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.
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Sue Nutter Keller
Barbara “Gatesy” Gates Johnson lives alone in a cottage at an independent living place in New Hartford, CT. Her daughter lives in Annapolis, MD, a son in Syracuse, NY and one in NC. Despite macular degeneration eye disease in both eyes she does some quilting and knits hats for preemies in the hospital (60-70 and counting). She tries to walk a couple of miles 5 or 6 days a week. Loves her iPhone, Apple watch and iPad. Gatesy says she has the normal 90 plus year forgetfulness, but obviously manages very well.
April 2025
MAY 2025
Barbara Mulvehill Gray lives with Rich, her husband of 69 years, in a CCRC in Cleveland, O. She and Rich formerly lived in Shaker Heights, O. Barbara was very involved in the community in Shaker, mostly in education. She served on the University Hospital Institutional Review Board for 12 years and was elected to the Shaker Heights Board of Education for 2 terms. Barbara and Rich have 5 children, 11 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild
Sue Danielson Poor’s daughter, Lucy and her husband visited MC Bachmann Churchill’s daughter and have spent a lot of time with MC, swimming and boating. MC remarks, “So much fun. Such a small world.”
Lois Gaeta is usually at home in Mitchell Place in midtown NYC and would love to have lunch or tea with any classmate. She is also happy to provide shelter from terrible weather or some disaster. “I’m serious!” writes Lois.
Nancy Schuster Hanson lives in her own home in Savannah, GA and keeps busy with her volunteer work in the local library.
Deborah Walsh Kennedy lives in Newtown, Pa near one of her daughters. Over the years she has taken several trips to Paris with her family.
Diantha “Dee” Lamb Barstow really enjoys the Savannah Book Festival.. This year she was in the audience for Anna Quindlen’s opening address. The Festival is a great place to meet authors and to expand your reading list.
Pam Moody Haskins enjoys her job as a bagger at Market Basket but when she discovered that every other employee had received a bonus she hadn't gotten, Pam said, No Way“ Positively pushy Pam" wrote a note to Headquarters about how lucky she was to have this job, but thought it very unfair that she had not received a bonus even though she does not work as many hours as the rest of the employees. Two weeks later Pam received a check for $200! Way to go Pam!
July 2025
Karen Zehner Lucas and her husband spend most of their time in the Chesapeake Bay area in a home that has been in the family since 1935. Her son, now retired, lives in a cabin nearby. Karen’s daughter is retired as well, but her job took her all over the world. Karen loved to visit and this was her innovative plan. Before she left she would send a large box of books to wherever her daughter was working. While Karen was there her daughter would be free Saturday through Monday and, when she returned to work on Tuesday, Karen would happily spend the rest of the week reading. Now her daughter has retired and lives in McClean, VA, in the same complex as Karen and her husband do during winter weekdays. Karen loves having both her children near but observes that now “she can’t get away with a thing.”
Mary Lou Judd Carpenter enjoys many activities at her CCRC in Bloomington, MN, especially concerts by the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in the Guthrie Theater.
Peggy Henry Weeks lives independently in Lake Worth, FL. She does not golf anymore but plays a lot of bridge with friends. Her 3 daughters all have vacation homes nearby and visit her often.
Judy Vernon used her MHC education for a variety of jobs including working for Nabisco for 21 years but when she and her second husband moved to over 55 housing, she wanted to find a new challenge. She learned of an opportunity to volunteer as a mediator for the Hackensack, NJ Court. She took a course and then started to do mediating in the Small Claims court where people go for resolutions of personal problems and in the Civil Court which handles issues like property disputes or damage to property. After mediating she sends a report to the Court as to whether or not a resolution was achieved. Judy is one of a small group of these volunteers and usually mediates once or twice a week. She is enjoying this involvement and is happy that it allows her the freedom to follow other interests as well.
Sylvia Johnson Lucas returned home from our 70th reunion and immediately began repacking for another trip. She and a friend travelled on the Rocky Mountaineer train from Vancouver to Kamloops to Banff. There was rain and snow, delicious meals and excellent service, along with the spectacular scenery.
In between tending not only to her garden but to a neighbor’s as well, Joan Haskell Vicinus is thinking about some trips. Perhaps celebrating a friend’s birthday party in Toledo. Probably visiting a friend in Brandon, VT who lives in a converted barn. Positively attending the New Hampshire Music Festival with her sister, Anne Haskell Knight ‘59. There they will enjoy listening to beautiful classical music performed by professional artists from all over the world.
August 2025
Very Sad News---Obituary on our Memorial Page
I am forwarding the gist of a text I shared with the IFPO board last night. I am sorry to tell you of the tragic death of Juli Towell.
Juli was hit by a car at Winchester Gardens on Friday night as she crossed with her walker from her bungalow to the main building for dinner. The person who hit her was a guest whose foot got stuck or mistook the accelerator for the stop pedal. Juli died in the ambulance before she even reached the hospital.
Juli was a remarkable woman, a leader wherever she went, including at Winchester Gardens. Besides IFPO, she was behind the creation of Apostles House - another MEND food pantry in Newark, and numerous other initiatives for interfaith dialogue and racial understanding and education. She was 93 yr old and totally intellectually aware and engaged.
Juli was my role model for what I wanted to be when “I grew up” and that MHC bond was an added feature. She was remarkable and kind and such a good listener who never judged. We are all blessed by knowing her and very sad she is no longer with us.
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September 2025
Carol Monick Huth was sorry to miss our reunion but was still recovering from two hospital stays this past winter and spring. She had both surgery and then pneumonia, but she's back in the swing of things now and raring to go. Carol is still working believe it or not, and says she loves it. Her patients come to her and she listens and suggests and loves iher practice.
Polly Laszlo Brody lives in Southbury, CT and is grateful to have her daughter, Deborah, living with her. Son Chuck lives in nearby Simsbury and grandson Daniel with his wife Sarah live not too far away in Dedham, MA. Grandchildren Maya in MA, Peter in CA, and Winona in Hawaii complete her family. Polly still enjoys bird watching, now from her small electric wheelchair.
Joan “Wink” Winkel Ripley is not only our extraordinary Class President. She also leads our class agents, manages our monthly Zooms, adds to our class website every month and keeps us all involved in the Class of 1955 and MHC, Somehow she and her husband, Mills, also find time to entertain their 5 children and spouses, 17 grandchildren with numerous husbands, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends and 8 great grandchildren.
No matter what time of year, Jane Barth loves to visit her “summer home” in Michigan which overlooks Lake Huron. She has been going there since 1940 which is almost her whole life!
I, Susan Nutter Keller, visited the Frances Perkins National Monument, a beautiful site in Newcastle, ME on the shore of the Damariscotta River. Frances Perkins was FDR’s Secretary of Labor and the first woman to serve as a cabinet secretary. In the simple but elegant brick house on the site, Frances spent many happy summers visiting her grandmother who was an important influence in life. In the Homestead Barn there is a self-guided exhibit presenting an overview of Perkins’ accomplishments where, I am pleased to report, MHC is well represented. I also looked into the Archives at MHC and learned that Frances was president of her class her senior year (1902) and was voted “Girl who has done most for the Class.”
Diana Alexanian Jalelian lives in Arlington MA. She is cheerful and content in her own home with her daughters living nearby. One daughter, Cerise, accompanied Diana to reunion and took some wonderful pictures. You can see how young we all look on our class website!
October 2025
Nancy Schuster Hanson volunteers at a beautiful library in Savannah which is staffed entirely by volunteers, which seems quite unusual for a library, but works perfectly in this case. She also enjoys visits with daughter in Maine where she had lived several years ago.
Joan Haskell Vicinus, returning home from a wedding in New York City, survived a fall down a Port Authority escalator without breaking a single bone. She had some bruises and cuts but was very grateful because it could have been so much worse. Good news (and good bones), Joan!
Mary-Carey “MC” Bachmann Churchill had lunch with Ellis Batchelder Weatherly and her daughter in Southport, CT . They had a lovely time reminiscing about old times and catching up on all the new news.
Janice Williams Libby likes to spend time in Stonington, ME where there are kayaks and a sailboat for visiting family to enjoy. Jan is not alone among us in having dry macular degeneration. At home in Providence she has a small device, OrCam MyEye, which can read to her the text from any book or screen. Her iPad has an app that reads the text on the screen. Amazing technology.
Ann “Tommy” Tomlinson Edmondson reports that she has been galavanting. (Love that word!) She and a friend drove to southeastern PA to visit Westtown School, a co-ed college preparatory school where Tommy’s father had been business manager. Her family had lived in a brick house on campus, home to Tommy from age 3 until after MHC. It was about to be razed for the construction of a new dining facility so Tommy wanted to take a nostalgic look. While there they also visited nearby Winterthur, Brandywine Art Museum and Chanticleer Garden.
November 2025
Karen Zehner Lucas writes--I am fine, spending long weekends at our cottage on the bay and week days here in VA. Husband John and I are both healthy and still driving and are happy to have kids and grand kids near by. Merry Christmas!
January 2026
Newshounds Dee Lamb Barstow, Tommy Tomlinson Edmonton, Pam Moody Harkins, Willie Willenbrok Leonard and I are ready to share news of our classmates in the redesigned and renamed Mount Holyoke Magazine (although I think that it will always be the Quarterly to me).
Sallie Barr Palmer spent Christmas on a Caribbean cruise with her husband. They had visited all of the island stops on other trips so just stayed on board to relax and get waited on for 10 days.
Hanne Bruun Raabyemagle sends New Year’s greetings to all. She enjoys the class newsletter and looks forward to receiving future ones. All is well with Hanne in Denmark.
In spite of macular degeneration, Joan Wharton Witkin was able to attend her daughter’s wedding in California. A happy occasion!
February 2026
After graduating from MHC Alice Czyz earned 3 MA’s and taught English in many foreign countries. Now she has now returned to her roots and is living a happy life in Suffield, CT. There she enjoys visiting with old friends and with their children and grandchildren. Alice listens to the news on BBC which she finds to be more positive than local stations.
For 16 years Pat Steiner Nathan has lived in a condo in W. Orange, NJ. There she volunteers in a food kitchen and feels fortunate to have 2 high school friends with whom she visits regularly. Pat has 3 young grandsons which she calls her own team (“but not football!”) Recently she enjoyed visiting 1 in RI and the other 2 in NC.
Sydney Mautner Reed lives in a wonderful senior housing establishment in Minneapolis, MN, which fortunately is not near all of he immigration unrest currently in Minneapolis. Classmate Gay DeLong Goodhart also lives here. Sydney often talks with Marlene Strum Zeiler who lives in Decatur, GA.
Joan Haskell Vicinus enjoyed a visit from her youngest sibling, her brother and his wife who travelled from Philadelphia. When not entertaining guests Joan watches the nightly news with her friend in the apartment next door since she does not have a TV.
Elizabeth (Win) Pettus Losa renewed her vows with the Society of Anna the Prophet via Zoom. She was unable to attend the ceremony in Atlanta, GA because of bad weather. Win has just begun an intensive 4-year course which has been given by the Episcopal Church for 50 years. Yearly topics are the Old Testament, the New Testament, Church History and Ethics. Win is finding it fascinating and challenging.
Bernice Siman Wolk’s daughter shared this news about her mother. “My mother Bernice Wolk recently relocated into an apartment in the memory care building from her apartment within the continuing care community she has lived in since 2020. She no longer reads email but otherwise is thriving and has absolutely no physical issues. My sisters and I appreciate our mother's foresight in choosing to live where she does. Bernice is happier and more relaxed than she has been in years. She was using so much energy to overcome her cognitive challenges in order to go about daily life to her always high standards. She no longer has to do that and her days are filled with interesting activities with nice neighbors. Bernice has accepted her cognitive decline as a part of aging and constantly marvels that she has reached 91.”
Gay DeLong Goodhart has lived in a senior residence facility, the Kenwood, in Minneapolis MN for 4 years. She has Parkinson’s and uses a
walker full time but is grateful that she still has her marbles.
She has had a full life raising 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls,
while also being a PT therapist . She has worked as a home health
therapist and made 8-9,000 home visits. In 88 or ’89 there was
an earthquake in Armenia that resulted in many injuries to limbs.
Gay went there to help people recover from their injuries and was
the director of a school for PT.
Mary Ann (Mac) Croft Osborne lives in a 7 unit condo in Dedham, MA. An old home was razed and the condo built on the site right around the corner from the houses where Mac and many of her friends lived and raised their children so Mac feels right at home.
Marlene Strum Zeiler did not graduate with our class (she received her degree from Stanford) but her heart has always been with MHC. Marlene recently moved “around the corner” to a senior living complex in Decatur, GA where she has a lovely apartment and has found a group of like-minded friends. She owned a bookstore in GA for 30 years and, not surprisingly, loves to read. She used to be a runner and is now walking a very impressive 4 miles a day.
March 2026
