61 Greetings classmates!  It'a unusually cold here on the Oregon coast as I write this column. I suspect others of you have had the cold as well, which probably made for a memorable holiday season.  My husband Bill is retiring from 23 years of ministry the last Sunday in February 2014. When people ask what we are going to do, we say we don’t know, but first we must sell our home in Reedsport. We are contemplating going East to be near my daughter and family in Pennsylvania.  We’ve done the West and being history buffs we look forward to studying America’s roots and the Civil War or, as some southerners have called it “the recent unpleasantness with the North.”

 

Roger Williams (willrb@comcast.net) writes he’s a retired pathologist with a new address in Carmel, CA.  He summers on Bainbridge Island, WA where he occupies himself fly fishing for salmon in Puget Sound. He writes, "I recently published a book Tales from the Desert, available on Amazon.” Joanna McCully (The Villages, FL; joannacelticlady@aol.com) reports “My latest venture is 'Magic with Dogs'.  It is a personal dog caring service which I do from my home.  I have cared for well over 100 dogs.  I photograph each one and they become a part of my dog portfolio. Many breeds come to visit and I am able to identify almost all the breeds registered with the American Kennel Club.  This may not be of importance to many of you, but it is fun to be an expert on something! Last week I added two unique dogs to my list.  One was a new breed called a Brievar, named for its breeder, Mr. Brievar of Germany. The other is the national dog of Madagascar, called a Couton (French for cotton).  Would I be making this up?  You may never know.  Any dog lover or anyone with knowledge of any new or unknown breeds may e-mail me; I'd love to hear from you.  Eccentric yes, but at our advanced age it is allowable!”  She signs off, "Woof, Joanna."

Joe Santamaria, BArch '62 (Houston, TX) is a retired architect and enjoying not having to go to work every day. He writes, "I exercise regularly at the Briar Club, and it keeps me honest about my abilities to keep up with men and women who are 20-plus years older than me."  Joe and his wife, Nancy, have two sons, Jason and Eric, and love to travel to West Hartford, CT to see their two grandchildren, ages 5 and 3. " Interesting fact:  Our son married a Harvard grad, Kimberly Seidel, but both her parents are Cornellians.  In June 2005, when they got married, I took great pride in the fact that three of the four parents were Cornell grads!  Now, our grandchildren have three Cornell grandparents!  Hopefully there’s a legacy somewhere in there!”  I keep up with  my Alpha Sig brothers Ed Kavounas, Bruce Herbert, and Bob Allen, BArch '62.  We had a ‘mini-reunion’ in San Francisco in June, 2011, and had a great time!  Ed and Peggy Kavounas hosted Bruce and wife, Joyce, and Nancy and me at their place and we had a great time talking about the ‘old days’. We did a lot of great things in the Bay Area.”

Charles Hecht, LLB '63 (cjhecht@aol.com) wrote from New York City last summer that he is still practicing law full-time, specializing in complex litigation and securities transactions. "I am also an artist with studios in NYC and Beijing. Leslie Toepfer, my significant other for over 14 years, and I spent three weeks in Beijing and Nanjing, China, last year because I had a major art exhibition at the Nanjing Ink-Jeimo Gallery. We then did some sightseeing in Nanjing and Suzhou and the surrounding area. When we are in the US our spare time is focused on the six grandchildren we share between us. I regularly see Peter Greenberg. I am studying Chinese in Chinatown, and Peter's son Thomas Greenberg '91 and wife Daphne Liu '93 are in the same class with me. I also see Stephen Crane '60, JD '63, and a number of my classmates from Cornell Law School, but unfortunately had to miss Reunion to prepare for the art exhibition in Nanjing."

Tamara Greenberg Goell, MEd '63, (tgg2@cornell.edu) and her husband left California in 1992, lived in the Boston area for ten years, and have now moved back to the Bay Area. "We thought it was time to be near family.  We are now living in Foster City, just south of San Francisco, and our son - he never left - and his family are here. No more snow for us!"  Tamara keeps in touch with Marcia Kessler Weiss. "She and husband Ron live in New Hampshire. We saw them frequently when we lived in Lexington, MA.  I will miss her.”

Mary Ann Tower Rolland (wcrolland@yahoo.com) also has a new address in Penney Farms, FL.  She writes that her husband, William is deceased and she has moved to Penney Retirement Community near Jacksonville, FL. " It’s only been 3 weeks but have gotten ‘involved’ and have met many new friends.  I have been getting settled in my new ‘cottage’ and it feels a bit like going to college -- meeting new people, lots of activities and opportunities, etc...  Weather has been great and I’m using my car a lot less.  Guess I’m really retired now!  I hope to do some traveling.  Old Chi Gamma members are getting together in the  summers -- most recently in Philadelphia. Next reunion in Mexico?”

A very sad note:  Juliann "Jann" Powell Bidwell lost her battle with cancer last summer.  Her Kappa sorority sisters have lost a good friend and fondly remember how she arranged for returning sisters at our 50th reunion to be housed close together.  Keep writing your correspondents Susan Williams Stevens, sastevens61@gmail.com; Doug Fuss,dougout@attglogal.net. Online news form, http://www.alumni.cornell.edu/participate/class-notes.cfm.