The Saints Life S T. S T E P H E N ' S A N D S T. A G N E S S C H O O L M A G A Z I N E
SPRING 2023
Saints Go Global! Each year during spring break and early summer, Saints spread out across the globe to learn, explore, and serve. There were five spring break global trips this year: In Spain, Saints walked the famous Camino de Santiago, hiking trail that spans roughly 500 miles. On a service trip to Panama, they visited schools and worked with children on various activities, explored a bat cave, snorkeled, and a took tour of a cacao farm. This year was the 32nd year of the Normandy Exchange program. After a brief visit to Paris, Saints lived with French families in Bayeaux, attending school with their French exchange partners and visiting famous sites in Bayeaux and the Normandy beaches. In Costa Rica Saints went to Trapice don Carmen and learned how sugar is produced from sugarcane, traveled to Corcovado to see animals in their natural habitat, and experienced a small earthquake during a soccer game—where the players just played on. The farthest trip took students to Vietnam. They went to Lào Cai where they hiked, learned about making beeswax fabric, and visited the highest summit in the Hoang Lien Son range, Fansipan. The group also traveled to Ha Long Bay, Da Nang, Hoi An, and Ho Chi Minh City, where the group explored the Cu Chi Tunnels.
2 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 3
WHAT'S INSIDE
8
32
FEATURES 8
GRASPING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND CHAT GPT
12 LOOKING BACK AND TO THE FUTURE Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of our Chapel and Performing Arts Center
16 FACE-TO-FACE Meet our new Lower and Middle School
MISSION 54 FINDING OPEN DOORS Laith Wallschleger '10 talks about football, acting, and his keys to success.
58 WHY AM I HERE? Jaimie Crumley '08 is “Illuminating the Unseen.”
ALUMNI FEATURES ing
Arts Center
32 THE GRAPE SLEUTH: LUCIE MORTON '68 38 PITCHING AND TOSSING HIS WAY TO SUCCESS The Entrepreneurial Journey of Ben Johns '74
44 MATTERS OF THE HEART Dr. Francoise Marvel '99 is changing lives with innovative technology.
48 BRINGING CREATIVITY INTO COMMUNITY Michelle Lopez '88 and Rudy Lopez '96 are siblings, business partners, and professors.
4 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
To help our students succeed in a complex and changing world, we seek to inspire a passion for learning, an enthusiasm for athletic and artistic endeavor, a striving for excellence, a celebration of diversity, and a commitment to service. Our mission is to pursue goodness as well as knowledge and to honor the unique value of
IN EVERY ISSUE
Directors, LaNessa West and William “Bee” Stribling.
54
6 18 21 30 64 66 92 94
HEADLINER AN EPISCOPAL SCHOOL SAINTS IN ACTION SAINTS ATHLETICS ALUMNI CONNECTIONS CLASS NOTES MILESTONES IN MEMORIAM
each of our members as a child of God in a caring community.
COVER PHOTO Kindergartners learning how beavers build their dams in the Outdoor Classroom at the Animal Olympics. Photo by Johnny Shryock.
STAY CONNECTED
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TAKING LEARNING OUTSIDE! THE SAINTS LIFE St. Stephen's and St. Agnes Magazine SPRING 2023 sssasmagazine.org Head of School KIRSTEN PRETTYMAN ADAMS Director of Communications JEN DESAUTELS Magazine Editor & Designer Director of Design & Production MELISSA ULSAKER MAAS '76 Director of Digital Media and Marketing MANDI SAPP Director of Brand Management and Marketing MARCIA MALLETT Alumni News ADVANCEMENT OFFICE Photographers JAMESON BLOOM '13 MELISSA ULSAKER MAAS '76 MARCIA MALLETT MANDI SAPP JOHNNY SHRYOCK OUR EXTRAORDINARY FACULTY Contributing Writers ANDREA DAWSON NATHAN PUGH '17 JESSICA YARMOSKY Questions/Comments MELISSA ULSAKER MAAS '76 mmaas@sssas.org To Update Your Contact Information or Mailing Preferences Please email atoman@sssas.org or call 703-212-2720. Published by SSSAS for alumni, current parents, friends, and other regularly supportive members of the school community. © 2023 St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School admits students of any race, color, religion, sexual orientation, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs. As a related organization of the Episcopal Church, St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School respects the applicable policies and governing principles of the Episcopal Church pertaining to nondiscrimination.
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 5
HEADLINER
Dear Saints “We've got you.” It is something we say here often—when celebrating or comforting a friend, when sharing messages in chapel, when counseling a student or colleague. As a member of this Saints community, we are committed to caring for one another as best as we are able. As a school we are purposeful in providing resources for both students and adults who may need support, ensuring there are opportunities to explore and practice emotional, physical, and mental wellness. In early April our community came together across our three campuses for Saints Mission Day, a day which this year focused on how we care for one another and for ourselves. ES-12 students gathered in cross-divisional groups to participate in activities designed to promote conversation and reflection about wellness. Our older Saints sat on the ground with our younger ones, creating colorful sidewalk chalk designs while chatting, telling jokes, and sharing stories. Students and adults met support therapy dogs, learning how the dogs are trained to provide comfort and love to humans who need it most. Students played tag and board games, painted with watercolors, practiced meditation, and made smoothies. Our campuses were alive with energy, laughter, and fellowship; the day was a gift, a few precious hours focused solely on embracing joy and togetherness during what is always a busy time of year in a school. The joy in being together, creating together, and caring for one another that day was evident. Even now, the feelings and warmth generated continue as an adhesive in this community, binding us to one another in that shared experience of taking a break and caring for ourselves. And now, as we head into these busy, full, final weeks of the school year, we each do so knowing that we are known and cared for; someone's got us. Be well,
Kirsten Adams Head of School
6 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 7
Grasping Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT BY MELISSA ULSAKER MAAS '76 All cartoons were written by ChatGPT and illustrated by Bing's AI image creator, unless otherwise credited.
Many of the world's greatest innovations
since that time to include intelligent
exist, the most talked about, powerful
were met with a mixture of excitement
supercomputers such as IBM Watson.
free chatbot, ChatGPT, was released by
and trepidation. U.S. President
You may have seen Watson beat top
artificial intelligence company OpenAI
Benjamin Harrison reportedly had
human champions Brad Rutter and Ken
November. According to ChatGPT CEO
the White House staff turn the lights
Jennings on “Jeopardy!”in 2011.
Sam Altman, within one week of its
off and on because he was afraid of
At the most basic level, a chatbot is
release ChatGPT helped more than one
electrocution. There was a fear that radio
a computer program that simulates and
million different users obtain unique
would turn people away from reading
processes human conversation (either
answers to their prompts and questions.
or conversing with each other, this
written or spoken), that allows humans
ChatGPT is an implementation of
fear amplified with the introduction of
to interact with digital devices as if they
the powerful GPT-3 (third-generation
television. The New York Times attacked
were communicating with a real person.
Generative Pre-trained Transformer)
the telephone, suggesting it would only
Whether you know it or not, you've
model. It is capable of answering just
be used to invade people's privacy and
probably interacted with a chatbot. For
about any question, writing cogent
make society lazy and antisocial. The
example, those helpful, or pesky, little
essays, helping with research assistance,
fear of computers was so severe that
windows that pop up on websites asking
learning a foreign language, and much,
“computerphobia” became an actual
if you need help. Chatbots can be as
much more. As a generative AI language
term. And now—just as we have learned
simple as rudimentary programs that
model, ChatGPT can understand natural
how to navigate and live with the pros
answer a simple query with a single-line
language inputs and generate human-like
and cons of the Internet—we have
response, or as sophisticated as digital
responses based on the input provided—
to evaluate the best and the worst of
assistants that learn and evolve to deliver
creating new and original content.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ChatGPT
increasing levels of personalization as
in particular. Feelings are mixed and AI
they gather and process information.
is developing and changing at lightning
More advanced examples of chatbots
speed. Is it the tool of the future, or a
include Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa,
ChatGPT works using a deep neural
devil in disguise?
and Google Assistant. Other examples
network architecture that is based on a
of AI we encounter on a regular basis
transformer model and is designed to
includes facial recognition, predictive
process sequential data such as language,
What is an AI Chatbot?
How Does ChatGPT Work?
text, vehicle navigation, social media
making it particularly well-suited for
British mathematician Alan Turing
algorithms, spam filters, and fraud
natural language processing tasks.
was instrumental during World War
detection associated with banking.
ChatGPT is pre-trained on a large corpus
II in creating an electromechanical
Generative AI systems are capable of
of text data to learn the relationships
machine that could break the German's
creating new and original content that
between different words and phrases in
Enigma codes and later explored the
was not explicitly programmed into the
the English language. This pre-training
mathematical possibility of artificial
system, such as text, images, or music,
process allows ChatGPT to generate
intelligence in the 1950's. AI, the
speech (voiceovers), 3D models, and
coherent responses to a wide variety of
foundation for chatbots, has progressed
games. While a multitude of AI sites now
inputs.
8 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
skills on their own by pinpointing
Why did the neural network refuse to go on a date? Because it was too busy training itself to recognize red flags!
When a user inputs text into ChatGPT, the system analyzes the
that students would use a chatbot to
amounts of information, they absorb
cheat. ChatGPT can generate slick,
all text, including explicit and implicit
well-structured, essays that are several
bias. Because of the surprising way they
thousand words long on just about any
mix and match what they've learned to
topic queried, from quantum gravity to
generate entirely new text, they often
Shakespeare. And, even scarier, each
create convincing language that is
essay it produces is unique, even when
flat-out wrong, or does not exist in their
it is given the same prompt again, and
training data.
it's nearly impossible to tell who wrote
To address these issues, researchers
districts quickly made the decision to
techniques and methods for improving
block student access to AI sites on school
AI accuracy and reducing the risk of AI
computers and networks. But attempting
hallucinations, but just like humans, AI
to ban a program like ChatGPT is not
generation isn't perfect.
only impossible, it also fails to provide students with the support they need to make good decisions, learn how
on the patterns it has learned during
to use new technology ethically and
the pre-training process. ChatGPT uses
appropriately, and be prepared for a
a technique called “masked language
constantly changing world. A critical
modeling” to fill in missing words
part of an educator's job is to help
in a sentence, and it also employs a
students fully understand the tools
mechanism called “self-attention” to
available to them.
help it understand the context of the
Now, far from being just a dream
input. The system can also generate
machine for cheaters, many teachers
text on its own, using a process called
are changing their tune and thinking
“unconditional generation.” This means
ChatGPT could actually help make
that ChatGPT can generate text that such as creative writing or poetry. But
education better. AI is an amazing tool Those hallucinations can be pretty trippy.
it's important to note that the success of ChatGPT's responses depends on the quality of the pre-training data and the sophistication of the neural network architecture. The more specific and detailed the question, the better the response.
Be Aware—AI Can Hallucinate An AI hallucination refers to a situation where the system produces an output that is not accurate or correct, but rather a product of its training data and programming. These hallucinations can be caused by a variety of factors, including incomplete or biased training data, errors in the algorithms used to process the data, or limitations in the AI system's ability to generalize beyond the data it has been trained on. The Internet is teeming with useful, accurate information, but is also packed with untruths, hate speech, and misinformation. As Chatbots learn
it. In response, a number of U.S. school
are constantly developing new
input and generates a response based
is not in response to a specific input,
Initially, educators were concerned
statistical patterns in enormous
that can't be ignored, and fully informed teachers can guide their students to the most age appropriate and approved
AI and Education
tools through lessons, projects, and discussions. Since ChatGPT came on the
Technology innovation isn't slowing
scene, a plethora of online webinars and
down, it's only accelerating. OpenAI
workshops on using AI and ChatGPT
released a new subscription version in
have been designed specifically
March, GPT-4, and is offering an A.P.I
for educators. It's now evident that
(application programming interface), that other tech companies can use to plug GPT-4 into their apps and products. And it has created a series of plug-ins from companies like Instacart, Expedia and Wolfram Alpha that expand ChatGPT's abilities. OpenAI, Google, and Meta are building systems that let you instantly generate images and videos simply by describing what you want to see. Microsoft and Google have announced plans to incorporate A.I. technologies into their products. Users will be able to use AI to write a rough draft of an email, automatically summarize a meeting, and pull off many other cool tricks.
Why did the teacher use ChatGPT in class? To help her students learn about AI and give them a handy “GPT-ool” for answering tough questions!
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 9
users under 13 can use their program and that no one under 18 can use it without parental or school academic use approval, they don't supply a sufficient mechanism for enforcing it. Colleen sees many positive ways ChatGPT and programs like it can be used, but is also aware of the concerns. Asking ChatGPT to write a paper is clearly plagiarism. However, there is a very good recommended program that helps the user to edit a paper they have written by tightening up their prose. Hemingway is an app that highlights run-on and complex sentences and common errors in yellow or red, adverbs and weakening phrases in blue, and green highlights mark over use of the passive voice. But rather than telling the user how to fix the highlighted words and
Credit: JasonChatfield.com
sentences, the user has to take a generative AI is a teaching aid that
digital citizenship advisories have
can offer personalized tutoring,
been focusing on AI education,
unlock student creativity, and better
helping students to use the tool
prepare students to work with the
ethically and making sure they
ever-increasing number of AI systems
understand the pros and cons of
in the workplace that they will
using ChatGPT and other programs.
encounter as adults.
Lower School students are learning
The SSSAS MERIT (Making
through integration projects using
Education Relevant and Interactive
the online design and publishing
with Technology) teams have
program, Canva. Canva has an AI
designed a Digital Citizenship
image generator based on stable
Program to help students navigate
diffusion technology, which allows
digital media, the Internet, and
the user to generate photo realistic
programs like ChatGPT. The
images through an open-source
ethical considerations for using
text-to-image model. One project
ChatGPT include bias, privacy,
introducing students to AI involves
accountability, transparency, and
asking them to use Canva to create
the need for human interaction. By
an image to go with a story they have
taking these considerations into
written.
account, educators can ensure that
The Technology Department is
ChatGPT is used in a responsible
also concentrating on the privacy
and ethical manner to enhance the
issues surrounding AI programs.
learning experience for students.
“It's critical that everyone realizes
ChatGPT is designed to mimic
that many AI programs retain the
human communication, but it's
information a user inputs and
still an artificial tool. Therefore, it's
companies are very vague about how
important to be transparent about
that information is being used,” says
its limitations and capabilities and
Chief Technology Officer Colleen
to establish clear guidelines for
McNeil. “No one should ever input
appropriate interactions with the
personal information.” Colleen
programs.
also emphasized that although
The Middle and Upper School
10 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
ChatGPT's privacy policy says no
stab at correcting it. Each attempt is evaluated and the user can continue to make changes until the highlight disappears, learning in the process. Generative AI has the potential to be an incredibly effective tool for teachers. Teachers can use AI to create personalized student learning experiences, seek out new activities and engaging project ideas, streamline administrative demands, and create educational content such as lesson plans and assessments. For example, Lower School Teacher Michelle Bruch has used ChatGPT to plan lessons and help elaborate on ideas she has; to improve her writing of difficult emails and weekly newsletters to families; to edit her report card narratives for grammar and clarity; and to create presentations in conjunction with Canva. Lower School Technology Coordinator Kay Ossio has used it to help with the weekly Lower School newscast script. The Lower School Merit team asked ChatGPT to help rewrite the Technology Responsible Use Policy form to make it understandable to a Lower School student. At the Upper School, Computer Science Teacher Tom Johnson says
ChatGPT not only writes code, but
As we use chatbots, it's imperative
does it really well. So well, he has
to remain skeptical, and see them for
shifted the way he teaches. Instead
what they really are.
of assigning code as homework, he is
In Kevin's Ancient Mythology and
asking his students to write more of
Modern World class they watched
it in class. Tom is also having more
“Percy Jackson and the Lightning
quizzes, presentations, and discussions
Thief,” and his students had prepared
in class, in addition to doing frequent
responses to a few discussion
check-ins with his students to talk
questions. After discussing a question
about their work to really gauge where
thoroughly, Kevin would ask ChatGPT
his students are coming from.
the same question. “The students
AI can also be very helpful with
judged each of its responses, with an
language learning, assisting language
eye towards factual accuracy to the
learners by generating interactive
movie and the myths, as well as the
conversations, language practice
depth of its analysis,” Kevin says. “I
exercises, and even creating new
think the consensus was that we were
dialogues based on a student's interests
impressed with its generally cogent
and level of proficiency. Upper School
responses, but acknowledged it was
Latin Teacher Kevin Jefferson has
inconsistently reliable.”
challenged ChatGPT in a number of to write fairly well in Latin. He input
its grammar was impressively sound—I
RE! EWA
B
had a passage that offered students key
They're smart, they're fast, and they never tire, But will they ever feel our human desire? Perhaps they'll cure diseases that we cannot, Or help us solve the problems we've forgot, They'll drive our cars and fly our planes,
Of machines that rule, and leave us behind? Will they be kind, or will they be cruel, Will they respect the laws that we've made as rule?
But one thing's for sure, it's up to us,
concepts,” Kevin says. He also heard
To guide and shape it, and gain our trust.
that ChatGPT was able to tell “story x in style y,” so his class asked the
So let us strive for a world that's bright,
chatbot to tell the story of Dionysus
ChatGPT version to what we had read
We've come so far in just a few short years, With machines that learn and wipe away our tears,
As we build and teach and watch it grow,
and practice for crucial grammar
lyrics. “We had a blast comparing the
Or will they simply be a helpful kind?
The future of AI is yet to be known,
repetitions for their new vocabulary
and the pirates in the form of rap
Will machines surpass the human mind,
But what of fears that fill our minds,
the students' new vocabulary words using them. “After some light editing—
The future of AI, what will it bring? A world of wonder, or a frightening thing?
And make our lives simpler without pains.
ways. He discovered ChatGPT is able
and asked ChatGPT to write a story
“The Future of AI” written by ChatGPT
Why did the person cross-examine ChatGPT? Because they were skeptical of its answers and thought it might be a “questionable witness!”
Where AI and humans can both unite, With cooperation and understanding, A future of hope and promise landing.
in the Homeric Hymns.” Kevin isn't totally sold on Chat GPT, and his thoughts mirror those of many educators. “It's been making me think more about Socrates and his insistence that people often claim to know more than they actually do,” Kevin reflects. “The output of ChatGPT often sounds so plausible and convincing, hiding inaccuracies in plain sight. With the heightened awareness of misinformation in our society, I hope that I can instill a healthy sense of To a rap beat... Dionysus, the god of wine and fun, He can teach us lessons, even when we run, So don't mess with him, or you'll be sorry, Respect and kindness, that's the true glory.
skepticism in my students. The more I learn about AI, the more I ponder how my next steps can use AI in class to practice critical thinking skills and prepare for the new world we will soon
be living in.” Clearly, there's no hiding from artificial intelligence and no ignoring its impact. With a solid awareness of the abilities and limitations of AI, it can be very useful at work, at school, and at home. It's mind boggling to think about everything AI is capable of, but the largest issue may be grasping how these systems will affect our world before they become even more powerful. To do that we must learn everything we can about AI and educate future generations to utilize it in ways that will enhance their future and make it a dynamic tool for good and making the world a better place. SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 11
Looking Back and to the Future Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of our Chapel and Performing Arts Center BY MELISSA ULSAKER MAAS '76
D
uring the past 20 years, the
held chapels in the gym, and the
daughter to SSSAS where they joined
Chapel and Performing Arts
Black Box—which seats approximately
the classes of 2000 and 2003, and to
Center (CPAC) located on
150 people—was the only theater.
give back to the school by serving as
the Upper School campus has become
The performing arts program had
a member of the Board of Governors
pivotal to the St. Stephen's and St.
grown and was bursting at the seams.
from 1994 to 2000. For a school
Agnes School community and is one
Discussions surrounding the possibility
centered in the church, Fred felt a
of our iconic and most loved buildings.
of building a chapel and performing
chapel and performing arts center
Students, faculty, parents, alumni,
arts center began as part of the New
was long overdue and that it would
and friends have gathered in CPAC
Century Fund Campaign, which
greatly enhance the spiritual life of the
for chapel services, performances,
started in 1996 and consisted of two
students. Rita, who has six children—
assemblies, academic convocations,
phases. Phase I, a silent phase, was
all SSSAS alumni—served on the
award ceremonies, and other large
launched to help finance an ambitious,
Board of Governors as a member from
and small events. The cross on the bell
two-part building program outlined
1993-1994, as vice chair from 1995-
tower is the highest point on campus,
in the school's master plan. The goal
1996, and as chair from 1997-1998
in recognition of our Episcopal faith
for Phase I was to raise $5 million for
and again from 2003-2004. She and
and commitment “to pursue goodness
major renovations and additions on all
Fred were compelled to co-chair the
as well as knowledge and to honor the
three campuses, which were completed
campaign because they believed 100
unique value of each of our members as
between 1996 and 1999. Phase II, the
percent in the future of the school
a child of God in a caring community.”
public part of the campaign, targeted a
and the education it provides. “I
To this day, SSSAS is grateful to the
$6-million budget for the new Chapel
always wanted an even playing field
Saints community for supporting
and Performing Center.
for academics, the arts, religion, and
the New Century Fund Campaign,
Campaign co-chairs, Rita Meyer
sports,” Rita, who prides herself on
which provided the school with this
and Fred Barnes '60, were deeply
being a straight shooter, recalls. “At
exceptional place for worship and
invested in the success of the New
SSSAS your children not only receive
creative expression.
Century Fund. As a Saint, Fred
an excellent academic education, they
was delighted to send his son and
also grow strong roots and a foundation
In the 1990s, the Upper School
12 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
Campaign Co-Chairs Rita Meyer (left) and Fred Barnes '60 (right), with former Head of School Joan Holden (center)
From conception, to construction, to reality. SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 13
for their future, grounded in honesty,
ground on the project—a total of $10
integrity, spirituality, creativity, and an
million in gifts and pledges—was
the Saints community made CPAC
ability to lead.”
achieved by June 2001, and HITT
a tangible reality. But the building,
Contracting broke ground in the
which has provided spaces for chapel,
1999, hundreds of parents, alumni,
summer. As the construction progressed,
performances, and teaching as
and friends of the school came together
so did the level of excitement and
hoped, has also revealed countless
to celebrate the New Century Fund
anticipation. Rita believes the key
opportunities for enjoyment and
Campaign kick-off amidst balloons
to successful fundraising lies in
creative exploration surpassing
and music by the Upper School jazz
preparation. For her, one of the most
everyone's dreams and expectations.
ensemble. Fred and Rita announced the
rewarding parts of co-chairing the
As SSSAS prepares to break ground at
success of Phase I and launched Phase
campaign was meeting with potential
the Upper School in June for the largest
II, hoping to raise another $5 million in
donors. “Like me, at the heart of their
construction project in the school's
order to break ground.
support was an appreciation for the
history, we are motivated by the impact
During Homecoming Weekend in
By June of 2000, major leadership
The transformative support of
school's core values,” Rita says. “So many
CPAC has had on the campus and
gifts helped turn the dream into a reality,
people choose to give to their colleges,
look to the future with confidence and
prompting the Board of Governors to
but giving back to the school in which
optimism.
move the building project forward. Cox
they spent their primary and secondary
Graae + Spach architects were hired
years should be even more important.
the Saints Together: Our Campaign
and the design phase was set in motion.
That school helped lay the groundwork
for Community, we can catapult our
The plans included a bell tower, state-
for college and the rest of their lives.”
facilities to match the quality and
On April 9, 2003, more than 1,300
caliber of a Saints experience, with
of-the-art auditorium, classrooms,
With the community's support of
rehearsal spaces, a green room, and
members of the community witnessed
large, new academic general use and
storage facilities. The inside of the bell
the dedication and consecration
science classrooms, art studios, a
tower would be a sanctuary where the
of CPAC. Despite heavy rain, the
student commons and dining center
community could go to feel connected,
atmosphere was charged with joy and
to bring us together and enhance
comforted, and renewed, and resulted
enthusiasm. The ceremony included the
conversation and collaboration, spaces
in a beautiful, peaceful, and light-filled
blessing of the prayer room, named in
for planned group meetings, and a large
prayer room—perfect for contemplation
memory of The Rev. Emmett H. Hoy,
terrace for events previously held off
and reflection. The new building was
Jr, revered former headmaster of St.
campus. No doubt the new spaces will
designed to seat an audience of 500,
Stephen's from 1955-1975 and featured
create possibilities we haven't dreamed
more than three times the capacity of the
the beautiful stained-glass window, which
of, and like CPAC, it will be a journey of
Black Box Theater.
towers above the stage upon which the
discoveries we haven't yet imagined.
The benchmark figure for breaking 14 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
altar stands each week for chapel.
Renderings of the new Upper School renovation, clockwise from top: aerial view, the student commons, the terrace, the dining center, and a science classroom. SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 15
FACE-TO-FACE
LaNessa West is looking forward to starting her new job as Lower School director in July. She radiates a presence that is calm and purposeful and describes herself as diligent, intuitive, and reflective. Family is everything to her. An only child with lots of close cousins, she grew up in the small town of South Boston, Va. She draws her core values and beliefs from her mother and the other two strong women who helped raise her, her grandmother and her aunt. She and her husband, Nathaniel, will be celebrating 25 years together in December, and she feels her greatest accomplishment has been raising their children, Nathan and Nadia, who are students at Old Dominion University. LaNessa finds family life motivating, but has always had an innate, internal drive that moves her to try new things—but nothing too risky, crazy, or adventurous! As a young student LaNessa was a voracious reader, who loved writing and being part of the yearbook staff. Her passions propelled her to study journalism at Radford University, where she dreamed of writing for Essence magazine. As she faced graduation, her professors often mentioned how hard it would be to find a job. It made her so nervous, she decided to go to graduate school for teaching to have something to “fall back on.'' After her first practicum experience in a kindergarten classroom, teaching shifted from her “fall back” to her future—she was hooked. For LaNessa, Lower School is the place to be! “It's hard to have a bad day when you enter a classroom, where the joy is palpable and the children always have a story to share, a smile, or an impromptu hug to offer,” she says. LaNessa's initial attraction to SSSAS was the mission statement and seeing the words “BE YOU” highlighted on the website. She finds the school's commitment to amplifying “goodness as well as knowledge” particularly admirable. During her first visit, she felt wrapped in a sense of community that made her feel welcome and at ease. When she's not working, LaNessa enjoys reading, listening to R&B and hip hop, binge watching a good series, and tapping into her creativity through scrapbooking, making wreaths and arranging flowers. Something many people don't know about her is that she grew up singing in the school choir and her church. As a child LaNessa dreamed about what her first job would be, getting married, and having a family. A leader by nature, LaNessa joins our school in “a season of her life where success means finding some balance and being intentional about living her life with purpose, unbothered by what others think about her, doing what makes her happy and being all that God created her to be.”
LaNessa West
What one piece of advice would you offer anyone who asks? Be selective in your battles, sometimes peace is better than being right.
What is the best compliment someone can give you? Letting me know that I serve as a mentor, friend, and/or confidant.
What is your most treasured memory? I have a few, but the one that stands out to me is when my husband proposed to me over the intercom at one of my former schools. It was the last day shortly after the students had gone home for the summer.
What in life makes you smile? Warm, sunny days sitting on my porch, listening to the rain outside my window, and a beautiful autumn scene filled with red, yellow, orange, and brown leaves on the trees…
If you could switch lives with anyone for a day, who would it be and why? It would have to be Oprah Winfrey, especially during her “talk show days.” Meeting and interviewing celebrities and people who all have their own stories to share would be an epic adventure. Her wealth and all the perks that come with it would be great, too!
What is the one place in the world you would like to escape to and why? Going to Italy is on my bucket list because it seems to have so many wonderful things to experience - the culture, the history, and THE FOOD!!!!
16 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
FACE-TO-FACE
Incoming Middle School Director William “Bee” Stribling grew up on an orchard in Markham, Va., with his parents, six siblings, and a menagerie of dogs, cats, hamsters, cows, horses, chickens, and ducks. Named after his great grandfather, Bee also inherited his nickname–which has nothing to do with buzzing honey makers. When his great grandfather was born in 1885, his 2-year-old sister couldn't say “baby,” but could say “bee bee.” The nickname stuck and was passed along. Bee's family is bursting with educators, including a great-great uncle who taught at Episcopal and a great aunt who taught at St. Agnes! His godfather was his middle school principal and his godmother was a beloved substitute teacher. After graduating from Mary Washington College with a degree in art history, Bee helped his parents run the family farm…until his step mother, who was a religion teacher at National Cathedral School, encouraged him to apply his gifts to a career in education. Bee started his career teaching seventh and eighth grade history at Browne Academy. He feels each day with a middle schooler matters! Bee says, “They are both jaded and bubbly and can focus on the smallest details and ask the biggest questions at the same time.” He wants to “do good in the world by making sure kids know they are seen, loved, and held capable of making meaningful contributions to their communities.” For Bee, success means knowing yourself and caring for those around you, which often means unlearning things in order to better understand your goals. As a lover of art and history, Bee is inspired by Willem van de Velde, J.M.W. Turner, Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock. If he could time travel, he would like to go back to important moments of change and be part of the discoveries and inventions that revolutionized the human experience. Bee and his wife, Nicole, have two children, Robert Mackay and Eleanor Marshall, who are so excited to be Lower School Saints! At home, Bee fills his iPad with books and reads every night.
William “Bee” Stribling What is something you could happily fail at? Sports—I just love playing team sports. Of course, I love to win but the camaraderie is the reason to play. What is your greatest strength? I pride myself in noticing things—small things, changes in demeanor, etc. It's such a great skill to have when working with middle schoolers. What is the best piece of advice you've ever gotten? You're the best you've ever been but not the best you'll ever be. So, keep learning.
Their two rescue cats, Sylvester and George (who love to be awake all night!), keep him company. He enjoys a really good barbeque with all the yummy sides, running, and playing the bass guitar. As a bass player, he's not embarrassed to say he loves the band Weezer. The whole family loves to listen to music and enjoys hiking, camping, sun, and sand.
Where in the world are you the happiest? Definitely around a campfire with friends and family. For what in your life do you feel most grateful? Having a family that has supported me because they knew I had something to offer to the world. If you could be any animal, what would it be and why? A frog. The combination of being amphibious and having serious 'hops' would be fun.
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 17
AN EPISCOPAL SCHOOL
Nicole Eisenman,“Seder”(2010)
Why Are We Doing This? The Meaning of Passover
BY SUSANNAH NADLER UPPER SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHER
Each week during Upper
Hi, my name is Ms. Nadler, and even
of Passover. And as the car moved at a
School chapel, a member
though I've worked here for 10 years,
crawl, and we listened to our son wail
this is my first chapel talk.
for six hours in his car seat, I remember
of the community gives the homily. These are often powerful and personal reflections on their life experiences. 18 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
Almost exactly five years ago, my husband and I were loading our new
thinking to myself, why are we doing this?
baby into the car. We were taking him
A Passover Seder, for those of you
to New York, to my mother's house, for
who haven't been to one, is like an epic
his very first Seder, a ritual meal that
combination of a holiday meal, an
marks the start of the Jewish holiday
English class, and a religious service.
There are readings, discussions, blessings, four cups of wine, and singing –and most of that happens before we even eat dinner. The seder is a ritual meal that we do the same way year after year. And in that car ride five years ago, my first time bringing the next generation— literally wailing and screaming— home for Passover, the answer to my question—why are we doing this?—is that I ALWAYS went home for Passover. In college, I grumbled about missing classes, but I did it. When I worked in California, I would still fly back to New York for the seder. And in that moment in traffic, with my crying baby in the back seat, I took a deep breath and imagined that all the other cars, inching along I-95, were filled with Jewish people, like me, all of us fulfilling an exodus ritual, all of us trying to make it home in time for the seder. And we did.
James Jacques Joseph Tissot, “Pharaoh Notes the Importance of the Jewish People” (1896-1902)
That's my identical twin sister, Reena, holding my son, bouncing him to the music of our Passover prayers. Passover is all about Exodus, the second book of the Hebrew Bible. Here's a quick recap—think of it as Ms. Nadler's Sparknotes version of the Passover story. For reasons that belong to a whole other story, the Israelites, who will become the Jewish people, settle in the land of Egypt. As they have children, and their children have children, the Egyptian Pharaoh feels threatened: this group doesn't fit in, and its numbers are growing. What if the Israelites somehow undermine his power? Pharaoh's response to this worry is brutal: he forces the Israelites into slavery and orders that all their firstborn sons be drowned in the Nile. This horrific system of population control lasts for 400 years, until one Israelite mother, Yocheved, quietly rebels. She hides her baby boy from his killers and sets him on the Nile in a floating basket. Thinking about my own two small sons, I'm amazed at Yocheved's desperate bravery: she sends her newborn out onto the water, not knowing if he will live or if she will ever see him again. And by
doing this she saves her son from murder
mom moved to D.C., and now my house
and her people from slavery: Pharaoh's
is the place where we celebrate Passover.
daughter finds the baby, names him
If you'll allow me to be totally honest
Moses, and raises him as her own.
for a moment: my feelings about hosting
All grown up, Moses encounters a
the Seder at my house are mixed. It
burning bush from which God's voice
always feels meaningful, but the seder
emerges. God tells Moses that he must
is long and takes preparation, there
lead the people of Israel out of slavery
are rituals and rules around food and
and into the promised land. Moses is
cleaning, my extended family can be
reluctant: he has a speech impediment,
stressful, and every year when Passover
for one thing, and he hates talking
comes around, as I'm cooking and
in public, but nevertheless he goes
scrubbing, and preparing, I have a
to Pharaoh's court and relays God's
moment like the one that I had in the car
demand: let my people go (slide). There
five years ago. I think to myself, why am
are more twists and turns in the story:
I doing this? It feels like we just did this
Pharoah refuses, there are ten plagues,
last year.
Moses parts the red sea, but, —spoiler
This feeling is complicated by the
alert—the people of Israel ultimately do
fact that Jews aren't supposed to just
escape Egypt. They become a free people
tell the Exodus story at the seder: we
on their way to the promised land.
are supposed to imagine that we are
The Passover Seder is our yearly
reliving the Exodus story. The rabbis
ritual to mark this transition from
say, “In every generation, we must
slavery to freedom. As Passover
see ourselves as if we personally have
approaches this year, I'm struck by how
come out of Egypt.” When I was a kid,
much has changed for me since my
this idea shocked me. We're supposed
older son's first Seder five years ago. The
to begin each seder feeling as though
pandemic hit, I had another baby, my
we are enslaved, and end each seder
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 19
AN EPISCOPAL SCHOOL “'Go home,' she says. The ghosts shudder, but they do not leave... So Kayla begins to sing, a song of mismatched, half-garbled words, nothing that I can understand...Kayla sings, and the multitude of ghosts lean forward, nodding. They smile with something like relief, something like remembrance, something like ease.” Kayla cannot make the ghosts “go home” because in this novel, and, I think, in life, there are some ghosts that must remain. We are all haunted by the violence of the past, and we are haunted in different ways, whether we ourselves or our ancestors have been victims, bystanders, or perpetrators of oppression—and sometimes we have been all three of these. thanking God for our freedom? How am
of you know, it's about a 13-year-old
I supposed to feel enslaved when I'm
boy named Jojo, who is half black and
just hanging out with family, reading
half white, and it's also a novel in which
texts and singing prayers, waiting for
ghosts are real. One particular ghost,
dinner? This disconnect, of course,
Richie, died when Jojo's grandfather was
stems from all the privileges I have in my
trying to save him from a violent lynch
own life and generation. I'm a straight,
mob. Richie refuses to stop haunting
white, relatively wealthy, American
Jojo's family, and his ghost becomes an
woman. Even though I do encounter
embodied symbol of a traumatic past
oppression—and sometimes it's related
that literally refuses to go away.
to my Jewishness—I walk through the
Some of the most interesting chapters
world with an extraordinary amount of
of this novel are narrated from Richie's
freedom and safety. What the rabbis ask
perspective, at least in my opinion.
us to do on Passover is to perform a kind
And it becomes clear that, to this ghost,
of radical, impossible-seeming empathy:
the handcuffs a policeman snaps onto
because our biblical ancestors were
Jojo's wrists, the forced labor of Jojo's
enslaved, we too are enslaved. Because
grandfather in Parchman prison, and the
they were freed, we not only remember,
chains of all three of the men's enslaved
we work to feel the deep relief of leaving
African ancestors, may seem to belong
oppression behind.
to different historical moments, but they
I've wrestled with this idea for years.
are all linked by a common thread of
Each year we thank God for freedom.
systemic racism. For Richie, the past and
And yet, each year, Passover rolls around
the present are the same. The modern
and we are again enslaved. We tell the
boy, Jojo, tries over and over to send
Exodus story over and over, but—what
Richie the ghost away, to send him to
is the purpose of celebrating freedom
heaven, to send him “home.” But in the
when we know we will have to relive our
very last chapter of the novel, Jojo and
enslavement again the very next year?
his little sister Kayla find that ghosts like
Isn't there some point at which we can
Richie are in fact everywhere, and they
just, you know, be free?
are never going home.
In ninth grade English, I've been
Here is how Jojo narrates the final
teaching the novel “Sing, Unburied,
scene, where he watches his 3-year-old
Sing” by Jesmyn Ward. Stick with
sister Kayla face a tree full of ghosts who
me—I'm going to connect it. As many
have died horribly:
20 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
So, what do we do with a traumatic past that refuses to go away? As I was discussing this scene with my ninth graders last year, I realized that Kayla's song to the tree full of ghosts reminds me a bit of what we are supposed to do at the Passover Seder. When the ghosts won't leave, Kayla performs an act of communion with them, an act of witness and empathy that acknowledges their pain and so, for a little while, relieves their pain. It's clear that the ghosts in the novel will never stop haunting Kayla and Jojo, but Kayla's song of witness gives them “something like relief, something like remembrance, something like ease.” A week from today, in my home, my family and I will be singing Passover songs and prayers—reliving—radically witnessing—the oppression and freedom of the Israelites in the Passover story. And that, for me, at least, is the point of Passover. The overcoming of injustice and oppression—the movement from slavery to freedom—is never done. Each year we must tell the story, relive the story, sing to the ghosts that are always with us. And this year, my tenth year at SSSAS, when I finally got up the courage to speak in chapel, I'm grateful to you for listening and witnessing what Passover means to me. Amen
SAINTS IN ACTION
VIOLINIST LUN LI VISITS THE MIDDLE SCHOOL Our Middle School musicians had the opportunity to hear live music at the highest level! They had a private concert and workshop featuring award-winning violinist
ACADEMIC CONVOCATION RECOGNITIONS At the Upper School Academic Convocation in February, the school recognized 19 seniors, including eight Commended Merit Scholars and one Finalist in the National Merit Scholarship competition. Over 1.5 million students from about 22,000 high schools entered the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Students scoring in the top 5 percent nationally qualify as
Lun Li, accompanied by his pianist. Students were able to hear him perform and ask questions about the music. Lun Li is a native of Shanghai, China and holds degrees from Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School. He is currently pursuing an Artistic Diploma at The Juilliard School where he serves as teaching assistant to Catherine Cho. Lun Li is sponsored by the Young Concert Artists.
commended scholars and students placing in the top 1 percent are finalists. Nine students were also recognized as National AfricanAmerican Recognition Award recipients, and one received the National Hispanic Recognition Award. Finalist Merit Scholar: Carter Harris '23 Commended Merit Scholars: Seniors Alethea Callahan, Marina Gallozzi, Finn Hartman, Lily Hunsicker, Abigail Lowe, Abhay Mathur, Lauren Minor, and Manav Sabharwal National African-American Recognition Award Recipients: Annette Dunn '24, CJ Tillman '23, Charles Bounds '23, Chris Shorter '24, Matthew Bezuneh '23, Nya Mason '23,
TEAM ADVENTURE!
Raei Legesse '24, Rafiki Mwethuku '23, and
Cheryl Van Coverden's junior kindergarten
Taylor Grace Peterson '23
class wrote and performed “Team Adventure,” a play inspired by a science
National Hispanic Recognition Award:
lesson on shadows, a library lesson on
Isabella Garcia-Ippolito '23
sequencing, and the book “Rocket Writes a Story” by Tad Hills.
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 21
SAINTS IN ACTION
MIDDLE SCHOOL SAINTS SKILLS The sixth grade Saints Skills class created boards on the different classes they took this year and presented them to the current fifth graders. The Saints Skills include: Service,
LEARNING AND BONDING: THE ANIMAL OLYMPICS Some Middle School zoologists led the kindergartners through eight stations for a morning of Animal Olympics! Through games at each stop, the kindergartners learned interesting facts about animals. At the Polar
Academic, Innovation, Neuro, Tech and Teamwork, and Social. This project gave the sixth graders an opportunity to reflect on the year, work in groups, and practice their presentation skills.
Bear Plunge (where Aggie was a special guest), they waded through cold water with bare feet to better understand the importance of the thick layer of blubber polar bears have to keep them warm. At the Trunk Tug their challenge was to drag a heavy load a short distance with one arm to recognize how amazing it is that the African elephant can pick up a oneton weight with only its trunk. Other stations included Monkey Markers, Gorilla Grasp, Beaver Build, Wing “Wave,” Long Distance Leap, and Cheetah Chase. The event concluded with kindergartners and their new friends having a picnic lunch outside.
PROFESSIONAL WOMEN SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES The Upper School Women's Affinity Group hosted a professional women's career panel in celebration of Women's History Month. Four members of the Saints community talked about obstacles and successes connected to their career journeys as professional women. The panel featured: Head of School Kirsten Adams, Dr. Saadia Eltayeb (chemist and principal at ChemReg Compliance Solutions), Theresa H. Peterson (senior executive for GE Global Research), and Hilary Strickland (chief of staff at the Sustainable Apparel Coalition).
22 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
SAINTS IN ACTION
INVESTIGATING INHERITANCE PATTERNS Honors Biology students used biotechnology equipment to investigate the inheritance patterns of a gene that codes for a taste receptor protein responsible for sensing bitter substances. They loaded, ran, and analyzed six DNA samples in a gel electrophoresis chamber to determine the genetic variation of each.
CELEBRATING ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS WEEK The Middle and Upper Schools welcomed Dudley Edmondson, an established photographer, author, filmmaker, and presenter, to campus during Environmental Awareness Week. Dudley spoke about his work and took a nature photography walk with a group of Middle School art students. Dudley's photography has been featured in galleries and nearly 100 publications around the world. He was one of the first photographers to highlight the involvement of African Americans in the public lands system. He has also been immersed in the effort to help the conservation sector become more inclusive.
THE CLIMATE CRISIS Award-winning writer Noah Gallagher Shannon spoke to the Upper School about the climate crisis. Noah talked about his 2021 trip to Uruguay to find out how the country has transitioned from oil-dependency to a grid powered by 98% renewable energy in just 15 years. His New York Times Magazine article, “What Does Sustainable Living
At the Lower School alumnus Nat Gillespie '92 talked about his work
Look Like? Maybe Like Uruguay” focuses
with the U.S. Forest Service as their assistant fish program leader. With
on sustainability, courageous political
a focus on freshwater fish, Nat provides leadership in coordination
leadership, and the changing global
with the National Fisheries Program in developing and implementing
household. He also visited with our
fisheries related strategies, providing guidance, coordination, and
journalism students and Green Saints
direction among a large, geographically dispersed staff of nine regional
Leaders.
office fisheries programs.
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 23
SAINTS IN ACTION
FIND THE DIFFERENCES Junior kindergarten students learned “Who Polluted the Bay?” during a presentation by Bryan Gomes from the organization ClearShark H2O. We challenge you to find ten differences in the photos!
24 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
SAINTS IN ACTION
ARTSTRAVAGANZA CELEBRATES 20 YEARS! For 20 years our Lower School students have spent a whole day celebrating the arts through a variety of interactive workshops. This year's Artstravaganza included more than 26 regional, national, and international artists, dancers, musicians, storytellers, and puppeteers, who hosted 45-minute sessions. Students were able to explore instruments in a hands-on workshop with some of our Upper School student musicians. They tried playing the steel drums with the Tobago Bay Calypso Band, learned to play the ukulele, partnered up for some flamenco dancing, practiced the art of Japanese calligraphy, joined Esperanto Bean for Hip Hop lessons, and enjoyed a magic show with resident magician, Associate Head of School Bob Weiman. In addition to hands-on demonstrations and activities, students also had a chance to talk with the artists about their lives, learning how they discovered their passions, the paths they took to becoming professionals, and the dedication that goes along with mastering their crafts. Lower School Music Teachers Rebecca and Matt Gehlhoff want to give the students a global arts experience, as well as helping the Lower School arts team to make strong connections with the local artists—and they have succeeded! The day culminated with an outdoor concert by the go-go band Strickly Bizness.
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 25
SAINTS IN ACTION
SAINTS WIN LOCAL AND REGIONAL ART & WRITING AWARDS Middle and Upper School Saints entered and placed in several regional and local art and writing contests. Eleven Upper School students received awards in the 2023 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, in association with the nonprofit organization Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. In regional competitions, Saints were recognized in three categories: Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention, for their photography, painting, ceramics and glass, digital art, mixed media, sculpture, and critical essay. Three Upper School Saints were recognized at the Alexandria All City High School Exhibition for 2D and 3D art and 13 Saints were recognized for their prose, poetry, photography and 2D art in the Alexandria Library Teen Winter Creativity Contest.
Sophie Atkisson '23, “Daylight Reflections,” Painting, Scholastic Silver Key
Zoe Coval '23, “Walking With Yourself,” Digital Art, Scholastic Silver Key
Charlotte McNamara '24, “Can You See Me?,” Mixed Media, Scholastic Gold Key 26 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
Elliot Desautels '25, “UFO Ceramic Clock,” Ceramics & Glass, Scholastic Honorable Mention
Hannah Floyd '25, “Candace,” Ceramics & Glass, Honorable Mention
Addie Youree '26, “Bird Stained Glass,” Ceramics & Glass, Scholastic Honorable Mention
Calysta Lee '23, “Strength And Confidence In Artistry,” Photography, Scholastic Honorable Mention
August Moon '24, “Baphomet,” Sculpture, Scholastic Honorable Mention
Codie Campbell '23, “Soul Crushing,” Mixed Media, Scholastic Honorable Mention
Ellie Minor '23, “Stillness,” Painting, Scholastic, Honorable Mention
SAINTS IN ACTION
Codie Campbell '23, “A Day at the Beach,” All-City Palette Award
Lily Adams '24, “Matter of Time,” All-City Palette Award
Justin Hill '23, “The Twist Out” All-City Palette Award
Theo Weiman '24, “ Unmasked,” 2D Art, Alexandria Library Gold
WRITING AWARDS
Ariya Harrington '26, “Parts of a Whole,” 2D Art, Alexandria Library Silver
Marnie Nichols '23, Scholastic Gold Key, Critical Essay, “Which Yet Survive, Abigail Taylor '26, “False Duplicity,” 2D Art, Alexandria Library Honorable Mention
Stamped on These Lifeless Things.”
Alexandria Library Teen Winter Creativity Contest: Ella Schneider '27, Gold, Short Story, “Paranoia” Olivia Nealon '27, “ Swimming Through the Night,” 2D Art, Alexandria Library Gold
Claire Poersch '28, Bronze, Poem, “If I Could Just Fly” Janney Cooper '26, Gold, Poem, “Breathe” Theo Weiman '24, Silver, Poem, “The Sweater With Yellow Mustard” Isaiah Faden '24, “Face Jug” National K-12 Ceramic Exhibition, Honorable Mention Isaiah's piece was one of 152 pieces selected out of 1,317 entries for the NCECA exhibition.
Evelyn Stackhouse '26, “ Disco Fish,” Photography, Alexandria Library Bronze
Ariya Harrington '26, Silver, Short Story, “From the Young Wife”
Reese Lai '26, “ At the Water,” Photography, Alexandria Library Honorable Mention SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 27
SAINTS IN ACTION
“MAMMA MIA!” This spring Upper School Stage One presented the musical “Mamma Mia!” Director Valerie Carlson worked with a company of 60 thespians in the spotlight.
The Director's Notes: “Mamma Mia!” is gearing up to celebrate its 25th anniversary, embarking this coming fall on a national tour of 35 cities across the United States (including Baltimore!). Since its premiere, the show has been presented all over the world— including a 14-year run on Broadway—and has been translated into 16 languages. The show in 2023 is as popular as it ever has been. Why? The most obvious answer may be the enduring pop brilliance of the music, written by two of ABBA's members and turned into hits by the four-person supergroup. With incredibly catchy hooks and melodies, along with singable lyrics, the songs reflect all of the nuanced feelings and intense emotions that are a condition of being human—particularly a human in relationships. The joys and sorrows of romantic love, of course, are part of that, but ABBA also sang of the love of parents for children, the deep affection that exists between friends, a nostalgia for our past, and the happiness that a relationship with music can bring us. Judy Craymer, the originator of the idea for the show, saw all that and realized the music was “extraordinarily theatrical” (mamma-mia.com). She brought a playwright, Catherine Johnson, onto the nascent project, and Johnson added the piece that would take ABBA's music from radio to stage: a joyful, hopeful story that encapsulates all of those emotions and relationships, centering them on a young woman who is trying to discover who she is and a mother whose life has not gone in the direction she expected. The show celebrates the bonds of family, friendship, and romance, and teaches us (in an infectiously tuneful manner) that love doesn't always follow the rules…but it is always the right choice.
28 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
SAINTS IN ACTION
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 29
SAINTS ATHLETICS: WINTER SEASON
WINTER TRACK & FIELD SENIORS: ANDREW LAZARSKI, JONATHAN KHO, JUSTIN HILL, MYLES SANDY, TURNER MORE, MOLLIE KEMP, ISABELLA GARCIA-IPPOLITO
BOYS BASKETBALL Final Record: 15-13 Final IAC Standing: 2nd (Tied) Final VISAA Standing: 8th Advanced to the Sleepy Thompson championship game and lost a close game to nationally ranked Sidwell Friends. Big win on
MAPHL A Division First Team: Jonathan MacIntosh '24, Will Woodruff '23 MAPHL A Division Coach of the Year: Brian Fleury Washington Post All-Met Honorable Mention: Trey Knott '24
WINTER TRACK & FIELD Boys VISAA Championship Meet Finish: 12th Girls VISAA Championship Meet Finish: 20th Justin Hill '23 set a new school record in the shot put. At the VISAA Indoor State
senior night against IAC rival Episcopal.
BOYS SWIMMING
ALL-IAC: Aiden Argabright '25,
IAC Championship Meet Finish: 5th
and Bradley Cruthirds placed 4th and 7th
Riley Jacobs '25
WMPSSDL Championship Meet Finish: 13th
respectively in the 55m hurdles. Chris
VISAA Division I All-State First Team:
VISAA Championship Meet Finish: 19th
Shorter '24 also placed 4th in the triple
Bryson Wilson '23
Evan Ingraham '25 broke the school record in
jump.
Championship meet, juniors Chris Shorter
the 200 IM and the 500 Free.
GIRLS BASKETBALL Final Record: 13-9 Final ISL A Division Standing: 2nd Final VISAA Standing: 12th Won the 27th Saints Invitational Girls
Alexandria Sportsman's Club Athlete of the Month: Evan Ingraham '25 VISAA All-State: Evan Ingraham '25 (500 Free)
WRESTLING Final Record: 4-8 IAC Tournament Finish: 3rd VISAA State Tournament Finish: 11th The Saints Wrestling program had four
Basketball tournament championship over
GIRLS SWIMMING
St. John Paul the Great and finished second
ISL Championship Meet Finish: 10th
wrestlers qualify for the National Prep
in the A Division of the ISL.
WMPSSDL Championship Meet Finish: 9th
Tournament, James Blackman '24,
ALL-ISL A Division: Belle Akeredolu '24,
VISAA Championship Meet Finish: 12th
Giorgio Corica '23, and Aidan Koch '24.
Nya Mason '23
Three school records were broken this
Alexandria Sportsman's Club Athlete of the
season:
Month: Giorgio Corica '23
Haley Lehman '25 broke the school record in
ALL-IAC: Giorgio Corica '23
the 200 free and the 500 free.
VISAA All-State: Josh Bauer '26,
The relay team of Lucy Perkins '26, CC
James Blackman '24, Giorgio Corica '23,
Jacobs '23, Elisabeth Carroll '25, and Haley
Aidan Koch '24
Lehman '25 broke the school record in the
Washington Post All-Met Honorable
200 freestyle relay.
Mention: James Blackman '24,
Alexandria Sportsman's Club Athlete of the
Giorgio Corica '23
ICE HOCKEY Final Record: 10-10-2 Final IAC Standing: 5th Final MAPHL A Division Standing: 2nd The Saints advanced to the MAPHL A Division Championship game against Gonzaga and played a great game, narrowly losing 3-4 in the final minute of the game. ALL-IAC: Trey Knott '24 MAPHL A Division Player of the Year: Trey Knott '24
30 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
Month: Haley Lehman '25 VISAA All-State: Haley Lehman '25 (200 Free & 500 Free) Washington Post All-Met Honorable Mention: Haley Lehman '25
state placers and also had three individual
TREY KNOTT '24
BELLE AKEREDOLU '24
GIRLS BASKETBALL SENIORS: LILLI BIONDI, RALEIGH SPEED, NYA MASON, LUCY PALMA
CHRIS SHORTER '24 AND TURNER MORE '23
CC JACOBS '23 AND KYLIE PAYNE '23
BRYSON WILSON '23
HALEY LEHMAN '25
COACH BRIAN FLEURY
GIORGIO CORICA '23 SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 31
Lucie
“Lucie brought her expertise, knowledge, and enthusiasm to bear in developing our path forward over the last 24 years. Her belief in what we wanted to accomplish and her total commitment to our dream has never wavered. We would not be where we are today without Lucie's contributions.” ~Stephen Rose, Rosemont Vineyards & Winery, La Crosse, Va. 32 AND ST. ST. AGNES AGNES 32 ST. ST. STEPHEN'S STEPHEN’S AND
Lucie holding a bottle of wine from Europe that has one percent of the Cunningham grape in it—a grape connected to her family that is now extinct in the United States. But Lucie has brought it home.
THE GRAPE SLEUTH Lucie Morton '68 BY ANDREA DAWSON As the camera follows Lucie Morton from an old Parisian vineyard to a wild cluster of roadside grapes on an island off the coast of Portugal, to her verdant family farm and vineyard on the banks of the Potomac River, one detail among many stands out: She is ardently curious. Squinting through a magnifier
after lecturer, and international
looked back. Or how, soon thereafter,
vineyard consultant, Lucie couldn't
she was accepted to the Cours
help but be drawn into a story Stéphan
Supérieur Internationale de Viticulture,
was hoping she could shed light on.
a premier graduate program, spanning five countries, under the sponsorship
COAXING COCA COLA FROM TABLE GRAPES
of the world-renowned viticulture
Dabbling in documentaries is
26, she translated a seminal work by
but one story in Lucie's quietly stellar career. At 72, she has many to share.
department at the agricultural university in Montpellier, France. At her Montpellier professor Pierre Galet, cementing her role at the time as one of the nation's only ampelographers (a specialist in identifying grapes by
to discern the delicate patterns on a grape leaf, she observes thoughtfully. Visiting with grape growers, vineyard owners, and even with a Frenchman seeking to identify a mysterious grape leaf prospering on his patio trellis, she listens intently. An internationally renowned viticulturist, she has more than earned the right to indulge in showmanship, but she is far too interested in dirtying her hands—that is to say, studying and solving the problems inherent in growing grapes. “I am a student of grapes,” she
Lucie visiting the vineyard of «The Azores Wine Company» on the island of Pico in the Azores archipelago. Photos in Portugal were taken by Stéphan Balay.
explains. “I just love the grapevine in all its forms.” The camera in question belongs to French documentary filmmaker Stéphan Balay. Having immersed herself in the complexities and curiosities of turning grapes into wine for the last 50 years, as a research collaborator, teacher, writer, sought-
Like how, after graduating from
their leaves). In the early 1990s, she
the University of Pennsylvania with a
predicted the demise of a popular
degree in History, she returned to her
Napa Valley rootstock to phylloxera, an
family farm—Morland—at her father's
insect that destroys vine roots. Later,
request, knowing next to nothing
she discovered a new rootstock disease
about wine, to “look into grapes,” as
altogether—black goo, as she named it.
she remembers him saying. She never
Based in Charlottesville, Lucie
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 33
Lucie photographing vine leaves in Portugal.
is a problem solver not afraid to challenge convention. She has
ST. AGNES BEGINNINGS My St. Agnes experience was a big factor in my intellectual development. Back then, my procrastination was legendary and I was an academic underachiever. A few key inspirational teachers and an all-girls situation helped keep me focused, intellectually stimulated, and able to take leadership positions in sports and student government perhaps more than a co-ed environment would have. I struggled with grammar, but I remember my Advanced French class took me into the world of French art and culture. When I got to the viticulture program in Montpellier and fell in love with grape vines, my French classes at SAS are what really provided an invaluable foundation. My time at St. Agnes also gave me the confidence to go into an environment with more men. The University of Pennsylvania was 20% women at the time, Oxford [where she subsequently explored 19th century Anglicanism] had almost no girls, and then I went on to Montepllier. It wasn't deliberate, but I welcomed going into a male environment.
encouraged her U.S.-based clients, for example, to plant vines closer together, the more traditional European approach. She views grape growing as equal parts science experiment and pure adventure. As a student in Europe, she gamely endured jokes about her plans to return home to Virginia and make wine from the popular juice and jelly grape, Concord. “Here is the Mademoiselle who will create coca cola from Vitis labrusca,” she recalls them teasing. “For me, wine is all about, 'Gosh, why does it taste this way? Where did the grapes grow? What are its roots like?'” she explains. “I am most interested in understanding the history, evolution, and diversity of grapes and the vines they grow on.” Not surprisingly, in 2018, when Stéphan wanted to interview Lucie for a documentary that would uncover the story behind the French government's ban, in 1934, of several American grapes, she was intrigued. That 2019 award-winning film—Vitis Prohibita—led to a second film collaboration with Stéphan, currently in the works, titled “Bon Voyage Vitis.” A precursor, of sorts, it follows Lucie across France, Madeira, the Azores, Missouri, New York, and her home state of Virginia as she explores how American grapes—many extinct and no longer grown in the United States—made the leap across the Atlantic to begin with. Like all good problem solvers and researchers, Lucie's involvement in Bon Voyage Vitis has illuminated far more than the story she set out to investigate. She came to learn that her own family history is closely entwined with the outlawed American grapes. And one in particular caught her attention: a 19th century French American varietal native to Virginia but extinct in the United States named Cunningham. In order to uncover its link to her family, she had to first understand its birth on American soil, its arrival and—later— repudiation in France, and why it vanished in the United States altogether. And what if, she mused, she could bring Cunningham back, returning a centuries old vine to its native soil?
34 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
“What Lucie is trying to do is so far out in front of everyone else. In her mind, not everything has to be chardonnay, merlot, or cabernet. She is always pushing the envelope for the future, always seeking the truth.” ~Jon Wehner, Chatham Vineyards & Winery, Machipongo, Va. THE FLOURISHING— AND VANISHING— CUNNINGHAM GRAPE Ever the history lover, Lucie revels in sharing what she has learned. She begins with the Tidewater region of Virginia in the early 1600s, when the only grapes growing were from wild, native vines. As European colonists began to arrive, they brought with them their own native grapes— Vitis vinifera—and planted them in America. The grape ferrying continued for more than 200 years. Maladapted to the American climate, these European vines slowly succumbed to a variety of fungal diseases and insects, like phylloxera. But not before they had a chance to pollinate. Wind sent the vinifera seeds into the forest to interbreed with the wild American vines, which were naturally disease resistant. In 1812, Jacob Cunningham, who happened to be the neighbor of one of Lucie's ancestors, noticed such a hybrid vine growing in his backyard in Farmville, Virginia, south of Richmond. Beside it sprouted another vine with noticeably larger, dark red grapes. Lucie's ancestor took a cutting to grow on his farm, calling it Cunningham. Not only did European vines travel to America; the disease-resistant
Lucie in Ilha do Pico, Pico Island, Portugal
American hybrids made their way
ban list, it became illegal to sell wine
back to Europe, and to islands along
made from it and other American-born
trade routes in between. “They hopped
grapes.
a boat, jumped off in the Azores, and were taken on to Europe,” Lucie
Not everyone listened. Local rebel farmers across France,
explains. Unfortunately, in the mid-
nonplussed by the order, continued
1850s, undetected phylloxera hopped
to cultivate them for personal
a ride, too. While the American vines
consumption. In the Cévennes
were impervious to its rampage, the
Mountains of central France, for
European vineyards were devastated.
example, they refused to rip out
Ironically, as many wine historians are
the vines they had so painstakingly
quoted as saying, in the problem was
planted and nurtured over decades.
the solution: Winemakers in Europe
“These were true grapes of resistance,”
began grafting their vines onto the
Lucie says.
disease-proof American rootstocks.
Despite their outlaw status, the
Crossbreeding also took place. The
defiant grapes continued to thrive
resulting healthy vines took hold.
in Europe. They were short-lived in
Thanks to Cunningham and
the United States, however. By 1900,
other American hybrid grapes, a
winegrowing in Virginia was moribund,
centuries-old European winemaking
and Cunningham disappeared. “There
tradition, which relied solely on fine
was no winegrowing culture to sustain
vinifera grapes, had been rescued. But
it,” Lucie says. “That was partly due
dissension was brewing, especially in
to Prohibition and partly due to the
France.
introduction of tobacco farming. The
“American vines were considered
minute tobacco came along, farmers
peasant vines. The wine was cheaper
were drinking whiskey and cider, not
to produce because the naturally
wine.”
disease-resistant hybrid vines were easier to grow,” explains Lucie. “They ran afoul of the establishment, whose main concern was saving the fine wine sector.” Overproduction was also a problem. In 1934, the French enacted a formal ban, ordering six American hybrids uprooted. Although Cunningham was not officially on the
HOMECOMING In 2006, France relented and lifted the ban. The American hybrid grapevines no longer have to be uprooted, but it remains illegal for the wine produced from them to be sold commercially. While rare across much SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 35
Lucie and Stéphan Balay in Charlottesville in March to continue filming “Bon Voyage Vitis.”
of Europe, Cunningham continues
and to the Foundation Plant Services
refuge for historic American hybrid
to grow, along with other American
at the University of California, Davis.
grapes, as she threads together the
grapes, like the popular Isabella. Back
I'm laying the groundwork,” she says
final pieces of the story. Of course, her
in Virginia, the matter of Cunningham's
with excitement.
ongoing consulting work with small
disappearance lingered in Lucie's mind.
First dibs also go to her nephew,
family estate wineries as well as larger
John Morton, who has taken over
organizations—and the ever-evolving
grape breeder Cliff Ambers, were
the nearly century-old family farm,
changes and challenges of growing
enjoying a prized bottle of 2017
Morland Farm & Vineyards. With
distinctive wine grapes—continue
Coteaux d'Aujac “Cuvée Cépages
Lucie's help, in 2020 he planted an
to energize her. Among her clients
Oubliés,” sent to her by Stéphan
acre of Chardonel and Chambourcin,
is fellow St. Agnes alumna Jane
(members of a “forgotten grape”
French-American hybrids, and restored
Kincheloe Wiles '73 and her son, Kirk,
association are gifted six bottles a
Morland's 1930s-era native vines—
owners of Paradise Springs Winery.
year). Pointing to the 1% Cunningham
Concord, Caco, and Niagara. Adding
With Lucie's oversight, they are
on the label, he encouraged her to
Cunningham, which she says will be
developing their second estate vineyard
track down the vine and bring the lost
suitable to many styles of wine, would
and winery site in Virginia.
variety back to Virginia.
be a triumphant conclusion to her
In 2018, she and her friend, the
A year later, she traveled to France,
transcontinental quest.
secured a cutting of the Cunningham rootstock, obtained the necessary USDA paperwork, and returned with it to the United States. That cutting is currently living in a greenhouse at Cornell University, undergoing strict quarantine protocols. Once
Mentoring young growers—and the new wines they will undoubtedly produce—energizes Lucie, too. In
THE NEXT CHAPTER
them, she experiences a back-to-
While Lucie awaits the
early years she spent toiling away at
Cunningham's release from quarantine, she has plenty to
the-future sensation, recalling the Morland, patiently experimenting with different varietals, enticing vines from finicky soil. “To turn this
released—within the next few years,
keep her busy. She is currently
she estimates—one of only two grape
wrapping up her third book, Grape
a new generation of winemakers
varieties native to Virginia will be
Rootstocks: From Earth to Wine. In
trained in oenology, that's exciting for
released, ready to grow and propagate
collaboration with Stéphan, she is
me,” she says. “My focus is to bring
once again.
also hard at work securing funding
Cunningham home, liberate it, sit
“I'm getting commercial nurseries
for the completion of Bon Voyage
back, and watch. And look forward to
lined up so once we have vines they can
Vitis. In the coming year, she plans
tasting those first bottles of homegrown
go to Missouri and New York, which
to visit Brazil, which has served as a
wine.”
have USDA germplasm repositories,
36 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
wonderful historic grape loose on
“I don't want to be a flying viticulturist, a personnage traveling the world and charging a lot of money. I love helping people save the family farm. I want to grow with a vineyard, work with its people, and be part of its changes.” ~Lucie Morton '68 Lucie and her assistant, Allegra Barnes, pruning vines at Lucie's home in Charlottesville. SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 37
Pitching and Tossing His Way to Success The Entrepreneurial Journey of Ben Johns '74 BY MELISSA ULSAKER MAAS '76
“If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss…”
Ben Johns chose these words
and co-founder of SCOUT—a company
from Rudyard Kipling's poem,
that sells trendy, durable, affordable,
“If,” to accompany his senior photos in the 1974 St. Stephen's yearbook. From this quote, one could conclude that at the young age of 18, Ben was already prepared to take risks for a gain and unafraid of starting over if necessary. He spent the early part of his life surrounded by boys and men at St. Stephen's School and Washington & Lee University, but today he is surrounded by women as the president
38 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
brightly colored bags, with a brand that's centered around a kooky wirehaired dachshund. Although SCOUT offers bags in stripes and patterns any man would feel comfortable carrying to the beach, men are not their target audience. None of this intimidated Ben or stopped him from pursuing a promising idea—he was willing to risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss…and some super cool bags.
Sitting in his SCOUT Office, Ben just happens to have his St. Agnes second grade photo at his fingertips and holds it up. “So, I'm the goofball on the right with the football and my tongue sticking out,” Ben grins. The Johns family were part of St. Stephen's and St. Agnes from very early in the school's history. His father, Ben Johns, Sr., was a science teacher at St. Stephen's from 1948 to 1958. He also coached football and tennis—and jumped in to help with other sports as needed. “I have a picture of him with what looks like the Bad News Bears football team,” Ben laughs. “They didn't even have matching helmets or face masks.” Ben's mom, Betty, ran the St. Agnes bookstore from 1970 to 1977, and although only Ben and his sister, Page Johns Sullivan '70,
Top photo: Ben Johns, Jr., in second grade on the far left; bottom photo: Ben's father coaching football at SSSAS.
graduated from SSSAS, but his brother Randy '82 and sister Elizabeth '71 also attended. Years later Ben's daughter, Gussie '14, would also become a Saint. In 1958 his father left SSSAS to teach at Episcopal High School, and the Johns lived there on the campus until 1989. Ben spent first and second grade at St. Agnes, before attending St. Stephen's which started in third grade. He thrived and as high school approached he wanted to stay, rather than go to Episcopal. “I sort of begged my dad,” Ben says. “Sleepy Thompson had been coaching me since third grade and it was one of my dreams to play for him— he's one of my heroes and he greatly impacted my life.” Ben was involved in school life, performing service through participation in the Red Key Club, serving as a Student Council representative all four years of high school, and working on the Scroll
Ben was also a three-sport athlete,
National Championships. He was also
yearbook staff in his junior and senior
playing football, tennis, and basketball.
the school's first tennis All American,
years. He fondly remembers Assistant
Although he was successful on the
National Doubles Champion and player
Headmaster Willis Wills, Lower School
football field—All IAC and All Met—
inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Principal Dick Babyak, Math Teacher
his aspiration was to play college
Marty Bamberger, Math Teacher
tennis. “My dad was a tennis coach at
at tennis camps, including two years
Henry Biddle, and French Teacher
Episcopal for over 15 years and they
working for well-known American
Rene Wenger. “I was probably his worst
named the IAC Tournament after
tennis coach Nick Bollitieri, who
French student, but I loved Mr. Wenger,”
him,” he says. Ben played tennis 4
brought his tennis camp to Episcopal.
Ben says. “He was a great guy. All those
years for Washington and Lee and
He also worked at Amherst College,
men often wore several hats and worked
led the team to back-to-back second
Gibson Island, and Belle Haven
hard to educate, coach, and shape us.”
place finishes in the NCAA DIII
Country Club. “I was playing a lot
During the summer, Ben worked
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 39
“When we got married, I went back to New York, Ben went back to Hot Springs. The longest we'd ever been together was on our honeymoon.” | Deb the defunct lumber-mill town of Bacova and turned his attention to refurbishing it. He opened a fiberglass screen printing company that put artist Grace Gilmore's wildlife designs on ice buckets, trays, tables, and the company's signature product, the Bacova rural mailbox. By the 1980s, Malcolm was looking to sell and Ben and fellow tennis pro Pat Haynes knew they didn't want to play tennis forever. They shared entrepreneurial ambitions they wanted to test off the tennis court. Ben and Pat bought Bacova in 1981, which at that time had 20 employees and sales of $500,000 per year. In 1996 their annual sales were around $50 million and they sold the company to Burlington Industries. “The sale gave us the opportunity to exit the company,” Ben says. “But I'm really most proud of the fact that we Gussie Johns '14, who played lacrosse for SSSAS, was the goalie on the US Women's Lacrosse team that won the gold medal to the 2017 World Cup. Her whole family was there to support her. Left to right: Ben, Deb, Bo, Tucker, Gussie, and Gibson.
created 500 new jobs in a very rural area of Virginia that had previously boasted the highest unemployment rate in the state.” And now, ironically, they do all of the fulfillment for SCOUT.
of tennis and I liked to teach—that
what he wanted next. He taught tennis
teaching gene runs through my family,”
at the University Club in Memphis,
Ben says. “My sister was an art teacher,
Tenn., and the Homestead in Hot
my other sister married a head of
Springs, Va. While he was at the
school, and my brother is a golf pro at
Homestead, fate brought him together
River Bend Country Club.”
with one of his tennis students, Malcolm Hirsh, who led him into the
The Journey to SCOUT Begins
next phase of his life, screen printing and manufacturing.
Ben left W&L with a bachelor's in
Malcolm was from a wealthy Far
commerce, business administration,
Hills, N.J. family who spent their
and management, but continued
summers on their farm in rural Bath
teaching tennis while he figured out
County, Va. In 1957, he bought
40 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
A Dynamic Duo After buying Bacova, Ben went to his first trade show in New York City, where he met Deb Waterman. A graduate of Cornell with a degree in textiles, Deb had landed a job with Vogue as an assistant fabric editor in a city she dearly loves. They dated long distance for five years. Deb recalls that the longest period of time they spent together was on their honeymoon. A match made in heaven? According to
“Deb's incredible energy and talent continues to raise the bar of excellence for our business and family. ”
| Ben Ben they are “polar opposites” and Deb
world of design, but there are so many
the bag was for sale,” Deb recalls. “He
incredible people here making change
said, 'Yeah, but it's just ugly.' I said,
in the world, and that's what our kids
'It's not pretty, but I still want it.' And
have been exposed to.” Those weekends
he said, 'It's like $450.' But I insisted I
they spent together resulted in four
wanted the bag.”
children, three boys and a girl—but
In the midst of an “aha” moment,
Ben says, “Deb's incredible energy and
Deb told Ben about the bags and
talent continues to raise the bar of
the wheels started turning. “Trend
excellence for our business and family.
in the world of fashion starts at
She is truly a unique creative force
the top and the bottom and meets
who inspires the people around her,
in the middle,” Deb explains. “We
accomplishing more in a day than I do
had an opportunity to create our
in a week.”
own bags, and make them prettier
says, “Someone asked me years ago
Deb served on two international
and make them more dynamic.”
if Ben and I agreed on things. I said
color boards and worked in color and
Neither Ben nor Deb had dreamed
'Nothing little, everything big.' And
trend forecasting for notable fashion
of working together, because they
that's the truth.” If Deb hadn't met Ben,
designers and brands. In D.C., she was
had always heard it's best not to start
she would have lived her whole life in
doing pop-ups at their pool house for
a business with your spouse. But in
New York. She has the same vibrancy
women in Washington, selling jewelry
this case, being at opposite ends of
and energy as the city she adores, and
made by her former boss at Vogue.
the spectrum worked. They clearly
her creativity is electric, zinging out of
“I started bringing things back from
respect and admire each other's
every pore.
my trips,” Deb says. “I had sold some
abilities. “I really wanted to build
For the next 15 years Ben and Deb
very inexpensive bags that I found
a business around Deb's creative
only saw each other on the weekends,
on Canal Street in New York. They
talents,” Ben says. “She had worked
because he was still growing his
cost me $3.25. They were huge, they
with and for designers her whole life.
business in rural Virginia and she was
smelled terrible, but they held a lot of
We knew if we could find the right
back and forth between New York and
stuff. All of my friends were knee-deep
product that we could work together,
Washington, D.C. “I'm very grateful
in kids and work and needed big bags.
with her on the creative side and
to have moved to D.C. to raise kids, I
I sold them all within two hours for
me on the business side. In those
think that Washington is a much more
$20 each.” On a trip to Milan, she saw
circumstances, we thought we could
balanced world,” Deb says. “It's not
a bag out of the corner of her eye that
build a business and, hopefully, be
nearly as inspiring if you are in the
was intriguing. “I went into this very
able to stay married!”
well-known designer store and asked if SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 41
“We both get such joy out of working with young people, mentoring and teaching them. If we're not laughing every day, then it's not a day at SCOUT.”
| Ben
a little unexpected. Dachshunds are
customers range in ages and stages
determined, strong, and focused, just
from kids to college students, to moms,
like our brand is, so we thought why
nurses, and teachers.
not name the company after Scout.” Since launching SCOUT in 2004,
SCOUT has grown into an omnichannel brand selling through
Ben and Deb have discovered they
five channels of distribution, primarily
work well together and like their family
to over 1500 Specialty stores and
life at home, they have created a happy,
online through their ecommerce site
positive vibe at SCOUT. “We both get
and Amazon. They spend a lot of time
such joy out of working with young
focusing on who their customers are,
people, mentoring and teaching them,”
meeting their needs, and marketing
Ben says. “If we're not laughing every
to them through multiple channels.
day, then it's not a day at SCOUT.”
Social media became particularly
Their strategy to divide and conquer
important during the pandemic. SCOUT
has not only been successful, it's gotten
has a community of followers whose
better over time as their roles have
comments confirm the popularity of
become more defined and the staff
the bags, give insight into things they
has expanded to 40—36 women and
are looking for in a bag, and ask for
Deb had always wanted to name a
four men. “It takes a brave male to be
recommendations about which bags they
daughter Scout, after her favorite literary
with all these females,” Deb says with a
need. SCOUT's creative team constantly
character from “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
sparkle in her eye.
produces new on trend content to meet
This is Scout, the company's adorable namesake.
Who Is Scout, Anyway?
Then three months before she had
What sets SCOUT bags apart from
the needs of their loyal targeted customer
their fourth child and only girl, Demi
their competition? They are lightweight
base. “It's very important that we
Moore beat her to the punch. Deb and
and durable, they are wipeable and
continue to look where people are tuning
Ben called their daughter Gussie and
washable, and they are fashionable
in and where they're not as interested
decided to get a dog and name it Scout.
while being really functional—they fold
and adjust accordingly,” Deb says.
Deb had grown up with Dachshunds
completely flat to store easily. “They're
“From the conception of the product to
and really missed having one. Scout
not designed to be fancy schmancy, but
the time it goes out the door, it's very
was a crazy wirehaired Doxie that Deb
they're designed to bring some color
important that it stay authentically the
swears was part otter. “He was one of
and some fun and some pattern into
voice of SCOUT. And that's certainly a
the funniest dogs—really a curmudgeon,
your daily life,” Deb says. They sell
team voice, not just mine.” That voice
but so funny,” Deb laughs. “When we
large and small totes, coolers, lunch
is consistent and it's fun. Scout doesn't
were looking for a brand name, we
boxes, duffels, travel bags, storage
use professional models for their photo
wanted something a little irreverent,
bins and fashion accessories. Their
shoots, they use staff, friends, and
42 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
family. Deb and Ben celebrate the many
insurance wasn't on the same level
the fight against breast cancer year-
different talents and abilities of their
as Bo's. Ben and Deb heard about a
round. Each time a customer purchases
employees, which adds value to their
small discretionary fund the social
their pink check “Victoria Checkham”
social media and brand. “The key to our
workers at the hospital had access to
pattern, a portion of the proceeds are
success is our people,” Ben says. “At the
for families who were struggling, which
donated by Scout's Pink Check Fund to
end of the day, it's always about having
had never had more than $1,000 in it.
the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
the right people sitting in the right seats
Determined to help, they sent letters
on the bus.”
to 1,200 people telling them Bo's story
number of families—their biological
and asking for donations to honor him
family, a family of friends, a work family,
Ben and Deb Johns have created a
Deb and Ben with the SCOUT team at the Go Bo Wild Wild West party.
Giving Back
in his fight. The money started pouring
and the Go Bo Fund family. They
In the middle of an already hectic
in and the donations motivated Bo
didn't have to be alike in character or
existence, balancing raising their family
and kept him feeling positive through
be with each other every day of their
with work and business trips, life threw
treatment and remission.
marriage to have fulfilling lives and a
Ben and Deb a huge curve ball. At the
During the past 18 years, the Johns
strong relationship. In fact, building
age of 11, their son Bo was diagnosed
have put about three quarters of a
Scout together has been proof that when
with large B cell lymphoma, discovered
million dollars through the Go Bo Fund,
opposites do attract, they can make very
during a routine tonsillectomy. They felt
trying each year to raise $50,000 to
strong and successful business partners.
so fortunate to be living in Georgetown
$75,000 for the Georgetown MedStar
Their advice for anyone wanting to start
near the best possible pediatric care, and
University Hospital Emergency
their own business? “Love what you do,
very lucky to have incredible support
Family Relief Fund. Their fundraising
because any entrepreneurial situation
from their family, neighbors, and friends.
efforts include the annual Go Bo Go
is going to be more work than you ever
While Bo had everything he needed,
Party, a real celebration of life. They
imagined!” And if you take a risk and
they realized many of the children in
always choose a different theme with
lose, just be prepared to start again at
the ward were not so lucky. Family and
coordinating decorations and food and
your beginnings.
friends didn't live nearby and their
attend in costumes. Scout also supports
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 43
Francoise Marvel '99 and Corrie co-founders, Seth Martin and Matthias Lee Photo by Geordie Wood
Matters of the
HEART
Dr. Francoise Marvel '99 is changing lives with innovative technology
BY JESSICA YARMOSKY
Medicine is a vast, ever-changing field. The first physician probably practiced over 6,000 years ago, according to
medicine—than Dr. Francoise Marvel. On any given day, Francoise wears different
ancient records. And for probably just as long, a debate has
hats—several of them. She serves patients as a
smoldered about whether the practice of medicine is pure
cardiologist as part of the Johns Hopkins Hospital
science—medical professionals applying deeply-learned
in Baltimore, Maryland, and core faculty of the
knowledge over and over; or whether it's an art, requiring
Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention
deep intuition and a sense that every patient requires
of Cardiovascular Disease caring for people with
different things from their doctors. The answer, as many
cardiovascular disease and genetic lipid disorders. As
medical professionals will probably tell you, appears to
an assistant professor, she also guides Johns Hopkins
be both. And perhaps no doctor better exemplifies that
University School of Medicine medical students, and
combination—of a vast knowledge base honed over many
medical interns, medical residents, and fellows as
years, and an individualized, intuitive, artistic approach to
they learn the science—and art—of cardiology. Those
44 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
two jobs would be enough for many, but
when she thought she might make a
and rigorous academics for a reason…
Francoise, as it may become clear, isn't
successful OBGYN. But along the way,
Those tough days were just preparing me
“many.” There's her work with the John
thanks to a family member's health
to be an incredibly productive person, a
Hopkins Digital Health Innovation
issues, months spent seeking answers,
contributor.”
Lab, which she helped start and now
and a drive to make life for all patients
co-directs. The question the lab tries to
easier—Francoise had what can only be
answer is simple: how can technology—
(appropriately) described as a change of
smartphone apps, wearable devices,
heart.
machine learning—help patients get better care and achieve better health?
A DIGITAL SPACE IN PUBLIC HEALTH In her current roles, Francoise makes thousands of micro-decisions a day,
LONG DAYS AND RIGOROUS ACADEMICS
To find answers, Francoise and a team
quickly and with confidence. That's a trait she's been honing for decades, so
of cardiologists, fellows, graduate
The foundation of Francoise's career,
it's no surprise that when she graduated
students, nurses, PhD.s, and premedical
of course, began when she started at
from SSSAS she knew without question
undergraduate students—pore over
St. Stephen's and St. Agnes in eighth
that she wanted to study pre-med.
studies and clinical trials, collaborating
grade. She credits her parents, Yvonne
Francoise says she evaluated other
with groups like the American Heart
and Hynson Marvel II, for giving her the
schools, but was drawn to the University
Association and the American College of
opportunity to attend the school. Her
of Virginia's mission, campus, and what
Cardiology.
five years there gave her the character,
she considered to be the best pre-med
knowledge base, and skill set to “be
training opportunity. She was also
patients or engaging in digital health
And when she's not taking care of
someone who was eager to be a leader
inspired by Saints alumni: “I loved how
innovation, Francoise spends the
and make change in the world,” she
many of my classmates and alumni, who
majority of the rest of her professional
says. “And I know that's a pretty bold
I was very impressed with, were there,”
time within the tech innovation and
statement to make,” she adds. “But I
she says. “I wanted to follow in their
entrepreneurial space. She co-chairs
think that's what St. Stephen's and St.
footsteps.”
the American College of Cardiology
Agnes is known for.”
Entrepreneurial Work Group and
SSSAS pushed her to be well-
The University of Virginia brought four years of intensive pre-med training
serves on the National American Heart
rounded—meeting high academic
and opened Francoise's eyes to the
Association Atrial Fibrillation System of
standards and also excelling on the
appeal, and potential, of the digital
Care Group Advisory Board. Francoise
lacrosse field and basketball court. “I
health space. And it inspired her to
also is engaged in disseminating the
could fill a day with everything from
take some time before going straight to
tech innovation to a broader global
learning across multiple subjects, to
medical school. “I was very interested in
community through her role as
training my body and my mind, to
getting involved in what was happening
American Heart Association's Section
networking and being part of a class
in the digital space,” she says, “but
Editor for Digital Health for the Journal
of people who were headed off to do
also from a public health epidemiology
of the American Heart Association.
wonderful things,” she says. She says
standpoint.” That interest brought her
She helps these groups innovate
her teachers and coaches, namely Kevin
to the University of Miami's department
around health technology, figure out how
Handel, Kathy Jenkins, and Bernadette
of Public Health and Epidemiology,
to scale helpful products, and partner
Kozlowsi, inspired her academically and
which at the time, was a leader in
with organizations and entrepreneurs to
athletically. (Kozlowski once allowed
the burgeoning digital health space.
bring health technology to the next level.
her to dissect a rabbit, rather than a
This was the early 2000s. At the time,
On top of all that, she's the co-founder
smaller fetal pig, because Francoise
smartphones didn't exist as we know
of Corrie Health, Inc., which makes an
wanted to explore anatomy more deeply
them— clinicians used personal digital
evidenced-based digital health platform
than a fetal pig would have allowed.)
assistants (PDAs), which were akin to
co-designed with Apple that has been
Classmates Katie Musser, Stephanie
small, handheld computers. For four
shown to improve patient outcomes and
Cheng, Stephanie Beyer, Caroline
years, Francoise worked on delivering
engagement after medical events like
Bellino, Summer Crabtree, and Regina
protocols for clinicians that could be
heart attacks.
Kline gave her support and friendship.
delivered at scale through PDAs, to
We'd all forgive her for being
And she credits SSSAS—where she took
help with adolescent health outcomes
exhausted, but Francoise seems
on several endeavors simultaneously—
in high-risk, low-income, minority
anything but. She is chipper, sharp, and
with her drive to succeed in challenging
communities. These communities tend
downright funny.
circumstances. “Some people say, 'You
to have poorer health outcomes, and
started a company during residency?'
Francoise's work with PDAs was meant
none of this seemed like it was ever
The answer is yes,” she laughs. “But I feel
to help bridge that digital divide. She
going to happen. A time when cardiology
like that's something [SSSAS] expected
says her time in Miami, during which
wasn't even on Francoise's radar. A time
from the beginning. You had long days
she worked on several national and
And to think there was a time when
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 45
of making it was incredible. “The
But after four years, she was ready to
experience of working with engineers,
apply to medical school, and wanted
coming up with something and realizing
to join the most tech-forward program
that if you work hard enough and get
possible.
the right people involved, you can get to that end result,” she says, “and design
MADRUGA AND MARVEL'S BLACK BOOK
something that helps other people, is incredible.” Those other people
That program turned out to be on the
who got the immediate benefit of the
opposite end of Florida, at Florida State
app? Francoise's fellow med students,
University in Tallahassee. Francoise
who used it regularly. “It was a great
wanted to train at a place that relied on
experience, and I learned a lot doing it,”
the latest technological advances. And
she says.
“
I realized I could be applying my passion and my interest for health technologies to empowering and engaging the patient at their bedside.
“
international projects, was fascinating.
FSU, it turned out, was the first program of its kind to train future doctors on
“ALL OF A SUDDEN, MY DAD IS A PATIENT”
touch-screen devices. “You could read, you could do different activities on it,”
By July 2012, Francoise's career path
Francoise says. “I thought that was so
seemed to be shaping up nicely. She had
cool and forward thinking.” She went
years of experience in public health, an
to Tallahassee ready to take on the
M.D., and an app under her belt. Then,
challenges of medical school—and then
it was off to Georgetown University in
some.
Washington, D.C., to begin a post-grad
It was at FSU that Francoise
year in the Obstetrics Department.
developed what would become her first
There, she worked across three different
app. The idea was simple. While in
hospitals and in the subspecialties
training, medical students often carried
of ultrasound and reproductive
around little black books, where they'd
endocrinology. But during that year,
take notes on cases, and then refer to
something profound happened. Her
those notes when treating patients. The
father became ill and was diagnosed
problem? “Doctors are really famous for
with cardiovascular disease.
having chicken-scratch handwriting,”
His diagnosis would upend
Francoise laughs. “A lot of times, I'd
Francoise's life—and her career plans.
look at the notes and be like, Gosh, I can
After her Georgetown post-grad year
barely make this out. I hope I'm applying
came to an end, it was no longer
this right.” Francoise thought there
obstetrics she had on the brain, it was
may be a solution in something that
cardiology. She decided to enter John
had hit the market just a couple years
Hopkins Bayview Hospital's internal
before—the smartphone. “I thought,
medicine residency program even
'Well, I have my phone here,'” she says.
though that meant redoing her intern
“Why isn't there something where I
year, often known as the most brutal
could just look it up?” The wheels kept
year of residency. (She would later go
turning. “Why am I using my own notes?
on to complete a three-year cardiology
What if I had the attending's notes? The
fellowship, receiving the highest quality
program director's notes?” she wondered,
training in the field.)
referring to the higher-level medical staff she was learning from.
Francoise's father became a patient at Johns Hopkins Hospital, one of the
Those questions culminated in an
hospitals in which Francoise completed
app called Madruga and Marvel's Black
rotations in Internal Medicine training.
Book, named for her and the program
Residency is notoriously tough, but
director, Dr. Mario Marduga, with
her father's diagnosis proved an added
whom she worked to develop it. The
challenge for Francoise. “I'm learning
app is a guideline to clinical “pearls”—
to become a doctor, and taking care
those nuggets of medical wisdom
of patients,” she says, “and all of a
that get handed down from trainer to
sudden, my dad is a patient.” After
trainee—and Francoise says the process
doing normal intern duties like rounds,
46 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
Francoise would go straight to her father's bedside—which came with a stark recognition. “I realized for the first time that I hadn't really understood what it was like to be a patient,” she says. The amount of information her father received was overwhelming, even though, Francoise notes, he was smart and had attained a high level of education. The solution came to her “like a lightning bolt,” Francoise says. “I realized I could be applying my passion and my interest for health technologies to empowering and engaging the patient at their bedside.” Too often, patients—especially those with complex cases—feel powerless and lack the broad medical knowledge base that can help them make informed medical decisions, and keep themselves healthy and out of the hospital. “I thought it would be powerful to give patients the tools they need to help them understand what they're going through in the hospital, and what their health condition is,” she says. “How to recover from something, what medications do, how to take their own vitals—and what do those even mean?” And that's how Corrie began.
BUILDING UNDERSTANDING Co-founded with another Johns Hopkins cardiologist Dr. Seth Martin, M.D. M.H.S. and engineer Dr. Matthias Lee, Ph.D., Corrie's mission is to improve
Photo by Ryan Demo
Photo by Jessica Yurinko
patient and clinician engagement and
event, and delivers it to the patient
stroke in the U.S. And Francoise hopes
experience using health technology.
at the right time, when they're ready
that the impact of Corrie will someday
Put simply, Corrie's app helps patients
to take back control of their health.
touch patients who've experienced a
improve their health after they leave
Corrie connects to smart watches and
wide variety of medical issues and also
the hospital following a major cardiac
blood pressure monitors, and can track
help address cardiovascular risks, like
event, like a heart attack. Francoise was
patient's vitals and physical activities.
high cholesterol, before they lead to a
inspired not only by her father, but by
It reminds patients to take medications
health condition like a heart attack or
a slate of her own patients, who were
and about upcoming appointments. And
stroke, this is something called primary
often confused by what to do when
it also provides informational videos on
cardiovascular prevention. “The concept
they returned home from the hospital.
what heart disease is and the importance
is universal,” she says. “We want to help
She spoke of one patient, who had
of small lifestyle changes. Francoise
patients better engage with their health
underlying coronary artery disease,
mentions another patient, a young
experience and their understanding,
which resulted in a heart attack. In
man who was recovering from a heart
while managing a newly-diagnosed or
the hospital, medical professionals are
attack. “He said, Dr. Marvel, I was given
chronic health condition. We can do
extremely adept at treating patients
instructions, but not understanding,”
better.”
after heart attacks— “We're very good
she says. “And the difference between
at getting the issue addressed, even if it
Corrie and the current standard of care
study, patients who used Corrie had a
requires surgical intervention,” she says.
is that we can give plenty of instructions.
10 percent absolute lower risk of being
“We're exceptional at getting that done
But if we're really trying to change and
readmitted to the hospital within 30 days
effectively, and then getting necessary
improve people's lives, we've got to build
than patients who didn't use the app.
medication started while patients are
that understanding.”
And doing better, they are. In a recent
Francoise's days are filled with
in the hospital.” But where breakdowns
Currently, Corrie helps patients
not only the exciting discoveries that
in care start to occur is when patients
with coronary artery disease and is also
come with leading a burgeoning tech
are ready to be discharged. “The
testing a virtual cardiac rehab model,
company, but also the sometimes rote
patient who's leaving is getting a stack
which Francoise says is exciting. “We
tasks that come with being a dedicated
of paperwork,” she says. “He's super
started with just heart attack patients,
medical provider. If there's one thing she
confused about what he's supposed to
and we have now expanded so we can
wants people to know about her field, it's
do. He thought he came in with chest
serve more populations,” she says.
that innovative technology can change
pain after being what he considered to
That means people with heart failure
lives. “If you're a patient and you're
be healthy. And now he's leaving with
and those who have undergone cardiac
experiencing a health condition that you
three appointments, eight medications,
transplants and bypass surgery. And
want to manage better, technology has
and some sort of stent in his heart. He's
Francoise plans to expand Corrie
a role,” she says. “If you're a clinician
not sure what to do.”
to outside the heart unit, too. “We
and trying to figure out if you're doing as
absolutely see this growing beyond
you should…technology has a role there,
app takes decades of research and
cardiology,” she says. Corrie is currently
too.” If medicine is both a science and an
expertise around how to best care for
launching a clinical trial to study atrial
art, Dr. Francoise Marvel excels in both.
people after they've had a cardiovascular
fibrillation, the number one cause of
That's where Corrie comes in. The
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 47
RUDY LOPEZ '96, MICHELLE LOPEZ '88, AND AILEEN LOPEZ PUGH '85 AT MICHELLE'S “BALLASTS AND BARRICADES” EXHIBIT
BRINGING CREATIVITY INTO COMMUNITY Michelle Lopez '88 and Rudy Lopez '96 are siblings, business partners, and professors. BY NATHAN PUGH '17
48 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
There are surreal moments of adulthood when you realize that family members exist in spaces completely outside of your own. For me, this is especially true when I've been able to see my aunt and uncle in their professional settings. To this day, I still refer to the duo as “Tita Bunny” and “Tito Rudy,” respectively (the words tito/tita are Tagalog words for family, and “Bunny” is a childhood nickname for my aunt). However, when I visited my “Tita Bunny” in Philadelphia in 2021, I wasn't just with the aunt who took me to see “Ratatouille” as a child. I was witnessing the performance art piece “Keep Their Heads Ringin' II” by Michelle Lopez: interdisciplinary sculptor, installation artist, and Associate Professor of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania. Similarly, when I attended the SSSAS Upper School for Academic Convocation this past February, I wasn't there to hear “Tito Rudy,” the uncle who'd make me the best birthday mixes on CDs. I was there to hear the speech of Rudy Lopez:
For Michelle, working with MFA
study in Cambridge in senior year; and
artists at the University of Pennsylvania's
John Palmer, who once called her mom
Weitzman School of Design features
to encourage her to keep acting after
long-form critiques by fellow artists and
performing a skit in class. Mr. Palmer
colleagues. She says that creating a space
also helped Michelle become a photo
to sustain those interrogations is vital.
editor for the yearbook and develop a
“I think one of the things I'm interested
photography club, activities she credits
in is, 'Where is the risk in the work?'
with developing her artistic eye.
Sometimes that risk is about you being
exchange with Roger Barbee, his ninth
That honesty, being vulnerable… you
grade English teacher, and a dean of
have to develop a community that feels
students. While discussing having to live
safe, so it's a negotiation of, 'Do people feel safe? Do people feel safe to be seen and to take those kinds of risks?'” Although Michelle Lopez and Rudy Lopez have different careers in different industries, they're united by more than just family. Both are passionate about bringing creativity into their local communities, and both merge creative and educational practices together to help students better understand the world around them.
My family is one of the few Asian American families with a relationship with SSSAS that stretches across generations.
teacher, DJ, designer, and Assistant
My grandparents, Ruena Hernando
Professor at Virginia Commonwealth
and Rodolfo Lopez, immigrated to North
University.
America from the Philippines in the
It was thrilling to watch my aunt and
mid-1960s to work in the medical field.
uncle in their element—Michelle guiding
After the Marcos dictatorship disrupted
graduate students, friends, and anyone
plans to return to the Philippines, the
on the street through a conceptual
family settled into Virginia in the 1970s,
art piece that paraded through Philly
and sent all three children to SSSAS. My
historical sites, Rudy encouraging high
mother, Aileen Lopez Pugh, graduated
school students to balance academic
from St. Agnes in 1985; Michelle
achievement with personal growth. I
graduated next in 1988. Rudy uniquely
could see how the kindness they showed
attended three different versions of the
to me personally was also present in the
school: the co-ed elementary St. Agnes
roles as professors dedicated to creating
through second grade, the boys' school
and understanding art.
St. Stephen's until seventh grade, and
As a part of VCUarts' Department
then the merged St. Stephen's & St.
of Fashion Design + Marketing, Rudy
Agnes School through graduation in
says that he sees his academic work in
1996.
fashion and trend forecasting as a true
Both Michelle and Rudy say they
collaboration with his students. “I rely
developed close-knit friend groups that
on the students not just for perspectives,
they're still in touch with today. Both
but just to see what they're into. It could
also had teachers who had deep impacts
be everything from slang to fashion
on the way they understood themselves.
to music. That all translates into the
Rudy vividly remembers a classroom
seen as an artist, or as an individual.
Michelle recalls two English teachers:
fashion pieces I'm putting out and the
Suzanne Babcock, who helped run the
research that I'm doing.”
Madingley program which allowed her to
Michelle and Rudy at his SSSAS Commencement in 1996.
up to expectations of older siblings, Mr. Barbee turned to him and said, “Isn't that right, Rudy?” “He saw me,” Rudy says. “I was kind of floored, because that wasn't a realization for me yet.” Other elements of identity factored into Michelle and Rudy's time at school. Being Filipino American during that time was a challenging experience for both siblings, especially while attending schools with a majority white student body. “I was just trying to blend in,” Michelle says. “It was more of an erasure, I didn't try to claim any kind of ethnic identity at that time, it was just
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 49
“In the beginning [of my career], I was trying to make art that was in dialogue with an international scene. Now, I’m just trying to claim more space of who I am (being brown), in ways that feel slightly uncomfortable, because it is uncomfortable! Uncomfortable for me, because that’s not how I was conditioned, but I think with this new kind of climate, it does feel like an imperative.” ~MICHELLE
wanting to be like everyone else.” Rudy remembers being ridiculed on the playground of Fort Ward Park for having “dirty knees,” and running to shower them in order to look like everyone else. At the same time, the dress code of St. Stephens also led him to be more curious about how to stand out with fashion; to not look like everyone else. “There was a weird duality—and that's fashion as well—wanting to be accepted by a particular group but also standing out,” Rudy says. “When we talk about assimilation, there's all of these weird influences and driving forces for an impressionable youth.”
All three Lopez siblings would go onto vastly different journeys after their times at SSSAS. Aileen went to the University of Virginia and would go on to become the CFO of Telebank in the 1990s before it was bought by E-Trade. She'd also raise me and my triplet siblings. Michelle would double major in art history and literature at Barnard. Attending galleries across New York City confirmed Michelle's passion for visual art, and she got an MFA from the School of Visual Arts, New York. On a trip to visit Michelle in New York City, Rudy volunteered at his sister's fashion collective (the Organization for 50 AND ST. ST. AGNES AGNES 50 ST. ST. STEPHEN'S STEPHEN’S AND
“Blue Angel” | Michelle Lopez '88
Returning Fashion Interest), helping
Michelle found on a cross-country
prep garments, model sheets, and hang
road trip, esses is best known for
racks. The energy and excitement of the
their band-aid rings. The rings
event ignited his interest in fashion, and
made out of sterling silver or gold
went on to get a bachelor's in fashion
fashioned to look like band-aids
merchandising from VCU's School of the
wrapped around your fingers,
Arts. Rudy credits the influence of both
yet still function as wearable art.
of his sisters on his career path. “Aileen
Rudy describes wearing the ring
was very much a business, analytical,
as a potential “healing process,” to
banking career, where Michelle was the
externally embody pain that can
exact opposite,” he states. “So my path
often be internal.
was both worlds.” Michelle's sculptures and
Bandaid ring from Michelle and Rudy's company, esses.
Michelle agrees. “People have this moment where the ring touches
installations have been both structurally
them in a way,” she explains.
bold and experientially evocative. In
“They're going through some kind
“Boy” (1999), she covered a full-scale
of pain, symbolic pain, and they
1970s Honda in animal leather; in
buy the rings as if it's this protector
“Blue Angel” (2012), a piece of crinkled
if they're going through loss, or
aluminum around ten feet tall leans
grief. If they're going through a
against a wall, signifying the wreckage
divorce, they remove their wedding
of airplanes in the wake of 9/11. Curator
ring and get a band-aid ring.”
Alex Klein notes in the book “Michelle Lopez: Ballasts & Barricades” that “In Lopez's hands, signifiers of power and authority—whether a flag or a piece of heavy metal scaffolding—become physically limp, rusted, crumpled, and deflated, suggesting that they are not as immutable as we first might imagine.” Michelle tells me that her artistic practice is often a reaction to those feelings of self-erasure she felt growing up, and continues to feel as a Filipina woman. “[My work] has also been dealing with the trauma of invisibility. How a suspended sculpture in a room can embody a kind of violence—one that's hovering there and abject, subversively silent,” she says. Rudy had a variety of jobs related to fashion merchandising before becoming a VCU professor. He co-owned, planned, and designed the streetwear/sneaker boutique Henry in Richmond, and also managed the store Need Supply Co. With his wife Megan Lopez, he created the teen styling company High Prospect which eventually evolved into a childrenswear company. A project that Rudy is very proud of, one continuing to this day, is esses. It's an independent ring company which he co-founded with Michelle in 2011 (he serves as the director, she serves as the designer). Named after a cursive sign
Both Michelle and Rudy have continued to grow their families over time. Michelle has a son who's currently in the tenth grade; Rudy has two sons, one in the third grade, one born this past December. The past few years have been prolific for both siblings. Michelle was awarded the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in May of 2019. In the same year, she opened the exhibit “Ballasts & Barricades” at Philadelphia's Institute of Contemporary Fine Art (ICA), one of her largest and most ambitious works to date. A site-specific installation taking full advantage of the ICA's 30-foot high ceilings, “Ballasts & Barricades” uses the fragment of a building to act as a counterweight to support a collapsing scaffolding system. As Michelle has continued her work as a professor, she's been intrigued by the idea of creating experiences, not just objects. “I think about the way that Mr. Palmer saw that drama kid in me,” she says. “I'm always trying to figure out how I'm performing, how I can perform things through
space. [“Ballasts & Barricades”] was about performing these gestures in space.”
Since 2017, Rudy has been teaching the class Fashion Forecasting at VCU. Despite the title of the class, Rudy makes sure students develop a historical understanding of cultural trends and societal changes. “Forecasting is identifying what's going out there in the real world, identifying the zeitgeist, identifying what's driving consumer behavior,” he explains. “It's not necessarily just fashion. What are the cultural changes? How is society shifting?” For students, the class may be radically different from what they're used to academically, since the class depends on developing and arguing for their perspectives. “It's unlike any other class my students take. It's much more conceptual thinking, a lot of it opinionbased,” he says. For Michelle and Rudy, the past few years have been both difficult and rewarding as they notice the cultural shifts impacting their industries as well as communities. Michelle points to 2020, a pandemic year when both protests occurred over the murder of George Floyd and also anti-Asian hate crimes were on the rise, a turning point in her understanding of identity. “I'm sure so many minorities felt this, but after George Floyd, I felt an extreme
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 51
“One of my goals within our department is building a stronger community— through fashion, through events, through art. My research and the work and the events I'm doing all directly tie into the students, because when there's a stronger community, there's stronger work done and better work created. ” ~RUDY
Rudy teaching at Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Arts amount of rage from all of my collective
but I think with this new kind of
experiences of being a minority,” she
climate, it does feel like an imperative.”
says. “That doesn't always come in the
Rudy says that the way he's
work, but I feel like now it's a priority for
approached his Fashion Forecasting
same struggles he went through growing
me, being more honest about who I am.”
class has shifted over the six years he's
up as an Asian American are still being
You can see this honesty in works
taught it. He's also felt like the way he
experienced by Asian American students
like the performance art piece I attended
brings his Filipino identity into his
today. Rudy and Michelle feel it is
in 2021, “Keep Their Heads Ringin'
career has changed. “Being younger I
important to speak up about the work the
II.” Michelle led a free walking tour
wanted to create something that other
school is doing, and the work that still
of Philadelphia's Independence Park,
people would like, it was never about
needs to be done.
featuring hundreds of people playing her
self identity or telling people who I am,
audio installation “Keep Their Heads
but I guess in an indirect way it is,” he
Ringin'” on speakers and phones. The
explains. “If I'm thinking about recent
audio featured ringings of a clock tower
projects, I think working at VCU and
bell as well as the words “ching-chong”
becoming a professor, working more in
and “ding-dong” repeated ad nauseam
research, there is a lot more thought in
near the site of the historic Liberty
things conceptually.”
Bell. The effect resembled a protest or
Michelle and Rudy both agreed
a funeral march, and the public display
that education can be a helpful tool in
of discomfort was purposeful. “In the
discussing these societal changes, and
beginning [of my career], I was trying to
that it's important to just be honest
make art that was in dialogue with an
about experiences with racism or
international scene,” she says. “Now,
oppression. That honesty even includes
I'm just trying to claim more space of
experiences from St. Stephen's and St.
who I am (being brown), in ways that
Agnes. When Rudy talked to the Asian
feel slightly uncomfortable, because it is
affinity group on the Upper School
uncomfortable! Uncomfortable for me,
campus after Academic Convocation,
because that's not how I was conditioned,
it reaffirmed for him that many of the
52 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
The urge for full honesty when it comes to creating art and existing in a community seems like a recent development for both Michelle and Rudy. The ability to say how they really felt was a privilege that wasn't afforded to them due to factors completely outside of their control. Yet as professors working in the education field now, they both have the ability to use their platforms to inspire more vulnerable dialogues and more risktaking creative endeavors. For Rudy, this means using his position within VCU to connect with the greater Richmond area, and create
SSSAS DEIB PROGRAMS During the last two decades, SSSAS has continued to mold and advance our programs to create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment, in which students can feel a sense of belonging—and we still have work to do. While our community is intentionally diverse and that diversity continues to grow, the increase of people from different backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives that makes our school rich and vibrant also means that we, as an institution, have to be deliberate about how we provide support to and understanding of that diversity. With our mission and Episcopal identity at the core, we are constantly reevaluating what it means to be a place where all of our members can succeed in a complex and changing world and what we need to do to ensure that everyone feels like a child of God in a caring community. Programs like affinity groups on all three campuses provide support for those that are from underrepresented and historically
Rudy speaking with the SSSAS Asian Affinity Student Group in February.
marginalized communities. Our respectful discourse program allows students to develop dialogue skills that transfer into everyday life opportunities to understand the many perspectives that exist at our school and in the world around them. Students participate in scheduled time to think, wonder, understand, and practice what it means to see the world around them with empathy and understanding. The school recognizes that having adults in our community who model equity and inclusion is vital. Every adult member of the Saints community participates in cultural competency workshops to ensure that they have a foundation of understanding of what it means to work in a diverse community. SSSAS also provides professional development opportunities throughout the year, so their competency is fueled by the confidence to serve each student in a way that makes them feel seen, heard, valued, and validated. Creating institutional practices, community expectations, and having clear and transparent communication is paramount to ensuring our students and families not only feel at home at SSSAS, but also that they are an integral part of the fabric of our community.
a more connected academic
Michelle wants to encourage
space. “One of my goals within
everyone, including students
our department is just building a
currently attending SSSAS, to boldly
stronger community,” he says. “My
chart new paths for themselves.
research, work, and events that
“If you feel like there's an absence
I'm doing all directly tie into these
at the school, build something
students, because when there's
that fills that gap,” she says. “Build
a stronger community, there's
it for yourself, but also for the
stronger work done.”
community, because people will
Rudy is also finding new ways to connect with SSSAS.
most likely benefit.” Just as Mr. Palmer recognized
In addition to speaking at
Michelle's creative potential of
Academic Convocation, last
Michelle and Mr. Barbie once
year he presented the Diversity,
“saw” the experiences Rudy was
Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
going through, both Michelle and
Award: a new prize given to the
Rudy are paying forward that
Upper School students who most
same generosity in education to
embody what it means to support
the next generation of students.
and actively work towards social
I'll forever call them “Tita Bunny”
justice. In collaboration with KiKi
and “Tito Rudy.” Seeing their work
Davis and SSSAS, the award was
as educators, I'm grateful to know
created by the Class of 1996.
that you don't have to be family
Rudy says it's important to bridge
members with Michelle Lopez and
the generation that experienced
Rudy Lopez to feel the impact of
the merger of St. Stephens and St.
their creativity and education in
Agnes and the generation going to
their communities.
SSSAS now. SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 53
Finding Open Doors Laith Wallschleger '10 talks about football, acting, and his keys to success. BY MELISSA ULSAKER MASS '76 Photo By Audra Oden Photography
54 AND ST. ST. AGNES AGNES 54 ST. ST. STEPHEN'S STEPHEN’S AND
W
hether or not they knew it at the time, Laith Wallschleger's
parents chose the perfect name for their tiny newborn son. “Laith” is Arabic for lion, and today their little boy has grown into a muscular 6' 4”, 250-pound man with an open, charismatic, and appealing personality. Like a big cat going after its prey, he too is laser-focused. When he sets a goal, he goes after it with 100% dedication. In high school and college, he set his sights on excelling in football and making it to the NFL. Along the way he earned good grades, an athletic scholarship to University of Delaware, a bachelor's in finance with honors, and an MBA. But don't look for Laith on a football field or in an office crunching numbers. You are more likely to find him in one of two places—in his closet turned home studio using one of more than 100 accents, characters, and celebrity impressions in his repertoire to record a voiceover, or on a set working on a TV show, film, or commercial. Laith entered St. Stephen's and St. Agnes in sixth grade, following in the footsteps of his father, Kurt Wallschleger '76. Although Laith says his dad was “a wild guy back then,” he describes himself as a shy middle school student who tried his very best. “It was definitely challenging coming from public school to private school, trying to figure out who I was even though I had a bowl cut and my mom still dressed me,” Laith laughs. “I remember being unsure of myself and very sensitive to what other people thought about me, wanting to be cool and trying to fit in. Athletics gave me the confidence to do my own thing.” Big men and football run in Laith's family. His dad played defense at St. Stephen's and division three football at Hiram University, and his cousin, Dean
Muhtadi, played division one at the
20 of those. He posted 87 tackles, 14.5
University of Maryland and then played
tackles for loss, three sacks, and one
for the Packers and the Cardinals. Dean
forced fumble. He holds the record for the
is also well known for his career in the
most field goals blocked with six. In his
World Wrestling Entertainment ring
junior year he was named to the Delaware
under the name Mojo Rawley.
All-State College Football Team, but he
Laith remembers when he decided to
suffered a season-ending injury when he
really go for it as a rising junior at SSSAS,
tore the ACL and meniscus in his right
and spent the summer preparing for his
knee. Despite the injury and a year spent
“breakout football season” under Dean's
in recovery and rehab, Laith was named
guidance. He was determined to play in
to the Colonial Athletic Association
college and make it to the NFL, but it was
Honor Roll four consecutive years.
hard for him to gain weight. He spent
While playing as an eligible fifth-year
every minute of his summer working
senior, Laith completed his MBA but still
towards his goal. “In the morning I would
dreamed of the NFL.
go to the weight room to get a workout
After playing four successful seasons
in with the team, and then I would go
in Delaware, the Arizona Cardinals
home, eat something, and go do a tight
signed him as an undrafted free agent. “I
end workout with my coach, former NFL
was just with them for a mini-camp and
player Leonard Stephens,” Laith says.
pre-season in 2014,” Laith says. “In 2016
“Then I would eat again and workout
I started with the American Football
with my cousin, and do D line drills in
League Jacksonville Sharks, but they
the afternoon. I would go home, eat, and
folded after one season and I was traded
then play summer league basketball with
to the Washington Valor.” As Laith began
the basketball team.”
training camp with them, but realized his
Laith is grateful to his SSSAS football
heart wasn't in it. “I started wondering
coaches, Dave Holm and Richard Allison,
why I was killing myself to barely make
for believing in him. “I spent hours upon
ends meet and chase a dream that's so
hours in the film room with them trying
difficult to achieve,” Laith admits. “I
to put together these highlight tapes,”
only believe in doing things that I'm
Laith says. “They would help me
passionate about and I
copy all the DVDs to send to coaches
wasn't feeling it anymore.
around the country.”
So, I walked away and it was
His hard work paid off. In
a great decision.”
his senior year, Laith was a first team All-State selection as both a defensive end and tight end, first team All-IAC as a defensive end, named Outstanding Athlete, and broke the SSSAS single-season record for sacks with 21. He also recorded 112 tackles, with 46 for a loss, and caused four forced fumbles while recovering five. As a tight end on offense, he caught 15 passes for 423 yards. On special teams he blocked a punt, a field goal, and was special teams leader in tackles. Laith was also a member of the basketball, track, and baseball teams. While playing for the University of Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens as a defensive end, Laith appeared in 26 games, starting in
Photo By Per Bernal
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 55
character. “That's how I discovered my
on football movies in the off season.
optimistic—drawing strength from a deep
Laith is grounded, positive, and
old man voice, which I've ended up using
“They hooked me up with this company
faith in God. “I believe that rejection is
a lot,” he says. “And doing that voice led
called Game Changing Films,” Laith
just God's protection,” he grins. “When
to discovering I could do an Optimus
says. “They did 'The Replacements,'
he closes a door, he wants you to keep
Prime, a Gandalf, and Liam Neeson!”
'The Longest Yard,' and 'Invincible'
walking down the hall until you find an
Doing voiceovers allows Laith to
with Mark Wahlberg, all the big football
open one.” Laith knows one thing for
work from anywhere, as the equipment is
movies. I did my first movie in Jackson,
sure, he's not a 9-5 kinda guy, so the last
portable. All he needs is to commandeer
Mississippi, called 'It's Time,' which came
thing he wanted was a job in finance.
a closet for his studio and he's ready to
out in 2018. Getting plugged in with
As a child and teenager, Laith had a
go. “You have to put some money into the
them eventually led to signing with an
knack for mimicking cartoons, actors,
set up, but after that you can avoid costly
agent in LA at an athletic agency.”
and commercials. He and best friend
studio time by doing it at
Adam Saddick '10 loved to imitate people
home,” Laith says. “I have
on TV “all the time, doing voices and
a $4000 microphone that
clowning around.” In college Laith took
Ariana Grande could sing
some theater classes and considered how
on, but I still use Audacity
his future could play out. “I was going to
because I'm a dinosaur
try and go to the NFL but if that didn't
and I have all these cool
happen, I was going to be a voice actor,”
little plugins and add-ins.
he says.
It would be expensive and
Laith believes that you have to invest in yourself to make it in any profession. “I had no background in voiceover or
time consuming to start over with a different software.” Just as Laith was going
acting, I was starting from scratch,” he
full-fledged into voice-
confesses. “I knew I had to learn the
over acting, another door
craft and what it was all about...and I'm
opened and fellow Saint
still learning today.” Since Laith had a
Theo Adams '10 was on
scholarship for University of Delaware,
the other side. “Theo called
his parents gave him some money they
and asked me to audition
had saved for his education, which
for a short film his father's
afforded him the creative space to enroll
[Ted Adams '82] production
in an online course, Such a Voice. “That
company was doing and
course taught me the craft of voiceover,”
I got the part,” Laith says.
Laith explains. His coach was award-
“The experience made me
winning voice artist Michael Yurchak,
realize that learning how
who worked with him on different
to act would help me be
character and commercial voices. While
a better voice actor, so I
Yurchak commands as much as $80,000
started doing both.” Laith heard that
According to Laith, football is one
for a commercial voiceover, Laith started
The American Academy of Dramatic
of the sports that works all the time in
on Fiverr, a freelance site, doing $5 gigs.
Arts was holding auditions and decided
Hollywood and the opportunities that
“I'm still on it today and I've completed
to try out. “I spent the entire weekend in
came his way gave him the success he
more than 1,000 s on Fiverr alone for
my room trying to memorize a couple of
needed to be financially secure. “I would
clients,” he confides. Of course, he's
monologues,” Laith recalls. “I didn't even
say the biggest thing about Hollywood is
charging more than $5 now.
know what a monologue was, it was so
that you need to have multiple streams of
raw. But I went in there and impressed
income,” Laith says. “To establish myself
his steadiest income stream. Some of
someone because they let me in for the
I did the voiceovers, commercial acting,
his voiceover clients include Sam's Club,
summer session.”
spokes work, some modeling work, and
Doing s paid his rent and has become
Staples, Dr. Pepper, Intel, Lamborghini,
Laith sees his years playing football
radio.” It's no surprise that Laith was
the U.S. Army, Burger King, Adidas,
as a blessing that has afforded him many
willing to hustle every day, all day—it's
ESPN, Spotify, Mercedes, and Dasani.
opportunities he would have otherwise
written in his DNA—and it paid off again.
What might seem like a challenge to
struggled to achieve, starting with
some is just plain fun for Laith. He loves
doing some stunts on some TV football
football commercials. One of them was
being asked to do a voice he hasn't done
shows and movies. While playing for
the Super Bowl NFL 100 commercial
before. One client asked if he could
the Jacksonville Sharks, then teammate
in which all the football legends are at
do a voice for a 200-year-old biblical
Tiger Jones told Laith about working
a banquet. Marshawn Lynch tries to
56 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
In 2019 he booked four national
steal some icing off a cake, knocking
easily. “You're constantly pitching
drew more on his intellect than his
the golden football decoration off the
yourself—each job you get you have
prowess in a kitchen. “They flew us to
top. Chaos ensues as the legends start
to earn, nothing is really given to you
Lisbon, Portugal to do the show with
playing keep away, tossing the football
and I like that challenge,” Laith notes.
Rob Lowe,” Laith says. “They put us
all around the room. Laith had the
“The big opportunities, like national
in this giant metal arm that swung us
pleasure of being the stunt double for
commercials, often come through
around the arena and we had to answer
Brian Urlacker and tackling Deion
your agents because with that much
questions one by one. That one was so
Sanders onto a fully set table. In the
money on the line everyone's going
cool, and I actually did well on it.”
Kyler Murray Rocket Mortgage “VR
to submit for it.” For voiceover jobs
When he's not working on his
Training” commercial, Murray throws
and other smaller acting jobs, Laith
career, Laith hangs out with his fiancé
a football that narrowly misses Laith's
hustles and pitches himself directly to
in Florida, where he has been living
clients. He constantly self-
since the Pandemic started. He recently
submits to active websites
joined the choir at his church. He says
like Backstage, Casting
he's not a great singer, “but why not
Frontier, Actors Access,
praise the Lord and learn how to sing as
LA Casting, and Casting
well?” He loves being outside, especially
Networks. “I always say you
out on the water, and going to comedy
are your best agent,” Laith
shows. “I went to a hypnosis comedy
says.
show and volunteered to get on stage—
In the beginning of his
that was pretty wild,” Laith chuckles at
career in Hollywood, Laith
the memory. “I rap-battled in Japanese,
felt insecure around “so
a language that I do not speak. I was
many insanely talented
convinced that a 300-pound man next
people.” He says he “put
to me was the best smelling person I'd
the stars on a pedestal and
ever smelled in my life and apparently
idolized them,” which left
buried my face in his armpit. I don't
him feeling intimidated.
think I'm gonna go back!”
But now he takes his core
Laith's chosen a lifestyle that can be
values and beliefs mostly
unpredictable and hectic. He admits
from scripture. “I found
he never knows what will happen
God in Hollywood of all
next in his life and sometimes that
places,” Laith reveals. “At
can be scary, but “other times it's fun,
SSSAS we had chapel every
really fun.” The three years he was
Wednesday, but something
in Los Angeles were really sink or
was missing for me. I had
swim. “Every single day I had no idea
the religion, but I didn't
what my schedule would be,” Laith
have the relationship. Now,
discloses. “It would change on a daily
face. Recently Laith was the stunt
because of my relationship with Jesus,
basis.” Laith experienced the stressful
double for Rob Gronkowski, a friend
I have the confidence and the authority
reality of trying to balance work with a
of his, for Fan Duel's Kick of Destiny
to walk boldly.”
class, personal development, reading
commercial. You know, the field goal Gronkowski missed. Laith also did a hilarious
Laith has also been offered some
screenplays and scripts, rehearsing with
amusing jobs, including an appearance
scene partners, and learning the craft.
on season 17 of “Worst Cooks in
He points out that after one year in LA,
commercial for Kizik shoes—the
America.” He lasted to episode five, but
many hopefuls pack up and go home,
“hands-free” shoes—in which bodiless
only because he believes they thought
but he understands what it takes to be
hands keep hitting him for trying to use
he was funny and likable. “Bobby Flay
successful and says, “It's a marathon,
his hands to put on his “hands-free”
is awesome and the best part of that
not a sprint.”
Kiziks. The ad now has more than 40
show, hands down,” Laith says with
million views on social media. “The
enthusiasm. “The cooks actually do
stars in his eyes when it comes to
Kizik ad was wild,” Laith laughs at the
demos and teach you. I've never tasted
acting. It's a job he loves and feels
memory. “Although it was made out of
such good food in my life, but I'm still
passionate about. Yes, his career comes
sugar, the glass they smashed over my
truly one of the worst cooks in America!
with uncertainty, but he's obviously
head actually cut my forehead open, so
In the end, a mole sauce took me down.”
happy, centered in his faith, and all in
we had to stop for a few seconds.”
During the pandemic he did a game
for the win.
But finding work doesn't come that
Laith Wallschelger no longer has
show called “Mental Samurai,” that
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 57
But Why Am I Here? Jaimie Crumley '08 is
“Illuminating the Unseen” BY JESSICA YARMOSKY
I
t was September 1832. In Franklin Hall in Boston's South End,
a woman stood and began to speak. Her name was Maria Stewart, and she was Black, born free in Hartford some 30 years before. She was a recent widow who'd supported herself by being a domestic servant, while devouring any literature and religious texts she could get her hands on. She was an active member of Boston's African Baptist Church, an outspoken feminist bent on encouraging Black people, especially women, to pursue education and demand political rights. A year prior, in 1831, she'd published an essay calling for her Black audience to “sue for your rights and privileges…Know the reason you cannot attain them.”
58 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
That day in September, she delivered a speech called “Why Sit Ye Here and Die?” In it, she railed against oppression, noting that while Black people in the North didn't have to experience the “horrors of slavery,” the racism they faced in the North was “little better than that.” She called for equal rights for Black women and the abolition of slavery. While it's perhaps unsurprising that Stewart's speeches weren't wholly wellreceived at the time, that didn't stop her from continuing to speak for a radical upending of current societal values. She'd go on to have a short but impactful public speaking career before turning to teaching and continued activism. That day in September marked the first known instance of a woman—of any race—giving a public speech. She'd also be one of the first to address an audience of both men and women, white and Black–called a “promiscuous” audience at the time. By the time she died in 1879, Stewart had cemented herself as a leading voice in the anti-slavery and women's liberation movements. That day in 1832, Stewart couldn't have known just how monumental her speech—and her legacy—would become. And she certainly couldn't have known that almost 200 years later, her words would begin to answer some of
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 59
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
60 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
“I had a really great interest in religion, and what I liked about SSSAS was that it was a safe space to be able to have conversations about it.”
the multitude of questions an aspiring
multitude of other stories, lives, and
think about becoming an academic—
academic, Jaimie Crumley, had about
experiences wound tightly into the
she didn't have that profession on her
religion, race, gender, culture–and her
church's 300-year history. And that
radar yet. “But I did know I had a really
place amongst all of it.
means digging into centuries' worth of
great interest in religion,” she says.
well-preserved historical archives. “We
“And what I liked about SSSAS was
days in her office next door to the Old
want people to see us,” Jaimie says, “as
that it was a safe space to be able to
North Church, just a few miles from
more than just that one night.”
have conversations about it. That was
Jaimie spends most of her time these
something I was really excited about.”
where Stewart delivered that speech in 1832. Get to know Jaimie—a Black feminist intellectual historian whose path took her from St. Stephen's and St. Agnes to Massachusetts, to divinity school and a Ph.D. program, and then to a university professorship— and you'll quickly understand why her current gig at the Old North Church is the perfect fit. She's spent the last year as a research fellow with Old North Illuminated, a secular, private non-profit that works to preserve and interpret the history of the Old North Church, which was founded in 1723. Jaimie's current research focus? Black and indigenous congregants and their experience at the church from the time of its founding through the nineteenth century. These stories play a crucial role in understanding the complex history of the Church. But in the public eye, they often take a back seat to the Old North Church's most famous association. In 1775, a silversmith named Paul Revere asked some of his friends who attended Old North to hold lanterns in the church's steeple, signaling whether British troops were approaching by land or by sea. And while Paul Revere's ride is a beloved story, it's part of Jaimie's job to educate the public about the
The content of my character Jaimie's path as an academic has been deeply influenced by her own experience with religion. Born in Germany to parents in the U.S. military, Jaimie moved to Virginia going into the fifth grade. Until that point, she and her family had attended Baptist churches, and St. Stephen's and St. Agnes was her first exposure to the Episcopalian faith. But Jaimie was drawn to it from an academic and historical perspective. “I was really interested in religion and religious history,” she says. “I would read historical fiction on the weekends.” In seventh grade, she was introduced to European history, and delved deeper into poetry and religion classes. Being able to marry history and religion was exciting. “I don't think that all of our peers who went to other schools got to have that combination,” she says. She fondly remembers Dr. Roberta Klein's freshman English class and says she was also influenced by her AP U.S. History class. While she was growing as a SSSAS student, so was her fascination with how various faiths wove their way into everyday human experiences across centuries. But she says she didn't really
During a summer spent interning with Christ Church in Alexandria, Jaimie deepened her knowledge of the Episcopalian faith. “I ended up learning a lot more about what the church is today and what kind of work the Episcopalian church is passionate about,” she explains. It was a preacher outside of the Episcopalian faith, though, whom she immortalized in her yearbook quote when she graduated in 2008: “Thank you for judging me and befriending me based on the 'content of my character,'” the quote began. Jaimie said those words, originally spoken by Martin Luther King, Jr., meant a lot to her at the time. But she now sees her choice to quote King—a broadly-known, popular historical figure—as telling about the somewhat limited scope of Black history, other than big names like King and Harriet Tubman, that she had been exposed to. Now, she's out to change that. “There were so few Black people who most of us know from history,” she says. “And one thing that's been exciting to me about my work is that now I know how to find all these stories of Black women and their words. And I think that's really powerful.”
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 61
Shaping a future Jaimie's parents had both obtained
Questions and answers What does one do with a master's
college degrees later in life, when
of divinity studies? That was the big
Jaimie was in middle school. So when
question that hovered over Jaimie and
Jaimie began classes at Wellesley
her classmates at Yale Divinity School.
College in fall 2008, she may have
She began in 2012, when the tides of the
been a “traditional” freshman, but she
school were shifting. Jaimie's class had
still wasn't sure exactly what she was
more Black students than any previous
passionate about. “I actually was really
one in the school's two-century history.
interested in law,” she says. And of
Jaimie wasn't the only one questioning
course, her interest in religion hadn't
what she'd do with her future degree
waned. But she was concerned about the
in divinity. “All of the Black women
thing a lot of college students choosing
were like, what are we doing here?” she
a major are concerned about: money.
remembers. “Which was really funny.”
“I was concerned with how people pay
The traditional route after a master's
bills,” she laughs. “And it's really funny
in divinity is to become a pastor in a
because now, being a college professor,
church. “But a lot of us knew we didn't
my students are concerned about the
necessarily want to do that,” Jaimie
same thing. There's an anxiety of being
says. “So I think those years were a little
eighteen like, how am I going to shape a
bit challenging.” Challenging, because
future off of an interest in religion?”
Jaimie still wasn't sure exactly how to
Jaimie ended up declaring a major
apply her love for history and religion
in international relations, with a focus
to a profession. During divinity school,
on history and religion—a perfect
she became ordained in the American
reflection of her high school academic
Baptist Churches, USA, and served as
interests. And she knew she wanted to
an associate minister at the Alfred Street
continue studying religion after college.
Baptist Church in Alexandria, and then
“I remember I called my mother one day
as the director of Christian Education
to tell her, Hey, I'm not gonna go to law
at the First Baptist Church of West
school after I finish college. I'm actually
Hartford, Conn.
going to apply to divinity school.”
But, Jaimie says, she still had
Divinity school, Jaimie reasoned,
questions about society, gender, race, and
would allow her to deepen her study of
her place in the world, and she didn't find
religion in a practical way. Jaimie's mom
answers to them as a minister.
was confused, though. “She said, 'you
Instead, Jaimie found them in the
better figure out how to get a Ph.D. in
classroom in the texts and stories of
that,'” Jaimie laughs, “'because I don't
early American Black women, beginning
know what that's about.”
with her first-year American religious
62 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
history course at Yale Divinity School. These classes were able to go much deeper than previous classes she'd had, even in college. “For the first time,” Jaimie says, “I was being invited to look at archival sources and to develop my own questions about the history of the religion in the United States.” With that power, Jaimie began uncovering speeches and writings by Black women from as early as the 1800s. These women's Christian faith inspired them to speak out against slavery, racism, and sexism. “Black
women were speaking in their own voices about certain political issues they were passionate about,” she says. “But they were doing it using Christian language. And I thought that was really interesting.” Interesting, especially, because Jaimie felt like these women in the past were asking the same questions that she was, in the present. “They were going into churches and community groups and political groups, and they were basically saying, I know I'm supposed to be here, but why am I here?...And I felt like I was doing that now.” This question of inner purpose likely plagues all humans at one point or another. But Jaimie thinks the question could be more easily explored—and answered–if these early American Black women were given the same platform in history books as figures like King or Tubman or Sojourner Truth. “I felt a certain affinity with [these women] and I wanted to learn more about them, but I also wanted to teach young people about
them,” Jaimie says. “Because it felt like,
that Black women's roles in racial
her a hug, it just takes your mind off the
why do we not know that much about
reckonings didn't come out of nowhere.
really hard stuff that's going on in the
these people?”
And, she says, reading these women's
world.”
As she began learning more and
words and stories can help people today
Jaimie's path to the here and now—
more about these women, Jaimie's path
feel less alone. “So I wanted to try to
from SSSAS, to Wellesley, to divinity
forward became more clear: a Ph.D.
make sense of our present moment,
school, to a Ph.D. program, to a teaching
that would allow her to teach the next
and create a way for us to think about
position— has been shaped greatly by
generations of history and religion
what Black women have had to say
the forces that mean so much to her—
students. Her mother had been right -
about the pressing political issues of the
history, feminism, race, religion. As we
kind of. “It was funny. My mother had
time.” Looking specifically at abolition,
wrap up our conversation, I throw a
said, you have to get a Ph.D. in religion,”
Jaimie honed in on the question—what
hard question at her—what is it about
she laughs. “I got a Ph.D. in gender
is the relationship between Nineteenth-
religion, in particular, that compels you?
studies instead.”
century Black women's religious beliefs
Why have you spent years of your life
and our demands that slavery must end?
dedicated to understanding more about
Jaimie's pursuit took her to the
“We're people. We like to act like we have it all figured out, or like there's only one answer. And I think religion and the study of religion reminds us to be humble, that there's not just one answer, that there are multiple ways that people are shaped.”
University of California, Los Angeles, and its gender studies program. The five years she spent diving deeper into issues of race, gender, religion, and history culminated in her dissertation, “Tried as By Fire: Free African American Women's Abolitionist Theologies, 1789-1880,” in which women like Maria Stewart played a massive role. What inspired her to write about early American Black women's abolitionist theologies? Besides her discovery in divinity school of these crucial voices, she was also inspired by what was happening at that very moment, outside the classroom. The 2020s have been rife with racial reckonings—and Black women, Jaimie says, have often been at the center of these conversations. “So what I'm trying to do [with my thesis] is to backtrack and figure out—how long is it that Black women have been at the center of these conversations, and what exactly have Black women had to say?,” she says. She thinks it's crucial for today's activists— and people in general—to understand
“We like to act like we have it all figured out” Jaimie's fellowship at Old North Illuminated will wrap up in June. At that point, she'll head across the country to teach in the Gender Studies and Ethnic Studies divisions within the School for Cultural and Social Transformation at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. In her classes on Black feminism, the history of abolition, Black women's history and gender studies, Jaimie and her students tackle tough issues across many historical eras. “Having to hear about so many horrific things that have happened across history to people, just because they were different…it's really difficult,” she says. She teaches her students to take care of themselves emotionally and physically as their studies deepen. For her, balancing her health and her academic pursuits means leaning on her spirituality—and her dog. “I have a lovely dog who we got during the pandemic,” Jaimie says. “Just giving
it, its history, its implications? She doesn't hesitate to answer. “We're people,” she says. “We like to act like we have it all figured out, or like there's only one answer. And I think religion and the study of religion reminds us to be humble, that there's not just one answer, that there are multiple ways that people are shaped.” And studying religion keeps her creative impulses sharp. “[Religion] forces us to tap into our more imaginative side. And I think that's something that I forgot to do after I was a little kid,” she says. “It allows us to keep ruminating on things, to be a little creative.” And another reason she's compelled by religion, is also a reason she finds it challenging. “I'm really interested in the different ideas that people have had about God and how they shape the decisions they make,” she says. “Some people use their faith to feed the hungry. Other people use their faith to cause a war…I think that's part of the beauty of religion, and also part of the challenge of it.”
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 63
ALUMNI CONNECTIONS
ALUMNI REUNION
64 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
WEEKEND 2023
See more photos on our Flickr site! SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 65
CLASS NOTES
1955 ST. AGNES
is living in Alexandria, Va., so she will
Mary Niepold Horne: horne.mimi@verizon.net
be pleased to come to reunions and stay with him. She has two new great-
Joanie Davis Hackett reports that
Submitting News Your Class Ambassador would love to receive your news and photos! If you submit a photo, please be sure you are in it. Photos emailed or uploaded to our website must meet the requirements below. Please note that we do not publish engagements, impending births, obituaries, or eulogies.
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grandchildren!
all is well out in Winchester, Va. She
Ann Lanyon Kaplan's husband Jay
says that both of her daughters are
died last year. She often sees her son and
now retired and traveling. Her four
his family in Ashburn, Va., and recently
grandchildren are finally gainfully
visited her sister Zoe in Florida. Mary Niepold Horne and husband
employed. Jean Androus Woodman has moved
Paul are pleased to be in Old Town,
from the Brandywine to Montebello
where they can enjoy the pleasures of
apartments in Alexandria, Va. and is
theater and concerts in Washington,
much happier there. She has caregivers
D.C. They enjoy visiting their eldest
who bring everything she needs.
daughter in Brooklyn, N.Y., and will soon
Joan Boguess Poland and Tommy
be going to see siblings in Philadelphia
are well settled in Williamsburg, Va.
for more music. In April, they'll be back
Joan is a docent both in Bruton Church
in Paris for three months, including their
and in Colonial Williamsburg. She
traditional Easter bike trip.
misses the beautiful Berry Plain farm, but a smaller place is a lot easier for
1958 ST. AGNES
them.
Julia Shields: habija@aol.com
Judy Nevins LeHardy is now living in Crozet, Va., not very far from her eldest daughter. She says her son, Ward,
Marcia Kendzie Evans shares that this has been a “great-grand”
reduce, or compress photos for emailing. We cannot accept screenshots of a photo on a website, or photos that do not have alumni in them.
JOHN MARSHALL '56
Get Connected! Visit sssas.org/alumni to get the latest Reunion updates, check out our upcoming events, share your news, or update your contact information. Join our Facebook and LinkedIn groups Check out our Saints Link networking platform at saintslink.org Visit Flickr.com/sssasalumni to see photos from our alumni
John Marshall '56 and wife Ginny report that daughter Peyton's
events.
husband, Paul Toutonghi, wrote a successful book concerning their son,
To Update Your Alumni Record Please contact Senior Director of Alumni Engagement Meredith Robinson at 703-212-2769 or mrobinson@sssas.org.
66 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
Fielding Marshall '89, and the family dog, Gonker. The book, “Dog Gone,” was published in 2016 by Alfred A. Knopf and Netflix recently made the story into a film by the same name starring Rob Lowe as John, Kimberly Williams-Paisley as Ginny, and Johnny Berchtold as Fielding. All 10 members of the extended John Marshall family, ages 11 to 85 years, were invited to the release party in Hollywood. On opening night in January, the new movie was the number one Netflix movie in the U.S.
year: she will be a great grandmother
ideal situation of having her own space
recognize as a group our imminent entry
to Harlan Allan Evans in June. Her
but having family nearby.
into our ninth decade. Though I feel
grandson, Stephen Evans, is deployed
From Julia Shields, “My big news
extremely lucky to be in good health and
in Poland and will return for a few days
is the birth of my great-grandniece,
splitting my time between two wonderful
for Harlan's birth. His wife remains
Ruth, daughter of my grandniece, Julia,
places, Ithaca and Vero Beach, I find I
stationed at Fort Riley, Kan. She also has
and husband Will. I am thoroughly
have to work with intent to fill the void
a grandnephew, Dominic, whose sister
besotted. We gathered for her baptism
left by Fred's death. I find myself more
arrives in June. Marcia and family are
on Thanksgiving Eve and watched
reflective, more intentional, and more
doing well. In return for the undeserved
Julia, Will, and Ruthie as Mary, Joseph,
accepting, I think. But mostly I'm more
compliments she gave to me, I would
and baby Jesus in the live-streamed
consciously thankful for great good
award Marcia with a loyalty award to St.
Christmas pageant.”
fortune. Fond wishes for a very happy
Agnes. Karen Zimmerman Gudinas stays
Alas, this past year also saw the passing of our leader Eleanor Backus
80th year to each of you.” Joni Edwards Jones still lives in
busy. Her son, David, and his family
Engh on August 15. Eleanor met every
a wonderful retirement community
were there for Thanksgiving. They spent
challenge throughout her life with
in Annapolis, Md., and is still selling
a day visiting the University of Florida
courage and grace. Eleanor is survived
real estate. This past year was trying
for Riley, who is a senior in high school.
by her sister Johan and her three
in several ways: business was down,
Granddaughter Danielle is an assistant
children and six grandchildren. We will
interest was up, and Joni underwent
to the assistant principal at her old high
miss our class president.
several operations. But she reports
school. She also bought a house with her
that her health is improving, her four
significant other this year. Grandson
1961 ST. AGNES
girls are all doing well, and she now
Tyler graduated from University of
Anne Williams: awilliam@bates.edu
has 10 grandchildren and six great-
Central Florida this past spring and is studying for his masters while
grandchildren. Joni also has a special In 2022, Sarah Sydnor Talbot
friend, Charlie, who loves to travel with
working for the Transportation Security
celebrated her eightieth birthday and
her and visits her on a regular basis. Life
Administration. Karen has signed up for
her oldest grandson got married in
is good at almost 80. Joni hopes the new
a family cruise with lots of friends and
Maryland, the latter of which resulted
year is great for all of her classmates.
family, her first trip since Jim passed
in a family reunion in June. The
away.
marriage ceremony was officiated by
Sandy moved to Pittsburgh to be near
Sarah's brother Buck Sydnor '65. Sarah's
their daughter and her family, which
celebrated two graduations this
youngest daughter, Theresa, eloped in
includes three boys aged 18, 17, and 12.
year: grandson Rick graduated from
August on a beach in North Carolina
Joshan has been in kidney failure for
Georgetown and grandson Will
in a ceremony that was officiated by
many years and has begun peritoneal
graduated from Hotchkiss. Another
her Uncle Bucky as well. December
dialysis at home. It is going well. She
grandson Walker was elected president
featured the birth of Sarah's first great-
and Sandy are looking forward to going
of his class in Bronxville. Sue and Bill
granddaughter, Madelyn. Sarah writes,
to their condo in Florida at the end of
continued their tradition of spending
“One more note about my life is that
January .
several weeks at Bethany Beach where
I started mentoring a foster child five
family members came for visits. They
years ago when he was six. Truman is
are resuming their cruises this spring
now 11 and is in his sixth home and,
after the COVID-19 hiatus.
Sue Peery Moore and Bill Moore
Joshan Backus Wise and husband
1962 ST. AGNES
hopefully, his forever home. At this
Robin Taylor Zoll shares: “When
Patty Bayliss Owens has started
point, I am the one person who has
my marriage just out of college ended
a small business renting out a small
been in his life the longest and it is a
in divorce, needing to support myself
fenced area of her yard to folks who have
joy watching this boy blossom. When I
and two children, I went to law school
no space of their own for their dogs. She
lived in El Centro, I was with him once
and practiced as a trial lawyer with the
also has a new career as an art historian
or twice a week but since I am now in
Office of the Public Defender, Baltimore
at her daughter's new art gallery,
Phoenix and his new home is in San
City, for 35 exciting and eye-opening
Nepenthe, in Collin Hall.
Diego, I try to see him several times
years. Now retired, I enjoy golf, book
Judy Kurtz Suor is living in a
each year plus as many phone calls as
clubs, art lectures, travel, and more time
retirement home where her sister
we can muster. My heart goes out to
with friends and family, especially my
Jan lives in Salt Lake City, but is
foster children, and I highly recommend
husband of 25 years (!), David Zoll '60.
contemplating a move back to
anyone with time on their hands to
Our four children and five grandchildren
Alexandria. Stay tuned!
consider mentoring one.”
are scattered in Austin, Texas, Vail and
Sally Engh Reger is now living in an addition to her daughter's house, an
Fair MacRae Gouldin writes, “Thank you, Anne, for encouraging us to
Aspen, Colo., Washington, DC, and Boston, Mass. In the words of Garrison
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 67
Robin Taylor Zoll '62 and Jean Hoppe Hurston '62
Anne Bodman '63
Keillor, 'the women are strong, the men
Susan Gulick Curry '63 Walda Cornnell Wildman shares:
are good-looking, and the children
“I'm looking forward to seeing everyone
above-average.' It was wonderful getting
in the spring. I don't have much to share
together with Jean Hoppe Hurston
but that–somehow–I have been very busy.
at her beautiful, ocean-front condo in
I'm in my second year serving on the
Virginia Beach. Would love to see the
South Carolina Board of Accountancy,
rest of you.”
and we had a complete overhaul of our
Jean Hoppe Hurston shares: “Robin
Accountancy Practice Act signed by the
Taylor Zoll and I started off the year
governor last spring which necessitated
right with a get together in Virginia
a complete rewrite of the regulations for
Beach, my home for 52 years now. Also
the Legislature to approve next session.
home to my three daughters and eight
That has been a lot of very fine detail
grandkids. My dear husband, Jim, is in
work (I don't worry that I need to do
the late stages of Alzheimer's. Sending
puzzles or something to keep my brain
my love and God's blessings to all our '62
sharp!).” I was happy to see Walda when
SAS classmates!”
1963 ST. AGNES
Stephanie Connor Pullen '63 and Susan Walp French '63 in Nashville, Tennessee in April 2022.
Margaret Fifer Davenport: margieinva@gmail.com Marion MacRae: mmmacrae@comcast.net Barbara Wiles Kreutzer and Andy
she came to Charlottesville and she says she enjoyed their visit “immensely” as well as a tour of Monticello. She has not done much painting this year but
able to attend and is sorry to miss seeing
says she hasn't been “really motivated.”
everyone.
During Christmas, she said, “One
Leslie Barnes Hagan, who kindly
fun thing was taking my 13-year-old
'63 are settled in Saint Albans, Maine,
offered to help with the reunion, said, “I
and 16-year-old granddaughters to
on Big Indian Lake, which she says is a
will be happy to help when the time for
Lululemon for Christmas shopping.”
welcoming town. An added bonus is that
planning comes around. The lockdown
Mary Tolbert Matheny writes,
they are closer to their children, who
and my cataract surgeries have kept me
“My children's lives are much more
live in Boston. They travel to warmer
housebound for over two years.” But
interesting than mine: In June my
climates in February for a few weeks
the good news is that as of this writing
son, Jason, who had been working in
and the summer time is full of fun and
she was just given permission by her
the Biden administration in national
friends. It's great to hear that she says
ophthalmologist to drive. So far it's
security and technology, was offered a
they are “holding their own health-wise
just during daylight but she says, “It's
position he had not sought, president
for now” and that “life is good.”
thrilling as I hadn't been able to drive for
and CEO of Rand Corp. My daughter,
about three years.”
Laura, wrapped up 25 years of teaching
Norvell Jones, who, with husband, Bob, spend most of the year at their
At last writing, Carol Simon Leach
at a K-8 school in Philadelphia and
home in West Virginia, wrote from
had gone through some very difficult
began working toward a master's degree
Falls Church where they spend winters.
times medically speaking, so it was so
in clinical counseling of children and
Norvell writes, “As they say, no news is
very nice to hear that she is so actively
adolescents. Between ending one career
good news, life is sweet and uneventful.”
working to stay healthy, with long walks
and heading into another, she made a
Unfortunately the reunion falls on their
(What? Two miles??). She is still doing
solo, cross-country road trip covering
wedding anniversary, so she will not be
her horse therapy as well. Inspiring!
7,300 miles in six weeks. As for me,
68 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
I continue to have occasional gigs in
his private school closed. She really
writing and editing–usually writing grant
enjoyed Christmas this year as both
cut her hair after 40 years! She says
proposals for nonprofit organizations to
her son and daughter were able to
she “saved a braid along with that from
submit to funders.”
be together with them on Christmas
Andy's favorite horse, Zane.” She says
day. She says that hasn't happened in
their dogs are “fine fettle.” In her colorful
fourteen years!
way, Anne writes about what she calls
I was happy to get a phone message from Margy Britt Lim. I could not
Anne Bodman tells us that she finally
connect with her before this went to
I see Althea Ball Morrissey is
her latest adventure: “When our blizzard
press, but she was visiting a friend and
thinking positively. She had major
commenced on the morning of Andy's
sounded hale and hearty!
surgery in mid-November to fix a break
colonoscopy—and who would want to
that had not healed….in a year! Now she
reschedule and go through the prep
difficult year with the loss of her son,
says “I already feel the arm is stronger
twice—I was the one who boldly took
Jamie (age 36), in an accident as he sat
and I'm doing more things that I had
command of our plow truck and carried
waiting for a stoplight to change. It is
been doing before, which is exciting!”
him safely home through buffeting wind
hard to imagine the hurt of that loss; it
Althea and hubby spend a lot of time
and snow and two icy hills.” Anne's note
is through her faith that she is making
babysitting grandchildren who are 6-,
closed with her saying, “Happy New
it through this difficult time. As you
4-, and 3-years-old. She says, “our Navy
Year and love from your meek St. Agnes
can imagine, Libbie's church is very
Commander son and his family with a
lamb, Blizzard Bodman.”
important to her. She enjoys singing in
4-year-old and an 18-month-old visited
the choir and playing games by zoom
in October. We expect another grandson
and Lowell have “just been plugging
with other parishioners. And she is kept
locally here to be born in June so that
along here in Florida enjoying our
busy, with grandchildren who live with
is a lot of excitement.” They do some
wonderful weather. Autumn is living
her. Grandson Sam and granddaughter
traveling around in California and enjoy
with us for eight to nine months in
Emmy play instruments for school
the fantastic weather of San Diego and
Woodbridge and has a job at Quantico.
events and have even written their own
being so close to the beach.
Sweet, darling dog, Katie, passed away
Libbie Shackleford Mull had a most
Louise Knox Livinghouse says she
songs; granddaughter Sarah loves to
Stephanie Connor Pullen tells how
January 11, 2023 after being so much
cook. I hope we will keep Libbie in our
much fun she had meeting Susan Walp
a huge part of our lives for 16 years.
prayers.
French in Nashville in April of 2022.
It's going to take a long time for us to
They spent a couple of days together
adjust.”
It was nice to hear from Susan Gulick Curry. She will miss the reunion
and found so much in common again,
As for me, Margie Fifer Davenport,
because she will be in Bali at that time!
especially that they “both love Jesus.”
my news is not nearly so entertaining!
Catching up with her life, she says she
Stephanie may have retired from being
I continue to represent the national
“settled in Ambler, Penn., after 35 post
a pastor, “but I still have the Holy Ghost
pickleball association (USA Pickleball)
office addresses.” She adds that she is a
fire in me for revival!” As for Susan, she
in promoting, teaching this wonderful,
full-time advocate for sustainable living,
is one busy lady, going from one meeting
fun sport. I am almost back to normal
founded an organic farm, promoted
to another and I caught her in-between!
after a back injury and hope to be
the Earth Charter and best stormwater
She hurriedly said, “my news is that I
playing again. You should know that I'm
management practices, and is now
have 12 grandchildren and now I am a
happy to advise any of you who may be
focusing on writing and water color
great-grandmother with the birth of little
interested in playing the sport or making
painting.
baby Lido,” who is the new light of her
it happen where you live! Other than
Sara “Sally” Godshall Peterson
life! And Susan, as you could imagine,
that, I'll mention that when I last saw
will also not be able to be at this year's
was excited about “finally” getting to see
my doctor he said he could attest that I
reunion as it is the same weekend as
Stephanie. She said, “We had a ball!”
was not a silly person. I responded, “But
the State American Baptist Women's
Dagmar Giffen Cosby says, “I can't
Ministries annual meeting. She says
complain. Life is good. I am designing
I LOVE silly,” at which time he took his mask and put it on sideways! See! Lots of
she will have to attend in her role as
like crazy.” (Designs by Dagmar
people love silly! I will end my comments
“our local area churches' Women's
designsbydagmar.com.) She went on to
with a wish that you will have a little
Association president.” Sara has been
say, “I went to Italy last summer with
silliness in your life! In communicating
filling a critical role in her daughter's
my two girls. Gobs of fun. We were
with our fellow classmates, I have found
family life as a “live-in nanny/tutor, cook
only there for a week. Went to Florence
that most are either hoping to come, or
and picker-upper for her and husband,
(thank you Mdm. Jinks) and Venice.
are sorry they will miss our reunion and
Andre's, three adopted kids, now aged
Had no idea how important Venice was
the chance to see and be with everyone .
10, 12, and 13.”
and that it ruled itself for 1,100 years.
And so many are wishing us good health
Joan Emerson Shoemaker has
Wowsers.” Dagmar is still playing bridge
and a great 2023. You can tell that even
spent the last two years in Maine
and says, “Otherwise I am kind of boring
after all these years and the many miles
homeschooling her grandson because
but love my life.”
apart, there is caring.
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 69
FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS: SOME SAGE ADVICE FROM GEOFF LAYTON '63 radical ideas for teaching grammar
there is also more than a little
(“Grammar for the Right Brain”),
sadness because I see my recent
which I developed while working at
achievements as something other
an alternative charter high school for
than the basis for an inspirational
at risk students in Chicago.
story. I can't deny the fact that there
I'll never forget the day I got
are some inspirational moments in
the news that my proposal had
a story of a nearly 80-year-old man
been accepted. It was this event
earning a Ph.D., however, I believe
that crystallized my decision
that my story has as much, if not
to become a full-time graduate
more, relevance as a cautionary tale
student. I had previously presented
to young people who must make
my “Grammar for the Right
momentous decisions that can
Brain” creation at several other
determine how they will live their
professional conferences. I had
lives, and I know from experience
also presented a unique approach
the consequences of making
to teaching Shakespeare (“Keeping
mistakes.
Shakespeare Real: Teaching In 1997, after years working in advertising, Geoff Layton '63 realized he wanted to pursue his passion and teach English. So one day he locked the door to his print shop, put the keys through the mail slot, and never looked back. Since then he has been teaching English while earning a master's in rhetoric and composition from Northeastern Illinois University, and a Ph.D. in writing and rhetoric from the University of Oklahoma in December 2022. His dissertation is titled: “Learning to Live a Rhetorical Life: A New Strategy for Teaching First-Year Composition.” Why did you decide to pursue a Ph.D. so late in life? There's a wonderful movie called “The Gods Must Be Crazy” that features a quest by an African bushman to return a CocaCola bottle that had fallen from the sky back to the gods whence it must have come, and I think that my decision to pursue a Ph.D. had a similar “inciting incident.” I encountered an opportunity that was extremely unlikely for an aging high school English teacher. In 2007 I was hardly a renowned teacher, but I had made a proposal to the Conference on College Composition and Communications (4Cs) to present my rather
70 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
Along with feelings of pride,
as a means for rhetorical invention
I loved to read as a little boy
Shakespeare in the Inner City) at
and if allowed would spend every
the Southwest/American Popular
minute with a book. As a high
Culture Association and published
school student at St. Stephen's, in
“Connecting High School Students to
addition to writing book reports
Ancient Literature” in the magazine
for Mr. Wills, I was also composing
of the Colorado Language Arts
parodies of Chaucer for the school's
Society, but it was not until my 4Cs
literary magazine, “Emanon,”
presentation that Gerald Graff,
and of James Russell Lowell (“A
one of the foremost scholars in
Fable for Freshman” commenting
the field of composition pedagogy,
on the foibles of various teachers
recognized my potential and invited
such as Mrs. Betts). I ignored the
me to become a full-time graduate
obvious signs pointing to what
student at the University of Illinois at
direction my life should take as if
Chicago. And the rest, as they say, is
they had never happened, failing
history.
to follow up on winning first prize in a Brown University playwriting
How did it feel to finally complete your
contest and then leaving behind
Ph.D. after 16 years?
almost two years as editor and chief
There was naturally both pride
columnist for “Mutatis Mutandis,”
and elation, as well as relief. But
the magazine of the graduate
there were also feelings that I still
business students at the University
had unfulfilled goals and unrealized
of Chicago.
dreams. My response to the degree
I often wonder what would have
was not to rest on my laurels
become of me had I recognized
but rather to pursue getting my
early on the talents that God had
dissertation published. In addition
given me, which leads me to urge
to publishing a book, I intend to
current SSSAS students to pursue
publish articles in various journals
what they love and excel at when
of academic writing, rhetoric, and
they're young rather than waiting
composition. So, there is still a lot for
until almost the very last moment,
me to do.
when it is really all but too late.
1963 ST. STEPHEN'S
everything is good. Points of interest in
Thomas E. C. Margrave: tecmargrave@gmail.com
his benign life include marrying Diane in October…which means she actually
From Andy Kreutzer: “Barbara
said yes.
Wiles Kreutzer '63 and I are heading
David Speck shares, “Retirement
into our fifth year of lakeside (actually,
is still not an absolute term for me – I
rink side until April) retirement in mid-
remain on the Board of Directors of
Maine. While moving to a retirement
the Metropolitan Washington Airports
in Maine did draw some 'puzzled' looks
Authority (the governing board for
from friends and family, it has placed
Dulles and National airports) and that's
us just a few hours from our children
keeping me pretty busy. Over the past
and grandchildren in the Boston area.
almost three years I have discovered the
design for the book cover were done by
Regarding the three most frequent
mixed blessing of Zoom. On one hand
her daughter, Maisie. (helenintrouble.
questions: 'Do you like to ski?'...Yes;
it's easy to have a meeting and on the
com)
'What kind of boat do you have and do
other hand it's easy to have a meeting…
you like ice fishing?'...Yes. Ice fishing is
and there have been way too many. I
Holbein has moved to North Carolina
taking a drink on my bass boat in the
miss the human energy of sitting at
to be closer to her children and
summer. We are both doing well and, as
a table with other people, but neither
grandchildren. She continues to work
of this writing, looking forward to our
Marcia nor I have tested positive for
as an artist (LynnHolbein.com) and
60th Reunion at SSSAS.”
COVID, so I guess in balance it's a plus.
often sells her paintings to support
Geoff Layton has decided what he
We now spend about five months at
charities she believes in. Her daughter,
wants to do when he grows up, finally
our home in Massachusetts and the
Kate Rademacher, just published her
earning his Ph.D. in writing and rhetoric
rest of the year in Alexandria with the
third book, “Reclaiming Rest: Sabbath,
from the University of Oklahoma. To the
expectation of catching up with a lot of
Stillness and Solitude in a Restless
best of his knowledge, Geoff thinks he
deferred travel beginning this spring.
World.”
may have progeny, two sons in their 40s.
Until we see each other again, I am
The older one presumably is living with
sending virtual hugs and/or handshakes
Lynn in Cary, N.C., close to her daughter
his wife in a suburb of Madison, Wis.,
and slaps on the back. Best to everyone.”
and grandchildren. She has retired from
running guided bicycle tours in Illinois and Wisconsin, while the younger one
1964 ST. AGNES
is a physician's assistant in a clinic in
Belinda Lowenhaupt Collins : collins.belinda75@gmail.com
In other class news, Lynn Davies
Cherry Sampson Meyers lives near
her work as a CPA. Louisa Stansfield Bennett is still living in Arlington with her husband and has amassed quite a collection of rare
Groveland, Calif., living with his wife in Sonora and climbing very tall mountains
Wendy Sibbison '64 with her new book.
During the pandemic, members of
dolls.
the SAS class of 1964 met a number
Camille Heineck Mittelholtz is
of times a year through the marvel of
living in Annandale near her daughter
us who have been following Geoff's
Zoom. It was great to stay in touch and
and grandchildren. She volunteers
pilgrimage to his Ph.D. were thrilled when
catch up with what people have been
for charities working to address food
it finally came to pass because it was a
doing for the last almost 60 years!
insecurity and is quite active as a
on his days off. Tom Margrave shares, “Those of
sign that neither the tornadoes nor the
In 2022, we read Wendy Sibbison's
parishioner at St. Barnabas.
brain-eating bacteria of Oklahoma had
historical novel, “Helen in Trouble,”
Suzie Hall Mindlin lives with her
gotten to him. In other news, I continue to
about her experiences in the summer
husband, Rod, in Cardiff by the Sea,
live in Upstate New York in Binghamton
of 1963 when a young teen desperately
Calif., near kids and grandkids, and
where Max the Wonder Dog and I are
needed an illegal abortion (see p. 75).
continues to consult and teach trial
reinforcements to the local Neighborhood
We all felt Wendy's description of a
practice, both on faculty of the Trial
Watch program. In addition to serving
school very like St. Agnes in the early
Lawyers College and privately.
two small Episcopal churches, I provide
1960's was both vivid and on target;
program leadership for disaster spiritual
Joe the bus driver really stood out.
to Minnesota to be near her children and
care for the American Red Cross National
Needless to say, the topic was timely.
grandchildren.
Headquarters. It is all virtual but I am still
Kirkus Reviews picked Wendy's book as
deeply involved in the spiritual concerns
one of the best books of 2022! Plus, she
South Carolina near her stepchildren
of those affected by natural and human-
has just won the North Street prize for
and grandchildren.
caused disasters. I also continue to be
literary fiction. This spring she will be
Nancy Zearfoss Lord and her
involved in local veterans' organizations.”
doing readings at Williams College as
husband live in southern Maryland
part of its “Women's and Gender Studies
in her parents' former house which
in Action” lecture series. The art and
they've been renovating. They now have
Bill Scarpino reports that, other than remaining dry in California these days,
Nicki Donaldson Mitchell has moved
Ginger Moore Herbert now lives in
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 71
six bedrooms and would love to host
still writes for the National Geographic
Jane Tinka Adams does not appear
members of the class either this year or
and the Journal of Science. They've been
to ever plan on slowing down and is still
next (our 60th). Now that she's retired,
exploring the Pacific Northwest in a big
involved in health care and she and her
she is pursuing her dream of being in a
Chevy pickup with a cool Alaskan pop
husband most weekends are ballroom
rock and roll band and is singing and
up that fits in the back.
dancing! Her daughters are not close by
playing keyboards in two bands. She says it is great fun. Belinda Lowenhaupt Collins is living
Richard Flynt writes, “April and I see Tom and Anne Hoskot Kreutzer '65
so to see the grandkids they must travel. Cynthia Corbin Sharpe reports,
as well as Randy Earnest '62 and Gibby
“After my husband's death I moved from
in Reston, Va. with her husband. After
Earnest at our monthly breakfast club
Arizona to Charlotte, N.C., in 2016.
retiring from the National Institute of
meetings, which cover all the local
My sister Beth lives here; she was in
Standards and Technology (NIST), she
diners in the Alexandria area. Tom and
elementary school when we were in high
started a new career as an Executive
Anne somehow keep up with their four
school. It's taken a while but I finally
Coach, which she loves. She also was
sons (including my Godson Christopher)
feel settled and Charlotte is really a
inducted into the NIST Gallery of
and hordes of grandchildren all over
very livable community. Aletha is in
Distinguished Alumni in 2021.
the country and at their lake house on
Houston and I see her often. This year
In the coming year, class members
Lake Kerr in Southern Virginia. We also
I have spent several months in Mexico
plan to continue their Zoom calls—and
were able to spend some nice time with
but primarily I seem to keep busy with
look forward to seeing more members
Andy and Barbara Wiles Kreutzer '63
dogs (standard poodles), knitting, and
of the class either on Zoom—or at an
in Maine last Fall. I still play a lot of golf
bonsai. Sincere wishes for good health
upcoming reunion.
and am the rhythm guitar player in a
and happiness to all!”
rock and roll band appropriately named
Susan Davis Haggerty shares,
1964 ST. STEPHEN'S
'The Hip Replacements,' playing gigs
“Thanks for helping us stay connected.
Richard A. Flynt: richardflynt1@gmail.com
mostly in Alexandria. I celebrated 30
That is the fun part of this job! I'm
years without alcohol last December,
generally healthy though not everything
and am active in the Virginia Judges
works properly. Due to the COVID
Maine, reports that he is starting a small
and Lawyers Assistance Program, which
lockdown I have 'retired' from all my
outdoor sculpture garden “down the
helps judges and lawyers suffering from
volunteer jobs and activities: teaching,
road” and that he and Janet celebrated
alcohol and substance abuse, as well as
reading to adults, master gardener,
their 54th wedding anniversary in
depression, anxiety, and other wellness
volunteer usher for symphony, Broadway
December. Chris is the former curator
issues.”
shows, attending lectures, theater,
Chris Crosman in Thomaston,
of the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine. Bill Parker and Anne are taking
book club. Now I'm figuring out what
1965 ST. AGNES
will be my next great adventure. My
Janet Vosper Dorman: lvn4smr@comcast.net
daughters are in Philly and St. Louis.
things one day at a time in Southwest
I'm considering moving to St. Louis to
Florida, having both survived COVID
From Janet “Lee” Vosper Dorman,
live near my daughter, son-in-law, and
and cleaning up after Hurricane Ian.
“Dear class of 1965 - Bravo! Y'all did a
grandchildren Evelyn (4) and Kent (2).
Flood waters were up to the garage door!
great job! After 49 years I have retired
My brothers Landon Davis '62 and
They needed a new roof and pool cage
from teaching. Now I am busy playing
Chad Davis '66 are still here in Virginia.
but are otherwise okay, as is their family.
bridge, thank goodness for Audible.
I'd be up for an in-person reunion, the
Things are returning to normal slowly.
Still have my daughter, Liz, and her two
sooner the better.”
Rick Palmer's days are filled
kids with me – never a dull moment!
with living without fixed schedules,
Isabel is playing softball like her mom
continues to be a superstar/rockstar
lots of reading of all genres, writing
and can't wait to learn field hockey (the
rolled into one in real estate in Northern
poetry and non-fiction, working in the
apple doesn't fall far from the tree). They
Virginia! She has over $1 Billion in
garden, meals with friends, Pilates,
do keep me busy and happy! Not ready
career sales, was named “Realtor of the
communicating with children, and
to have people throw dirt on me – so
Year – Northern Virginia Association
meditation. Rick has foregone smoking,
Onward!!”
of Realtors” in 2018, 2019, 2020, and
Donnie Chancellor Wintermute
gambling, and drinking alcohol for
I heard from Jan Walsh-Hohert
2021, a Living Legend of Alexandria,
37 years! He reports an enjoyable
about her new email and other stuff still
and Chamber of Commerce Business
life, except for the futility of the
in British Vancouver. I know she sent me
Leader of the Year. Donnie adds, “I am
Commanders and Nats!
more but I'll be darned if I can find it!
happily serving on the St. Stephen's and
Mike McRae and Ginny have lived
Susan Miller Ferguson sent me a
St. Agnes Board of Governors for the
in Ashland, Ore., since 1988, fixing
Christmas card, she is in Connecticut
sixth year. I am thrilled to report that our
up an 1897 cottage. Mike retired from
now. Like many of us she feels we need a
alma mater is stronger than it has ever
freelance writing in 2015, while Ginny
face-to-face sooner rather than later.
been, both academically and athletically!
72 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
Mike McRae '64 and wife Ginny McRae
The head of school, Kirsten Adams, is
Mike McRae '64
Bill Culp '65 (right) attends a church service in D.C. celebrating fellow alumnus Tony Lewis's '65 (left) fifty year clergy ordination in the Diocese of Long Island.
Sally Hines writes, “In 2020, I
was married to Knight Kiplinger who
absolutely phenomenal! I am in my 44th
retired from the Manhattan D.A.'s
has a home not too far from me. Ann
year as a Real Estate Broker and have
Office, after 40+ years (a pandemic-
looks great and we have lots of fun when
been named “The Face of Alexandria
style retirement: I went skiing out West,
we get together, though Knight and I
Real Estate” by the Washingtonian
expecting to return, but never came
talk about real estate too much. I still
Magazine for the last five years.
back to the office). We spent over a year
work every day and manage two family
Amazingly, I still love the business! Peter
living in East Hampton, in the woods
real estate companies with properties in
and his wife, Jenny, have a 9-year-old
near the beach, staying remote. We felt
Virginia and Maryland.”
son, Carson, and a 13-year-old daughter,
lucky to have a retreat. Just as I was
Kinsley. Fortunately, they live only 15
retiring, planning to slow down, Ron
still in Florence after several months…
minutes away, so I see lots of them!
and some colleagues started a new law
our heaven. Ann Davis Spitler and
Our next reunion is April of 2025. The
firm. Now he's working like crazy. I'm
her Elizabeth are coming to visit us in
SSSAS reunions have been moved from
Office Counsel at the firm, and also
March! Yay! Samantha is still in London
the fall to the spring. Will see you then!”
teach at New York Law School. We're
and Drew is doing camera work in the
Ann Davis Spitler recently saw Anne
Missy Sumner Huggins says, “We are
going skiing in Utah this Friday. We're
movie business here in Atlanta. The
Hoskot Kreutzer, Sally Jones Brodie,
living again in New York City. Some
two of them spent Christmas together
Jane Matthias, Donnie Chancellor
things are getting more normal—my
in Florence which we thought was great
Wintermute, and Candy Michelbach
book club is in person again, teaching is
while we were home. Children finally
Ramelli for a group birthday celebration
largely in person, and the chorale I sing
bonding! So if any classmates get to
in Alexandria. Missy Sumner Huggins
in has resumed. So glad to hear all the
Florence, please do get in touch with us.
would have joined but she was hosting a
updates!”
We have lots of advice even if we don't
party in Atlanta! Anne Hoskot Kreutzer submitted, “A
Sally Jones Brodie reports, “Last year my beloved husband Lawrence died in
happen to be in residence. Hugs to all.” Liz Shortley Rogers says she is still
few of us tried to celebrate Annie Davis
April after about three years of surgeries,
working—funny that there are many of
Spitler's BIG birthday in December,
though he was strong and healthy, even
us who just can't stop! I am still working,
but she tested positive that day so
the surgeons said so. I live in a small
yes at almost age 75. It is my outlet.”
we selflessly carried on without her.
town in Florida, Jensen Beach, and have
Crummy timing. Tom and my children
turned 2.5 acres on the Indian River
and grands live in four different states,
Lagoon into my native plant paradise
so most of our traveling involves going
after removing all of the invasive species,
to them. We did get in a couple of river
but no Burmese python here! My idea
Tony Lewis at Tony's 50-year clergy
cruises last year, one on the Danube and
of a trip is going 1.3 miles to the Publilx
ordination in the Diocese of Long
another to Portugal, which were fun. Our
grocery store. On the topic of family, I
Island. Bill writes, “Tony and I became
classmates have written about dealing
have one daughter and she has a 7-year-
friends years ago at St. Stephen's,
with serious and varied life issues. I was
old son and a 9-year old daughter. I try
although I graduated from Cincinnati
struck by that, and also by everyone's
to see them in Delaware every couple
Country Day School. SSS played an
calm determination to deal with these
of months. Another tidbit—I see Ann
important part of my growing up years,
things as well as possible. It makes me
Miller Kiplinger in Florida periodically.
even though it was brief.”
want to have an in-person reunion!”
At one of our reunions I discovered she
1965 ST. STEPHEN'S William “Bill” Culp recently visited
Jim Chambers and Fiona celebrated
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 73
45 years of marriage. They are enjoying
Esteban, is an artist and just had his
Leslie Ferrell Kauffmann enjoyed
softball, pickleball, and lots of travel,
latest opening at 303 Gallery in New
a wonderful family reunion in Florida
including visits to their three sons and
York City with a party overlooking the
last summer with both of her children,
three granddaughters.
High Line.
her brother and sister, and the
Another one of our artistically
grandchildren. After years of not being
1966 ST. AGNES
talented classmates, Connie Mallinson
able to be together, it was a time she will
Carter Dudley Flemming: carterflemming@gmail.com
Alter, is preparing for a solo exhibition
always treasure.
in Los Angeles. We were proud to see
Star Bales Alterman and her
I have managed to eke out a few
the wonderful article about Connie and
husband, Hal, enjoy going to see their
notes from our classmates this year. I am
her art in the 2022 spring issue of The
three grandchildren in Connecticut
hoping that at this point in our lives, no
Saints Life magazine (sssasmagazine.
as often as they can. Star and Hal are
news is good news!
org). She will also be a featured artist
taking what sounds like a fabulous two-
in a new documentary being made
week trip to Alaska this spring.
Some of us gathered to celebrate our COVID-delayed 55th Reunion in April.
about artists who use plastics in their
Linda “Petey” Cosby continues to
While we had a smaller group than
studio practices to create awareness of
live in Annapolis, Md. and loves being
usual, it gave us the chance to really
the environmental impact. Connie has
close to her two children and their
chat with each other over dinner on
started her own Instagram “magazine,”
families in Davidsonville, Md. and
Saturday night at my house. It was great
ArtIQ (@ArtIQ_cm), where she writes
Winchester, Va.
to see classmates Diane Haldane, Susan
short critical reviews of some of the best
Susan Whittington says she feels
Whittington, Tina Bell, Chris Motley,
contemporary art. This keeps Connie
lucky that she was able to do some post-
Ann Martyn, Lee Vosbeck Hagan,
very busy and she wishes all our class a
pandemic traveling this year with trips
Peggy Johnson Hayes, Patty Jo “PJ”
peace-filled and healthy 2023.
to the Northwest, Montana, and Canada
Leary, Jeanette Tracy, and Liz Anglin
Peg Craig-Kennelly sends greetings
to see old friends and relatives, as well
Simmonds. I hope I remembered all who
from Florida. As usual, her reports are
as Acadia National Park, and a trip to
came from across the country! Some
filled with her wonderful sense of humor.
London.
of us went to a lovely luncheon on the
She reports that, “as aging goes, we
former St. Agnes School campus where
have arrived searching for lots of lost
well with her and husband, John, and
we heard from Head of School Kirsten
things and trying to remember where
“life is good,” for which she “knocks on
Adams and current students. We even
we parked the car.” Last year, she had
wood.”
received a Saints beach towel as a party
her final joint replacement and is now
favor!
Jeannette Tracy reports that all is
And I, Carter Dudley Flemming,
officially a “Bionic Woman.” She says her
am proud to be serving my 57th year
On a sad note, we received word
shoulders and hips are brand new and
as our class secretary. I have tried to
this year that three of our classmates
work better than the original ones she
give it up many times, but so far, no
had died. Our condolences go out to the
was assigned. She and husband, Dennis,
successors have been found. Mike and
families of Diana Worsley Pope, Cindy
don't do much traveling and haven't
I continue to visit our grandchildren in
Hyde Fawsett, and Sarah Brooks Cooke
gone “anywhere except to doctors'
San Francisco and Providence as often
Thorn. We will miss them, and will hold
appointments and the pharmacy to get
as we can. One highlight of this year
the memories of our SAS days with them
the latest jab in the arm.” But like all of
was attending the Cotton Bowl game in
in our hearts.
us, she says they are grateful for every
Dallas in January where my alma mater,
blessing and, “each day we are able to
and perennial losing football team,
walk, talk, and laugh is fabulous.”
Tulane, had a stunning season and
Sara “Pinky” Caples reports that she and her husband, Everado, have written a book entitled “Many Voices:
On a very happy note, Karen Bradley
was ranked #17 in the US and played
Architecture for Social Equity” and it
Burnett says she does have some “news
USC in the bowl game. They won in a
has just been published by London's
that is fit to print.” After being widowed
thrilling last-minute victory, and it made
RIBA Press. You can order it on Amazon
in 2020, a mutual friend introduced
up for all the years of bad games we had
now. The book contains much of
her to a widower and they got married
suffered through! Otherwise, I continue
their 30 years of work, plus work and
in January of this year. This was a
my volunteer “career” and am serving as
interviews with fellow practitioners
wonderful surprise to Karen, as she had
the chair of the Alexandria Federation of
that they admire. Pinky says it was a lot
expected to be single going forward. Best
Civic Associations this year, which keeps
to put in one small book, but it is their
wishes to Karen!
me on top of issues facing Alexandria
most personal statement yet. The new
Liz Anglin Simmonds says after
and its residents. Best to all the Class of
building they designed for the Louis
several health issues for her husband,
1966, and stay in touch when you can.
Armstrong Museum across the street
Terry, they are getting back out on the
from his house in Queens will finally
road in their beloved RV, “Tin Lizzie” to
open this spring. In addition, their son,
explore areas of the U.S.
74 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
1967 ST. AGNES Alice Reno Malone: tammyarm@aol.com
THE NEW ALUMNI BOOK CORNER
From Robin Coffin, “We have had an eventful year as it has been so nice to
Writers Pamela McRae Dux '67 and Elizabeth Herbert Cottrell '67 have
get COVID behind us, at least to some
given in support of creating a new space for books written by alumni, an
extent. Bob and I seem to alternate
idea Pam suggested to the Alumni Office. The new Alumni Book Corner
our time among grandchildren. I love
is located in Lloyd House on the Lower School Campus. If you have
my house in Boulder and try to get out
authored a book, please send a copy to Meredith Robinson, Senior Director
there at least every two months to see
of Alumni Engagement, so it can be added to our shelves! Here are some
my daughter, Treisie, and her children,
recent additions.
Benton (3) and Ellie (1). Benton has
Renowned architects Sara Caples '66 and husband
become quite the skier, so my job this
Everardo Jefferson have been designing for
season is to keep up. We are enjoying
underserved multicultural communities for decades.
Palm Beach and I am working hard on
Their recently published book, “Many Voices:
both my golf game and bridge game. Life
Architecture for Social Equity,” highlights how to
is good!!”
design for social equity through interviews with up-
KC Church is “doing well in
and-coming designers and case studies from all over
Colorado. I play a lot of pickleball and
the world.
bridge and still ski, grateful for my health. Happy 2023!” Our 55th class reunion was this year, but Beth Grosvenor Boland was the only one to make it back to campus. She shares, “Still, I enjoyed the Classic Saints Lunch, chatting up some staff I've come to know, and shopping at the school store in Macan Hall, where I bought a 'Saint Agnes School Alumna' hoodie! Go Saints! Frank and I still have not been on an airplane since 2019, but we traveled quite a bit by car last year: to the Eastern Shore, Pennsylvania's Amish country, Williamsburg, and elsewhere, as far away as the Adirondacks. On another Upstate New York trip, I discovered that Jill Strachan was in Corning, N.Y. at the same time we were, to talk about her 2021 book “Waterfalls, the Moon, and Sensible Shoes” at a local bookstore! We enjoyed breakfast together before her talk. In February Elizabeth Herbert Cottrell and I met with Jill to celebrate the publication of her book. Then, in June, I had lunch with Elizabeth to celebrate the publication of her new book. Elizabeth and I try to get together in person every two-three months.” Elizabeth Herbert Cottrell reports that “publishing my first book (“Heartspoken: How to Write Notes That Connect, Comfort, Encourage, and Inspire”) last summer at age 72 was quite an adventure, and now I'm
Pamela McRae
Coming-of-age
Dux '67 writes
novel by Wendy
about spirituality,
Sibbison's '64,
gratefulness,
“Helen in
goodness, and
Trouble” was
hopes to inspire
picked by Kirkus
imaginations and expand hearts and
Reviews as one of the best books of 2022.
minds in her “Simple Books” series for both children and adults. She is
James Haley '60
publishing a book of poetry this year.
published his first
Elizabeth Herbert Cottrell '67 helps readers learn how to use a handwritten note as a superpower tool for connecting, comforting, encouraging, and inspiring others in her new book, “Heartspoken.”
book, “Buddy Green,” about a young man raised on a farm in Culpeper County, Va., at the turn of the 20th century. It traces his journey through the end of World War I. James says novel would not have been written but for the lasting influence of his St. Stephen's English teacher, Willis Wills.
“A Family
Casey Kennedy
Afloat” by Jim
Waesche '87 just
Toomey '79.
completed her
Follow Jim, his
fourth board
wife, Valerie,
book for kids
and two
about personal
children on a 22-month odyssey crossing
accountability and responsibility, diversity
an ocean and visiting 32
and inclusion, and body safety and
countries in their sailboat.
autonomy called “I'm the Boss of Me.”
learning more than I ever wanted
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 75
1967 Classmates Elizabeth Herbert Cottrell, Jill Strachan, and Beth Grosvenor Boland
Alice Reno Malone '67 with her two daughters Katie and Virginia
to know about book marketing. I'm
friendships with family and loved ones.
touched and overwhelmed by the
The highlights of my summer were our
positive response, and I'm daring to
Hampton Family Reunion, a wonderful
think in terms of igniting a Heartspoken
visit with Betsy Knox Peters and her
movement to encourage readers to pick
husband, Buck, in Seattle and Betsy's
up pen and paper and use the powerful
and my visit to Frances Pollak and her
tool of a handwritten note to nourish
husband, Ernie LaBelle, for what we
important relationships (heartspoken.
dubbed as the F.A.B. Slumber Party in
com/book). If anyone's book club reads
Jackson Hole. We wined and dined,
it, I'd be honored to join you by Zoom!
reminisced about the good old days,
I'm so grateful for Pam McRae Dux,
and had a fabulous time exploring The
Beth Grosvenor Boland, and Becky
Grand Tetons and Yellowstone by car, on
Orme Russell who have been my behind-
foot, and in a guided river raft. I am still
the-scenes cheerleaders and active
working part time in the IT department
in my Facebook group 'The Art of the
at Empath Health helping with their
Heartspoken.'”
electronic health (hospice) medical
Pam McRae Dux and husband Jon are enjoying a peaceful retirement in Missouri. They redid some structural
records conversion. It is such a gift to have more time to enjoy life. Becky Orme Russell has been busy
projects in their home and celebrated
this year with her book club, seeing
their 13th anniversary. Pam continues
Hollins friends at their 50th Reunion
with Simple Books and had such a nice
here in Roanoke, church, and taking
response from SSSAS on establishing
care of her 4-year-old grandson. She
a space in Lloyd house for alumni
loved the Christmas card she received
authored books. She has one more
this year with “The BD” on the cover.
book to be published in 2023. It is a
Alice Reno Malone is still your scribe
poetry book and will join the seven
after 31 years, but loves hearing from
that she already sent for inclusion in
so many of you – more would be better.
the collection of alumni works. Having
“I helped my Dartmouth class celebrate
been able to sample life, live in so many
our 50+1 reunion this past June—great
places, and do so many different kinds
success, except I am now also the class
of work, Pam feels truly blessed. SAS
secretary for the Class of 1971. I've
prepared us to take chances, help others,
discovered I am good at finding people
and to know we have the capacity for
who go missing. Jim is back teaching
unique and fulfilling lives.
at UVA Law with no plexiglass, etc. and
When Alice Meyer thinks of her
I am working on family history and
SAS classmates, she thinks “how
early 19th century history of Virginia
extraordinary we are and that we have
and Kentucky in particular. Younger
known each other for over 55 years!”
daughter Katie is teaching preschool
Last year was a time of renewing
year-round in Nantucket and Virginia
76 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
Alice Meyer '67 and Betsy Knox Peters '67
is a chef at Quinnatisset Country Club in Thompson, Conn. and a chef in Williamstown, Mass. when the course closes. I am also trying to pare down all the 'stuff' in the house—an only child of an only child of an only child has much weight to get rid of. Mary Sweeney Payne is correct—very few people want it!” Mary Sweeney Payne writes, “we're snuggled down for the winter in Downeast Maine hoping this is our last one. Our plan is to put our sweet house on the market in the spring and start thinking about living in warmer climes. We love it here, but the house is becoming more than we want to manage. Winters are hard, although most of the year the weather is close to perfect. Our son, Dan, spent a month with us helping to clean and purge stuff we accumulated here over eight years – plus the detritus from consolidating two homes and one motorhome stored in our back barn. We have grandchildren and a great niece and nephew all planning weddings, so I am hoping to pass along some of the family china, crystal and silver. I continue to act as
the administrator for our Hollins 1971
nature lover!
seeing the boarding department again,
alumnae page. We have an active group
Helen St. John shares, “Last fall, I
and sharing stories with staff about
of 107 classmates who love staying in
made my ballet debut as a miming (and
when I lived there. At the reception
touch, and even hold Zoom cocktail
singing) Montague in a performance
it was great to see people from all the
gatherings. Several SAS sisters also
of Berlioz' 'Romeo et Juliette' with the
years. At our class party I met several of
went to Hollins, so we are able to stay
Atlanta Ballet and the Cathedral Choral
the St. Stephen's guys I had never met!
close. Mike and I adopted a new pup
Society.”
During the year, I traveled in my RV to
this year, a rescue from South Carolina,
Marcia Williams writes, “I have
sweet as honey one minute and a canine
moved to a suburb of Birmingham, Ala.
RV trip, I went to the Portland Blues
tornado the next. We are planning a
to be closer to my brother and sister-in-
Festival. I was catching up with life!
several week driving trip south in April
law. I have become a substitute teacher.
and May, combining visits with friends
Oh, one more thing…after all these years
1972 ST. AGNES
and a family wedding. Perhaps we can
I have become a real, confirmed (with
Edie Beardall Weller: ebweller53@Q.com
see some of my SAS sisters then. I would
a certificate signed by the Bishop and
love it.”
everything!), Episcopalian. I joined my
We “lost” Virginia “Ginger” Voorhees
Texas and twice to Taos, N.M. After the
Greetings to all members of SAS
brother's church when I moved here.
Class of 1972! The highlight of this
but she has been found again living in
It's probably no big deal to you all, but
past year was celebrating the 50th
Seattle. She spent the elementary grades
it means something to me. I love the
anniversary of our graduation with a
with the Class of 1967 transferring
Church, its beliefs, and the way it looks
wonderful reunion on campus last April.
to Madeira for high school and then
at ALL people as God's children. Say
We were blessed to have 20 members
going to Vassar. So pleased that those
hello to our classmates…we are special
of our class travel to Alexandria for
women who were our classmates but did
women, and I am proud to be one of
this occasion. The Alumni Office staff
not finish at SAS are still an important
them.”
and others made us feel very special
component of our class. She hopes to
Barbara Butler Leonard and Chip
and welcome indeed, with a beautiful
come East for her annual trip and we'll
have been traveling as well. Their sons
outdoor luncheon and a gala reception
try to gather.
and families live in Seattle, Denver, and
later at Head of School Kirsten Adams'
Austin, great places for them to visit
home. The following day we enjoyed the
1968 ST. AGNES
several times a year. They celebrated
incredible hospitality of Patti Lieblich,
Barbara Butler Leonard: bbleonard7@gmail.com
their 50th anniversary with a trip to
Marsha Way, Patty Herter Taylor, and
Oberammergau to see the passion play,
Brewster Taylor in an evening filled with
Susan Snodgrass Wynne and her
followed by a cruise on the Danube
stories, pictures, laughter (and probably
husband, Dubby, celebrated their 50th
past all those pretty towns ending in
some tears), and, of course, plenty
anniversary in December 2022 with a
Budapest.
of delicious food and drink! Sunday brought the chance for worship together
weekend in Virginia Beach. Susan has had two busy fundraising years. She
1971 ST. AGNES
in the Upper School Chapel (thanks to
co-chaired her 50th Sweet Briar College
Sara Kathryn Charlton: charltonryan@earthlink.net
Chaplain Sean Cavanaugh) and brunch at a café in Del Ray to cap the weekend's
Reunion and continues to help raise donations for the new children's mental
From Beth Ellis, “2022 found me
celebration.
health pavilion in Norfolk, Va. With the
joining the amazing group of breast
The past year or more has also
alarming post-COVID awareness that
cancer survivors. In April 2022, I
been one of transition for several of
one out of every four children needs
was diagnosed just as I was planning
us. Katie Clarke Hamilton, Susan
counseling, this is a national crisis every
to attend our 50th reunion. After
Adams Hinkle, Margaret Goldstein
community should address. Susan and
three surgeries and five weeks of
Janney, Eleanor Denegre, Olivia
Dubby are fortunate to live near their
daily radiation treatments, my latest
Heavey, and Ann Wade Thompson all
children and grandchildren in Virginia
mammogram in November showed no
have new addresses as they've begun
Beach. She'll miss reconnecting at our
signs of cancer. I was blessed that it was
a new chapter and/or moved into
55th reunion in April 2023, as she and
caught early. I am now back to playing
new opportunities (e.g., retirement,
Dubby will be on a cruise.
tennis with my very supportive group of
downsizing, new job). Margaret, Cindy
ladies.”
Peake, Katie Coleman Pruiett, and I are
Mary Leith Leslie and Dick have been traveling this year. Their
Sara Charlton shares, “I attended
trying out “semi-retirement” (whatever
Yellowstone winter trip was magical with
our reunion in the spring. It was great
that really means!). Several classmates
its pristine beauty (no crowds) and the
to see the few people from our year, but
have welcomed new family members,
many animal sightings, wolves, elk, and
I saw many from the class of 1972! Our
and others of us have said goodbye
bison, and they also did a Utah national
parties were so much fun. The Classic
to beloved ones. That included one
parks trip. Mary says she's turned into a
Saints lunch on the St. Agnes grounds,
of our own members—Anne Barrett
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 77
Terri Shelton '73
a blessing and have kindled the desire to be in closer touch with one another. There's so much gratitude for those connections —past, present and to come. Hey, classmates, just realizing it's only four years until our 55th reunion in 2027—mark your calendars now!
1973 ST. AGNES Marion Dawson Robinette: marion.robinette79@gmail.com Greetings from the Class of 1973!
Karen Franklin '73 with her grandchildren at their Christmas recital at their school, Good Shepherd Catholic School in North East, Maryland.
This year is our BIG 5-0. It is hard to believe it has been 50 years since we walked out with our diplomas. As diverse as our class is, we remain a tight and supportive group. We have a text group Dr. Terri L. Shelton '73, Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement at University of North Carolina Greensboro, received the Hiram E. Fitzgerald Distinguished Engaged Scholar Award. This highly competitive awards program recognizes exemplary contributions to communityengaged scholarship at public and private higher education institutions. “These projects require a great deal of effort, negotiation, and thought to ensure that they are inclusive, mutually beneficial, and responsive to community needs,” said Engagement Scholarship Consortium President Lauri A. Van Egeren. “Our awardees show the world the possibilities of exemplary engagement scholarship.”
of 14 (out of 36 that is pretty good!) and still hope to increase that number. We want to hear from you. From Marion Dawson Robinette, “Dan and I continue life on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. In June Jane Kincheloe Wiles' son was married on the French Riviera. Afterward, I met up with the Mother of the Bride, Pam Zimmerman Brislin, and Jane for a Viking Wine River Cruise in Bordeaux, France. It was so much fun! We had wine tours and history tours. In September, Jane's Paradise Vineyard Wines were
Karen Franklin '73 with her son Darren, Laureen Jones Mullins '74, and her son Phillip Mullins '07 at the 2022 Alumni of Color Brunch.
featured at The Homestead so Pam and I joined Jane and her son and daughterin-law to celebrate. We enjoyed the warm weather and healing waters and of course the fabulous Paradise Vineyards Wine. It was quite an impressive group of winemakers and wine enthusiasts. I am continuing to compete with my long-haired dachshund Stanley in scent work. We competed in our first scent
Cole, who passed away at home in San
trial in December and earned ribbons
Rafael, Calif. in March 2022. Last fall,
and qualifiers. He is a hound after all
four classmates were directly impacted
with a very good nose …. Husband Dan's
by Hurricane Ian—Linda Bauknight
granddaughter went to Camp Alleghany
Franklin in Venice, Fla.; Mary McEwen
this past summer. The family tradition
Fitzpatrick in Sarasota; Margaret
continues!!”
Goldstein Janney in Naples; and Julia
Karen Clausen Shields and husband
Kelly in Charleston. Although the storm
Mark have been traveling a lot with four
did some property damage, thankfully
children and two grandchildren (and
all four and their families were safe from
one on the way) in Monterey, Phoenix,
harm. Your prayers and outreach were
Nashville, and Arlington. They spent
much appreciated in that tenuous time!
three weeks touring Israel on their own
Our connections this year —both
and hope to go back! Karen works in
in-person and virtual —have truly been
78 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
the healing prayer ministry at The Falls
Karen Franklin '73 with her granddaughter, Emily. Church Anglican and is particularly interested in the integration of faith and recent brain science as we understand more about our neural pathways. (Seems clear we're made to thrive in close connection with the God who made us and each other…duh!!!) And she suggests checking out their singer-songwriter son on Spotify—search for STRUAN! After 53 years, Claire Fisher Stock, who attended St. Agnes from kindergarten through eighth grade, has
roll in December and was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society last
Georgia “Doty” Heard '75
May. Karen enjoyed the Alumni of Color Brunch at last year's Alumni Reunion Weekend and had a great time with her son Darren, Laureen Jones Mullins '74, and her son, Phillip Mullins '07.
1975 ST. AGNES Effie Dawson 1973 classmates Liz Bostick, Leslie Treece Fairbairn, and Claire Fisher Stock.
effiedawson00@gmail.com Betty Boatwright Crowley retired from 15 years of teaching social studies (AP and regular World History) at Eastchester High School in New York. She said she is enjoying the slow life and enjoyed a trip to Morocco in the
Georgia “Doty” Heard '75, is the
fall.
recipient of the 2023 National
Nabers Cabaniss Johnson continues
1973 classmates Jane Kincheloe Wiles, Marion Dawson Robinette, and Pam Zimmerman Brislin.
re-connected with her SAS classmates. She is thrilled to rejoin the fold and looks forward to getting reacquainted with her childhood friends. Claire and her husband Bob, both retired, are long-time residents of Great Falls, Va. Their daughter Caroline is a senior at American University where she's studying international relations. Madeline Cooley Flagler reports that her full first year at Tryon as head of education continues to be enjoyable and rewarding. She enjoys small town life. Her granddaughter, Olivia, is two in March and will be joined by a sister in February. Meg Babyak Tucker reports life is best with her four grandchildren – her oldest granddaughter is a Ghany girl at Camp Alleghany and loving it! A big “Thank You” to Jane Kincheloe Wiles for hosting wine tasting events for our classmates. We have such fun and she is so gracious. The wine is the BEST. Yum yum!! Karen Franklin sent a picture of herself with her grandchildren at their Christmas recital at their school, Good Shepherd Catholic School in North East, Md. Karen is proud to report that her granddaughter Emily made the honor
Council of Teachers of English
to juggle time between Riyadh, Saudi
(NCTE) Award for Excellence
Arabia – where her husband, Chris,
in Poetry for Children. NCTE
practices law – her home in Warrenton,
established this award in 1977
Va., and her 93-year-old mother's home
to honor a living American
in Alexandria. Her son, Henry, and
poet for their aggregate work
his wife, Heidi, gave her a grandson,
for children ages 3-13. NCTE
Werner, in April.
recognizes and fosters excellence
Congratulations to Georgia “Doty”
in children's poetry by encouraging
Heard, the recipient of the 2023 NCTE
its publication and by exploring
Award for Excellence in Poetry for
ways to acquaint teachers and
Children. Doty continues to have an
children with poetry through such
amazing career as a poet. Doty lives in
means as publications, programs,
South Florida.
and displays. Doty is the author
Dori Babyak Chappell and her
of 20 books, as well as numerous
husband, Robert, live at Camp
professional books on teaching
Whitehall on the Mattaponi River, next
writing and poetry. Doty's next
door to her mom. Tori Garrett Jones
book, “Welcome to the Wonder
and her family and Rob and Fletch
House,” (co-authored with Rebecca
Brumley '94 are among the recent
Kai Dotlich) is due out on July 11,
SSSAS visitors. Dori saw Maggie Hoy
2023. Doty is a founding member
Ross Heckman and Hugh Hoy '72 at
of the Teachers College Reading
the memorial service in South Carolina
and Writing Project, where she
for Clif Titus. Dori and her sister,
offered professional development in
Meg, and their mom love attending
writing to hundreds of teachers and
Richmond alumni functions. At the
taught writing in classrooms and
last one, they saw Alexandria neighbors
schools.
Brooke Neer '68, Trace Carson '84, and Greg Burnard '77. Dori's mom's minister for the past several years is a grad, Chris Miller '05. Dori and Robert volunteer with the local food bank/ medical clinic and visit their daughter and family in Albuquerque as often as possible.
full-time work in June but still edits part-time for The Washington Post. Her daughter, Allison, who lives in Virginia Beach, got married in June.
Effie Cottman Dawson retired from
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 79
1976 classmates attending Elizabeth Bancroft's '76 memorial service. Front row: Tricia Jennings Kincheloe, Nancy Comb Cook, Sharon Huhn Dennis, Jayne Carson; Back row: Ruth Hazel Little, Amy Goers Rhoads, Mary Connally, Sheree Dobra Freda, Susan Archer Devine, and Kathy Wallace
1976 classmates Sheree Dobra Freda, Mary Connally, and Amy Goers Rhoads at Mary's daughter's wedding.
Amy Goers Rhoads '76 with her daughters, Aya, Tala, and Sarah.
Robert Martini, daughter Miranda Martini, and Mary Connally '76
Husband Dave and Amy Goers Rhoads '76
1976 ST. AGNES
and Charles Sims, Elizabeth Bancroft's
in New Haven, Conn., and my husband
Melissa Ulsaker Maas: mmaas@sssas.org
husband. “Elizabeth was definitely there
Eric's solo practice is busier than ever…
in spirit. We really missed her especially
So much for that retirement idea.”
The Class of 1976 was shocked and
since she was so looking forward to
Leslie Plummer is still living and
devastated to lose our dear friend and
attending after watching Miranda grow
loving Prince William County and has
classmate, Elizabeth Bancroft, on July
up. She was my Matron of Honor when
been renewed as an election officer for
3, 2022 to lung cancer. Elizabeth, wife
Bob and I were married in 1991. I still
the County, her favorite thing in the
to Charles Sims, mother of Charles
miss her so much.”
world to do. She says, “There's nothing
Royce Bancroft Sims and Caleb Coffin
Sharon Huhn Dennis writes: “Our
better than seeing someone's eyes, the
Bancroft Sims, and sister of Mary-
family enjoyed an epic adventure to
McLean Bancroft Jones '80, held a
Ecuador for the wedding of our son, Joe.
special place in our hearts and we will
We arrived early and hiked for several
an exciting year Dave and I have had!
miss her immensely. Our memories of
days in the Amazon Rainforest before
We added three new grand babies this
her are filled with love, laughter, happy
the wedding–truly amazing!
year for a total of eight grandchildren!
times together, and her genuine interest in and care of others.
Margaret Moreau writes: “Our family
very first time they vote.” Amy Goers Rhodes writes, “What
They have kept us very busy helping out
has had quite a year. Our son, Casey,
and just having fun. We also purchased
was married October 1, 2022 at Aix
a fifth wheel camper and have put it to
daughter, Miranda Martini, was
La Chapelle Farm in Maryland in the
good use with trips to North Carolina
married to William Tenney on Saturday,
midst of Hurricane Ian. Our daughter,
to meet and help with Mia (born July
November 5, 2022 at Castle Hill Inn in
Pembroke, and longtime beau, Justin
23), Raystown Lake and State College in
Newport, R.I. Saints in attendance were
Dhyani, became engaged on December
Pennsyvania, Janes Island State Park in
Sheree Dobra Freda and husband Andy,
31, 2022 on the steps of the Lincoln
Maryland, Gettysburg, and some local
Amy Goers Rhodes and husband Dave,
Memorial. I am still a public defender
camping. We will spend several weeks
Mary Connally writes that her
80 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
them regularly. Their puppy is a big fan of the visits. Kim's mom, aka Murney, is living the dream, in so many ways, at Goodwin House. Kim writes, “The older memories are the strongest, so she was delighted to hear about our reunion.” According to Leesa Dinwiddie Kerns, 2022 was non-eventful for the most part. Her dad celebrated his 98th birthday in August. Leesa and her husband continue to go between empty nesting and having a full house with two young adults. Their son (24) is working with the American Conservation Corps, Dennis family wedding in May 2022: Son Dave, Sharon Huhn Dennis, son Joe and new wife Katerina, Craig Dennis, and their twins Sandy and Jacob. a tech company and son Alex Bloom '11 is a partner in an entrepreneurial real estate venture with a best friend from college. So far, so good. They both live in Arlington so we are able to spend lots of time together. Couldn't ask for anything more.
1977 ST. AGNES Clara Bell Guess : edenhouse3@gmail.com Jenifer Shockley sent a reunion recap: “Eleven classmates and two Margaret Moreau and Karen Scrivanos Oztemel at Margeret's daughter's wedding.
beloved teachers, Sherley Keith and Becky Fox, celebrated the Class of 1977's 45th reunion with a luncheon
in Key West in Feb 2023 and a big trip circumnavigating Lake Superior in the late summer. We enjoyed attending the beautiful wedding of Mary Connally's daughter in November and catching up with her and Sheree Dobra Freda. It was also an honor to attend the memorial service for Elizabeth Bancroft and see many classmates. It was a beautiful service and a lovely way to remember her life and the joy she brought to mine. She is truly missed.” Mary “Frizzle” Willis writes that she is retiring this year after running her own tiny Montessori school for 21 years in Boone, N.C. She says it is “bittersweet,” but she and husband John and are fine and looking forward to the spring. As for me, Melissa Ulsaker Maas, I lost my 98-year-old mother, Patricia Ulsaker, in January. Son Jameson Bloom '13 is a UX designer working for
at Lloyd House, the former boarding department, on October 15, 2022. Mimi Beggs Larsen, who organized the event, did not make it. She was sick with the flu. Of all the rotten luck. Big thanks to Jennie Wills of SSSAS Advancement for hosting us and taking the class photo. Hope to see everyone at our 50th! Go Greens! Go Golds! Go Saints!” “The reunion was great fun!” writes Kim Keleher with perfect weather for sitting on the porch and catching up. Kim's dog training business is doing well. She has switched to smaller dogs though she lets the occasional retriever puppy in. She loves puppies but also helps folks with dogs that have a tough time with city living. Kim writes, “It's really rewarding work. I'm always learning.” Kim and her partner, Tom, have four grandchildren, the youngest of whom is 18 months. Amalie and her parents live in D.C., so they get to see
traveling across the country to many of the national parks and wildlife refuges. Their daughter (22) finished up twelve years of playing volleyball, including four years at the collegiate level, with her senior season at Bridgewater College. She graduates with honors in the spring. Elizabeth Goodwin Knights and her husband, Chet, are happily retired in the Northern Neck of Virginia (NNK) where she went every summer and most weekends. They recently spent three months RV'ing around the country visiting places from their bucket list. Their youngest, Connor, is an EMT in Christiansburg. Their daughter, Kate, lives with her husband (and horse) in Bermuda, and runs an Airbnb next door to them. Chet's two oldest live in New England, giving them a good excuse for more RV trips to visit the grandkids. Her brother, Lee Goodwin '80 is retired and spends time going between NoVa and his NNK house and cottages near them. Leesa writes, “It is so much fun getting together with his family of nine children and 18 grandkids.” Deeme Katson shares, “It was wonderful to reunite with classmates and teachers in October on the SAS grounds. Conversations were lively and ran the gamut from old stories, family talk, and world events to the metaphysical.” She hopes some local classmates can meet up in 2023. Deeme was thrilled to sing in several excellent shows in the last year at Wolf Trap Barns and The Birchmere, part of various troupes paying tribute to the music of Linda Ronstadt, Burt Bacharach, Hal David, Van Morrison, and Bruce
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 81
Susan Hepner Siegfried '77 and her family
Mimi Beggs Larsen '77 and her family at her youngest daughter's wedding. I am in admiration of my fellow Saints. They are a wonderful group of women that I am honored to know!” Margaret “Margo” Hannifin is happily residing in Western North Carolina…in a VERY small town. Margie writes that it's “a bit like Mayberry, or Stars Hollow, for younger folks.” She finally completed the interior renovations on her 1948 craftsman farmhouse. Yes, she lives next to a farm, the house used to be part of it. Hopefully, she'll be able to get the exterior renovation started and finished
St. Agnes 1977 Fall Luncheon at Lloyd House - Top row: Carol Saberin, Glenis Pittman, Tammy McCrory, Katherine Dols. Middle Row: Mary Brosnan-Sell, Deeme Katson, Harriet Yancey, Jenifer Shockley. Front Row: Kim Keleher, Becky Fox (former faculty), Sherley Keith (former faculty), Laura Coppa Springsteen. She continues to work
taekwondo since 2006 and has a great
at Williams Legal Group, a plaintiff-
group of folks she works out with daily,
focused boutique law firm which in
many who are of a similar age–“they
the last decade has been devoted to
say you don't stop training because
protecting the civil rights of those in
you get old, you get old because you
institutions or incarcerated. Her three
stop training!” Tammy has gotten
nephews and niece “continue to delight
into bicycling since her son got to
me, some here (McLean) and some
high school, and pretty much bicycles
away (Annapolis, San Diego, Japan).”
everywhere now (she rode 85 miles going
She writes that she's happy to have her
down to Gilroy for her monthly haircut).
Texas-area sister move back to join the
Sean is working as service manager in
four siblings living in the DMV; this year
a nearby bike shop - which is great for
they look forward to a visit from their
the whole family's bike maintenance
brother, the sixth. Deeme's thought for
and bike toy supply! Her husband, Ken,
2023: “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to
is a marathon open water swimmer,
none.”
having completed the triple crown
Tammy McCrory is still living in
(English channel, Catalina channel, and
Santa Clara, Calif. with her husband
Manhattan 20 Bridges), and is training
Ken and now 22-year-old son Sean.
for his next swim in New Zealand (Cook
She works as a scrum master/project
Strait). Tammy writes, “I had a really
manager for Venafi, a cyber-security
great time at our 45th reunion–it was
company. She has been training in
wonderful to see everyone and catch up.
82 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
this year. Margie writes, “I didn't realize till I moved here that all those big cities I lived in were anxiety inducing. Who knew? Funny enough, everyone here pretty much knows each other or are relatives. During renovations I had the pleasure of getting to know several. My contractor turned out to be a childhood friend of one of my fraternity brothers. Fabulous! Hope I can actually make it to a reunion sooner than later.” Susan Hepner Siegfried and her husband are now Nana and PawPaw to their two beloved grandchildren who live in Seattle, 2-year-old Remy and 1-yearold Isla. Their daughter, Angela, is enjoying staying home with the kids for now, and their son, Robbie, is a junior at Virginia Tech. Susan takes great pleasure in her job working on IT contracts at the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, her first full-time job since her son was two. She jumped back into the professional world full-time after he started college. Susan and her husband make frequent trips to Seattle to visit
Angela, her husband Ian, and Remy and
with her husband, Philip Graf. She can do
Isla. They went on pilgrimage to Israel
this and her work as an executive coach
with friends from church in February.
for individuals and teams all over the
She writes, “Life is full and happy.”
world thanks to COVID making virtual
Louise Duncan Sigety and husband
working so normal. She writes, “A benefit
Todd recently welcomed their first
from something awful – how resilient we
grandchild. Anna Katherine Redding
are.” When needed she travels to be face-
was born January 15, 2023, to their
to-face, but “I love my work and being
daughter, Kate, and husband Bryan
able to dive into the icy ocean, too. Yes,
Redding. Louise is thrilled to have Kate's
I am one of those cold water swimmers.”
family close by in Alexandria and son
Her children are grown and live in the
Nick and wife Alex not too far away in
U.S., her daughter in Bend, Ore. and her
Richmond. Louise continues to enjoy
son in Ithaca, NY. Her mother Charlotte
retirement from teaching and all of the
Dennis Marnane '55 and father live in
fun it brings, especially water aerobics,
the San Francisco bay area, and she sees
pickleball, subbing, and tutoring. But
them as much as she can.
most especially, Louise enjoys being a new grandmother.
Linda Scheer Williams reports, “Things here on the Outer Banks, N.C.
Anne Yoder writes, “I'm busier than a
have been relatively unchanged since
three-legged dog on ice!” Her son, Dylan,
I last checked in with everyone.” She
graduated from Appalachian State with
is still teaching statistics at Tidewater
a math degree and minor in finance,
Community College. Despite the
having competed on the track and field
movement back to the classroom post-
team throughout on athletic scholarship!
COVID, she is fortunate to still teach
She is one proud mama. He has his first
remotely, which allows her the freedom
post-graduate job working for a solar
to enjoy life on a sandbar. In the fall, she
energy company and seems to be loving
began teaching accounting for Southern
it. Anne is “crazy busy with teaching,
New Hampshire University and is
committee service, and research at
enjoying the change of pace. Anyone
Duke. Starting in May of 2022, I
following her on social media knows she
returned to travel with a vengeance:
is a dog mom to a crazy English Bulldog,
Woods Hole, New Haven, Wrightsville
Myrtle! This year they began competing
Beach, Asheville, Prague, London,
in the AKC Rally. Rally involves Myrtle
Toulouse, Chicago, San Juan Islands,
and Linda working as a team to navigate
Vancouver, and St. Louis. Phew! Happy
a course with numbered signs indicating
to sit a spell at this point!!”
different exercises to perform; like an
Mimi Beggs Larsen reports, “Our
Andy Sidle'78 thinking like William Shakespeare in NYC.
obedience exercise obstacle course.
youngest daughter was married this
Myrtle earned her novice title and has
summer to a wonderful fellow, and their
earned two of three “legs” toward her
wedding created a great photo op.”
intermediate title. Very few bulldogs
Glenis Riegert Pittman is moving
compete, and teaching her the various
to Texas. They are leaving Northern
signs without the use of treats or toys
Virginia and moving to a suburb of Dallas
reminds Linda why they are an anomaly
as her husband has started a new job
in the Rally world. But they have a great
there. When their house sells she will
time, and everyone has a laugh when
join her husband in search of a house in
Myrtle decides that she is “done” and
Texas.
sits down halfway through the course.
Kiki Marnane stays in touch, almost
Linda writes, “I continue to be blessed
daily, with her SAS best friends Jenifer
with good health, a wonderful partner
Shockley, Fran Robertson, Deeme
in Tom, and my sister just three blocks
Katson, and Harriet Slaughter Yancey.
away. The older I get, the less I want
She writes, “They are my solace and my
more, so I suppose wisdom comes with
laughter, and a reason for me to treasure
age.”
my St. Agnes years.” She lives mostly in
Katherine Dols is still acclimating
West Cork, Ireland in a house on the sea
to the new normal these days, thanks
to COVID—gaining (and now trying to lose) the “COVID 10,” working from home, realizing the only clothes she really needs are leggings and big shirts. She writes, “It was wonderful seeing everyone in October! The class of '77 is such a great group of women!” Clara Bell “CB” Guess has now been living in rural North Carolina for almost two years. She reports, “We had an estate tag sale in July and sold some but not all of the things in my parents' house. We are hoping to finish emptying the house and sell it by December 2023. We're also in the process of looking for a house in Wilson, N.C. My husband, Keith, daughter Julia, and I celebrated my birthday in August in South Carolina with daughter Meg and her family. Our granddaughter, Salem, made the visit extra special!”
1979 ST. AGNES Leslie Keleher Harris has sold her gardening business and is concentrating on her podcast, “Into the Garden with Leslie” (lhgardens.com/). She and her husband Jeff are spending their semiretirement ramping up their travel and keeping up with their six grandchildren.
1980 ST. AGNES Ann Hepburn Webb: the.webbs@verizon.net Happy 2023 to all! Can you believe that we just celebrated a major birthday SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 83
Leslie Keleher Harris '79 with her six grandchildren. last year? Celebrations continue, as
Sophia Phass Doulis celebrated the
Sophia Phass Doulis '80 with son Chris Doulis '16, daughter Catherine Doulis Meyer '12 and new son-in-law Jack Meyer. and Callie Doulis '17.
I compile our notes! This year brings
marriage of her daughter, Catherine
lots of news about travels and yes,
Doulis '12, to Jack Meyer. All of Sophia's
breathtaking in its natural splendor.
grandchildren!
children are “adulting” and working so
Granddaughter Lena Ann Ferrara,
she is an empty nester!
daughter of son Constantine and his
Elizabeth Kryder-Reid has had
wife, Katie, was born on July 15, 2022.
the great privilege to do a year-long
Susie Holleder Connors officially
sabbatical, including a five-month
retired on December 31, 2022, after 17
Lucky for Jessica and Terry, the new
Fulbright Fellowship in France (Feb-
years as the president and CEO of the
family lives nearby in Montclair, Va.,
June 2022). She is working on toxic
Brain Injury Association of America.
only 30 minutes away from them in
heritage—how we remember places
The board of directors created an
Fredericksburg, so they visit often.
of environmental harm and how do
advocacy award in her honor, and she
Jessica's daughter, Jane, continues
we think about the environmental
received many gifts from constituents,
to love living and working out West.
harm associated with heritage sites.
donors, and staff. Susie is enjoying not
Jane's travels have taken her to Maui,
In France, Elizabeth looked at the
working and expects the feeling will last
the Philippines, Costa Rica, India, and
ongoing environmental damage of
for a good long while.
Thailand. Jessica extends an invitation
WWI (mainly from conventional and
Tracy Nelson Geschickter is happy
to classmates who are ever passing
chemical artillery). After teaching back
and healthy in coastal North Carolina.
through Fredericksburg, to give her a
at Indiana University, Indianapolis in
She is planning a trip to Austin, Texas
call.
the fall, Elizabeth traveled to Hungary
with her brother, Scott Nelson '85, to
where she was able to take a short trip
visit sister Lori Nelson Cochran '81. Her
guys, what a year, or two, or three years
to the site of an industrial accident.
father will be visiting as well. It's the first
we've had! Initially I typed Class of 1908
She was joined by Grace, her youngest,
time their family has been together since
instead of 1980, which is telling, as
who was doing her fall semester of her
2016.
far as the length of time it seems we've
senior year in France). Grace is a great
Karen Mierke Hausfeld and husband
Puma Bridges Cornick writes, “Hi
lived in the last three years. By way of
travel buddy and research assistant!
Tim are enjoying retirement in South
updates, our daughter, Elizabeth '13,
Besides the teaching and research,
Chesterfield, Va. All of their grown
is living in Miami teaching high school
Elizabeth continues to row (along
children are in Virginia now, which is a
English, coaching lacrosse, and enjoying
with her husband Tom) and sing in a
plus. Granddaughter Sophie (11) is good
the climate. Keene '21, our son, is in
choir. Her middle daughter bought a
at EVERYTHING she tries.
his sophomore year at W&L, playing
100-year-old house in Indianapolis
Jessica Woodman Godwin reports
lacrosse and in his element. Carter and I
so they help her out occasionally in
that she and husband Terry visited
remain in Del Ray and are still adjusting
the ongoing renovations, and they are
Greece in February 2022. They spent
to being empty nesters! On a sad note,
looking forward to celebrating her oldest
four glorious days in Athens before
my Dad died at the end of March at 85. I
daughter's wedding in March. Elizabeth
boarding a Viking ship to take in many
hope this finds all of you well!”
says there is much to be grateful for in
islands and historic sites. In July 2022
this year of entering our seventh decade!
they traveled to Alaska, which was
84 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
1987 ST. AGNES Anne “Shelly” Webb: shelly.webb.108@gmail.com Hilary Vaughan Flanagan: hilvaughan@yahoo.com Many from the SAS Class of 1987 were present for the various celebrations and events at the SSSAS Alumni Reunion Weekend in April 2022, as we were celebrating our 35th year since graduation. It was hard to believe it Peter Katson '81 with his wife, Angela, and three sons during Christmas 2022.
had been that many years as everybody looks exactly the same! A highlight was meeting at the Lloyd House for a
to Japan in December to visit son Jimmy and spend Christmas together. Jimmy, who is a naval officer, was selected for Jessica Woodman-Godwin '80 with her new granddaughter Lena Ann Ferrara.
a position in the nuclear surface fleet after his recent graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy. Because of his wife Angela's upcoming retirement
1980 ST. STEPHEN'S
after 38 years of military service (41 if you count ROTC), this was the first and
Bill Padgett shares, “I celebrated my 60th birthday by graduating Firefighter 2 class. I am now a volunteer fire/
last Christmas with three Katsons in uniform.
medic with Bumpass Volunteer Fire
1982 ST. STEPHEN'S
Department and Lake Anna Rescue.
Randolph Hollerith: RHollerith@cathedral.org
My son, Will, is the chief IT officer for a company that builds satellite computers
Norman Pappous has written
and power supplies. Andrew is finishing
a book, “Wall Street's Grand
his degree in marine transportation with
Deception,” and is developing an app
the specialty of dangerous liquid cargo
(SYFFT) for financial management
and will serve as a ship's officer in the
(wallstreetsgranddeception.com). He is
Merchant Marine. Chris is a senior at
interested in sharing his ideas with like
Virginia Tech in civil engineering and is
minded classmates.
going on to grad school there next year in engineering. My guys are doing well
1986 ST. STEPHEN'S
but they think I need to slow down some. Never! I continue to work as a senior
In 2020, Dave Squires retired from
technician on gas, diesel, and electric
the Virginia Beach Police Department
agricultural equipment. In my off hours
to become the chief of police in the town
my three senior rescue Labradors and I
of Wrightsville Beach, N.C. Dave's wife,
enjoy the quiet and beauty of Lake Anna,
Ingrid, finished her career as a teacher
Va., where my “forever” waterfront
and is enjoying semi-retirement working
cabin is located. Best wishes to all of my
at the library. Their son is finishing his
classmates!”
fourth year at UVA and will be attending law school next year. If any members of
1981 ST. STEPHEN'S
the SSSAS community find themselves
John Leiner: jgl3a@virginia.edu
near Wrightsville Beach, Dave is always happy to say hello in person. The
Bill Thompson is using his engineering skills to assist his community in the Tampa area after hurricane devastation. Peter Katson and his family traveled
Squires family wishes all a very happy holiday season.
morning breakfast. As we ate donuts provided by Hilary Vaughan Flanagan, we caught up on each other's lives and then toured the campus, which is now the SSSAS Lower School. Thanks to SSSAS for putting on such a great weekend. In other news, Mindy DePalma Helms writes that she and her family are still loving life in the “farmlands” of North Carolina and she sends hellos and good wishes to all. Cecile Lastelic Phillips, who was a big part of coordinating the reunion events, reports that her daughters, Carroll Phillips '18 and Lily Phillips '20, are doing great and it was awesome to have everyone home for the holidays. Shelly Webb is living in Oakland, Calif. and is now an ordained Buddhist chaplain working for the San Francisco Night Ministry. Shelly and Alice Webb Brown '88 recently had lunch with their old coach and mentor, the legendary Marsha Way, and enjoyed reminiscing together. Casey Kennedy Waesche shares that “my husband and I moved back to Falls Church to help raise my nephews, and we take our rescue dogs on all of our Airstream adventures when we get the chance to get out of town.” Congratulations to Casey for the completion of her fourth “ITBOM” (I'm the Boss of Me) book for kids about body safety and autonomy (see p. 75). Malika Rasheed continues her physical therapy work in neurology at Walter Reed Medical Center treating Traumatic Brain Injury and PTSD, where she really enjoys working with U.S. military service members. She
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 85
this year. Claire left her role in the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, Office of Charter Schools, to take on a new challenge as the director of compliance and school support for an education management organization, Charter Schools USA. Claire's husband, Stephen, is in his 12th year as a full professor at N.C. State University. Their daughter, Grace, is a freshman at UNC Chapel Hill, and Greek with Alpha Phi, and son, Nicholas, is a junior in high school. The family has enjoyed lots of travel, including pandemic travel to Greece, Spain, and St. Maarten. Claire serves as a volunteer member of the board of the charter school she founded, and still enjoys the arts, spending time in Members from the St. Agnes Class of 1987 met at Lloyd House for a morning breakfast to celebrate their 35th Reunion weekend in April 2022. and her family were able to travel in
Caregivers and the American Academy
Southeast Asia in 2022, enjoying the big
of Pediatrics. She travels from Cleveland
cities but connecting more with villagers
to Alexandria frequently to visit family
in the small towns they visited. It feels
and her son at EHS and would love to
wonderful to have classmates who are so
catch up with more area SAS friends on
active and talented in their families and
future visits!
communities!
Julie Eady Rao shares, “I've now lived in Los Angeles for five years. We recently
1988 ST. AGNES
finished building a home in Hawaii (and
Cristin Curry De Silva: ccdesilva1@gmail.com
would love to have friends visit there!), and my youngest child will graduate
Kathleen Hobson Davis is still working as a social worker and mental health advocate with Courage to
from Harvard this spring.” She's looking forward to the 35th reunion in April. Michelle “Bunny” Lopez has been in Philadelphia for the past six years and has been teaching at the University of Pennsylvania at the Weitzman School of Design in the Master of Fine Arts program as an associate professor. She also has established her sculpture studio in Philadelphia. Alexandra Scott Thompson shares that she and Gay's sister, Dorothy Gibson '82, became acolytes in December at St. Mark's Cathedral in Seattle. Sabrina Gilmore Scanlon reports that she finally joined a band and they had their first gig in December. She says, “Only took me 40 years to make it happen!” There were a number of SSSAS alums in attendance and she's looking forward to many more gigs in the future.
Alexandra Scott Thompson '88 and Dorothy Gibson '82 at St. Mark's Cathedral in Seattle in December. 86 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
Claire Jenkins Porter and family are celebrating 11 years in Raleigh, N.C.,
nature, reading, and keeping up with old friends. Bethie Kane Knauer writes, “My son, Nate, is 12 and in seventh grade. He is involved in Tae Kwon Do and will be testing for his black belt in March. He is also involved in the Civil Air Patrol in Arlington. I am still practicing full time as a gynecologist/gyn surgery in Southern Maryland where my father started the practice over 40 years ago. My husband, Chris, retired as senior staff director for the Congressional Committee on Oversight and Investigation last October and is enjoying playing guitar and being home.” Our deepest sympathies go to Bethie and Karen Snyder, whose mothers passed away in December.
1989 ST. AGNES Amanda C. Edwards: acefoto@aol.com Amanda Edwards reports, “I wish I had more to share with everyone this time around but no such luck. It would be tempting to make some stuff up, but the SAS Honor Code and all that. I can (truthfully) report that Melanie Bartol Jones reunited with Jamie Junghans Shaw, Allison Walker Mowers, and Lisa Watson Burnes '90 last September at an amazing party Lisa hosted at Willie Nelson's ranch in Austin, Texas. Apparently the four of them had a blast dancing, celebrating, and reminiscing while Lukas Nelson,
The Mavericks, and Steve Earle provided
moved to Merritt Island, Fla. in June,
the live background music!
where my partner, James, and I bought
My favorite locker buddy Lori
a tiki hut on the water which happened
Erickson Boterenbrood is preparing for
to come with a house. We enjoy kayaking
her twins to go off to college and for her
and watching rocket launches off our
husband William's upcoming retirement.
pier. We were lucky to be at the center
The couple recently purchased a home
when Artemis I made its historic
in Old Town, where they will begin
launch.”
spending winters in 2024. Lori looks
Jody Carlberg Astrom writes that
forward to reconnecting with local
she “got to catch up and see Katie Quirk
Lambs and Saints.
Cigarran this year in Los Angeles and
My other favorite locker buddy
meet her husband. Their son is going
Tanya Dobrzynski dusted off her trusty
to school there and we got to enjoy a
karaoke machine in early September for
cocktail hour together and they hung
what turned out to be a rocking mini-
out with lil' Niko. I will look forward to
reunion hosted by Alexandra Woodman
more visits from them and reunions
Johnson and her husband Geoff Johnson '89. I was in town for a couple of weeks and Tanya, Angela Miller, and Christina Pfeffer Caporale all came out to play. For those who weren't there in person, I promise you were with us in spirit as we once again belted out the greatest hits of the 1980s. A handful of lucky classmates even received phone calls, FaceTimes and/or voicemails. You know who you are. And you are welcome. Alexandra Woodman Johnson and Geoff's son, Ben Johnson '18, possibly still recovering from our singing, has graduated from Gettysburg College and is now working with Teach for America. He is also a certified EMT. Their other son, Nat Johnson '21, continues to throw beautiful ceramic pieces during his second year of college on an art scholarship, where he is learning the art of glass blowing. Additionally, Nat has added singer and songwriter to his repertoire and brought together seven young musicians for a DC-area gig last summer. Geoff is helping Beauvoir reach new fundraising heights as their director of Institutional Advancement and somehow found the time and energy to cycle 150 miles of the C&O Canal Trail last spring. Meanwhile, Alexandra continues to enjoy her work in elder care and proved an invaluable friend and resource to me as my father was in the final stages of his life last year. I will forever be grateful for the kindness and compassion she showed to my mother and me during an exceptionally difficult
Katherine Schupp Zeringue '90 and partner James at their new tiki hut in Merritt Island, Fla. time. Alexandra has picked up a few new hobbies which include sketching, painting and haiku writing. She also enjoys spending time with classmates Ashley Hanchey Bigelow, Wiley Shelor Hunnicutt, Gratia O'Rourke Barnett, Ann Tiedeman, Pammy Gill, Yasmin Tuazon, Tanya Dobrzynski, Christina Pfeffer Caporale, Angela Miller, and Kim Jefferson, along with Mike Trimble '89, Dwight Grimm '89, and Ian Jones '88. As for me, I remain in LA and am learning to navigate the tricky “post” COVID freelancing landscape. It's very much one day/gig at a time. I have been lucky enough to see my LA neighbor Wesley Middleton '88 for lunches and such on a fairly regular basis. I've also enjoyed a couple of visits from Mridu Chandra who is busy researching her next exciting documentary film. All things considered, life is good.”
1990 ST. AGNES Aida Knowles: aidalongoknowles@gmail.com Sarah Goldsmith Campos: slgoldsmith@yahoo.com Katherine Quirk Cigarran: kciggo@gmail.com Katherine Schupp Zeringue shares: “I made a big life change last year and accepted a job with NASA's Kennedy Space Center. I continue to do historic preservation and archaeological work as their cultural resources manager. I packed up my condo in Washington, D.C., scooped up the bunnies, and
to also include Jenny Madigan Bright in the mix. My one big item of news is that I just got accepted into the wonderful 30-year-old equity theater in Hollywood called The Actors Co-Op!” Congratulations! All is the same for Sarah Goldsmith Campos in London. Daughter Virginia is 11 and took her 11+ exams NovemberJanuary to determine which secondary school she will attend in September. Keep the class notes coming!
1993 ST. STEPHEN'S AND ST. AGNES Caroline Worsley: caroline.worsley@gmail.com Stephen Lastelic: lastelic@gmail.com Gautam Gulati has rejoined the SSSAS Alumni Association Board and his son, Sai Gulati '28, started at SSSAS in the seventh grade. Gautam joins several folks from the Class of '93 who are now parents of Saints, including Cameron Argetsinger (3rd and 9th), Christian Ferry (9th and 12th), Steve Lastelic (3rd), Ian McGrath (2nd), and Chad Stackhouse (6th and 9th).
1996 ST. STEPHEN'S AND ST. AGNES LaKesha Bankston-Glover: ladybugdivinity@gmail.com Yumi Belanga: ybelanga@gmail.com Mark Elberfeld was given a Denis Diderot scholarship to attend the International Artists and Writers Residency at Chateau d'Orquevaux this coming summer. While writing will be front and center, so will the sights of Champagne-Ardenne.
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 87
Nicole Scattolini de Gier '00 with her second child, Max.
2000 classmates Lizi Donatelli, Randall Winnette, Margaret Dyson, Boupha Soulatha Inskeep, and Karen Owens celebrating their birthdays in Key West!
1999 ST. STEPHEN'S AND ST. AGNES
Kate Gregg is living on the beach in
Hannah Prentice Traul: hannahtraul@gmail.com
Santa Monica. As reported last spring, she has published her first novel,
Erin McConnell is thrilled that all three of her kids (Alex '30, Charlie '32,
“Paradise City” (kegregg.com). Megan Dean is living in Houston,
and Stella '35 Blaker) are Saints now
Texas and is busy with having two
and she is enjoying the one glorious
kiddos under 2! She is looking forward to
year that they will all be on the same
coming to our 25th Reunion next year.
campus. She is also enjoying catching
Chris Recla is living in the suburbs of
up with fellow alumni as part of her
Denver, Colo. with his wife Jen, 7-year-
position as vice president of the SSSAS
old daughter Savannah, and 5-year-old
Alumni Association Board, as well as
son Forrest. They are taking advantage
staying active in the school APT. On the
of remote work and plan to live their full
home front, her family recently joined
summer in their mountain condo where
forces with Erin's mom, Pam, to create
they can do plenty of mountain biking
a multigenerational family home in the
and outdoor living.
Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria,
Hannah Prentice Traul has had a
where both Erin and Pam are very
great time getting in touch with everyone
active in the community. They moved in
to work on the newsletter and got to
during Thanksgiving weekend.
attend the Sleepy Thompson Basketball
Garret Thomas '00 in Orlando with wife Melanie, daughter Mekhi, son Giancarlo, and granddaughter Nina Khi Simone Thomas.
Pender Ellett Graves is living in
Tournament this winter. The energy
Charlottesville, Va. and teaching at the
and excitement was fun to see and her
his granddaughter, Nina Khi Simone
outdoor preschool at St. Anne's-Belfield.
kids loved it, especially the TP that was
Thomas, born June 24, 2022.
She enjoys taking her kids that attend
thrown on the court for the Saints' first
STAB to see the varsity sports against
score!
Saints. In fact, one of their loving
Alison Hopkins Cairns and her husband, Peter, welcomed their first child, Margaret Grace (aka Maggie), on
teachers, Megan Grant, just moved to
2000 ST. STEPHEN'S AND ST. AGNES
Peter's 40th birthday at Marien Hospital
Alexandria to teach at SSSAS.
Andrew Keen: andrew.keen.04@gmail.com
in Stuttgart, Germany, where Alison and
Elizabeth Donatelli: elizabeth.donatelli@gmail.com
Peter are currently stationed.
Julia Kelly is an accessibility
Tyler Gray continues to make Baton
specialist in the Office of Disability
Rouge, La. home, with his wife and three
Services at the University of Richmond.
Elizabeth “Lizi” Donatelli here with
In May she will complete her Disability
your Class of 2000 updates. It was a big
children. Great news to report: Tyler's
Resource Specialist Graduate Certificate
year for many of us who celebrated our
wife, Sarah, has made a full recovery
from Northern Arizona University.
first birthday in the next decade. I was
from breast cancer and Hutson (7), Ella
lucky enough to share my 40th with
(5), and Townes (2) are overwhelming
school at Browne Academy in
Margaret Dyson, Boupha Soulatha
him daily. Tyler was recently named
Alexandria, Va. and is completing her
Inskeep, Randall Winnette, and Karen
chair of the St. James Episcopal
certificate in school management and
Owens in Key West!
School's board, continuing a legacy of
Kim McCue is head of the lower
leadership from Harvard Business School. 88 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
This year, Garret Thomas celebrated a major milestone with the birth of
Episcopalian schooling for his family. Andrew Keen now works at CGI
Caitlin Blair '04 married Andrew Fessler on April 10, 2022: Caroline Blair '11, Scarlett Bermingham '04, Andrew Blair '78, Sarah Blair '01 (maid of honor), Rachel Pollard Rodriguez '04 (bridesmaid), Taylor Rains '04, Caitlin Blair '04, Andrew Fessler, Brent Locke '04, Mary Downs Roberts '04 (bridesmaid), Alden Leonard '04, Kendall McBrearty '04 (bridesmaid), Kady McBrearty Paradise '04 (bridesmaid), Sally Griffith '04 time seeing each other, along with Julie Kogut Kasztenja, and all nine of their children, over the winter holiday. It is with great sadness we end this update sharing the loss of our classmate Seth McClelland. Seth was an entrepreneur who invested in the NOVA/D.C. community, particularly the hospitality scene, where he was dubbed a “Nightlife Pioneer” and host to several Class of 2000 high school reunions. He will be missed.
2002 ST. STEPHEN'S AND ST. AGNES Madia Willis '00 and the co-founders of Black Paper Party with Kelly Clarkson.
Melanie Branting: msbranting@gmail.com Alison Henry: alisontay@gmail.com Virginia Pasley: vbpasley@gmail.com
Federal. His 2022 travels included
the Amazon Black Business Accelerator
England and Northern Italy.
Award, and a grant from Citi which
Nathaniel Savio and his family
was awarded on the Kelly Clarkson
moved back to the Washington metro
Show in December. Black Paper Party
area after seven years overseas. They
was also recognized by Bloomberg as
look forward to spending several years
one of the 50 innovative startups that
near friends and family.
“Rose as America Locked Down.”
Madia Willis has been busy
Nicole Scattolini de Gier had a
running start up Black Paper Party, an
second son, Max, a year ago, and
inclusive seasonal products company.
now lives in Chevy Chase. Maggie
This holiday season the brand was
Klousia Marquis moved to Maryland
available in Target, Walmart, TJ Maxx,
from D.C. a year and a half ago. Emily
Marshalls, HomeGoods, and Macy's to
Pfeiffer-Russell and Ed Russell live
name a few. The co-founders recently
in California again and are married.
won first place at The Workshop at
Nicole, Maggie, and Emily had a great
Macy's first vendor pitch competition,
Mary Humphreys started working as an attorney at Legal Services New York City's Staten Island office, where she represents low-income immigrant clients in removal defense, family visas, and other immigration matters. She says she is enjoying both her new career and her new boat-centric commute. Anastasia Morozova and Greg Featherman welcomed Augustus Michael Featherman on March 28, 2022. Juno Woods, as of Halloween, is working in climate tech at Charm Industrial, focusing on automating SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 89
their carbon sequestration process.
Greenville, S.C. “While in Greenville, I
Last summer, they received a $14,000
met my now fiancée, Madison, and will
to Vancouver, British Columbia to
honorarium to build an art project,
be getting married June 2023,” Alex
pursue a master's in forestry at the
“Charismatic Metafauna,” for Burning
writes.
University of British Columbia. She
Man (an event focused on community,
Camryn Collette recently relocated
is researching how fiber-based food
art, self-expression, and self-reliance
2013 ST. STEPHEN'S AND ST. AGNES
packaging materials break down and
held annually in the western U.S.).
Hope Gallagher Ogden: hope.gallagher13@gmail.com
decay over time in terrestrial and
Claire Malkie: clairemalkie@gmail.com
aquatic environments .The main
Brett Williams: brettwlms11@gmail.com
goal of the research is to develop a
2005 ST. STEPHEN'S AND ST. AGNES Eleanor Shaw: ewshaw87@gmail.com Emily Hewitt: ebhewitt@gmail.com
biodegradability evaluation system The Class of 2013 is in an exciting
for bio-based packaging materials
and eventful stage of life. As we
in the food industry, in hopes of
Congratulations to Lee Lisle, who
celebrate our 10th reunion, we raise
finding a product that proves to
recently earned his Ph.D. in computer
our glasses to the numerous weddings
be 100% biodegradable and truly
science at Virginia Tech specializing
we had, graduate and postgraduate
environmentally friendly.
in human-computer interaction in
degrees we gained, promotions
augmented and virtual reality.
we earned, babies we welcomed,
the Duke University School of Law in
companies we founded, and leaps of
May of 2023. After graduation, she will
2011 ST. STEPHEN'S AND ST. AGNES
faith in motion. It's been a great year to
be moving to Boston to join the private
Mathias Heller: mfitzheller@gmail.com
be a Saint!
equity transactions team at Ropes &
Meredith Bentsen: meredithbentsen@gmail.com
2016 ST. STEPHEN'S AND ST. AGNES
Sarah Lowe will be graduating from
Gray, LLP.
Fionn Fortune: fionn.m.fortune@gmail.com
2018 ST. STEPHEN'S AND ST. AGNES
in New York City since finishing
Haley Hassell: haleyahassell@gmail.com
Lindsey Ellison: lindseyel18@gmail.com
her masters in clinical psychology
Sarah Lowe: sarahelowe20@gmail.com
Charlotte Fontham: cfontham@gmail.com
from Columbia University. While at
Ja'Von Price: javonp17@gmail.com
Afua Nyantakyi: afuanyantakyi@medicalda.com
Danielle Mayall has been living
Columbia she focused her research
Hariel King: hkingphoto@gmail.com
on spirituality and non-traditional
Nicki Gray graduated with her
methods of cure, which led her in
master's in biohazardous threat agents
Annie Dyson graduated from
the direction of psychedelic assisted
and emerging infectious diseases from
University of Virginia and is currently
therapies and similar modalities. She
Georgetown University in May 2022
living in Nashville, Tenn., where she
currently works at Compass Pathways
and is currently applying to medical
works as a labor and delivery nurse at
coordinating Phase 3 clinical trials
school. She volunteers as a firefighter
Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
across the U.S., using psilocybin
and EMT in Fairfax, Va., and works at
Jadyn Chandler graduated from
assisted therapy for treatment resistant
SSSAS as a Middle and Upper School
Towson University with Magna Cum
depression. In addition, she is leading
substitute teacher and head coach of
Laude honors in December 2021 with
a pilot trial at the New York Psychiatric
the Middle School swim team. She
a bachelor's in sport management.
Institute, using breathwork-assisted
loves being back in the community that
In January of 2022 she moved to
therapy for cannabis use disorders.
formed who she is today and thanks
Atlanta and started her master's in
Danielle is passionate and really
her SSSAS family for welcoming her
sport administration at Georgia State
excited to be a part of the revolution of
back this year!
University. In September 2022, she
mental health treatments! Thanks for
Kathleen Connor moved to the
started a job working for Atlanta's NBA
United Kingdom and started a master's
team, the Atlanta Hawks, where she
in publishing media at Oxford-
works with the Brand Experience and
Emmy Award winning casting director
Brookes University. She will graduate
Activation Department!
for her work on “The Proud Family:
in September 2023, and she hopes to
Alexander Kramer graduated in
Louder and Prouder” and Disney's
find a job in the publishing industry
2022 from University of Delaware, and
“Elena of Avalor” animated series.
in the U.K. or U.S. She is really excited
is currently working on his master's in
Patrick Daly reports that he's
to spend more time with her extended
mechanical engineering. He is going to
been spending the winter in Ecuador
family in England and Ireland. She
spend this summer traveling through
exploring the Andes.
also looks forward to traveling during
Eastern Europe.
all of your continued support! Tatiana Bull is now a two-time
Alex Freedman, a 2015 graduate
her year in England.
Emma Patterson graduated from
Kate Lucas recently moved to Texas
Catholic University of America with a
as senior director of sales for a global
to work at the Forensic Science Center
bachelors of science in environmental
power tool manufacturer and lives in
at the Latent Prints Division.
chemistry in 2022. Emma moved to
of the University of Georgia, works
90 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
saints in action
The Saints Fund provides an opportunity to contribute to the growth of our students. When you get involved at SSSAS, our entire community benefits from your generosity. Visit sssas.org/give or use the QR code to make your gift by credit card, bank draft, PayPal, or Venmo. Thank you for your ongoing support of SSSAS and our tremendous faculty, staff, and students. Gifts to the 2022-2023 Saints Fund must be received before our fiscal year ends on June 30!
Pawleys Island, S.C. about 45 minutes
from the Tisch School of the Arts.
working at an animal hospital in
south of Myrtle Beach and is currently
He graduated with a bachelor's in
Alexandria, Va. with future plans to go
working for Grand Strand Water and
drama and minored in applied theatre
to veterinary school.
Sewer Authority. She works at a water
(education) and child and adolescent
treatment plant as a water quality
mental health studies. Christian
the U.S. Naval Academy in 2022 with
analyst in the lab.
now lives in N.Y.C. full time. He
a bachelor's in operations research
Jack Siegel graduated with a
said it's great being in the city where
and was commissioned as a Second
bachelor's in political science from
everything is happening and to have
Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Amherst College in 2022. He then
a great community of fellow artists
She moved to Quantico, Va., where
moved to New York City, where he is
surrounding him. He works full time
she attended the Basic School and
working as a consultant for Altman
at NYU's Office of Undergraduate
then moved to Lawton, Okla., where
Solon.
Admissions by day while submitting
she is going to the Marine Corps Basic
auditions for film, television, and
Artillery Officer Course. She is moving
voiceover roles in his free time. He
to Emerald Isle, N.C. in 2023 where
is also venturing into online content
she will be working as an artillery
creation via YouTube soon.
officer in 2nd Battalion 10th Marine
Hariel-Deneen King moved to Baltimore, Md. this year. Grayson Offutt graduated from University of Virginia in 2022 with a degree in psychology. Christian Corpening graduated from New York University in 2022
Carroll Phillips graduated from
Lindsey Ellison graduated from
Regiment.
Bucknell University with a bachelor's in animal behavior. She is currently SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 91
MILESTONES
New Additions
Tony Jenifer '04 and Michelle, Maya, October 23, 2022
Chazzo Habliston '09 and Caroline, Mary Quinn, October 31, 2022
Alumni
Rachel Pollard Rodriguez '04 and Chris, Virginia Rose, January 21, 2023
Hope Gallagher Ogden '13 and Patrick, Faye Agnes, July 19, 2022
Rudy H. Lopez '96 and Megan, Isa Panella, December 29, 2022
John Cobb '04 and Jody, James “Jamie” Westbrook, November 28, 2022
Faculty and Staff
Kelly Williamson '99 and Christopher Porcelli, Marie “Joy,” February 15, 2023
Caroline Habliston Morris '06 and Taylor, Francis “Frankie” Calvert, February 3, 2023
Alison Hopkins Cairns '00 and Peter Cairns, Margaret “Maggie” Grace, March 3, 2022
Abigail Holden Ryan '07 and Daniel, Callum Robert, December 15, 2022
(Listings received prior to March 3, 2023)
Harry Floyd '07 and Annabelle Killmer Floyd '07, Ava Catherine, February 2, 2023
Matt Shiroma '01 and Christen, John Matthew “Jack” and Beatrice Leigh “Bea,” October 26, 2022 Michelle Dee '02 and Kyle Stuart '02, Camden James, October 18, 2022 Garry Burke '03 and Da'Yana, Dawsyn Ameera, September 4, 2022
Mary Quinn Habliston 92 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
Meike Cranford (Upper School English Department Chair) and Matthew, Arden Frederick, January 6, 2023
Maggie Taylor '07 and Derek Danner, Emma Lee, February 6, 2023
Rachael Creque (Director of Scheduling, Upper School Registrar and Attendance Manager) and Sherwin Carr, Zayn David Creque Carr, January 13, 2023
Amanda Goodhart Popeck '08 and Ben, Henry “Hank” Rea Popeck, November 30, 2022
Carolyn Fabros (Upper School Front Office Manager) and Rob, Madeline Lee, December 23, 2022
Isa Panella Lopez
Virginia Rose Rodriguez
Nathan Andes (Middle School Spanish Teacher) and Jessica, Caleb Price and Isaac Thomas, September 11, 2022
Marie “Joy” Porcelli
James Westbrook
Faye Agnes Odgen
Margaret Grace Cairns
Francis “Frankie” Calvert
Zayn David Creque Carr
Camden James Stuart
Callum Robert Ryan
Ava Catherine Floyd
Caleb Price & Isaac Thomas Andes
MILESTONES
Weddings (Listings received prior to March 3, 2023)
Alie Cline '09 and Andrew Worsley October 29, 2022
Alumni
Hunter Fairchild '11 and Katie Jordan October 14, 2022
Mala Soulatha '07 and Ben Mack October 29, 2022
Cat Doulis '12 and Jack Meyer September 17, 2022
Andy Rouhafzai '07 and Naomi Shagam January 27, 2023
Maggie Edmunds '12 and Angus McIntyre September 24, 2022
Jason Neithamer '08 and Brittany October 22, 2022
Monika Dammann '13 and Alex Andony December 3, 2022
Faculty and Staff Mark Gannon (Middle School English Teacher) and Sara Peters September 3, 2022 Staci Alario (First Grade Teacher) and Timothy Gilbride October 29, 2022 Ricky Drummond (Middle School Performing Arts Teacher) and Emily Stern October 2, 2022
Lila Samperton '08 and JJ Occi November 5, 2022
Ben Mack and Mala Soulatha '07
Monika Dammann '13 and Alex Andony
Lila Samperton '08 and JJ Occi
Sara Peters and Mark Gannon
Andrew Worsley and Alie Cline '09
Angus McIntyre and Maggie Edmunds '12
Timothy Gilbride and Staci Alario
Ricky Drummond and Emily Stern
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 93
IN MEMORIAM
In Memoriam (Listings received prior to March 3, 2023)
Charles Engh Sr. '56
Gordon Fillingame '61
brother of Gerard “Jerry” Engh '59
December 31, 2022
Alumni
and Sally Reger Engh '58, father of Andy Engh, Jr. '77, grandfather of
James “Jim” Harris '62
Douglas Lindsey '41
Charlie Engh, III '12, and Catherine
October 8, 2022
husband of Sara Ann McMullen
Engh '07, uncle to Kelly Holden '83,
Lindsey '43 (deceased), father of
Jason Engh '89, Jeremy Engh '91,
John Skonberg '63
Bob Lindsey '75, Ann Lindsey '72
and Jonathan Engh '93
December 13, 2022
(deceased), grandfather of Brittany
May 30, 2022 Arnold “Arnie” T. Phillips '63
Lindsey '06 November 29, 2022
Patricia “Pat” DeLashmutt Ford '56
brother of Tyler Phillips '61
sister of Betty Delashmut '56
January 27, 2023
Julia “Judy” Hamilton Harms '44
(deceased)
August 8, 2022
November 6, 2022
Permilia “Mina” Burgess
Gilmore “Bim” Wheeler '58
Eggerton '46
February 11, 2023
Diana Worsley Pope '66 sister of Bill Worsley '69
John Twombly '67
November 29, 2022 Barbara Pates Frisbie '59 Carla Spaatz Thomas '49
Tyler Suiters '87 Connie Clark Middleton '59
January 13, 2022
94 ST. STEPHEN’S AND ST. AGNES
September 18, 2021
August 6, 2022
December 13, 2022 Sarabeth Glascock Smith '51
July 9, 2022
January 7, 2023
January 24, 2023
Juli Keller McKinney '88 sister of Jacqui Keller '86, daughter of Debbie Keller (former staff ) February 3, 2023 Brian Bernhart '90 brother of Brendan Bernhart '88 November 11, 2022 Brian Woodward '91 November 16, 2022 Seth McClelland '00 son of Anne Thomas '79 (deceased), nephew of Griff Thomas '77, grandson of Henry Thomas '52 (deceased) November 12, 2022
Family and Friends David Wherry father of Kenneth Wherry '66 March 7, 2021 William Hamilton husband of Katie Clarke Hamilton '72 July 26, 2021 James Halbert husband of Rosa Ruckner
Michael Gerson
Donna Lafeve
father of Nick Gerson '16 and
mother of David Lafeve '90
Michael “Bucky” Gerson '13
(deceased), Don Lafeve '94,
November 17, 2022
and Ann Lafeve Snyder '03 January 12, 2023
Margaret Snyder mother of Richard Snyder '85
Joann Noonan
and Karen Snyder '88
mother of Brendan Noonan '93
December 3, 2022
January 22, 2023
Elizabeth “Beth” Irwin Kane
Kenneth R. “Ray” Augst, Jr
April 3, 2022
mother of Elizabeth “Bethie”
(former Board of Governors)
Kane '88
father of Susan Augst Roll '81,
Lawrence Brodie
December 30, 2022
Joan Augst Fox '83, John Augst
Halbert '68 2022 Alvin Hall husband of Cherie Cude Hall '57
husband of Sally Jones Brodie '65
'94, and Bobby Augst '95 Shirley Cooper
January 23, 2023
April 26, 2022
mother of Katherine Cooper Hoffman '87
Nancy Griffith
Caroline Johnston (former faculty)
January 9, 2023
wife of Kenneth “Ken”
August 3, 2022 Calvin “Vin” Neithamer father of Jason Neithamer '08 and Greg Neithamer '09 November 4, 2022
Griffith '60 Patricia Ulsaker
January 29, 2023
mother of Melissa Ulsaker Maas '76, grandmother of Alex
Ronald Smoker
Bloom '11 and Jameson Bloom '13
father of Tammy Smoker '93
January 10, 2023
February 5, 2023
SPRING 2023 THE SAINTS LIFE 95
400 Fontaine Street Alexandria, Virginia 22302 If the addressee no longer lives at this address, please contact the school: 703-212-2720 or atoman@sssas.org
Save the Date for the
2023 HALL of FAME Friday, September 29