Class Note 1979
Before writing my first column I want to publicly thank my predecessor, Mark Winkler, for all the time and effort he put into the job of class secretary. Please continue to read Mark’s musings; he is now our class newsletter editor and his first issue was stupendous.
I live in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, with my husband of almost 29 years, Dana. We have two sons, Drew ’08 and Owen ’11, and we have enjoyed visiting them in Hanover in recent years. I am in my 26th year working at the Montclair Kimberley Academy and, as I shared with some of you at our reunion, I still love my job.
Congratulations to Lisa Mendelson Friel for making the cover of the magazine in the issue we all received just after our 30th reunion. While in Hanover she didn’t mention having been interviewed for that article so we were all surprised by what we found in our mailboxes when we got home.
Cindy Vitko joined me for our reunion, which was a thrill for me since we don’t see each other often. Cindy is a forensic psychiatrist at the state hospital in Utah, treating people with serious mental illnesses who have criminal charges. She enjoys life in Park City, where her husband, Moe, is retired from his former life in the financial field in N.Y.C. He stays home with the kids, works on education issues and is a member of the school board and coaches kids’ baseball, flag football and soccer. Chris, 10, does freestyle skiing and likes skateboarding and baseball. Caitlin, 8, loves playing soccer. Both kids talk about being on the first Cambodian bobsled team; Cindy and Moe adopted them from Cambodia.
Tom Trethaway came to reunion with his lovely wife, Julia (Wesleyan ’80). They live and work at the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut, where they both teach history in the department of humanities and social sciences. Tom chairs the department and also coaches swimming and Julia is a class dean. Julia is now in her 30th year; Tom is in his 28th year there. Both Tom and Julia completed the MALS program at Dartmouth. Their daughter Perry is a senior at Bowdoin and their son Paul ’13 started at Dartmouth this fall and is living in the Choates.
Ted “Scottie” Wills writes from Texas. He and his wife, Marcela, live and work in Houston despite the occasional hurricane, tornado and drought. He organizes pledge campaigns for Catholic parishes, most recently for Hispanic ones. Marcela, who is from Guadalajara, is helpful in correcting his Spanish. Scottie continues to enjoy interviewing prospective students for the College.
While in Hanover for Sophomore Family Weekend I saw Lyman Missimer at Alpha Delta. He, his wife, Betsy, and their daughter were up from Texas visiting son Lyman IV ’11.
Don’t forget to send news, especially if you haven’t done so before. In fact, I would be happy to receive holiday cards from classmates who want to pass along updates!
—Deborah Krieger Jennings, 34 Godfrey Road, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043; (973) 744-2582; djennings @mka.org
