The Latest From Your Class Scribe
Sue Keller eagerly awaits your news. Here is a new and easy way to get your news to her.
Click on the email address and let her know what you are up, or not up, to.
Our class news will still appear in the Quarterly, but you can see the column here in advance.
 | ||||||
| ||||||
Sue Nutter Keller
Mollie Torras is in a senior facility in Tinton, NJ. She loves her new home and said that she has no need for anything.
Wendy Loye Hall has also moved to a senior facility, this one in the Meridian at Lake San Marcos, CA. She advises any of us who are thinking of moving into one of these facilities to make sure that several meal choices are available each day. Obviously Wendy is not happy with the cuisine at her facility and does not mind speaking up!
Mollie Hibbard and her husband Bill Byrne are living in Aspired Living of Westmont in Westmont, IL. Again, the food there could be better but otherwise the facility is enjoyable and they are happy.
Sandy Fiedler Allen lives in La Grange, IL during the warm weather and on Marco Island, FL during the winter. She plays golf and swims regularly in both places.
Lois Gaeta-Baker is writing her memoirs, "Red Mountain Sunset", which she plans to self -publish in the foreseeable future. The first copy will be kept in a small shack at the permaculture cemetery, Wildwood, jn Amherst, MA, where Myra Mullins Baker and her husband, David Baker, are interred. After Myra's death Lois married David and Lois will join Myra and David when her time comes.
Lois shared this insightful comment on aging. "It's an odd time for all of us who are either anticipating becoming 90 or just 90 or a year past 90. Pending a myriad of variables and forces, we are pondering how we are supposed to respond to various things, age-adjusted. Or at least I am."
Here is a little retro contemplation from Elizabeth (Libby) Bergamini Lucas about a couple of classmates we have lost. Jane Sanborn Ergood's mother was an opera singer from Baltimore who sang internationally." CA St. John Gebhardt was touring the Life Magazine editorial floor in 1955. As she passed an editor he said, "I don't care what that girl can do but hire her." Many of us remember CA, very beautiful with her natural silver blond hair.
Dee Lamb Barstow reports that she spent the summer in NH as usual. Her big birthday was celebrated at a wonderful gathering of 45 extended family members at Kendall Farm in MA. It was the perfect venue for such a variety of ages, as it had something for everyone, from bumper boats to zip line to golf driving range. Her sons and daughters-in-law decorated the tent beautifully, and the meal was topped off by a wonderful homemade cake and the Farm’s famous ice cream. Dee was also feted at several smaller gatherings hosted by NH friends.
Sidney Mautner Reed celebrated her 91st birthday with her daughter and grand daughter and they had a grand time together. Sidney lives at Kenwood, a retirement home in Minniapolis, MN, and had a visit from classmate Marlene Strum Zeiler who was attending the wedding of her grandson nearby.
Elizabeth (Win) Pettus Losa took her novice vows in the Society of St. Anna the Prophet in Atlanta, GA. SSAP is an Episcopal religious order of women over 50 who live a vowed life serving Christ beyond parish boundaries in elder care, pastoral outreach, worship, and service. Because it is a dispersed community Win will not be moving to GA.
Jan Curtis Green is the coauthor of "The Breeding Birds of Minnesota", a comprehensive,detailed, illustrated history of Minnesota's breeding birds, the first published in nearly a century. Coauthor Jan adds that she is not just about birds. She and her husband John, moved from the house they had built in an adjacent township to Duluth, MN, to Ecumen Lakeshore, a congregate living facility on the shore of Lake Superior. Their apartment is right on the shore and has a 180 degree view of the Lake. Their 2 daughters have husbands and good careers and they have 5 grandchildren scattered across the US. With 2 family homes back in the east, both managed as trusts, John and Jan still say that they are from New England although they have lived in MN since 1958.
Pam Moody Harkins has worked as a bagger for 2 years at her local market and still loves her job. The cashiers are wonderful and help with the bagging when necessary; the supervisors are lovely, and she gets hugged at least 3 times every week when she starts her job. Schmoozing with customers makes the 31/2 hours go fast. Pam also completed a 5K race in April 2023 and is now in training for one this year. Go Pam!
February 2024
Seven MHC graduates live in Riverwood, a CCRC in NH. Pam Moody Harkins decided that a MHC luncheon would be a good idea and she enlisted Joan Haskell Vicinus to organize the group. In addition to the 2 1955’ers Anne Haskell Knight, Joan’s sister, class of 1959, will attend, as well as 4 others.
Marlene Strum Zeiler has shared this great report about her life from 1951 to the present. "In 1951 I started my freshman year at MHC. That was the beginning of a long love affair. In 1954 I started my senior year at Pearsons. In November my fiancee, Mike, received his orders to report to the airfield in California for the start of his 2 year service obligation. I sadly left my “life” at MHC and was off to California where we were to live for the next two years. I graduated from Stanford, but my heart will always be at Holyoke.
We came to NYC, both of us working in the city. Mike eventually started his PhD studies at the New School as I proceeded to have a baby and then another! Mike got a job in the psychology department of Wellesley College. It felt right for me, as we moved on to the campus. Mike started as an experimental psychologist, as I proceeded to have another baby. This was a blissful start to an interesting life. I joined a psychology class who worked with Mike on his grant demonstrating behavioral techniques in teaching with severely impaired women who had been housed at the Fernald School for many years. We were at Wellesley for 5 great years.
We moved on to the psychology department at the University of Iowa. It was interesting to live in a college town. The town and the university and friends became our whole lives. It was wonderful. I worked at Goodwill teaching reading to adults who had not come out of school with reading skills. This was quite rewarding. We also had another baby!
Our last stop, academically, was Emory University . Mike stayed there for the rest of his 46 year career. I worked for the State of Georgia as a senior psychologist at two hospitals, first with children, and then adults. This was such a fulfilling job. Both hospitals were operated on the behavior techniques. Then came the midlife crisis. The hospitals were trying to empty and put people in the community and I knew I was ready to move on. It was almost “the light bulb” effect when I thought of a book shop. Mike and I scouted Atlanta and I found a small empty store near Emory. Tall Tales Book Shop just celebrated its 46th year. I sold it when I was 80 and it was 35! I moved twice and enlarged it. But it is still a small neighborhood shop. Since it was just me and not some large corporation, I always had to be careful about buying. I tried to have the inventory reflect deep love of great literature and everyday life. This is where the fabulous education I had at MHC comes into the story. I feel that my education at Holyoke was a bedrock for me. I didn’t know how much my years there influenced me until later. Looking back, I know how much it meant for me."
Karen Zehner Lucas graduated from MHC in the nursing program so she was officially awarded her degree in 1956 but she is definitely a member of the Class of ‘55. Karen lives at Tysons Corner in VA as does her daughter. She spends a lot of time in several of her cottages at Scientists Cliffs in the Chesapeake Bay area. Her son is there also. Even though she was recovering from a broken fibula, Karen was in the garden beginning spring planting. She is upbeat and full of energy.
Joanne Thomas Pope and her husband live in Seattle, WA. She is in good health and has 2 60-year-old children and 2 grandchildren living nearby.
Joan Stauffer Sowers and her husband, Geoff, live in Cornwall Manor, a CCRC in Cornwall, PA. Their family was among the founders of Cornwall Manor. The Sowers moved to Cornwall 19 years ago from Lebanon, NH, where Geoff owned a printing business. Ten years ago they moved from a house to an apartment. They no longer travel, but remain active in their church and help in the community library, which is located upstairs in their building. Their daughter lives nearby, and their son in Columbus, OH. They have 8 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.
Dee Lamb Barstow and Pam Moody Harkins have joined Willie Willenbock Leonard and Ann “Tommy” Tomlinson Edmundson as Newshounds.
April 2024
In September, 1951, when we entered Mount Holyoke, the Class of 1955 numbered 331. In 1955 271 of us graduated. Inevitably we have lost classmates and, at the end of 2024, 98 of us remained. Now, so far, 29 of us (that’s almost 30%!) plan to attend our 70th reunion, May 23-25, 2025.
Mary Jean (Mimi) Mallace Freeman is happily living in a cooperative community in Providence, RI. Everyone owns his/her apartment and there is a cooperative center where they have their meals. Mimi grew up in Providence and still has many friends there. She has 4 children from her first marriage and a daughter lives nearby as does Janice Williams. (You may remember that Mimi and Jan played a big part in fund raising for our 50th reunion.) Mimi married a second time and for 30 years she and her husband spent lots of time traveling. She has 11 grandchildren and 10 and ½ grandchildren - perhaps 11 by the time you read this! Mimi has been a docent at the Rhode Island School of Design and has self published a book about Ireland entitled “As For Island”. She has developed a great love of France and become quite proficient in the language.
Ann (Tommy) Tomlinson Edmondson recently traveled back to Woodland, CA where she had lived for 60 years before coming to live in MA 3 years ago. She visited old haunts, spent quality time with 2 old friends and enjoyed a lovely luncheon with 17 friends at a nearby winery. During her last year before moving east Tommy had spent time on the grounds of a small local winery owned by a friend. There she had the opportunity to help with wine tasting at fundraising events and got to know some of the other owners, one of whom hosted a lovely event for her during her visit. Tommy says, “A great time was had by all.”
Mary (Mac) Croft Osborne lives in a condominium in Dedham,MA just around the corner from the home she had lived in for 47 years. She still drives locally (and just bought a new car), plays bridge, does some gardening and occasionally goes into Boston to the theater. She does have difficulty walking and uses a cane but she is very upbeat and has no plans to move to a senior housing facility.
Phebe (Pam) Moody Harkins traveled on a Viking trip last fall. Some of her favorite sights were “amazing” Versailles, a small castle near Paris given to Josephine by Napoleon, and Rouen, where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. Pam climbed up to the castle where Richard the Lionhearted died about 1200 and was very moved when visiting Normandy and the huge cemetery there. The trip highlight was a 2-hour tour tearing through the streets of Paris in the sidecar of a motorcycle! Pam’s trip also included a stop in London where she visited Bletchley Park where the Enigma Code Breaker was developed.
Polly Lazlo Brody lives with her daughter in Southbury, CT and is an avid bird watcher. Although a nasty arthritis condition keeps her from walking much, she is still driving and can visit one son who lives nearby and another, with a new wife and a son, who live in Boston.
Before the 2025 election Betty Krasne volunteered in a “postcarding” operation, handwriting cards to people in swing states. This work prompted an interesting reminiscence from Betty.
“I was remembering the start of my political life: a trip to Holyoke in 1952 with three other Democratic students to see Adlai Stevenson speak from the train platform. When he ran again in 1956 I was back in NYC and worked for him at the NYC headquarters. In 1959 my husband and I went to Europe on a charter flight with the Village Independent Democrats. In 1965 when President Kennedy sent lawyers to Mississippi to keep Blacks out of jail, my husband went. We worked for Kerry in PA.”.
Happy news from Barbara Mulvehill Gray. At long last, we finally have our first great grandchild! A son, born to one of our Chicago grandsons and his wife. Since we are in Cleveland, we’re not sure when we will have a chance to finally meet him, but of course, we have lots of photos!
Pat Stevenson Coulter met her future husband while skiing in Stowe, VT. She fell and he helped her up, they had a cup of coffee and he drove her home. That chance meeting evolved into a happy marriage of 69 years. He was an enlisted man and, when he was about to be sent off to the Korean War, Pat, in her junior year at MHC, dropped out to get married. She later graduated from Tufts University and went on to get a 4-year diploma from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Now Pat lives in Duxbury, MA near her 3 boys and 1 girl. She is in good health, plays tennis and sings in the choir at her Episcopal Church. Pat adds that she went to junior high and high school with Nancy Kissinger and has tried but has not been able to reach her recently.
Marion Viglione has retired and moved from Philadelphia to Gloversville, NY, in the foothills of the Adirondacks. She is 91, lives independently and still drives to medical appointments and the pharmacy. (Does that sound familiar to many of us?!)
After many weeks of driving 1 hour each way to Stanford, CT, while her husband, Mills, was in the hospital and in rehab, Joan (Wink) Winkel Ripley and Mills are finally back home. Relieved of the driving, she feels as if she is on vacation. Wink is appreciative of all the support she has received from classmates and the understanding of the lack of Zooms, Birthday Cards and Website updates and all the other things that Wink does to keep us together. Mills is finally doing very well and she thanks you all and hopes to see you on future Zooms!
From Ann (Tommy) Tomlinson Edmundson this news about her visit to Hawaii. For the past two years I have flown to Hawaii to visit a long time friend at her home on Kauai for a week or two in Feb. Flight from Boston was non-stop to Honolulu, 11 long hours. My friend actually has her permanent home in CA not far from where I lived.
Her husband's ancestors immigrated to Hawaii from Norway back in the late 1800s and got into the sugar cane business. They had a sugar cane plantation and worked it until that industry closed on Hawaii due to other parts of the world taking over the production more economically. The family then converted their land into a beautiful old Hawaii resort. Since other plantations had also closed their operations there were plantation workers' cottages standing idle. So a resourceful family member who was in the construction business set about moving a number of them to the family property and then settled them around the property along the coast.
They were refurbished into very pleasant cottages which accommodate from 2-8 people with housekeeping offered. It is truly lovely and very low keyed. It is called Waimea Plantation Cottages. Just a little promotion. I really recommend it.
My friend and her husband had some of the family property and decided to build a home near the resort in Waimea and that is where we hung out to catch up with each other.
We have a long history of traveling together, gardening, going to the theater and celebrating birthdays of our group of friends. Now the habit continues as my friend invites me to Hawaii to keep her company.
MAY 2024
Peggy Henry Weeks lives in Florida and sees her 3 daughters who frequently vacation nearby. Now retired from her former committee work, she enjoys her 3 great grandchildren, plays bridge regularly and still golfs occasionally.
Sallie Barr Palmer recently rode the Mystery Train, boarding in Ft. Myers, FL. The Train is made up of vintage railway cars and runs along old unused tracks. It is about a 3 hour trip during which a delicious dinner is served and actors perform a comedy-mystery play in the aisle. At the end passengers submit their solutions to the mystery and the winners receive a Mystery Train mug as a prize. Sallie won a few years ago, but not this year.
Alice Czyz is enjoying life as a 90-year-old with her white hair in a ponytail. She buys good quality food and spends lots of time cooking, staying home for much of the time with Netflix, Britbox and You Tube (especially the cute babies), her favorites on TV.
JUNE 2024
JULY 2024
Wink writes that they have made it back to Cape Cod for the summer and are so happy to be in their “happy place”. Our very first visitors this year were Eleanor Townsley, her husband Ron and their two daughters Sophia and Vivian who have been coming down to visit every summer for years now.
As you recall we all met Eleanor at our 50th Reunion after our project with Sociology 224 where the students studied us in real life and also from the archives. It was 20 years ago and believe it or not we are about to revisit for our 70th Reunion next May.
Ellie Graham Claus came over for lunch last week and it was wonderful to see her again. We’re doing it again next week and I really look forward to her visits. We never seem to run out of things to talk about which is just the way it should be.
Beryl Smith Naviasky lives in a CCRC in Townson, MD. She is doing well and is very happy that her children and grandchildren live nearby.
Nancy Nutting Lane is doing well and attending lots of concerts and other cultural events in the Stamford, CT area. She enjoyed a visit to Tanglewood last summer and visited her sister in VT.
Unfortunately Ruth Harberg DuBois has had a couple of falls lately and spent time in the hospital. She hopes that her doctors will be able to figure out what is causing the falls and get her back on her feet soon. She and her husband are glad to be at the Hill at Whitemarsh in Lafayette Hill, PA, where they have all the advantages of a CCRC. Jane Barth lives nearby so they are able to get together from time to time. Ruth's children are widely scattered but she recently enjoyed getting together with one daughter and granddaughter as the latter graduated from MHC.
An update from Arlene Hayes Leone. After graduation from MHC with a major in Zoology, Arlene went to work at the Boston Eye and Ear. Then she married and stayed at home to raise her family. Her husband was an engineer and they moved several times to a variety of cities, the most frequent being Miami. Her husband died about 10 years ago and Arlene moved to an apartment in a high rise on the 53rd floor in Miami where she enjoys great views. Her daughter lives on the first floor so they get together quite often. Her granddaughter is in her 4th year of medical school in Miami and plans to be a neurologist. One son has just retired from the Mayo Clinic where he was an anesthesiologist. Arlene does a lot of reading and likes to do puzzles when she is not socializing with friends and family.
August 2024
September 2024
MC Bachmann Churchill had a good catchup lunch with Joan (Willie) Willenbrok Leonard in Naples, FL. Joan’s husband Larry had Covid but both are now doing well. Later MC had a fun trip from Florida to Newport, RI where she stayed with her daughter, Carey and met Carey’s good friend Lucy Wood Arnold, Sue Donaldson Poor’s daughter. A sailing trip to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket rounded out MC’s summer.
While in Newport M.C. took a picture which is on our home page. This is the story that goes along with it.
M.C.'s daughter Carey, and Sue Danielson's daughter, Lucy, have become friends and by chance we happended to discover that Lucy's mother was in the Class of 1955 at MHC. Small world department! M.C. thought she might have made Lucy a little sad that her mom had died suddenly around age 75. I was a reminder of what might have been. Lucy is lovely and lots of fun as is her husband.
Ellis Batchelder Weatherly recently had a tough time health-wise but is feeling much better now and was able to tend her beautiful garden. We just received word that her husband, Michael, recently died so the tough times continue.
Perhaps you remember reading in the Winter Quarterly last year that Judy Schwartz Dunford's grandson, Thomas Dunford, is an accomplished lutenist. Anne Wildman Braun's granddaughter, Corinna, also an lutenist, heard Thomas play at her base of study, Union College. How very unusual that two of our grandchildren play the lute. There is no doubt that 1955 is a special class in so many ways and we can celebrate at our 70th reunion May 23-25, 2025.
Isabelle Scherer Cunningham has moved from Mendham, NJ to Youville House
in Lexington, MA. There she is near her son Will, and her granddaughter, AuroraI. Izzy has settled in and is busy making new friends.
Ada Ball Liggett lives independently in southern NJ. She is still driving and thinking about signing up for a retirement community one day soon. For now she reads a log, participates in 2 book clubs that meet on Zoom and plays bridge regularly. A daughter lives nearby (thank goodness for daughters!) and Ada also has friends living in the area.
Judy Clarke Johanson is still living in her own home in ME but, like all of us, is slowing up a bit. She is happy that her daughter lives nearby.
Despite a few health setbacks, Sally Barr Palmer and her husband will be going on yet another trip to the UK in October. Before leaving Sallie had to tend to a leak in the roof and she comments, "Never a dull moment."
October 2024
Lois Gaeta continues to lead a busy life in New York City. She particularly enjoys the activities available at the Harvard Club, especially the Poets and Writers Club. She is working hard on improving her writing skills and is planning to publish a book. Lois still goes to London twice a year and also visits Amherst where Myra Mullins Baker and her husband David are buried. Lois would love to get together with any classmates visiting NY. Please contact her at wyckoffcom@gmail.com.
Gay DeLong Goodhart lives in Minneapolis in a senior facility which provides good food and many activities. Her daughter lives nearby and Gay enjoys the gatherings of children and grandchildren every year. She is especially pleased that she is still able to speak Russian.
Louise (Weezie) Kugler Bush and her husband live in their home of many years in Painted Post, NY. She is in good health but her husband is home bound and under hospice care. Weezie is grateful for the support of their 3 children: a son who lives nearby and works for Corning Glass, and daughters in Missouri (a professor) and Brooklyn (an architect). During the summer she enjoyed a week at the old family homestead in Westport, MA while a daughter stayed with her husband.
Sue Eckert Smith is still living in her own home and remains active at the Newark Museum. Her 2 pussycats help to keep her happy.
Joan Haskell Vicinus, despite diminishing eyesight, enjoyed a grandson’s soccer game at Bowdoin, accompanied by her daughter. Joan says that one of the things most helpful to her are Recordings for the Blind from the Library of Congress.
Win Pettus Losa has been especially busy recently because her church is without a pastor so she, along with 1 other person, is filling in . She is leading services and giving the occasional sermon as well as working as Clerk of the
Vestry, her regular volunteer job.
NOVEMBER 2024
DECEMBER 2024
