CLASS OF 1975 | 2018 | ISSUE 1
Class of 1975 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship
Carolina A. Montano ’21, Homestead, FL
Apologies to Steve McCarthy! Somehow the cybersphere routed into oblivion the emails he had sent me last fall. A bit belatedly, here is Steve’s news: “Aside from my usual investment and foundation work, I have been active with three ongoing creative endeavors: This is my 14th year as a mentor and judge for the NYU/Stern $300K business plan competition. During every month of the school year a team of 25 to 30 coaches, in conjunction with faculty, conduct workshops on developing and executing formalized pitches across three ‘silos’—traditional, technology, and social impact. It’s very interesting and rewarding. During my past 17-plus years as president of a small ’virtual’ nonprofit theater company (shakingthetree.org), my colleagues and I have written 14 one-act plays about family dynamics in business, wealth management, and philanthropy. We work with artistic directors and actors from LookingGlass Theater in Chicago and Alley Theater in Houston to deliver the pieces live. Over the past six years I have been a partner and executive producer on several iconic (90-minute) corporate and individual biopics/documentaries—Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf, Crazy About Tiffany’s, Harry Benson: Shoot First (all available on download). We at Quixotic Endeavors (QE) have several other projects in various stages of completion for The Carlyle Hotel and Norman Rockwell.”
I received a call from my almost-neighbor, Dennis Chin, who lives in Sonoma County. It was great to catch up with him and hear about his semi-retirement. He’s continuing to work and teach in orthopedic surgery part-time, while keeping up with the nine kids (almost all on their own now). We’re hoping to get together this spring.
Janet Bradlow and her husband, Joseph Schmitt, have moved. Joseph is retired, and Janet is semi-retired (emeritus agent with Prudential) and able to work anywhere with a phone, computer, and fax. So why not work from the beautiful beaches near Honeymoon Island State Park? Thus, they bought and renovated a condo in the Tampa/Clearwater/St. Petersburg area of Florida’s Gulf Coast. They discovered the downside of their view during Hurricane Irma, when water came through their balcony doors! The move put them close to Janet’s parents, now over 90. The whole family recently went on a cruise to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary. Janet couldn’t wait for the renovation project and move to be over but says, “I will miss NYC. I never lived anywhere else except when I was at Wesleyan.”
Janet let me know that Nancy Carol (Smith) Blemly passed away in November 2015, after a difficult battle with cancer that prevented her from attending our 35th and 40th Reunions. Nancy and Janet were friends from freshman year on. Nancy’s third husband, Mike Blemly, and her son, Ben Hamilton, from her second marriage, survive her. Janet fondly recalled attending Nancy’s first wedding, and Nancy attended Janet’s in 1999.
Arthur Gaither said, “Retired life is becoming more enjoyable. I spend time leading worship services at a small church and as backup babysitter for my granddaughter, Anaya, 4, who is my best buddy. I also handle the domestic stuff so Alfreda ’74 can continue to work for the State of Connecticut. We celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary on Nov. 25. Kinda scary. Shoutout to Andy Barnes in Arizona!“
I also heard from Jeff Cellars, who retired from the Foreign Service after spending 28 years as a diplomat in Hungary, Bahrain, Washington, Munich, Cyprus, Berlin, Belgrade, Bern, and NYC. Jeff said he and Bethanne, his wife of 38 years, were moving to Vermont. Not quite sure how he will keep busy in this new stage of life, but he has a children’s book in draft and is cooking up some other ideas
An evening with Wes alumni in San Francisco called “The Power of an Idea” brought out a few familiar faces. I didn’t see any classmates, but ran into Harold Sogard ’74, who is now retired and caught me up on the self-proclaimed “Born to Lose” suitemates who lived near us in Lawn Avenue dorms freshman year. Also got a chance to talk to Wendy Wheaton ’78 and Jon Nimer ’80.
I want to end with a shout-out to Brad Kosiba and Ed Van Voorhees (who just became a grandfather again!) for being the in loco parentis stops for our son and daughter as they made a January road trip from Massachusetts to Memphis, where Ethan was starting a six-month “co-op” work experience as part of his Northeastern University Mechanical Engineering program. I’m told the hospitality in Chapel Hill and Nashville was superb, and it was fun to share our kids with my longstanding, but rarely seen, friends.
As soon as you put this magazine down, please email and send me your news for the next issue. My deadline is a few weeks after the class notes arrive at your door.
Cynthia M. Ulman | cmu.home@cmugroup.com
860 Marin Drive, Mill Valley, CA 94941-3955