1946

NO Class correspondent:

Posted 10/31/17

We are sad to report that Ada Zellner Flower passed away on October 2, 2017.

Posted 8/3/17

We are sad to report that Ann Rosenau Smythe passed away on July 9, 2017.

Posted 10/31/16

We are sad to report that Ann Root Meyer passed away on July 10, 2016.  Ann was a drama major and was voted May Queen in her senior year.  She had an outstanding, lively and thoughtful personality.  Ann was an active volunteer and public servant her entire life; beginning with helping the war effort, as a young woman, including the Red Cross, through the Vietnam War.  Ann served on many private and national business and political committees, was elected and re-elected to the Oakland School Board as well as running for Congress in 1963.

Posted 3/29/16

We are sad to report that Karl Bregenzer passed away on February 17, 2016.
We are sad to report that Frances Tallarico Buragino passed away on March 27, 2016.

Posted 2/19/16

We are sad to report that Barbara Dalton Goodman passed away on October 10, 2015.

Posted 3/31/15

Finally on the mend after a fall down steps in December while in Missouri for the holidays. I did feel more like myself by the end of January. Full steam ahead, I thought, when I managed to pick up a virulent cold that lasted all of February. I am fine now, though noticeably slower.
I was able to attend a delightful alumni get together in Sarasota at the home of Ben Meluskey ’60. He was a great host and generously opened his lovely home to us. President Bryon Grigsby ’90 was there and told us much about the advancements of the school's programs, and about the students. It was a good visit.
While I was in Missouri during the holidays, I stayed with my younger daughter, Heather. We all attended my granddaughter, Samantha's graduation, where she received her Master's degree in Math. She led the class scholastically, and after her first year of teaching was named teacher of the year. Meanwhile my grandson, Henry, had just moved back to St. Louis from California, where he continues his position as audio engineer for the California firm, working from home. He has enrolled in the Master's program at the University of Missouri, St. Louis.
Back here in Bradenton, I continue attending the opera, theater and concerts with my friends. My daughter Linda and her husband live around the corner, and have a little pup that is dropped off occasionally, so I do get in lots of long walks with the little fellow. Linda and Bill and I play an afternoon of scrabble each week and we go out for lunch once a week.
When I read of the winter weather up north and in the mid-west, especially this year, I am doubly grateful to be living here in sunny Florida. And finally, I am expecting Ann Root Meyer to visit in the fall. She has promised to come, as we are long overdue for a reunion!

Posted 11/21/14

We are sad to report that Ileen Geiss Birnbaum passed away on November 16, 2014.

Posted 8/27/14

We are sad to report that William Smythe passed away on July 28, 2014.

Posted 7/1/14

We are sad to report that Martha Meixell Danner passed away on May 27, 2014.

Posted 5/30/14

L. Barbara Shepherd writes:  This has been a good year.  After some health issues that almost did me in, I rallied with the help of a great doctor, and the ministrations of daughter, Heather, a super nurse, who literally put me back on my feet.  Grandson, Henry, graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston and is now working in a film company in California. He was a double major he dubs all the audible sounds in films and TV shows.  Granddaughter, Samantha, is teaching math at a magnet school in St. Louis.  She tested in the top 15% in math in the country and loves her job.  Here in Florida, I continue to live in my own home, drive, and safely, for my children test me every six months.  I am no longer on any of the opera and library boards and committees, but do go out to attend functions and performances.  I belong to a group of seven lively widows, and we keep active socially.  We also keep an eye on each other and make sure that all are ok.  My daughter, Linda, lives just around the corner, now retired as is her husband, Bill.  We get together for lunch and an afternoon of scrabble once a week.  It is good for all three of us, and we grant no quarter.  We are highly competitive!  A highlight of my life is when Ann Meyer and I are on the phone catching up on the news.  We have hours long conversations.  I regret that we can no longer attend alumni weekends, but we are all over the map, and travel is difficult now for many.  Too, the void left by those who are gone would not be happy.  For the rest of us – the memories remain, and they ARE happy.

Posted 9/26/13
We are sad to report that Robert M. Rights passed away on September 5.
Posted 2/5/13

We are sad to report that Margery Stroman Kocher passed away on January 2.

Posted 12/4/12

Ada Zellner Flower; 834 Hilltop Road; Oyster Bay, NY 11771
We are sad to report that Doris Kutz Close Raleigh passed away on November 23, 2012.

Posted 7/30/12

From the Alumni Office:
We are sad to report that Jean Mandell Litow passed away on July 10, 2012.

Posted 2/29/12

From Ada:

Dear Friends,
Sad news: Dorothy (Dotty) Wilmer Schlottman has died.  She suffered from Alzheimers disease.  Her husband, Al, described Dotty’s lovely final resting place on Whidbey Island, WA.  Mary Fulton Harrison and Dotty were special friends.  I have expressed other sympathy to Al.  
2011 was a good year for Ann Rosenau Smythe and her husband Bill Smythe.  They enjoyed good health, family, friends, and good memories.  Son, Bill, directs weekly sing-a-longs at the Smythe’s residence.  Ann says everyone enjoys, especially since most of the songs are pre 1950.
Jane Sullivan Ramsdell ’44 was nursing an injured arm in October 2011 but was busy with her family.  She comments on how quickly the years have flown since 1946!
Phyllis Kreider says “Hello” to everyone.  She is retired from a med tech job at a local hospital.  She is part of an organic food coop and is almost a vegetarian.  She teaches and participates in exercise classes.  Phyllis urges us all to keep our minds and bodies in balance and to think positively.  It sounds like a good idea to me!
Frank and I are ever S L O W E R!  We participate in Swimnastics sessions.  Our volunteer work is diminished but we keep active.  Our local family is a blessing.

Posted 1/31/12

From the Alumni House:
We regret to announce that Dorothy Wilmer Schlottman passed away on October 31, 2011.

Posted 11/2/11

From the Alumni House:
We regret to inform you that Patricia Herrity Burrows passed away on Friday October 21, 2011.

Posted 9/30/11

From the Alumni House:

We are sad to report that Frank Donchez passed away on September 10, 2011.

From Ada:

Ann Root Meyer is the vibrant, active person we remember from college days. She volunteers at her church office and thrift shop. She also is involved in a charitable fund to benefit military families. She travels to visit her children and in the summer of 2011 met old high school friends in Philadelphia. Lunch with friends, and lots of bridge (no surprise there) keep her busy.

JoAnn Farquhar Riepen is widowed. She continues to live in her home in Cherry Hill, N.J and is surrounded by her children (3 sons), 9 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. One granddaughter teaches at a Head Start facility. One son and grandson sail on oil tankers and another grandson is a police officer. JoAnn keeps busy creating lovely needlework gifts for her family.

Eve de Paolis Johnson’s husband died during the summer of 2011. She care for him during a year of ill health. She plans to stay in her home in Piscataway, NJ. Eve has Lyme’s disease which at times causes exhaustion and pain. But, like the trooper she is, Eve visits her daughter in Boston and her local relatices. Eve played in “On Golden Pond” and in three productions of “Driving Miss Daisy”.

Ann Rosenau and Bill Smythe are very comfortable and well cared for in their assisted living apartment in Omaha, Nebraska. Son Bill and his wife live nearby and are available to help Ann and Bill. When we chatted in September 2011, Bill and Ann were enjoying a good year health wise compared to a tough 2010. They enjoy family visits. Ann wishes she had an oven so she could bake cookies! She and Bill have 12 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.

Margaret Kuehn Buhrig lives in a small house in Los Altos, CA. She can walk to the village for all her needs. She’s 85 but feels like 16 (lucky her!) She’s been widowed for 21 years. One daughter is an Engineer with Boeing. The other girl is stay at home Mom with 4 children. Music is Margaret’s passion. She was to sing in Mozart’s Requiem on 9/11. She has sung in Carnegie Hall several times. An elaborate rose garden keeps her busy.

Posted 2/28/11

From Ada:
Dear friends,
       First a huge thank you to Marge Stroman Kocher, Marian Emig Hoffman, Ann Root Meyer, and Ann Rosenau Smythe. They included me (us) in their Christmas mailings in 2010.
       Marge’s Christmas message included pictures of her three sweet great grandchildren, making her daughters grandmothers. How can that be?!
       From Marian Hoffman the message is “Blessed Be the Tie that Bonds our Hearts in Christian Love.” Amen to that! Marian walks a mile most days and exercises in a pool. She writes: “My days are filled with inspirational and physical nourishment, knitting, reading, working Sudoku, working jigsaw puzzles, and attending social events offered on the campus.” Marian also is a grandmother.
       Ann Root Meyer has been out of the loop re: class notes. The current system of publishing class notes baffles me, too, Ann! She is “upright” and volunteers at church and in the military, plays bridge, and “socializes.” She is godmother to Barbara Shepherd’s children. They visit via phone regularly.
       Ann and Bill Smythe have adapted well to their assisted living facility. They have had physical problems but “bounce back.” Ann misses her kitchen but admits enjoying having someone prepare their food and clean the apartment. There are many activities and programs there for them to enjoy. Her son, Bill, lives close by. He visits regularly and they visit in his home. Ann and Bill’s children, grandchildren, and now great grandchildren visit them as well.
       It is early February, and Frank and I are almost house bound because of the mountains of snow and icy surfaces. We traveled via small cruise boats in the Erie Canal System and then up and down the Hudson River. Both trips were a pleasure. The big event of 2010 for us was celebrating 60 years of marriage. Where has the time gone?!
       Can any of you attend the Moravian College Reunion events on May 20 and 21, 2011? I will plan to attend if anyone else from the class of 1946 can make it.

 

Posted 1/26/11

From the Alumni House:
We are sad to report that Nondas Halkias passed away August 31, 2010.

Posted 10/6/10

From the Alumni House:
          Barbara Shepherd writes, “All the properties have been sold in our business and life is good!  Daughter Linda and I took a wonderful road trip in July, doing Orkney Springs in VA, the beautiful Skyline Drive, Biltmore Estate in NC, with daughter Heather in MO, explored parts of Il., Tenn, and back home.  Over 3,000 miles. Glorious time.  In August, Heather and grandson Henry visited.  Henry is a student at Berklee College of Music in Boston, and was able to visit with us before the start of the fall semester, after studying and working all summer.  All is well.”

Posted 8/4/10

From the Alumni House:
We received an email from Sharon, the daughter of Patricia Duckworth Brown. Patricia  is At Foulkways retirement community in Gwynedd, Pa. She would love to hear from any of her classmates from the graduating class of 1946. Her email is Whitebearbrown@aol.com

Posted 12/1/09

From Ada:

Jane Sullivan Ramsdell ’44 writes that she and Robert have decided to limit their travels to one day outings.  This is after having made eleven trips to Europe!  They are still in their home and she says, “Our health is still rather good.”
I had a telephone visit with Martha Meifell Danner.  She is currently in the health center at Stone Bridge in Skillman, N.J.  She is recovering from hip and back fractures.  She is anxious to get out and about.
Marian Emig Hoffman has been traveling all over, attending family celebrations.  She enjoyed a recent trip to a glass factory.  Summer reading has been “Guloy Archipelago” and “One Story in The Life of Ivan Denisovitch.”  She quotes Solzhenitsyn:  “Earthly existence lies not so much as we have grown used to thinking, in prospering but in the development of the soul.”
In August, Bill and Ann Smythe moved to an assisted living apartment.  After several falls and hospitalizations, they decided to live where meals are served, there is no cleaning and laundry, help and above all, an RN is on duty 24/7.  It was a tough move because they were leaving an area where they had made new friends since their move to Nebraska. 
A bright spot for them was a family gathering of children, grand children, great grand children, Ann’s brother and spouses.  They met at the Rake of the Ozarks, in southern Missouri. 
Grace Keeler Hodge’s husband, Dave, wrote of Grace’s last days.  She suffered a mild stroke as they were traveling home to Bradenton, Fl.  Grace wanted to be near family, so they moved to Tucson, Az.  After a massive stroke, Grace died on January 20, 2009.  Their sons, Peter and Jon, and their families have been a great help.  Some of Grace’s ashes will be spread on Chautauqua Lake.  I remember Grace as an active, charismatic lady. 
Ileen Birnbaum and Dave would like to see their great grandson in California but find long distance travel is a bit much.  They enjoy many activities close to home at Moravian, Lafayette and Lehigh.  They continue their meals on wheels delivery service, a 40 mile jaunt!  They have been doing this for 30 years.  I can imagine how much the clients enjoy seeing Ileen and Dave’s friendly faces.
In August, Frank, my brother, and I traveled on a tour to and around the Canadian Maritimes; Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick.  That area is lovely.  We did, however, experience Hurricane Bell in all it’s fury at Peggy’s Cove.  I especially liked Prince Edward Island.  I found the sad story of the disbursement of the Acadians to be a sad example of “man’s inhumanity to man.”

 

Posted 6/29/09

From Ada:

Verna Ivins Thoms died on June 24, 2008.  We have expressed our sympathy to her family.

Marian Emig Hoffman continues to enjoy her new independent living home in Indiana.

Ann and Bill Smythe say they have slowed down a bit (Haven’t we all!) but nonetheless are busy visiting and being visited by family.  They now have a great grandson Alex, who has been adopted from Russia by one of their granddaughters.

Barbara Shephard learned during a phone visit that Ann Root Meyer was to have cataract surgery.  Ann plays lots of bridge and enjoys many activities with her friends.  As of 12/2008 Barbara’s real-estate units were down to one condo and a triple which is on the list of the Historic Register in Bradenton.  She has gutted the property and restored it to its original 1916 charm.  She is enjoying the many activities of her children and her grandchildren. 

In February 2009 Ileen Whitehead Birnbaum has already begun her seeding to plant in their large garden.

Frank and went on a cruise in March. It was a small ship sailing on the St. John’s River in Northeastern Florida. We enjoyed stops at the small towns along the river.

Dear friends, don’t forget to include me in your Christmas mailings.

Posted 4/20/09

From Ada:

Barbara Shepherd and her son had a realty management company that bought distressed properties, fixed them up, and rented them. Shep has moved to Atlanta to accept an offer too good to turn down. Barbara is in the process of selling the properties so that she can retire. She says she has never been busier in her life—or worked harder. She is looking forward to again attending opera, theater, and ballet. She continues on the board of the library and is active in the symphony and opera guild. She says Bradenton is a wonderful place to live. Barbara was proud to attend the graduation of her youngest grandchild from Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan.

Marian Enig Hoffman has a new address in Warren, Indiana. She finds her new home, near her son, to be a lovely relaxing place. Her whole family gathered in Massachusetts in October to attend the wedding of a granddaughter.

In July, Frank, my brother, and I enjoyed an Elderhostel-sponsored cruise on Lake Michigan, with stops at various cities and islands on the lake. We enjoyed the lectures and field trips that are typical of Elderhostel travel.

In August we enjoyed a week-long gathering of most of our family in Ashville, North Carolina.