Association news & class notes
Barb Stephens-Rich said 2023 did not start well for her, as she was recovering from knee replacement surgery that went amiss. Doctor, physical therapy, and wound clinic appointments filled her weeks for five months. “So, it was terrific to spend a week with my daughter in Great Smoky National Park in late May. Hiking three to four miles a day together was a great personal victory for me!” Barb did not attend the formal college events celebrating our 50th Reunion, but later in June, she had three wonderful days at the Westminster, Maryland, home of Nita Conley Korn ’74 with Kathleen Grist Schwartz, Susie Squires Cioni ’74, and Nora Waugh Jones ’74. “Group FaceTime calls to Donna Carter Morris ’72 in Georgia and Rich Blucher ’74 in Oslo, Norway, brought them into our midst as well. Kathleen and I had fun reposing our graduation day photos on campus at the Ward Memorial Arch, our celebration of 50-plus years of friendship.” Barb traveled in Italy for 19 days in September: a week in Florence, two days in Rome, then eight days in the hill country of Umbria (Assisi, Spoleto, Perugia, and other beautiful towns), soaking in as much of Michelangelo and St. Francis as she possibly could. She says seeing Michelangelo’s “David” in Florence fulfilled a lifelong dream of hers.
A special thanks to Bill McCormick and Monika van der Berg McCormick, both of whom did so much to make the 50th Reunion a success. “We loved catching up with so many classmates and walking around the campus remembering special times on the Hill,” says Monika. They also enjoyed two cruises in 2023: a river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest in the spring and an ocean cruise from Rome to Athens in the fall, getting to see a lot of Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, and Greece, along with Karen Georg Sirian ’74 and her husband Bob.
Diane Smith Cikanovich said that after attending the 50th Reunion, “several of us vowed to rekindle our relationships. To that end, we spent a beautiful Oct. 25 sailing on the Chesapeake Bay! Monika van der Berg McCormick and Bill McCormick own a 36-foot Catalina sailboat berthed in Annapolis, Maryland, and invited Sarah Snodgrass Morris and Jim Morris along with me and husband Chris for a day sail. We started with lunch at their marina restaurant, sailed for three hours taking the WhiMsiCal (Get it? WMC!) under the Bay Bridge and back. We finished off the lovely day with dinner in Annapolis. What a fabulous time reconnecting! My husband, Chris, was a sailing instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy and enjoyed being at the helm. Chris and Bill were able to get WhiMsiCal to 7.4 knots, her fastest time to date.”
Brenda “BK” Noble Gorman, M.Ed. ’81 and her husband have taken no major trips since COVID, “unless you count our drive to and from Florida every November and May.” They head to the warmth after enjoying the Pennsylvania fall foliage and usually before the first snowstorm, returning to Pennsylvania in time for Memorial Day and the opening of the outdoor pools. They enjoy friends in both locations and are happy their son is able to spend at least a month in Florida with them (and their aging Siamese cat). “I count on the many sunrise walks on our beach and the daily bike rides and lap swimming to keep me fit and healthy. Photographing the wildlife just adds joy.” In the summer of 2022, BK was able to spend a day with former roommates Catherine Wheatley Cunningham and Caroline Warfield Winchester ’72. She is hoping to see high school and college classmate Patricia Gellner Bright at their high school class reunion in 2024.
From Kentucky, Bob Buchanan let us know how he and wife Rhonda Dahl Buchanan ’76 are doing. Bob is getting close to retiring at the University of Louisville, after more than 40 years as a professor of Chemistry. “Maybe in a couple of years,” he says. Rhonda retired from teaching at the same institution last year and has been busy translating (Spanish to English) fiction from Latin America and Spain. Bob is still active in research, recently receiving three U.S. patents, and is trying to usher through his last set of graduate students. They plan on downsizing and will be building a new home soon. Louisville, the River City on the Bourbon Trail, continues to be a great place to live and visit, and they are planning on finally enjoying its park systems and numerous great restaurants.
Cathy Campbell Whitehouse and Peter have spent much of their time traveling, taking two of their bucket list trips: a trans-Canada train trip and a Venice-to-Athens small boat cruise. They also retired from tent camping and became RVers with a small RV. “We have explored from Maine to Florida and as far west as Missouri (love the Ozark National Scenic Riverways!). We are recently back from a nostalgic trip to the U.K., where we revisited favorite places and reconnected with family there.” At home, they enjoy spending time with their two granddaughters. “Our youngest daughter, Kirsten, lives in San Diego and has our two grandsons, so we try to visit them during Cleveland’s cold and gray winter months.” One recent trip took Cathy to the Baltimore area where she was able to visit with Pam Norton Bennett, Peggy Jones Demedis, and Linda Plowman Getz. “I celebrated my 70th birthday two years ago with a completely unexpected heart attack, but thanks to excellent care and a stent, I am fully recovered. Now to work on staying healthy as we ‘age’ in place.”
Carol Whitmer Empie retired from her role as partner/financial advisor with Kairos Wealth Advisors of Raymond James in Westminster, Maryland, on Jan. 1, 2020, just in time to travel the world. We all know how that turned out. However, Carol and her husband were blessed with three granddaughters in 21 months! She also had successful bilateral knee replacements. “Since the world reopened, we have resumed our planned travel in earnest, doubling up to make up for lost time. Trips included the Caribbean, Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, and cruises that got us to Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, the Falkland Islands, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India, France, Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, Spain, Gibraltar, and Morocco.” Family beach vacations have been to Lake Tahoe as their daughter Meredith and family live in Reno. Daughter Lauren and family are still in Columbia, Maryland. “We also celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary in May on the same beach on Paradise Island, Bahamas, where we exchanged wedding vows. The little beach motel from 1973 has morphed into the Atlantis Resort.”
Chip Snyder says his family is doing well — two more grandchildren on the way in 2024. “Up to 15, whewee!” Maggie is enjoying her plant whisperer projects, and Chip is still active in the national security clearance arena.
David Petrucci retired in 2014 and lives in Frederick, Maryland, near his five grandchildren. “Last year, Paulette and I made our sixth trip to Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago. To date, I have walked over 1,500 miles on the Camino. This is a very fun and different experience. In 2019, I decided to train and qualify for the Boston Marathon. The race was canceled in 2020. In 2021, I ran a race in Erie, Pennsylvania, which qualified me for the 2022 and 2023 races. I ran and finished both races, this year cutting 17 minutes off last year’s race.”
Debbie Byron Carswell says she and Bud love being retired. “Our nine grandchildren live nearby — six within a mile or so and the other three 30 minutes away. They keep us very busy with various sporting events, band concerts, and parades. Plus, our three children include us in camping trips to the beach (Hatteras, North Carolina) and the mountains of Maryland and West Virginia.” They also enjoy keeping in touch with Pam Norton Bennett, Mark Gole ’74, and Penny Parsons Gole ’74.
Diane Zeller’s note echoes the sentiments of many about retirement for all of us: “So, ‘retirement’ has been busier than my working days. Without a lot of talent or experience, I find myself writing a musical play inspired by the controversial urban dirt bikers. Long story. Anyone bored out there and wants to help me, let me know. One of the songs is ‘If I Were President.’ One of the characters, struggling with injustice, daydreams about being president and sings a rap-style song about what he would do as president. I’m waiting for my contact at B360 to get back to me about meeting some of the riders involved with the organization to get more of the kids’ thoughts.”
Dinah Sunday wrote, “As our 50th Reunion was looming, I decided to put trepidation aside and commit to going. Why? I didn’t want to have regrets. And I don’t. There is nothing like the flash of recognition and the realization that a college classmate is as tickled to see you as you are to see him or her. What a gift.” In the fall, she reconnected with Bruce Lippy and Martha “Marci” Hardisky Lippy ’72, M.Ed. ’79 for another milestone celebration: their 50th wedding anniversary! Other college characters on hand included Kathy Carpenter Smyth, John Landon and Jo Ann, Carol Wells Bailey ’72, and Mark Vidor ’72.
Fred Rudman retired from the practice of dentistry in 2021. After practicing in Middletown, Maryland, for 36 years, he had retired in 2016 for about two weeks before he was contacted by a practice in Hagerstown, Maryland, and asked if he could cover for a dentist who was doing missionary work for 12 to 18 months. “Almost five years later, I did, in fact, retire.” He and Wanda have traveled quite a bit, this year alone managing to touch ground in Saint Petersburg, Florida; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; France; Aruba; New York; Palm Beach, Florida; and Topsail Island, North Carolina. “We even managed to move from our home of 31 years — across the street and down six houses. Family is close and we enjoy our time with our five kids and 11 grandkids. God has blessed us. Wanda and I are active in various ministries at the Church of the Brethren and will serve as delegates to the annual conference this coming July in Grand Rapids.”
From Florida, Jack Wilhelm, M.L.A. ’82 has been retired now for six years from “a long and wonderful career in local government planning work.” He and his wife, Sue, love to travel and enjoy the beautiful world around them. They are active in animal rights activities and volunteer at several local animal shelters and sanctuaries in the Sarasota, Florida, area. They love walking and exercising rescue dogs at a local shelter, and love their Papillon, Cocoa, and take her with them everywhere they go.
Jeff Jones went back to work full time in January as a senior pastor at Mill Creek Parish UMC in Derwood, Maryland, where he has been the part-time associate pastor for the past year. “I am enjoying retirement, but I still feel like I can contribute and share what I have with others, and this will give me a chance to do that.”
John “Slug” Armstrong, M.Ed. ’75 and Barb Vose Armstrong ’76 have been married for 47 years and still reside in Frostburg, Maryland. They live in a renovated firehouse in town. “Barb and my cousin, David Llewellyn ’87, are partners in owning and operating the Armstrong Insurance Agency in Frostburg that employs six other people. Barb is very involved with community and city projects.” John retired in 2007 from 31 years of teaching high school math and coaching. “Now, I’m the ‘go-fer’ for the Armstrong Insurance Agency. I do mail and supply runs while also taking pictures of properties. But mostly, I spend my time playing golf … a ton of golf. Throughout the year, I play in a lot of senior amateur tournaments around the country. I enjoy the camaraderie and the competition. Last summer, my son and I traveled to Scotland, where we played 16 rounds in 10 days. My daughter flew over from the Netherlands to surprise me and join us for several days of golf there. The trip of a lifetime for me. Since Barb has taken up the game, and since the Frostburg weather isn’t conducive to playing golf in the winter, we recently purchased a condo in a community called Verandah in Fort Myers, Florida. We plan to “snowbird” for a while and take advantage of some nice golfing weather. I should also mention that my sister, Robin Armstrong Townsend ’75, M.S. ’98 works in the Education Department at McDaniel.”
John Crooms still lives 16 miles outside of San Francisco in Berkeley, California, and has been retired for 11½ years. “My wife is a professional pianist, so, we will probably go to Vienna next spring to hear one of her students sing. Then on to Leipzig, Germany, for the Bach Festival, which we went to last year. Six concerts in three days. I go to Baltimore every other month for a month to take care of my parents, who are in their late 90s.”
Since our last column, Kathy West Bowden Larson met a man on eHarmony and got married. “He is truly a gift from God. Life revolves my three adult children (two living in Nashville) and four grandchildren.” She is happily active in her Baptist Church in Annandale, Virginia. They have traveled out West to Yellowstone Park, South Dakota, and North Dakota. “Christmas found us in Marco Island, Florida. In September, we traveled to Austria, Switzerland, Prague, and ended with a weeklong Rhine River cruise.”
Libby Eife-Johnson and her husband, Bruce, really enjoyed the 50th Reunion. “It was worth the long trip! We sold our home of 42 years in Alexandria, Virginia, last May. It was very difficult to leave so many friends and neighbors, and the city of Alexandria where we raised our family. We now live in Portland, Oregon, from May through October, and New Albany, Indiana, from November through April. (New Albany is just across the river from Louisville, Kentucky). Our eldest son, Nat, lives in New Albany with his partner Cisa and two of our three granddogs. Our son Bryce and daughter Christy live in Portland, and our third granddog keeps Christy company. We’ve traveled across the U.S. by car twice since we left Virginia. It is quite a trip! Our dog, Sirius, was very good in the car but very happy to get out each time we stopped! So, we are finding our way to new grocers, libraries, swimming pools, churches, etc., but making new friends will be the tough part.”
After 35 years in their Mount Airy, Maryland, home, Randy Draper and his wife, Denise, moved to West Grove, Pennsylvania, in 2021 to be closer to their daughter Lauren, her husband, and their two granddaughters. Randy retired from a long career as a corporate training manager in 2021. He now keeps busy with woodworking and volunteer work, when not spending time spoiling his granddaughters. “We recently visited our daughter Lindsey and her husband in San Francisco. Lindsey is a medical oncology fellow at the University of California San Francisco. Lauren is a physical therapist, so we are the very proud parents of two health care professionals.”
Wilson Bowers is in his 50th year of marriage, and they are healthy and well. He says retirement is a wonderful endeavor, but they are always busy with maintaining and upgrading their 115-year-old home. “We travel a lot and spend time with children, grandchildren, and family and friends, including our eldest son, who lives in Innsbruck, Austria, with his wife and three daughters; our second son, his wife, and two boys who live in Virginia Beach; and our daughter who lives in Chicago. We also spend several weeks in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, with my sister.” They continue to enjoy Michigan and all it has to offer. Wilson keeps in touch with Andy Mitchell, and met him for lunch this past summer in Bethany Beach, Delaware.
Kent Gompert1973 Class Reporterkentgompert1@gmail.com