Woodstock School Alumni Magazine Vol CIV, 2011

Quadrangle - 53
stay at their CAN lakeside home. Ed recovered
well enough to take part in a magical
wk at Lake Tahoe, a gift for Ed’s 80th birthday
from & with their 3 children & grands
(10 to 19). Phyllis said it reminded her of
WS days. QUENTIN & Carole HERD celebrated
his father’s 100th birthday on Aug
21. Caring for their grandchild Ben (7) keeps
Carole busy. Ben’s mum, their daughter, is
a business bigwig & dad is a DI in a UK
police force. Quentin’s small orchard &
vegetable plot is flourishing & he expects a
very good crop of red delicious apples. AN-
NIKKEN HOEG-RASMUSSEN shared a
most moving report on her & the Norwegian
public’s immediate reaction & subsequent
response to the incomprehensible tragedy in
their country. She was rightfully proud of
Norway’s very measured responses. DITA
KASHYAP & Tony HOLLINS enjoyed a
mo-long tour of Rajasthan, Simla, Goa, as
well as visiting relatives & friends in Delhi
& Mumbai. They also managed their annual
2-wk stay in S France with daughter Katie
& grands who are now teenagers. Katie has
become an entrepreneur, selling Indian cloths
& jewelry on the web. Older daughter Sue
is a successful production mgr for 2 BBC
programs. JOHN LEEDER has not had many
communications with friends & family. He
appears to be well otherwise. BRUCE & Kay
MERRILL enjoyed a good summer in the
Adirondacks after a great wk in Guantanamo
Bay, where son Lee is Deputy Public Works
Officer for the US Navy. Son Keith is well
on his way to having a custom-built camp
completed on the same lake with the parents.
ROGER & Carol MINCHIN enjoyed their
visit to son & family living & working close
to the shore of Lake Geneva in Switzerland.
Their last days in Switz coincided with TZ’s
visit to Basel, but unfortunately they were
not able to meet. We last heard from PAUL
MITCHELL in Nov ’10 following his birthday.
Donna & their daughters took him out
to lunch to celebrate. He & Donna are
blessed with good health & learning how to
retire with grace & dignity. What a wonderful
statement! BILL NAJ is enjoying living
in a home he built on a beautiful spring-fed
lake. He fishes & entertains family & friends.
He has just celebrated his 78th birthday &
very grateful for the blessings of excellent
health, comfortable life, a great family &
friends. The highlight of the yr was a coastto-coast
trip to visit daughter, 2 sons & 2
granddaughters in Ft Lauderdale, Denver &
Santa Barbara. EVA NEUENHOFER is recovering
nicely from operation & chemotherapy
and, together with Harry, celebrated
oldest granddaughter’s graduation from U of
San Francisco. Eva shared a moving recollection
of European kids attending WS immediately
after WWII & released from the
internment camps in India. She also shared
with us interesting newspaper columns by
Hazel Kahan ’56 describing her recent visit
to PAK. NANCY RYBURN MENCE’s husband
Don passed away in Nov ’10 after
valiantly battling recurring leukemia for
many yrs. He died peacefully in bed. Our
love & sympathy are with Nancy & the family.
Nancy is looking after sister HELEN ’41
& enjoyed a family reunion in early Aug at
Taupo NZ. GINNIE SERVICE McCOR-
MICK gets about with the help of a walker
& wheelchair & is looked after by caregivers
& her 4 children. MARGUERITE SCHER-
LING SCHWEITZER & Jerry enjoy visiting
children & grands whenever possible. Marguerite
& daughter Julie plan to visit Yangon
in Mar to find her father’s burial site. They
are searching for an English-speaking local
who can help them locate the site. Her parents
served as missionaries in Burma where
Marguerite spent her youth. DAVID &
Corinne SCOTT had a good yr of interesting
educational & fun family travel – Egypt,
Ethiopia, Panama, CO & IN. In addition to
continuing WS responsibilities there was
increased involvement in the Asian American
Forum in Washington DC. LALI SINGH
visits daughters & grands in Kelowna &
Sunshine Coast as often as she can & they
come often to visit her. After a cruise to AK
in Aug, she had a knee replacement operation.
We look forward to news about her
successful operation & rapid full recovery.
DAVID & Elouise SMITH have returned to
their old homestead in Ozark AL. They made
a valiant effort traveling to Fort Collins by
train for the WOSA reunion, overcoming
physical & health challenges & the notorious
American trains. They enjoy visits from 6
children, 13 grands & 5 greatgrands. BOB
& Susan STEWART are enjoying a pretty
laid back retirement but have attended a lot
of auctions collecting antique tools such as
planes, levels, saws - that being Bob’s hobby.
They live in a Ponderosa pine forest & are
cutting quite a few trees for fire mitigation
& for winter heating. Their biggest trip this
yr was to Fort Collins for the WOSA reunion.
ELIZABETH (Liz) SUTHERLIN REES
looked forward with excitement to an unexpected
visit to Britain in Oct. She is grateful
for her & family members’ good health. Son
Giles & family live in Christchurch, 2-hr
drive away; they were rattled but unharmed
by the series of devastating earthquakes &
resulting liquefaction that brought down
many bldgs in this historic city. JIM TAY-
LOR wrote that they are learning to live with
uncertainty, expressing his measured pleasure
with Joan’s successful chemotherapy
but is also conceding that periodic chemotherapy
may be necessary. Jim himself has
fully recovered from his heart attack. He is
the intellect of our class writing widely-read
weekly columns astutely observing & reflecting
on events that take place around the
world. JOSIE THOBURN HERNDON &
Dale enjoy the summer on the CA coast &
entertained visits by many family members
& friends. Back home they help care for
grandkids & are active in church. Josie enjoys
AAUW, line dancing & book study
group. Dale is great at fix-it & computers.
LIBBY THOBURN SHEATHER & Harry
enjoy living in a 55-and-over community
where they participate in many of the activities.
Libby serves on 2 committees offering
advice & assistance with landscaping
issues & conducts a chorus for Christmas &
other events. The highlights of the yr included
the wedding of Libby’s granddaughter
in Jul & celebrating brother TED’s ’49 &
Sandy’s 50th anniversary in SC. ALEX
THOMSON had a successful heart surgery
in Jun to replace aortic valve & repair the
mitral value. Six weeks earlier he found it
difficult to breathe after taking trash cans out,
his legs & joints were swollen & he had
unaccountably put on about 20+ lbs. due to
water retention. He is regaining his health
but finds recovery slow & frustrating, especially
because he had to stop his law practice.—TZ
Class of 1954
We mourn the death of MURIEL THIESSEN
STACKLEY who died of cancer, Jan 29. Her
family roots were Mennonite & she touched
many lives as a writer, pastor & peacemaker.
We send deepest sympathies to Kamal
& MALTI NANDA KHANNA whose eldest
son Madhav died Dec ’10 of cancer, to Kathe
& BILL MOSHER on the death of Bill’s
mother, Alice Wynne, and to KARIS MAN-
TON, whose brother Tom died in Feb. ALI-
SON SODDY THURSFIELD serves on the
British Unitarians Nat’l Executive while also
both playing & coaching croquet. Paul &
ANN EICHER WELTY enjoy their IN lake
cottage with children, 7 grandchildren & 2
great-grandchildren. They & Nancy &
DAVE HOLMES visit regularly. ANNE
BURGOYNE HOLMAN, who is living in
Port Townsend WA, has found a good market
for her paintings through a local artist co-op.
ARNIE CHESHIRE in Toronto writes for
AirForce magazine, keeps in touch with his
local MP & looks forward to the retirement
of wife Simone in 2 yrs. Kathe & BILL
MOSHER’S children & grandchildren live
near them in the Ashville, NC area. Big