CLASS OF 1985 | 2025 | SPRING ISSUE

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Welcome to 2025, our 40th Reunion year! I hope that you’re planning to come to Middletown in May. Here’s a bunch of good news to whet your reunion appetite:

Marcelo Halpern got married on October 26 to Tamara Chaplin, a professor of modern European history at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Representing the Wesleyan cohort were Jill Hamada and Jonathan Axelrad ’84.  Marcelo’s “kids,” Samantha (28–a cardiothoracic surgery resident at Massachusetts General) and Noah (26–a data scientist for a tech start-up in San Francisco) were there as well. He lives in Chicago, continuing his career as a partner at Perkins Coie LLP, focusing on technology transactions. Marcelo will miss the reunion this year, but before you feel too sorry for him, know that he’ll “be on an extended trip in Europe [taking] a three-month sabbatical from work.” Marcelo would love to hear from anyone in or passing through the Chicago area.

Beth Purnell Gartman will wrap up her 36th year as a school psychologist this summer and will “likely” work in educational consulting next. She recently moved to a new home in Atlanta near Emory, with a pool, great walking trails, and a nature preserve nearby, and a wonderful guest suite—she welcomes Wes visitors! Beth also sings in a community chorus and formed an a cappella group with colleagues who also sang in a cappella groups in college. She adds, “I keep in close touch with Jenny Henkind and Amy Hamburg Shir. We began a tradition of taking a yearly getaway together, which has been a great way to stay connected. Whether we are perusing art at a festival in Louisville, hiking in the woods, or downing oysters on the half shell, we have created memories and a closeness that we all cherish.” Beth also spent time with her children in Italy: “A true highlight … was a day trip from Siena through Tuscany, which included a three-hour meal at Officina della Bistecca in Panzano in Chianti. We not only savored every course but enjoyed the company of diners from all around the world who desired to experience a meal prepared by Dario Cecchini.”

Ken Haim wrote just after landing in Hong Kong to say that he was “devastated by the loss of Bill Queen ’86” and that recognizing how precious our time is “we are traveling more extensively. I am amazed at how much has changed and how much is the same.”

Rob Menard went to the wedding of Ethan Beardsley ’86 in Paris in September, and “to Hanoi for the seventh time to perform craniofacial surgery there as a clinical professor of plastic surgery at Stanford.”

Terry McClenahan’s first grandchild, Arthur, was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, in June 2024! “If he was any cuter it’d be illegal,” he reports. Terry adds, “Daughter, Katie, is a 2L at Georgetown Law, and our son, Rory ’24, graduated in May from Wesleyan (no less). Last summer he was a field organizer for Josh Riley’s successful New York [Congressional District] 19 campaign for the U.S. House. My wife, Kara Kelly, continues to do astounding work in her eighth year as chief of pediatric oncology at two Buffalo hospitals and the medical school. I still work on warehouse and commercial projects with Acquest Design.” It will be no surprise that Terry is rowing “with Buffalo River RC, winning medals at Midwest Sprints and Head of the Welland Regattas.” He also got to race at the Head of the Charles Regatta for “the 14th or 15th time.” Terry also recently heard from another crew buddy, Bill Wasch ’84.

Crystal Turner-Moffatt, an expert in environmental and occupational health and safety in the construction industry, is completing her PhD this spring.

Margaret Bracken Thompson saw Lynn Meade ’86 in Palm Springs during Modernism Week (February 2024) at the convention center there. Margaret report’s that Lynn’s “art is amazing!”

Paul Kusserow’s book, The Coming Healthcare Revolution: 10 Forces That Will Cure America’s Healthcare Crisis, has recently been published. Paul notes that it is “selling well.”

Hilary Jacobs Hendel also has a new book coming out in 2025, Parents Have Feelings, Too. Hilary’s oldest daughter recently got married, and her youngest child became a medical doctor!

CAROLINE WILKINS |  cwilkins8530@gmail.com