Association news & class notes
Michael Rice lives in Vail, Arizona, after moving from Tucson almost three years ago. He and his wife, Rachel, celebrated nine years of marriage in October. They have a beautiful 4-year-old daughter, Peregrine Marie. He has been a practicing small-animal veterinarian for over 10 years, serving the greater Tucson, Arizona, area and the region. He loves his family and his job. He turned 50 in October and is looking forward to many more years of happiness.
Susan Sommer Vaughan is now in her 17th year with FINRA, having taken on a new role in 2020, managing FINRA’s Electronic Blue Sheet program. She’s still living in Germantown, Maryland, and gets together regularly with Beth Webster Cavett. Over the summer, they caught up with Jennifer Scott Guenther ’93 for dinner. These days she spends her free time ballroom dancing, practicing pilates, and getting together with friends for game nights and movies.
Carl Downey is living in Bel Air, Maryland, with his family of five. His oldest boy is visiting colleges, and he took him to McDaniel to play a round of golf and see a football game last fall. Carl started a digital marketing consulting business for the legal industry called Complete Law Marketing in 2017. Carl still sees many of his college friends on a regular basis. Bethann Van Ness Carbone ’92 introduced him to his wife back in 1994, and they still hang out with her and her husband, Ray Carbone ’91, whenever they can. They often run into Drew Reddel, Karen Litishin Reddel, Tim Reilly ’95, Sandy Fox Reilly ’95, and Michael Clinton ’07, who all live nearby in Harford County. They celebrated turning 50 this year in glorious fashion with a weeklong boys’ vacation rental in Deep Creek, Maryland. The house was filled with Cooper Long, Drew Reddel, Jonny Bleckley, Scotty Schoberg, Todd Knellinger ’93, Chris Kintzel ’96, Jay DeVito ’96, Eric Wagner ’92, Michael Looney ’91, and Mark Tillman ’93. They had a revival of their annual croquet tournament and played about 90 holes of golf on a par three course reminiscent of WMC. It was kind of like a Jan Term and he loved hanging out with the college gang again. He is hoping that they can plan more events like this in the future.
Abbi Wicklein-Bayne is still living in Lutherville, Maryland, near her parents Pamela Gebhard Wicklein ’68 and Jarrett Wicklein ’65. In May, her son Jack Bayne ’22 joined the ranks of McDaniel alumni and graduated with a degree in Environmental Science. He is currently working with the Chesapeake Conservation Corps and is stationed at Fort McHenry in Baltimore. Luckily, Abbi’s niece Sadie Bowman ’25 is a sophomore this year, so they will still be on the Hill frequently this spring, watching lacrosse instead of baseball. Abbi was fortunate this year to be able to stay within the National Park Service and take on a new challenge as a project manager for the Harpers Ferry Interpretive Design Center. She oversees media development projects, such as exhibits, films, and outdoor signage, for national parks in the northeast region. Now that her younger son, Brady, is also in college at Shepherd University, it is a great opportunity for her to travel and help parks get ready for the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.
Karen Downs Moser started with a new company, Cloverkey, in 2021 and was recently promoted to area manager. In October, she celebrated 23 years of marriage with her husband, Scott. She’s very active in her kids’ high school as president of the PTO and vice president of fundraising for the choir parents. Her 18-year-old triplets CJ, Josephine, and Colwyn, will be graduating from West Deptford High School in June.
Sherry Albright Clower, M.S. ’99 continues to teach elementary physical education for Carroll County Public Schools with friend, colleague, and WMC alum Denise Spangler St. Rose ’95. As a CrossFit L2 trainer, she also has the opportunity to share her interest in fitness with several adult classes at Evolve Human Performance at Coppermine 4 Seasons. She has recently taken on a new role as a supervisor of student-teachers for McDaniel College. Although COVID-19 has curtailed much of their recent travel, she and her husband, Richard Clower ’50, managed to visit the Great Lakes on a Viking cruise this past summer.
Hope Filer Curry is still living in Rhode Island and enjoying life with her husband and two kids. Her daughter will be heading to college next fall and her son will be entering high school. They — along with several jobs — keep her very busy! She has been working in the elementary school in her town for the past few years and loves it. She is also coaching high school tennis, her daughter’s team in the fall and the boys’ team in the spring; working from home as a travel agent; and working seasonally for the admission office of University of Rhode Island, evaluating applications for them. In her free time (not much of that these days!), she plays tennis and captains several USTA league teams. One of the mixed doubles teams she plays on qualified for nationals in Arizona this season! It’s been too long since she’s been back on the Hill, but she hopes to get to campus the next time she goes back home to Maryland. She still keeps in touch with WMC friends and loves hearing about what everyone is up to. She was especially happy to spend a week of vacation in Jamaica with Meg Gobrecht Miller ’93 in August!
Thomas Roberts has definitely been livin’ through some big changes. The biggest and most recent change centers around leaving New York City and moving back home to Baltimore. He hasn’t lived there full time in 27 years, but there were some family concerns that precipitated the move. His mother, Michelle Roberts, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at the end January 2021. It was a very bitter pill for his family to swallow, especially for his mom. Meanwhile, his parents who had divorced in the 1980s never remarried, they always remained friendly co-parents and in later years tight companions. So of course, when they circled the family wagons to research and plan mom’s medical care his dad was involved. Unfortunately, less than three weeks later, his seemingly healthy dad would suffer a severe stroke that landed him in the hospital. He then passed a few days after that on Feb. 24, 2021. It was a one-two punch of severe loss that had him reevaluating his life and priorities about the future. He decided it was time to come home. So as soon as he was professionally able to, he made a beeline back to Baltimore. He settled in at the start of October in Baltimore County, and right after that move he celebrated his 50th birthday and took a vacation trip to the Dominican Republic and has almost finished unpacking!
Kristen Purcaro Welch and Rolando “Ro” Welch still reside in Olney, Maryland. Kristen is a senior intelligence officer at the CIA, and Rolando is a senior probation manager for the Department of Juvenile Justice in Alexandria, Virginia. Their daughter, Ariana, started her first year of college this fall attending Lafayette College on an academic scholarship. Their son, Alexander, is a sophomore at Sherwood High School and keeps them busy with travel soccer and basketball. Ro coaches Alex’s AAU basketball team, which has them traveling the country. They stay in close touch with fellow classmates Karen Litishin Reddel and Drew Reddel; Dawn Motovidlak Pipken; Dana Mostow Loube, M.S. ’99; Heather Beal Imirie, M.S. ’04; Randi DeFino Bauernshub; Amy Bridgeman Fritzges; Carolyn “Cari” Sciarappa Kline; Stephanie Flood Canales; Kirsten Stockel Lawrence; and Laura John Wrobleski. The crew celebrated their 50th birthdays in Anna Maria Island, Florida, in March.
Joanne Johnson Engler is the vice president of finance for Special Olympics Maryland and hopes to work there until retirement. Last year, she and her husband, Jim, celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. Besides spending time with her five grown children and three daughters-in-law, she has four grandchildren that all live nearby. Over the past few years, she and her husband have traveled to Greece and had the great privilege of attending the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany. She sings at two churches, in a traditional choir and a praise and worship group. Joanne still lives in the same home in Eldersburg, Maryland.
Debbie “Deb” Milstein Herchelroath started a new position in August 2020 at UPMC Harrisburg as an OB/GYN hospitalist. She currently lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with her husband and two daughters, who are 14 and 16. She is still close with Susie Pollard Freimanis; Heather Wakefield Spire ’93, M.S. ’95; Kerri Wagner Rapp; Raul Galindo ’92, and of course, her sister, Jen Milstein Johnson ’93.
John Hampton has reached 22 years on the job with the Dallas Fire Department and has been instructing at Collin College Fire Academy for the last 12 years. He and his wife, Courtney, have welcomed daughter Haylee Marie into the world this past July. He feels “God has a sense of humor,” as his now middle daughter Jessica is a freshman at the University of South Carolina and his son Justin is a senior at Oklahoma State University. Recently he was able to meet up with fellow Sig Eps Brett Young, Chuck McLean, Brian Gallizzo ’95, Jeremy Kenney ’93, and Ed Buzzi ’93 on a recent trip back to Maryland last February. He also stays in touch regularly with Marc Gettemy and Ray Pickersgill as well.
I, Ray Pickersgill, like the rest of us hit 50 this year! It was a year packed with adventures and activities. I was promoted to head varsity football coach at Sachem East High School, and I am still the varsity wrestling coach there as well. My youngest son, Ryan, made the varsity wrestling team as an 8th grader and will be on the same team as his brother. I am in my 28th year of teaching Social Studies in the Sachem School District. This year, my wife and I did quite a bit of traveling. We went to Nashville, Iceland, Jamaica, and on a family cruise to the Caribbean. It was nice to travel again after a few years of travel restrictions. My daughter, Kate Pickersgill ’25, is a sophomore at McDaniel and is absolutely loving her time there. My older son, Jack, is currently going through the college search and McDaniel is on the list. My wife, Elizabeth, threw me the best 50th birthday party and Brett Young and Melissa Slaughter Young ’95 came up from Virginia to surprise me. I would like to congratulate John Hampton and Courtney Kistler Hampton on the birth of their daughter Haylee Marie in July. I still regularly keep in touch with Brett Young, Marc Gettemy, Brian Gallizzo ’95, John Black, John Hampton, Chuck McLean, Jeremy Kenney ’93, and Ed Buzzi ’93. I also see Jeff McAndrew ’92 once a year on our annual pilgrimage to the NCAA wrestling tournament.
Ray Pickersgill1994 Class Reporterrpickersgill@sachem.edu