Woodstock School Alumni Magazine Vol CIV, 2011

76 - Quadrangle
Bob Conrad ’71: always looking for a new trail to hike
After a stint in Washington DC, where
he served as Deputy Med Director of the
State Dept, BROOKS TAYLOR & Betsy
have moved to Johannesburg, South
Africa where he is now the State Dept’s
Regional Medical Mgr for Sub-Saharan
Africa. This means that he supervises the
care provided by 35 State Dept physicians,
nurse practitioners & physician
assistants in 26 different countries. He
will be on the road a lot. Betsy will be
painting & both are thrilled to be back
in Africa, though they’ll miss being near
children, Andrew & Sarah, who are both
still in Boston. They’ll be there 3 yrs.
Come visit! BETH ROADARMEL has
been working for the last 4 yrs establishing
an assisted living & sr care facility in
Chiang Mai, Thailand. She visited sister
JUNE BLICKENSTAFF ’70 & REID in
Shanghai, China last Apr.
Class of 1972
We mourn the loss of MARTHA LAR-
SON THOMSEN who passed away at
home with her family present on Feb 24.
She & Jeff served with the Mennonite
Class of ’71: Greta Mason, Smruti Bhagat, Anita Johns, Becca Jennings
& Kitty Barnhouse at Kitty's in Pasadena, banner by Iris Hunter
Central Committee in Africa. Martha we
carry you in our hearts! OREEN LONG
EDDYis a nurse at St Joseph’s Hospital
in Phoenix AZ currently with the family
med residents, Jerry is retired. Son
Andrew (25) is with the forest service,
Jonathan (27) looking for work with
the Fire Dept. They took a wonder vacation
to Moab UT & saw all the sites,
met Jerry’s HS friends, then visited his
parents in CO. SHALINI PRAKASH
AGARWAL is transitioning from the
security of a corp job to starting a small
business. Her favorite way to unwind
is to be out in the mtns & has beautiful
trails close by. Her son has settled in
Seattle, daughter SHEENA ’02 is in DC
working in develop’nt. Shalini reconnected
with WOODMAN TAYLOR, dir
of the SE Asia Center, whose preferred
mode of transport is the bike, even in the
middle of winter in Chicago! REBECCA
KOSE NOAH & Mike are in Eugene OR,
where he enjoys work with Holt in the
Philippines & Haiti. Bec resigned from
Holt 2 yrs ago. Currently she works part
time as an educ asst with pre-school
children with autism. They garden, hike
& Bec absolutely loves time with 3
grandsons. PEGGY SMYRES RAMSEY
has a full house with daughter, son in
law & 3 children living with her, along
with 3 cats & a dog! The time spent
with all of them is precious & she is so
very grateful. PATRICIA WHITCOMB
GREEN-SOTOS faced the very difficult
death of youngest daughter, Rachel, in
Feb. Each family member is grieving in
their own way. She has cut down her hrs
as a nurse in the Newborn ICU to 60%.
She & husband Peter treasure their time
together & with their families. Patty
attended MARK BAUR’s wedding to
Sadaf, whom he met skydiving. Mark
was radiant with joy
& we wish them both
all of the happiness
in the world! MARY
CONRAD LO & Matthew
thoroughly enjoy
their new home in
MD. Mary loves being
in a place where
so many classmates
live or visit. Last
summer she had curry
dinner with JANINE
CLAYTON, joined
by KENYON ER-
ICKSON & ZAHRA
COX RICHARDS.
She has connected
with classmates JENNY MULL REILLY,
RAY KAWATA & Jen, LOIS KNISS
JONES & DALE(S) at a local monthly
curry club. In Aug she reconnected with
TOM WYON & Karen, after being out
of touch for 40 yrs! BARBARA PHIL-
LEO MILLER works for a USDA agency
& finds working for the Fed govt these
days is a little trying, will retire in 3 yrs.
Ken is mostly retired, helping a local
dairy with haying & taking care of the
homestead. They visited Zion, the Grand
Canyon & Bryce with their sons who
came from CO & San Diego, as well as
camping in ME with them. During a trip
to WI they stayed with PAT WHITCOMB
GREEN-SOTOS & Pete; GIL HALSTED
& Stefania came over for a great dinner.
JANINE CLAYTON & Rick are working
for the US Forest Service in the Pacific
NW, but are starting to think about retirement.
They have taken a couple of
trips to Europe; one of the highlights
was Tosca at La Scala in Milan, on their
must do list. Janine’s mother is keeping
busy at home in AZ full of energy & good
attitude! In her own words, MARGARET
RHODES BURNETT’s news still centers
around cancer, living with the sense of
death in the background, which can be
frightening, but also living as though
forever. A complicated mixture. I draw
with soft pastels & I’ve started writing
again, just when I feel like it. I tend
to do things when I feel like it now;
cancer gives you permission to do that.
JANE LOANE GORMAN finds her job
as a speech-language pathologist for
the school bd in Toronto, stimulating &
enjoyable. Tom looks forward to retiring
from his HS teaching. They re-energize
at their peaceful cottage in Nova Scotia.
Both kids live at home; Dan (22) works
long hrs for an organic food distributor,
interested in heavy equipm’t, Emma
(20) enjoying work at a local restaurant.
DIANE MCLAIN-SKILLICORN
& BRUCE SKILLICORN in Drakes
Branch VA & can now interact with the
world after having exchanged dial-up
connection for hi-speed internet! Bruce
has been accepted into a well-known
juried artists org & is taking part in some
excellent exhibitions. Diane became a
grandmother & feels blessed to care for
little Mia 3 days/wk, although with a 3
hr commute. Bruce’s 3 grandkids live
in AUS. Bruce’s father came from AUS
to visit over Thanksgiving. And youngest
daughter Christina came for the
mo. They all took a wonderful jaunt to
NYC to see the musical Witches. Bruce