Alumnae Section

FACULTY, STAFF, AND TRUSTEE DEATHS

Rev. Sue C. DeJournett, Wesleyan chaplain (1995-1998), died on December 23, 2020. Juanita Tidwell Jordan, former Wesleyan trustee, died on August 24, 2020. Carolynn Cochran Mitchell, former assistant to the president of Wesleyan College (1985-1991), died on May 28, 2020. Ruth Butler Weeks, physical plant manager at Wesleyan for 20 years, died on May 17, 2020.

Marriages

Congratulations to:

Shannon McGinley ’99 and Major Stephen P. Recupero who were married on October 3, 2020, at the Augusta (GA) Museum of History. Class of 1999 attendees included Jasmyn Jones Bowden, Melissa Roberts Mancini, Amy-Christine Jordan Vinson Smith, and Kathryn Smith Vinson.

Anna Cornelious ’04 and Patrick Martin who were married on October 10, 2020.

Jessica Dermody ’08 and Tracy Austin Gibson who were married on October 27, 2019.

Julia Drake ’09 and Shayan Shamskolahi who were married on May 2, 2020.

Rasheeda Inari Bell ’16 and Robert Windham III who were married on September 26, 2020.

Mo Guiberteau ’00 and Missy Riley who were married on November 7, 2020. Many Wesleyan sisters attended.

Births & Family Additions

Congratulations to:

Monica Harper Dekle ’04 and Andrew on the birth of a son, Remington James Dekle, on April 7, 2020.

Pragna Halder ’08 and Anthony on the birth of their first child, Jonathan Isaac Mercaldo, on November 17, 2020.

Abigail Stephens Layfield ’15 and Chris on the birth of a son, Parker Edward Layfield, on May 17, 2020.

Allison Callaway Pierce ’15 and Joshua on the birth of a daughter, Finley Jo Pierce, on November 20, 2020.

Brooke Hester Stanley ’18 and Ben on the birth of twin sons, Brent Lewis Stanley and Brodie Lee Stanley, on August 3, 2020.

In Memoriam

1941 Lucy Cline Huie 1942 Bettye Withers Barnes 1943 Elaine Michael Fanning 1944 Nell McGehee Mathis 1945 Dot Hill Bruce Lellen Rice Dawson 1946 Laurel Dean Gray Craft Mary Tappan Garrison Camilla Cotton Myhand Joyce Gallagher Pate 1947 Geraldine Farrar-Thomas 1948 Beverly Reichert Kennon Kathleen Branan Roughgarden Elizabeth Humber Hean Stone 1949 Roberta Gantt Davis Renee' Rousseau Tillery 1950 Joyce Andrew Bledsoe Charlotte R. Gaines Mary Fordham Greenfield 1951 Jane Wilkin Anthony Martha Hayes Blackwell Dollie Durrett Daniels Mary Bird Horner Harvey Gay Flowers Lindsey Peggy Wood Napear Catharine Elizabeth Neylans Meg Smith Teagarden Eugenia Pierce Young 1952 Jean Taylor Armbrecht Barbara Fussell Carter Mary Eva Bryan DuBose Selma Paterson Marlowe Ann McElrath Stewart Daisie Robinson Stewart 1953 Mary Ann Fitzgerald McClure Blackwell Eugenia Trapp Rohrberg Iris Harvey Smith 1954 Joan Arlt Hopkins Sara Thurston Williams 1955 Joyce Caldwell Bryan Jane Medlock Taylor 1957 Jean Griffin Dent Betty Sue Hammond 1958 Linda Chen Bell Clarice Pittman Elder Jean O'Keeffe Fraser Betty Nunn Mori 1959 Virginia Smith Oakes Sarah Jane Wittstruck 1960 Rose Pickett Holder Barbara Williams Karski Kathleen Floyd McGowan 1962 Sally Ann Wickersham Cauthen Nancy Chappell Martin Susan von Unwerth Overman 1964 Saydie Susan Sammons 1965 Mildred Eschmann Spear Clara Eschmann Spear 1966 Raye Coleman Margaret Elizabeth Hendrix Elizabeth Rudisill 1967 Gloria L. Kennedy Camille Fleming Vaughan 1968 Susan Towns Sharp 1969 Patricia Pace Fordham Connie Crowe Jones 1970 Gail Tapley Powell 1971 Sherida Statham Kinney 1972 Donna Dingess Baker Becky Jones Brock 1973 Marjorie H. Priester 1976 Patsy Moore Achord Roberta Lapinski Gangler 1977 Eula Sammons Battle 1978 Wendy Coffman MacMahon 1981 Cynthia Ann Sutherlin 1983 Betty Heath Thompson 1996 Keely L. Whittington 2013 Amanda J. Corr

A MESSAGE: From the WCAA President

Sister Alumnae,

With sincerity, I send greetings from my space of change and adaptability to yours. While it’s helped knowing we’re “all in this together,” 2020 hasn’t produced one single remedy to completely resolve the sense of uncertainty we’ve all faced. To this end, maybe you’ve done a lot of introspection to help get you through, or maybe you’ve become somewhat numbly complacent with things. Maybe you find yourself teetering on the spectrum some days, as I do.

Continue to do good anyway. Keep your faith and honor its tenacity in creating confidence where there seems to be none. Isn’t this what we always do, to some degree? And on days when you don’t, allow yourself some grace. My hope for you is that you’ve experienced - and will choose to experience - peace, love, and joy...actively seeking and accepting them in their various forms, arming yourself to continue to be the agents of positivity and light both for yourself and your communities.

Walking into 2021 (albeit limping), maybe we need a reminder that beauty, as well as need, paired with opportunity is where we will all prevail. Here are just a few ways you have done so this year:

• To “Protect the Pack,” you sewed face masks to squash the spread of germs on campus; • Seeking to educate and mobilize yourselves, you participated in reading groups around

Layla Saad’s Me and White Supremacy; • Responding to the call to engage on a deeper level with your sisters and with Wesleyan, you completed surveys whose responses are still impacting the planning for future initiatives. Alone, more than 360 of you completed the questionnaire about Alumnae

Weekend preferences; • Led by Faith Sumpter ‘08, you attended conversations for and by Black Alumnae to engage with one another and build community. Several Black Alumnae Meet-Ups took place over the summer; • Understanding that Wesleyan students need professional advice from the outside, you signed up to become a mentor on the Purple Briefcase platform; • Considering students were campus-bound this fall, we thank our Young Alumnae who funded a successful Fall Fest Movie Night.

I can only imagine the other ways you are contributing in your circles and daily walks of life, despite and because of current, additional challenges. THANK YOU for seeking opportunity and meeting it with actions of love for yourselves, Wesleyannes, and others.

Alumnae Weekend will be held in April 2022...and what stories of resiliency we will have to tell.

Loyally,

Abbie Smoak Lacienski ‘01 President, Wesleyan College Alumnae Association

WESLEYAN IN THE TRIANGLE

Connecting, Supporting, Learning, and Laughing!

The Greater Triangle Wesleyan Alumnae Club in North Carolina rings in the New Year annually with a festive luncheon at the Carolina Country Club in Raleigh. The event features a speaker – faculty, staff, alumna, or graduate – connected to Wesleyan. Tables set with Wesleyan china belonging to club members and the singing of a blessing before our meal have become a tradition; one that creates an atmosphere for sharing Wesleyan memories.

Our members range from alumnae in the Class of 1947 to those in more recent classes. This multigenerational group ensures that we learn history from older grads, share traditions from various classes, and catch up on current innovations at the College. There is always a buzz of conversation and much laughter to accompany the learning. The food is good, too!

In addition to the annual luncheon, the Club has sponsored gatherings with other women’s colleges; held afternoon tea at hotels in Durham, Greensboro, Chapel Hill, and Raleigh; and offers a monthly book club.

The Wesleyan Triangle Alumnae Book Club began in 2013 as an outgrowth of a College program that encouraged clubs to read the same book first-year students were reading on campus. The book club meets monthly in Raleigh at Quail Ridge Books, where club member Linda Brown Walker ’73 serves as coordinator for children’s programs. We read a wide variety of books from classics to current novels, from short stories to young adult literature. Members continue to meet during COVID-19 thanks to outdoor spaces provided by Pam Henry Pate ’71.

The book club has become a source of support for its members, deepening existing friendships and creating new ones. If you enjoy reading and reflecting and having fun, this book club is for you! If you are interested in starting a book club, we can share the list of books we’ve read over the last decade.

The Triangle Club also regularly participates in WOW community outreach projects: supporting the fundraising gala for KidzNotes, a worldwide music program based on the El Sistema Music Program (with the Triangle program founded by club member Lucia Peel Poe ’53) and by donating books to Book Harvest, a Triangle literacy effort.

Our club welcomes every woman who attended Wesleyan to the luncheon, to the book club, and to participate in WOW projects. If you live anywhere in NC from Murphy to Manteo, please make sure Wesleyan has your contact information so we can send invitations to you. We are particularly hoping young alumnae will join us and help create new events that appeal to 21st Century Wesleyannes, and keep the rest of us young! You can contact us at ppate35@nc.rr.com to receive our newsletter.

Pam Henry Pate ’71 and Linda Brown Walker ’73 are co-leaders of the NC Triangle Club. Karen Garr ’69 leads the Triangle Book Club.