Virginia Burns Parkhurst ’35 died on March 7, after a long and wonderful life filled with love of close family and friends, travel, teaching, and writing poetry.

Barbara Parkhurst McCall ’63

Sarah Sells Bryan ’42 died peacefully on Dec. 7, 2013.

Sally loved her time at Wellesley as a zoology major. She had a lifelong love of animals and travel. She enjoyed her 70th reunion, seeing dear friends and revisiting Shakespeare Society and the greenhouses. After the war, she married and settled in Cleveland to raise three children. Summers were spent sailing and swimming in northern Michigan. She volunteered at the hospital and at church, substitute-taught high school math and science, loved her dogs and cats, and read avidly. Her many friends will miss her.

Barbara Bryan Bergin ’70
Lucy Ann Bergin ’12

Mary Lent Butler ’43 died on Nov. 3, 2013.

After graduating from Wellesley, my beloved sister Mary studied aeronautical engineering at NYU and later worked for Chance Vought Aircraft in Connecticut. There she met her future husband, George Butler. She left her job when their first child, Richard, was born. Two more children—Nancy and Bette—followed.

Mary took to heart Wellesley’s motto. Over the years she counseled troubled youth, worked in a food pantry, and tutored schoolchildren. She also expressed her creative talents by designing liturgical vestments and studying Chinese brush painting. She was a great role model.

Marjorie Lent Garrard ’45

Virginia Ford ’48 died on Feb. 17.

A native of Wabash, Ind., Ginny spent several years in product research at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati before putting down permanent roots in Winter Park, Fla. Among her interests in life were music, the arts, and Wellesley College. At her memorial service, a poet, a string quartet, and an opera singer all gave thanks for her support of the arts in the Orlando area—gratitude they could not have expressed previously, as she always gave anonymously. As for Wellesley, she never made a secret of her love for the College.

Anne von Thurn Clark ’48

Claire Anderson Hunter ’51 died on Dec. 15, 2013.

What we remember about our dear friend Claire is her sunny disposition and her loving, fun-filled nature. Her choices in college influenced the course of her life: working in a settlement house, economics (entrepreneurship), and Christian ethics. Later on, her service mindset provided well for the DeSoto Celebration in Florida and her position as coauthor and publisher of the Longboat Observer, a weekly newspaper. She was editor and layout artist for a pictorial history of Longboat Key and served as treasurer of the Sarasota Wellesley Club. Christ Church of Longboat Key and Romans 8:37–39 were dear to her heart.

Elizabeth Rath Kirschner ’51
Elisabeth Stevens Schleussner ’51
Esther Coke ’51

Mary Sue Livingston Cushman ’53 died on Nov. 21, 2013.

Mary Sue’s post-graduation trip to Europe led to her love of travel and to meeting the love of her life, Joseph Cushman. She and Joe married and had academic careers at the University of the South, in Sewanee, Tenn. She served 20 years, as dean of women and subsequently dean of students. She was revered at Sewanee as a role model for women and a leader of students.

Mary Sue’s first love was family: Joe and their sons, David and Clay. Her Wellesley ties and friendships remained strong through the years.

Mary Salisbury Hale ’53
Janet Clark Yost ’53

Ann Matthews Lacy ’53 died peacefully on Dec. 6, 2013.

“Lacy,” as we knew her, was one of our most accomplished classmates. After her Ph.D. at Yale in microbiology, she taught and conducted research at Goucher College, 1959–1998. Ann wrote numerous scientific papers and inspired students to careers in molecular genetics. I knew her as my lab partner in Miss Hall’s physiology. In our kitchen now is a tool—the “Lacy” jar opener—a gift from a practical and dear friend. She once noted that Wellesley gave her a love of art, history, and theater, as well as science.

Jane Van Zandt Dingman ’53

Mary Roberts Adair ’55 died at her home in Lititz, Pa., on Feb. 28.

Mary’s zest for life was contagious—which no doubt contributed to the success of her teaching career at Penn State, Rutgers, and Slippery Rock University, in Pennsylvania, where she taught special education for 20 years.

Mary enjoyed travel, music, history, and time with her dog and cats. She hiked many miles of the Appalachian Trail and threw herself into new projects with great enthusiasm. Her latest had been reading a biography of each US president—in chronological order. I don’t know how far she got.

Sue Egan Humphrey ’55

Carolyn Keene Gusmer ’55 died on March 10.

Carolyn, a second-generation alum, provided fun and sparkle in Navy and Bates, and especially with her fellow poli-sci majors and her numerous bridge partners. We chose her dorm room for group photos and the blessing of the traveling moose-head. In 1954, Carolyn was the Washington intern assigned to Richard Nixon. Stories of Julie and Tricia and the Secret Service kept us enthralled. Best of all, that summer she met and canoed the Potomac with John, the love of her life. For 58-plus years in Waupaca, Wis., Carolyn raised a close and loving family and made a lasting difference with her outstanding volunteer efforts.

Lura Allen Mountford ’55
Mary Munroe West ’55

Dorothy Paulonis Zenie ’56 passed away on March 13 in Sarasota, Fla., the day after lunch with Wellesley friends.

She loved her Wellesley connections. She loved learning and book clubs, always seeking knowledge and understanding. She loved travel. Recently, she enrolled in an online Harvard course in Chinese culture. Dot had a pilot’s license. She studied interior design at RISD and founded an interior design company. Recently she toured the beaches of Normandy. She and Frank also started a foundation to fund and mentor college students.

Dorothy was always fun to be with, very kind, and modest about her accomplishments.

Joanna Smith Hunt ’56

Anne Schreiber Parker ’56, of Canton, Mass., died peacefully after a battle with cancer on Feb. 12. She was at home, surrounded by her six children and stepson.

Anne began her education at Wellesley and received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard Extension School. She worked as an administrator at Harvard Medical School until retirement. Anne, “forever youthful and mentally intact,” in her children’s words, loved the bounties of nature; was an avid skier, skater, and gardener; and also raised chickens and bees. A memorial service was to be held at her home in June, when her gardens were in full bloom.

Lia Gelin Poorvu ’56

Sharon Winger Hyde ’58 died on March 31.

Sherry and I roomed together all our Wellesley years. After college, she married Paul, the love of her life. After they had had 47 joyful years together, Paul died in 2005. Their three sons, Brit, Nate, and Greg, always brightened their mother’s life, and they were all by her side her last few weeks. Her life will be celebrated at her home in Carefree, Ariz., in early June. Sherry was a warm, loving, funny, very caring, and always exuberant woman, known to her seven grandchildren as “Happy.”

Rest in peace, my dear.

Connie Follett Rieben ’58

Beverly Baker Boyles ’59 died on April 18.

Bev possessed many passions: friends, animals, fine cuisine, movies, and travel. She concluded that her favorite country to visit was Egypt. She also bred pedigreed, award-winning Scottish terriers.

Beverly left lasting impressions. As a friend remarked, “Her house was the height of eclectic chic, and the gourmet food that was ever-present in her kitchen expanded my perspective past Midwestern fare.”

Her former Wellesley roommate added, “One aspect of Bev’s personality that I recall was her acerbic wit. She never used her quick humor to be unkind to anyone, but it always cut to the core of the subject being discussed.”

Bonnie Boyles

Mary “Neal” Baskerville Sobernheim ’62 died on Oct. 11, 2013.

She arrived at Wellesley from Charlottesville, Va. She was gracious and charming, with an accent for which Wellesley required speech rehabilitation. Her College friends remember discussing unanswerable philosophical questions with Neal for hours. Kant, her favorite philosopher, was the subject of her master’s thesis at Emory.

She married John Sobernheim, lived in Venezuela and Puerto Rico, and had three sons. Neal once surprised me with a book on centenarian women and their accomplishments. She won’t be a centenarian, but she was loved and cared for by her sons.

Anne Steele Hummel ’62

Susan Wholey Field ’63 died on March 14.

News of Sue’s death was a great blow. We missed her at our 50th reunion and learned that her absence was caused by an automobile accident en route. Sue and I were roommates and shared multiple math classes. Problems of all varieties were tackled with ease and good cheer, and that persisted after graduation, with her long list of volunteer activities, including chairing the board of her children’s school in Andover, Mass. Family, friends, and community were her anchors. With her wonderful smile, sunshine was brighter whenever she was present.

Elizabeth Quisenberry Bjorkman ’63

Alison “Snowy” Campbell Swain ’69 died on Oct. 29, 2013, after years of bravely living with cancer. We remember her as the lovely, fresh-faced aspiring artist whose debutante credentials and intimidating sheaf of straight blond hair belied a warm-hearted, shy, considerate person. She adored goofy jokes and creating comic notes for friends. Her questing spirit took her to the spiritual community at Findhorn, where she met her husband, Bruce, with whom she raised three children. Snowy later disclosed her struggle to come to terms with her inherited money through ventures into philanthropy. “Jeune Neigette!” We remember you with love.

Doris Jackson ’69
Mary Murtagh ’69
Eldie Acheson ’69
Nancy Wanderer ’69

Deborah Powell Boyd ’76 died peacefully on March 4.

Her devoted husband of 37 years, William Boyd, was by her side.

Debbie treasured her Wellesley years: admissions tour guide, Vil Junior at Stone-Davis, Harambee House, summer internship in L.A.

She received her M.B.A. from SUNY–Albany in 1980. The Boyds settled in Pittsburgh; she gave 26 years of devoted service at the Allegheny County Area Agency on Aging.

Debbie will always be remembered for who she was as a person, with her beautiful smile, infectious laugh, generous spirit, and positive attitude. How blessed I am to have known her.

Diane Datcher ’76