Class Notes & In Memoriam

Class Notes

1957

Barbara Little Stephens is retired from teaching college and high school. She is now politically active, being president of a Republican club and on the executive committee of the Republican Party in Pi-nells County. She is teaching Bible study at her church. She lives close to her active daughter in Seminole, Florida, which is on the Gulf. She somewhat sees her grandchildren who live all over the U.S. She actively exercises, walking. “I love Earlham and so appreciate the fine edu-cation, which I received there. In getting advanced education. I have attended two universities since Earlham, and Earlham by far provided the best education. I was blessed to have had the chance to have attended Earlham!”

1961

Jan Kem: I miss the print edition of the Earlhamite as I could keep track of all the classes, obituaries and even the contribu-tions of familiar names, but the computer format does at least blend the obits with the updates. I am still in the Portland, Oregon, area and staying active. My most recent trip was 8,000 miles by car to and from Rochester, New York, for a family gathering with a short stay in Richmond to see the family home, the high school and EC before heading on west. I still bike to the donut shop weekly, weather permitting, but am dropping the dragon boats. Ron Wesner ’60 is the principal contact I still have locally. I Zoom with the Friends Meeting in Richmond, and it is good to see other EC and even RHS friends. I also correspond by email with John Schattyn ’61, Janet Trueblood Kem ’61 and others. The class reunion by Zoom last year was good but too few class members were there!

1968

Gail Davis: Retired from elementary education with a specialization in dis-ordered language, followed by 20 years as an administrative assistant in the graduate Faculty of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Hobbies include “lampwork” glass (making glass beads and small sculptures), clogging, reading, crocheting, knitting and golfing. Living in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia with my partner of 27 years, Ross Turner, is a gift. British Columbia is the most beautiful and diverse province of Cana-da. Ah, if only we could travel! Awaiting my new EC email address: [email protected].

1970

Christine Fukui: I am finally completely retired! First in 2009 from Kaiser Per-manente (pulmonary critical care) after 29-plus years and then from Tripler Army Medical Center after 11 years (sleep medicine). After the pandemic shut down all the gyms, I started walking in my neighborhood with my black Lab, Cleo, and I enjoy it so much I have not returned to the gym. United Methodist Women activities and working in our church thrift shop also keep me busy. My husband and I enjoy cruising on Regent and I enjoy local theatre and opera. Honolulu also has fabulous food and restaurants; you should consider a visit! Hope to see everyone in person at our 50th reunion this fall!

1972

Wilson Palmer: Last October John Slavich ’72, in consultation with Dave Stump ’72, organized an April 2022, Zoom call with members of the varsity and JV teams who were around in 1972 when the Earlham volleyball team was successful enough to make it to NAIA national tournament. Here is John’s summary: “Members of the men’s volleyball team had a Zoom call 50th reunion to catch up and reminisce regarding their May 1972 trip led by Coach Jack Bailey to the NAIA national volleyball tournament in Lamoni, Iowa. Those joining in the call were Dave Stump, Hadley Jenner ’72, Craig Bejnar ’72, Wilson Palmer ’72, and John Slavich; John Wagner ’73, Tom Wylie ’73, and Brad Nichols ’73; and Harold Houghton ’ 74.” Ahead of the Zoom call, John also encouraged us to write a short summary about what we have been doing for the past 50 years. Ten did so, in varying de-tail. These email writers included most of those listed above, plus Eric Blossom ’73 and John Webb ’74.

1973

Kendra Biddick: I retired from the F.D.A. in 2016 and then walked the Camino with a changing suite of Camino families from Guadix, Spain—five days east of Granada—to Merida then north through Salamanca, Zamora and Ourense to San-tiago de Compostela, an unforgettable trip on many levels. I’ve become an artist and traveler. I work mostly in wet felting, but also love painting, figure drawing and ceramics. I’m just sorry it took me so long to discover this love of making. I’m also working on converting my yard to a bird sanctuary full of native plants for all seasons. Until COVID I traveled much more than I could when I was working, and loved both traveling to Africa with other Earlham alums and traveling alone in Europe and the U.S. I’m preparing for my first solo show, which will be held December 2022 at the McLean Textile Gallery in McLean, Virginia.

Christopher Kuechmann: As I noted earlier, I lost my wife, Gloria, on the day after Easter in 2016. This was due to pneumonia and sepsis. On Dec. 31, 2017, which would have been our 25th wed-ding anniversary, a small (at the time) black cat showed up at my apartment door. I named her Gloria after my wife. I miss my Gloria, but I have compensa-tion with my cat. I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2015. I spent five weeks at Methodist Hospital in the Medical Center in San Antonio begin-ning Nov. 1, 2015, at which time I had my gall bladder taken out. My surgeon was excellent. He had to do it the traditional way, which left me with an 8-inch scar on my front side. He had to go in twice to complete the removal. I’d say that he saved my life and I am very grate-ful. My neurologist noted in 2018 that he did not think that I actually had Parkinson’s Disease. This turned out to be a great relief. In the May 2018 election, I ran at large for the Val Verde County Hospital Board. I came in next to last. I am running again this year again in the May 2022 election. This time I am run-ning only for the County Commissioner Precinct 1 position in which I live. My opponent who is the incumbent is a doctor and has been on the Hospital Board for eight years. He has stated that if he is re-elected that this would be his last four-year term. I am writing this note on the day before the election, which means that I will know whether I am elected or not tomorrow night. Chances look better for getting elected this time. I am a strong proponent for giving back to the area where I live. Getting elected would fulfill this priority. Whether I am elected or I am not elected, I am fine either way. I think of Del Rio as my ad-opted home town now. I have lived here longer (12½ years) than any other place in my entire life. The apartment where I live is the same one that we first moved into in November 2009. I like living here very much, especially in the winter. We are also right on the Mexican border. Del Rio lies 150 miles west of San Antonio. Should anyone come through this area at any time, please don’t hesitate to call. I would love to see other Earlhamites coming through. We are also on the way to Big Bend National Park. My land-line telephone number is 830-422-2189. My cellphone telephone number is 830-308-9377. My email address is [email protected]. Should you come through and wish to meet in person, I would be very happy to give you the additional needed information. I am 72 years old now, but I have been feeling great. I am doing my part so that this may continue. I hope to connect with one or more Earlhamites very soon.

1973

Elizabeth McMahon: Spoke on Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Phobias at the Anxiety & Depression Association of America’s conference in Denver, my first in-person conference since COVID! My most recent book is Virtual Reality Therapy for Anxiety: A Guide for Therapists (2022, Routledge). In 2019, OvercomingAnxietyand Panic interactive Guide was published (Hands-On-Guide). Slate’s Jan. 11 “How To!” podcast featured me on overcoming phobias. And as a pro bono contribution to the fight against COVID, I created free, evidence-based training on treating needle fears open to psychotherapists worldwide at www.SVRT.org.

1975

Mary Barkalow: I continue to work at Gandara Mental Health, where I have been for many years. I am a minority, as almost all of the clients and staff are Puerto Rican! I also have a recent new position as medical director for two sis-ter agencies, Latino Counseling Center and African Diaspora Mental Health. Again, I am a minority but grateful to be embraced by all three. George ’74 & I just recently returned from a trip to Cos-ta Rica. He grew up there and has family there. We had an excellent trip, and George was able to do photography in the rain forest. I enjoyed Earlham Day.

Melissa Graf-Evans: Jon and I are just back from Beit Sahour, a Palestinian Christian town near Bethlehem, where residents live under Israeli military occupation. We volunteered for two months with the Siraj Center, an ex-periential tourism organization which has helped us in the past with our group trips to Israel and Palestine. Check out the Siraj Center website for some great options to hike or bike or tour the area and meet local people along the way. We savored time with both new and old friends dating back to our first stint in Jerusalem from 1992-1997. It (practi-cally) goes without saying that we are already planning our next trip! It is not easy—but oh, so important—to observe firsthand the ongoing challenges and frustrations which consistently hamper daily life for those living under the Oc-cupation. We encourage those who are able to go and see.

Mark Ward retired June 30, 2021, after 17 years as lead minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, North Carolina. Preceding that, he spent 25 years in newspaper journalism in Charleston, West Virginia and Milwau-kee, Wisconsin. He continues to reside in Asheville with his wife, Debbie.

Randall Wisehart: I’m finishing up a year back at my old job as interim director of Graduate Programs in Education at Earl-ham. Last year, with my sisters, I wrote a book about the life of my mom includ-ing some of her favorite recipes and am proud it is keeping her memory alive for friends and family. Also, my next histor-ical fiction novel about the early days of the Whitewater Valley will be published this winter by the Indiana Historical Press after a couple of pandemic delays. I’m looking forward to getting back to two writing projects, one fiction and one about the Earlham M.A.T. Program. We still live in Richmond with our retired greyhounds but are spending winters in Gulf Shores at our condo.

1976

Rick Burian: Thank you to those who participated in Earlham Day and made a contribution to the college. A special shout out to Karen Crossen ’76 and Jeff May ’75 for the giving challenge for our class and the class of 1975. Also the gifts from all of you to the Class of 1976 45th Reunion fund are much appreciated. By the time this is published I will likely be back from a trip to Namibia with other EC alums and friends. This has been and will continue to be a year full of travel around the world as I make up for oportunities lost over the past two years. Looking forward to connecting with our class through our Facebook group and upcoming reunions, in person or virtual.

Tom LeGrand: I have finally “mostly” retired at the end of 2021, after serving as president of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) for the last four years. I pre-viously retired from my professor post at the Université de Montréal in 2018. I am slowly phasing out my last work activities—cochairing the dissertations of three last Ph.D. students, occasional committee work for the IUSSP and I’m still on two research center boards. Throughout my career, my work has focused on French West Africa: training about 30 Ph.D. students and postdocs, collaborative research, working to develop the capacity of a research center in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) and, for the IUSSP, participating in research/pol-icy activities plus overseeing an Interna-tional Population Conference and many research seminars. I am living in Montre-al with my wife Marie-Helene (who I met in France while studying at Earlham) and our aging mutt, Sophie, and we often see our daughter Anna who lives nearby. I’ve been looking forward to full retirement and turning the page and developing new activities: volunteer work with environ-mental or animal protection groups, taking vegetarian cooking classes, becoming luent in Spanish by taking intensive classes in Mexico and just spending time living abroad and seeing old friends. However, the COVID pandemic has put everything on hold for now. All of my international work trips over the past two years were transformed into Zoom meetings and, like many Canadians, we remain hunkered down at home, waiting for the last COVID variant to get under control and for the health system to gain some much-needed breathing room. With luck, we’ll be able to restart our lives later this spring, starting with a work trip to Washington D.C. and then longer stays in either Mexico or France. I remain in contact with several Earl-hamites—especially Barbara Howard ’78, Mark Kanazawa ’76, Jeff Taggart ’76 and Kevin Lee ’76—and would love to hear from others if you have the chance. My personal email is [email protected].

1977

David Burkhart: Finally taking the plunge into retirement with last official day being July 31, 2022, after 41 years of medicine, with the last 21 years as a physician at the IU student Health center in Bloomington, Indiana. My wife Chris will continue part time work as a pediatrician doing diagnostic testing of children with suspected Autism, and some administrative work for a plasma donation center. And after finishing the first major house remodel of our marriage, we are still speaking to each other! The kids finally are out on their own now, Bekah as a speech pathologist, and Joseph still in academia in informat-ics and archeology. Looking forward to some travel, if COVID cooperates, and hopefully reconnecting with friends made over the years but seldom seen. Looking forward to 50-year high school reunion and 45-year EC reunions com-ing up this fall—going to be weird seeing all those old people and realizing that they are us!

Liza Donnelly’s newest book was pub-lished in March 2022. Called Very Funny Ladies: The New Yorker’s Women Cartoon-ists, 1925-2022 (Prometheus Books, Rowman and Littlefield), it is a history of the women who drew—and draw—for The New Yorker. Liza continues to draw and write for The New Yorker.

Jane Sullivan-Davis is enjoying her second year of retirement in 2022 after 39 years with Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ; 18 of those years in Latin America and 21 years directing the development office. She and husband Bo spend significant time in Houston, Texas, with daugh-ter Sadie Sullivan-Davis ’07, Sadie’s husband Drew McGavran, and their daughters Lily (2) and Heidi (5 months). Sadie is a mental health therapist with a community clinic system. When home in Indiana, Jane enjoys spending time with Cristina ’11, who is an early childhood educator at the Indianapolis Jewish Community Center.

1979

Lars Gingery: Recently relocated to Port-land, Oregon, and retired from DePaul University. The Pacific Northwest has agreed with us so far. My partner and I have been volunteering for a bicycle advo-cacy org here and developing an affinity for the 10-month growing season.

1984

Martha Henn: Not much new to report in a Class Note but I do want to give a shout out to EC 1984 for climbing to the top spot for participation on the Earlham Day 2022 leaderboard. We ended the day with more donors than any other class, a continued testament to our fantastic cohort. Thanks for all you do, and I am happy to connect with anyone, if there is some assistance I can provide as Class Chair.

Jonathan Stolley: I am in my third year working as a nurse at Birch Bay Retire-ment Village in Bar Harbor, Maine. As part of my nursing position, I am caring for a couple Earlham alumni who reside at the retirement center.

1985

David Winter: After a total of 18 years at NIH, I’ve jumped ship to become a proj-ect manager at the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). Still a part of Health and Hu-man Services, it’s the civilian equivalent or DARPA—it addresses health security risks to the U.S., be they natural or man-made. I manage our partnership with a network of 13 business accelerators across the country that focus on support-ing early stage development of innova-tive projects. It’s really exciting to see life-saving ideas move from the bench to the clinic. And BARDA really is the Cool Kids’ table at Nerd High. Soooo geeky! I’d been planning on retiring at NIH in another year. Now I’m having so much fun that I have no idea when I’ll retire!

1994

Sara Gelser Blouin, an Oregon State Senator, received the Carl Levin Award for Legislative Oversight in December. The Carl Levin Award is a national award established to promote bipartisan, fact-based oversight and to recognize those legislators who conduct it. “Senator Gelser Blouin protected Oregon’s most vulnerable kids. Period,” said Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, who nominated Gelser Blouin for the award. “Her courage and strength to stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves deserves recognition. I’d like to congratu-late Senator Gelser Blouin and thank her for her courage and commitment to kids in foster care.”

1995

Patrick Garrett: After a 25-year career working for digital media and advertising agencies, I retired this past summer to launch my second career building a new company, DrinkCurious.com, in the bev-erage industry. DrinkCurious is a spin-off from my media company, Bourbon-Banter.com, and is focused on helping people explore the adult beverage world through curated events, education, and virtual/in-person tasting experiences. I’m finding myself returning to travel and hope to cross paths with fellow EC alums in the near future. If you’re someone who enjoys exploring the world of adult beverages, don’t hesitate to reach out and connect. I’m always looking to connect and meet up with other people looking to #DrinkCurious. Cheers!

2006

Katrina McQuail: It’s been another quiet year with no travel. Our family is fortunate in that we live on the same property with my parents, Fran (Fuson) ’ 74 and Tony McQuail. Which has been great in general, but extra wonderful with the arrival of our second pandemic baby in mid-summer 2021. I am still farming full time and working for Elec-tions Canada and Ontario when elec-tions are called. We keep up with other friends and family by video and phone calls. We’re looking forward to when we can gather together again.

2007

Alexandra Hagerty: I am currently the ship captain aboard the Hospital Ship Africa Mercy with over 70 nationalities onboard. We are preparing to bring doctors, nurses and teachers to Africa to provide free, life-changing surgeries for those in need. You can follow us on www.mercyships.org. Or donate to my nonprofit: www.CaptainsWithoutBor-ders.org. Come join us as a volunteer! We need people from all backgrounds!

2011

Eli Bobrowich is living in Boston and working full time as an R.N. for Mas-sachusetts General Hospital’s Trans-gender Health program. Being a nurse in a pandemic has been challenging, but rewarding. He is finishing up his master’s in nursing and hopes to be working as a family nurse practioner in primary care. He and his partner, Maxie, are enjoying the challenges of feline negotiations as their cats start to tolerate one another.

2014

Emily Bell-Hoerth has spent the past two years recovering from multiple traumatic brain injuries, which have caused her to leave her job as a camp director and teacher. In happier news, she married Nicky Sontag ’16 in De-cember of 2021.

Charlie Boyd received his master’s degree in nursing from the University of San Francisco in December after a career change and was recently accept-ed in the nurse residency program at University of California San Francisco in their general surgery department. He loves living in the bay, continues to enjoy the outdoors through running and bird watching, and is always open to Earlhamite visitors! Reach out to say hello.

Angelica DeSimio: My wife, Hannah, (Scout) and I are happily expecting a new addition to our family this fall! Baby DeSimio is expected to make her appearance in late September. Chicken the dog and Rao the cat will be great big sisters, and we’re excited for the adventures that await us. If you’re ever passing through Kansas City, let me know!

Justin Garlitz: I am currently living in Manhattan, Illinois, and working on a FEMA response team based in Chicago. Outside my day-to-day role of personnel management, I’ve gotten involved in climate adaptation/resilience and national service alumni groups at FEMA. Brian Forman ’14, Elliot Kramer ’14 and I are still going on outdoor adventures, with the latest being to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan last summer. In my free time I’ve been cross-country skiing, kayaking and competing in bar trivia with friends.

Taylor Jeromos: The last six months have seen much change in my life, with one of the happiest being my marriage to Lauren Haskins! We also bought a house in Buffalo, New York, so if you find yourself in the area, please reach out. Sending all Earlhamites good vibes.

Anja Kresojevic Kordic: I’m working as a university counselor at United World Col-lege – Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Natalie Reitz will attend Temple University in Philadelphia in the fall to pursue a master’s in media studies and production. She hopes to use her degree to tackle issues around fake news and to better educate the public on how to think critically about the media they consume. If you’re an Earlhamite working in the film industry, she’d love to connect with you about upcoming projects!

Ellen St. Romain: Hey everyone! I’m living in Austin, Texas with my husband, our dog, and 5 chickens. I recently started working for Texas Parks and Wildlife as a geographic information systems (GIS) analyst. The job is great, life is good and I get to do a lot of gardening and yoga in my free time. Living the dream. Reach out if you’re ever in the area!