been wonderful over the past five years,” she notes. Husband Bill had foot surgery (“a 65-year-old man, 6’7” and 250 pounds, is not a pretty sight on crutches”), and later had several other hospitalizations. Georgie was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013, and is still dealing with the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation. She has frequent, intensive treatments in a hyperbaric chamber. She remembers that Winston Churchill said, “If you are going through hell, keep going,” and Georgie says, “I keep going and will win this battle. Here’s to the 2020 reunion!” Please see other Class of 1965 High School news included in the College Class of 1967.
Trudie Turner Arrington ’65C Hello, Fabulous Class of ’65! Hope everyone is fine and dandy. I love to hear the news and share. Charlotte Blackwell Coleman writes from Charleston, S.C. Her daughter, Margot Coleman Martin, has a new baby named Charlotte Hamilton Martin, born March 10, 2015. She also shares that she’s renewed her friendship with Louise Clark Poitras Strauss, Mary Ravenel Black and Kathy Hall Ravenel in Charleston. Carol Wilson Brewer Connor writes from Newport, N.C. She is still traveling back and forth between homes outside of Boone and Newport. She really enjoys having her six grandchildren (ages 3-11) in the mountains for “Camp Cici” – they have a ball! Gretchen Fracher Hardage writes from Raleigh about spending her time loving retirement and spending time with her three grandsons (ages 7, 9, and 12) in Winston- Salem. She finds it hard to believe how fast time goes! Barbara Hall Wullschleger writes from Sarasota, Fla., sharing how she had a fabulous trip out West last fall. She saw Salt Lake City, Jackson Hole, the Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone National Park. Their favorite highlight was rafting down the Snake River and staying at the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone Park. Since they enjoyed the trip so much, they are taking another one this fall to the Grand Canyon. Go, Barbara! Aileen Cater shared that she’s off to Africa to enjoy the photography safari she got in the SMS online auction two years ago (part of the annual night at the Angus Barn). She’s adding a side trip to Victoria Falls. She says it was lovely to visit the Saint Mary’s campus twice last year. “It looks great! We have the most impressive leadership – must see!” Perry Grimes Van Dyke writes that since she is now divorced, she’s moved to Winston- Salem to be near her grandson. She loves being back in Winston, where she taught school. She enjoys seeing her friends, especially Winborne Chandler ’63HS and Gene Grantham Foster ’63HS.
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Happy Trails! Kathryn (Kitty) Lane Eaves writes from California. Her husband, Ray, passed away in January 2014. She has two lovely grandchildren – both girls. She’s busy doing a little of everything in a town she’s lived in for 40 years. She retired in 2009 after 25 years working in special education at a local school. Nancy S. Raley lets us know that she has recently moved to Raleigh from Washington, D.C., where she worked for 40 years. She retired as vice president for communications at the National Association of Independent Schools, to which Saint Mary's and many other independent schools belong. Currently, in addition to some freelancing, she is working as a volunteer at the North Carolina Museum of Art and at a local cat rescue organization. It was delightful this Christmas to receive Mary Jo Quinerly Jefferson’s picture of her wedding 50 years ago. Thank you to one and all who sent in news. We surely did have a wonderful experience at Saint Mary’s. Wonderful, wonderful memories. Now - our dear Saint Mary’s will be celebrating 175 years next year. I hope to be a part of the celebration. Come on class of ’65 - we need to be represented. Stay tuned.
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High School Margaret Morrison Hamilton ’67HS Susan Sidenberg Padgett and her husband have returned to Raleigh and bought a home last April near her son and his family, which includes two granddaughters, ages five and two. Jane Bird Melton retired in May 2015 and has been greatly involved with helping her dad, who had a hip fracture and moved to Asheville from Clemson. Jane Snider Finalborgo, who retired last year after working for Newsday, Southampton College, and Congressman Tim Bishop, is now a full-time grandmother, her best job ever! Daughter Mary and her husband just had their second son, and son Billy is getting married May 20. Yoga, green smoothies, and book group keep her busy these days. Karen Davis Jenkins had a wonderful time homeschooling her two boys while living on a 15,000-acre
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CLASS news lake in the middle of Georgia. After 30 years, she and her husband moved to an island off the coast of Atlantic City to take advantage of the great casino buses to and from New York City, where her older son was practicing law. In 2010 they returned to Chapel Hill to live forever. Nancy Foreman Silver writes, "I'm a Grannan ...Beau Hunter Outlaw Silver (6) is the son of my oldest son, Beau, and his wife, Brimage Spruill Silver ’94HS (daughter of Nancy Gillam Spruill ’66HS ’68C). Spend my days doing whatever...traveling, reading, gardening, and working in my energy medicine practice." Betsy Bittle Eubanks has also finally retired from her career as a school librarian in Durham. She is finding her way into retirement with a few courses at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Duke and a wonderful trip to Italy with husband Joey and her daughter and spouse. Cary Scott Battle has found a remarkable, new, and fulfilling interest as an artist. Check her out on Facebook. She is prolific and gifted with creativity and a wonderfully strong sense of color. Martha Hall Michaels lives in Raleigh, where she loves having five (soon to be six) grandchildren. Margaret Highsmith Dickson is preparing a move to Raleigh. Son Wyatt has opened a new barbecue restaurant in Durham called Picnic, which has gotten a lot of press. Bright is an assistant vice president and consultant at the BB&T Leadership Institute in Winston. Son Seavy married Lauren Robbins Dickson ’06 from Raleigh, who serves on the SMS Young Alumnae Advisory Board. Winnie Morris travelled to Bend, Ore., last August for the birth of her twin grandchildren. Her son, Charlie Boisky, and his husband, Denis Riva, welcomed Margaret Rose (Mamie) and James Richard (Jim), born by surrogacy on August 4, 2015. The babies were full term, healthy and beautiful. When the babies were 10 days old, everyone (picture the Clampett family, only on an Airbus instead of a pickup!) flew back to their home in Richmond. Winnie still lives in Wilmington, where she feels lucky to have her daughter, Katherine Boisky Pittman’97HS, and her family, which includes Laurel (8) and
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Front Row: Page Horton Cox, Mary Roundtree Moore, Jodee Groner Hart, Marie Kirksey Riggs, Betsy Kitchin White, Lesley Wharton Marcello, Jean Muchmore McCleary, Debbie Ellis Boyle, Cheryl Koenig Kelling, Libba Massey Greenway, Beverly Peacock Best Second Row: Stanley Smith Reahard, Sally Borden Worrell, Jeannie Hanson Massey, Drew Brooks, Mary Melcher Syrdahl, Marcia Separk Martin, Alice Tripp Sullivan, Jean Rae Herrin Hinton, Julie McCollum, Susan Crabtree Burns Third Row: Hettie Johnson, Charlotte Atkinson Sweeney, Toni Means Thompkins, Betsy Davis Cresenzo, Jo Anne Ferrell Morrisseau, Ann James Milgrom, Liz Cosgrove-Curtis, Suzanne Poole Wright, Linda Wootten Sloan, Ann Swindell Wyche, Janet Dawson, Anne Metts Smith, Charlotte Thorne Grant Fourth Row: Lisa Gilland Morice, Molly Crowell Watters, Susie Soper, Marguerite Williams Duncan, Liz Douglas Lowry, Ebby Schmulling Crawford
Jack (5). Betsy McAlister Groves is still busy in Boston teaching at Harvard's School of Education and involved in a few projects at Boston Medical Center. Husband Tim is involved in teaching ESL in Somerville, Mass. Daughter Jeanie is a nurse at Brigham and Women's and partner Pete is in financial advising. Daughter Becca got married in February in Brazil. Betsy's dad is in a retirement home in Charlotte, so she is still finding her way back to the Tar Heel state for visits. MarFront Row: Meredith De La Vergne, Jackie Walker Andrew, Cantey dy Gray Choate and Culver are Tomlinson Tanner, Molly Grady Brandau, Page Holbrook Second Row: Bagley Waddill Reynolds, Martha Vaughan, Diane Stockard Wade, retired and still in Columbia, S.C. Claire Duff Dodd, Bettie Kellogg They have eight adorable grandhand for the detail of the natural world. Liz children and enjoy family vacations with the Bryan and I enjoyed an afternoon on the entire crew at Pawleys and Lake Waccamaw. beach last summer. Her daughter, Sophie, has Mary Burhoe Gillam and Scott celebrated a new baby boy and lives in Morganton. I, their 40th anniversary at Lake Tahoma in Margaret Morrison Hamilton, am still imSeptember. We enjoyed dancing with them mersed in the retired life and trying to learn and were captivated by their energetic grandhow to say no. Our daughter, Caroline, and son Carter. Amazingly, last summer I ran into husband Eric Langerman, had baby John Mathilde Duffy when I was in my old sublast June in New York City and moved to urban neighborhood of Boston. She is still a Charlotte in March. Our son, Jeff, and wife prolific watercolor artist with a fine eye and Katie, are still loving the city life in Boston.
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We travel and enjoy the wonderful active life here in Wilmington. A few of our classmates can be found on Facebook, and they forgot to send news. BUT, just look what I learned from old-fashioned email! Remember our 50th reunion will be next spring. Let's gather again. Margaret
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College Joan Wickham Sugg ’65HS ’67C B.J. Clarson Jager enjoys retirement in St. Petersburg, Fla., especially relishing the continual joy of learning, as well as her grandchildren. She volunteers at her church with Family Promise, helping homeless families regain independence. Her husband is still practicing architecture at home. Meredith Maynard Chase and husband Bo enjoyed a wonderful cruise from Singapore to Penang (Malaysia), Sabang (Indonesia), then up to Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar (Burma), where there are few tourists and even fewer Americans. Aung San Suu Kyi had just been elected president of Burma, so it was an exciting time for that country. They also visited Phuket, (Thailand), Langkawi (Malaysia), Sihanouksville (Cambodia) and Bangkok (Thailand) before heading to Shanghai for the Chinese New Year (great fun). After getting settled back home in Columbia, S.C., Bo had bypass surgery, so the Chases “are staying put for a while.” Meredith is mostly retired from her graphic design business, but stays busy with pro bono work, co-leading two Bible study groups and a seniors’ ministry at her church. She says she “plays Mahjong once a week for my mind and gardens for my soul.” Jean Healy Neville reports from Chapel Hill that she is enjoying her second year of retirement after 43 years in education, 33 of which were at the Hill Center in Durham. She enjoys tennis, reading, hiking, and taking in all of the cultural events that abound in Chapel Hill and on campus. “My husband and I enjoy traveling,” says Jean, “But could never compete with the globetrotter Joan Sugg! Looking forward to our Saint Mary’s 50th in 2017!” Francey
Breeden Schauss and husband Peter are proud grandparents to four precious sweethearts: Isabella (8), Alistair (4), Blair (1), and newborn William! Her travels have included Portugal, Finland, and Memphis, Tenn. “Our work keeps us busy, and our family, happy.” Nell Fleming Armstrong ’65HS ’67C sent sad news from Vanceboro, where her husband of 45 years passed away in October. “It has been a hard time without Johnny, but with my family and church family, I’m okay. Joseph ‘J.D.’ (23) and Hunter (16) try successfully to keep me busy and entertained.” Margaret Burgwyn ’65HS ’67C reports no special news, but she is “alive and well and living the dream in Woodland!” Luci Turner Johnson ’65HS ’67C says, “Change is in the air for me. I closed my English antique shop at Five Points (in Raleigh) on December 31. I am finally retired! Although…I will continue to find antique chests, sideboards, etc. for individuals, as I have wonderful resources. I have just put my Hayes Barton home of 21 years on the market. I’m in the process of downsizing. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Advice anyone? I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at our reunion!” Libby Keller ’65HS ’67C reports that she and her husband, David Savitz, have downsized to a condo in Jamaica Plain, Mass. He has recently retired from his medical practice and “plans to be a great house husband,” while Libby continues to enjoy practicing medicine. Betty Grant Condon ’65HS ’67C wrote from California, where she was babysitting four grandchildren. She enjoyed a wonderful trip to Spain and Morocco last winter. Clarine Pollock Powell writes from Greenville with happy news of her son, John’s, wedding in November. John married Elizabeth Davis Way at the Center for the Birds of Prey in Awendaw, S.C. John is executive director of SEWF . Another son, Graham, is an attorney, and both of these sons live in Charleston, “as does our godson, Riddick Lynch, (son of Virginia Bard Gatling ’58C). Check out Riddick’s Poe’s Tavern on Sullivan’s Island or Wrightsville Beach.” Clarine ‘s daughter, Catherine, lives in Jack-
son, Miss., where she works for Get 2 College, non-profit dedicated to helping high school students get to college. Son Bert is in Greenville with his family and is in partnership with Clarine’s husband, Rob. The Powells enjoy having their three grandsons (ages 10, 8 and 5) nearby. While retired from East Carolina University, Clarine is still busy teaching tap dance at a local studio. Clarine encourages everyone to make plans now for our 50th reunion! Janet Hicks Bethune embarked on a new part-time career this spring, becoming a representative for Worth, a wellknow ladies clothing line. She had shows in Rocky Mount, Edenton, Bald Head Island, Lumberton, and Murrells Inlet, S.C. She invites any interested SMS ladies to email her at bethune.janet@gmail.com for details or to host a show. The Bethune’s son, Richard, who completed his MBA at Duke, has settled in Raleigh with his wife, Julia. He is with IFC, a private equity firm, and she is with the Bert’s Bees team marketing their new cosmetics line. Daughter Caroline is also in Raleigh, and is with The Almac Group, shepherding new drugs through the approval process. Chris Hurst Copley enjoyed a wonderful trip to Istanbul last year. Her son changed careers and recently received a master’s degree in forestry. He works as an analyst for a company in Athens, Ga., and Chris is glad to have him nearby, as he previously lived in Wyoming and New York. Chris is still in Atlanta, but visits friends and family in North Carolina two or three times a year. Sally Nair James ’65HS ’67C writes that life is good in Staunton, Va. “I am planning to retire after 25 years of teaching art history at Mary Baldwin College. I have eight happy grandchildren to enjoy, and who knows what else?” Sally is planning a summer trip to Turkey to see Christian and Islamic art and architecture. She has three publications coming out: a chapter in a book on 20th century stained glass windows is already published. Her essay is on windows in Trinity Church in Staunton. In April, she had an article published in a medieval art journal published by the International Center for Medieval Art
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CLASS news headquartered at the Cloisters Museum in New York. The most exciting publication is a book due out this summer: Art in England from the Saxons to the Tudors: 600-1600. It will be published by Oxbow Press of Oxford, U.K. As for me, Joan Wickham Sugg ’65HS ’67C, what a difference a year makes! Last year in March, I was in Italy. In fact, Maundy Thursday I attended services at the Duomo in Florence before heading to Rome for a few days before heading home and getting ready for my 50th (impossible!) high school reunion at SMS. Speaking of reunions, make plans for our 50th college reunion, May 13, 2017! I had trouble making reservations. Raleigh has grown and changed unbelievably since our graduation. I celebrated my 50th high school reunion with five trips to Europe. First there was Italy in March, then Scandinavia in May. I had a marvelous two weeks in London on my own, visiting some old familiar favorites, including the cathedral where Bishop William of Wykeham (NormanFrench spelling, as Dr. Morrison informed me) is buried in his chantry chapel. A distant great uncle, he was founder of Winchester College and New College Oxford, as well as chancellor of England during the reign of Edward III. No wonder I am so fond of English history! Then it was on to Scotland, where I visited Glencoe, the site of the massacre of the MacDonalds by the Campbells. I well remember Dr. Morrison saying, “The only good Campbells comes in soup cans.” There were two trips to France: Provence, Burgundy, and Beaujolais in June, then to Bordeaux in November. In fact, I landed in Paris on the Sunday after the bombings. Really ironic timing, but no problems, just extra bag checks at shopping centers and more careful bag checks at museums. Thanks to everyone for getting news in so promptly. I am sending it in before I leave for Cuba April 3, a place I never thought I would have a chance to visit. I have had great fun with the new message on my answering machine telling people who call asking for contributions to political campaigns that they have reached the office of Ebenezer Scrooge, who is asking them for
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contributions to the Back Pack Buddies program at Calvary Episcopal Church. Mrs. Stamey would LOVE it. I hope to see as many of you as possible at the college class reunion next May 13, in conjunction with Saint Mary’s 175th anniversary celebration on May 12. Joan
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High School Amy Carr Thullen ’69HS Row: Pam DeVere Crooks, Alice Proctor Witten, Betsy Blee, Christie I hope everyone is well. but I First Bishop Barbee, Jane Moore Lazarus Second Row: Winston Cobb Green, sure would like to hear from Lee Quinn Stroud, Lisbeth Davis Fahey, Linda Glass Hyslop, Susan Carroll Alexander, Jane Moore Lazarus, Mollie Bridger Vandiver, Trish Potter Taylor more of you girls! Pattie Third Row: Molly Bridger Vandiver, Susan Mills, Barbara Call McGowan, Anne McElwee Herschler, Laura Beckman Rodes, Marilyn Kirkland Poole, Moore-Boyette reached 30 Everall Aiken Peele, Betty Ann Queen Bush years of employment with her first grandbaby boy, Walker, born in DeUNC Health Care as vice cember to her daughter, Claire Sauls Glover. president for reimbursement for the health Miriam still works at Duke University, curcare system. Her older daughter, Anna Boyrently in the service-learning program, and ette ’11, graduated with honors from N.C. she also teaches a memoir writing class using State University with a degree in mechanifood memories. She will be teaching in Switcal engineering. Her younger daughter, Emzerland in May. I had a fabulous cruise on ily Boyette ’12, will graduate this summer the Baltic this past fall and Nancy Haywood from N.C. State with a B.S. in textiles. Pattie ’68HS, was my delightful cabin mate. Next says she is so grateful for the strong educatime, I do wish more of you would please tional foundation gained at Saint Mary’s by send me news and I truly appreciate those her and her daughters that enabled them to who did! Amy get through college, which is stressful and academically challenging, with great academic records. Pattie also reports that BevCollege erly Johnson Funke and husband Uwe have Liz Burleson Hudson ’69C moved back to Raleigh. Louisa Rogers has Katherine Hunter Bratton writes, “Our developed a new niche, writing food articles, SMS ‘Second Holt Group,’ Bonnie Bowen and she teaches a class called Thirty Minutes Banks, Cille Keedwell Allen, Kerr Blackand Eat: simple Cooking for One and Two. well Tallberg, Debbie Boyd Pearson and I She and Barry will do their fourth house exare still reuniting at the beach each summer. change in Ireland this fall. Their home in the Friends for life. My mother, Kitty Sigmon cuadro historico of the UNESCO heritage Hunter ’40C, celebrated her 75th Saint site of Guanajuato is listed on VRBO if anyMary’s reunion last year. Our son, Hunter, one is interested in swapping homes. Louisa lives in South Carolina, where he is the suis trying to support her 95-year-old dad from perintendent of Wake Stone’s Myrtle Beach 2,800 miles away, with help from her sisters. quarry.” SaraJane Hargrave Pate and husShe enjoyed a wonderfully delightful dinner band Dan are still in Southern Pines and are with Rosie Hammond and family, and had enjoying their seven grandchildren (ages a long and spirited tele-visit with Charlotte 2-11). She stays involved with church and Terry. Miriam Manning Sauls is enjoying
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ALUMNAE BooK CorNEr community projects and Dan continues to practice law full time in Pinehurst. They just returned from an expedition trip to Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. Teresa Rhodes Rosenberger writes that all is well in Concord, N.H. “Eric and I are both still working, but also taking plenty of time off to travel—hiked the Dolomites and sailed the west coast of Eleuthera, as well as trips to New Mexico every six weeks to see our grandchildren. Life is good!”
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hIGh SChooL
Janet Burhoe Jones writes from Swannanoa. Daughter Janet is married and works for Outward Bound. Daughter Josie and her husband have two boys. Janet says she is finishing election year 2016 and looking forward to “doing absolutely nothing.” Janet’s mother, Erwin Gant Burhoe ’38HS ’40C, passed away in January 2015. She was the lead artist for the 1938 and 1939 Saint Mary’s Stagecoach. Jackie Minges Taylor ’71HS ’73C writes from Greenville. She and David are celebrating 43 years of marriage and have four grandchildren. They enjoy weekends at their river house on Kilby Island, travel, and boating. Jackie is currently a volunteer for the Vidant Hospital Foundation, where she is a board member and officer.
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CoLLEGE Betty Anne Queen Bush ’71C Friends! It was so much fun seeing each of you at our reunion! I love getting your notes! Just seeing what everyone has been up to is fun. It’s always better in person - but this will do for now. Holly Dearstyn Norwood wins the “First to Show!” Holly lives in Albermarle with hubby Tom, who is now retired from orthodontics. Holly scoots back and forth to see her parents, who are still at Springmoor in Raleigh. Daughter Anna
Yes! The Job is Mine. by terry Patrick Walton ’79C Yes! The Job is Mine, by Terry Patrick Walton ’79C, is a modern, streamlined resource to help with the challenge of finding a job. The simplified, four-step process quickly prepares job seekers to be ready for the job search. The book promises to help you “ace the interviews, expand your network, and position yourself for career success.” Walton is the founder of 20sEmpowered, a website and blog designed to Power the Potential of 20-Somethings. Previously she founded MyCareerCatapult: The How-to-Find-a-Job website with your own personal coach. It was acquired by ePropelr.com in 2014 and provides online job search coaching, résumés, interview skills, and career strategies. She is a frequent speaker at college and business career seminars. Walton’s background includes partner and consultant with Heidrick & Struggles, an international executive search firm, and manager of college recruiting for First Union Florida. Her degree in psychology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Myers-Briggs (MBTI) certification, and ongoing interests in people, business, and strategy have provided valuable knowledge and experience as she focuses on the behavioral science and economics of work and life. Having interviewed and coached thousands of people, Walton decided to write an efficient and effective “get-the-job” book that will have candidates prepared within hours. No extra readings or exercises - just the information you need to find out the career that's right for you and how to get the job. Yes! The Job is Mine works for all ages and is especially good for young adults. “Terry has had tremendous success helping people discover their passions, interests, and skills, while helping to match them to an ideal job and career,” says Patti Hughes, founder and chief creative officer of Natural Life. “Her book simplifies and enhances the job search process so now everyone can be successful and find job happiness.” Rob Clements, chairman and CEO of EverBank, says, “Terry Walton combines insight from years of executive search and interview experience to develop a job search process that works. It’s an easy 100-page book that produces results. I recommend it to everyone looking for a job.” The book is available at Amazon, where it has a five-star rating from customers who have purchased the book. ISBN-10: 1518764959 ISBN-13: 978-1518764950
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CLASS news is a speech pathologist in Charlotte. Anna and Dave have Mason (5) and Addie (3). Laura Norris Raynor and Hurley, who is also retired, have now been traveling more. There was a great Facebook post about Hurley and the Little League baseball field named in his honor. He’s only been coaching for 44 years - awesome! And, of course, Laura still serves on the North Carolina Arts Council. Laura and I had planned to have lunch as a Christmas gift to each other and cancelled it twice, but we persevered. Pretty sure it was February. We came from opposite directions, meeting at a wonderful bistro-type restaurant in downtown Mebane. Joy! They almost had to ask us to leave! We love our girlfriend time! Kathy Pace Bozeman and I wrote off and on for days trying to figure out how she could get here AND complete the administration of testing at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School. (She’s kinda in charge...I know …it’s hard to imagine…Ha!) We are all trying! Betsy Blee wrote me early on saying she would not be able to come due to a pending eye surgery. Now that has now been canceled due to a miraculous healing! Yes! Betsy is still in Southport, being the BEST charter boat captain around. We need a field trip to Southport! Another East Coast girl, sweet Alice Proctor Witten, writes that life is good in Havelock! Hank and Liz just had a little girl. Avery and Carter and his family are well. Their son, Taylor, is almost 13. Yet on a sad note, Alice’s 45-year-old red-eared slider terrapin that Anne Schuling gave her Easter, 1970, died this past year. He is missed greatly! Ladies, how the years do pass so quickly! One more reason to keep in touch, and when you think of one another, pick up your phone or a pen, if so inclined, and let that person know you are thinking of them. I reread the cards my 90-year-old mother hands me from her cherished cache near her chair. Some are months old - kinda tattered, and a few have tear stains marking the ink. Each one was sent from someone who wanted her to know they cared. With email, Facebook, and Instagram, and all the other ways we can “touch” someone - I’m pretty sure I still ap-
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preciate the hand-written note most. I’m in High Point with husband Bill. I have my real estate license now, still love Bible study and helping people turn an ordinary house into a HOME. My Lauren has moved back to Nashville, Tenn. Her company, Nicoandlala is still based Chicago - it was just too cold! That lucky guy has still not yet found her! Andrew lives in Charlotte with wife, Julie, and two granddaughters, Layne and Rachel. Bo and his wife live in Statesboro, Ga., with three little girls, Meredith, Charlie Ruth, and Smith. Love and blessings to you and yours. BA -- Queenie
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High School Barbara Egerton Tillery ’73HS I want to thank everyone who wrote to share news with us. We seem to be leading busy, fulfilling lives, and I am happy to report the news you have sent. Martha Woodard Pearlman is celebrating her 35th wedding anniversary by taking a cruise to the Baltics in June. Her son was married last year to a wonderful woman, and they just bought a house. Martha is starting to think about retirement from teaching Latin in a couple of years. She can't believe it's been over 40 years since we were all in school together at Saint Mary's and wonders (as all of us probably have), "Where has the time gone?" Ellison Ainsworth Parker reports that her youngest child, Catherine, got married in Denver, Colo., during the last year. It was an outdoor wedding, which made her a little nervous, but the weather was perfect and everything turned out great. She also has two new grandchildren - a boy, Draden, born in Wilmington, and another boy, Leo, born in Oakland, Calif. That makes five total grandchildren! She's still working as a nurse, and her husband is still practicing medicine. They live in Wilmington. Marriott Little Sheldon writes, "I would like to let my Saint Mary's buddies know that I've been living in New Jersey, just outside N.Y.C., for 15 years, after living in China for 10. I'm an adjunct professor of art at two colleges 'up here' but just found out
I'm going to teach in Raleigh starting this summer. I will live for a while at the house on the Procter family farm near Wendell. I'm also working with New York Bee Sanctuary on their program to make yards and grounds 'bee-safe'.” Marriott’s oldest son, Court, was married last year, and this year her youngest, James, graduates from Georgetown. Her middle son is in Los Angeles. “All is well. Hope everyone is well and happy, and I look forward to reconnecting with you all." Anna Johnson Smith reports that she and Steve have three beautiful grandbabies. Their oldest daughter, Bess, and her husband, John Pitt, have a girl (Liza, age 3 1/2) and a boy (Hayes, age 1 1/2). They live in Raleigh, just a few miles from them. Daughter Anna Miles and her husband, Grayson Garrett, had a precious daughter, Anna "Smith" Garrett, March 29, 2016. They live in Chattanooga, Tenn. Anna and Steve are madly in love with all of them and she says that grandparenting is the BEST! Their son Stevie is not yet married and is working in Pinehurst, but living in Raleigh. Anna says she sees a lot of her Saint Mary's high school friends: Sarah Fox, Bettie Henderson Goodwin, Carolyn Eskridge, Sugar Cheshire McOwen, and college friend Gingin Brogden ’75C. Nancy Kerr Thomason still works full-time for HAP Investment Group, a family office in Atlanta. She lives with her mother at Topsail Beach, and is working from there indefinitely, while caring for her mother. She says she wishes she had moved to the beach years ago! Nancy is married and has two sons, Gray (23) and Cole (20). Last fall, she spent an evening with Beth Dortch Beswick, Jean Scott Bellamy, and Kathryn Scott Long at Figure Eight Island, and it was as though it was the year they graduated, not 43 years later! She has loved reconnecting with Saint Mary's by serving on the board. She says the girls today are so sharp, poised, and motivated. Another classmate who has spent a lot of time taking care of her mother in the last year is Terri Jansen Senter. Terri lives in Madison, Miss., and her mother is a couple of hours away in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and is now in a good assisted
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living facility. Terri also has a five-year-old granddaughter in Anniston, Ala., and another grandchild expected in July in the Wilmington area of North Carolina. Terri says Bill plans to retire in a few years, so they may be able to move closer to their grandchildren at some point. Melissa Falkner Worthington writes that she is still in Minneapolis, Minn., working as general manager of a small technology business, and is looking forward to retirement and more travel. She and Tom have a son and daughter-in-law in D.C. and a daughter living near them. She'd love to show anyone around the Twin Cities if we're in the area. Gina Doty DeMarsh writes that she continues to knit prayer shawls and enjoys baking. She enjoys walking, strength training, trivia night, exercise classes, puzzles, pawn shopping, art classes, and Wii bowling. She has been watching a series of tapes on modern western civilization as a review, since she studied in Europe during the summer of 1975. Gina continues to work part time at Hayes Barton United Methodist Church in Raleigh. Harriet Matthews Jackson lives in Aiken, S.C., and loves it there. She is involved in volunteerism and philanthropy. Her oldest son, Parker (30), is living with her now while between jobs. Her younger son, Frank (27), is an attorney in Walhalla, S.C. Susan Rogers Cassedy writes, "I am still in Tallahassee and retired but always looking for something to keep me busy! Our oldest son is married, with a precious 16-month-old boy, and he and his wife live in Delray Beach, Fla. Our middle son is in Tallahassee and works with his dad, and the youngest is in N.Y.C. We hope to spend a lot of time in North Carolina this summer, when we aren't visiting that grandson.” She is looking forward to seeing JoAnn Nance Small in June! JoAnn Nance Small reports that she has been enjoying two grandchildren, one born September 2015 and one born March 2016. She and her husband enjoy traveling. They went to New York City in January and saw Susan Rogers Cassedy's son perform in Kinky Boots on Broadway. They took a cultural exchange trip to Cuba in April with the N.C. State Alumni Association
"WolfTreks" travel group. JoAnn is "sorta famous" (so her friends say) for her beautiful hydrangeas, so by the time this is published, they are sure to be in glorious bloom. JoAnn and I have compared gardening notes and shared photos of our gardens, so I can vouch for how beautiful her hydrangeas are. As for me, Barbara Egerton Tillery, when I'm not at work or dancing, I (like JoAnn) spend a lot of time in my gardens. I have probably the largest collection of altheas in Mississippi, and a lot of daylilies and other wonderful blooming plants. My daughter, Laura (30), will be graduating in June with an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University. She will then move to N.Y.C. to start a job with Anheuser-Busch InBev, so I anticipate some trips to N.Y.C. for Tim and me in the future. Take care, everyone, and have a wonderful year!
1973
College Lynn Johnson Titchener ’73C Guess what? As I am writing this, there are only 730 days left till our 45th reunion! Really? Yes, really. This is your official “save the date” notice, so mark your calendars and please plan ahead. We are an impressive bunch, and we need to prove it with huge numbers in April 2018. Those who pay attention and stay in touch, please know how much I appreciate your kind words. Writing about you once a year - your news and your non-news, is a joy, a hoot, and a privilege. Thank you for keeping me entertained! Our class needs to find its collective creative button and give it a push. Your news need not be completely true, you know. For instance, the first returned blue form came from Amanda Brantley Anders in Charlotte, who now has four grandbabies. Can this be true? Yes, it is. I have it in her own handwriting. She describes herself as being in the “family business” – the best business of all. Right! Amanda is studying the EFM curriculum at the seminary in Sewanee, for the second time, and is also quite involved with her church. Son Will and family recently moved to Raleigh - perfect!
She now has a free place to stay in 2018 and no excuses! Amanda also reports that Florence Jeffress Dunn is a first time grandmother! Yay! A “no kidding, I’m there,” committed reunion attendee is Ann Beland Brooks, here in Raleigh. Ann has now been cancer-free for five years – that is certainly happy news! When she isn’t directing a wedding on a given weekend, you can find her boating around the Intracoastal Waterway at Emerald Isle, or following and cheering on the UNC Tarheel basketball team. At home, Ann is very active at Christ Church, Raleigh, and reports that she stays in close touch with Candy Currin Taylor and Jane Hight McMurry. Speaking of Jane, she continues to be involved in women’s leadership programs based on her book, Navigating the Lipstick Jungle: Go from Plain Jane to Getting What You Want, Need, and Deserve. This is no plain Jane. (And that is no short book title!) Jane speaks at women’s leadership conferences all over the world, so she obviously knows her stuff! We have another famous author among us: Suzy Maynard Barile is also on the circuit, presenting programs centered around her book, Undaunted Heart: The True Story of a Southern Belle and a Yankee General. In fact, Suzy lectured for the students at Saint Mary’s in 2015. Newly retired from Wake Technical Community College, she and her husband will travel to Budapest in the summer of 2016 to visit their daughter, who is working on a movie there! Exciting life! Moving right along, Carolyn Hicks Baggett has not retired. She is still the full-time counselor at Wake Tech Community College, because if she leaves that post, she would have to clean her house. Her words, not mine! Carolyn and Fred enjoy spoiling their 3-yearold grandson in Raleigh. She pointed out that we are so old (what?), we are now going to our friends’ children’s weddings! Well, yeah - they do grow up. And they are making us grandmamas, too! I am happy to see Carolyn in a bathing suit one or two times a week, as she is a dedicated member of my water fitness class! No news at all is reported from Mary Legg Moore. Nothing. She wanted me
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CLASS news Leading Ladies of Saint Mary's Margaret Jones Cruikshank: ‘A Great Lady’ First female president of Saint Mary’s Saint Mary’s alumnae rejoiced when Margaret Mordecai Jones Cruikshank returned to Saint Mary’s in 1932 to lead the school through tough times back to its full glory. Cruikshank courageously took the helm of leadership at her alma mater in 1932 with both the school and the nation in financial crisis. With the country in the midst of the Great Depression, enrollment at Saint Mary’s had declined to unsustainable numbers, and the school faced a dangerous budget deficit. She served as president of Saint Mary’s from 1932-1946. “Margaret Jones Cruikshank, one of the institution’s most devoted daughters, went to Saint Mary’s to head the school with the full knowledge that she was to take charge of a school in crisis,” writes Martha Stoops, professor emerita of history and author of The Heritage. When Cruikshank accepted the call from the Board of Trustees, Saint Mary’s had a projected enrollment of 125 and a deeply slashed budget. Under her leadership, by the 1935-1936 school year, enrollment topped 200 and climbed to 290 two years later, with a full capacity of 220 boarding students. Enrollment held at capacity, with a long waiting list of girls “clamoring to get in.” By the time she retired at age 67, and because of her “most careful management,” alumnae giving had increased noticeably; the debt was paid off; and the school’s finances were under control.
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Cruikshank’s road to the presidency of Saint Mary’s was an interesting journey. After both of her parents had died, Margaret Mordecai Jones came to Saint Mary’s from Hillsborough, N.C., at the age of 17 with her fraternal twin sister, Mary Pride Jones, in 1893. She returned to teach mathematics at her alma mater. She studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earned a B.S. from Columbia University, and a master’s degree from Duke University. She taught at Saint Mary’s until her husband, Saint Mary’s Business Manager Ernest Cruikshank, became president of Columbia Institute in Tennessee in 1921. He died the following year, and she succeeded him as president. She held that position until 1932, when she returned to lead Saint Mary’s. Cruikshank achieved many firsts at Saint Mary’s. She was the first woman to lead the school, the first and only alumna to lead the school, and the first leader of the school to be called president. In addition to her role as president, she assumed the responsibilities of academic dean and dean of students, and handled it all brilliantly while also raising three children. She was determined to maintain the high standards at Saint Mary’s as enrollment recovered, and she hired the best teachers possible. She personified resilience, both in her own life and in the institution she led. She was highly respected by students, alumnae, and faculty, alike. “Somehow, everything fell into place under her,” writes Martha Stoops in The Heritage. “Everyone accepted her decisions, because they knew her devotion was complete.” Her legacy is long and strong at Saint
Mary’s. It was under her leadership that the Honor Code and student government reached maturity. She structured the Student Government Association and approved the SGA constitution in 1938. She created the Order of the Circle honorary leadership society in 1938 to strengthen morale among the student body. She broadened and strengthened the curriculum and the faculty. She oversaw renovations and improvements to Smedes Hall and the science building and equipment. Cruikshank Hall, a three-story dormitory named in honor of Margaret Cruikshank, stands today as a symbol of this “great lady,” as her successor, Saint Mary’s eighth president, Richard Stone, called her. As we approach the 175th year celebration at Saint Mary’s, we remember fondly the president who oversaw the celebration of the 100th year in 1942 and an important revitalization of the school. Source: The Heritage: The Education of Women at St. Mary’s College, Raleigh, North Carolina, 1842-1982, by Martha Sprouse Stoops, professor emerita of history
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to tell you that. Holy moly - I finally heard from Lynn Lasater Reynolds, and even beheld her beautifulness in person! I won’t say where we bumped into each other on the grounds that it might incriminate me, but we accidentally had a short, fun visit and caught up a bit. Lynn and Paul are still in Raleigh, as are both children, Paul and Mary Margaret, and a pride of yellow labs. Always packed for Atlantic Beach in the summer, she stays in touch with Judy Edwards Marani in Atlanta and is looking forward to our 45th in 2018! Did I understand correctly that she would like to host our party at her home? That would be delicious! Kathryn Houghton Schreier and husband Frank, formerly of Cary, are now enjoying the fine life in Beaufort! They have a house on the golf course, no less. Closer now to family in Morehead City, Kathryn sees the move as quite a nice perk! She’s coming to the party! Promised. Do you know where North Wilkesboro is? I do too. Well, Gwen Howard Temple and her husband, David, have lived there for 41 years! That’s what I call firmly planted! They are both retired, but this woman is not sitting still. Gwen has started a woman’s outing club: Women Who Wander (interesting name, yes?), which gathers to wander, hike, bike, or kayak every Wednesday. What fun! The rest of the week she spends time playing with her two grandchildren, singing in the church choir, and practicing yoga. Namaste. Gwen says hi to Mary Lynn Grant Taylor, Patti Nutt Stokes, Celia Creasy Smart, and “T” Cousins. Sounds like a carpool to Raleigh in 2018! Grandmama on the loose in Washington, N.C! Guess who? Yes, it’s Nature, a.k.a. Nancy Armstrong Murray. She and Gray finally sold the river house with the sunset, having lived there for 30 years, and have moved across the river to a house with the sunrise! Anyway, Nature and Gray are running back and forth to Telluride, Colo., as often as possible to visit their granddaughter Clementine! She had Nature at “hello,” needless to say. Still teaching at Montessori Charter School, Nature is a busy girl! Katie Jo Lawrence Redhead continues to domi-
nate the real estate market in Greensboro. Her name is on every sign in every yard. It’s amazing. She and John got away from it all last winter and enjoyed St. Barts and St. Kitts before Christmas, courtesy of Santa. And, lastly, we have a winner! After 38 years, Lisa Tull is back in the game! Wow! A true blast from the past! Once lost, now found, Lisa is in New Orleans, still holding down a dream job: she is a fine wine specialist. She has been sipping and traveling for 37 years! Her daughter, Allison, just passed the bar exam – yippee! Smart like her mother! So great to hear from you, Lisa! Anyone know where Dawn Joy Williamson is? There is a reward if you find her. Leslie Pretlow Emerson says "no complaints!" She's retired from PPD (a global contract research organization providing comprehensive, integrated drug development, laboratory and lifecycle management services) after 12 years. She lives in Wilmington, as do both her sons and her two granddaughters, who of course, she adores! In Leslie's spare time, you can find her in her garden, or volunteering for Vintage Values, a thrift store supporting victims of domestic violence. Jackie Minges Taylor writes from Greenville. She and David are celebrating 43 years of marriage and have four grandchildren. They enjoy weekends at their river house on Kilby Island, travel and boating. Jackie is currently a volunteer for the Vidant Hospital Foundation, where she is a board member and officer. As for me, my news is in the future, so they won’t let me share it yet! I’ll give you a hint: it involves both of my sweet, smart daughters, Winnie and Liza, and a couple of I-do’s. Winnie is in Asheville, loving her position as associate archivist at Biltmore Estate, and Liza is the account executive for Bolt Public Relations here in Raleigh. Watch out this time next year, as I will spill all the now forbidden beans. I have to say that I do enjoy being a part of the Saint Mary’s Alumnae Bazaar held on Reunion Weekend for the last three years. It’s like having a giant reunion with the whole school - every class! Make plans to attend when you can - it doesn’t have to be our reunion year. I
am constantly writing and addressing, drawing, painting, and loving every minute! My mornings are spent in chlorinated bliss as I lead classes in “extreme” water fitness at a local gym. That gives me the energy to help guide brides-to-be (and their moms) through their wedding invitation and stationery choices. Please visit www.lynnarto.com for more information! As always, thank you for playing, and keep your news flowing - I’m here for you! Sending all the best to each of you! With love, Lynn
1975
High School
Ann Watters Matteson writes that this has been a big year for the Matteson family. Daughter Dorothy Matteson Pierce ’04 had a son on December 5, 2015. His name is Smith Rhodes Pierce. Daughter Margaret Matteson ’07 lives in Raleigh.
1975
College Patricia Holt Parker ’75C Greetings from Pinehurst! Assuming no news is good news, everyone must be doing great! Bonnie Bell McGowan shares news of her son, Michael (25), who played golf at UNCChapel Hill and currently plays on the Latin American Tour. Daughter Scotti (18) is playing golf at Sandhills Community College. Lynn Harand Hankins reports life in Charlotte is good. No major life events to report just writing to share a praise. “In the last Saint Mary's publication, I was reading notes from the class of 1974C (great job, Melrose!), and I was struck with the reminder and evidence that so many deep friendships and bonds were formed at Saint Mary's College through the years. Even though I have lost touch with many of my classmates in the class of 1975C, I am profoundly grateful for the rich connections and sense of community I found there some 40+ years ago. Saint Mary's will always be a part of who I am. What a blessing!” Well said, Lynn! As for me, all is well in Pinehurst. Daughter Kate (26) continues to enjoy life in Portland, Ore., where she started
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CLASS news
Members of the College Class of ’76 gathered at the home of Jean Walston Neese ’76C for their reunion party.
her own record label (Track & Field Records) a couple of years ago. Paton (24) works for an accounting firm in Charlotte and loves living Uptown. Hope everyone is happy, healthy, and enjoying life! Much love, Trish
1977
College Mary Virginia Swain ’77C Hello, friends! Another year has passed, and here is some life news from classmates for our annual newsletter. Debbie Goodson Bunn is in her eighth year as the finance/human resources manager for a nonprofit that works with developmentally disabled adults. She and husband Henry have been married for 37 years. Henry farms around their home in Stokes, N.C., and their son, Brooks, works with his dad on the farm. Brooks and his wife, who works at East Carolina University, have a two-yearold daughter, who is the light of all their lives. Debbie says grandparenthood is wonderful and fun. Debbie’s daughter, Kelley, is a fifth-grade teacher in Williamston, and husband Daniel is a supervisor with Perdue in Lewiston. Debbie writes on a sad note that she lost her father in September after his long struggle with congestive heart failure, and the loss, of course, has left a hole in Debbie’s heart. Her mother is doing well and staying at their beach house in Atlantic Beach. Debbie, who I don’t believe has ever missed a reunion, is looking forward to our next one next spring. Louise Whitmire
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Front Row: Jane Cassedy McDonald, Bess Knotts Walker, Kim Jordan Second Row: Kate Taylor Hill, Beth Dalton Neale, Tracey Fountain Hall, Jean Walston Neese, Sally Pleasants Farrar, Mary Claire Seawell Thomas, Joan Pettit Perry Third Row: Stephanie Born Warren, Josie Forbes, Lee Broadfoot Hathaway, Betsy Hardwick Dawson, Ellen Stone Pittman Fourth Row: Towles Dunbar Napper, Hope Tyndall Hancock, Margaret Smith Chesson, Mary Kosterman Hopkins
Catania is enjoying her second year at theatre director at Saint Mary’s. She directed Pride and Prejudice in the fall and Legally Blonde, the musical, this spring, in Pittman Auditorium. Lou’s husband, Joe, masterfully builds the sets for the shows, and even had a cameo role in Legally Blonde in March. Lou is doing such great things with our theatre program, and her shows are spectacular. She invites you all to attend the future shows. Front Row: Catherine Rogers, Donna Byrd Getty, Debbie Gupton Van Zijl, Virginia James Shelley, Lee Scott Worth Second Row: Martha I will save you a seat, as I Murphy, Bebee Bason Lee, Elizabeth Vann McDuffie, Emily Hartzog, wouldn’t miss one of their Charlotte Trent Rinehart, Anna T. Webb Wheeless shows. Lou’s daughter, Nancy’s oldest son, David, was married last Elizabeth, has big plans for the fall that we May. Youngest son William has a new job can announce in the next issue, and daughter with a start-up marketing firm, and middle Margaret has just started a job with Higher son Sam Allen graduated from UNC MediAchievement in Washington, D.C. I love cal School and has moved with his family working at Saint Mary’s with Lou – she is a to Wilmington for residency in general surbright light at our school. Nancy Thompson gery. Nancy’s second grandson was born in Heathcote lives in Raleigh with her mother, January 2015. I went to watch the Tar Heels which works well for them both. She works official practice when they played in NCAA half-days at Trilogy School and paints and March Madness in Raleigh at the PNC Arena makes her famous pimento cheese and pound and looked down my row at one point, and cakes to sell. I always stock up on pimento there was Nancy also cheering on the Heels. cheese at Nancy’s table at the Saint Mary’s Linda Ramsey writes from Roxboro, where Alumnae Bazaar on Reunion Weekend! she is a judicial assistant to Judge Mark Gal-
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loway and assists with drug treatment court. She closed her dad’s 55-year-old law practice and handled his estate when he passed away in 2013. She also manages residential and commercial property and assists her 85-yearold mom. “Life is really busy for me,” says Linda. “I am looking forward to a vacation to a sunny, quiet, white sand beach!” Hazel MacKenzie Mason writes that she is in her 11th year teaching art at the same school. “I continue to be entertained by a new crop of middle school art students each year. I’m sassy; they’re sassy; it’s perfect!” She is also making jewelry, and her Sistah Bead necklaces are stylishly fun. She can customize them for your favorite team (e.g. Tar Heels) to wear on game days, or simply in your favorite color schemes. She is also involved with the annual “Sistah Circle” festive women’s retreat at Camp Cheerio, and says Saint Mary’s is well represented. This year’s fifth annual retreat is in October, so let Hazel know if you would like to join the fun. Check out their Facebook page – Sistah Circle at Camp Cheerio – to get an idea of the fun they have. Hazel reports that her boys will be college seniors this fall. That’s all the news that was sent in, but I can report on a few other classmates I see here and there. I love seeing Carter Warren Franke when she comes to campus for Board of Trustees meetings, and can’t think of a sharper or more devoted alumna to have serving on our board. She is also serving on the search committee for the new head of school, so we know the future of Saint Mary’s is in good hands! I see my usual suspects in Raleigh and in Wilmington/ Wrightsville Beach – Barbara Johnston Bush, Jeannie Bridger Konitzer, Morgie Towler Duke, Kim Shavlik Randolph, Nancy Thompson Heathcote, Vivian Rawls Watkins, Caroline Holt Sterling, Corneille Little, and others along the way. I keep up with others on Facebook: Moppy Salt McGee, who is director of admissions and advancement at Grace Episcopal Day School in Florida; Linda Ramsey; Kathy Little Davis; Cathy Christian Dolan; Celeste Neaves Griffin; Martha Phillips Mazur;
Suzanne Smith Huggins; Kathy Little Davis; the Connors sisters – Cathy Connors Stuckey and Marcy Connors Yerkes, who is doing great things with her art; and more. A Class of ’77 highlight for me this spring was an unexpected knock on my door at my campus townhome late one afternoon in April, and when I opened it to see who was there, I was happily shocked to find Julie Whitmore Sherrer stopping by for a surprise visit. Julie was in the area visiting her beautiful daughter who attends Duke, and they had some business in Raleigh and stopped by to look around the Saint Mary’s campus. Julie is associate head of school at Cape Henry Collegiate School, an outstanding independent school in Virginia Beach. Julie promises to come for our 40th reunion next spring, May 13, 2017 – hint, hint, to everyone else! In addition to our big reunion that weekend, May 12, 2017, will be the 175th anniversary of the opening of Saint Mary’s in 1842 and there will be a gala “Smedes Ball” in the Grove on Friday night, so this is definitely a year to come to campus to celebrate with Saint Mary’s friends. Please make plans to come and reconnect! Mary Virginia
1979
College Windy Tillman Pratt ’79C Greetings to the class of ’79C! It is always fun to hear back from you and to be able to report your news. I am always entertained by your interesting and exciting stories. Dana Darden Copeland is still teaching first grade in Virginia Beach, Va. Her son will be a senior at Hampden-Sydney College, where she enjoys catching up with Molly Peebles Squire at those college football games. Elise Ward Ace reports from her home in the United Kingdom, where she has lived since 1992, that she is publisher of Tobacco Reporter and Vapor Voice magazines. She has a daughter at UNC-Wilmington and a son at Wake Forest University. She and her husband, Brian, recently took a cruise to Iceland with their son, William. Elise says that when in the United States, she enjoys visits
with SMC roommate Susan Holt Burleson and her sister, Caroline Holt Stirling ’77C, as well as Melody Lancaster Mitterling. Mary Craig Timberlake Brown says she loves teaching kindergarten at Ravenscroft in Raleigh. Her daughter, Annie, finished her master’s in arts, is teaching at Meredith, and also teaches kindergarten, while daughter-inlaw Abby teaches second grade at St. David’s School in Raleigh. Her son, Whitt, works in Raleigh for NAI Carolantic Realty. Reporting from Wilmington, Clayton Plumlee Fountain says she has fun playing tennis and learning to play bridge. She loves keeping up with SMC friends on Facebook. She says they are planning to attend the Country Music Festival in Nashville, Tenn., this summer. Clayton says that her daughters are doing well. Clayton (29) is teaching seventh-grade English in Duplin County. Clayton says “kudos to all teachers!” Mary Grigg (26) works for her dad in Wilmington, and Perry (21) just graduated from N. C. State. Kelly Fenn is now living in Wilmington. Her son, Will, was married last July, and Kelly says that one of his groomsmen was Parker Yates, son of SMC girl, Nan Smith Yates ’77C. Kelly says Will, along with her daughter, Liz, live in High Point and design furniture for their dad, Dudley Moore. Molly Burton Tull wrote that she was in a whirlwind with a townhouse under contract and running contractors on a newly-purchased home. She says they are happy to have a bit of yard for Zuzu, their one-year-old Westie, and that she is happy to be moving out of a bachelor pad and into a house. She was looking forward to a trip to Capri in May to revisit their honeymoon spot. Julie Ann Cook Stewart writes from Waycross, Ga. She and Jimmy have been married 33 years. Their oldest son, Jake, was married last year to a bride from Tennessee. The young couple met while they were students at University of Georgia. Middle son John graduated from Georgia Southern University and works at Stewart Distribution, the family business in Waycross. Joe (17) keeps them busy with high school sports and being a teenager. He earned his Eagle Scout
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SAINt MArY'S rEMEMBErS
hENrY MCILWAINE rEAd: 1931-2016 Henry McIlwaine Read, Saint Mary’s distinguished and beloved director of development from 1977 until his retirement in 1996, died peacefully, Tuesday morning, March 1, 2016, in Raleigh. Mr. Read was born May 15, 1931, in Warrenton, N.C., to the late Fitzhugh T. and Sarah Moore Read. Mr. Read will be remembered for his generous spirit, his warm and genuine hospitality, his love of preparing and sharing good food, his gift at successful fundraising, and his devotion and loyalty as a friend and family man. He was truly a Southern gentleman. Mr. Read, a graduate of John Graham High School in Warrenton, and HampdenSydney College, devoted his professional career to higher education. During his 43-year career, he held positions in athletics, public relations, and development at Hampden-Sydney College, the Citadel, Sullins College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Saint Mary’s. During his two decades as director of development at Saint Mary’s, he raised untold millions of dollars for the school and built alumnae loyalty to the highest levels. Major planned gifts that he cultivated years ago are still coming into the school today. During his tenure, Saint Mary’s won national awards for the highest alumnae giving percentage among junior colleges with more than 40 percent of alumnae giving annually to the school. His legacy lives on at Saint Mary’s today in many ways. He created the Lighting O’ the Grove in 1981, along with the 1981-1982 Student Government Association officers. First held as the Lighting O’ the Green as a gift from Saint Mary’s to the Raleigh community, the event was originally held in front of the Chapel, and a living campus tree was lit with strings of lights handmade by Mr. Read and the girls. In 1987, the event was relocated to the front of Smedes Hall
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and, in 1988, renamed The Lighting O’ the Grove. This annual holiday celebration has become one of the school’s most beloved traditions and is still sponsored each year by the SGA. When he retired in 1996, he was chosen as the commencement speaker for the college graduation at 2 p.m. Prior to that time, for many years, commencement ceremonies were held on the steps of Smedes Hall, with the graduates seated on the flagstone in front of Smedes, which heated up throughout the day. In those days, there were two commencement ceremonies – the high school at 10:30 a.m. and the college at 2 p.m. An extreme heat wave hit Raleigh that week in May, and temperatures for commencement day were predicted to reach the upper 90s. The commencement planners were concerned about the heat, especially for the afternoon ceremony, when the heat index in the bright sun would have surely been over 100 degrees. Days before the ceremony, Mr. Read looked out at the canopy of shade created by the stately oak trees and suggested moving the ceremonies to the Grove to take advantage of the shade. Everyone loved the new location so much that commencement has remained in the Grove to this day. Mr. Read launched the alumnae phonathon tradition at Saint Mary’s to raise funds for the Annual Fund each fall. First held in the gym, the phonathons of Mr. Read’s years were festive events with broad alumnae and faculty and staff participation rallying support of Saint Mary’s. Henry Read raised funds by raising friends. A call to a donor from Henry brought gifts of his famous homemade chow-chow, blue cheese dressing, and cheese straws. His professional relationships with donors, alumnae, and students always led to lifelong friendships. He touched the lives of a generation of Saint
Mary’s girls who loved him like a second father. The students dedicated the 1988 Stagecoach yearbook to Mr. Read. In honor of Mr. Read’s distinguished service to Saint Mary’s, former board of trustees chair, the late Eugene B. Hardin, and his wife, former trustee Olivia Lynch Hardin ’50C, established the Henry McIlwaine Read Service Recognition Endowment, which supports the Read Award, presented annually to a deserving student on the basis of her personal character, involvement in extracurricular activities, contribution to the school community, and concern for and service to fellow students. At the conclusion of his 1996 commencement address, he said to the graduates in his humble manner: “Time will erase from your memory that Henry Read spoke to you today. No matter! My only hope is that at some critical time in your life, you will recall that a fellow traveler once told you that you are a beautiful person – a special creation. Be true to you.” As we look back on those words, we know that time will never erase Henry Read from our memory, and we are fortunate to have traveled the road with such a special friend. Mr. Read is survived by his beloved wife, Frances Ader Read; his son, John Ladeau Read of Raleigh; his son, Henry M. Read Jr. and daughter-in-law Cammie Read of Walkertown, N.C.; his grandson, Connor Read; and his brother Finley Read and sister-in-law Ruth Read of Manning, S.C. Mary Virginia Swain '77C
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CLASS news rank last year. Julie Ann enjoyed meeting Ann Howard Foster and Regina Lozorik Brown recently in Charlotte. There was lots of shopping, eating, and catching up! “I stay busy with our Lamb’s Ministry at church (feeding hungry children on the weekends), substitute teaching and tutoring at my home a few afternoons a week. Can’t wait to see everyone at the next reunion!” Ann Howard Foster says she has loved her move to Texas to work in Hilti, Inc.’s new headquarters in Plano. She bought a house in nearby McKinney, Texas, and loves taking advantage of the great restaurants and shopping in the area. Ann enjoyed a mini SMC reunion with Julie Ann Cook Stewart and Regina Lazorik Brown in Charlotte in February, and also visited her mother, Abbot Henderson Howard ’54C. I am staying busy with my work at Stifel, and with my calligraphy business. Son Guion (28) and his wife, Abby, are loving life in Charlottesville, Va. Son Win (27) and his wife, Tracy, are so thankful to be in Raleigh. As I write this update, my husband, Mike, is out working on a chicken coop to house the newest members of the family - seven chicks. Maybe by the time this letter comes out we will be eating fresh eggs! Great to hear from so many of you. Prayers for a healthy, happy year until I hear from you all again. Windy
1981
High School Madeline Gilbert ’81HS A big thank you to Sallie Harris Glover for serving on the Saint Mary's Board of Trustees and for hosting our class party during the Reunion Weekend. At the same time, she is keeping up with her three children, Anderson who attends EHS, Jack at UNC, and Sallie working in New York. Suiter Whitehead Coxe and husband Rags have moved to the beautiful South Carolina coastal town, Georgetown, where Rags is the assistant rector at Prince George Winyah Church. Suiter invites all vacationing in the area to stop by for a visit and would love to have you join her in the pew for a worship service. Nina Anderson Cheney is happy in Atlanta, Ga., where she is executive
director of the nsoro Educational Foundation, which provides college scholarships and educational programs to youth in foster care. Daughter Anderson (18) is at George Washington University. John (16) and Lucy (13) are in high school. Louise Johnson Clement and husband Jim enjoy relaxing at Atlantic Beach as often as their busy schedules allow. She encourages all to call and stop by when in the area this summer. Her daughter, Louise Mann Clement ’11, is teaching in Washington,
Front Row: Scotty Grine Frantz, Anne Stephenson Buresh, Marilee Eagles Reed, Bettine Bikle Boyd, Louise Johnson Clement, Anne Gregory Pace Second Row: Emily Longley, Sallie Harris Glover, Mary Grady Koonce Bell, Nancy Christian, Mary Duke Saunders Grubbe Third Row: Sydney Brown Cardone, Harriet Ashby Bonds, Anne Nelson Boney, Suiter Whitehead Cox
Front Row: Nancy Newton Sipp, Mary Jeanette Mardre Moseley, Emily Winfield Bondy, Deane Gresham Holt, Coles Hines Jones, Ellen McCown Schwab, Catherine Winfield Pfeiffer, Christy Jones Anderson, Suzy Dunaway Riley Second Row: Dudley Hanes Faison, Allyson Edwards Greene, Karen Apostolou Gliarmis, Marsha Dotson Bonner, Elizabeth Brooks Little, Elizabeth Hardy Hogan, Ashley Richardson Allen, Bonny Harris Herrington, Mary Hollinshed Smitherman, Beth Mann, Margaret McGlohon Third Row: Nancy Brooks Newton, Mary Cates Gravley, Julie Oakman Barringer, Allison Whitley Stewart, Allison Gilbert Holmes, Cleaves Smith, Grace Brown, Anne Sigmon McDonald, Ann Tyler Edmunds Allen Fourth Row: Ruth E Perry Holding, Virginia Smith Ellison, Jeannie Teasley Kyle, Gwyn Cooley Pearce, Lee Trotter Dixon, Linda Branscome, Torrey Moss Munford, Amanda Adams Williamson, Ellen Rodman Hathaway, Mary McLean Russell, Nancy Gillespy Kimberly, Carroll Huger Griffin
D.C. and son, Edwin, is a freshman at Wofford College. Mary Duke Sanders Grubbe may have an empty nest, yet she is busier than ever as a representative with eSBe Designs (Jewelry) by Sara Blaine. We all had a good time shopping in her booth at the Saint Mary's Alumnae Bazaar during Reunion Weekend. Check out eSBe Designs on Facebook and then contact Mary Duke to place an order. Anne Stephenson Buresh lives in Charlotte, where she has her own interior design busi-
ness, Anne Buresh Interior Design. Her daughter attends Saint Mary’s. Anne Gregory Pace is busy keeping up with the schedule of three busy teenagers. Taylor attends Elon, Virginia is at Saint Mary’s, and Anikais attends Broughton. Anne and Sallie were trying to figure out how to fit in more golf time in their crazy schedules. Harriet Ashby Bonds lives in Walterboro, S.C. with husband, Bobby. She is teaching a government class, which must be very interesting at this time. Two of her children, Ashby and
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CLASS news Robert, are attending the College of Charleston and son Jack attends Clemson. The role of president of Longley Supply keeps Emily Longley on her toes. While she is often on the road with the stores at different locations, most often you can find her in Wilmington. She always enjoys running into Saint Mary's friends living and vacationing in the area. She asks all to stop by and say hello. At the reunion it was easy to tell Bettine Bikle Boyd was in attendance, because her laugh still fills up the room. She wants to thank all those who have contacted her regarding her husband, Peter's unexpected death. Her son, Jack, is attending High Point University, and Hampton is a high school junior. Bettine loves being the concierge at the Four Seasons in Boston. Marilee Eagles Reed is making a move to Raleigh. She'd love for all in the area to contact her as she settles into life in the Triangle. Both her children, Hannah and Dylan, are attending schools in Raleigh - Hannah attends Meredith, and Dylan attends NCSU. Marilee and her kids enjoy spending their summers at their house in Atlantic Beach where she see sBettine Bikle Boyd ’81HS ’83C and her sons when they come to the Beach. Last fall, Bettine, Marilee, Hadley Blake Daniels ’83C all met in NYC for a girls’ weekend. I spent a girls’ weekend with Marilee in February with our Salem College friends. Congratulations go to Sydney Brown Cardone and husband Michael on their recent marriage. Sydney and Michael live in Greensboro. The newlyweds are enjoying taking every chance to travel. Two of Sydney's children, Richard and Hutter, have graduated from UNC, while Suejette continues at Chapel Hill. Mary Grady Koonce Bell and husband, Vic enjoy Raleigh life, but look forward to Chapel Hill trips to visit daughter, Mary Grady. If you're in town for a ballgame, call Mary Grady, she'd love to meet you for some tailgate fun! Scotty Grine Frantz has made a career change from teaching to floral design for an event planner. Surrounded by tulips, roses, and peonies is not a bad way to spend your day! Daughter, Sarah, is working in Charlotte and son, Adam, attends Clemson. Carol Burhans Burns and her hus-
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band just renewed their wedding vows on their 29th wedding anniversary. Carol is helping her daughter plan her wedding. I am still in Atlanta working as a sales rep for Jim Thompson fabrics. This year, my territory changed to include Tennessee as well as North and South Carolina. I recently moved into a townhouse and renovated my master bathroom and am now looking forward to being settled in my new place. Check out our new Facebook page – St. Mary’s College Class of ’81HS and ’83C. We combined the two classes since many are in both, and those of us who aren’t know each other. If you have any pictures from our days at Saint Mary’s, please post them. We would all love to see them! Madeline
1981
College Allison Gilbert Holmes ’81C I get our mail and see on the cover of the Wofford magazine is Ashley Richardson Allen, in a hard hat. I must say that I did a double take but confirmed that it was Ashley. How cool is that! You just never know where you will see a Saint Mary’s girl. My condolences go out to Evelyn Scruggs Murray on the passing of her father. Mary Cates Gravley lives in Cary with her husband, Jeff. Their daughter, Megan, was scheduled to graduate from Elon University this spring. They spend their free time boating and fishing on the coast. Ruth E Perry Holding walked the El Camino in Spain. The movie, The Way, is about this trek. Ruth E’s son, Brown, walked all of the 500 miles in 33 days. Ruth E walked for about three weeks and walked 350 miles. Her husband, Frank, came for the last 10 days and walked about 100 miles. Louise Heath Cockrell walked about five days with them. The Holdings had different people meeting up with them and walking different parts. Ruth E’s daughter, Perry Holding ’09, and her fiancé came and walked about six days after Louise. It was an amazing pilgrimage! They finished up in Santiago De Compostela with over 1,000 pilgrims that day (which is about the average for a day from March through November). She highly recommends
this trip. Condolences go out to Mary Clyde Bridgers on the death of her mother in October 2015. Jennifer Collins is starring in The Conjuring 2, which is a follow-up to the first film, The Conjuring (2013). James Wan has directed both films. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson portray real-life characters, Ed and Lorraine Warren, who are paranormal ghost hunters. Jennifer’s character, Louise, is also a real-life character. Jennifer has a scene with Vera. What a wonderful talent. They are on the set at Warner Brothers, and it has been blessed by a priest. They have more takes to do to finish the movie. They will be filming in an old house in the Pasadena area. Jennifer has also booked a short film, Nanna. Jennifer is again portraying a mother. Nanna is a horror film, as well. She is very pleased, thankful, and blessed to be working. Jennifer attributes her success to working as an acting coach with world-renowned acting coach, Ivana Chubbuck. Ivana’s book, Power of the Actor, has been a number one best seller. Jennifer is required to be in class. She says that she never stops learning! Condolences to Amanda Adams Williamson on the death of her mother. We had a nice gathering of the local Saint Mary’s alumnae this fall. Gwyn Cooley Pearce, Mary Cates Gravely, Margaret McGlohon, Elizabeth Hardy Hogan, and Coles Hines Jones were there. I hope that next year we can have more of our local gals join us for that event. It is lots of fun. Margaret McGlohon has just completed her 21st year at Saint Mary's School and continues to enjoy serving as our alumnae director. She writes that it is a pleasure to be able to get to know our alumnae and to see classmates and others as she travels far and wide, sharing the good news about our alma mater. Outside her work at Saint Mary's, she spends as much time as possible in Atlantic Beach. Catherine Winfield Pfeiffer wrote that she is still in Washington, N.C., working as a school nurse. Nancy Brooks Newton and Catherine got together in Hilton Head at the end of March, with their husbands. Her three kids are going and doing and figuring stuff out. Lee Taylor Johnson let the school
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know that her daughter, Elizabeth Wyatt married David Porth in January. Elizabeth is a Clemson graduate and David is a University of South Carolina graduate. They married in Charleston. Mary Hollinshed Smitherman says that she is still enjoying beautiful sunrises in Hendersonville. She teaches fourth grade and tries to keep up with her son, Sam (16). She was looking forward to our reunion and glad the attendance was high. She says that we all have so many great memories and have so much to be thankful for. I got a note from Emily Winfield Bondy today. She said she was so looking forward to our reunion and catching up with everyone. Her big news is that they have a graduating high school senior! Courtney will be attending East Carolina University in the fall and is planning on a nursing career. Her parents are very proud of her and are excited for her next journey. Malone (16) was looking forward to a driver’s license and all that comes with high school sophomore activities. Malone loves Rocky Mount Academy and her horse. Paul and Emily are loosening the reigns as both of their girls find their paths. Paul is still busy as a family practice doctor and Emily is still teaching Pilates and yoga out of her studio! Condolences go to Laura Carr on the death of her father March 29, 2016. Evelyn Scruggs Murray let me know that she opened her own hardware store in the heart of downtown Raleigh. Though it is still a residential hardware store, they have become Raleigh's general store once again. Her daughter, Ashley, is now modeling and has a talent scout in Tampa, Fla. Evelyn has moved to the country so her dogs have room to run. As for me, my boys are juniors this year. They both run cross-country and track. Stuart got invited to run in a race in New York this fall and spring. He has worked hard for these races. We have begun our college tours now. I loved seeing everyone at the reunion this past weekend. Thank you to everyone that made the trip. We had a great gathering and won for the most alums to come back for this year's reunion. Thank you to Elizabeth Hardy Hogan for hosting our class party. I hope that we will
get this kind of participation or more at our 40th reunion. We now know to get Dudley to work. She did a great job of promoting our weekend. Thanks, Dudley. I hope that you will keep in touch with me and let me know of things that are going on in your life. I would love to share things with our class. If you aren't receiving an email from me each month, then I don't have your current email address. Please let me know what it is so I can include you on the monthly birthday wishes.
1983
erlands. Virginia started with asking people to recall their childhoods from ages five-10. She said imagine if you were five-years-old, and you were home alone with your father and brother, and someone knocks on the door and a German asks for your father. He is then taken away to a concentration camp (telling her to tell her mother that he has gone on a “little trip,” so as not to worry her). Virginia also recounted how my mother ate tulip bulbs in the last winter - the Hunger Winter - and how she is grateful for the life she has. It was
College Lorie Goldston Garland ’81HS ’83C Libby Ward Smart lives in Charlotte and has two boys, one in high school and the other at Elon University. “I am going on my 16th year of oil painting www.LibbySmart. com. Just finished our first fundraiser for Myers Park High School, raising $25,000, with 40 local artists participating.”
1985
High School
Rebecca Pace ’85HS Hello my fellow ’85HS classmates! This is Rebecca Pace, your new class secretary. Front Row: Elizabeth Shuford Daigle, Winston Glascock Pierce, Paige Greene, Margaret Dossenbach Norman Last fall I joined the Alumnae Council and Second Row: Leigh McCoy Boyer, Becky Holt Bauerband, Amanda Hutchens Williams, Ashley Williamson Anderson, have met a couple of times at Saint Mary’s, Leigh Wilson Venters enjoying meeting Saint Mary’s girls I didn’t know, as well as enjoying a free lunch that I didn’t cook. Y’all who know me know I like some food; I just told my mother I remember trying to skip breakfast one morning to sleep in, and I really started to panic in Dr. Esthimer’s class, as I didn’t think I could make it through to lunch. My stomach was killing me! Nothing much has changed there! My niece Virginia Pace is a junior at Saint Mary’s and I love the excuse to “run” into her – i.e. text her and beg her to meet me for lunch between classes. The juniors are required to present a speech Front Row: Lee Lee Kirkland King, Maggie Williams, Liz Stickley Scott, Beth Van Dorp Collier Second Row: Margaret Miller and she wrote about my mother’s ex- Mackay, Katherine Norman, Harriet Adams, Meg Arey Bell, Neely Dykshorn, Courtenay Bailey Third Row: Courtney Scott, perience during the war in the Neth- Barnwell Patty Blitch Harris, Elizabeth Sloan Mickle
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CLASS news very moving and my mother was very surprised and humbled to hear the speech was about her. What a wonderful thing for an aunt to witness! I think it’s a smart requirement for the girls to deliver a public speech before they graduate. I got a wild hair (to quote Mary Hunt Adkins from earlier years) and just got back from traveling with Mary. Formerly known as Mary Hunt, she had to drop her second name, as New Yorkers get too confused with that Southern tradition. They can only handle one name at a time. She and I had some fun times in New York when I lived there, and we went to South Africa for the millennium New Year’s. This time we traveled to Chile and Argentina (and Patagonia in between) for three weeks to reprise our roles of madcap backpackers. We met each day spontaneously, with no plans, and that made it interesting, to say the least. Our quote of the trip was: “¿Es posible?” That would be met by a man’s solemn stare and shake of the head, “No, no es posible” (to get there from here, no bus, etc.). It was all quite funny, even when hiking in Patagonia with 55 km/ hr winds and I had to hug the ground like a turtle so I wouldn’t fall off the mountain. Mary is continuing to travel after I journeyed back home. I’m staying up to speed with her via What’s App, and the latest is that she was on a boat with 30 guys (they had their boarding school reunion!) and, of course, at least one fell in love with her. Go, Mary! I am continuing to design (residential and commercial interiors) out of Raleigh (although I have clients in other cities), and I also have a business with Arbonne, a health and wellness company. It’s always good to have two sources of income, particularly in this crazy political year! Ha ha. I went to Las Vegas last week for Arbonne’s conference - that is a crazy place, so I was glad I could go with a friend and check out the Valley of Fire Park nearby. I needed a hot car to tour, as that is a stunning landscape of red rocks that is often used for a backdrop for car commercials. Sally Maddison Wooten loves having her daughter, Maddison, at SMS! She's a freshman and has loved it, and Sally has loved reconnect-
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ing with SMS too. She says it’s so much fun to be back on campus! I just saw Maddison tear it up on the lacrosse field last night (I went to see my niece Virginia play). Maddison must have her mother’s sporting genes. It was fun to see Mr. and Mrs. Maddison (Larry and Clare Garden Maddison ’64C) there as well; I’ve known them since I was 16. Maddison’s twin brother, George, is at VES and loves that. His roommate is Elizabeth Grine Blount ’85HS ’87C's son, William, and they are down the hall from Jane McNair Marr ’84HS’s son. Sally’s other son, Louis, will be off to college next year. He is lucky to be able to choose between several colleges. Sally’s husband, Louis, is practicing law in Raleigh and enjoys being on his own rather than in a firm. Sally is in her seventh year with Carlisle-Per Se and loves it! Chrisie Currence Pierce ’84HS is her wonderful manager. She just started a new position with the company (in addition to continuing her home shows) that will take her to New York regularly, which will be fun! Rumor has it that Kelley Edmondson Beiboer is moving back to N.Y.C. and Sally cannot wait to catch up with her. They had a fun visit in London in June of 2015. Sally writes Kelley is just the same, but much more worldly (if you follow her on Facebook, you know what she means!). (Note: Rebecca will look forward to tagging along with Sally on her New York jaunts. She misses living there, or at least visiting a lot!) Now I realize how difficult it was for Berkeley to get you people to write her it’s like pulling teeth! Therefore, I am going to make some things up about you folks until you write in next time. You can guess what is true and what is false. Katie Sullivan Landi’s son, Edward, is at N.C. State and Katie works there as well. Because of our crazy presidential election year, our former sophomore (senior) class officer Kiki Pullen West is running for president of the U.S.A. Get your ballot in early! That’s one female president I can get behind! Kelly Phillips Garrett’s daughter is as creatively talented as her mother. She likes to design clothes, so I hope we see her pursue that in college and beyond.
Perhaps she can be our consultant when we are old and wearing moo moos. Kristi Hale has returned from the Wild West and moved to Asheville. North Carolina is very glad! OK ladies, I expect to hear from you next year! Hope to see you soon. Love, Rebecca
1985
College Anne Raymer Cox ’85C Greetings, Class of ’85. I hope all is well with everyone. It was great to hear from more of you this year. I hope that next year, we have an even bigger response. Tina Etheridge Campbell lives in Rocky Mount and works as a physical therapist. She was recently certified to treat patients with Parkinson’s Disease. Her husband, Bart, is enjoying retirement. They have two daughters. Holly is married and works at Quintiles. Lauren attends UNC-Chapel Hill School of Pharmacy. Molly Graham Allred reports that she and Russ finally moved back to Raleigh in 2014, and they are glad to be back. Daughter Caroline graduated from high school in June, and they will be empty nesters very soon. Molly said she saw Annie Gray Sprunt Johnston in Wilmington earlier this year. Dorothy Guggenheimer Bridger and Dickson live in Wilmington. Dorothy works at The Fisherman’s Wife on Airlie Road. Susan Somers Rothschild lives in Atlanta, and has been married for 17 years. She has two children, Will (13) and Elizabeth (15). Susan plays tennis and teaches three-year-olds at The Cathedral preschool. She enjoys seeing Dabney Mann Hollis, Isabel Irwin Pope and Ellen Toler in Atlanta. In January, Susan had a great visit with Leigh Ann Corter Watson in Raleigh. Harriet Little Chen sends greetings from Birmingham, Ala. Herb is the surgeon-in-chief at UAB, and Harriet works as a freelance photographer. They are both happy to be back in the South! Anne deRosset Falatko reported big news from Washington, D.C. For the past 13 years, she had been a partner in a growing digital technology consulting firm. They recently sold the company to an international
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2016 MAZIE StrICKLANd froELICh ’51C SoCIEtY AWArd ProfILE
Margaret Burgwyn Cooley Pearce ’79hS ’81C Margaret Burgwyn Cooley Pearce ’79HS ’81C received the 2016 Mazie Strickland Froelich ’51C Society Outstanding Alumna Award during the Reunion Weekend luncheon, April 30. Gwyn, as she is known by family, friends, and alumnae, grew up in Jackson, N.C. She was a four-year girl at Saint Mary’s and is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill journalism school. While a high school student at Saint Mary’s, Gwyn served as a class officer and was a member of the mime troupe, the Undatettes, the Granddaughters Club, and the Beacon. During her college years, she served as vice chair of the Judicial Board and as a hall counselor, and was a member of the mime troupe, Scoop Group, and Granddaughters Club. Gwyn will be the first to say that after coming out of Northampton County, Saint Mary’s provided her opportunities that she would not have received if she had stayed at home for school. She says, “Saint Mary’s provided not only leadership opportunities, but opportunities to travel, a wonderful education, and lifelong friends.” In 2007, when it was time for her daughter, Maggie Pearce ’11, to choose a high school, Gwyn wanted the same thing for her – opportunities, small classes, a great education, and more. Gwyn is proud to say that Saint Mary’s opened doors for Maggie and that her career interest was sparked during her COMPASS Leadership Development Program senior internship experience, when she worked at Frankie Lemmon School for children with special educational needs. Maggie is a special education teacher in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.
Gwyn has been a loyal volunteer at Saint Mary’s since she graduated. She has served on reunion planning committees and on host committees for regional events both in Raleigh and Nags Head. Gwyn joined the Parents Association (PA) during the 2007-2008 school year. She served on the PA executive committee and as president-elect, president, and past president through the 2012 school year. She also joined the auction committee, serving on various subcommittees and as a co-chair of the 2009 auction gala. The auction galas raised more than $1.75 million over 15 years to help fund academic technology and programs that directly benefited the students. Gwyn’s reason for stepping up to serve Saint Mary’s was simple: “I volunteered because I loved my time as a student at Saint Mary’s and wanted to show appreciation to the school which provided so much to me. It was my time to take care of Saint Mary’s.” She also said Saint Mary’s is a “comfortable place to volunteer, and I enjoyed making new friends with other parents as well as other alumnae of all ages, not to mention, it was always fun.”
Following her graduation from UNC, Gwyn worked in the North Carolina governor’s office and for the Boards and Commissions. She also worked at the Triangle Business Journal for six years as an editor and reporter. Her community involvement consists of serving on the board of Planned Parenthood, the Jamie Kirk Hahn Foundation, Joel Lane House, and the Women’s Center of North Carolina. She is also a member of the Colonial Dames and served on the Rodin Art exhibition committee. Gwyn is married to Gary Pearce, and they have two children – son James and daughter Maggie Pearce ’11, as well as a dog, Ringo. Gwyn’s mother, Margaret Burgwyn Cooley ’36HS ’38C; her daughter, Maggie Pearce ’11; and cousins, Margaret Burgwyn ’65HS ’67C, Anna Burgwyn ’70C, and Jo Burgwyn Pratt ’58HS; are all alumnae. Gwyn enjoys the beach, traveling, and making jewelry with her company, Stranded by Gwyn.
Gwyn Cooley Pearce ’81C, center, and her family
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CLASS news group headquartered in Paris, France. Working through the sale has kept her pretty busy. Anne also shared that Coco Young Bancroft is in North Carolina a lot because her son is playing football at UNC-Chapel Hill. Anne’s two boys are growing up – they are 9 and 7. She enjoys hearing about her friends traveling, since their kids are in college, while she sits by the pool at the Great Wolf Lodge! Kate Taylor climbed Mount Kilimanjaro last September and then went on a safari in Tanzania. All I can say, Kate, is, WOW! Kate spent the last six months in Southern California training for her next hike – the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, which she completed in June. Kate reports that she has fallen in love with hiking, CRAZY! Leigh Ann Corter Watson lives in Raleigh. Her daughter, Beverly, just completed her sophomore year at SMS, while her son, Rawls, finished up fourth grade. Leigh Ann also reports that it was great seeing Susan Somers Rothschild in Raleigh earlier this year. As for me, I don’t have too much to report. I just celebrated 19 years with Wells Fargo this past February. Hard to believe! My husband, Kevin, and I spent a great weekend last year at the Old North State Club with Miriam Brown Lang and her husband, Alex. Thanks to Miriam for planning it all! We plan to make it an annual trip. Anne
1987
College Chrissy Bolin Rand ’87C I trust everyone is well. Marcy Everett Voelkel is busy with her hobbies: hand building pottery (taking classes with Eleanor White Hunter), painting, pastels, and photography. Her two sons, Carter (21) and McLean (19), are at UNC-Chapel Hill, and Hope (17) is a junior at Saint Mary’s. In fact, Hope was recently voted Saint Mary’s Chief Marshal for the 2016- 2017 year. Marcy's husband, Peter, is now coaching the Saint Mary’s varsity lacrosse team after 12 years of coaching their boys at Ravenscroft. Margaret Hambrick Glaze says that she and her husband, Gene, have been busy with their successful remodeling business in Hickory: Glaze Design/Build. Her kids are doing lots of
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music and sports. Life is good at the Glazes. In her words, "No news is good news!" My year was busy. Our daughter, Victoria (27), got married on October 3, 2015, at her aunt's home in Morganton. Hollie Coward Muscio, Heather Clark Warren, Christina Clark-Zoltek, Caroline She and her hus- Mountcastle Carlson, Kim Goines Griffin, Elizabeth Van Dyke Johnson, Hunter band, Nathan, live Grogan Rogers in Corpus Christi, Kim Goines Griffin lives in Alexandria, Va., Texas. Our eldest son, Caleb (24), starts a and works in Washington as a director of graduate program in business and accountcommunications. She now has TWO (out of ing this fall, and our daughter, Bethany (22), 3) daughters attending Saint Mary's! Thankis working to finish her public health degree fully, Carolyn Bullock Walker reports at UNF. She wants to go into nursing. Our - she is still fabulous! (As if we ever had a youngest, WK (20), is still figuring it out. doubt!) She and her beautiful family are livI am involved in the writing community in ing in Pinehurst, where Carolyn's children atJacksonville, Fla., and have been a presenter tend Episcopal Day School. They still have at the JAX by JAX literary festival for the a home in Raleigh, because they “haven't past two years. I am writing my second novel packed anything,” but are instead enjoyand have the framework for the third. Don't ing “life in the slow lane.” Hunter Grogan hold your breath on either of those. Chrissy Rogers lives in Raleigh, and is a registered nurse working at WakeMed hospital. Her oldest son is a freshman at UNC-Chapel Hill; High School her daughter is a junior at Saint Mary's; and Heath Dalton Parker ’89HS ’91C youngest son, Jon Douglass, is 13 and in the Kerrie Strickler Combs continues to enseventh grade. Hunter’s husband, Richard, is joy her nursing career, and currently works the executive director for the North Carolina with cardiac rehabilitation patients in an outRetired Government Employees Association. patient setting. Her teenagers, Jackson (16) Jennifer Brooks Epley is living in Fairfax, and Olivia (14), keep Kerrie busy with their Va., with her family and teaching preschool. school and sport activities. She took a trip Her three boys keep her busy running around. to the Amalfi coast of Italy in October, and If anyone is in the neighborhood, Jennifer says she would love to go back. Kerrie has resays, “Happy to host if y'all are in the area!” cently started playing pickle ball and says she Alyse Armfield married Patrick Burke on is quite addicted. Mary Lou Jones would be May 14. They live in Boone with her daughproud of that backhand! Kerrie says she enter, Browning (11), and son, Jack (9). Alyse joys keeping up with everyone on social meis a registered nurse in the cardiovascular lab dia - so don't forget to join the Saint Mary's at Watauga Medical Center. (Congratulations School High School Class of 1989 on Faceon the wedding bells, roomie!) Travis Brady book, where you can keep up with classmates recently shared that her family is leaving the like Kim Goines Griffin, Carolyn Bullock West Coast and headed back East! Bye-bye Walker, Hunter Grogan Rogers, and more! left coast, and hello Durham! Welcome back,
1989
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Travis! Speaking of moving back to North Carolina, Gina Crow Jablokov and her family have recently moved back to Raleigh. Daughter Eugenia is in the sixth grade at Saint Timothy's School, and Gina has recently reconnected with Saint Mary's by joining the Alumnae Council. Kathy Sheftall Donovan has exciting news from Charlottesville, Va! She is joyous and tickled PINK to announce the birth of her newest baby girl, Margaret Mary Stuart Donovan. She was born on December 15, 2014. Big sister Keen (10) is thrilled to be a big sister and a mother’s helper! Kathy says that she sees Virginia McGratty ’88HS ’90C, Mary Thrower Kulp ’88HS and Mary Walker ’90HS from time to time. Mary Walker teaches Keen riding lessons in Charlottesville, and is also tutoring her. She says it has been wonderful getting to know Mary! Before the baby's arrival, Kathy and Keen went to Boulder, Colo., to visit Kiley Wells Lewis and met Wendell, Kiley's adorable little boy! As for me, Heath Dalton Parker, I just started a new dream job with an incredible company in Durham called Spoonflower, where I am the senior director of customer services. I live in Raleigh with my husband, Thad, and two children, Kate (8) and Owen (6). We have been fortunate to travel quite a bit this year, from the mountains of North Carolina to the wine country in California, and several places in between. I look forward to hearing news from all the High School ladies of 1989 soon, either by email, snail-mail or on Facebook!
1991
College
Anne Goldman lives in Raleigh, but has been busy traveling the globe opening up new Krispy Kreme doughnut locations. “Who would’ve ever thought that this wellloved brand, that I used to visit at midnight during exams, would provide me with the opportunity to see the world? Hope all is well with everyone and that one day I will cross paths with some of you on my travels!” The Class of 1991 College had a great turnout for the festive reunion party at Mary Vir-
ginia Green Liles’ home in Raleigh in April. Check out the class photo in this section of the magazine!
1993
High School Claudia Bishop Stubbs ’93HS Cameron Dixon Currie writes that she and her family have been incredibly busy and fortunate this year to travel all over the country with her daughter, Mackenzie, who has been touring with The Sound of Music national tour. Prior to starting the tour, Cameron was enjoying her job as a dietitian for the U.S. Navy in Annapolis, Md. She continues to live in Annapolis with her daughter, son Tyler, and husband Jason. Jennifer Boleman Ford writes that she is still with Bank of America but recently got a new expanded role leading communications and employee engagement for the finance technology division. She continues to write occasionally for the Charlotte Observer but wishes she had more time for that! She and her husband stay busy with the kids (ages 11, nine, and five) in three different schools but look forward to next year when two will be at the same school. The boys are active in baseball, and their daughter is on the gymnastics team. Their oldest is now in middle school and has begun talking about Saint Mary's, so she sees a tour in the future. Their family was thrilled to see Cameron's daughter in her Sound of the Music performance when it came to Charlotte in November. She was fabulous! Betsy Ward Price writes that she has finally started the house. Her son, Lofton, has marriage plans, and step-grandbaby number six is on the way. She and her husband are thinking about starting a barbecue truck. Life is good. I am still living in Richmond and working part time as a speech therapist. My two boys are five and eight. We keep busy with school and sports. We are looking forward to spending a few weeks at the beaches of North Carolina this summer. I hope to see a few of you along the way. I hope all is well with everyone and hope to hear from many of you soon. XOXO, Claudia
1993
College Dow Perry Crowder ’91HS ’93C Catherine Dalton Feldman is a stay-athome mother to two children, daughter Elie (14) and son Dalton (12). They keep her busy with school, sports, and their active social lives. Catherine is so proud of her kids and loves every minute of being a mom. She is happily married to Andy Feldman and they live in Raleigh. Julie Thomas Growney and husband John just celebrated 18 years of marriage. Mary Braxton is almost 13 and is enjoying middle school track. Sarah is 10 and enjoys tennis and is looking forward to being at Topsail this summer to improve her surfing skills. Julie is busy volunteering at the girls’ school and being crafty in her spare time. She is missing her SMC girls! Christina Urgo Porter lives in North Potomac, Md., with husband Tim and four children, three boys and a girl. Christina has a son with autism, so she is involved with some special needs organizations. She also does some side work for the family business at Urgo Hotels. Jen Stocks still lives and works in Raleigh. She is vice president of original programming for Figure 8 Films. She’s still married to the awesome Jay Ballenger, who is a stay-at-home dad and ROCKS IT! Daisy is six, and Elliott is two. Jen says she is HAPPY, HAPPY with nothing to complain about! Shannon Jones Shackelford and husband Tim are still in Raleigh. She has a son (10), a stepson (22) and a white German shepherd. She works in North Raleigh and spends summers at White Lake. She says that she has, “No drama. No excitement. No jackpot winnings. Nothin!” Shannon keeps in touch with Jennifer Thomas, who lives in Raleigh and is a middle school teacher, Amy Lindenschmidt, who is a naturopathic doctor in Wilmington, and Katherine Gregory Fritter, who is in Raleigh with two daughters. Chrissy Griffin Grier has recently moved into a wonderful neighborhood in Huntersville with children Mary Logan (15), Jack (13), Holt (10), and her significant other, Reggie. They keep busy with school, sports,
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CLASS news
Front row: Blair Hinton Fulford, Kimry Blackwelder; Second row: Leslie Allred Yates, Laura Burke Davis Kerr, Amanda Branch Covington, Nancy Cobb Harvin, Eliza Jenkins Stoecker, Kati Chapman Miller, Christina Cerwin Allen
First Row: Laura Burke Davis Kerr, Heather Holden Crawshaw, Farrah Amerson Kennedy, Courtney Jessup Nichols Second Row: Courtney McCormick Salton, Leslie Allred Yates, Caroline Mitchell Poteat
guitar, trumpet, acting, singing, and coaching. Valerie Van Oosten Cline has been in Washington, D.C., for almost 12 years. She and Kevin (an attorney) will be married for 15 years in July. They have two children, Aidan (six in July) and Caroline (two in June). They spent spring break on a Disney cruise. Valerie is a loan officer for Caliber Home Loans. She also co-founded a small non-profit with nine other ladies in the real estate business called DCWise.org, which benefits homeless women and children in D.C. community. They have raised over $90k in just over two years. In April, she and some North Carolina friends hosted a real North Carolina pig picking as a fundraising event for her son’s public school. They showed those folks what a real barbecue
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is! Mimi Pinner lives in Raleigh and works in marketing for Cisco Systems. Most importantly, she loves her role as mommy to little Weatherly (five). She loves seeing her SMC friends in and outside of Raleigh and can't wait to see everyone at the next reunion! Charlotte Stephenson Hagman and husband Rob live in Overland Park, Kan. They have twin girls (four): Sally, a red head, and Cat, a brunette. Charlotte stays busy taking care of them and trying to stay sane. She wishes she was still in the wine business but is loving time with her girls. Ashley Shelton has stayed busy chasing her toddler and adjusting to an early retirement from teaching. If any SMC alumnae visit Mount Vernon in Alexandria, Va., please message Ashley. Her house is the closest house to the property and she can welcome you properly! Dow Perry Crowder: I’m still in Raleigh and continue to enjoy my job as a QA specialist for a pharmaceutical company. Jason and I will celebrate eight happy years of marriage in May. Daughter Lilly is three going on 18. She may be the end of me. Mimi Pinner and I just took our girls to see Peppa Pig Live! It made me giggle to think how different our Thursday nights are now compared to our Saint Mary’s days! What I’ve learned from all you ladies in trying to collect this class news is that while some of you are a bit slack on getting back to me with actual news, most everyone seems to be up for a get-together. I think we’re all invited to Florida…Jamie Brantley Fernandez de Castro and Ann Akers Douglas are hosting! Until next year…xoxo, Dow
1995
College Tate Tattersall Garrison ’95C Dear Class of ’95C, I hope this letter finds you well and you and yours are having a great 2016 thus far. Love hearing from you all and seeing some of you here and there! I’m sure there are a lot of these going on for our class. As Heather Gibson writes, she hit a milestone this past year celebrating her 40th! She and some SMC girls celebrated in South Beach. She continues to work in medical device sales in the regenerative medicine
space. Her job continues to make new strides everyday in the cardiovascular space, especially for babies. It is a very rewarding job with a great company. Carla McMasters Murray is in her first year as principal of North Chatham Elementary. She loves coming to school each day with her first-grader, Owen, and can hardly believe she has a sixth-grader, Cole. They keep Carla and Jeff busy! Lisa Mann Grehn, her husband Marcus, and their son, Joshua (eight) moved to Boynton Beach Fla., from Miami back in October. Her husband got a great job back in his field as a scientist in pharmaceutical drugs. He works in Boca Raton, but she fell in love with an area in Boynton Beach that is not too far away. She's semi-homeschooling their son (who got his father’s genes in the area of brains, lol). She writes that he goes to school twice a week and is home with her for three days. It’s challenging, but so much fun! Allison Wilkes Thomas (Bonita) sends her love to everyone! She says please tell everyone hello. She is still in Snow Hill with three kids, Wilkes (11), Alli George (five), and Jack (five). She still owns Scarborough Fare Catering and they have a spectacular event space, The Martinsborough, in Uptown Greenville. The kids and work keep them very busy. Jason is doing great also, and says hello to all the SMC girls! As for myself, I'm in Raleigh and Atlantic Beach, celebrated my 40th this past summer, took at great trip to London with Tudi Martin Jackson ’91HS in the fall, and I’m doing my best to keep up with my favorite little people, Thatcher and Amelia. Albeit chaotic, life is good and blessings all around. My love to you all. Best, t xo
1997
High School Alice Manning Touchette ’97HS Jeanne Jolly currently lives in Raleigh with her husband, Todd McLean. They were married in October 2014 in Emerald Isle, and have a dog named Lucy, who was also in the wedding. She loves every minute of being a proud aunt of five amazing children. She just released her third album, A Place to Run, in
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October 2015 on her own label, Ramblewood Records. She made a fun music video for the single, Boundless Love, filmed in Graham, with all North Carolina talent, friends, and scenery. She's been traveling some, playing shows with her band in venues around the United States and, this summer, they will play some festivals in the northwestern territory, as well as some more North Carolina dates. She really values her time at home with her husband and dog these days. She mostly spends time writing, traveling to see her family, doing some teaching, and performing locally when she can. A true highlight this year was singing with the North Carolina Symphony for the Holiday Pops series. Terry Thompson, her music teacher at Saint Mary’s, came to say hello after a performance in Meymandi Hall, and it meant the world to Jeanne! Terry also surprised her by catching a show with her band in Atlanta. Mary Virginia Swain ’77C also comes out to show her support and was sure to give her a hug after Jeanne’s album release show at Lincoln Theatre in downtown Raleigh. “The support from SMS this many years after graduation is so special, and I'm truly grateful for my dearest of girlfriends that I met during my time at Saint Mary's.” Marion Yates-Schiff married her partner of nine years, Dr. Laurie Schiff, in January 2015. Debi Jolly Holcomb was her matron of honor. Marion is a registered nurse working as administrative nursing supervisor for three hospitals, and also works critical care flight and ambulance transport in her spare time. She has a master’s in nursing, and she is working on her Ph.D. In addition, Marion is a grumpy landlord with three rental properties, which kinda happened by accident, and in her spare time she is a cat show judge traveling the world. She lives in Huntington Beach, Calif. Annie Mason Hayes welcomed her second son, Haywood Bennehan "Benny" Hayes, in January 2016. She lives in Wilmington with her husband, Scooter, and their other son, Rodgers (three). Meredith Wiggs Horner and husband Scott settled back in Raleigh with their two children. She works in new homes marketing and as a consultant with Rodan +
Fields Skin Care. Dare Branch Krompecher left the Wall Street finance world after 10 years with S&P. She is now practicing immigration and family law with her husband's firm, Krompecher Law Firm. Their son, Mansfield, "Field," just turned three-years-old. Alice Manning Touchette is still living in Alexandria, Va, with her husband and two sons, Tommy (three) and George (one).
2001
Louise Beasley Warenda ’01 Jennifer Maupin Alexander reports that the Alexander family is doing well. Marguerite is excited about going to camp at Saint Mary's this summer, and she will start kindergarten in the fall. Ashley Batts Allen is in Rowland, teaching psychology at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Everything is going well and her girls are growing up too fast. Julianne is seven and Adelaide is three. Rena Harry Bell and her husband, Adam, welcomed a baby boy, Grady Thomas Bell, on June 4, 2015. Katie Borland has a son named Michael Thomas, shortened to “T” (three). She is working as a recruiter, specializing in information/cyber security professionals. She is also growing a small retail operation called Agape Market, which provides handmade and local products, partnering with a non-profit with an 83 percent success rate of getting women out of poverty by providing life and job training. Agape returns profits back to the community where the items are made. Becca Jane Ayers Cody welcomed her son, James Holladay, on October 18, 2015. Penny loves being a big sister. Becca Jane is still in Learning + Development for Deloitte. She loves the job and traveling to their learning university in Dallas six to eight times per year. Austin Nash Coley, her husband, Cameron, and son, Nash (1) love living in Raleigh. Austin loved celebrating our 15th high school reunion with the class of 2001. Juliana Hoyle Martinez is a detective with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office in Florida. She has a son (three) and holds a master’s degree in forensic psychology. Kelly Stocks Milam and husband Will
Front row: Grayson Glisson Nichols, Emily Smith, Kathryn Calder Barmore; Second row: Kelly Stocks Milam, Travis Manning Berk, Austin Nash Coley, Katie Newell Leach
welcomed a baby boy on February 27. His name is William Leonidas Milam. They are calling him “Leon.” Lee Crane Morris and husband Rewis welcomed Robert Boone on January 21. Boone was 7 lbs. 15 ounces and just shy of 22 inches long. They love their new normal! Macon Sykes Parsley lives in Winston-Salem with husband Robert. They just had a baby girl, Ellen “Brooks” Parsley, born December 28, 2015. Lauren Rutherford Perry and George welcomed their first baby, George Donald Perry IV, on March 14, 2015. They are busy keeping up with “Ivey” and traveling. Lauren still works for the NCBA and George farms. Liz Dodd Sherrod is still enjoying Knoxville, Tenn. She accepted a job as assistant general counsel for the University of Tennessee Medical Center in September 2015. Liz enjoyed spending a weekend in Asheville with some other Class of 2001 girls in February 2016. Jaye Rhodes Tisman is now mama to THREE, yes three, little boys: Jonah, Liam, and Silas. They are in Asheville. I had such a ball catching up with you at our 15-year reunion. It’s hard to believe 15 years have passed. Thanks for sharing your updates with me - children, marriages, jobs, new opportunities. Congratulations to all of you. Love, Louise
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CLASS news
2003
Shea Vause Gravely ’03 Kate Yandell Reece finished her MBA at Wake Forest University in August, just before her twins turned two and her youngest turned one. Kate recently returned to work, and is running the Wake Forest University Center for Private Business, which brings her to Raleigh every few weeks. “I can’t wait to see many of you ladies in June at The Umstead!” Elly Wilkins Johnson and husband Tate welcomed a beautiful baby boy, Fitzpatrick “Fitz” Hocking Johnson on September 23, 2014. Suzanne Prak Bostwick and husband Jay welcomed their second child, Anna Katherine, on Sept. 25, 2015. Ashley Williams Gale and husband Lewis welcomed a daughter, Presson McClure Margaret Gale, on Oct. 14, 2015. The family now resides in Raleigh. Tootie Gaeta Nagiec and husband Michael welcomed their son, Milo Thomas Nagiec, on March 24, 2016. Mary Kaitland Davis and husband Gene welcomed their second child, Elizabeth Ann “Libby Ann” Rogers Davis, on January 2, 2016. Tatyana Sharoubim married Chad Stewart at sunset on Nov. 2, 2015, in a small beach wedding in Sarasota, Fla. CJ Barefoot married her partner, Helen Grace Smith, on November 6, 2015, in an intimate wedding at MerrimonWynne House in Raleigh. Meg Stacy moved to Statesville, where she now works for Daly Family Law Firm. Liza Fleury lives in San Francisco, working as a marketing and advertising executive with iHeartMedia. Liza is also working as the marketing chair for Girlventures, a local non-profit that promotes leadership, empowerment, and sisterhood among young girls, through outdoor survival training and experience. Reagan Cannon graduated from Lynchburg College with a master’s in educational leadership. Val Rayno Engel has moved back to Raleigh and is the head of landscape design at Atlantic Avenue Orchid and Garden. Sarah England Cook May graduated from the UNC School of Nursing and is working at the WakeMed emergency department. Lydia Zimmer
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Johnson will start her doctoral program in nursing through the University of South Alabama in the fall. She will earn a doctor of nursing practice degree.
2005
Ila Walker Bittner ’05 The class of 2005 seems to be doing well with “real life,” as we all are starting to approach our 30th birthdays (what?!). Here's a snapshot of what some of our classmates have been up to recently. Alex Crimmins lives in New York and works at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Hannah Small has enjoyed living closer to family and friends this past year, after moving to Raleigh. She is working as an elementary school teacher. Katherine Carlton started working at Investors Management Corporation. She continues to volunteer with Friends of WakeMed as the chair of the membership committee. Aaron Sermons Ghaffari got married in September, and they had a blast on their honeymoon in Negril, Jamaica. They now live in Gainesville, Fla., where Aaron is working as a physician's assistant in the bone marrow transplant unit at the University of Florida Hospital. Caroline McClintic Flannery lives in New Bern and has been the owner of the Wine & Design franchise there for the past three years. Katie Skinner lives in Raleigh and works for Moon and Lola. She is in the process of launching a website for her artwork this summer. Claire Cosgrove has continued teaching in a bilingual school in Madrid, Spain. She is looking forward to spending the summer in North Carolina, and I hope to see her at the beach! As for me, Ila Walker Bittner, Robbie and I are looking forward to spending a lot of time on our new boat this summer after looking at it in our driveway all winter! We are also excited for a short vacation in Charleston in June!
2007
Elizabeth Lowder ’07 We’ve got a theme of medicine going on in the Class of 2007: Sam Valliancourt is returning to school to pursue a career in medicine. She serves as a clinical support technician at UNC Hospital, and is taking prerequisite courses part time. Kate Dickson is finishing up her third year of medical school at UNC-Chapel Hill, and is currently located in Charlotte. Scottie Springer is in PA school at Elon University, in the middle of her clinical rotation year, and will graduate in February 2017. Helen Johnson, husband Marvin, and son Luke (almost two), moved to Greenville this past June, and Helen started a six-year surgical residency program at Vidant Medical Center. She’s thrilled to be back in North Carolina! Anna Zevenhuizen has returned to Raleigh after spending nine (!) years in Charleston. She’s currently the special events and marketing manager for Midtown Events/Kane Realty Corp. Kelly Prak Ford has moved to Lyon, France, with her husband David. If you’re in the area, be sure to stop by and say, “Bonjour!” Maria Slater is finishing up her third year at University of Virginia Law School, looking forward to the next step of her career. Ashley Smith Clark is celebrating five years of marriage and is a teacher in Wilmington. She and her husband are foster parents to two beautiful girls! Nancy Vander Veer is moving to the OTHER Wilmington (in Delaware) after accepting a Latin-teaching job
Front Row: Margaret Belanger, Sara DeLuca, Lauren Robbins Dickson, Lida Pace, Caroline Williams; Second row: Sarah Eberle McAnulty, Kate Horney Hutchison, Kyle O’Garro-Moore, Eva Skipper Jones, Alexandra Speros, Virginia Claire Tharrington, Taylor Rice, Elaine Armstrong
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2016 MAZIE StrICKLANd froELICh ’51C SoCIEtY AWArd ProfILE
hope tyndall hancock ’74hS ’76C is 2016 distinguished Alumna Hope Tyndall Hancock ’74HS ’76C says she is “hardwired to save the voiceless and innocent,” and that is a calling she has answered time and again throughout her life and professional career. Hope has devoted her life to helping others – both people and animals. After graduating from Saint Mary’s and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Hope began her career as marketing and publications manager for the North Carolina Department of Commerce – Travel and Tourism Division. Her next position brought her back to her beloved Saint Mary’s, as she served as director of admission from 19972001, thoughtfully and successfully guiding our alma mater’s enrollment and admissions through the transition to all high school. She left Saint Mary’s in a strong position, moving on to answer a calling to help those in need. Hope says life changed when she adopted a senior dog, Gracie. “This little dog came to me needing food and love and left with my heart,” says Hope. “I made a steadfast vow to defend the voiceless and innocent for the rest of my life – including animals, those at risk of hunger in North Carolina, and low-income children.” She became development director for the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, a regional nonprofit committed to ending hunger in 34 North Carolina counties. She answered her next calling with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals (SPCA) of Wake County, as the longest serving executive director, from 2005-2013, where she raised millions of dollars in operating funds, built a national model spay/neuter clinic, expanded animal rescue and animal welfare consulting beyond Wake County,
and led the SPCA to No-Kill status, where all animals at the agency have adoption guarantee. When she felt she had achieved her goals at SPCA, Hope moved on to a new cause, to work as development consultant with the Humane Alliance of Asheville, a national nonprofit focused on ending companion animal overpopulation through veterinarian training and education and establishment of spay/neuter clinics nationwide.
Hope Tyndall Hancock ’74HS ’76C, third from left, with her family at the 2016 Reunion Weekend luncheon.
She is currently the executive director for Community Music School, a school that changes the lives of low-income children through music education. Hope has been recognized by the New York Times for her work with Helping Horse Therapeutic Riding Program, by Triangle Business Journal for her leadership and vision with the Food Bank, by Business Leader Magazine with a Women Extraordinaire Award and as one of nine eminent marketers in North Carolina, and by Boom! Magazine among their Fifty & Fabulous honorees. Hope is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Women’s Forum of North Carolina, and has served on the steering committee of the Wake County Community Health Needs Assessment group, as an interview panelist with the UNC School of Government, and as treasurer of the North Carolina Association of Government Information Officers. She has volunteered and held volunteer leadership roles with the Wake County American Cancer Society; By His Hands, a nonprofit devoted to ending homelessness in Wake County; AnimalKind, Inc.; Helping Horse Therapeutic Riding Program; the United States Special Olympics Equestrian program; and the Humane Society of the United States, North Carolina State Advisory Council.
Hope lives in Raleigh with her husband, Gerry Hancock, and they have opened their home to older, homeless animals. After losing their dog, Ellie, and cat, Davie, last year, they now have Alice, Tabasco, and Moose at home. Hope’s beloved rescue Quarter Horse, Beau, lives at a nearby barn and pasture. Hope credits Gerry for his support of her work. “Gerry Hancock deserves so much, if not most, of the credit for my nonprofit work. He is truly the wind beneath my wings. He was so patient and supportive when I was heading up Helping Horse and AnimalKind. He was kind when I spent most of my time at the Food Band and, goodness knows, he covered the home front for my eight years and 20,000 animals rescued/saved at the SPCA.” Hope, who says all she has ever done is follow her heart, has requested an epithet when she departs this life, “She lived for the underdogs of this world – both those on four and two feet.” Mary Virginia Swain '77C
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CLASS news her MFA choreography program at UNC-Greensboro. She's a teaching assistant, so this semester she has had the opportunity to teach ballet and jazz at UNCG. She has been focusing her studies on the incorporation of chakras in dance, and is Front Row: Anne Steed, Elizabeth Kerns, Julia McKissick, Lea Dickinson, Anderson enjoying living in Stark, Hannah Moore, Elizabeth Williams, Stuart Anderson Second Row: Millie Fulk, Blair Barnett, Elizabeth Carson, Olivia Barwick, Sally Cann, Anastasia Blackman, Greensboro. MagEmily Harmer, Virginia Fulenwider Third Row: Rebecca Behar, Caroline Hunt, Lindsey Johnson, Sarah Randall Fuqua, Caroline Collie, Hayden Rizer, Maggie Pearce gie Bratton lives in Charlotte and at the Tatnall School starting this fall. As for works as a design assistant at Charlotte Lucas me, I couldn’t stay away from Sweet Home Interior Design. She’s been in Charlotte nearly Alabama! I graduated from the University of two years now, and still lives with Caroline Alabama with master’s degree in advertising Fuqua. Sydney Johnson is a teacher at Larks and public relations, as well as a master’s dePreschool in Denver, Colo., and is skiing, hikgree in community journalism. I currently live ing, fly fishing, and camping all the time. She in Birmingham, Ala., and work as a social mesays she loves keeping in touch with her Saint dia specialist for Alabama Media Group. I’ll Mary's friends; they are her best friends! Febe thinking of a fun #hashtag for our TEN year rebee Frazier lives in Raleigh and works for reunion next spring – looking forward to seeBiologics, Inc. She and I have loved living toing everyone! gether for three years now. Arrington Clark spent the past year and a half in the events department at Sotheby's in New York City. She Betsy Church ’09 has recently moved back to Raleigh to work Betsy Bryan Pitts lives in New York City and for Kane Realty at Midtown Events. Lauren works at Berman Capital Management, a small Vitek moved to San Francisco in January, and hedge fund focused on the retail and consumer is part of a tech startup called TravelBank. She sectors. She has recently taken on volunteer loves living in San Francisco with her goldpositions with the New York Junior League en retriever, Wellie, but enjoys frequent trips and the North Carolina Society of New York. back to the East Coast. I live in Raleigh and She continues to volunteer with the Duke Club am still love my job in social media and PR at in New York. She is looking forward to several Red Hat. I’m more thankful than ever for my trips to North Carolina this summer and Saint Saint Mary’s friends, and am sending my love Mary's 175th next year! Sara Williamson to you always! XOXO Betsy lives in Raleigh and is pursuing her master’s
2009
degree in elementary education at Meredith College. Morgan Roberts graduated from Meredith in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in biology and Spanish. She's now living in Apex and is in nursing school at Wake Tech. Taylor King has just finished her second year in
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2011
Sallie Bailey Plumley reports that she graduated in May 2015 from Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts, with a B.A. in crafts and material studies with a concentration in woodworking and furniture
design. After graduation, she began working as a full-time furniture maker at Harrison Higgins, Inc., a fine-furniture woodshop in Richmond, Va. In September 2015, she married Charlie Plumley in North Carolina. They currently live in the Church Hill neighborhood of Richmond. “We love being a part of a community that loves God and each other really well.” Anna Boyette graduated with honors from N.C. State University with a degree in mechanical engineering. Her younger sister, Emily Boyette ’12, will graduate this summer from N.C. State with a B.S. in textiles. Sarah Randall Fuqua is currently living and working in Charlotte. She would love to see any SMS girls in the area. Sarah Harris graduated from Wake Forest University and now lives in New York City, where she is working on a master’s degree in art business at Sotheby’s.
2013
Catherine Carter is finishing up at N.C. State, where she is a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority. She and her mom, Dawn, are planning a mother-daughter trip this summer to Bora Bora. They will travel with Sarah Lane Poole and her mother, Sarah. Charlotte Nieman is still enjoying College of Charleston, where she is a business major with a concentration in entrepreneurship. She enjoys working with her three sisters on an Instagram account @foodintheair. Sylvia Weir has accepted a position with the U.S. Forestry Service working in forest management at Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana. She will live and work there from May to August, and is excited for the opportunity to learn and grow professionally and personally.
2015
Kayla Gwaltney ’15 and Hayley Scialdone ’15 We were so excited to hear from our classmates as they finish up their first year away from Saint Mary’s, although it seems like graduation was just yesterday! As for us, Kayla Gwaltney is enjoying her time at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., and is planning to
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Also, she is planning on studying abroad in France next spring! Maddy Sullivan is loving her time at Elon University and has recently been initiated into Phi Mu sorotity, with fellow SMS graduate Anna Clark. Morgan Seidel is currently at the honors college at College of Charleston. She is majoring in biology and spends most of her time as music director of the all-female a capella group at C of C, the Acabelles, or volunteering with Chucktown Squash Scholars. Grier Paulson is thriving at the University of Alabama and is a member of Kappa Delta sorority. She is majoring in political science with a minor in Spanish. Rollins Crumpton loves UNC Chapel-Hill and is a member of Kappa Delta sorority. She is undecided but interested in studying something related to medicine, nursing, or exercise and sports science. Sophie Wilfong is enjoying her gap year, dancing in New York City. She plans to continue living in the city while attending college and continuing to dance. Nzali Scales loves being back at home in Atlanta as a student at Spelman College. Nzali is majoring in political science, with a concentration in urban studies and public adSaint Mary’s School ministration, and minoring in facebook African diaspora studies. She is also studying abroad during her Instagram time at Spelman, as she planned @saintmarysschool to go to Peru this May. Hannah Groover is loving her time at Flagler College in sunny Saint Saint Mary’s School Augustine, Fla. She is majoring Alumnae facebook in psychology, and she recently led an eating disorder advocacy twitter event at her school. Rachel @SaintMarysNC Walton spent the beginning of her gap year working with LinkedIn a girl’s empowerment NGO in Saint Mary’s School Alumnae Network Cape Town, South Africa. From and Saint Mary’s School April until June, she worked at a movie production company You tube in Los Angeles. Aurelia Monk Saint Mary’s School is currently studying in the premed track, hopefully in either Saint Mary's School biology or medicine, health, and Mobile App society at Vanderbilt University.
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pursue a major in communications with a concentration in advocacy communication and a minor in political science. Hayley Scialdone is also enjoying her time at UNC-Chapel Hill and is a member of Tri Delta sorority. She is undecided, but is hoping to pursue a degree in visual communications. The rest of our class members have taken full advantage of the first year post-SMS and have shared many exciting endeavors with us. Madeline Joslin loves the University of Vermont and is majoring in environmental studies with concentrations in sustainable food systems and community development. This summer, she is planning on working at a community farm in Raleigh. Makenzie Fletcher is enjoying her year at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., and plans on majoring in special education with a concentration in elementary education and a minor in global studies. Augusta Moran is having an amazing time at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., and is planning on pursuing a degree in French and sociology.
She was recently initiated into Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and is so excited to finally be an official Theta! She just traveled to Guatemala for spring break, with a service group through a program called Manna, where she worked with local farmers on coffee farms and stayed just outside of Antigua. Bailey Ham is majoring in journalism and mass communications at George Washington University. She has enjoyed exploring the area and getting involved with her sorority, Alpha Delta Pi. Grayson Rodriguez is continuing to pursue a double major in chemistry and biology at MIT. She is looking forward to working in a research lab and being a counselor for Camp Kesem this summer. Maggie Collier is loving it at High Point University, and majoring in music, with a concentration in vocal performance, with a minor in communications. She has been accepted into the Chamber Singers choir at High Point, and will be studying with this group in Prague, Czech Republic, for the entire spring semester of 2017. They will not only be studying at the Anglo-American University in Prague, but the Chamber Singers will be touring Europe and performing in different countries about every other weekend. She also joined Phi Mu, serving as her pledge class secretary, and is loving every second of it. Caroline Edwards is enjoying her first year at East Carolina University and has an intended major in nursing. She works at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville and is a member in Alpha Delta Pi sorority. Lorna Macallister is enjoying her time at N.C. State University and is planning to major in biological sciences with a minor in zoology. Anna Clark is loving everything about Elon University so far, and has joined Phi Mu sorority. She is still undecided but is considering a degree in elementary education. Carson Clay is enjoying her time at Princeton University and is planning on concentrating in health policy through the Woodrow Wilson School for Public Policy and completing the pre-med track. She is excited to study abroad in Aix-enProvence, France, this summer. Danielle MacGregor is really enjoying her time at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She is planning on double majoring in inter-
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CLASS news national affairs and art history. Olivia Worsham is enjoying her first year at the University of South Carolina and is searching for a major that suits her within the business program. Kendall Hamilton has enjoyed her first year at Howard University. She is a political science major, and a legal, strategic, and mass communications minor. The highlights of her year included winning her soccer team's conference championship and being able to work under Michelle Obama’s Let's Move initiative at the White House this past Easter. Jacqueline Collie is loving her time at Wake Forest University with her fellow Saints. She is planning on majoring in political science and currently participates on the club tennis team at Wake. Lucy Mae Rascoe loves
the University of South Carolina and is a member of Tri Delta sorority, with plans of majoring in business. She lives in Morehead City this summer with fellow SMS alums, Anna Gray Stallings and Grier Paulson. Anna Carson Buckthal is enjoying her time at Wake Forest University and is planning on majoring in marketing and communications, with a minor in Spanish. Sarah Boyce loves Wake Forest and spending time with other former Saint Mary's graduates at Wake. She is considering a degree in communications and a minor in studio art. She has also joined Chi Omega sorority, and loves all the friendships and opportunities that it has brought her. She is involved in a couple campus clubs such as WFUstyle, Best Buddies, and Campus
Canvas. Maryanne Martini is enjoying her first year at University of South Carolina. She is majoring in print journalism and minoring in political science. Her favorite part of spring semester was working as a page in the senate office for her local senator. Abigail Ueland is really enjoying her time spent at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a member of Tri Delta sorority, and loves how her sorority parallels her all-girls school alma mater. She serves as the Tri Delta body image coordinator on the Officer Council. She was also recently chosen to serve on the UNC Honor Court. She is looking forward to spending her summer in Florence, Italy, with other UNC students. Ciera Woodard is enjoying her time at Hampton University as a
Anna Wood Ragland ’41C visited campus recently to receive her 75th reunion medal and tour the campus with granddaughter Suiter Ragland ’18.
pre-pharmacy major. She will spend her summer interning at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where she will be researching prostate cancer nanomedicine. She will be returning to Hampton University in the fall as a sophomore.
Class of 2016
Thanks to generous alumnae, parents, grandparents, friends, faculty, and staff, Saint Mary’s School reached its 2015-2016 Annual Fund goal!
Thank you!
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The Heritage Society Britt Vice Kirkbride ’82HS ’84C plans to leave a Saint Mary’s legacy in perpetuity Moments make a difference. In Britt Vice Kirkbride’s life, her Saint Mary’s moments stand out above the rest. Growing up in Raleigh, Britt certainly knew of 900 Hillsborough Street but it wasn't until she began attending Saint Mary’s in high school as a day student that she understood Saint Mary’s commitment to developing young women academically, personally, and spiritually.
it has been more than 30 years since graduation, Britt explains that her association with Saint Mary’s enriches her life today. Which is why it is so important to Britt to share her story of membership in the Heritage Society. In 2012 Margaret McGlohon ’81C asked Britt to consider joining the Heritage Society, Britt realized that Saint Mary’s was her second family and needed to be part of her estate planning. “As part of my legacy, I want to help Saint Mary’s continue its mission to educate young women.”
At Saint Mary’s, Britt was able to build lasting relationships with her classmates, faculty, and staff through leadership opportunities in the Student Government Association (SGA) as well as serving the school community as a member of the Beacon and the vestry.
Over the years, Britt has been a loyal supporter of the Saint Mary’s Annual Fund and donor to the Beyond Imagination Capital Campaign. Britt views her foresight to designate a planned gift in her will as another opportunity to invest the school’s future.
Reflecting upon her four years at Saint Mary’s, Britt maintains, “I’m certain my success, then and now, is attributed to the unconditional support of my parents along with the instilled traditions and values of Saint Mary’s.”
“When I started to think about why I was making provisions for a planned gift, it really boiled down to being asked to join the Heritage Society. In that moment, I knew the institution (Saint Mary’s) that had changed my life was worth my investment for the next generation.”
For Britt, Saint Mary's was a place to excel in a safe environment and find her voice. While
After Saint Mary’s, Britt completed her art history undergraduate degree at UNCChapel Hill. After university, Britt lived in London, where she studied fine and decorative arts at Christie’s Education. Following a career in arts management and fundraising, Britt shifted her focus to the financial industry working in New York City for firms including, Ruesch International, Deutsche Bank Wealth Management, and Citi Private Bank. With a background in philanthropy and financial investments, Britt recognizes the value of formalizing trust and estate planning. Creating an estate plan is all part of Britt’s thoughtful intention to give back to ensure a lifetime of moments for girls who have yet to dream of Saint Mary’s as their alma mater. By sharing her commitment to Saint Mary’s Heritage Society with family and friends, Britt is confident her last wishes will be honored. Britt and her husband, Kevin, reside in Bethesda, Md. She enjoys returning to Saint Mary’s campus when in Raleigh visiting her family. Britt also serves on the SMS Alumnae Council and is a regional alumnae agent for Greater Washington, DC.
If you are interested in leaving a legacy at Saint Mary’s through a planned gift, contact Margaret McGlohon ’81C, director of alumnae relations, at memcglohon@sms.edu or 919-424-4171, to learn about becoming a Heritage Society member.
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900 Hillsborough Street Raleigh, NC 27603–1689
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Scenes of Saint Mary’s Ehrgott Bell Tower Summer 2016 (Photo by Mary Virginia Swain ’77C)
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