Association news & class notes
Jan “Tom” Van Sickle was first to report this time around. “My wife, Robin, retired several years ago and spends most of her time gardening. My work since 1999 has been marine surveying, and I am still taking a few assignments — boat claims, wooden boat surveys, and appraisals. Claims are fun sleuthing since I need to find a cause of loss and people’s memories are not always accurate. Wooden boats are my passion, and I’ve appraised some fantastic yachts lately. Somehow, my retirement has turned into being a caretaker of antique boats. My regular sailing boat is a Herreshoff 12 1/2, 16’ gaff rigged keel boat built in 1937. Last year someone gave me a 1920s 2.5m French dinghy I restored, and I just became the caretaker of a 1913 Lawley 16’ tender that had been stored in a hayloft in the San Juan Islands for 80 years. This tender needs little more than paint and varnish!”
Keith Porter sends a hello from sunny Raleigh, North Carolina! “I am recovering successfully from knee replacement surgery (too many crackback blocks below the waist). Our family is doing well. I saw Art Blake ’71 and Ginny Golden Blake ’72 a few times in 2022. In September, we traveled to Delaware to visit our daughter’s family and while there had lunch with Art and Ginny and Tom Mavity ’71, M.Ed. ’76. Middletown will never be the same!”
Nancy Hoskins Ferencz, M.Ed. ’76 is always a faithful contributor. She and Bill celebrated their ninth anniversary, and recently added a third great-granddaughter to the family. “We’ve enjoyed good health and completely avoided COVID-19, so we are fortunate. We still make an annual trip to Puerto Vallarta, and we still use the Ocean City condo! I’m still in touch with WMC roommates Karen Telan and Anne Zahn Newell regularly.”
John Heisler reports that he and Sandy Gomane Heisler ’71 moved from Cape May Court House, New Jersey. “Eventually, we will be living in a 55-and-over community near Moorestown, New Jersey, to be closer to our kids and four grandkids. The house won’t be finished until next March, so we are renting a house in Margate, New Jersey, in the interim. People from New Jersey will probably recognize Margate as the home of Lucy the Elephant, a longtime New Jersey landmark. There is not a whole lot happening, but we really enjoy our grandkids, Abby, Bax, Will, and Ella, and we are looking forward to seeing a lot more of them after our move in March. I do get to talk and Zoom with Butch Johnson and Marshall Adams ’71. It’s great catching up with them and of course we always end up reliving some of the good times at WMC. We can’t believe over 50 years have gone by this quickly, but it’s always fun to catch up with the lives of other WMC classmates in The Hill.”
Francis “Sully” Sullivan is still enjoying retirement. “Chuck Spicknall ’72 and I attended the Class of 1970 Reunion last year. It was nice seeing you and the many others who attended. My wife and I have not done any major travel due to COVID-19, but hope to do something in the coming year. It’s hard to believe that my youngest grandchild is 8 years old! I did a unique thing in April: I officially became a Phi Delta Theta member at the 50th anniversary of Maryland Beta at McDaniel. What a good time. My thanks to Don Shenk ’71 for getting me through pledging!”
Penny Williams Cipolone shared that they are still sticking close to home because of her rheumatoid arthritis. Since her doctors have “declared her back a ‘total’ mess,” she has been seeing a pain management doctor, who has done a nerve block ablation and cortisone shots, so things are somewhat improved. She really just wants to be able to walk enough to do some local day trips. Mark also underwent two cardiac ablations to get his atrial fibrillation under control. Penny does most of her volunteer activities online when possible. She is the scholarship chair for her Delta Kappa Gamma chapter and serves on the Meritus/Merita Awards Committee for the American Classical League. The highlight of summer was a weekly Zoom with a lovely young Afghan woman, Feroza, who had been a judge before the Taliban took over. She and her husband, daughters, and parents fled the country and ended up in Dublin, Ireland. Through a number of hard-to-explain connections, Penny and Feroza spent time once a week chatting to help improve her spoken English communications so that she could be accepted into law school in Ireland. “This was a real eye-opener as it showed just how lucky we all are to live in a country like the USA, despite its seemingly insurmountable problems!”
Lynne Price, M.L.A. ’76 says, “It was so wonderful to have seen friends from the Classes of 1970 and 1971 at last year’s Reunion. College ties can truly ne’er be broken. 2022 was a year of mixed blessings. I am still dealing with back problems, which cause sciatica and lymphedema in my legs, but that is well under control. As a result, travels have ceased for now; I miss going to New York to the opera and the theatre, but I keep hoping! My biggest blessing is my wonderful mother! With the exception of having to depend on a walker and not being able to hear too well, she is in good health. Two parties are in the planning stages for her 100th birthday, and she is looking forward to them. I hope we are able to see each other at our 55th Reunion!”
Randy Blume guesses that “the most important update of my life is that my life continues and also that Lynn Gallant-Blume ’71 is well. Unfortunately, we don’t often get to see former classmates, but we try to make the best of it when we can. We all had big events rescheduled due to COVID-19 and then travel plans interfered with the rescheduled dates. Once international travel became possible again, we managed to reschedule some cruises to warm weather (a week in Bermuda and a longer Caribbean cruise) from New York/New Jersey and a small ship coastal cruise from Marseilles to Rome. Despite the bureaucratic hoops we had to jump through to meet the various countries’ COVID-19 requirements, it was great to be able to travel again. We look forward to continuing. With all that testing, we did our part to keep the local public health sites in business. We are pleased to be in an area that is proactive about community-based public health services and offers an array of accessible services. We’re still in childcare mode. Fortunately, both granddaughters are now in school all day and we only need to look after them a couple of hours after school.”
Tom Trice thinks that we have become at least “middle-aged.” I have news for him! I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’m going to live to be 148. He continues, “I have finally fully retired as of Aug. 31, from a career of over 50 years in public accounting! My wife, Charlotte, and I have recently relocated to a ‘cottage’ at the Acts Manor House retirement community (a CCRC facility) in Seaford, Delaware, and are going through the agony of ‘downsizing’ and preparing for the sale of our residence of over 34 years in Salisbury, Maryland. We hope to travel at least three months per year and enjoy life from our new home base with nothing to take care of! We have three sons; nine grandchildren, ranging from 4 to 26; and a 1-year-old great-granddaughter!”
Marc Raim has the “same wife, Ellen (46 years), same house in the Mount Washington neighborhood of Baltimore (45 years), and both sons Brian and Andrew, now 38 and 41, doing well. The greatest joy is my gorgeous 5-year-old grandson, Joe, who is autistic. Because he receives 35 hours per week of special schooling and therapy, I call him ‘The Hardest Working Child in Kid Business.’ He means more to me than anyone or anything ever in my life. What a gift!”
Please keep Danielle Greenip Barry in your prayers and reach out with comforting words if you are still in touch with her, as she lost her husband, Roy, in January.
Lynn Coleman Smarte, M.Ed. ’73 and Doug Smarte ’69 “had a wonderful year with lots of time with family and friends including Debbie Clark and Barbara Thomas. Last fall, we were happy to have a visit, boat ride, and walk on the beach in South Bethany, Delaware, from Barb and several college friends. We’re also having lots of fun with granddaughter Amelia, and are proud of our granddaughter Nina, who graduated from law school in the spring. Our biggest adventure was a recent cruise on the Queen Mary 2 from Quebec City to New York with Dave Hilder ’69 and Stacey Evans Hilder ’69.”
It was a big year for Carol Harris Dietrich and Earl Dietrich. “In November 2021, we sold our house in Eldersburg, Maryland, where we had lived for 33 years and bought a two-family home closer to Westminster, Maryland. We live with our daughter, Ali; son-in-law, Jimmy; and our 2-year-old granddaughter, Hunter. Although the move was very stressful, it was well worth it. We love the house, and the big plus is seeing Hunter every day, as she is our only grandchild. Our son, Aric, moved to a condo in Baltimore in July 2021. He works for The Walters Art Museum and wanted to move back to the city. I still spend time with my Robins, Barbara Thomas; Jane Butterbaugh Shapiro; Sherry Swope Peck; Sue Morales Yingling, M.S. ’00; Karen Wagner Tegges; Pat Johnson Krantz; and Barbara Payne Shelton. In September, we spent four days in Avondale, Pennsylvania, visiting museums and gardens and stayed at a fabulous converted farmhouse. We traveled to Aruba in late September with seven Preacher couples — Amy Lewis King ’69 and Jim King ’69, Mary and Rick Coburn ’69, Nancy Higdon Morgan ’69 and Dick Morgan ’69, Donna and Joe Kerner ’69, Linda and Jeff Willis ’69, and Carol and Pete Markey ’69 — who have been partying together since their graduation from WMC in 1969.”
Sue Morales Yingling, M.S. ’00 reports from Westminster: “As always, life continues to be filled with joy, blessings, and challenges. In spring of 2022, Splinter Yingling ’68 had open-heart bypass surgery; we moved my mother, who is 97 years old and still sharp as a tack, to assisted living at Brightview in Westminster, Maryland, where she now lives only 3 miles from us; and at the end of June, Splinter retired after 52 years as a financial advisor. He plays golf as often as he can, and he has challenged and surprised himself by successfully completing projects that in the past he would never have considered taking on. We continue to make frequent trips to North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to visit family (two of our four grandchildren live in South Carolina) and to enjoy the sun and surf.” As Carol Harris Dietrich reported above, Sue enjoyed the Round Robins’ trip to Pennsylvania in September, and especially enjoyed visits to Longwood Gardens, Winterthur, and the Brandywine Museum. “How lucky we are to have shared our friendship for more than 55 years — a friendship formed on the Hill so many years ago!”
Well, the Round Robin gatherings are always a wonderful treat for me, too, and this year was no exception. In August, the long-delayed Oberammergau Passion Play took place and I, Barbara Thomas, was right there in the eighth row! My grandmother attended in 1960, so I figured 60 years later … Anyway, I’m hoping to make more travel plans, but for now I’m hanging at home. I’ve been busy with LowCountry Habitat for Humanity again, spending wonderful time with my son, John, and his girlfriend, Nora, and enjoying other good times with my cousins in Waynesville, North Carolina. I’m still playing a bit of golf, so come on down and let’s play. If you don’t play, we can explore the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park!
Barbara Thomas1970 Class Reporteracivilconversation@gmail.com843-812-9500