CLASS OF 1975 | 2019 | ISSUE 1
Class of 1975 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship
Carolina Montano ’21, Homestead, FL
Drum roll, please! Tom Wheeler retired for the third time—the last, he swears—in February 2018. He and Sondra ’79 may move nearer to children and five grandchildren once Sondra retires from teaching at Wesley Seminary, but for now, they drive to Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Tom’s busy working on projects with Quakers locally, nationally, and globally; reading, storytelling, taking art classes and visiting friends, including Steve Miller, Martha Meade ’76, and Dave Feldman ’73.
Rachel Adler Hayes only managed to stay retired for six months. Now she’s traveling the country doing sales training for a Massachusetts firm and trying to limit work to five-to-six days a month. She’s also engaged as VP of her synagogue, in the thick of a rabbi search. In June 2020, Rachel expects to become president of the 900-family congregation. Her summary? “Apparently I like being overbooked!”
Jill Rips takes advantage of retirement to visit Wesfriends. Finishing her public health career in reproductive health and HIV, Jill now works with refugees, and needle exchange. In November, she attended Carole Evans Sands’ daughter’s wedding and Nigerian engagement ceremony in New Hampshire. Carole, retired from a career in academic and community-based early childhood education, will visit Jill in San Antonio this spring while traveling the southern U.S. in a camper.
Check out Tracy Winn’s recent short stories, nominated for Best of the Net and a 2019 Pushcart Prize and posted at The Harvard Review and at Waxwing magazine.
From the “KO” section of Downey House mailboxes: Deb Kosich has been spending lots of time in Massachusetts, where her mother and her sister live. Brad Kosiba and Dorothy are enjoying Carolina life. With two sons nearby, the granddogs visit regularly. Brad is leading an expansion project for their Unitarian church, also keeping busy with gardening, beekeeping, and volunteer work. His mom passed away this winter after an extended period of declining health.
Charlie Stolper’s Facebook holiday letter included bittersweet cycle-of-life news. In 2018 Charlie’s son, Chad, got married shortly before his dad, Max, 93, died. Charlie and Christy caught up with their globetrotting daughter, Tory, in Austria (Max’s birthplace) for a cultural/family history adventure. They also enjoyed an Alaskan cruise last summer.
Dallas news: Ann Dallas used her education in design and liberal arts for a career in newspapers, but computers changed what papers could offer readers, then how news was consumed, and finally its ownership structure. Layoffs finally hit Ann a few years ago, so she’s figuring out what’s next. Ann and Dave (married 33 years) celebrated their son’s wedding “to a wonderful woman” last summer.
Joost Brouwer’s holiday letter announces that his three sons have lovely partners, and grandparenthood looms on the horizon in 2019. Eldest son, Martijn, based in Australia, got married in April. Joost and Emilie celebrated with the newlyweds in Canberra and the Netherlands. Younger sons, Sietse and Jelle, live in the Netherlands. All enjoy teaching and choral singing, interests they share with Emilie and Joost. Joost’s other passions are advocating for refugees and birdwatching.
Bruce Tobey practices municipal infrastructure law in Gloucester, Mass., but has spent “too much time traveling” on a two-year sabbatical embedded in a client’s wastewater technologies company. As former mayor, he is president of the nonprofit that is planning Gloucester’s 400th anniversary. Bruce’s and Pat’s four daughters hold four BAs, two MAs, and one doctorate-in-progress; two are married and have produced four grandchildren. Bruce’s main WesU connection is with his DKE brothers, whose hard work on the Kent Literary Society he admires.
No retirement for Jeff McChristian, who is continuing law practice in Avon, Conn., but conceding he’ll slow the pace a bit to allow more and longer travel with his wife, Pat. Recent years included cycling vacations in Croatia, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. The 2019 itinerary has the Cotswolds in spring (seeing Royal Shakespeare Company’s Taming of the Shrew in Stratford-on-Avon) and Spain’s Rioja wine region next fall. They also plan trips to visit son, Tyler, 31, in Steamboat Springs, and daughter, Erin, 28, in Greenville, S.C.
I caught up with Tom Kovar ’76 in December near his home in Florence, Mass., but missed hearing his band, The Retroverts, perform. We also spent an evening with Risa Korn, who in 2018 welcomed a new grandson in Boston, celebrated her daughter’s promotion at American Express in New York, and visited her youngest son doing his medical residency in Denver.
Bob and I have home improvement projects slated for 2019, looking forward to our daughter finishing her master’s in June, and paying our last tuition bills when our son graduates Northeastern next December.
Cynthia M. Ulman | cmu.home@cmugroup.com
860 Marin Drive, Mill Valley, CA 94941-3955