QuakerMatters Wilmington Friends School
Summer 2018
Summer 2018 Contents 1 From the Head of School 2 From the Alumni Board Clerk 3 2018 Alumni Awards Announced 5 Class Agents 6 From the Archives 8 Commencement and The Class of 2018 18 Retirements 19 Spring News & Events 32 Peter Kelemen ’74 34 Class Notes 41 In Memory
Connor Haubert ’13, Bill Haubert, Noreen Haubert (WFS Trustee), Brendan Haubert ’18, and Patrick Haubert ’16.
45 In Closing INSERT: Report on Philanthropy
On the cover: Members of the Class of 2018 who joined WFS in Kindergarten or earlier.
Mission Wilmington Friends, a Quaker school with high standards for academic achievement, challenges students to seek truth, to value justice and peace, and to act as creative, independent thinkers with a conscious responsibility to the good of all.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
ALUMNI BOARD 2018-2019
Chair, Susan Kelley Vice Chair, Dorothy Rademaker Treasurer, Christopher Buccini ’90 Secretary, Russ Endo Jennifer G. Brady Susan Janes-Johnson Omar A. Khan ’90 Karen-Lee Brofee Daniel Klein Denise H. Chapman Matthew Lang ’08 Erin Brownlee Dell ’89 Zachary T. Dutton ’06 Christopher W. Lee ’82 Deborah Murray-Sheppard Scott W. Gates ’80 David Tennent Richard Grier-Reynolds Noreen Haubert
Matthew Lang ’08, Clerk Jonathan Layton ’86, Vice Clerk Melissa Fagan Billitto ’87 Erin Bushnell ’96 Stanita Clarke ’06 Carolyn Gates Connors ’81 Emily David ’09 Raven Harris Diacou ’06 Alexandra Poorman Ergon ’77 Joseph Gutierrez ’07 Matt Hendricks ’79 Joshua Klein ’98 Erika Kurtz ’99 Chris Lee ’82 Adrienne Monley ’02 Katharine Lester Mowery ’02 Raymond Osbun ’71 Kristin Dugan Poppiti ’03 Richie Rockwell ’02 Thomas Scott ’70 James Simon ’60 Martha Poorman Tschantz ’85 Josiah Wolcott ’97
Alumni Association Board Liaison, Martha Poorman Tschantz ’85 Home & School Association Board Liaison, Debbie Pittenger
ADMINISTRATION Head of School, Kenneth Aldridge Assistant to the Head of School, Ann Cole Associate Head for Finance and Operations, William Baczkowski Assistant Head for Academics, Michael Benner Head of Lower School, Julie Rodowsky Head of Middle School, Jonathan Huxtable Head of Upper School, Rebecca Zug Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, Melissa Brown Director of Communications and Strategic Marketing, Susan Morovati Finizio ’87 Director of Development, Chad O’Kane Summer 2018 • QuakerMatters
Professional photography by Elisa Komins Morris, Joe del Tufo, Scott Ellis. Also thanks to Mary Woodward and the Yearbook Staff for photo contributions. Please send any comments or corrections to info@wilmingtonfriends.org.
From the Head of School Dear Friends, As some of you might recall, in the middle of the 2017-2018 school year, the Philadelphia Eagles won their first Super Bowl. Victory was sweet, as it always is. But I would say that sweeter still is what we saw on the way to the big game and afterward: a community united by excitement. At Friends, we generally prefer blue, but for a time, our hallways were awash with green, as students, faculty, and staff donned their Eagles gear or decorated the hallways with signs and banners. Some of us attended the parade; many of us watched it on television, and, on parade day, the vibrant diversity of Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley was obvious everywhere. People of all ages, all races, all occupations, all walks of life joined in the celebration, connected by their love for a team and an area, by their collective joy. Indeed, the diversity of the revelers made the unity that much more beautiful. At Final Assembly, one of the Class of 2018 student speakers described her class as the best kind of tribe: one that celebrates individuals and difference, but that is also deeply unified by loyalty, kindness, and fierce support. She spoke of the strength that comes from feeling part of something bigger than oneself. The next day, at Commencement, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester talked of the hero’s journey and of the pivotal moment when individuals realize their obligation to their community, while at the same time discovering--and finding the courage to put into practice--their own singular personal gifts. It strikes me that this balance is at the heart of our school community and of our Quaker mission: we strive to lift the individual, embrace difference, and focus on our shared humanity and the common good. It seems fitting that the WFS Alumni Luncheon took place on the day of the Super Bowl parade because the luncheon also reflected solidarity and support. It was wonderful to see members of the Alumni Board, Class Agents, Alumni parents, and Faculty and Staff Alumni gathered in the Library Learning Commons, a group of people who are still connected, long after graduation, by their Friends School values and by their ongoing commitment to the School. At the luncheon, I was freshly back from my experience as a Klingenstein Fellow at Columbia University Teachers College, where, along with nineteen other school heads from around the country, I had spent an intense two weeks studying current educational issues. I read assigned texts, attended classes, visited schools, and completed two research projects. It was good to be a student again, to focus on my own intellectual and personal growth, and it was good to get back to Friends afterward, refreshed and eager to use and share what I’d learned to enrich our school community. In late April, Friends had the opportunity to join with and welcome the larger Wilmington community by hosting TEDxWilmington. One of our seniors was a featured speaker, and her talk about our country’s entrenched racism and how we can and must work to move beyond it was spellbinding, full of passion, eloquence, and hope, and the audience gave the student a rousing standing ovation. This, too, felt like a quintessentially Friends School moment: celebrating an individual as she let her life speak and as she offered up her distinct talents for the greater good. As I anticipate the start of a new school year, as always, I love the thought that it’s all unknown right now, unwritten, unpredictable, ready to surprise us. But there are a few things I think we can be sure of: we will be back to wearing blue, and we will discover brand new ways to celebrate one another’s uniqueness and brand new ways to be united. Fly, Quakers, fly! In friendship,
Ken at Commencement, presenting his son Donovan with his WFS diploma; Ken addressing the audience at TEDxWilmington on April 27, 2018 in the Friends Theater (photo credit Joe del Tufo); guests at the Alumni Luncheon--which fell on the same day as the Eagles Parade--donning their Eagles gear.
Ken Aldridge
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From the Alumni Board Clerk Dear Friends, On behalf of the Wilmington Friends School Alumni Association, I want to extend congratulations to the Class of 2018. We are so happy to welcome you to the alumni community, and we look forward to celebrating future milestones with you. Best of luck as you begin the next chapter after WFS, and please keep in touch! I am honored and excited to be the new Clerk of the Alumni Board. I graduated from WFS in 2008, and my mother, father, and two sisters are also alumni. I have been a member of the Alumni Board for several years, and I’ve enjoyed being part of such a special community. I’m happy to say it was another wonderful year at WFS! We celebrated successful athletic seasons, academic achievements, and service commitments. Our Annual Fund continues to grow, thanks to your support, and Friends will continue to offer strong programs in support of our Quaker values. Please check out the Annual Report on Philanthropy, included in this edition, to read about all that we accomplished together. Looking forward to the year ahead, I hope you can attend Homecoming on October 19-20. Each year during Homecoming, the Alumni Board is honored to recognize alumni who are “letting their lives speak.” I am pleased to announce the 2018 Alumni Award Recipients: Distinguished Alumnus Award: Bruce Lessey ’68, M.D., Ph.D. Outstanding Service Alumna Award: Stephanie Hoopes ’82, Ph.D. Young Alumna Award: Sarah Lester ’04, M.A. We will celebrate our honorees on Friday, October 19, during the All Alumni and True Blue Donor reception. This event has continued to grow each year and is a great opportunity to see the School and its many changes, see old friends, and meet new ones. More details about Homecoming can be found on our website, wilmingtonfriends.org. Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you on campus soon. Sincerely,
Matt Lang ’08
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Welcome to our newest Alumni Board Clerk, Matt Lang ’08, pictured below with outgoing Clerk Chris Lee ’82. We thank Chris for giving his time and dedication to the Alumni Board for the past three years.
2018 Alumni Awards announced Each year, the Wilmington Friends School Alumni Association presents recognitions for outstanding achievements and service. As representatives of all Friends alumni, our honorees exemplify the qualities of a Friends School graduate, including integrity, a commitment to serve others, and an active value of social justice.
Young Alumna of the Year Sarah Lester ’04, M.A. Sarah Lester is a leader in the City of Wilmington, working to revitalize the West Side through empowering its residents and businesses. As the Director of Cornerstone West Community Development Corporation, she is responsible for overseeing the organization’s housing and community economic development programs. Being truly dedicated to her work, Sarah is also a resident of the Cool Springs neighborhood, insisting she must live in the community she is helping to strengthen. Sarah says WFS played a critical role in her career, teaching her to explore challenges in our society, and as she said, “...made me believe that I had the ability to influence change and to make a difference.”
Distinguished Alumnus Award Bruce Lessey ’68, M.D., Ph.D. While a student at WFS, Bruce Lessey, M.D., Ph.D., described himself as an “actor, director, athlete, and sometimes a clown.” Today, he can add renowned Obstetrician/Gynecologist, clinical researcher, and professor to the list. Bruce’s work focuses on endometriosis, infertility, endometrial receptivity, endocrinology, implantation, and inflammation. He has published more than 200 research-based articles and has been cited in more than 8,000 other articles. Bruce remembers being encouraged in everything he tried at WFS, and credits the School with teaching him many of the values that have led to his successful career. Bruce received a B.A. in English from Franklin and Marshall College, a B.A. in Biology from the University of Delaware, a Masters and Ph.D. in Zoology from Colorado State University, and his M.D. from the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He published several research papers on breast cancer, endometriosis, and infertility. Bruce’s work advanced the discovery that certain molecule integrins can predict a woman’s chance of pregnancy, and he also co-founded the first test to diagnose endometriosis. He is currently an Attending Physician in the Greenville Health System, University Medical Group in Greenville, SC, as well as a professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine.
After graduating from WFS, Sarah matriculated to Brown University and earned an A.B. in International Relations with a focus on the Global Environment. She remained in Rhode Island for several years, exploring the local agricultural economy and learning about the inequities in our food system. Sarah later returned to the Mid-Atlantic region to earn her Masters in Public Administration from the University of Pennsylvania. She joined Cornerstone West after graduate school, and has since led several impactful projects in the City of Wilmington, including the re-striping of Union Street. Through Sarah’s efforts, Union Street has increased parking, added a bike lane, and changed the traffic pattern to two lanes, instead of three. These changes have positively affected residents, pedestrians, bikers, and businesses in the area, all of whom had a say in the process thanks to Sarah’s work. Sarah’s desire to improve her community was fostered at WFS. She reflected on her education and remembers the School encouraging her to think critically about the problems facing our society, and giving her the confidence to take action. Sarah believes WFS played a huge role in who she is today, and enjoys giving back to the School to help express her gratitude. She once served on the WFS Alumni Board and also spoke on last year’s Homecoming Alumni Panel. She’s impressed the School’s Quaker values have remained at its core and hopes WFS will continue to cultivate “intelligent, caring, innovative, and progressive young thinkers who are willing to and choose to invest their skills and ideas into the City of Wilmington in the future.”
Bruce reflects fondly on his time at WFS. He is proud to support the School because he believes WFS was very influential in creating the person he is today. As he prepares for his 50th reunion in October, he feels even more compelled to give back. He learned how to think critically while also living respectfully of others and keeping an open mind. He built meaningful friendships and relationships, and has been married to his classmate, Barbara Chase Lessey ’68, for 44 years. Bruce appreciated the support WFS offered him throughout his education and enjoyed the chance to discover who he was on his own time. He said, “Everyone has a right to make their way in life; WFS is a great place to learn the basics on how that is possible.” Summer 2018 • QuakerMatters
2018 Alumni Awards announced
Save the Dates! Homecoming Weekend October 19/20, 2018 Celebrating Class Years Ending in 3 and 8
Friday, October 19, 2018 11:30am, 50th + Reunion and 1748 Planned Giving Society Luncheon to Celebrate Classes of 1968, 1963, 1958, 1953, 1948, 1943, 1938, and 1748 Planned Giving Society Members The DuPont Country Club 4:00pm, JV Boys Soccer Game. 5:15pm 3rd Team 5:00pm, Alumni Field Hockey and Soccer Games 5:15pm, Varsity Volleyball Game. 4:00pm, JV Game Outstanding Service Award Stephanie Hoopes ’82, Ph.D.
6:30pm, True Blue and All Alumni Reunion/Awards Reception and Art Show
Dr. Stephanie Hoopes is the National Director of the United Way ALICE Project, a think tank that developed new measures of financial hardship and provides research on families that are Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE). Stephanie explains that the values she learned at WFS helped guide her career.
Saturday, October 20, 2018
Stephanie earned a B.A. from Wellesley College, an M.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics. She was a professor at Columbia University in New York and at the Universities of Sussex and Birmingham in the United Kingdom, before joining Rutgers University at the School of Public Affairs and Administration. The United Way ALICE Project started as a small volunteer project and over the last 10 years has grown into her full-time job, working with 18 state partners. The ALICE Project’s goal is to provide a more accurate portrayal of the number of families struggling financially, and to inform policy and promote positive change. The organization recently launched a national report and received significant media attention spanning all major television networks, many newspapers, and social media shares by Senator Cory Booker, Senator Bernie Sanders, Maria Shriver, and Anderson Cooper. In addition, her work was recognized with a resolution from the New Jersey Assembly in 2016. Stephanie credits WFS with fostering her intellectual curiosity and says, “my favorite course ‘Peace, Justice, and Social Change’ gave me the grounding and the confidence to question the official definition of poverty and its moral connotations, and then develop an alternative which led to the creation of the ALICE Project.” She continued to explain the role WFS played in her career by saying, “...the recognition of the dignity in every person instilled in me at Friends, led to giving the statistical measures we developed a person’s name, a face.” Stephanie’s work highlights the need for systemic change in our community and throughout the U.S. Carrying on WFS service tradition, Stephanie volunteers as a member of the board of directors for the McGraw-Hill Federal Credit Union and Woodlawn Trustees. She supports WFS because she values her experiences, as well as her daughter’s (who graduated in 2017), and wants to ensure the School will remain part of the Wilmington community. Summer 2018 • QuakerMatters
8:00am, Homecoming Service Project (TBD) 8:30am, Smith McMillan 5K Run/Walk 10:00am, 15+ Meeting for Worship, honoring current and past faculty/staff with 15 or more years of service to WFS and in memory of Nancy Mahoney, former Trustee and teacher 11:00am, Varsity Field Hockey Game. 12:30pm, JV Game 11:30am, Homecoming Lunch (runs until 2:00pm; all welcome) 12:00pm, Varsity Boys Soccer Game 12:00-2:00pm, Self-guided tours of the MS/US Campus 12:00-2:00pm, Kids’ Corner 2:30pm, Varsity Football Game (Halftime Show by 4th-8th grade band) 8:00pm, Upper School Homecoming Dance Evening reunions off campus for all classes ending in 3 or 8 arranged by class representatives. For more information about Homecoming 2018 or your Class Reunion, please contact alumni@wilmingtonfriends.org or 302.576.2980.
Class Agents
Our Class Agent Program is an essential element in building a strong and connected WFS community. Class Agents play an important part in keeping our alumni informed and engaged. They work hard to ensure their classmates attend WFS events both on and off campus and they keep their classmates’ information updated. Class Agents encourage their classmates to support our Annual Fund, and help plan their class reunions. Their support of Wilmington Friends School is a valuable asset to our community.
1946- Richard Heald 1947- Marie Berl Ferguson 1948- Alice Mearns Ivy 1949- John Beekley 1951- Donald (Chick) Altmaier 1952- Fred Pardee 1953- Eleanor Alexander Poorman 1955- Cornelia Geesey Gromadzki, Albert James, Ellen Winthrop Jennings, and David Hillegas 1956- Cynthia Pyle Woolley 1957- Thomas Baker 1958- Andy Hess 1960- James Simon 1961- Davis Fleet and Alfred Freeman 1962- Irving Cox 1964- Pamela Perkins Young, Leslie Kirkman Reed, and Janet Martin Yabroff 1966- Ben Osbun and Carol Mumford Osbun 1968- Carol Bancroft Morley 1969- Anne Reese 1970- Roy Wilkinson and Tom Scott 1971- Barbara Baganz Simpson 1972- John O’Brien 1973- Wendy Vaala 1974- Margaret Adams Hunter 1975- Richard Horwitz, Sandy Ranck King, Thomas Marston, and David Geoghegan 1976- Andrew Atkins, Christina Papastavros Fay, and Daniel Fleming 1977- Marianne Cordrey-Cotsell 1979- Arthur (Chip) Connolly 1980- Tamara Cox DeFer and Scott Gates 1981- Martha Lemons Sherrill 1982- Christopher Lee 1983- Margaret Gehret Erskine 1984- Susan Tattersall Davis 1985- Robert Hoopes and Martha Poorman Tschantz 1986- Lisa Tigani Taylor 1987- Tracey Porter Aleman 1988- Mariza Vergara Barbe, Beth Lubaroff Pfeifer, and Julia Gordon Beverly 1989- Kimberley Massih Dolan and Brian Nilstoft 1990- Brian Mand 1991- Max Walton 1992- Rebecca Brand and Peter Morrow
1993- Thomas Segars and Jay Bakhru 1994- Amy Curran Harper 1995- Megan Ferrara White 1996- Erin Bushnell and Kristen Facciolo 1997- Drew Dalton and Olivia Kurtz 1998- Kristin Chandler and Erin Facciolo Wehler 1999- Erika Kurtz and Katherine Wolf Martinenza 2000- Meredith Jones Joppa 2001- Jaclyn Mraz 2002- Sara Titone and Elizabeth Hopkins Denenberg 2003- Faye Paul 2004- Abigail Hughes-Strange and Stephanie Bonnes 2005- Alisha Wolf Emerson and Kristen Mraz 2006- Stanita Clarke and Linda Donatoni 2007- Kaitlyn McEnroe and Laura Wolf Richardson 2008- Michael Anderson and Caroline Hopkins 2009- Elizabeth Connolly and William Rodowsky 2010- Kristin Lang and Jesse Paul 2011- Javier Horstmann, Samantha Perillo, and Lindsay Reese 2012- Taylor Warrington-Purcell, Elizabeth Aleman, Virginia DeWees, Keiko Endo, Kendall Flanagan, Nicholas Napoletano, and Patrick Schlecker 2013- William Maguire, TyLisa Johnson, Katherine Halpern, Christopher Palmer, and Margaret Snyder. 2014- Peyton Beard, Bevyn Mannke, Maria Rizzo, and Colvin Kenji Endo 2015- Meryl Gatti, Molly Harper, and Wyatt Thompson 2016- Andrew Conces, Joslyn Gardner, Drew Pittenger, Demetria Ruhl, and Jessica Saunders 2017- Sadie Proud and Lena Urick And our newest Class Agents for the Class of 2018, Marie DeVoll, John Blackwell, and Anna Erskine.
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From the WFS Archives A conversation with
Bill Bickley
Who were the people who interviewed you, and what do you think made them offer you the job? I came down for a series of interviews with Charles Hutton, Sally Longstreth, Ambrose Short, Fred Royal, Bob Tattersall… Don Holmes was the Director of Studies. He was the curriculum guy. At any rate, I had interviews with a lot of people, and I have no idea why they hired me, except perhaps that I was a cheap hire. Sally Longstreth and I had a terrific time talking to each other, and frankly the English Department was eager to have some younger people. At that point Sally was probably sixty, Shorty was 59, and the other full-time member of the English Department was, I’m guessing, about 57--and I was 22. What other tasks were you assigned to do in addition to teaching? I was an assistant coach with Bob Tattersall in football, and I was an assistant to Frank Lafferty in track in the spring. What did you like most about teaching in your early years? There were lots of things to like, but the sense that the School really tried to cultivate a familial relationship -- and it’s not that you didn’t have authority as a teacher...but there was a real sense that the students and families were in this together with the faculty and administration of the School. I certainly liked coaching, working with Bob Tattersall, Rick Reynolds, Bix Bush at the time—[just]four people coaching football at that time. And that was when Friends football started to get very good. Yes, it was very good. Bob’s first season was 1968, and Rick Reynolds and I arrived as young coaches, it was just the second year that Bob had been head coach. We had good teams. The teams went undefeated for essentially four years in a row, more than four years. What did you think of Charles Hutton?
By Terence Maguire, WFS Archivist
Back in the summer of 2017, I sat down for more than two hours with Bill Bickley, who in his Friends School career has held these titles: Head of Upper School, Dean of Students, Director of College Guidance team, Acting Head of School, Acting Head of Lower School, Head of the English Department, and more. I asked questions about his experiences and the people he had worked with, and recorded his answers. What follows is a sampling of his experiences and observations. What made you look at WFS as a place to teach? Did you apply to other schools? Other Quaker schools? In the spring of 1969 I was a senior at Haverford College. I was interested in finding an English teaching job...I sent letters of inquiry to somewhere between 25 and 30 independent schools in the greater Delaware Valley...a lot of the schools were Quaker: Wilmington Friends School, Friends Select, Friends Central, George School, and Westtown. Friends School in Wilmington, as it was known in those days, got in touch with me through Ambrose Short, and that led to a job, happily for me.
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I really liked Charles. To shepherd a school through the ’60s and into the early ’70s was no small task. Charles had a real vision of what a liberal education should be. And that was, in the ’60s and early ’70s, a pretty difficult task in a conservative environment, Wilmington, Delaware. When did you begin to think of moving beyond teaching and getting into administration? Who encouraged you the most to move into these kinds of positions? I’ve had an accidental career, from being a department head, much too early for it to have been appropriate. By the third year that I was here, I had a leave of absence. I had started doing a master’s degree at the University of Delaware part-time, at the Reading-Study Center, but with the understanding that when I came back, I would serve as chair of the English Department. So I agreed because it meant that I could come back here, and for two years I was chair of the English Department. We did some good things, including the first year that I was back, the ’72-’73 academic year, we shifted to a seminar system for seniors. We were on a trimester grading schedule, and for seniors, we offered trimester-long focused courses--the short story, poetry, selected authors, and so on. In the second year that I came back from that master’s degree program, we actually expanded it to include juniors and seniors. There were mixed grade-level classes, juniors and seniors, in these seminars And then I had the misguided notion that I might want to be a school administrator. The only program that I applied to was
the Harvard Graduate School of Education because it was the only program in which you could take courses across the entire sweep of the university’s course offerings. Eventually, I wrote a dissertation that was a study of Quakers and institutionbuilding in the early-mid (19th C.) nineteenth century, predominantly in Philadelphia. And how many years were you at Harvard? I was away from Wilmington Friends for three and a half years. It was the era when you had to have libraries for the material to write a dissertation, and all of the libraries that I needed were in the greater Philadelphia area. In the fall of 1977, I was happily driving up to Swarthmore and Haverford to use their libraries, and Bill Goulding called me and said, “I understand you’re back in town. Would you have any interest in filling in for Ted Savery, Head of Upper School, in the spring of 1978?” Then for the ’78-’79 school year, I taught middle schoolers, 7th graders, and a smattering of things in the upper school.... Bob Fatherly was chosen to come to the School in 1979, and... asked me if I would be willing to consider serving as head of upper school. So when I said I’ve had an accidental career--it was not a position I had sought, it was not a position that they advertised. It’s been a little perplexing...I was 31 going on 32, and I was flattered that they asked. But I had complete ignorance of what it would involve -- and I said yes. On Bob Fatherly, Head of School from 1979-1984. One of the things he did well was finding bright young faculty who wished to come to this place. And that included people like Ann Donovan in the history/social science area, and Kirk Read in the foreign language department, I mean these [people] were spectacular, and they were here because Bob Fatherly wooed them to be here. I have mixed feelings about my own role in his experience here, because there were times when I was oppositional in terms of my relation with him; and he had chosen me as Head of Upper School. So in the theme of accidental career, when he left…
people on the Board suggested that I fill in for the year. 1984-85? Right. On the one hand, when people ask you to do something like that, it is flattering because they think you have the capability. [But] I had a recurring anxiety dream that I experienced the entire bloody year--something I was supposed to be working on that I could not pin down, presumably to present some kind of report to the Board or the School, and I couldn’t even remember what it actually was. The big message was, “This is not the work you were cut out to do.” And Dulany Bennett? I had known Dulany for a long time because we had served together on the Friends Council of Education Program Committee. I knew of her work at Germantown Friends. It’s important that Dulany made it clear that there was not an incompatibility between a Quaker education and intellectual achievement. Another important thing was that she expected people who were heading divisions and were carrying responsibility within divisions to carry the responsibility. That she was the head of school, and, yes, the buck stops there, but the expectation was that you were going to carry the load in your division in whatever capacity you’d been assigned; and that that was critically important--that the school had to distribute responsibility honestly among people. Dulany liked nothing better than a good debate; and in fact, in my experience of her, was willing to be convinced, if your point of view was a better one than hers. Your connection with the School has spanned nearly a half century. In what most important ways has the School--faculty, staff, student body, parents, broader community--changed over those years? In what ways has it remained the same? How has it remained the same? It was and still is a Quaker school, with an underpinning of ideas and philosophical stance, whether fully realized or not, but there nonetheless. A touchstone, a way of thinking about what it means to learn and grow and develop under the care of people who take that responsibility seriously. So that’s, to me, how it’s the same. It’s different in that it’s infinitely more complex in its organization and execution of its mission than it was in 1969. When Rick Grier-Reynolds and I arrived here in the fall of 1969, there was no development office. There was an alumni office of sorts, that produced the magazine, or kind of kept in touch with alumni, and sort of organized events. Charles Hutton and Barbara Washburn were basically the admissions office. People would come in to Barbara’s office and get an application and fill it out. I think the two of them made the decision. It wasn’t until Bill Goulding’s tenure that a fullscale admissions office began to operate, with Bill Neff as the first director of admissions. And it wasn’t until Bill Goulding’s tenure that there was a fully organized and professionally-functioning business office, with Tom Kingston as the first modern business manager, who went on to do that at the college and university level. So the School has become much more elaborate and much more effective and conscious of what it’s doing, and it’s better for that. The most important difference is the dramatic change in the racial diversity of the students. And it’s something that did not come easily, and without strong and conscious interest. It’s not that that interest didn’t exist earlier, but I think it was not as fully conscious across the School’s apparatus. And so being a more formal and elaborated institution has allowed for some of that to happen. The next great frontier for the School in terms of diversity? Much greater economic diversity. And that may be, in fact, a much tougher nut to crack. Summer 2018 • QuakerMatters
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The Class of
2018
Back row: Andrew Knotts, Natalie DePaulo, Davis MacKelcan, Jack Coons, Abby Kleman, River Harper, Lizzie Kane, Mike Coons, Sloan Maas, Maggie Martelli-Raben, Jake Morris, Alex Patterson, Grace Para, Brendan Haubert, Jeffrey McAbee, Jason Saville, Chad Connors, Victoria Schroeder, Pen Trainer, Steven Butterfield, and Dalton Ramsey. 3rd row left: Ethan Fruchtman, Max Pickles, Douglas Nie, Jake Luckangelo, John Blackwell, Maddie Malone, Tony Bennett, Sam Huo, Ruisi Sissi Jian, Robert Baldwin, Ikechukwu Daniel Adebi, Nick Williams, and Ryan Wolynetz. 2nd row left: Jay Handwerk, Ryan Chompre, Henry Tucker, Olivia O’Donnell, Nate Ruhl, Kasey Drane, Marie DeVoll, Izze Rios, Eric Pincus, Anna Erskine, Emma Davis, Evie Kortanek, Faith Lewis, Cecilia Ergueta, Mia Wilson, Ada Plumb, Mikayla Echevarria, Lawson Chou, Emma Lewis, Hareena Houston, Fiona Saunders, Jack Hanson, Ryan Fischer, and Aaron Brick. Front row left: Tim Arnold, Delaney Martin, Ashley Brooks, Nick Sotiropoulos, Hailey DiCindio, Danny Manley, Louisa Spinner, Leah Johnson, Klara Lenges, Donovan Aldridge, Marley Morton, Atim Kilama, Max Okolo, Matt Byer, Sam Conner, Alice Irwin, Maya Powell, Mary Agne, and Serena Gutsche.
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The Class Of 2018 On Commencement day, after a morning and afternoon of heat and humidity, clouds rolled in and it began to rain at 5:00pm sharp. With no clearing in sight, the event moved into the Theater with extra seating in the Meeting Room for those who did not have Theater seats to watch the Commencement on a big screen. As the seniors left the library and processed down the hall, they walked through the Meeting Room on their way to the Theater stage so all guests could see them in person.
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The Class Of 2018 Congratulations to the Class of 2018! Members of the class are listed below with college choice, service project/agency, and senior exploration. Daniel Adebi
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Service: Global Leadership Adventures Senior Exploration: Life of a software developer
Mary Agne
University of Vermont Service: St. Ann’s Sunday school Senior Exploration: Shadowing women in politics
Donovan Aldridge
University of Delaware Service: Hagley Museum Senior Exploration: Photography
Tim Arnold
University of California, Los Angeles Service: Boys & Girls Club Senior Exploration: Photography
Robert Baldwin
Widener University Service: Wilmington Soldiers Football Club Senior Exploration: Fishing
Tony Bennett
Harvard University Service: QUEST Dominican Republic Trip Senior Exploration: Shadowing an ER doctor
John Blackwell
Connecticut College Service: QUEST El Paso Trip Senior Exploration: Cooking
Aaron Brick
Dickinson College Service: Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research Senior Exploration: Wilderness Survival
Ashley Brooks
Loyola Marymount University Service: Boys & Girls Club Senior Exploration: Scuba diving
Steven Butterfield
Moravian College Service: First & Central Presbyterian Senior Exploration: Fishing
Matthew Byer
Jack Coons
River Harper
University of Notre Dame Service: Cancer Support Community of DE Senior Exploration: Shadowing a history teacher
Mike Coons
University of Pennsylvania Service: Cancer Support Community of DE Senior Exploration: Music and recording
Emma Davis
La Salle University Service: Rodney Street Tennis & Tutoring Senior Exploration: Shadowing a nurse Summer 2018 • QuakerMatters
Brendan Haubert
Villanova University Service: QUEST Dominican Republic Trip Senior Exploration: Learning to cook
Hareena Houston
Connecticut College Service: QUEST El Paso Trip Senior Exploration: Learning to cook Italian food
Natalie DePaulo
Sam Huo
Georgetown University Service: Boys & Girls Club Senior Exploration: New athletic ventures
Marie DeVoll
The George Washington University Service: PAWS for People Senior Exploration: Scuba diving
Hailey DiCindio
Tufts University Service: Ronald McDonald House of DE Senior Exploration: Shadowing an oncologist
Kasey Drane
American University Service: Boys & Girls Club Senior Exploration: Living a healthy lifestyle
Mikayla Echevarria
University of Delaware Service: QUEST El Paso Trip Senior Exploration: Living a healthy lifestyle
Cecilia Ergueta
Stanford University Service: Boys & Girls Club Senior Exploration: War, Peace, and Poetry
Anna Erskine
Ryan Fischer
Samantha Conner
Cabrini University Service: Delaware Lacrosse Foundation Senior Exploration: Fishing
University of Delaware Service: Best Buddies Senior Exploration: Shadowing a judge
Ryan Chompre
Virginia Tech Service: Faithful Friends Animal Society Senior Exploration: Learning to cook
Jack Hanson
Davidson College Service: First & Central Presbyterian Church Senior Exploration: Building straw bale housing for homeless family
Bard College Service: Calvary Chapel Senior Exploration: War, Peace, and Poetry
Lawson Chou
High Point University Service: Cancer Support Community of DE Senior Exploration: Music production
Virginia Tech Service: QUEST El Paso Trip Senior Exploration: Wood crafting
University of Richmond Service: Jalonga church trip Senior Exploration: Physical education shadowing
Vanderbilt University Service: Rodney Street Tennis & Tutoring Senior Exploration: Shadowing a healthcare supervisor
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Chad Connors
Jay Handwerk
University of Southern California Service: Boys & Girls Club Senior Exploration: Producing an EP
Ethan Fruchtman
Tulane University Service: SPCA Senior Exploration: Participating in the March of the Living
Serena Gutsche
The University of Edinburgh Service: Arden Theater Club Senior Exploration: Piano
University of Delaware Service: Boys & Girls Club Senior Exploration: Interning with Senator Coons
Alice Irwin
American University Service: Appalachian Service Project Senior Exploration: Kickboxing and yoga
Sissi Jian
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Service: Shanghai Pudong Public Library Senior Exploration: PSA animation
Leah Johnson
Carleton College Service: QUEST El Paso Trip Senior Exploration: Delaware Theater Company
Lizzie Kane
Rollins College Service: Boys & Girls Club Senior Exploration: Healthy living
Atim Kilama
Klara Lenges
Virginia Tech Service: QUEST El Paso Trip Senior Exploration: Shadowing a professional eventer
Emma Lewis
Goucher College Service: QUEST Dominican Republic Trip Senior Exploration: Cooking vegetarian meals
Faith Lewis
West Chester University of Pennsylvania Service: Boys & Girls Club Senior Exploration: Volunteering at Ashland Nature Center and cooking
Jake Luckangelo
Elon University Service: Boys & Girls Club Senior Exploration: Philadelphia sports professions and surfing
Sloan Maas
Dickinson College Service: Delaware Humane Association Senior Exploration: Shadowing an orthopedic surgeon
Davis MacKelcan
Bucknell University Service: Wilmington Youth Rowing Assoc. Senior Exploration: Cooking
Maddie Malone
Lehigh University Service: Boys & Girls Club Senior Exploration: Shadowing a veterinarian
Danny Manley
Georgetown University Service: QUEST Dominican Republic Trip Senior Exploration: Intensive yoga course
The University of Arizona Service: St. Francis Hospital Senior Exploration: Afro Caribbean cultures in Colombia
Maggie Martelli-Raben
Abby Kleman
Delaney Martin
American University Service: QUEST El Paso Trip Senior Exploration: Interning at an animal sanctuary
Andrew Knotts
University of Miami Service: QUEST Dominican Republic Trip Senior Exploration: Shadowing at AstraZeneca
Evie Kortanek
Carleton College Service: Dragonfly Forest Camp Senior Exploration: Shadowing a Pathologist
University of Miami Service: Animal Sanctuary, Thailand Senior Exploration: Being a DJ
University of Delaware Service: Arden Community Recreation Association Day Camp Senior Exploration: Vegetarian lifestyle
Jeffrey McAbee
Ursinus College Service: Boys & Girls Club Senior Exploration: Fishing
Jake Morris
Washington University in St. Louis Service: QUEST El Paso and Dominican Republic Trips Senior Exploration: Shadowing at the Philadelphia Union
Marley Morton
University of Toledo Service: Boys & Girls Club Senior Exploration: Crocheting a re-creation of her great-grandmother’s afghan
Douglas Nie
Boston College Service: Boys & Girls Club Senior Exploration: Shadowing a CEO of a local start-up
Olivia O’Donnell
Temple University Service: Harmony Fire Company Senior Exploration: Upcycling an outfit
Max Okolo
Drexel University Service: QUEST Dominican Republic Trip Senior Exploration: Shadowing an orthopedist
Grace Para
Eckerd College Service: Delaware Nature Society Senior Exploration: Gardening
Alex Patterson
Johns Hopkins University Service: QUEST El Paso Trip Senior Exploration: Creating/producing a music recording
Max Pickles
Bard College Service: Cancer Support Community of DE Senior Exploration: Shadowing a doctor
Eric Pincus
Nathaniel Ruhl
Haverford College Service: QUEST El Paso Trip Senior Exploration: Cooking
Fiona Saunders
Colgate University Service: Delaware Theater Company Senior Exploration: Learning to play piano
Jason Saville
Villanova University Service: QUEST El Paso Trip Senior Exploration: Learning to ride a bike
Victoria Schroeder
Western University Service: Faithful Friends Senior Exploration: Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, Tasmania
Nick Sotiropoulos
Pennsylvania State University Service: QUEST El Paso WFS Trip Senior Exploration: Boxing
Louisa Spinner
Mount Holyoke College Service: QUEST Dominican Republic Trip Senior Exploration: Shadowing a physical therapist
Pen Trainer
Furman University Service: Centreville School Senior Exploration: Cooking tradtional foods from around the world
Henry Tucker
Denison University Service: Delaware Lacrosse Foundation Senior Exploration: Music and recording
Drexel University Service: Mainline Animal Rescue Senior Exploration: Creating a video game environment
Ada Plumb
Nick Williams
Rollins College Service: Faithful Friends Senior Exploration: Event planning
Maya Powell
Temple University Service: Boys & Girls Club Senior Exploration: The art and culture of hair braiding
Dalton Ramsey
Gettysburg College Service: Bullpen Summer Camp Senior Exploration: Shadowing an athletic director
Izze Rios
Pennsylvania State University Service: AI Dupont Children’s Hospital Senior Exploration: Shadowing at Elwyn center for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities
Mia Wilson
Elon University Service: Boys & Girls Club Senior Exploration: Working with the deaf
Ryan Wolynetz
University of Delaware Service: Delaware Humane Association Senior Exploration: Shadowing a professional surveyor
University of Delaware Service: QUEST El Paso Trip Senior Exploration: Following a major-league baseball team Summer 2018 • QuakerMatters
2018 Commencement Speaker:
U.S. Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester to offer you an immediate piece of advice. Take a deep breath (come on and do it with me right now). Soak it in. Graduating is one of the most important events in your life. This moment may be fleeting but be very present and the memories you make tonight, will last a lifetime. My family has a strong history with Friends -- I have seen the impact this institution has on young people through my niece, Hannah – a rising Freshman, and my nephew, Jordan, who graduated last year and is our current UD Blue Hen. I couldn’t be prouder of them. As a matter of fact, the last time I was here was for the presentation of the Broadway play, Bye Bye Birdie –- not only did the show go on in a snow storm – it was a packed house, and when the power went out, the show went on stage and in the lobby after. I said to myself, “This school is special!” Being a part of that experience provided me with a real sense of the lessons you’ve learned here–work hard, strive for excellence and don’t give up–because the show must go on. Graduates, I know getting here wasn’t easy, but nothing in life worth accomplishing truly ever is. And nothing worth accomplishing is ever done without help. While this evening’s graduates may be the stars of the show, it takes a strong ensemble cast to create a memorable performance.
We were thrilled to welcome the Honorable Lisa Blunt Rochester as this year’s Commencement speaker. She gave an inspiring address about patience, courage, and perseverance, citing her own tragedy when her husband died at an early age and what it took for her to live through it. She also spoke about her greatgreat-great-grandfather, a former slave, who finally received the right to vote, and showed the audience a scarf she had made bearing an image of his voting card. She took this scarf with her when she, the first female African American representative for the State of Delaware, visited Africa and spoke with women there, displaying it as a symbol of progress and hope. Below, enjoy more from her speech: Thank you, Ken, for that warm introduction. To the trustees, head of school, faculty, staff, friends, family and most importantly to class of 2018, good evening! It is truly a joy to be here to celebrate and salute the 77 accomplished SOON-TO-BE GRADUATES! Class of 2018, you’ve made it. The road to get here was filled with tests, quizzes, homework assignments, early mornings, extracurricular activities, dances, and late nights studying. You only have one thing left to do – walk up and receive your diploma. But before I commence with the commencement speech, I want Summer 2018 • QuakerMatters
So let’s take pause for an intermission to recognize the Head of School, Ken Aldridge, and the leadership that makes Wilmington Friends one of the finest institutions across our state – the Head of the Upper School, Rebecca Zug; Dean for Students, Lynn Puritz-Fine; Director of College Guidance, Kathleen Martin – some of you actually pull double-duty in the classroom. From those who served nutritious meals to maintaining the beautiful Wilmington Friends campus and from the front office to the nurse’s office, I want to take a moment to thank the faculty and staff who create the environment that allows this institution and its students to thrive. There is nothing more important to a student’s academic and personal development than the guidance, the mentorship of a talented and dedicated teacher. You may not have had the privilege of being in every teacher’s classroom, but the 38 educators at this school have equipped you with the tools you’ll need to succeed in the next chapter of your life. Now to the audience participation part of the program for the graduates. Put your hands together, blow kisses, show some love to your moms, dads, aunties, uncles, grandparents, brothers, sisters, friends, mentors and neighbors who supported you and also made this day possible. Class of 2018, when my team reached out to find out more about you, your Head of School described you in three words – creative, caring, and innovative. Words the world needs now more than ever. Right now, many of us possess cell phones with
more computing power than the Apollo spacecraft. The world I grew up in has changed, and in your lifetime, it will change at an even faster pace. Those descriptive words are pivotal because we need caring people creatively developing innovative solutions to the challenges we face. The path ahead will take all of you in different directions – schools, careers, countries, but you will leave this school prepared for whatever life presents. In fact, you’re already leading and wowing this community. You’ve all gained acceptance to college, and the Wilmington Friends Quakers competed in state tournaments across multiple sports. One of your classmates even gave a TED talk on racism in society –Miss Olivia O’Donnell. You’ve learned to create YOUR own impact, engage in thoughtful discourse, and think collectively about our future. Now is the time to take on the world – after all, a commencement is about new beginnings. But everyone in this room knows that Wilmington Friends is about far more than just a quality education. It is built on the bedrock of Quaker values and, with that, instilling the six SPICES. By now, you all know them – Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, Stewardship. You will take these spices with you on the next steps in your life’s journey. In the few minutes I have with you graduates, I want to speak from the theme “A recipe for a spice-filled life?” – in other words, “Keep it spicy.” Over the course of history, spices have been used for many things -- for flavor, to add color, as medicine or currency and even as a preservative. Spices have also led people on journeys. The Silk Road…I am a writer and love story-telling. I feel it connects us. One of the well-known structures of story-telling comes in the form of “The Heroes (and Shero’s) Journey” popularized by Joseph Campbell. Whether it is T’Challa in Black Panther, Han Solo, Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. These characters go from a normal life, ordinary world...[they] meet mentors and nemeses, major conflict and transformation and return home/live to tell the story that you already have everything you need.
This is my prayer for you. May you possess: Pepper for those times you have to speak truth to power. We are living in a time when YOUR voice can move a country. Mint to refresh you. You may get weary along the way. Take care of yourself so that you can live your purpose. Cocoa turned to truffles turned to the love of your life. Saffron and paprika, the colors of the sunrise and sunset to remind you that there is a season for joy and pain; that this too shall pass; [There is] the good and the bad, so don’t get attached. And salt to preserve the lessons you learned and the friendships you made. It’s about connecting with others and lifelong learning. As a child of the 60s, there was a song I used to hear. “This Little Light of Mine.” Each of you have a unique and bright light inside that can make a positive impact on the lives of others. You were born with it. When I ran for office, I had to tell myself to “Shine Bright like a diamond.” After I won, I was singing DJ Khaled and Beyoncé, “Shining, shining…all of this winning.” As you step out into the world of Oz, Wakanda and deep space, let your light of love shine. Graduates, like Dorothy, Solo, and T’Challa, you have everything you need. Embrace the journey -- develop the next wonder drug or app that will revolutionize our lives. Run a company, or run for Congress. But as you travel down your path, remember we are here on this planet to Love. Love each other, love this planet, and love ourselves. Class of 2018, Congratulations. Now, go forth and remember, “Friends Forever!”
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The Class Of 2018
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Alumni Families
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Seven members of the Class of 2018 are children of alumni. 1. Samantha Conner '18, daughter of Todd Conner ’83, receives her diploma. 2. River Harper ’18, son of Amy Curran Harper ’94 and Richard Harper III ’91, with his grandfather Richard “Dick” Harper, Jr. ’60. 3. Marley Morton ’18 with her family, Donald Morton, Jr. ’94, Donald Morton ’22, and Concha Morton.
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4. Evie Kortanek ’18 with her mom, Alison Zinman Kortanek ’83. 5. Chad Connors ’18 with his mom, Carolyn Gates Connors ’81. 6. Anna Erskine '18 with her family, Jake Erskine ’15, Ann Gehret McKinney ’83, Peter Erskine ’21, Meg Gehret Erskine ’83, and Meredith Erskine ’13. 7. Maddie Malone ’18 with her family, Stephen Malone ’84, Meghan Malone ’21 and Robyn Malone (missing from photo, Matthew Malone ’23). Summer 2018 • QuakerMatters
2018 Final Assembly
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In addition to the named awards, students in grades 9-12 received 161 commendations for service and leadership that had a positive and lasting impact on the School.
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Tony Bennett ’18 and Mary Agne ’18 were chosen by their classmates to speak for the Class of 2018 during Final Assembly. Ken Aldridge with Hailey DiCindio ’18, recipient of the John Marshall Mendinhall II, Class of 1939, Memorial Award, recognizing the graduating senior considered to have done the most for Friends School.
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Steven Butterfield ’18 and Jake Morris ’18 received the 2018 Howard W. Starkweather, Jr., Class of 1944, Award, recognizing students who have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to community service. The Charles W. Bush, Class of 1900, Award honors juniors who “most clearly demonstrate the School’s ideals of character, scholarship, and service.” Pictured with Ken Aldridge are the 2018 Bush Award recipients Michael McKenzie ’19 and Mycah Nicholson ’19. Ikechukwu Daniel Adebi ’18 and Ruisi Sissi Jian ’18, recipients of the Amanda Spackman Gehret, Class of 1951, Memorial Mathematics Award, with Meg Gehret Erskine ’83, Amanda’s daughter.
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James Tallman ’19 received the 2018 Robert P. Hukill, Class of 1949, Science Award. James is pictured with Elizabeth “Biddy” Hukill ’76. The Upper School Foreign Language Award recipient was Peyton McNeill ’19, pictured with Head of Upper School Rebecca Zug. At this year’s Final Assembly, the School recognized the fourth Malone Scholar to graduate from Wilmington Friends, Robert Baldwin III ’18. The Wyeth Brothers Performing Arts Award recipients, Jack Hanson ’18 and Mary Agne ’18.
10 The Wyeth Brothers Visual Arts Award recipients, Grace Para ’18 and Ashley Brooks ’18.
11 Luke Wales with Leah Johnson ’18 and Alex
Patterson ’18, recipients of the Jordan Wales ’97 History Award.
12 Leah Johnson ’18 and Cecilia Ergueta ’18, recipients of the Eden Wales Freedman ’99 English Award.
13 Chris Lee ’82, Clerk of the Alumni Board, accepted the
2018 Class Scroll from the newest WFS Class Agents, Marie DeVoll ’18, John Blackwell ’18, and Anna Erskine ’18.
14 The Chamber Singers performing.
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Retirements
At the end of the 2017-18 school year, we said goodbye to Lynn Puritz-Fine, upper school Dean for Students and Spanish teacher, and Mark Schmittle, upper school chemistry teacher. Lynn joined the WFS community in 1989 and Mark in 1993. Both have made numerous contributions to our community, but perhaps one of the most memorable was at the end of year faculty/staff meeting where they performed a song. Accompanied by teachers-by-day musicians-by-night Jenks Whittenburg and Jake Rashkind, Lynn and Mark sang to the tune of “The Gambler” their own words below:
The Rambler(s) (Together) On a warm summer’s evening, at Gallucios we were musing how we met up years ago, and now we’re at our peak. So we took turns rememberin’, with some beers and margaritas, as nostalgia overtook us, we began to speak. (Mark) I said, Lynn you’ve made a lifetime, out a makin’ your bright light shine for all those kids you’ve coach’d along thru tender teenage years. Any everyone who enters and sits there in that blue chair works through their angst and problems, and even all their fears.
(Mark) With SDC and Link Crew, you’ve started the traditions of helping kids uphold the rules, or justly do their time. And many have been blessed to seek your many wisdoms, cause looking out for kids’ welfare is when you really shine. (Lynn) You came here hired short term as Megan Wahl’s replacement, felt the students draw you in, found your calling true. As a teacher, advisor, as coach and yearbook writer there’s wisdom you’ve acquired ’bout kids That now we’ll share with you
Chorus
(Lynn) I said, “Mark, Way back in Texas, as a young hardworking chemist Geology inspir’d you, 9 years workin’ for the man. But the goal of profit left you cold; you had to drop it. You were off to seek your meaning, had to change your plan.”
(Together) Now every teacher knows, that the secret to survivin’ is knowing what you aim to teach, and what the students keep. Cause every plans a winner, and every plans a loser, And the best that you can hope for, is they won’t fall asleep.
Chorus You got to live like you told ’em, with love enfold ’em, find Light to hold them in, shine in the sun. You can’t count your blessin’s cause they’re overflowin’ the table. there’ll be time enough for countin’ when the teachin’s done.
Chorus And when we finished speakin’ and cherishin’ the memories We pushed back from the table, went to our homes to sleep. And somewhere in the darkness, the two of us were smilin’ at the thought of new adventures, big promises to keep.
Chorus
Board of Trustees Thank you to the Trustees who completed their terms of service in June 2018, Tom Scott ’70 and Harvey Zendt. For the term beginning July 2018, we are delighted and very fortunate to welcome Martha Poorman Tschantz ’85 as the Alumni Board liaison to the Board. Martha is a graduate of Denison University where she majored in psychology and was a member of the field hockey and lacrosse teams. She is a Marketing Executive at Citibank in Wilmington, where she serves as Head of 360 Marketing Strategy for the US Cards business. Prior to joining Citi in 2012, Martha was a Senior Marketing Executive at Bank of America/MBNA serving in a variety of leadership roles in Marketing and Product Management over the course of 20 years. Martha is active in the Delaware community, earning the Presidential Volunteer Award the last three years for serving over 100 hours of community service and most recently serving as President of the Board of Trustees for the Children’s Beach House, Inc. in Lewes, Delaware. Martha resides in Delaware with her husband Jay and their three children Dwyer ’13, Margo ’15, and Mason ’19. Summer 2018 • QuakerMatters
Spring News & Events Poetry Out Loud
Lower School Peace March In one of Friends School’s most moving and beloved traditions, to commemorate MLK Day, the Kindergarten students lead the Peace March through the hallways of the lower school.
Matt Byer ’18, Cecilia Ergueta ’18, Nathaniel Ruhl ’18, Bella Stuccio ’19, and Estelle Hegenbarth ’21 participated in the WFS upper school Poetry Out Loud competition. Congratulations to Matt Byer, who advanced to the final round of the Delaware Poetry Out Loud competition. He competed at Dover High School for a chance to go to the National Competition in Washington, DC.
Go, Bots! Two WFS robotics teams, the “Bad News Bots” and the “Bumble Bots,” competed against 22 other teams from the Mid-Atlantic region at the FIRST Robotics Delaware State Championship. Both WFS teams won matches, and the Bad News Bots advanced to the semifinal round. They also won the Design Award, which recognizes both functional and aesthetic design elements of the robot.
Model United Nations
LS MLK Tribute Piece On their day of service honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, fourth graders created a mural. Each student colored a separate rectangular sheet of paper, and then the group pieced them together to form a picture of MLK.
History Bowl 1, Weather 0 Despite freezing weather that threatened to derail the entire event, 28 teams from ten schools in the Tri-State area competed enthusiastically in the History Bowl. WFS fielded over 50 students and 12 teams, a school record, and three WFS teams won a slot in the playoffs, two in the varsity division (11th & 12th graders) and one in JV (9th & 10th graders).
A group of upper school Friends students traveled to Philadelphia for the annual Model UN conference and experienced an advanced simulation of how international politics works. In addition to formal debates and discussions, the group gained valuable practice in networking and lobbying. The students had an intensive--and very rewarding-four days of solving real-world diplomatic issues, while increasing their public speaking skills and meeting other students from around the globe.
WorldQuest! Connor Miller ’19 and Eric Jiang ’19 competed in WorldQuest Delaware, a competition sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Delaware. The team of two fielded questions about global issues, politics, culture, current events, and geography. They had an enriching experience and are already planning their preparation strategy for next year!
Sending Hearts through the Mail Kindergarten students brought their handmade Valentine’s Day cards up to the middle and upper school for a lesson on how the mail works. They watched with curiosity and fascination as WFS Receptionist Taiasha Elmore explained the postage meter and helped to stamp their cards. After calling out lots of sweet thank yous to Taiasha, the students walked to a nearby mailbox to send their Valentine wishes off to their loved ones.
Summer 2018 • QuakerMatters
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MS Chinese Language Students Celebrate the Year of the Dog Middle school Chinese language students gathered at the Delaware Art Museum to celebrate Chinese New Year. The museum was very happy to have our students there, and our middle schoolers had a wonderful time helping children with Chinese craft projects.
Lots to Sing About!
LS Shark Tank Second graders shared prototypes of their inventions in a “shark tank,” including: the puppy beam, the hatty scratcher, the double-decker animal bed, the toy scooper, and the fakey flower.
2018 All-State Choirs were a huge
Seventeen Minutes
Author Visits Lower School
Casey Tyler ’20 and Abby Vandenbrul ’20, organized a noontime walkout to honor the seventeen people murdered in the Parkland, Florida school shooting. In an act of grief, solidarity, and peaceful protest, the crowd of upper school students, faculty, and staff gathered for seventeen minutes of silent reflection. Students carried signs, some bearing the names of the victims, others printed with the statement “Enough is Enough.” The local press covered the event, interviewed Casey and Abby, and an article about the walkout was featured on the front page of The News Journal.
Lower school welcomed award-winning children’s book author Chris Barton. In addition to sharing stories about his childhood and inspirations, with our younger students Barton spoke about persistence in the context of his book Mighty Truck, and with older students he talked about Reconstruction in the context of his book The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch. Barton also held a writing workshop with fifth graders in which he talked about character development and, as students shared their writing, provided feedback. He welcomed all comments and questions and stressed the importance of pursuing what you love.
Moment of Science
Mock Trial The WFS Mock Trial team exhibited poise, excellent preparation, and quick thinking at the state competition, winning three of their four trials. They brought home four gavels, with Grant Sheppard ’19 and Annabel Teague ’20 winning Best Attorney and Katrina Nix ’19 winning not one, but two gavels for Best Witness.
Actually, an entire day of science in March, as 15 WFS students tested their science knowledge and engineering skills against 55 teams at the Delaware State Science Olympiad. There were 24 events ranging from astronomy to racing hovercrafts. Several WFS Olympians brought home hardware, as Daniel Adebi ’18 earned 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th place medals, Ross Clark ’19 2nd and 4th place medals, and James Tallman ’19 1st and 6th place medals.
success. The three-day event was held at Seaford High School. Middle school students Julee Melnik ’22, Grace Micheletti ’22, and Jaden Willie ’23 sang in the Junior All-State Chorus conducted by Jim Papoulis, the composer of the piece we commissioned for the dedication of our new theater in 2014. Upper schoolers Isaiah Gaines ’21 and Jack Hanson ’18 sang in the Senior All-State Mixed Chorus, led by Dr. Rosephanye Powell, a professor at Auburn University. Anna M, ’25, Ella M. ’25, Greta V. ’25, and Rayan K. ’24 were selected to participate in the Delaware American
Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Children’s Honor Choir Festival. The
ACDA is a nonprofit music-education organization whose mission is to promote excellence in choral music through education, performance, composition, and advocacy. The students joined 150 students from across Delaware and had the privilege of working with renowned conductor Sophia Papoulis. Avery Gaines ’24, Maxwell Brown ’24, and Eli Rahaim ’24 participated in the
Men Only Aloud festival, sponsored
by the ACDA of DE, and held at P.S. duPont Middle School. They spent the day with about 100 boys from all over the state and learned five songs with clinician Phil Doucette, who leads the Wilmington Children’s Chorus. The group gave a terrific performance that evening. AND three of our students traveled to Pittsburgh for the ACDA Eastern
Division Conference. Isaiah Gaines ’21 and Gianna Martinelli ’22 performed in the Junior Honors Chorus, and Jack Hanson ’18 in the Senior Honors Chorus. 20
Summer 2018 • QuakerMatters
Wait...
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LED BY teachers John Hanson and Karen Horikawa,
seventh graders embarked on a week-long project called “Wait...That’s Not Fair,” a hybrid approach that combined elements of project-based learning (PBL) and Design Thinking. Through this interdisciplinary experience, students used the knowledge and tools they learned in various subjects and applied those skills to focus on social justice and ways they could help solve a social justice issue. The issue may have been related to the environment, food systems, healthcare, social class, and even issues much closer to home such as homework or the best time to start the school day for young adolescents. During the week, students developed their area of focus; defined the problem or issue; brainstormed or “ideated” solutions; sought feedback from their peers; and then refined their solutions. One of the most valuable aspects of the week was when students had an opportunity to interview various upper school students about their projects and proposed solutions (Design Thinking calls this the “empathy” phase of the process). Both the upper school and middle school students found the exchange of ideas invigorating. At the end of the project, students presented their topics, driving questions, and solutions to an audience of faculty members and sixth graders, and then engaged in question and answer sessions. “The level of engagement and sincere interest was gratifying to see, and it speaks well of our students at Wilmington Friends,” said John. He noted that one group that was interested in the concept of homework took time to meet with a middle school committee of faculty members who are currently exploring this issue. The group also gave up their lunch period to meet with Lower School Assistant Head Chris Loeffler ’00 to interview him about the pros and cons of homework. “Overall, it was enjoyable to see students explore, research, and learn about areas of social justice that were of interest to each of them,” John said.
! r i Fa The biggest challenge was creating a new schedule for the week and, in essence, creating the structure of a new learning experience from scratch. John remarked, “Our colleagues in the middle school were very flexible and willing to do whatever was necessary to make this week a success. The upper school teachers were willing to let us come into their classrooms for interviews. In addition, various faculty members including Kate Hendrix, Chris Loeffler ’00, Carlos Charriez, and Jon Huxtable made presentations to the students throughout the week. On the Wednesday of the social justice/design week we also had a late opening and this required some quick shuffling - thank goodness for flexible colleagues and email!” Karen Horikawa added, “I would like to emphasize that our colleagues in the middle school were excited by the overall theme of this project. They echoed our hopes that this experience allowed them to engage at their level and to explore topics that they were truly interested in.” The seventh grade team plans to continue with the project in the 2018-19 school year, and the middle school PBL/Design team of Paulo Machado, Jerry Taylor, Sara Gaines, Kate Hendrix, Karen Horikawa, and John Hanson met over the summer in order to refine, revise, and improve the week-long experience. Said John, “Just like the students, we were taking a risk with this PBL/ Design Thinking experience, and 2017-2018 was an experimental year for us. We saw ways to improve upon the first year experience, and we hope to have an even better experience for the seventh grade students in 2018-2019.”
“Wait...That’s Not Fair!” grew out of a middle school faculty focus group that examines various aspects of school life including diversity issues, assessment/grading, and homework. It was intended to be both a transference of knowledge and a utilization of the skills that students practice in each of their classes including: communication, resilience, creativity, collaboration, engagement, time management/organization, responsibility, and mindfulness. “It was also designed to align with the School’s mission statement and to engage in extracurricular Quaker action,” said Karen. Summer 2018 • QuakerMatters
Our Home and School Association’s mission is to
provide support to WFS by fostering a sense of community among parents, faculty, and the administration. Home and School raises funds for the School and provides programming that enhances our community. This year has been a busy one for Home and School as they added new events and enhanced favorite traditional events. They brought interesting speakers to campus to educate our parent community about things like concussions, social media safety, the crisis in Venezuela, and helping our kids to be resilient. Home and School’s fundraising efforts have made it possible for them to donate over $30,000 to this year’s Annual Fund.
8th Graders Visit Courthouse
Hello, Badlands! Third graders visited the Badlands of South Dakota (virtually of course), as part of their national parks unit.
Distant Voices In the Friends Theater, the tenth grade students watched--and participated in--a production of Distant Voices, which recounts a Japanese American man’s experience in internment camps during World War II. In this evocative and multifaceted performance, three actors wove together excerpts from media reports, historical documents, and the journals of WFS junior Miranda Peak’s grandfather, as Miranda’s mother played carefully selected piano pieces highlighting the events being described. Periodically, the actors would pause and ask the students in the audience to answer such questions as: what fundamental rights do you think the U.S. government violated in forcing Japanese Americans into concentration camps, and if you had to leave your home with only two small bags, what belongings would be especially hard to leave behind?
FROM THE TOP: Home and School Co-Presidents Anne McWalter and Kendra Okolo with Ken Aldridge. Pete the Cat was a special guest at the Spring Scholastic Book Fair. He is pictured here with Head of Lower School Julie Rodowsky. The H&S Parents for Multiculturalism (PFM) event, The Crisis in Venezuela, was an eye-opening call to action as our WFS community learned about the humanitarian crisis occurring in that country. Thank you to PFM clerk Rossana Arteaga-Lopenza, pictured with our discussion panel of experts, and to the PFM committee who contributed their time and energy. Summer 2018 • QuakerMatters
Eighth graders visited the federal courthouse for the district of Delaware to learn more about the federal court system and, specifically, the role of the judicial branch within the three branches of government. The students conducted a condensed trial, which included judges, defendants, plaintiffs, and a jury. They also toured the courthouse and met with lawyers who serve as clerks for the federal judges. Thank you to their hosts: Chief Judge Leonard P. Stark, Magistrate Judge Sherry R. Fallon, and Magistrate Judge Christopher J. Burke.
Global Day of Design Students in Kindergarten through fifth grade participated in the lower school Global Day of Design, engaging in design activities throughout the day, including creating new recess games, fences to protect a garden, and game controllers.
Kidwind Challenge Sixth graders completed the Kidwind Challenge as the culmination of their study of energy resources, including the promise and limitations of wind energy as a sustainable source of energy in the United States. (Visiting fifth graders got to help!) The goal of the Kidwind Challenge is for students to apply the STEM design process to solve a real-world problem. In the challenge, students must build a functioning wind turbine that is measured and improved, and they then compete with their peers for the most efficient model. This year’s designs were exceptional and students will be rewarded not only for the number of volts they produce, but also for the creativity and craftsmanship of their design.
Olé Olé Olé! FC Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 3-1 in the 3rd annual “WFS El Clásico” fourth grade fútbol game on the turf. Spanish and soccer fun for all!
Student Travel This summer, upper school students traveled to three distinct destinations: El Paso, Panama, and France. Students on the QUEST Term service learning trip traveled to El Paso, Texas, where they examined worldwide immigration issues through the lens of the U.S.Mexico border. Students saw first-hand the government agencies responsible for controlling the border, including the U.S. Border Patrol and the Mexican Consul in El Paso. The group was able to meet with officials at the border and hold hands with children on the other side through the fence. The Spanish language trip this year was to Panama, where students traveled to different towns and villages to learn about the culture, practice their Spanish speaking skills, and perform service. Service included helping at a community soup kitchen, painting and reorganizing at an island school, and cleaning up litter on a local beach. A highlight of the trip was watching Panama’s first World Cup game in a local family’s hut! This year’s France trip also featured intensive cultural and linguistic immersion. Students toured Paris and Provence, had an amazing homestay experience in Carcassonne (South of France), and worked on a service project learning about and restoring part of the Route Saint-Jacques. And they also delighted in being able to watch the World Cup, cheering on Les Bleus to victories! Middle schoolers also had a wonderful travel opportunity to Canada where they visited Quebec to study history and culture, and to perform service.
World Affairs Club Debates The upper school World Affairs Club organizes one-on-one debates on issues of global importance, and they are held during upper school lunch in the MS/US Library Learning Commons. Topics range from school-wide issues to domestic and foreign policy. Topics this year included: Should the U.S. attack North Korea?; Has there been real change for women, 2000-2017?; Is White supremacy now central to the Republican Party?; and, Is Greek Life beneficial? This year, debates regularly attracted a full house. Club advisor and upper school teacher Javier Ergueta remarked on how well each of the students presented arguments in a spirit of vigorous give-and-take, but also mutual respect. It’s no accident. Would-be debaters must satisfy club clerks about their attitude and level of preparation. The club conceives of its mission broadly: “Perhaps most important, students model how political discussions can and should be carried out,” said Javier.
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art Gallery preschool weaving and superheroes
middle school digital art and animation
upper school IB art
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SERVICE
A Night to Shine On February 9th, a group of WFS juniors and seniors, along with committee clerk Chase Fallon ’19, were honored to participate in a Night to Shine. In a single night, in 540 locations around the world, A Night to Shine holds proms for people with disabilities and includes a red carpet, limo rides, crowns, and tiaras for everyone. Some students attended a prom in Kennett Square at the Willowdale Chapel, while Marie DeVoll ’18 and her therapy dog, Shadow, went to one at the Christian Academy in Brookhaven.
Students served the community in many ways this winter and spring. Here are some examples.
Red Clay Creek Cleanup Lucy Knudsen ’19, Runlai Jiang ’19, and Ryan Evans ’20, all members of the WFS Charity Water/Ecology club, participated in the Red Clay Creek Cleanup on Sunday to pick up trash and recycling along roads in the Red Clay Creek watershed. Teachers Caitlin Norton and Ellen Johnson also participated.
Spring Into Service 5K Boys Lax Gives Back PennaStrong Club Fundraiser Sean Brady ’20 started the Friends PennaStrong club to support the Anthony Penna Foundation that was created in memory of the Archmere student who died in a 2017 car crash and promotes music and arts programs in Wilmingtonarea schools. Students who donated to the Foundation received a PennaStrong package and a dress-down day.
Refugee Family Update: One Year Later Recently, the Mohammadi family celebrated their one year anniversary as residents of the United States. Through the efforts of MS teacher and QUEST coordinator Courtney Miller, the Friends School community has been supporting refugee families since last spring, with the Mohammadi family being the first.
Buddies Help Their Community Juniors met with Kindergartners to pack “on-the-go” meal kits for the Food Bank of DE. Next year, as seniors and first graders, students will do buddy activities together throughout the year.
In addition to running clinics for kids in Wilmington and stewarding the Ferris School program, members of the Friends boys lacrosse team coached a group of new young lacrosse players from Wilmington’s Hilltop Neighborhood. Through the efforts of WFS coach Lee Powers, president of the Delaware Chapter of US Lacrosse, the Hilltop Lutheran Neighborhood Center players were first exposed to lacrosse last summer.
Red Nose Day Ashley Chompre ’20 and Kiera Patterson ’20 organized this fundraiser to fight childhood poverty. The students sold red noses all week and then, along with people across the nation, Friends students participated in Red Nose Day on May 24th.
7th Graders Serve To cap off their year of stewardship, WFS seventh graders traveled to the Material Resource Center (MRC) in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. They worked hard packing school and hygiene kits and recycling books, CDs, and even jeans, to be repurposed and sold to earn funds for the center’s work.
Thanks to all who participated in the Middle School Service Spring Into Service 5K. Students, faculty and staff collected items all week to donate to Jewish Family Services of Delaware RISE program helping refugees settle into the community. Each advisory group picked a theme for their mode of dress--with some very creative outfits. After the race, participants were treated to water ice, and one winning advisory group got to shave Mr. Taylor’s hair!
Coaches vs. Cancer The Girls Basketball team raised the most money in the state for the Coaches vs. Cancer program and was honored for this accomplishment at the DIAA State Championship game.
“Heal the World” Circus First graders held their annual circus with the theme “Heal The World!” In their classrooms, students learned about the wants and needs of various communities. As they explored similarities and differences between communities, students discovered that most basic needs are the same. After much conversation, they decided to donate gently used shoes to Soles4Souls. At the circus, students collected over 128 pairs!
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Lower School Gathering
Each week, the entire lower school, from preschoolers to fifth graders, meet for morning Gathering. The program is planned and led by fifth graders, and has become a highlight of the lower school experience. We asked Head of Lower School Julie Rodowsky for more information about Gathering.
When was morning Gathering introduced to lower school? Annette Hearing instituted Gathering when she became Head of Lower School in 2011. It quickly became a focal point in our week, and now we all look forward to coming together as a lower school community each Tuesday morning.
What role do the 5th graders play? Fifth graders act as the masters of ceremonies for every Gathering. Typically two fifth graders lead the action. In some cases, especially this year, the fifth grade “hosts” took a more active role in what happened at Gathering: setting a theme and choosing songs, quotes or activities that fit with the theme. Some themes this spring included: equality and diversity, community, stewardship, and peace.
What happens at Gathering? The general schedule goes like this: students and teachers arrive at 8:30, usually with their buddies. A quote is shared, followed by a few moments of silence. Birthdays for the week are announced and those friends stand up. We sing the birthday song (Tom Chapin version), usually with Teacher Robin leading with her guitar. After that, the hosts ask if there are any teacher announcements. Senora Munch announces in Spanish the name of the student who has “found Coco” that week and everyone cheers. The focus of the Gathering changes depending on what things are happening at the School, or what students want to share. One week, we may hear partner poems performed by third graders or watch a short gymnastics routine by second graders. Sometimes a whole class will perform a song or individual students will play the piano. Sometimes we have guests from outside of the community, such as the Twin Poets or the Peace Run cohort. After the presentations, we close with several songs, and fifth graders dismiss classes.
How does it benefit the students and the school? It’s a great feeling to come together as a community each week. The consistency of the program and the many opportunities to celebrate each other, sing together and/or learn something new is wonderful. In addition, Gathering seems to embody the culture of lower school in a way that nothing else does. It’s joyful!
Are there any Gatherings in particular that stand out in your mind? The ones this spring that included group games (ultimate rock, paper, scissors; pictionary; scavenger hunt; Name that Tune) were really fun and everyone had a blast. The first time Max Brown (first grade) performed with his fiddle and got a standing ovation was memorable. Though originally planned as a way to share the Annual Fund video, the “thank you” Gatherings that we invited parents to attend were lovely and quite authentic. The song that Teacher Katie taught the students for that effort was beautiful and perfectly fitting. 26
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s t r e c n o Spring C
Scenes from
the
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Winter Sports 2017-18 Boys Basketball Led by coach Chris Loeffler ’00, the boys basketball team made it to the first round of the DIAA Tournament game against Dover. In December, WFS once again hosted eight schools at the Quaker Classic basketball tournament. After winning against Brandywine High School in the preliminary round, Friends emerged victorious in the West Gym final, beating Germantown Friends, 50-31!
Girls Basketball
All-State
The Quakers, led by coach Carolyn Gates Connors ’81, made us proud by raising the most money in the state for the Coaches vs Cancer program! The team was honored for this accomplishment at the DIAA State championship game.
Honorable Mention: Natalie DePaulo ’18
All-Conference First Team: Natalie DePaulo ’18
All-Conference First Team: Timmer Farley ’19 Second Team: Max Okolo ’18 Honorable Mention: Donovan Aldridge ’18, Quentin McAbee ’19 Blue-Gold All-Star Team Max Okolo ’18
1,000 Point Milestone Natalie DePaulo’18 Blue-Gold All-Star Team Natalie DePaulo ’18 Coach Carolyn Connors ’81 “Athlete of Promise” Delaware Women’s Alliance for Sports and Fitness Ajala Elmore ’20
Winter Track
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Led by coach Paul Nemeth, it was a season of great runs and personal records for Indoor Track. At the DIAA State Meet, Aaron Brick ’18 ran a PR in the 200 Meter, and the Girls 4x200 Meter Relay team of Olivia Delgado ’21, Lilia Machado ’20, Hannah Blackwell ’20, and Eden Groum ’20 dropped ten seconds.
second drop) and the 3200 Meter at the DIAA State Meet. Connor also ran a 14:44 5K to take 2nd at the New Balance Indoor Track Nationals.
Connor Nisbet ’19 continued his amazing year, winning both the mile (with a seven
Connor Nisbet ’19
Delaware Boys Indoor Track MVP Connor Nisbet ’19 Gatorade XC Runner of the Year
Swimming Led by coach Robin Lebauer, both Boys and Girls Swimming had an excellent season. Boys took 3rd at the Independent Conference championships, with Sam Huo ’18 winning the 50 and 100 Freestyle events. At States, Sam, Nathaniel Ruhl ’18, Jake Luckangelo ’18, Sean Brady ’20, and Doug Nie ’18 all made finals. For the Girls team, Ashley Chompre ’20 had another fantastic season, setting the meet record for the 100 Breaststroke and winning Swim of the Meet for her 100 Butterfly at the Independent Conference championships. At the State Championship Meet, Ashley, Atim Kilama ’18, Anna Erskine ’18, Serena Gutsche ’18, and Katherine Lawrence ’22 all made finals.
Wrestling Led by coach Don Morton ’94, it was a strong season for Quaker Wrestling. At the DISC Championships, Luke Munch ’21 (113) and Peter Cauchy ’19 (138) took 2nd place; Eli Longwill ’20 (120), Malik Chenault ’19 (145), Connor Satterfield ’20 (170), and Sander Katz ’21 (220) took 3rd place. At the Independent Wrestling Conference Championships, both Luke Munch ’21 (113) and Donnie Morton ’22 (120) finished in the top four to advance to the DIAA State Tournament. At States, Luke
All-Conference Boys First Team: Sam Huo ’18 Second Team: Jake Luckangelo ’18 Honorable Mention: Nathaniel Ruhl ’18 All-Conference Girls First Team: Ashley Chompre ’20, Atim Kilama ’18 All-State Boys First Team: Sam Huo ’18 All-State Girls First Team: Ashley Chompre ’20, Atim Kilama ’18 Outstanding Athlete, Delaware Women’s Alliance for Sports and Fitness Anna Erskine ’18
finished in the Top Eight and Donnie finished in the Top Sixteen. Academic All-State First Team: Peter Cauchy ’19, Jack Coons ’18, Nathan Crock ’19, Sander Katz ’21, Delaney Martin ’18 (mgr.), Luke Munch ’21, Casey Tyler ’20 Second Team: Malik Chenault ’19, Eric Jiang ’19, Donnie Morton ’22, Marley Morton ’18 (mgr) Honorable Mention: John Blackwell ’18, Jacob Jaworski ’20
National Signing Day Congratulations to the seniors who will be continuing their athletic careers in college. Whatever jerseys they wear in the future, to us, they will always be Quakers! (Front Row) Jeffrey McAbee, football at Ursinus College; Ikechukwu Daniel Adebi, football at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Sloan Maas, soccer at Dickinson College. (Second Row) Dalton Ramsey, baseball at Gettysburg College; Aaron Brick, track at Dickinson College; Eric Pincus, lacrosse at Denison University; John Blackwell, lacrosse at Connecticut College; Nathaniel Ruhl, lacrosse at Haverford College. (Back Row) Head of Upper School Rebecca Zug, Athletic Director Jeff Ransom, Girls Soccer Coach Scott Clothier, Head of School Ken Aldridge. Bottom Photo: Max Pickles, soccer at Bard College.
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Spring Sports 2018 Baseball It was a great season for Quaker Baseball. Led by coach Jon Huxtable, the team won every conference game to handily win the DISC championship; Joey Mullen ’19 pitched a perfect five-inning game on just 48 pitches; and the team made it to the DIAA Tournament. All-Conference First Team: Wyatt Nelson ’20 (pitcher), Joey Mullen ’19 (pitcher), Matthew Taormina ’19 (catcher), Dalton Ramsey ’18 (first base), Will Davis ’20 (second base), Edward Micheletti ’20 (third base), Jack Taylor ’20 (outfield)
Second Team: Jack Hanson ’18 (outfield), Sam Gise ’20 (shortstop), Patrick McKenzie ’21 (designated hitter) DISC Player of the Year Wyatt Nelson ’20 All-State Honorable Mention: Joey Mullen ’19 (pitcher), Wyatt Nelson ’20 (pitcher), Will Davis ’20 (second base) Blue/Gold All-Star Team
Boys Lacrosse
Dalton Ramsey ’18 (first base)
Led by coach Jake Rashkind, Boys Lacrosse had another fantastic season. They were DISC champions for the third year in a row, and, with an exciting overtime win against DMA, they made it to the semifinal round of the DIAA Tournament, for the second year in a row.
Second Team: River Harper ’18, Nick Redd ’20, Nathaniel Ruhl ’18
All-Conference
River Harper ’18, Peyton McNeill ’19
First Team: Chad Connors ’18, River Harper ’18, Peyton McNeill ’19, Eric Pincus ’18, Nick Redd ’20, Nathaniel Ruhl ’18 Second Team: Danny Manley ’18, Nick Sotiropoulos ’18 All-State First Team: Chad Connors ’18, Peyton McNeill ’19, Eric Pincus ’18
Girls Lacrosse Led by coach Jessica Franklin, this young team’s season was marked by growth and by an exciting late-season win over St. Andrew’s, 14-8! All-Conference First Team: Anna Erskine ’18, Alice Irwin ’18, Katrina Winfield ’20
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Second Team: Carson DavisTinnell ’19, Alexa Donahue ’22, Ajala Elmore ’20, Meghan Malone ’21 Honorable Mention: Olivia Billitto ’20, Caroline Schumacher ’21 Academic All-American Alice Irwin ’18
Blue/Gold All-Star Team Chad Connors ’18, River Harper ’18, Eric Pincus ’18, Nathaniel Ruhl ’18, Coach Jake Rashkind 100 Goal Milestone
Academic All-American WFS students earned 3 out of 8 state awards: Danny Manley ’18, Nathaniel Ruhl ’18, Nick Sotiropoulos ’18 Bob Scott Award Nathaniel Ruhl ’18
Track & Field Led by coach Nora Reynolds, the team racked up the PRs this season, and, at States, both the Girls 4x200 team of Olivia Delgado ’21, Lilia Machado ’20, Fawn Palmer ’19, and Hannah Blackwell ’20 and the Boys 4x400 team of Simon Wakeley ’19, Donovan Aldridge ’18, Connor Nisbet ’19, and Aaron Brick ’18 set new school records. Connor Nisbet ’19 also placed 2nd at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in the 2 mile and has won Gatorade Delaware Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year. New Castle County Championships
DIAA State Meet Aaron Brick ’18: 2nd, 200M Dash; 2nd, 400M Dash Connor Nisbet ’19: 1st, 3200M Run; 1st, 1600M Run; 2nd and a new school record, 800M Run Boys 4x400 Relay (Wakeley, Aldridge, Nisbet, Brick), 7th and new school record! DIAA Runner of the Year Connor Nisbet ’19 Meet of Champions Donovan Aldridge ’18: 8th, 800M Dash Connor Nisbet ’19: 1st, 3200M Run Penn Relays
Aaron Brick ’18: 4th, 200M Dash; 9th 400M Dash
Connor Nisbet ’19: 2nd, 3000M Run
Connor Nisbet ’19: 1st, 1600M Run; 1st, 3200M Run
WFS Team MVPs
Soccer
Second Team: Hailey DiCindio ’18, Abby Emsley ’21, Louisa Spinner ’18
Hannah Blackwell ’20 and Connor Nisbet ’19
Tennis Boys Tennis was led by coach Jack Rowell. Jake Morris ’18 made it to the quarterfinal round of the DIAA State Tournament for Third Singles.
Luann Ji ’20, Alexis Montana ’22, and Alexa Vergara ’19 had a great DIAA Tournament, with all of them advancing to the quarterfinal round.
Girls Tennis was led by coach Ken Dill. Maddie Balick ’19, Ashley Brooks ’18, Rosa Cochran ’21, Jadyn Elliott ’20,
First Singles player Alexis Montana ’22 got all the way to the semifinal round of the DIAA Tournament.
Led by coach Scott Clothier, a highlight of the Girls Soccer season was beating Archmere in penalty kicks in the first round of the DIAA Tournament! All-Conference First Team: Sloan Maas ’18, Maggie Martelli-Raben ’18
All-State First Team: Sloan Maas ’18 Second Team: Maggie MartelliRaben ’18 Blue/Gold All-Star Team Sloan Maas ’18, Maggie MartelliRaben ’18, Coach Scott Clothier
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Friend of the Earth: Peter Kelemen ’74 Peter on a panel at a Columbia University Energy Summit in 2017.
What did you do upon graduating from WFS? A week or two after graduation, I left for a 10-week backpacking trip in the North Cascades of Washington State with Jim McKusick (also Friends ’74). We drove out in my Oldsmobile F85 Vista Cruiser station wagon, known at Friends as the Dentmobile. We stopped in Salt Lake City to pick up dried food from Perma Pak, a company that catered to Mormons who are asked to keep a year’s food supply in their homes. In the Cascades, with two months worth of dried food in the car, Jim and I would venture out from the road for a week to ten days, and then come down from the mountains to empty the mousetraps in the Dentmobile, do laundry, and get some fresh vegetables. Nixon 32
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resigned while we were out for ten days in the Picket Range. At the end of the summer, I dropped Jim off on the Pacific Crest Trail south of Mt. Ranier, and drove back east to start at Dartmouth College. I chose Dartmouth because it was a “good school,” I knew that a couple of Dartmouth climbers had been on the 1963 American Everest Expedition, and the campus was along the Appalachian Trail. (I walked through there in the summer of 1971 with Ned Dewees ’75, Jeff Harper ’74, Jim McKusick ’74, Peter Townsend ’75, two other boys our age, and former WFS teacher Graham Patterson). How did you get started in your career? I was an English and Philosophy major until about 2/3 of the way through my six-year undergraduate career.
Peter Kelemen ’74 is an Earth and Environmental Sciences professor at Columbia University and has recently worked with a team of scientists to see whether or not a natural scrubbing process can be used to clean the Earth’s atmosphere of CO2. (You could take any quarter off from Dartmouth, and I took a bunch of them, to climb in Peru and Colorado, and to make money to pay for those trips). As graduation loomed ahead, I realized that I didn’t want to (try to) be a journalist, I didn’t want to go to Law School or Business School, I never even considered going to one of the interviews with the firms from New York, and so I was going to have to get some kind of job based on a Bachelor’s degree from a liberal arts college. At that time, my rock climbing friends who were Earth Science majors were all getting summer jobs doing mineral exploration field work. And the geology department at Dartmouth had some great introductory courses, which I had already taken. So I changed my major to Earth Sciences. Doing seasonal mineral exploration was going to be my “day job,” and I was planning to do something romantic and poorly specified - write, travel, climb - during the off-season. (I should note that I was able to change my major quite easily, because I had treated the first few years of college pretty much like Friends School, taking one basic science or math course every quarter, along with the literature and philosophy. As a result, I had completed most of the prerequisites for the Earth Science major.) By the time I finished, I had gotten quite interested in the research side of geology. There were visitors coming through all the time, giving great talks about the places they’d been, and one in particular - about the district of Ladakh in NW India - stuck in my
mind. The area had just opened to westerners for the first time in more than 40 years, and I felt I had to go there. Dartmouth had something called a Reynolds Fellowship, for recent graduates to do foreign study, but it couldn’t be graduate school. So a friend and I jointly applied for one of those, got it, split it, and spent half a year mapping and sampling in Ladakh and having adventures. (For example, it was illegal to do research in Ladakh, because of its proximity to the disputed Chinese and Pakistani borders, so we smuggled our samples out on the train, across Pakistan to Peshawar University where we had some contacts, and shipped them from there.) Before then, while I was still an undergrad, I asked my advisor where I should consider going to grad school. He said, “If you have to ask, you’re not ready to go. When you know what you want to study, you will know who you need as a mentor, and then you will know where to go.” After India, I had a lot of ideas about what we had seen there, and I wanted to do research on those ideas with a couple of professors at the University of Washington. So I applied to that one grad school, got in, and went. Between graduating from college and going to India, I stopped with some friends in Colorado to go climbing. I discovered that they were starting a consulting company, Dihedral Exploration, to combine their geology and climbing skills for “extreme terrain mineral exploration.” I asked if I could join them, and the next day
we got some business cards printed with my name on them. So throughout grad school, I was also doing that consulting work, which left me with a lot of freedom because - if I was not in Seattle - no one at the University really knew where I was. I met my wife during that time, and for the next ten years we did a lot of climbing on weekends, and sometimes for weeks to months. Plus the consulting jobs, plus grad school. We moved to Woods Hole, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, where I had a postdoc fellowship, and then became a grant-supported research scientist. I continued the consulting work on the side. It was pretty hectic. I didn’t really plan to stay at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for very long, but I wasn’t getting other job offers. It’s hard to raise 12 months of salary doing earth science research, and at some point I realized that if I wanted to stay I was going to have to work really hard, and if I was going to be more competitive for other jobs I was going to have to work really hard, so I had better get started. Mortgages and children soon followed. We spent 16 years in Woods Hole, and then moved to Columbia University in 2004. What are you currently working on? Carbon dioxide capture and permanent storage via carbon mineralization, in which carbon dioxide from air, or dissolved with water, reacts with rocks from the Earth’s interior (the mantle) to make carbonate minerals. The mechanisms of intermediate depth earthquakes (at depths of 50 to 200 km in the Earth). The formation and evolution of the Earth’s oceanic crust and (chemically very different) continental crust. What advice would you give to students who are interested in going into your field? A more intentional and focused path, compared to mine, is more likely to lead to a job in my field. Tenured faculty positions at major research universities are very hard to get, and most of my colleagues took a much more direct and safer path. I’ve been so lucky so many times, it is hard to really learn useful guidelines from my approach to “adult life.” However, for the restless ones, I would say that the one thing I did that “worked” was
to follow exciting opportunities as they presented themselves, with some effort to make sure that the experience I gained from these adventures was cumulative rather than random. If you do that, the chances are you won’t end up as a professor but you will probably find yourself doing something pretty interesting. How were you influenced by your experience at WFS? 5th or 6th or 7th grade English teacher Phil Fitzpatrick allowed us to write all kinds of inspired nonsense it was really absurdist stuff, like something out of Salvador Dali. I have no idea how he made us feel so free. He then persuaded some of us to go to a summer camp where we spent a week learning how to make fires with a wet log, an ax, and a couple of matches, followed by two weeks of completely unsupported wilderness travel by canoe in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota and southern Canada. I was a terribly rebellious student in French class, something to do with my polyglot Hungarian father, who would grimace when he heard me murder the language with my American accent. For some reason, French teacher Cecily Trehu liked and supported me anyway. She told my family and me about the Student Conservation Association (SCA), and I ended up as a volunteer on a trail crew in North Cascades National Park in 1972. I continued to be a purposefully lackadaisical French student, but she never really minded. Building on the 1972 trail crew experience, I was an SCA volunteer again in 1975, in Olympic National Park, and ended up as the climbing ranger on Mt. Olympus for weeks at a time. Given what came after, it now appears that the 1972 SCA trip helped set me on my life’s course. Madame Trehu died quite young, before I had the chance to thank her as an adult. Sally Longstreth taught us a lot about English literature, but she also unrepentantly and regularly drilled us for the SAT verbal exams. I am grateful for that; it expanded our vocabulary, did us no harm at all, and helped us do really well on the SAT. I don’t understand why this is no longer considered a reputable part of high school English. Sally had a great reserved sense of humor, and I
ABOVE: Peter in Oman in 2014 (Sara Kelemen photo). RIGHT: Photo from the 1974 WFS yearbook, Peter on the Appalachian Trail in 1971, with Peter Townsend ‘ 75 and Bruce Burris (WFS Middle School). FAR RIGHT: Peter in the “Trinity Alps” of northern California in about 2000 (Matt Jackson photo).
consciously viewed her as a bridge to the Philadelphia “birthright” Quaker establishment, moral, upright leaders with a great sense of duty to society. The kind of folks we now sneeringly call “elites.” Fred Royal, who always wore a bow tie, had us perform lots of Shakespeare. He was a Quaker conscientious objector in England who would not join the military. Instead, he drove an ambulance in the London blitz during the Second World War. Violet Richman was a remarkable, inspirational music teacher. She had us perform really difficult stuff - Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass” for example, much of which is not melodic at all. We put in really long hours after school - going out to Route 202 for a quick burger and then coming back for more practice at night. Again, this seems really risky now. It was hard music, with long solo parts, and someone could have really flamed out on stage in total humiliation. But those chances were taken. Violet had amazing confidence in us and, as a result, she was right. I was in high school at Friends from September 1969 to June 1974. I am sure Friends is great now, but it really meant a lot to be a Friends high school student during some of the fiercest years of the Vietnam War. Rick Reynolds taught the “Peace Course” to seniors in the spring. We were trained in non-violent resistance by members of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), but also had a
presentation from a Marine recruiter. It was a powerful experience. I was a strange enough kid that I liked Meeting for Worship quite a bit. I spent the summer of 1973 as a counselor at Farm and Wilderness camps, a Quaker camp in Vermont where we also spent lots of time sitting quietly in groups. I never said anything during Meeting for Worship, but I saw it as a chance for meditation, and I thought meditation was cool. I still do. Someone had told me that meditation involved clearing your mind of conscious or “verbal” thoughts. So I worked on that, or tried to do that without working on it, or… however it works. My family went to the 4th and West Meeting in Wilmington for a few years, trying out being real Quakers. In that Meeting the spirit moved some people there to speak very frequently. I didn’t like that so much. I had a lot of great friends there. Many of them are still in Wilmington. I don’t get back very often, but when I do, it is great to see how they’ve made their way through the decades. I could tell you about some down sides of my Friends School and Wilmington experiences too, but...not this time. What’s your favorite WFS memory? I’ve listed a bunch of them already. In addition, it’s worth noting that our football and basketball teams were undefeated in the independent school conference for years. I would say this was true for my entire time in high school. I wasn’t on those teams (soccer, a bit of track), but almost all of us went to almost all the games, and cheered our lungs out. I am not sure how Quakerly this was - I don’t think Coach Bob Tattersall was a Quaker, at least not an ordinary Philadelphia-type Quaker but we were incredibly proud of those teams and somehow felt that we shared in their accomplishment. Summer 2018 • QuakerMatters
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Class Notes
CLASS OF 1951
Reminder to classes ending in 3 and 8, this is your reunion year. We hope to see you at Homecoming!
Jeannette Smith, Walter Smith ’62, Betsy Dalgliesh (widow of Jay Dalgliesh ’62), and David Landin ’62.
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Ingeborg Lehmann-Scherb ’51 shared this note with her classmate, Chick Altmaier ’51,“How nice to be in touch again! While I write this you will probably be in San Francisco, it will be something in the middle of the night for you there, and hopefully nice and warm weather, and whenever you check your emails you will be able to read this. Who would have thought that all this could be possible when we were juniors together at Friends! I had a nice Christmas, like something out of a TV series together with a small group of “left-over” inhabitants of the house, and my younger daughter Monika (you may remember her) who had come for a few days before we went to Sweden together. I am picking up life here at the residence, and really starting to enjoy it. The group is still quite small as the place is slowly filling up, and there is a certain pioneer spirit, someone compared us jokingly with the “Mayflower.” So far all of the “crew” are very cultivated and pleasant people. It is situated right in the middle of Vienna, and as this is where I grew up, though in another district, it all feels like homecoming in a certain way. If I feel like a little exercise I can walk to the very center of town, St.Peter Square, in about half an hour. Let’s be grateful that we are “mildly aging”; I think that was how Chick described our situation.” CLASS OF 1953 Priscilla Bowdle Lamont ’53 sent this update, “Our big news is that we are finally moving from our big old farm house to a small 3-bedroom house, nearby but still in Woodstown. Our son Sam, daughter-in-law Meg, plus their three little ones will move from Alabama into this big house on the first of June. Sam snagged a wonderful job with Weather Analytics, based in Washington, DC. He can work remotely several days a week, then take “the Biden train” to DC to work on site for two days. Meg is an artist and will enjoy having one of the outbuildings here as a studio. Marlton Park, which was the sixty-acre farmland for this old house, will be a wonderful playground for their three children who are 6, 3 and 1. “Our oldest daughter, Sally, also lives in Woodstown and teaches high school English at Salem High School. She teaches in the International Baccalaureate classes, which is also a program at WFS. Our daughter, Susan, teaches Environmental Science at Ann Arundel College in MD. Susan and her husband Peter started and lead the Kent Island Running Group.
Daughter #3, also Meg, works with sea turtles on Cape San Blas in Florida. She was very busy this winter when she was part of a group who rescued over 2000 sea turtles from freezing to death. As you all know, it is fun trying to keep up extended family. After living for 45 years in this one big house, it will be quite an adjustment settling into and adjusting to a much smaller place - with no stairs! Yahoo!” CLASS OF 1962 Researchers are learning more and more about how our own bodies can fight cancer and the late Jay Dalgliesh ’62 is helping. In April 2018, his widow, Betsy, and his sister, Andy Dalgliesh Everett, hosted an art show and sale of Jay’s woodblock prints to benefit the melanoma research fund Betsy has established in Jay’s name. Interestingly, they think he created the prints around 1961-62. Proceeds from the show at the UVA School of Architecture, his alma mater, will help support the work of UVA’s Human Immune Therapy Center directed by Jay’s oncologist, Craig Slingluff, MD. According to Investing in Hope, a publication of the UVA Health Foundation, the traditional treatments of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy can often lead to better outcomes with early cancer diagnoses, but they prove disappointing in most solid tumor cancers. Jay was diagnosed with one of those advanced cancers. His doctors found an unusual melanoma detected after it spread, but they never identified the original site. Dr. Slingluff says that apparently the original melanoma regressed and Jay’s immune system took care of it, but part of the melanoma persisted. Slingluff and his team’s 24-year effort to understand the immune response to melanoma has led to several novel approaches that have shown encouraging results. Now we know that our immune systems participate actively in fighting cancers. Clearly, treatments to improve the immune response to cancer can induce dramatic and durable control of cancer, especially melanoma. “In the four years that Jay lived with metastatic melanoma, he lived his life full-tilt, full-time,” Betsy says. “He managed to maintain that attitude with his motto of ‘git ’er done.’ That was the way Jay was.” Betsy has established the research fund with the hope that Dr. Slingluff can build a coalition of researchers across the country to find more effective and targeted treatments for melanoma including immunotherapy, using a patient’s own T-cells which have been programmed to
CLASS OF 1961 Stephen Burnett ’61 shared this photo: “On the hiking trail with our dog Wrinkles near our home in Sewanee, TN, the domain of the University of the South. Nancy and I just celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary with a gala party in Chattanooga, TN.” target and destroy cancer cells.“Jay didn’t like being a sick person, and he didn’t act like one. He kept doing what he was good at,” Betsy remembers. “I think that is a goal of research — helping people live normal lives for as long as possible.” When Jay died on July 5 of the 50th reunion year for the Class of 1962, his obituary noted that he often said that the core traits of honesty and a willingness to listen were instilled during his thirteen years at Wilmington Friends School. CLASS OF 1964 Beth Cavanaugh ’64 sent this news, “As unbelievable as this sounds, in June, I will be graduating from One Spirit Interfaith Seminary in Riverside Church, New York City: me, a reverend? I don’t know how this all came about but it did. I’m still living in New York City and upstate New York. After this winter I am fantasizing about becoming a snowbird.” Harriett Dann ’64 sent this update, “I am still enjoying working as an ophthalmologist in my own independent practice, seeing lots of interesting patients, hearing their life stories, and doing cataract surgeries. I also still enjoy traveling with biking groups. I have two adorable grandbabies, in California and Bar
Harbor, so I see them a few times a year. I think fondly of all the classmates, and would love to plan a week vacation with those available, either in my St. Thomas house (recovering from the hurricane), or anywhere. I visited Ria a couple of years ago with Beth, she gave us a wonderful tour of Denmark.”
us four generations of Corlets. Aadaya means strong woman in Sanskrit. Katherine’s husband, Matt, a major in the Air Force, is scheduled to be transferred to Suttgart, Germany, this summer for two years, so guess Bob and I will be getting to Europe for visits. So many things are happening!”
Susan Agoos Herrmann ’64 wrote, “We continue to spend a lot of time in Europe since our 4 grandchildren (ages 3 - 10) live in London. We gave up winter skiing for sunshine in Florida, now that both Steve and I are retired. I’ve been busy working on my 50th college reunion! Seems like just yesterday we had our 50th at Friends School. I am still busy with sports, reading, and piano playing. Some things never change, which at our age is probably a good thing!”
Mike Wise ’64 wrote, “My news is that I’m on the semi-retirement-to-full retirement glide path. I have one more year to go teaching half time, which I’m doing by teaching full time in the fall and no time in the spring. My big excitement last year was spending a month at an archaeological field school at a Mayan site in the jungle of northwest Belize. I also am an avid fan of the Portland Timbers.”
Ria Jelshoj Lerche ’64 shared, “I am having my third round of chemo. It seems to help so I keep going, although it is not much fun! So far, I manage pretty well to keep up my usual activities. Travels are hard to plan though as I have to get permission to go. You know I would love to come to the reunion [2019] if I can. I enjoy living in Copenhagen with all the cultural activities a city offers. I still have my house on the beach, less than an hour drive from here, so I go there when the city air gets too dense. My son is still in Greenland as a teacher at the University in Nuuk and as a musician. He is the only one on a bass so he gets to play a lot and he loves that. I have no grandchildren!” Phip Strange ’64 shared this news, “Merrill and I have joined the grandparent’s ranks and are enjoying our visits to San Francisco to see 16 month-old Harper, son Zander, and his wife Heather. Our daughter Lily was married last May to Jonathan Ritchie at our farm in Gordonsville, VA, and no baby news from them at this point. They live about an hour away so we are fortunate to spend time with them often. I will bore you with more news about our kids and our farm at the reunion if anyone will listen. I have happily and finally overcome my Babesiosis and Anaplasmosis that kept me away from the last reunion. Stay healthy & happy.” Corlet Jackson Weisel’ 64 shared, “We survived this cold, miserable winter. We had a lovely, rejuvenating trip to Eleuthera, Bahamas, where we spent a wonderful 10 days of R and R!! The big news is that my daughter Katharine had her baby, April 11, 2018. Aadaya Corlet Sampson joins her brother Liam, and is, of course, beautiful. Her name gives
Pamela Perkins Young ’64 sent this update, “I just got back from our third winter in California; Berkeley, to be specific. It was very hard to leave, and especially to come “home” to the cold weather in the East Coast. It is April 18th and though milder today, I’m still freezing. In Berkeley, I have become a great fan of the Senior Centers (something I never thought I’d say) where I take yoga, Hip Hop dance and two kinds of line dance, country & soul (my favorite class). We walk everywhere since we have no car there, so that helps keep up the exercise, and since we frequent the nearby espresso bars, where we also can get cookies, scones, etc. Ah, retirement living! Back here in Baltimore, I still work very part time for the UMD School of Social Work as a Liaison to students in their internships. It’s a perfect job for me because I can do it all by email, phone, and the “Electronic Field Notebook,” except for in-person visits each semester, which I can do in January before I leave for Berkeley. “I also have learned to play Mahjong, another thing I never thought I would ever do. I participate in committee work for my Meeting and I am on some boards (I’m on the Board of Sheppard Pratt Health System, a Quaker-founded “asylum” and now the largest behavioral health provider in the region. Bill(y) Morton ’64 is on the board with me and he’s also a member of our Meeting). I also belong to a women’s club where we have lunch and listen to interesting speakers from many facets of Baltimore life. I attend theater matinees with friends from that group. I am finding retirement so surprising because I am doing things I swore I’d never do (because they seemed more like my mother’s lifestyle) but I’m having so much fun doing them. I do feel a bit guilty that I’m being so frivolous.” Summer 2018 • QuakerMatters
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CLASS NOTES
CLASS OF 1972
CLASS OF 1993
Susan Gehret Ohlandt ’72 and her husband, Donald, thoroughly enjoyed lunching at their home in Castleshire (on the border of Wilmington and Hockessin) with fellow classmates Gina Richman Pennewell ’72 and Matt Hackman ’72. Gina’s husband of 34 years, John Pennewell, rounded out the table. We ate Donald’s famous homemade lentil soup while reminiscing about the antics of the wild, iconoclastic, and rebellious Class of 1972.
Lindsay Richards Abel ’93 sent this update, “John Abel and I currently reside in East Fallowfield Twp., PA with our three dogs. In the fall of 2014, our rescue Boxer/Lab mix Brooklyn won $10,000 on America’s Funniest Videos for the clip “Remote Control Chew Toy.” We were flown to LA twice, once as a finalist on the season 25 episode with Tom Bergeron, then again as a finalist for the $100,000 episode (we did not win).
CLASS OF 1975
Class of 1987 member Greg Mand’s daughter, Alana, and mom, Shelly, visiting the Jones House.
The Honorable Shirley Padmore-Mensah ’87
Dave Siebert ’75 shared, “Steven Pinker, author of Enlightenment Now, tells me this is the best time to be alive… and I believe him! Grateful is the word for me. My 92-year-old mom is still alive and healthy in Florida. My wife’s relapsing-remitting MS is quiescent. My two daughters have survived their teens. Rachel, my oldest, got her associate’s degree in nursing and is now an employed RN. Heidi, after a stint with Aveda cosmetology, is now pursuing a bachelor’s degree in criminology. So, one daughter can put holes in bad guys while the other patches them up. Me…after 24 years of working as a financial advisor in Denver with the wire-houses, I now operate out of my home office as an independent, Investment Advisor Representative (IAR) under LPL Financial Corporation. I still ski, climb Colorado 14ers, play golf badly, dabble in photography and range shooting, and bike and run/walk around a beautiful neighborhood. I have a wonderful, rescued grey cat named Starla that keeps me company, makes me smile and lowers my blood pressure. For now, I am truly grateful with the state of my apple cart and have the Big Guy or Gal upstairs to thank…and thank I do!” CLASS OF 1987 Greg Mand ’87 In May, Greg’s daughter visited the Jones House with her grandmother Shelly Mand. Shelly is a regular volunteer in the Jones House. The Honorable Shirley Padmore-Mensah ’87, United States Magistrate Judge US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, received one of seven of the 2018 Distinguished Alumni Awards from Washington University School of Law.
Lindsay Richards Abel ’93
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“My online pet retail business Abel Pet Supply just celebrated 10 years in business in 2017. When I’m not set up at a dog show somewhere on the East Coast, I’m usually training for my next half or full marathon. I just completed the Walt Disney World Goofy Challenge which is a half marathon and full marathon run over two days. That was my 23rd half marathon since 2012 and my 12th full marathon since 2013. I also became a member of the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) Runner’s Club for completing my 5th MCM in October. I’m hoping to complete an ultra marathon in the future.” CLASS OF 1999 Jessica Dillon Wilson ’99 and Joshua Wilson welcomed their third daughter, Remy Violet, on May 4, 2017. Her birth occurred 2 years after the stillbirth of their second daughter, Quinn Amelia, and restored great hope and gratitude in their family. Their firstborn, Riley Catherine, is thrilled to be a big sister! Jessica joined the Princeton University Office of Admission in 2014 and now serves as Associate Dean. CLASS OF 2002 Alexis Fraser Hallissey ’02 and her husband, Brendan, welcomed a baby boy, Gunnar Frederick Hallissey on June 18, 2017. Gunnar, meaning brave and bold warrior, is named in honor of Brendan’s Scandinavian heritage, and for Alexis’s father, Dr. Frederick Hugh Fraser. In May of 2017, the Drs. Hallissey officially merged their two dental practices under the name Foreside Family Dental, the name Alexis had given to her original practice. The team is expanding this summer, welcoming a new associate, Dr. Melissa Carrier, and supporting members in hopes of offering more hours and days to accommodate a growing patient population.
CLASS NOTES CLASS OF 2003 Caeli Rubens Richter ’03, Mary Ting Hyatt ’03, and Colleen Schell Sutler ’03 each had a baby last fall. Colleen is living outside of DC and Caeli and Mary both live in Boston. Mary is still running her bagel shop, Bagelsaurus, and waiting for Malia Obama to come visit.
Riley and Remy Wilson.
Brendan and Alexis (Fraser) Hallissey ’02 (photo credit Eye Sugar Photography).
Zac Darvish ’03 shared this news, “I’m a partner at Newtown Restaurant in Williamsburg, NYC. We have been open for 5 years now, and have recently expanded and more than doubled our seating capacity! I also have a media/events company called Money Pile Media. In the past calendar year, we put on a film festival (President Sanders Film Festival) that was written up in the New Yorker. Money Pile Media also produced an off-off-broadway musical in Manhattan, and has worked with Ben Pasquale’s ’03 Bar Uni in Greenpoint to create some unique drinking situations. This includes a Studio 54 party last summer that raised money for the Housing Works charity in NYC, and a Valentines’ Day party. Judah Dadone ’03 attended that one, and was our unofficial guest of honor. “As of February, I officially divide my time between Miami and NYC -- I may be bringing Newtown and Money Pile Media down there as well. I’m currently writing a play that hopefully will be produced in association with David Tennant ’03 and the New Ohio Theater Company. Finally, I’m editing a music video that I shot for Meg Christman’s ’05 boyfriend!”
Rowan O’Brien.
Jamie Jacobs ’03.
Tariq Pazuniak.
Paul O’Brien ’03 and his wife Juliana had a daughter, Rowan, on December 12, 2017. When he’s not spending time with Rowan, Paul works with his father as a Trusts & Estates attorney in Wilmington.
Gunnar Frederick Hallissey, (photo credit Eye Sugar Photography).
Jamie Jacobs ’03 wrote, “Last month I went swimming with whale sharks in La Paz, Mexico with my boyfriend. It was AMAZING!!” After graduating from Seton Hall University School of Law and working a few years in New York City, Andriy Pazuniak ’03 moved to Los Angeles in 2015 with his wife Zahra, to raise their son Tariq. Andriy is working as a litigator focusing on environmental law at a law firm in Century City.
Class of 2003 babies: Emmeline Grace Sutler - September 17, 2017 Armand Isaiah Hyatt - September 29, 2017 Blaire Lois Richter - October 23, 2017
Meghan Baczkowski Pixley ’03 lives with her family in Wilmington, DE, and is currently working as a Staffing Resource Manager at Yoh, A Day and Zimmermann Company headquartered in Philadelphia.
Meghan Baczkowski Pixley ’03 with husband Brian and their three kids: Caroline (5), Luke (3) and Cole (1). Caroline will be starting kindergarten and Luke will be starting preschool at WFS in the fall.
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CLASS NOTES
Kristin Plys ’03 wrote, “In July of 2017, I started a new job as a tenure-track assistant professor of sociology at University of Toronto. My research focus is in political economy and postcolonial theory. Life in Toronto is great, and I’m so thrilled to be making the city my new home! “However, I am temporarily living in another beautiful city, Lahore, Pakistan. I am living in Lahore April through June while researching politics in the city. My research is on Lahore politics from Pakistan’s Independence in 1947 to the Zia-ul-Haq military dictatorship in 1978. I recently won the Connaught New Researcher Award for my research on Pakistan. The award is given to pretenure faculty at University of Toronto with the “most promising” research program.”
Brittany Dean ’04 and Briana Dean ’04 got engaged to identical twin brothers Josh and Jeremy Salyers (respectively).
Nicole Caddell Wample ’03 shared this note, “I don’t think I have submitted a class note since my husband Justin and I had our first child, Mayble, in 2013. I have since had another child, Charlotte, on March 17th, 2015. Mayble will be finishing preschool at Pike Creek Christian this month and starting kindergarten at Odyssey Charter School in the fall. Mayble plays t-ball and soccer and played Mary in her preschool’s Christmas play. Charlotte is living up to her St. Patrick’s Day birthright-auburn hair and fair skin. “I help with children’s chapel that occurs once per month at my church and I am in charge of picking, playing, and leading everyone in children’s music. I sometimes fill in for the organist (but on the piano) at the church I grew up going to as well. I still work full time doing commercial P&C insurance regulatory work for XL Catlin, which is in the process of being acquired by AXA. I have been in a lot of roles, each more involved than the prior.” CLASS OF 2004
Alisha Wolf Emerson ’05 sent this birth announcement.
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Brittany Dean ’04 and Briana Dean ’04 got engaged to identical twin brothers Josh and Jeremy Salyers (respectively). The proposal was featured on “Inside Edition.” Brittany and Briana arrived
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in Twin Lakes, VA dressed in identical cobalt blue gowns while their guys showed up wearing matching suits with blue ties. The couples were working with a film crew and posed at different scenic locations as Brittany and Briana thought all their work was for a commercial about Twin Couples. The film crew was actually from “Inside Edition.” The couples met at the Twins Day Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio and both intend to marry at the same location where they met.
CLASS OF 2007 Emily McMillan ’07 married Andrew Seddon in a Quaker ceremony at the Lewes Yacht Club on April 8, 2018. Emily’s guests included many WFS alumni and parents of alumni guests. Pictured above, left to right: Anna Crosby ’09, David McMillan ’71, Hunter McMillan ’04, Lyn Smith, Sam Carney ’13, Jon McMillan ’13, Muriel Wilson, Ryan Procaccini ’09, Nick Procaccini ’06, Lauren Schmittle ’07, Sumner Crosby ’12, Annie Procaccini ’13, Lindsay Schmittle ’09, Carl McMillan ’79, Bonnie Wilson Crosby ’79, Emily McMillan ’07 (bride) Andrew Seddon (groom), Bill Wilson ’13, Eliza Crosby ’13, Chip Connolly ’79, Sydney Stargatt ’07, Elizabeth Connolly ’09, Janelle Nelson ’07, Courtney Nix ’07, Amy Johnston ’07, Caroline Connolly ’12, Katie McEnroe ’07.
CLASS NOTES CLASS OF 2005 Alisha Wolf Emerson ’05 shared this news in March, “We are expecting our second child in a few short weeks! We will share a birth announcement soon.”
Alexa Pierce-Matlack ’11 spoke to the WFS STEMinist Club about her career as a microbiology medical lab scientist. The STEMinist Club’s goal is to introduce students to careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.
CLASS OF 2008
CLASS OF 2012
Jillian Leviton ’08 married Sean Burstyn on March 25, 2018.
Josh Schwartz ’12 is a Ph.D. student in the political science department at the University of Pennsylvania. In the April 20, 2018 edition of The Washington Post, Josh along with Professor Michael Horowitz published an article entitled: “A new U.S. policy makes it (somewhat) easier to export drones.”
CLASS OF 2009 Patrick Kito Monari ’09 will be starting a Ph.D. program in Biological Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison this fall. He plans to research how gut microbes affect social behavior and the brain. CLASS OF 2010 Elaina Leshock ’10 and Nate Farrar welcomed baby Isaac Hayes Leshock-Farrar to the world on April 26, 2018. CLASS OF 2011 Glenn Felder ’11 started a new job as a Key Account Executive at TripAdvisor. After six months of working with them as a contractor, he is now a permanent member of the Key Accounts Team.
CLASS OF 2014 Kierra Jenkins ’14 wrote, “I graduated from A&T a semester early this past December, and now I’m currently working in the Psychology Department until May 2018 as a Project Assistant for a study we’re doing. During my last year at North Carolina A&T State University, I had the opportunity to help out on some groundbreaking research, which just got published! I’ve gained some amazing friends, made a lot of connections, interned at RTI International at Durham,
and joined a sorority last year. Also, I just accepted my fully funded offer to Vanderbilt for graduate school! I’m so excited to go to Nashville.” Will Beardell ’14 rowed with the UD lightweights at the Dad Vail regatta where the UD Men’s Rowing team won the Kerr Cup men’s points trophy, for the 2nd year in a row. Will graduated in May with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. He will stay at UD in the electrical engineering graduate program and work as an assistant Men’s Rowing coach. CLASS OF 2016 Demetria Ruhl ’16 shared, “I’ve had a great semester here at Dickinson. I have continued tour guiding and I also had the opportunity to participate in a Facebook Live video targeted towards perspective students with Dickinson’s President! I have also started doing Organic Chemistry research. This research project focuses on using dyes to detect F- ions and is something I hope to continue upon returning to campus after spending the Fall 2018 semester in Toulouse, France.”
CLASS OF 2015
Brooke Winfield ’15
Alexa Pierce-Matlack ’11 addressing the STEMinist Club. Isaac Hayes Leshock-Farrar
CLASS OF 2016
CLASS OF 2013
Jillian Leviton ’08
Dwyer Tschantz ’13
WFS Coach Robin Lebauer with his former swimmers at the Centennial Conference Championship held February 2018 at Franklin & Marshall College: Demetria Ruhl ’16, Dickinson College; Sean Cochran ’17, Washington College; and Blair Atkins ’17, Franklin & Marshall College. Summer 2018 • QuakerMatters
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Spring 2018 Regional Reunions: Atlanta and NYC WFS helped organized two regional reunions in the spring: an event in Atlanta on March 8th and another in New York City on April 25th. Guests had the chance to connect with alumni and friends in their respective areas, as well as Head of School Ken Aldridge. Thank you to all who attended, and to those we missed, we hope you can join us for a future event. Special thanks to Tamara and Brian Mand ’90 for opening up their home to us in Atlanta, and Fran Biondi ’83 for hosting us at the Links Club in New York City.
ATLANTA, Denise William P’07, Loraine Snead, former faculty, P’07, P’09, Brian Mand ’90, Ken Aldridge, Raymond Osbun ’71, Larry Humphrey ’80, Tom McKinstry ’81, Tamara Mand, and Pam McKinstry.
NYC, Head of School Ken Aldridge, Sujatha Srinivasan ’97, and Braden Neff ’00. NYC, Rich Weigel ’62, Walter Smith ’62, Ginny Butters ’62, and Ned Davis ’62.
Jones House Interns -Thank you! This spring, four upper school students served as interns in the Alumni/Development Office. Carson Davis-Tinnell ’19, Honor Dearlove ’19, Zoe Holden ’20, and Michael McKenzie ’19 gained realworld experience through developing skills in writing, social media, fundraising, event planning, video production, networking, and more. Their efforts as interns have made a great impact on the greater WFS community in supporting the School’s mission to help students let their lives speak. Summer 2018 • QuakerMatters
NYC, Willie Kalema ’06, Raven Harris Diacou ’06, and Ben Altman ’06.
and tutored inner-city second graders. She was a member of Greenville Country Club where she was active in the tennis program. She loved cooking, traveling, hiking, skiing, fly fishing and gardening.
In Memory PAST TRUSTEES Roger Burnham Gordon, age 84, of Wilmington, Delaware, died peacefully on December 20, 2017 after a long illness. Roger was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan to Marion Searle and Wallace Emerson Gordon. He was a graduate of Mt. Pleasant High School (’51), Lafayette College (’55 Chemistry) and Ohio State University (MBA). It was at Ohio State where he met Mary Virginia Briggs, his loving wife of 53 years, who preceded him in death in 2013. Following two years of military service in the Army, Roger joined the DuPont Company in 1959 where he served in many marketing, sales, and business capacities in the Plastics and Polymers Departments. He retired and subsequently acquired the Dymetrol business from DuPont in 1993, where he served as President & CEO until 2012. Roger was a member of the Wilmington Club and the Wilmington Country Club, and was active in development and sale of several properties in Stone Harbor, NJ, where he and his family loved to vacation. He served as Chair of the Every Member Canvass at Christ Church Christiana Hundred, and was active in several Lafayette College alumni activities including hosting the annual alumni Christmas party for over 30 years; he also served as Class President for several reunions including the 50th in 2005. He was Wilmington Friends School’s Board of Trustees Chair of the Capital Campaign 1989-1991. He was named Mt. Pleasant High School Most Outstanding Athlete in ’50-’51, then he went on to pitch for the Lafayette College baseball team which advanced to the College World Series (Omaha, NE) in 1953 & 1954.
Nancy Scheiderbauer Mahoney, age 72, of Wilmington, Delaware, died at home in hospice care on May 28, 2018 after a bravely-fought 16-month battle with kidney cancer. She was the loving wife of Daniel B. Mahoney, sister of Sue Said (Bill), sister-in-law of Donna Mahoney Lynch (Tim), mother of Jason A. Mahoney ’91 (Katie) and Molly Mahoney Reese ’94 (Jon) and grandmother of Samuel, Ethan and Lyla Mahoney and Riley, Lucy and Finley Reese. She is also survived by many cousins, nieces and nephews. Nancy graduated from Ursuline Academy, Wilmington, Delaware (1963); Newton College of the Sacred Heart, Newton, Massachusetts (1967, BA, French); and the University of Virginia (1969, MA, French Literature). Nancy was the head of the Foreign Language Department at Wilmington Friends School, where she taught French and served on the Board of Trustees after retiring from teaching. Nancy was actively involved in community outreach and service activities through her church, First & Central Presbyterian Church, Wilmington, Delaware, where she served as Clerk of Session, taught Sunday School and cooking classes to teenagers aging out of foster care as well as mentored
The family would like to express its gratitude to Delaware Hospice and the wonderful nurses (Beth, Joelle and Michelle), social worker (Linda) and aides (Malissa and Ester) who supported Nancy and the family over the last few months. Jay Pownall, 100, died peacefully with family by his side, at the Overlook Masonic Home, Charlton, MA on Mar. 2nd, 2018. Surviving are his daughter, Phyllis Pownall ’69 of Cambridge, MA; son, Ron Pownall ’65 and daughter-inlaw Darlene DeVita of Chelsea, MA; grandsons Ben Pownall of Salt Lake City, UT and Amos Pownall of Denver, CO. He was the patriarch of the Pownall clan which has had yearly reunions for nearly 40 years. He was pre-deceased by his wife of 71 years, Claudia Pownall. He grew up on the family dairy farm near Lancaster, PA, graduated from Penn State and served in the Navy during WWII. After the war, he & Claudia started a wholesale garden supply business in Wilmington DE; they retired to FL in 1982 and “re-retired” to Charlton MA in 2006 to be near their children and grandchildren; they summered on Pine River Pond near Ossipee NH. Jay, born and raised a Quaker, was a lifelong member of the Religious Soci-
Roger was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, and friend who will be missed by the many people who loved him. He is survived by his step-sister Wendy Wise and her husband Alex of Wilmington, DE; his children Scott Gordon ’79 and his wife Lisa of Midlothian, VA; Steve Gordon ’83 and his wife Angelique of East Fallowfield, PA; Julie Gordon Beverly ’88 and her husband Whit of Newtown Square, PA; nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Summer 2018 • QuakerMatters
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ety of Friends. He was superintendent of the Wilmington Monthly Meeting of Friends and a trustee of Wilmington Friends School. Jay was active in many charities and organizations, including: the Wilmington Parking Authority; Lions Club; Boy Scouts; Free Masonry; Meals on Wheels; Habitat for Humanity; FISH (Friends In Service Helping); and Overlook General Store manager (until age 97). He was an avid gardener, golfer and Red Sox fan. He will be remembered for his Life Motto: Volunteer • Help Others • Stay Busy • Laugh and, have one CC Highball every evening! PAST FACULTY/STAFF Christine Monk Huxtable, 48, of Wilmington, Delaware passed away on Friday, February 23 at Chester County Hospital from appendiceal cancer. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, she was raised in Sherwood Forest. She credited much of her positive outlook to having grown up in a close-knit community committed to families and traditions. Christine attended Indian Creek School in Crownsville and graduated from Friends School of Baltimore. Following her graduation from the College of Wooster (OH), she interned at The Potomac School, taught at Key School and National Presbyterian School before pursuing her Master’s degree in education at Widener University (PA).
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She was an associate kindergarten teacher at Wilmington Friends School (DE) when she met her husband, Jonathan. The two married in 1999 and welcomed their first-born, Benjamin, in 2000. Nathaniel followed in 2003. After relocating to Maryland, Christine became an active member of the local MOM’s Club, which provided great support to the family following the tragic loss of their son Benjamin. In 2007, Christine and Jon were blessed with the arrival of Annabelle, and several years later, Christine returned to teaching at Chestnut Grove Child Development Center in Phoenix, MD. The family returned to Delaware in 2012 and Christine continued her newfound passion for teaching preschool at Fairville Friends School (PA). A pied piper in all situations, she loved nothing more than to see her children and family at play whether on the beach, the ball field, or the backyard. Christine found joy in tending her gardens, reading, travel, and especially photography and live music. As a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Christine lived by the words of George Fox to be an example and blessing to others. Christine is survived by her husband of 18 years, Jonathan, two children, Nathaniel ’22 and Annabelle ’26, parents Harrison and Linda Monk of Sherwood Forest, MD, brother Harrison Gage Monk, Jr., sister-in-law Tammy Daniel Monk of Parkton, MD, and several aunts, uncles, cousins, a niece and nephew. Christine was predeceased by her son Benjamin.
Ethel Eleanore Bushared Perry, of Wilmington, DE, passed away on Saturday, December 16, 2017, surrounded by her family. She was 83 years old. Ethel “Bunny” Perry was born in 1934 in Baltimore, MD. She graduated from Wilmington High School in 1952. Ethel Perry married Robert Perry in 1954. She spent the majority of her career working as an administrator to the business office at Friends School in Wilmington. Her surviving husband and children remember her as a smart and thoughtful woman of high standards and a caring mother. Her grandchildren remember her as a devoted and proud grandmother. Bunny will be loved and missed by her surviving husband, Robert Perry; her son, Stewart Russell Perry ’77; her daughters, Karen Perry Harsha ’77 and Kimberly Perry Altmaier ’82; her seven grandchildren, Megan Fero, Lauren Harsha, Matthew Perry, Alexandra Mann, Shelli Worley, Emily Perry, and Brianna Altmaier; and seven great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her son, Robert Perry Jr. ’73. 1943 Karl Avery Williams Jr. ’43, a mechanical engineer who worked in the Electrochemicals and Polymer Products Divisions of the DuPont Company for more than 30 years, died February 18. He was 92. He was born in Wilmington, DE, to Helen Minter Bobo and Karl A. Williams Sr., both of Spartanburg, SC. Karl graduated from Wilmington Friends School and attended Cornell University where he played football before transferring to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Following VE Day in Europe he was assigned to a minesweeper in the South China Sea and later served on the USS Gardiners Bay. His experience in the Navy fostered a lifelong love of boating and fishing. Karl worked towards his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also taught. His thesis aided in the development of parachute fabrics. In 1984 he retired from DuPont as Charlotte Industry Manager of Polymer Products and started his own company, York Chemical. He married Wilda Schaumann of Wilmington, DE, in 1948. They had four children and after several moves with DuPont, they settled in Charlotte. In 1992 he married Barbara Karpas of Tryon, NC. He is survived by his children: Jill Williams Lucas (Bill Lucas), Nicki Williams, Scot Williams (Nan Bridgforth), and Peter Williams; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. Karl loved a good political debate
and enjoyed reading, especially history. He managed the vicissitudes of aging with grace, and his children are grateful for their time with him during his last years. 1945 Deborah A. Apple ’45: born Deborah Southerland Allen, in Wilmington, DE, December 24, 1927; died May 6, 2017. Following her parents, Elizabeth Southerland and Charles Layton Allen ’12, brother Layton Southerland Allen ’37, husbands William Devine Greenough and Jack Calvin Apple, and grandson Benjamin Layton Simons, she is survived by her children Elizabeth Layton Greenough, Venice, FL, William Devine Greenough, Jr., Amherst, NH, David Southerland Greenough, Oyster Bay, NY, and Charles Layton Greenough, Seabrook, NH; grandchildren Maxwell Bennett Simons and William Louis Harrison Simons, Pittsburgh, PA; and Jack’s daughter, Judith Apple Stewart, Montgomery, AL and grandson, Robert Jolly, Birmingham, AL; sister-in-law, Anne Landon Allen, Chestertown, MD; nieces and nephews Alison and Layton Southerland Allen, Jr., Smithfield, VA, Martha Bragg (PJ) and John Salmonson, Kaneohe, HI, Lyn and George Landon Allen, Elsmere, DE, and Kim and Richard Lockwood Allen, Newark, DE; and cousin David Hollingsworth ’45, Wilmington, DE. 1947 Richard A. Diver ’47, age 88, of Wilmington, DE, passed away peacefully on Monday, January 15, 2018. Richard was born in 1929 and raised at 1104 Broom Street in Wilmington, the youngest of 8 children of the late Carolyn P. and Frank W. Diver, Sr. His father Frank founded the Wilmington automotive agency 102 years ago that still bears the family name today. Dick was an owner/manager at the business for his entire 42-year career. Dick graduated from Wilmington Friends School in 1947 where he was president of his class, played football, basketball and baseball. He graduated from the University of Delaware in 1951 where he studied business administration and was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. Dick proudly enlisted in the US Army in 1951 as a First Lieutenant and served during the Korean War primarily in a POW camp in Japan during his years of service. Dick was a lifelong member of the Wilmington Country Club where he was an avid tennis player and golfer in his retire-
ment years. He was a lifelong fan of the Phillies and the Eagles. Dick took great pride in his home in Greenville where he lived for over 34 years. Dick was always a gentleman. He had many friends and colleagues throughout his life that appreciated his care and concern for their wellbeing. He was a giver of both himself and his time throughout his life. One common phrase he often asked even until his last days was, “Is there anything I can do for you?” He was a very generous man with the biggest of hearts. During his retirement he volunteered for several years driving for the Red Cross. He was a regular donor to many charities, in particular the Delaware Humane Society. His affinity to this charity comes from his lifelong love of animals, especially dogs. Dick was never without the companionship of a dog, even in his last few years he had the company of Hunter, an amazing lab. Dick always treated everyone he encountered with great respect and brought joy to many with his positive attitude and sense of humor. His family is particularly grateful for the exceptional care and comfort provided from the staff at Wesley Way in The Country House. He was predeceased by his parents Carolyn Prickett Diver ’14 and Frank W. Diver, Sr.; his sisters Dorothy D. Thoms, Carolyn D. Tallman, Edith D. Lennox and Frances D. Burt ’40; his brothers Frank W. Diver, Jr. ’46 and Arthur G. Diver ’45. He is survived by his brother Clifford P. Diver; daughter Valerie M. Diver; sons Richard A. Diver, Jr., David E. Diver ’76 and Douglas C. Diver and his wife Kristin; granddaughters Sarah J. Diver and Hadley R. Diver; step-granddaughters Abby, Emily and Sarah King. 1950 Josephine Mode Devine ’50, 85, died peacefully with family there and the help of hospice care on March 23, 2018. Her husband Michael Bernard Devine and sister Cynthia Mode Hauser predeceased her. She is survived by her brother Herbert Cadwallader Mode ’54 of Cleveland, Ohio, sister Barbara Mode Rose of Richmond, Virginia and 11 nieces and nephews and many grand-nephews and -nieces. She was a lifelong member of the Wilmington Friends Meeting in Wilmington, Delaware. She was born in Middletown, Delaware. She spent her early school years in Wilmington, Delaware. Her high school years were in Rye, New York where her family had moved. She graduated from Rye High School and then went off to college at Mount Holyoke. After graduating from Mount Holyoke in 1954, she went
to New York City, started a career and met her husband Michael. She loved the City. Her career and life with Mike took her to Cincinnati, London, back to NYC, and then to Houston and Dallas. Jo loved art, museums, travel, mahjong, cooking, her sheep dogs and many cats, and, reading the NYT and the New Yorker over the years. In retirement she and her husband moved to Rockport, Texas. She was kind and caring and shared her love and boundless energy with friends and the community there. Close to her heart was her volunteer work for the Rockport-Fulton Good Samaritans and the Rockport Center for the Arts. She served in many roles to support the Rockport Center for the Arts, including help with fundraising events, hanging exhibits of local artists and serving as a docent. She was a founding member of the Rockport-Fulton Good Samaritans, Inc., served as Board chair in 1998-1999 and volunteered there for over 20 years, helping clients, writing grants and doing development work. 1954 Victor Holmes Bacon II ’54, 77, of Quincy, passed away Sept. 9, 2013, after courageously battling cancer. Despite the difficulties of the disease, Victor kept a positive attitude about his life, held onto the activities that brought him joy, and could offer a joke or a smile until the end. Victor was born in Wilmington, Del., Aug. 2, 1936, and graduated from The Friends School in Wilmington. After attending the University of Pennsylvania, Victor opened a gift store on the boardwalk in Ocean City, N.J. He then became an art appraiser, dealing in fine arts and antiques. In addition to Delaware and New Jersey, Victor lived in Pa., Mass., N.H., Maine and N.Y. Victor loved the changing seasons of the Northeast and could never live far from the ocean, where he especially liked to watch an approaching storm. When he moved back to Massachusetts in 2007, he was often seen at various fairs and markets selling unusual collectibles. Victor was an avid writer of poetry, loved his collection of books, and was passionate about classical music. He is survived by his daughters, Dia Prantis and her husband William Prantis of Sandwich and Grace Garcia and her husband Tony Garcia of Braintree; as well as five grandchildren, Henry, Oliver, Elliot, Sabrina and Sawyer. Leslie Farrell Gross ’54 of Wilmington, DE, passed away peacefully on March 30, 2018. A graduate of Wilmington Friends School and Franklin and Marshall College, Leslie continued this zeal for learning throughout his life. His interSummer 2018 • QuakerMatters
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ests included stamp, coin, and minerals collecting, astronomy, photography, and natural and world history. He was an avid reader. Leslie worked as an interior designer for Ethan Allen, and served as volunteer Chapter President of the Interior Design Society. More recently, he was a docent for the Kuerner Farm tour for the Brandywine River Art Museum (Brandywine Conservancy), and loved talking to people about local history and Andrew Wyeth. He volunteered for the Delaware Natural History Museum to share his love of carnivorous plants with visitors of all ages. Leslie is survived by his wife Barbara (nee Staudt); children Kevin, Erika Juran, and Adam; granddaughter, Nola Bucino, and brother Michael. 1971 Nancy Applegate Valiante ’71 passed away peacefully on April 13, 2018, surrounded by her family. She is survived by her husband of 32 years, Michael, and their beloved daughter Krista. Born June 21, 1953 she was the daughter of the late Walter and Marian Applegate. Although raised mainly in her hometown
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of Wilmington, Nancy also spent significant portions of her life in Ocean City, NJ. Nancy graduated from Wilmington Friends School and went on to college at Baldwin Wallace University in Ohio. During her college years and for many years following, she was very active in the Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority. Nancy worked for over 28 years in branch banking, originally starting with the Delaware Trust Company. It was there that she met her husband. She remained with that company through numerous buyouts before retiring in 2007. Nancy was a dedicated employee and took pride in her work ethic and service to customers. It was not unusual for her to be greeted by former customers who remembered her from decades prior when she worked at the Prices Corner and Capitol Trail locations. Nancy was kind to everyone she met and was always open to trying new things. She loved historical places and relished visiting them. As a devoted wife, she enjoyed spending time with her hus-
band and willingly took up many of his hobbies. Raised as an only child, she especially liked to spend time with his extended family for weekend outings or marathon board game sessions. Her experience as an only child also allowed her to be equally comfortable in solitude and she was an avid reader and puzzle solver. Without a doubt Nancy’s biggest pride and joy was in her role as a mother to her daughter Krista. Even though she was a working mother through all of Krista’s youth, she always found time to support her daughter and attend her many activities. Michael would especially like to thank his sisters Diana and Mary, his brother Joseph, his brothers-in-law Roy and Nick, and his sister-in-law Donna who were always supportive of Nancy but especially so during the last few months of her life.
IN CLOSING
Musicals & Plays
An Artful Theft
Audiences enjoyed An Artful Theft, this year’s very funny upper school student production. The production was written by Matt Byer ’18, Tim Arnold ’18, Cecilia Ergueta ’18, and Leah Johnson ’18; and directed by Leah Johnson ’18, Jack Zhang ’19, and James Tallman ’19.
Space Pirates The 5th grade put on a spectacular performance of Space Pirates before a delighted audience.
Bye Bye Birdie
The electricity went out near the end of the 8th grade performance of Bye Bye Birdie, but the manner in which the performers and crew regrouped, kept their composure, and adapted to what could have been a calamity was extrememly professional!
Damn Yankees
Audiences laughed and cheered at every performance of the upper school musical Damn Yankees.
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Non-Profit Org.
101 School Road Wilmington, DE 19803 www.wilmingtonfriends.org
U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 1249 Wilmington, DE
Homecoming October 19-20, 2018 • Visit our website to register for the Smith McMillan 5K Run/ Walk • Reunions for classes ending in 3 and 8 • True Blue and All Alumni Reunion/Awards Reception and Art Show Friday, October 19
Preschoolers visited the organic garden in the spring to help prepare for the summer growing season.
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If you have questions or would like to volunteer for the Smith McMillan planning committee, please contact the Alumni Office at alumni@wilmingtonfriends.org or 302.576.2980. We hope to see you soon.