Life after college
From Havre de Grace, Maryland, Pat Wilkinson Vandrey and Hanns Vandrey ’68 report they “enjoy very active lives away from their home” even though the allure of wildlife outside their sunroom is fantastic. With a morning coffee in hand and cat in lap, they’ve even seen the “occasional” coyote. As Swan Creek is nearby, they also get to see and hear bald eagles. They both play tennis, love to travel, and attend shows at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore. Hanns added being an election judge to his resume. He still gets together monthly with the Crab Guys for crabs and Natty Boh. They see Hanns’ brother Jobst Vandrey often, as he lives just across town. Also nearby are their sons’ families. Their three grandchildren keep them proudly entertained.
Ira Klemons and Janet split their time between Long Island, New York, and South Florida. According to Ira, the U.S. Army relies on the Air Force for certain technical requirements. That’s why their paratrooper son, a major in the USAF, is “commander of the Air Force contingent embedded in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.” While in Iraq, his colonel informed Ira and Janet that their “son is a hero.” They were also apprised that the details could not be disclosed for 30 years.
Don Elliott wrote to say his former roommate Earl “Ron” Wilkins passed away July 2024 in Anderson, South Carolina. Don and Mary are still living near St. Louis, Missouri. For their 53rd anniversary in 2023, they took a Viking cruise along the Danube and Rhine rivers. This past summer, his whole family created their own “Puffin Patrol” to explore Iceland, where his oldest son, Scott, and his family live.
Continuing with a tradition started 20 years ago, Bill Dudley and wife, Lois, celebrated their 53rd anniversary at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont. This time, Lois’ twin sister and her husband joined them. In June 2024, Bill, Lois, their son, daughter-in-law, and three granddaughters did a stint at the Flathead Lake Lodge dude ranch in Montana. “It was a hoot” herding cattle. In August, Bill and his wife were at Covewood Lodge Cabins on Big Moose Lake in the Adirondack Mountains with their daughter’s family. He said that they also go to Colorado twice a year to visit their two sons’ families in Louisville and Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Last fall, before Hurricane Helene, they took a road trip to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. To avoid some of New England’s cold, they take trips to Florida in February and March. In October 2023, Bill did a VBT bike tour, visiting small towns like St. Michaels, Oxford, and Chestertown on the Eastern Shore. On another VBT excursion, he started in Charleston, South Carolina, and ended in Savannah, Georgia. At home in Victorian Cape May, New Jersey, a block from the beach, Bill belongs to the county chapter of Habitat for Humanity. He says it’s similar to “an old WMC frat without Hell Week!” The Dudleys host Pete Kinner and Betsey Horton Kinner plus John “Omar” Heritage ’68 and Sue Mawby Heritage every year.
Life in the relaxed lane is enjoyed by Jim Nickol and Anne Rogers Nickol ’70. He fully retired in 2021 from his optometric practice in Pocomoke, Maryland. Jim walks 3.5 miles at least three times a week and kayaks two to three hours at least two to three times a month. Anne’s roommate for three years Bertha Reese Durben ’70 and her husband recently visited.
Ann Schwartzman Rader “dipped a few toes back in the workforce” by teaching high school Spanish for the last seven weeks of the school year in 2024. The students were fine, but she found the use of computers “mind boggling.” The foreign language department was very helpful, especially Brandon Morfoot ’15 and Greg Dubicki ’09. In March 2024, Anne and her husband went on their annual trip to Orioles spring training in Sarasota, Florida. They caught up with Carol Armacost Carter at one of the games. Anne does a summer/fall vegetable garden, enjoys the grandchildren, and engages in fiber arts. Her year as president of a large weaving guild ended, but she still does weaving demonstrations at fairs and runs an online information exchange for the guild. When her favorite dance studio closed, she took this “as a sign it was time to have foot surgery.” She told the orthopedist her “feet needed to retain their flexibility for class.”
Since 2019, Naomi Scharf Benzil, M.L.A. ’77 has been living at Charleston Senior Community in Catonsville, Maryland “after being a snowbird for almost 20 years.” Her schedule is so filled, but her favorite activities are gardening and sculpting in the hand-fashioned clay studio. Traveling is limited to visiting her children who are retiring in Panama and New York.
“Still chugging along” in Annapolis, Maryland, Patrick Fleeharty and Lisa are active in the Unitarian Universalist Church. Lisa is a worship leader, choir singer, and the music librarian, while Pat is in the worship ensemble. He had “bad luck” with knee replacement surgery requiring over six months of rehab. They both do taiji. The Fleehartys enjoy annual gatherings with their sons and grandchildren for Thanksgiving, solstice, and summer vacation. They also recently celebrated the completion of their beautiful new kitchen.
From Missouri, Jim Godown continues helping people with Medicare insurance in order to pay for his travel habit. In 2024, he and his wife enjoyed six weeks in Mexico, took a Viking cruise to Southern France, and spent two weeks on a cruise to Alaska. They also made a trip back to Maryland for a wedding.
Gary Shapiro and Jane Butterbaugh Shapiro ’70 are up in the Monadnock region of New Hampshire. They’ve been there since 1976 and are still active in the community. The Shapiros see Mike Ward ’68 and Anne Read Ward regularly, as they live nearby. Gary had his second hip replacement and rehab went “impatiently well.”
After 46 years in the same Arlington, Virginia, home, Doug Smarte and Lynn Coleman Smarte ’70, M.Ed. ’73 moved 10 minutes away to Falls Church, Virginia. They eliminated stairs, maintenance, and yard work, but kept neighborhood friends. They’re excited about the more urban lifestyle. At Foundry United Methodist Church in D.C., they have made many friends. The Smartes celebrated their 50th anniversary with a trip to England in spring 2024. Lynn’s roommate for three years, Debbie Clark ’70 joined them for a week in London. They have had beach house and Arlington visits with Debbie, Barbara Thomas ’70, Linda Sullivan Schulte ’68, Dave Hilder, and Stacey Evans Hilder. Going to their son’s home in Charlottesville, Virginia, according to Doug, is going to “grandparents’ heaven.”
Carol Armacost Carter and husband Bob moved from Anna Maria Island, Florida, and bought a farm in southeastern Sarasota County, Florida. It has a three-stall barn, and they have ordered two miniature donkeys. She asserted that as seniors this is a “bit crazed.” They survived Hurricane Milton, which landed 15 miles from them. Some big trees in the pasture fell, and they had to use a propane house generator for 72 hours for power. Carol got her Master Gardener certificate from Sarasota County Extension Service in May 2024. She’s active in that organization as well as the Food Bank of Manatee, the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast, and Sarasota’s Episcopal Church of the Redeemer.
The last few years have been tough for Howard Bond and June Oliveri Bond. She was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer, bile duct cancer. It was discovered when it was still asymptomatic, small, and operable. June said she had a year of challenging treatments, but her PET scans show no cancer. She says Howard filled the caregiver role with sacrifice and dedication. She added that she has “signed up for an extended warranty on the miracle.”
In April 2020, Marcia Swanson moved to Riderwood Village, an Erickson retirement community, in Silver Spring, Maryland. Two emergencies in 2019 prompted the move. First, she had a pulmonary embolism requiring an emergency hospital stay. Marcia is now on blood thinners for life. The second emergency occurred in the parking lot of her townhome where she was mugged. She was “knocked out.” Her hearing aids were stolen but not her cellphone or keys. Via ambulance, she had another emergency visit to the hospital where she received stitches for her head. She also chose Riderwood because it was only a short move. It’s closer to her church where she rings handbells, serves as the financial secretary, and participates in Dancing Needles, a group that creates crafts and needlework for the housebound. She also belongs to a local hiking group that does a monthly three-mile hike. She’s been president of a local National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association chapter. She travels with a group she likes. In fall 2024, she did a Viking cruise in Eastern Europe. At Riderwood, Marcia enjoys the music events, especially the opera movies that are shown. She also joined the community’s Sustainable Environment group.
In 2023, the small congregation where Chris Geis Kraus was spiritual leader dissolved. They voted to give her financing for the first year of ministerial school that she is now attending online. Otherwise, she has been caring for her husband, Andy, who was diagnosed with cancer in November 2023. He was hospitalized three times and had four surgeries due to the chemo. Andy has recovered enough and is again teaching piano and giving concerts.
Dick and Nancy Higdon Morgan along with Hugh Dawkins, M.Ed. ’71 and wife Kathy; Carol Berger Bricker; Bob Bricker ’67; Linda “Robbie” Robbins, M.L.A. ’76; and Dave Buller constituted the 55th Reunion attendees. They sat at a special table at the Alumni Association Awards after Memorial Day weekend in 2024. It was held in Big Baker Chapel, which is now a multipurpose building with event spaces. In Severna Park, Maryland, Nancy and Dick enjoy traveling, boating, and especially, their eight grandchildren. They get together regularly with Jim King, Amy Lewis King, Earl Dietrich, Carol Harris Dietrich ’70, Rick Coburn and wife Mary, Jeff Willis and wife Linda, and Pete Markey. Pete’s wife, Carol, passed away in August 2024. She wasn’t a WMC alum, but she was a dear friend to many alumni. Carol, even though in hospice, celebrated her last birthday by cruising with the group across the Chesapeake Bay to lunch and back to the Morgans’ house to continue the get-together.
Howard Russock and Christine retired to scenic New Milford, Connecticut. He stopped part-time teaching during COVID-19. Howard still serves on the town’s conservation commission and the local synagogue’s board of trustees. Since he last wrote, they’ve been to Israel and Iceland. When they went to Eastern Europe, they visited Prague, Krakow, Budapest, and Auschwitz. Howard had both hips replaced in 2024. He added that his mother died at age 102. With his older brother gone, he is the “last man standing” in his birth family.
Cynthia Groves Miles says she has “traveled, loved, learned, and lost and still finds life wondrous.” She has a studio, The Painting Room, and home in Cambridge, Maryland.
Harry Collins emailed from Hawaii, where he was on their annual “Pilgrimage to Paradise” celebrating their 38th anniversary and Linda’s retirement as head of operations for a major midstream energy company. He’s still in Houston “working and fighting in the international energy and commodities arena.” He will continue “as long as the game remains fun.” Harry lets the younger folks in the firm do the traveling since he believes “125 countries and 5 million-plus air miles is enough for one lifetime.” Their five children and spouses plus 17 grandchildren keep him busy. Linda and Harry enjoy ’60s and ’70s rock-and-roll cruising.
On Super Bowl Sunday in 2022, Bill and I, Brenda Chayet Morstein, drove to a car dealership in Northern Virgnia and bought a 20-plus-year-old hardtop convertible. There was a complication. The top stopped working. The dealership did offer to take the car back and reimburse us for a modest fee. Instead, Bill spent a month sourcing a part that is no longer made and finding mechanics who would do the job. The top now works. We take joy in driving it on warms days in March through October. Quoting Pat Wilkinson Vandry, Bill and I have “turned into old folks.” No longer traveling due to physical issues, instead, we putter about. I supplemented our grandchildren’s Hebrew lessons by tutoring them in 2023. Now, I’m tasked with taking our granddaughter to the synagogue’s cantor, the director of liturgical prayer and song, for tutoring as her bas mitzvah is coming up. For our 56th anniversary, we tried something slightly different. We had A5 Wagyu ribeye at a local Korean barbecue restaurant.
I wanted to thank the Reunion committee — Hugh Dawkins, M.Ed. ’71; Dick Morgan; Linda “Robbie” Robbins, M.L.A. ’76; Steve Davis; Linda Pritchard Greene; Lin Lin Chen Herbert; Carol Berger Bricker; and Phil Riggin — for trying to get us together for our 55th. It was interesting sharing our outreach efforts. I wish all of us better luck for our 60th!
Brenda Chayet Morstein1969 Class Reporter
