Life after college
The last time I wrote this column, we were looking forward to our 60th Reunion, excited to see everyone, and anxiously awaiting a big turnout. What a surprise when there were only 10 of us at the Reunion, and that included the Reunion committee! Many of our classmates have moved out of the area, some are not keen on driving long distances, and sadly some of us are alone and/or dealing with various health issues. As we navigate our 84th year, we are finding some of us are better sailors than others. The column is very short this time. I can only surmise that we are having too much fun and traveling to too many exciting places to find the time to write!
Downey Price and Edna Bent Price ’63 have led an amazing life of service and are now retired, healthy, and enjoying life. They are still very active with Benevolent Missions International, which they started in 1974, and have built clinics and surgery centers in Haiti, Belize, El Salvador, and Bolivia. They have also equipped clinics in American Samoa and Fiji and sent surgical teams to Costa Rica and medical teams to Burundi. Over these 50 years, the volunteers have examined and treated more than 150,000 patients and performed more than 36,000 surgeries on a pro bono basis. Downey keeps in touch with Tom Muhlfelder, one of his roommates who also went to med school after college. Downey and Edna met up with Tom and his wife, Barbara, in Baltimore and enjoyed reminiscing about their life on the Hill.
Rachael Wentz writes that she has been living at Carroll Lutheran Village for four years. Though she says that she’s moving much slower these days, she still volunteers on Tuesdays at the Carroll County Visitor Center and has been the secretary of the Hospitality Committee.
Don Hobart and Janice Mooney Hobart ’63, M.Ed. ’78 are still traveling, and spent much of January 2024 touring Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. In retirement, Don and Janice have shared videos of their travels with residents of senior living facilities. This activity has been especially enjoyable because they have made presentations at Carroll Lutheran Village, where he and Janice have enjoyed seeing many WMC friends, including Jim Cole ’59 and Judy King Cole, Fran Giove Miller M.S. ’85, Lucy Tucker Lotz, Don Rabush, M.Ed. ’70 and Carol Westerfield Rabush ’60, M.Ed. ’79, Ray Albert, Alex Ober ’63, M.Ed. ’69, and Susan Snodgrass Case ’65, M.Ed. ’84. Janice is active in their Episcopal church, where she serves on the altar guild. After 45 years, she still decorates the altar for Thanksgiving and Christmas. In addition, Janice is her class secretary, class president, and chair of the Reunion committee!
I spoke to Judy King Cole on the phone and she and Jim Cole ’59 enjoy Carroll Lutheran Village and love seeing WMC friends there. One of Judy’s granddaughters just got married and has moved to San Diego, California, where her husband is stationed in the Coast Guard. Another granddaughter is planning her wedding, so Judy has been having great fun helping each of them with wedding plans. She and Jim spend time with their children and grandchildren, and Jim continues to teach his online classes.
I had a lovely note from Melania “Lani” Stange Anderson. Sadly, she wrote to tell me that her husband Powell “Bob” Anderson ’60 had died of cancer. We send our love to Lani and our sympathy to her and her family.
That brings me to the news of other classmates who have died. Bob Holt passed away in January 2022. I received word that Carole Gordon Smith died in 2023 in Draper, Utah. You may remember that Carole was with us for freshman and sophomore years and then moved back to Salt Lake and graduated from Utah State. I had kept in touch with Carole and when my daughter moved to Salt Lake City to take a job at the university, Carole and I got together to catch up on WMC memories. Several times when I was in Salt Lake City, Carole and I would meet for lunch and I would fill her in on what I knew about our class members. She had fond memories of her time on the Hill.
I have enjoyed relatively good health. Like Rachael, thanks to arthritis I move a little more slowly, too. Stan and I had a wonderful trip to Italy and visited the sights from Naples to Capri, up the Amalfi Coast to Rome and Florence and Venice, stopping in Assisi, Pompei, and Pisa. Wonderful food, wine, and people! We are involved in church and take advantage of some great programs at University of Mary Washington, which are free to the community. We are grateful for good health and good friends, and give thanks for our many blessings.
Marian Edwards Dawgert1962 Class Reportermarianparker@verizon.net