“Other” Class Notes

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.”

Jon Perry (Engr ’92) suffered a spinal cord injury on June 21, 2020. A GoFundMe has been set up on his behalf. 

Lynne McNamee (Col ’92 L/M) was invited to moderate the first breakout session for the Rotary International 2020 Virtual Convention. “Using Virtual Tools to Engage Members” was attended by over 3,500 from around the globe, with the session simultaneously translated into 7 additional languages. 

Elizabeth Herbert Evans’ (Col ’01) family recently opened a cabin rental business in Nelson County, Virginia. Beech Grove Cabins is 40 minutes away from Grounds in the heart of all the great breweries, wineries and distilleries.

John Valliere (Engr ’76 L/M) retired in May after 11 years as the senior disaster planner at the U.S. Small Business Administration headquarters in Washington, D.C. In this role, he served as the deputy director of the Office of Continuous Operations and Risk Management and principle author of the agency’s Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Plan and its Continuity of Operations Plan. He previously served in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1997, and in the private sector. He lives with his wife, Shirley Hottot, in Montclair, Virginia.

Shannon Horton (Nurs ’98) shares how her family’s business, Horton Vineyards, supported the front line workers of COVID-19:

“As COVID began to grow into a pandemic I wondered how Horton Vineyards could help front line workers/service people.  I heard that distilleries had changed their operations over to making hand sanitizer.  I immediately called a local distillery, Silverback and asked if they wanted some wine to distill. They arranged for transportation and so far 2 – 18 wheeler loads have been transported to Silverback, made into hand sanitizer and made its way to the front lines. As of today Silverback has received from Horton Vineyards via donation over 11,000 gallons of wine to be distilled into Hand Sanitizer.by Silverback.  To put this into perspective it is over 4,500 cases of wine. There are many different ways to support front line workers/services.  We went a little outside the wine box.”

Richard Margulies (Col ’76 L/M) was recently featured in the Chambers USA 2020 Guide, a publication ranking the leading lawyers and law firms across the U.S. Margulies is managing principal of the Jacksonville, Florida, office of Jackson Lewis. He has more than 30 years of experience in counseling and representing employers in litigation matters.