Class News
In Memoriam:
Rev. Aaron L. Johnson, father of Wyneva Johnson '71, died April 22, 2006.
Olive Holnback , mother of Diane Holnback died May 21, 2006
Class Notes:
Deborah T. Janis
PO Box 1480
Alamo, CA 94507
(925) 552-7979
Fax: (925) 552-7070
E-mail: Deborah@Sanlen.net
http://www.wheatoncollege.edu/alum/class/W1971/
A small group of us attended our 35th reunion in May: Katherine Boyce, Christina Rice Connelly, Shelley Branson Dejohn, Cathe Cronin Echterhoff, Maude Glore, Deborah Janis, Joan Steward Joffres, Louise Knight, Linda Ucko Leiby, Christine Taylor Ljunghammar, Marsha Maynes, Jo Schlossberg McConaghy, Leslie Fisher Muir, Joan O‚Donnell, Cynthia Smith Pendergast, Margaret Swenson Pfunder, Wendy Taylor Sawyer and Jane Temple. Many of you would have liked to have joined us, but other events such as graduations, travel plans and weddings conflicted. We had a lot of fun catching up, attending graduation and reunion events and dining with Jay Goodman and his wife, Gail Berson. Also on Sunday, a rememberance ceremony was held at the chapel. Our classmates remembered were Sara marshbank, Joann Ashley Moniz, Despina Nesssa, Paula Shulga Noonan, Damien O‚Leary and Linda Breed Suski.
We have some new class officers: President: Cathe Cronin Echterhoff,
Vice President - Marsha Maynes and Class Fund Agent - Leslie Fisher Muir. Linda Ucko Leiby will continue as Treasurer and I will continue as Secretary and WebMaster. Thanks to Kate Boyce, Cynthia Smith Pendergast and Tina Rice Connelly for all their hard work for many years!
Linda Ucko Leiby and Wendy Taylor Sawyer were both singled out for recognition by President Crutcher in his remarks since they are parents of graduating seniors, Katie Leiby '06 and Charles Sawyer '06.
Susanne Brendel Pandich completed her first year as the executive director of the Filoli estate in Woodside, California (where the TV show dynasty was filmed): the article can be found at http://www.almanacnews.com/story.php?story_id=1187 . Before coming to Filoli last year, she was curator of the Biltmore Estate in Ashville, North Carolina, and most recently, director of Lyndhurst, a National Trust property in Tarrytown, New York.
Diane Holnback is enjoying her business partnership after 21 years with her best friend and she is in her 31st year of non-marital bliss with a wonderful man. She is playing A-level competitive tennis and singing in a church choir after a long hiatus from the Wheaton choir. Also, Diane has been painting (oil on canvas) for four years. Seven paintings have sold. Additionally she bought a second home in Patzcuaro, Mexico, for a getaway retreat. Unfortunately Diane‚s
mom passed away on May 21, 2006, five days after a fall in which she fractured her skull so severely we knew there would be no recovery. Her dad is living with her sister in North Carolina. He is blind and a brittle diabetic, so she will be relieving my sister for two weeks in the end of September in Hendersonville, while she and her husband are off to Amsterdam. Her artists‚ trip to Sicily will have to wait. Italy will always be there, but her dad won‚t. She cherishes the time they have left together and has no regrets. She was sorry to miss reunion, but that was the same weekend the family was experiencing the trauma of loss
Cynthia Gross Smith wrote that she has four children and six grandchildren and is teaching computers and ESL in Franklin, Pennsylvania.
Clara Slifkin is now an Administrative Law Judge, Office of Administrative Hearings, Special Education Division. In addition, she will be given an award at the California State Bar Meeting in October in Monterey: Public Lawyer of Year. The award will be given to her by the California Supreme Court Chief Justice, Ronald George.
Mary Muse spent July 4th at South Lake Tahoe. Her life has been busy and blessed - seven children, the benefits of California higher education via Berkeley for most of them, unfortunately two daughters have found their way back to Boston to attend graduate school at Boston College (Law and Education). Since husband, Bill and she are both lawyers, they seem to have influenced a couple of them as their eldest son is also in Law School in Sacramento. Their youngest will be starting middle school in August and the oldest will be getting married in September. She mentioned that Mary (now Charlotte) Forbes just published her first novel and it is superb - The Good Works of Ayela Linde : A Novel in Stories..
Jane Temple just saw our new V. P. Marsha Maynes. She was vesting friends in West Stockbridge over the 4th and Jane was vesting her in-laws in Becket Mass. They sat on the beach at Jane‚s in-laws neighborhood lake and had a couple beers with her daughter (the senior at American) and an old friend of Marsha's. Marsha is really looking forward to her Wheaton responsibilities and renewing ties to the school and friends. She just bought property up in the Stockbridge area (She worked there for a couple of years after college.) and plans to be there some of the time, while retaining her St. Thomas property and work of course.
Not sure that is worthy of the newsletter, but I thought you'd be interested.
Nadja Lesko presently a radiologist in rural North Carolina; married to another radiologist whom she met in medical school (University of Rochester). Life is good!
I am planning to put together the surveys from reunion and share with you all soon.
Please check the class website at http://www.wheatoncollege.edu/alum/class/W1971/ for class news and send me any updated email addresses.
This page is maintained by Deborah Janis. Last updated on 7/11/06.
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