Class Note 1989
Greetings from Siobhan Wescott, columnist pinch hitter, having resumed frequent traveling after graduating medical school three years ago (no longer tethered to a pager for long hours helps significantly). These travels brought me in contact with a surprising number of married ’89 couples, starting in D.C. with our (underappreciated) columnist Jennifer Avellino and Zach Levine, a neurosurgeon. Over Zach’s famous chili, another ’89 couple, Kurt Moser and Linda Kelly, and I indulged in a little nostalgia on Homecoming Weekend.
Also in the D.C. area are Katharine Gagné and Geof Hobday, who recently celebrated their 21st anniversary and have three daughters. Indeed, Geof is severely outnumbered. Katharine is a health insurance manager and recently collaborated with writer-producer Paul DeVeaux ’88 on his newly released full-length film, Adams Morgan: The Movie. Carolyne Allen did PR work and Lionel Harris did PR and fundraising for the film. Geof is an attorney investigator at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission focusing on curbing Enron-like market manipulation. The best part of the job is apparently the badge in a leather case, which he can dramatically present at energy companies.
Trips to the Boston area brought me close to two more ’89 couples, including my former North Mass roommate and our class president, Ellie Mahoney Loughlin and hubby Phil Loughlin, who spent the month of June traveling through Asia with their teenagers.
When Ellie, Katie Willard, Tracy Coleman and I gathered for dinner, Katie shared the big news that after more than 20 years in the Boston area, her family is relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, where her husband, John, will be managing finances for recording artists. Katie does not have immediate plans for another novel after penning Raising Hope in 2005, in which she managed to faithfully portray the woes of human nature while still finding the best in people. Please write more! I caught a performance of her daughter Zoe at the Boston Ballet’s up-and-coming talent night. Tracy’s career at State Street Bank continues, and her 3-year-old twins are adorable. We explored the aquarium, my favorite pastime from a brief childhood period lived in Boston. Tracy and husband Ken Truesdale led the twins around as they alternated between fascination and fear with the marine life.
Brian Freyermuth, Esq., and Amy Holden, an integral part of MIT’s media lab, added home ownership to their married life last year. This year they’re learning fly-fishing (now that ski season is over). Following in Jennifer Block Cromheecke’s childhood footsteps, I’m spending the summer on Martha’s Vineyard, living in Aquinnah, Massachusetts, next to the Wampanoag tribe, and loving it. Looking forward to more Dartmouth folks coming to the island, too.
Okay, back to your sponsor now. Jennifer here. Thanks to Siobhan for the guest appearance. She’s too modest to brag about her own accomplishments, but Siobhan has a master’s in public health from UCLA and an M.D. from Harvard. She’s served as a cancer educator and a co-editor of two books on children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), in addition to serving on the board of directors for the National Organization on FAS.
Finally, our very own Ned Ward will be competing in the finals of Fortune magazine’s Battle of the Corporate Bands on September 30 and October 1 at Cleveland, Ohio’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Since 1995 Ned has been a fixture in The Toys, along with other fellow employees of Mattel. Find Ned on Facebook and follow the band—and he welcomes any classmates to turn out in Cleveland to cheer them on!
—Jennifer Avellino, 5912 Aberdeen Road, Bethesda, MD 20817; javellino@mac.com
