Alumni News & Notes
1960
Our class is planning a casual “mini-reunion” Wednesday, June 14, 2017, 1 p.m. at Provence restaurant in Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany. Each individual may order from the menu and pay his or her own check. We hope you’ll attend. Friends and members of other classes are invited to join us. In 2012, David Feldman moved from Syracuse to Kendal at Longwood retirement community outside Philadelphia. He is active in the community’s theater group. His play “Sitting Quietly Doing Nothing Spring Comes and the Grass Grows” was presented at Kendal last year. The play previously was produced at Manhattan’s Playformers. “Falling for You,” “Steinberg,” and “The Fifty Year Game of Gin Rummy” have all been performed at Kendal. David traveled to State College, Pa., to visit Lee Upcraft ’61 and wife Lillian Upcraft ’62. He occasionally sees Nancy McGowan Clinton. Inese Klavins, Doris Hische Brossy, Hank Binzer and wife Pat Binzer ’74 attended Homecoming Breakfast in Oct. The Binzers reside at Avila near the UAlbany uptown campus.
Class notes councilor: Doris Hische Brossy, [email protected]; Joan Cali Pecore, [email protected]
1961
Please send your current email address and the email addresses of fellow classmates with whom you keep in touch to Mel Horowitz at [email protected]. Psi Gamma sisters Barbara Smith Passino of Savannah, Ga.; Carol Bastian of Camden, N.Y.; and Margaret Kropec of Long Beach, Calif., attended Homecoming Breakfast last Oct. as part of the Class of ’61 55th-Year Reunion. Marge says: “A visit to the old library and seeing the beautiful murals brought back many memories. It was interesting to walk the old campus and the new campus, and stop by the WT.” They spent time with Loida Vera Cruz of the Alumni Association. Your class councilor was sidelined by medical events, including a broken hip. Carol Bastian encourages Psi Gammas interested in the possibility of a 120th-anniversary celebration in 2018 to get in touch. Tony D’Imperio retired early from Greece Central School District near Rochester, N.Y., after 29 years of service as a teacher, elementary-school principal and middle-school vice principal. Since retiring, he has supervised student teachers from SUNY Geneseo and SUNY Brockport; Tony is also columnist/reporter for the Livingston County News. He is active in local theater and volunteers at a local charity. June DeVore Hunter and husband Ken spent two weeks on Long Sands Beach, Maine, where they’ve visited nearly every year of their marriage. Despite various limitations this year, Mel Horowitz and wife were able to use some timeshare weeks, including their annual stay in Maine. Mel’s oldest granddaughter, Katie, started college in Sept. Harold Jewell is proud of another recognition for his screenplay “I Dreamt You Kissed Me”: It was named a finalist in the suspense/thriller category of the Los Angeles Screenplay Contest. Nancy Rubin Bernstein plays mahjong, enjoys quilting, takes classes through Marist College, and spends time with children and grandchildren. She and husband Sanford Bernstein ’57 spent Feb. in Sarasota, Fla. Judy Bacon Bleezarde spent most of last winter at Spruce Creek Country Club near Ocala, Fla. She planned to spend time on Hilton Head Island, S.C., in Dec. Judy says, “Our travels are getting closer and closer to home as we age and the world gets crazier and crazier.”
Class notes councilor: Mel Horowitz, [email protected]
1962
Our 55th-year class reunion will be held during Homecoming, Oct. 2017. Please plan to come, as our 50th-year reunion had the best turnout ever! Reply to any mailings you receive, and send your mailing address and your email address to your class councilor, Sheril Joan McCormack, at [email protected]. Robert Sweeney enjoys his grandkids and new dachshund puppy, and stays busy working on home repairs caused by hurricane damage. Linda Bosworth went on a Bermuda cruise with Sheril McCormack for Sheril’s 75th birthday. Susan Blank enjoyed three weeks in England and Scotland. Many classmates are still employed, love to travel, have grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and do volunteer work.
Class notes councilor: Sheril McCormack, [email protected]
1964
Alan and Clare Minarcik celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary by working on their bucket list: They reconnected with old friends and traveled, and visited Loida Vera Cruz at the UAlbany Alumni Association. Claudia DiBenedetto Nealon had lunch in Albany with Gloversville High School classmates; Judy Madnick ’65 and husband Stu, a GHS grad, attended. Bob Fairbanks is in good health and raced at Watkins Glen International track on his 74th birthday. Columba DeFrancesco Heinzelman and Florence Miller contacted the Alumni Office to share the sad news that Penny Grastorf passed away in April 2016.
Class Notes Co-councilors: Alan Minarcik at [email protected]; Bill Robelee at [email protected]
1965
Laurel Wemett, who holds a bachelor’s degree in history from UAlbany and a master’s degree in art history from Emory University, presented at the 2016 Global Mural Conference in Fairport, N.Y., last Sept.. She interpreted a mural at Elmer Clark Pavilion, Lock 30 Canal Park in Macedon, N.Y. Kate Harvey Jacobs moved from her retirement home in Tennessee to a condo in the Washington, D.C., area to be closer to children and grandchildren.
Class Councilor: Judy Madnick, [email protected]
1966
Kathleen Bryce Niles-Overton retired after 31 years in the Syracuse City School District, where she served as teacher and administrator. She owns public-relations firm Bryce Focus Group, which works with non-profits. She is a Pulitzer-prize nominee and the author of six poetry books that can be read at www.kathleenbryceniles.com. David Hughes passed away on Thanksgiving Day after a long illness. He worked at the college radio station while attending UAlbany.
1971
Brian Monahan was appointed interim superintendent of schools in the Rye City School District, Tampa, Fla.
1972
Rebecca Salon was appointed by Barack Obama as a member of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities in Oct. She is project director at the National Center on Leadership for the Employment and Economic Advancement of People with Disabilities, and program specialist at the D.C. Department on Disability Services. Michael Blumenthal, partner at Thompson & Knight LLP in New York City, was recently listed as a 2016 New York Metro Super Lawyer.
1973
Charlotte Biblow, an attorney at Farrell Fritz in Uniondale, N.Y., was recently recognized as a 2016 Leading Lawyer in the areas of environmental, land use & municipal and commercial litigation law.
1975
Carolyn Shearer was highlighted in The Best Lawyers in America 2017. She advises health-care providers on Stark Law and anti-kickback issues, federal and state regulatory compliance, tax-exemption and HIPAA.
1976
Jeanne (Santomauro) Schnupp co-hosted Salon New York 2017, an international arts show. She is a decorative painter and lives on Long Island, N.Y.
1977
Howard Glick retired from his law practice in Ashland, Ohio, and continues to work for the Ohio Supreme Court as a trainer for the Guardian Ad Litem Program. Samuel Moskowitz of Boston-based Davis, Malm & D’Agostine, P.C., was recognized as a 2016 Massachusetts Super Lawyer. Nancy Michela is an associate professor of nursing and serves as director of the BS-RN program at The Sage Colleges, where she recently celebrated 25 years of service.
1979
Karen Mazza was named deputy executive director of the New York City Employees Retirement System. Karen previously served as the General Counsel to the Fund. Amelia M. Klein was highlighted in The Best Lawyers in America 2017. She is an employee-benefits and executive-compensation attorney at Bond Schoeneck & King, Albany, N.Y.
Eric Burgess was appointed to the senior executive-service position of associate chief financial officer for Managerial Cost Accounting at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Paul Feldman of Boston-based Davis, Malm & D’Agostine, P.C. was recognized as a 2016 Massachusetts Super Lawyer.