Class of 1985

Several classmates shared their contributions to the beauty and overall well-being of our country.

Professor and author Matthew T. Dickerson reports that he and his wife feel fortunate to have all three of their sons and their spouses nearby in Vermont. Matthew and daughter-in-law McKenna were named collaborative artists-in-residence for Alaska State Parks, spending almost two weeks together in remote cabins creating art and literature. Their residencies resulted in beautiful paintings for McKenna and several published works for Matthew, including the completion of a book “about rivers, ecology, native fish, and fly fishing in Alaska’s Bristol Bay drainage.” When not writing or fishing in the Pacific Northwest, Matthew teaches computer science at Middlebury College.

Fire ecologist Mary Beth Keifer has worked for the National Park Service for 30 years, first at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in California, then for the Pacific West region, including Hawaii, and now for the national office back in the Upper Valley. Her work focuses on tracking and understanding changes following fires to better plan for and manage fire in national parks. Mary Beth writes: “I think of my wonderful ’85 friends often and hope everyone is doing well!”

In 2023 Tref Wolcott Borden joined the board of Doc Wayne, a nonprofit innovator and provider of sport-based mental health therapy for youth. “In light of so many children and older youth being impacted by the conflicts and strife worldwide, it is imperative that mental health supports are scaled to meet their needs to ensure the trauma they endure does not have lifelong implications,” Tref stated at her appointment to the board. Doc Wayne’s evidenced sports-based approach helps children in the United States and in more than 25 other countries, including those in conflict zones. Tref previously served as executive director of the Fish Family Foundation, a Boston-based private foundation dedicated to meeting the human service challenges of lower-income individuals and families working to improve the qualities of their lives.

After a long career as a public health physician, Pam Talley recently retired from the Tennessee Department of Health, where she served as a medical epidemiologist. Without skipping a beat, Pam relocated three days later to the mountains outside Evergreen, Colorado, where she is happily enjoying every aspect of her retirement, especially mid-week skiing.

Retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer David Searby now serves as Rotary representative to the Inter-American Development Bank and project director of Faith in Peace Concerts. David says, “Rotary has been and will be a big focus in my life, so important in a world where people of different political views stop talking to each other.” David’s work in interfaith support for democracy led him to be one of the organizers of the Faith in Democracy in 2024 vigil at the U.S. Capitol to show that people of faith can be uniters, not dividers, in today’s America.

Thank you to these classmates and the many of you making a difference in your important work.

—Rebecca Blake Osborne, 42 Olive St., Newburyport, MA 01950; (603) 381-4164; rosborne29@comcast.net; John MacManus, 188 Ringwood Road, Rosemont, PA 19010; (610) 525-4541; slampong@aol.com