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

Mountains,” she says. “We have
children in MD, NC, CO and UT
along with 14 grandchildren.”
Patricia “Monie” Cunningham
Sullivan writes, “Aug. 15 th is the
anniversary of my college roommate
Lynne Reno Peirce’s death
and I will forever miss her dearly.
A group of us, all the first floor
of Best, started gathering 30 years
after graduation, the ‘best’ thing
we ever did! There were 7 of us
and now there are 5. Bonnie
Whitney Burton, who was our
illustrious Best Dorm President,
died and then Lynne died
very suddenly.” The 5 of them
planned to get together at Nanci
Cate Steen’s in the Ozarks in
Oct. Kathy Ketchum Weeman
says hello. Susie Bladworth
Beeson writes that she and her
husband are 24/7 caregivers to
his 100-yr-old mother. “This basically
means we stay home most
of the time, but I have a perfect
part-time job as a church secretary,”
Susie says. “My daughter
Jennifer is newly engaged this
summer. We live in the woods
on 350 acres in Orford, NH, near
Dartmouth College, and never
see any Colby friends up here.
I do, however, keep in touch
with Sally Sonntag Gale, Sue
Codet Nelson, Cyndie Brainerd
Troischt and Beverly Smart
Meginley.” Joanie Gibney
Whittaker says she and Chris
enjoy spending time in CT and
NY with their 4 granddaughters.
Joanie also enjoys gardening,
needlework and reading. On
a sad note, Beverly Holbrook
Treen writes that daughter Emily
passed away in July from metastasized
breast cancer. She was 32
years old and lived in London.
Gail Talanian O’Reilly sent a
recent press release. Her company,
Made in Armenia Direct, has
Nominate a
classmate for an
Alumni
Award!
Find out more at
www.colby-sawyer.edu/
alumni/awards
Gail Talanian O’Reilly ’63
As a second generation Armenian-American growing up in the
Boston suburbs, Gail Talanian O’Reilly had little sense of her ethnic
identity. She attended the same church as her neighbors and followed
a common path of American women of the time, attending college to
become a schoolteacher. She became active in the League of Women
Voters and other civic organizations—“American kinds of things,” in
the words of her father. After 18 years as a teacher she joined the family
firm, a highly successful realty firm. It wasn’t until visiting Armenia
in 1991 to witness the rebuilding efforts after a devastating earthquake that Gail really felt the pull of
her heritage. As she says, “If you’re Armenian and you go to your homeland, you don’t come back the
same person.”
Gail became involved with the Armenian Assembly of America and began chartering flights to
take others to see their homeland. Now independent of the Soviet Union after 85 years of communist
rule, Armenia was a country in economic turmoil. “People were leaving,” explains Gail. “I wanted
them to be able to live in their homeland with dignity.” During her trips she would often see artisans
in a large park trying to sell beautifully made work in the freezing cold to handfuls of tourists. Gail,
who minored in art while at Colby-Sawyer, decided she had to do something to help.
In 2000, Gail founded Made in Armenia Direct, a company that brings the craftsmanship of
Armenia to the world. It began with an Armenian-American acquaintance traveling for six months,
picking out items he thought might be interesting. Now, nine years later, the work of over 60 artisans
is available for purchase through Gail’s website, www.madeinarmeniadirect.com. “They are independent
workers,” she explains, “and they set their own prices. ”While her company caters to individuals,
it primarily deals in wholesale, and the wares are carried in over 50 stores across the United States.
Gail continues to travel to Armenia twice a year and is thrilled at the changes she has seen over
the past two decades. She has witnessed the emergence of a middle class and has no qualms in
recommending her homeland as a tourist destination. In addition to promoting the craftwork of
Armenia, Gail and her family are also investors in one of the first hotels to open there after the fall
of communism. She is also very proud of having convinced the League of Women Voters to send a
delegation over for a year, teaching Armenian women about advocacy and coalition building. As she
points out with a wry laugh, “If it weren’t for the women, the country would have fallen apart a long
time ago.”
–Mike Gregory
received the 2009 Best of Boston
Award in the Importers category
by the US Local Business
Association. Gail founded the
company in 2000. “The artisans
in Armenia continue to gain
weight each time I visit them so
I know that MIAD is sustaining
them and their families,” Gail
writes.
Please See In Fond Memory
1964
Lee Norris Gray
33 Gale Road
Hampton, NH 03842
(603) 926-3443
e-mail: lesliegray@comcast.net
The e-mail blast I sent sure
made a difference as I heard
from numerous classmates. The
rest of you, please send your
e-mail address to the school so
that you can be included in the
1964 notes next time. Nancy
Dearborn Lovetere is proud to
announce the launch of her new
website, www.nancylovetere.com,
featuring an eclectic blog and
information about her forthcoming
book on the history
of rural Bath, ME. Betsy
Meyers Hunnewell and Laurie
Whittemore tentatively planned
on attending the reunion. They
had not been back since the
35 th . Judy Curtis Zscheile was
not able to attend the reunion
but hopes to make it back to
New London for our 50 th . They
have been doing some traveling
from their home in CA in their
RoadTrek van and are finishing
up landscaping projects for
their home, which they built
6½ years ago. Diana Tripp has
been in CO for the past 11
years, bouncing between Boulder
and Sedona, AZ. She works in
pastels and her website is
www.dwtfineart.com. Lynn
Beaty Sealey and her husband
Rand live in Seattle and have
a second home in Walla Walla
because of the burgeoning wine
industry there. Her husband
started an online newsletter for
WA state wines, so they make
numerous trips around the state.
In 2000, Lynn retired from working
as a microbiology supervisor
at a local hospital lab. Since then,
she has spent 6 years as a trustee
on the Annie Wright School
Board in Tacoma, where she
spent her last 2 years of HS. She
and her husband enjoy hiking
and skiing, both cross country
and downhill, and try to keep
in shape by walking (Lynn) and
running (Rand). Pat Donahue
Jones is a compliance officer
with a financial services firm in
Boston. She plans on retiring a
year from Nov. but returning
WINTER 2010 63