“Other” Class Notes

Paul Hodskins (Col ’12 CM) earned a master’s degree with highest distinction in 2018 from the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. That September, he married Katherine Jane Waro near Villanova University. Katie graduated from the Ithaca College Roy H. Park School of Communications and is a director of marketing at a global travel conglomerate. Paul and Kate now live in Leesburg, Virginia, where they recently purchased a home and hope to plant family roots. In 2021, Paul will mark ten years as a federal civil servant in foreign relations and national security.

Attison Barnes (Col ’15 CM) co-founded Captain Experiences, based out of Austin, Texas. The company aims to improve and streamline the booking process for outdoor sports guides, from fishing to rock climbing and more, to get “more people out of the office and off the couch and into the outdoors.” 

Thad Long (Law ’63 CM) published a book, The Impossible Mock Orange Trial, based on a case he tried as an attorney. Long is an elected member of the prestigious American Law Institute and has been an Adjunct professor of Law at two different law schools. He has tried many memorable cases, and the one that inspired The Impossible Mock Orange Trial was rated by the National Law Journal as one of only several most outstanding defense verdicts of the year. He has recently been awarded Marquis Who’s Who in America’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The Impossible Mock Orange Trial is a gripping anatomy of a huge high-stakes trial, with an unexpected turn at the end that spotlights the question: “What is Justice?” The book is available on Amazon.

Frederick Wilbur (Col ’70) recently published his second poetry collection, Conjugation of Perhaps. The previous collection is titled As Pus Floats the Splinter Out. For 35 years Wilbur was a self-employed architectural woodcarver participating in the restoration of such historic properties as Montpelier, Blandfield, and the Maryland Statehouse in Annapolis. He carved several details for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. His ecclesiastical carvings appear in churches nationwide. During his career Wilbur wrote many articles and three books on decorative woodcarving; Carving Architectural Detail in Wood: the Classical Tradition; Carving Classical Styles in Wood, and Decorative Woodcarving: Accessories for the Home. Wilbur received a M. A. from the University of Vermont. He still lives in central Virginia with his wife of fifty years, Elizabeth (Educ ’87), with two daughters and three grandchildren nearby.

Bill Lawson (Darden ’72) writes: My wife Cathy and I started 2020 with a three week stay at a Viila (Fregate) in St. Barthelemy. Marc Christman (Darden ’72) and his wife Dierdre joined us there for a week. David Vondle (Darden ’72) and his wife, Debbie, invited us to join them for the “Full Monte” at Mardi Gras in New Orleans. We stayed at the Royal Bourbon Radisson with a second floor balcony overlooking Bourbon Street. I threw beads from a float in one of the major parades; we attended an unforgettable gala, brunches, the Gay Parade, brunches and late nite gatherings. If you haven’t done Mardi Gras–put it on your bucket list.

We then canceled our week long train trip on the Belmond Royal Scotsman and a London stay. Also Longboat Key in Florida and recently our annual sojourn to St. Barthelemy this month.

Our summer home on Lake Charlevoix in northern Michigan has been a wonderful place of refuge from the pandemic these last couple of weeks. We are returning to Indianapolis where we are remodeling our home there, replacing our 60 plus year old swimming pool, and constructing a pool pavilion. We are staying three houses down the street at a relative’s house until March when our projects will hopefully be completed.

Please all Wahoos stay HEALTHY and Happy 2021!

Christopher Hill (Col ’11, Med ’15) and Lucy Meadema Hill (Educ ’11) welcomed Molly Meadema Hill on Oct. 2, 2020. Molly weighed 7 lbs 6 oz and measured 20″ long, and joins siblings Esley, 6, Mac, 4, and Abby Ruth, 22 months. The Hill family lives in Suffolk, Virginia, while Christopher completes an otolaryngology residency at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. 

Jimmie Crowder (Col ’58 CM) owns a funeral home in his hometown of South Hill, Virginia.

Noah Kaufman (Com ’99 CM) and his wife, Rachelle Lasken Kaufman (Col ’02) a boy, Saul Robert. Saul joins big brother Benjamin. The Kaufmans live in Arlington, Virginia. Noah works as a systems accountant (project manager) at the Department of State, is an adjunct associate professor at the University of Maryland Global Campus, and coaches wrestling. He recently re-published a book Life Lessons from the Wrestling Mat: Successful Strategies Gleaned from Three Decades of Coaching and Competing, which includes lessons he learned from his time on the UVA wrestling team. He has published three other books. Rachelle is an author, and has written several books as part of the Kaufman Green Guide series.  

Brooke Westerlund Stanton (Col ’95) co-authored When You Became You, a recently published children’s science education book.

William W. Purkey (Educ ’57 CM), professor emeritus of counselor education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, co-published Developing Inviting Schools: A Beneficial Framework for Teachers and Leaders. Purkey developed an innovative approach to education called Invitational Education. He now lives in Tallahassee, Florida, with his extended family.

Bissell Roberts (Law ’71 CM) of Prospect, Kentucky, was appointed to a four-year term on the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance by Gov. Andy Beshear (Law ’03). Roberts also serves as chair of the board of the Henry Clay High School Hall of Fame.

Matthew C. Meade published his first book, Wisdom on the Way to Wall Street: 22 Steps to Navigate Your Road to Success, after nearly 15 years of working on Wall Street.  

Dorothy Blum (Educ ’77) received the Lifetime Achievement Award for her distinguished leadership, work and service to the profession of employee assistance and to the Employee Assistance Professionals Association. Blum received the award at the association’s World Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Blum is currently the employee assistance program manager for the architect of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. From 1987 to 2010, she worked as contracted EAP director for the Nationwide Employee Assistance Program for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, formerly U.S. Customs Service.

Robert M. Tata (Law ’89 CM), managing partner for Hunton Andrews Kurth Norfolk, was recognized by Virginia Business Magazine on its inaugural 2020 “Power List” as one of the Commonwealth’s top 500 business leaders, and as Best Lawyers 2020 “Lawyer of the Year (Norfolk) for Intellectual Property” and 2021 “Lawyer of the Year (Norfolk) for Trade Secrets Law.”

Virgil Atwell Motley Jr. (Med ’55 CM) married Jeanne Austin Preston on Aug. 8, 2020 at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Abingdon, Virginia.

Lee Fanning (Med ’70) recently published Rescues from the Sky under the pseudonym Lee F. Walters. The book tells the harrowing real-life stories from his time with the U.S. Coast Guardas a newly trained flight surgeon.

Kenneth Monroe Jr. (Col ’60 CM) writes “Just living the good life while splitting my time between Virginia and Florida. Have two sons and two grandchildren living in Midlothian. Occasionally get to a UVA football game.”