Page 41 - fall2011

FALL 2011 . ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE 39
Cl as s Notes
1971
Susan Christensen Besanceney ’71
73 Briar Hill Road
Orchard Park, NY 14127
716-662-4952
SusanBes@roadrunner.com
Next Reunion: 45th, 2015
(cluster with ’69, ’70)
This is the first column I’ve written since coming
back from our 40th reunion. Check out the St.
LawrenceWeb site to see our class picture. David
Areson, Jane Appleby and Joan DeCamp
all worked very hard to make this reunion memo-
rable. Our class presented a check for $1,614,417
to the University. It was the largest gift ever raised
by our class. Campus accommodations were com-
fortable, food was delicious and plentiful, and there
was plenty of free time for visits with classmates.
It was not only good to be back on campus; it was
good to be back in the North Country.
Glennee Beams Falzareno, who was there
with O.J., said, “Living in Gaines Hall was quite
the experience, running into the likes of Bob
Thompson, Don Stanton, John Fernsell
and Carol Lancaster . Talk about those flash-
backs, some of which extended back to my middle
school days with Bob! Eloise Beckerer and
Michael Brady were housed in the next room
over and Jeanne McCowan and Jim Tuttle
were one floor up. At our class dinner that first
night, I spotted Barb and Danny Bloomer,
whom we had not seen since those early married
days; we exchanged some fun notes on all those
Sigma Chi’s not in attendance. Janet Langlois
(about to retire after 18 years on the SLU Board
of Trustees) and George Vollmuth were zipping in
and out all weekend as we tried to fit in lectures,
meals, photos and parades.”
Glennee continued, “Molly Direnga Adsit
(with hubby John ’72) was kind enough to organize
a get-together of all the ’71 Junior Year Abroad
students who were there. Wendy Foster and
Dave Areson were with me in France, Laurel
Hassel Patterson was in England for a semes-
ter and Molly and Fred had been in Austria.
“At these reunions the one thing that always
strikes me is how I miss the laughter of having
great friends (of the tried and true variety) around
me every single day. It makes these occasions all
the more special.”
I sawWendy laughing with her JuniorYearAbroad
classmates. Wendy headed right back to Europe
after graduation and ended up living 30 years in
Munich, Germany, a year in Oregon and a year
in Paris to complete an M.A. in French through
Middlebury College. Then, eight years ago, she
returned to her Massachusetts salt marsh roots
and now lives in Gloucester. Returning to the
U.S. was a huge readjustment. She tried her hand
at teaching seventh and eighth grade French and
German, and then wrote two “German for Dum-
mies” books. She is now working as an editor
and translator. She enjoys kayaking, swimming and
cross-country skiing from her backyard, often with
Barbara Mason Murphy ’72 and Willie Deemer
Weekman.
Dave Crocker writes that he was back at St.
Lawrence in June for a reunion of all the college
wrestlers from 1965 to 1995 honoring long-time
Coach John Clark ’69. Dave hadn’t seen these guys
or been back to campus in 40 years. Everyone
laughed when Bill LaRock ’70 and Dave stood to-
gether for a photo. He was the heavyweight and
Dave was the 130-pounder back then, and now
they are close to the same size! Dave lives in Min-
neapolis and owns a small business that does mar-
ket research on motorcycles, four-wheelers, snow-
mobiles, motor yachts and off-highway equipment.
Phebe Griffing Doig is still in Carlsbad, Cal.,
near San Diego. She and Bill ’68 celebrated their
41st wedding anniversary in July. Phebe went back
to school several years ago and became an estheti-
cian. After working in a spa for a few years, she has
settled in at home working part-time. The part-
time work gives her free time for bible study and
happy times with her two grandchildren, Parker, 5,
and Madison, 2.
Kathy Douglass Dailey retired from teach-
ing in 2008. Since then she has been traveling, play-
ing golf and skiing. Her son, Matthew, is a junior
in high school, so she’ll be making the rounds to
look at colleges this year. Kathy’s husband,George,
teaches at St.Thomas Aquinas High School in Do-
ver, N.H. The family still lives in this “great place”
right on the Maine-New Hampshire border not far
from Portsmouth.
Laurie Peterson Erb is in Denver, Col., but
still travels back East often. She was in Cape May,
N.J., for a family reunion over the 4th of July week-
end and back at her family’s cottage near Olcott
on Lake Ontario for the month of August.
1972
Barbarajean Schaefer Blodgett ’72
1145 Harrison Street
Watertown, NY 13601-3811
315-788-0098
Barbarajeanious@gmail.com
Next Reunion: 40th
May 31-June 3, 2012
In early June, I travelled to Canton for the “Why
Wait? Reunion” created by Mike Keenan as an
attempt to gather momentum for our REAL Re-
union next June. Mike Flanigan, Tim Pelyk,
Peter “Boomer” Brennan, Terry Moran,
Gary Webb ’73, Glenn Johnson ’74, Dale Grant
and Ed Dick were all at the Hoot Owl along
with LindaWheeler ’71 and Mike Soupios ’71.The
fabulous Miner Street Band was playing with Jack
Geortner and Mike Kallet on drums and
keyboards respectively. Frankly, Keenan was truly
interested in having a reunion every year, and in
many ways that’s not a bad idea. “We’re not get-
ting any younger”, he said, “and one day you wake
up and @#!%$&*! you’re 60.” (All the more reason
for gathering with friends and making memories.)
Soooo mark your calendars NOW: May 31-June3,
2012— our 40th Reunion is upon us!
Donna Goodwin was also at the Hoot Owl as
her husband, Nick Langan ’75, is in the band. She
told me she still keeps in touch with Sarah Pat-
terson and Marilyn Beiswanger Cali. I told
her I hoped they would consider making the trip
from Philadelphia, Seattle and Cleveland Heights,
Ohio, for Reunion. Between dancing and listening
to the music, I managed to hear Terry Moran tell
me that he and Holly Onion Moran are proud
grandparents again. This time, it’s a girl and Holly
is in pink heaven!
Tim Pelyk also let me know that he and Sue are
very busy raising their two youngest girls who are
early teenagers. It’s not easy raising kids these
days, but I’m certain Tim has a good handle on the
situation.
I wasn’t able to attend the campus festivities
on Saturday, but Peter Brennan took some great
shots of Ray Scannell and Terry Moran, along
with photos of folks from the Class of ’71. Ray
travelled back from California to touch base with
friends he had not seen since graduation…George
Gridelli ’71 comes to mind!
Allen Howes wrote to send regrets about not
attending. He was scheduled to conduct a work-
shop at a medical convention that same weekend.
Al is president of TTI Medical in San Ramon, Cal.
Karen Murray Cady is the proud parent of
a college graduate. Her sonWare graduated from
Cornell University in late May. She told me she
had travelled to Charlottesville,Va., in May to re-
unite with Susan Spaulding Yesawich and
Gretchen Sturtz Scott. Apparently, they had
so much fun in Salem last fall at the Kappa reunion
that they wanted to spend more time together.
Likewise, Dale Dick was expecting a mid-June visit
from Liz Marden Marshall and Joyce De-
Rosa Kay at her home in Ipswich,Mass. Husband
Eddie told me that he has started a new hobby in
addition to his cycling: swimming. “Much easier on
the joints”, he said; “besides, you’re lighter in the
water…don’t have to work as hard!” Considering
the fact that Ed cycled the length of the Cape in
several charitable races, I guess swimming would
be a lot easier.
Kathy Woods Cloonan wrote to tell me
that her daughters Katie and Meghan were inter-
viewed by Dateline reporter Kate Snow at Hyde
Park, London during the Royal Wedding of Prince
William and Catherine Middleton. Apparently, the
reporter wanted to get an American perspective
on the festivities. Both young women live and
work just outside of London as educators. They
were disappointed that the interview didn’t “make
the cut,” but happy to have been in the mix just
the same.
Arnie Edelberg wrote from Port Douglas,
Australia (aka Oz), to report that while he will in-
deed be stateside for our “real Reunion,” he just
couldn’t make the “WhyWait?” event. He lives in
the closest township to the Great Barrier Reef,
and he said “the oldest rainforest in the world sur-
rounds me, with the actual world heritage park be-
ing about 40 miles away.” He spent his 60th birth-
day “on a prolonged Rotary aid mission to East
Timor to build a water pipeline to supply remote
villages with clean water. “Sure was different hav-
ing 40 nuns and apprentices sing me happy b’day, as
I was staying in a convent. Happily I took along a
few very good bottles of Aussie red wine (as well
as finding a back gate where I could sneak out at
night).” Clearly, Arnie has not changed one bit!
Come back to Reunion and see for yourself.
Between helping Molly survive her first year at
Syracuse and travelling to NorthernVirginia to see
my grandbaby Benjamin, I’ve been attempting to
get my house ready to sell. Yup, 38 years of stuff
certainly builds up. I watched the show “Hoard-
ers” just once and it scared the daylights out of
me! So I’m heaving, selling and giving away all man-
ner of things. It’s been very liberating. Perhaps, by
the time Reunion rolls around, I will have a new
address and a new lease on life!