A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E - Colby-Sawyer College

The late Jean Bush Gabriel ’44 and
Jeanne “Penny” Bole ’44 at Jean’s
New London home.
close to her son Bruce and his
family in New Britain. M.J. has 3
children, and last Oct. attended
the wedding of her grandson.
Her daughter Bonnie is married
to Peter McCausland, who owns
a large company called Air Gas.
Joan Sandler Musen of Boynton
Beach, FL, has 8 children and
19 grandchildren, and recently
celebrated the birth of their 9th
great-grandchild. Joan does volunteer
work at the local hospital
and is busy with her husband
Edwin, playing bridge and enjoying
the family. Mary Helen
Mitchell Williams volunteers at
Hope Church and other charitable
organizations along with golf
in Fairfield, CT, and Manchester,
VT. She and her husband of 64
years have “flirted with cancer”
but are still “hanging in there.”
They have 3 sons and a daughter
in their 50s and 60s and 7
grandchildren, all of whom have
finished their education except
one at Lehigh and the youngest
at Colgate. Betsy VanGorder
Minkler has found a new life
companion in Ed Hill, who helps
keep her life full and active. I,
Penny Losey Bole, have been
your class scribe for 5 years and
have enjoyed hearing personally
from so many of you. But now
it is time to pass the joy of this
on to one of you. Please pick up
where I left off, and experience
the joy of “remembering when”!
Sadly, after I submitted my final
news for our class, I learned
of Jean Bush Gabriel’s death.
52 COLBY-SAWYER ALUMNI MAGAZINE
Dick and I last visited “Bushie”
around Labor Day, lunching at a
little eatery she loved, and then
returning to her home in New
London. With the memories
of a friendship stretching back
65 years, I’ll certainly miss her
happy spirit, her sharing her
home with any of us from Colby-
Sawyer, and her warmth and
amazing outlook on life, even as
she knew hers was ebbing away.
To those of you who knew her,
she certainly enriched our souls.
I shall miss you, “Bushie,” but
I am so thankful that our paths
crossed in life.
Please See In Fond Memory
1945
Ruth Anderson Padgett
2535 Ardath Road
La Jolla, CA 92037
(858) 454-4623
e-mail: ruthlajolla@aol.com
Martha Whitney Steers wanted
to know why I wished to hear
from an 84-year-old widow. Well,
here’s why: You’re vertical and
ventilating! Martha lives in a
wonderful retirement community
in Williamsburg, VA, learning to
cope with 2 knee replacements
and the loss of her dear husband.
She’s been in contact with Jean
Morely Lovett, who is remarried
and busy traveling. She is moving
in Oct. to Palm City, FL. Jean
Jacob Vetter’s 2 daughters also
graduated from Colby-Sawyer!
Judith Allen Lawrence is enjoying
the quiet life in the small
village of Deerfield, MA, after
years of travel in the military.
Janet Davis Keegan leads a busy
volunteer life in Manchester, NH,
where she recently printed the
history of Elliot Hospital in scrapbook
form. She has one granddaughter
and 3 grandsons. Janet
is in touch with Jay Shanley
Puckhaber and Shal Glidden
Splaine. Shal has been battling
giant cell arthritis but it doesn’t
slow her down. Elizabeth Bryant
Parker writes from Windsor,
CT, that she’s busy volunteering
at the historical society, DAR,
a local nursing home and the
church Republican committee—
and all that with a pacemaker!
She’s a 5-year cancer survivor.
Mary Lou Craffey Ackley sold
her business 20 years ago and has
been traveling and volunteering
at her local senior center.
Eileen Lutz White loves their
retirement community in Hilton
Head, where they have plenty
of room for family to visit. She
has grandkids graduating from
college and getting married.
Suzanne Needham Houston has
moved to Wake Robin, a continuing
care facility in Shelburne,
VT, and is enjoying life there
with her puppy and lots of interesting
people. Emily Morgan
Clemmer lives in Sarasota, FL,
and is mainly visiting doctors,
but she enjoys beaching and
going to jazz concerts. She is also
a great-grandma! So is Nancy
Dean Maynard, whose newest
is a little boy. Lucky Nance—2
of her grands are close by so she
can watch them grow. Nance is
well and volunteering 2 days a
week at her local hospital. Doris
Peakes Kendall still enjoys living
in Cape Cod, has had grandkids
graduating from colleges all over
the country, volunteers at her
senior center and is involved in
Beach Stickers. Doris is in touch
with Margaret Wells Bush and
Grace MacDonald Ross. Joan
Smith McIver of Westport, CT,
had a wonderful family 60th anniversary
celebration last Oct. with
her son and 3 daughters and
their mates. Gus and I have had
back-to-back house guests since
the first of June and we loved
them, but boy are we tired! As
of this writing, we plan to treat
ourselves to a 14-day cruise in
Oct. from Ft. Lauderdale through
the Panama Canal to San Diego.
Thanks for all your good help in
putting this column together…
couldn’t do it without you!
Please See In Fond Memory
1946
Ramona “Hoppy” Hopkins
O’Brien
54 Texel Drive
Springfield, MA 01108-2638
(413) 739-2071
Jane Hatch Benson lives in West
Yarmouth, MA, and has 4 girls
and a boy. One of the girls had a
set of twins. Jane lives with her
oldest daughter in her home,
and they own and operate a B&B
in town called The Inn at Lewis
Bay. Jane enjoys a busy life, with
a course in geneology at the
community college, swimming
twice a week, and volunteering at
the church gift shop and the historical
Captain’s House. Nancy
Grinnell Sayre feels good about
still living in her old house. She
had a girl and 3 boys, but she
lost her oldest son. One son is
a vet. She keeps busy around the
house and with church activities.
Shirley Rimbach Rohan is
quite a celebrity: This year she
was named “Citizen of the Year”
by the Concord, MA, newspaper.
No wonder: Shirl and her family
have operated the Concord
Diner and dining boat trips on
the river daily for many years.
She has also been involved in
many local volunteer positions
through the years. Her husband
has since passed away. Despite
her open heart surgery, Shirl is
still going strong, although she
states that she has turned some
of her duties over to her daughter
and family. If you locals want to
enjoy a leisurely afternoon and
early evening with good food, go
to the Concord River boatyard
and say Hello to Skipper Shirley;
they operate from the spring
until Oct. Lois Lippincott Lang
is having fun downsizing, and is
amazed at all of the things she
has accumulated over the years.
All is well with the Langs. Polly
White Phillips changed courses
at CSC so she really graduated
with the class of 1947, but she
still considers 1946 her class. She
lived in NH most of her life until
she lost her husband in 1990,
then moved to ME 4 years later.
All of her children are nearby
and visit often. Polly has moved
into a retirement apartment,
where she especially enjoys the
day trips. She has fond memories
of Colby and returned several
times when her daughter
attended the college for 1 year
then transferred to UNH. Nancy
Olcott Moreland spent many
summers at CSC as the wife of
one of the scientists attending
the Gordon research team that
occupied CSC all summer long.
They and their children moved
to CT in 1952 when her husband
joined Pfizer. Three of their 4
children live in the area. Walt
passed away in 1990. Nancy
has been lucky to watch her 6
grandchildren grow—“Much too
fast,” she states. Two years ago,
she moved into an adult living