YHS '70 Profiles
YHS '70 Classmates
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Brenda LaPerre (Ammons)
| Marital status: | Married |
|---|---|
| Children: | 2 |
| Occupation: | Retired |
| Comment: | So, here we are; 50 years later. Life has been such a roller coaster! I was one of 8 (one sister was my twin) and later in the eighties, I found out I had another sister that my mother had given up for adoption years earlier. I was not fond of school although many of my teachers were wonderful to me. Mr. Benzick explained the real facts of life to me and Mr. Westbrook was instumental in getting me my first job out of high school. I guess that i should first explain that life was not good at home and I took my parents to court; and in my junior year, I moved away from my parent's house and became an emancipated minor. I had a part-time job at SingerSewing in Clarendon and that is houw I was able to pay rent at a boarding house. Many of you were kind enough to give me your leftovers at lunchtime. I did not earn enough money to afford everything in life I needed to survive! Our Classmate, Sharon Ratherdale would have me over for dinner with her family on my day off. (Imagine living on your own at 16!) I was very upset after coming to our 5th class reunion upon learning that she had passed and to this day I wonder why. I did not go to college although I have some college credits I obtained for work. I married David A. Maben (class of 1968) 2 weeks after gruaduation. We had 2 sons, Robert (1976) and Michael (1978). We divorced after 23 years of marriage. I married again in 2003 to Gerard Roventini. In 2006, Jerry and I moved to Durham, NC. 2 years later, he decided he did not want to be married anymore. We were married 5 years. I married husband #3; Arthur L. LaPerre (originally from Detroit, MI) in January 2011.He still had 8 of his 14 adopted children still at home and being a "new Mom" to 8 special needs children. We met in Church while he was still married to his first wife. They went on a family vacation toSt. Louis, MO and she passed away there. What a hell of a vacation! He and the "Kids" were stuck in St. Louis for weeks. God had been very good to me! In 2003 I invested in a condo in Annandale; 2 years later, i sold it for twice as much. In fact , over the years i have purchased 13 homes; a couple were foreclosures. My husband, Art had great faith in me when we bid online for the one in Burlington, NC. That particular house we renovated and flipped (The flipping was never intentional, it just worked out that way. My husband and I still maintain ownership on 4. Hopefully by September, one more is gone.)We are both the gyspy in the family. We have a 2 bedroom cottage at Hyco Lake in Semora, NC (Person county) and hope to spend a lot more time there (That also was a rehab and a great deal.) Needless to say, we narrowed down the "Kids" at home to 4 and 2 years ago, we became empty-nesters; We moved out and left the kids behind. Wehave a company that cares for them 24/7. It the first time in 45 years that Art has had time for himself! We have 11 grandchildren. I spentmost of my working life in medical collecctions. About 12 of those were supervising; that stinks! I'd rather be the worker bee! At one time I got my real estate license but did nothing with it. (I decided early in life I would never be poor again so I saved and saved.) I was able to retire at age 62 and Art at age 64 after 29 years from a bio medical instrument compay: BioMerieux. (He says he is really not retired, just under new management.) I have paid it forward whenever possible: I've done volunteer work for Habitat, a soup kitchen in DC and in Chapel Hill, NC. My husband and I also organize the annual Thanksgiving and Christmas projects at our Church and I have been on the Board at DCCLP for 3 years noew. (It is an organization that manages special needs clients.) I have dos and pins in my back, a place and screws in my left ankle and a right shoulder implant. I'm 40 pounds heavier than I was in high school and an inch shorter. But I try not to let that slow me down; too little time and so many projects. We look forward to our trip up north in September for the reunion and to visist family. |
Constance Laudenschlager (Clark)
| Marital status: | Married |
|---|---|
| Occupation: | Retired |
| Comment: | After a fun (although stressful) career in international finance, I retired in 2006 when my husband, Rohn and I moved to Keswick, Virginia, near Charlottesville. �Since then, I am so fortunate to spend my days riding my two beautiful�horses, including fox hunting frequently, taking my rescued beagle on long walks, as well as being involved with Monticello and James Madison’s Montpelier, and volunteering at our historic little church in Keswick, where Thomas Jefferson served on the Vestry. Prior to retirement, I greatly enjoyed my career focus, which was transportation finance, primarily aircraft, but also trains and ships. �Transactions were complex, with large amounts involved, usually with tight time constraints and often with tax issues to solve. �As part of the job I travelled frequently, very often to Europe, as well as all over the US and South America and the Middle East. �I was frequently asked to speak at industry comfrences, and served on the Board of the major industry organization. �Business travel often included golf tournaments and many other fun outings, including flights on experimental aircraft and delivering new planes to their airline purchasers. Before Wall Street, I spent four years with UNICEF, based In Beirut, working on development projects and relief operations in Lebanon and many neighboring countries. After Yorktown, I spent four wonderful years at UVA, two great years with Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (MA) in Bologna, Italy and Washington, DC, and a very interesting yesr at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France (MBA). While I don’t have any children of my own, thanks to my husband’s first marriage, we have four married children, eight grandchildren, and so far, four great grandchildren. It’s great fun to be part of such a large family! So far, it has all been a great ride! �Looking forward to seeing everyone! |
Susan Matesich (Stemple)
| Marital status: | Married |
|---|---|
| Children: | 2 |
| Occupation: | Retired |
| Comment: | Time has passed so quickly! Who can believe we will soon celebrate 50 years of life after Yorktown? Where did the years go? I am looking forward to visiting Arlington again. Since 1970 I have only returned a handful of times. Soon after graduation, my parents retired and moved to Sarasota Florida and with that, I had no Arlington home. The last visit was five years ago, when my husband and I went to see our grandson at Johns Hopkins and took a day trip to Arlington to attend the Yorktown W-L football game, eat Mario’s pizza and get a tour inside my former home on 26th street. What a great day! I’ve not attended any of the previous reunions, but I’m looking forward to connecting with old friends and classmates this time around. My husband, Ed is also coming. He wants to find out what I was all about back then. Kathy and Kathy…mums the word! So, what has been going on in my life since 1970? I attended the University of South Florida in Tampa, pursuing a 5year Masters program in Speech Pathology and Audiology. Bill Wayne and I continued our high school romance and married June 1972. Our first son, Jeff was born June 1973. Our second son, Chris was born in 1977. I was very close to finishing my Masters when Chris was born. He was a very sick baby, having a rare condition called Chylothorax. Diagnosis was difficult, as was his prognosis. He was in NICU for five weeks. There had been 14 infant cases of this in the US at that time and he was the first to survive. Not knowing what his recovery and development would be like, I put my education on hold to become a fulltime mom. Chris made a remarkable recovery, but I did not return to complete my degree. No regrets. In the 80’s, I worked for the Tampa YMCA, as a Senior Program Director. In 1989, I began my 27year career with Time Inc., as a Direct Marketing Data Processing Manager for magazine subscriber acquisition. I retired in 2016. Bill and I divorced in 1984. Both of us remarried and remain friends. My husband, Ed and I lovingly share our combined family of four children and six grandchildren. We are the luckiest grandparents in the world having my two sons and their families living in homes next door to us. We love seeing our grandsons every day and enjoy traveling with all of them every year to the Caribbean and throughout the US. Here’s hoping we have a great 50th turnout and thanks to the reunion committee for their hard work putting this together! |
Robin Mathews (McDowell)
| Marital status: | Married |
|---|---|
| Children: | 2 |
| Occupation: | VP-Asset Management |
| Comment: | I attended Va Tech and graduated in 1974, the same year I married my husband Bruce, also a hokie. Our first jobs took us to the Winston Salem- High Point area of NC. I started my real estate career there managing shopping malls. 10 years later and with 2 children in tow we moved back to Northern Virginia. We have been in Alexandria for almost 40 years. I have worked for a small commerical real estate firm for 28 years in DC, managing, leasing DC properties as well as another 12 shopping centers in the Southeast. I enjoy scuba diving, mostly in the Cayman Islands, where we own a fifth of a condo and going to the beach in Duck, NC in October . We bought a small travel trailer that we have taken on a few trips to VA & SC with more to come. I hope to retire in the next year or so if I can fix the real estate that Covid broke ! Looking forward to seeing the "gwoup". |
Laurie Mathews
| Marital status: | Committed Relationship |
|---|---|
| Occupation: | Non-Profit Director |
| Comment: | BS University of Colorado MS Stanford Enjoyed a number of years working as Environmental Consultant and doing environmental policy for US Senator Gary Hart and several Colorado Governors. Was Director of Colorado State Parks for 10 fascinating years and then retired for the first time in 2001. Founded Global Dental Relief bringing dental care to children - now operating in Nepal, Cambodia, India, Guatemala and Kenya. Lead muliple volunteer trips, working in Nepal and India several months a year. Love reading, outdoors doing anything, and travel. Looking forward to the next decade as it unfolds! |
Michael J McCloskey
| Marital status: | Married |
|---|---|
| Children: | 5 |
| Occupation: | Executive Management and General Counsel |
| Comment: | I left Yorktown in January 1970 after my family moved to Columbia, MD., and so did not graduate with the rest of you. I graduated that year from Glenelg HS in MD. I graduated from La Salle University in 1974 and the Dicksinson School of Law in 1977. Professionally, I practiced law in domestic and international oild and gas exploration and corporation finance for six years and then went to Wall Street with two major investment banks where I was a Managing Director in corporation fiannce. I left investment banking in 1994 and have been in company operations since then. I continue as a "C" level executive and general counsel since I am not suited to retirement. I wish all of you a fulfilling 50th reunion. |
Pam McDonald (Owen)
| Occupation: | Retired |
|---|---|
| Comment: | Once I graduated, I went to Ferrum (Jr.) College, then to FSU, back to Ferrum to teach, and then Western Kentucky University for my Master's Degree. I accepted an offer from the Federal Government to work in Moral, Welfare, and Recreation in (West) Germany. I returned to the U.S. in 1980 and married in my best friend I met in Germany. Chuck also worked for the government so we returned to Munich, Germany and then to Turkey. After Turkey we were assigned to Minot AFB, ND for a year. Another move to the DFW area for several years, where Chuck retired. I transferred with my agency to Tampa and then retired. We now live in Lakeland, FL where I spend time kayaking and doing photography with friends. |
Dan Morissette
| Marital status: | Married |
|---|---|
| Children: | 2 |
| Occupation: | Retired |
Tina Moulton (Davis)
| Marital status: | Married |
|---|---|
| Children: | 2 |
| Occupation: | Retired |
| Comment: | After graduating from Yorktown, I went to Roanoke College (Peggy Reeves was my freshman roommate) where I graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry. During college I worked at Phillips by the Sea (with Sharon Brunson for one year) in Ocean City MD. I went back to the beach following college graduation halfway hoping I wouldn't get a real job so I could stay at the beach but I got a job at the National Institutes of Health doing research. I moved to Bethesda, met my husband and got married in 1981. After working at the NIH for 14 years, I moved over to the FDA, initailly doing reserach and then taking a desk job to do policy development. After over 32 years I retired from the government, took a job for a government contractor before completly retiring in 2014. My husband and I split our time between our home in Bethesda and our second home in Ocean View DE. I have a son who lives in Potmac and works for an investment firm in Georgetown and a daughteer who lives in Dupont Circle and works for a non-profit consulting firm in Georgetown. I also have two adorable grandchildren . Hope to make it to the reunion in the fall. |
Jeff Nugent
| Marital status: | Married |
|---|---|
| Children: | 3 |
| Occupation: | Leadership Trainer/Coach |
| Comment: | Really does feel strange that we departed Yorktown a half century ago. Nonetheless, here’s my abridged report.
I decided not to go to college right after high school—felt passionately about the need to end the Vietnam War and overcome racial injustice in our country.
After receiving one of the few Conscientious Objector designations ever approved by the Arlington County Selective Service Board, I was drafted and served my 2-year alternative service duty as a community organizer in the Hispanic community of Springfield, MA. Gained invaluable experience and mentors, which led to enrolling as a Community Development major at Springfield College—one of the only North American colleges that offered an international program on the subject. Graduated summa cum laude and in 1977 accepted an offer to join a leading national organization in DC.
In 1974 (much too young) I married a Yorktown ‘71 alum, and while we enjoyed a decade together and raised two great children, we ultimately split up. In 1989 I married a wonderful psychotherapist and in 1999 we adopted our daughter from China.
In 1985 I co-founded a national organization where I designed and conducted intensive (week-long) leadership programs for over 20K staff of nonprofits—74% of them people of color/women who aspire to change the world. Also raised over $50 million from foundations to support our efforts and created the largest unrestricted grant program in US philanthropy—awarding over $200 million in $200K grants to over 1,000 of the best nonprofits in the US and UK.
We trained 14K bankers on community development lending in programs sponsored by the Federal Reserve (founded and directed the National Community Development Lending School), and generated over $3 billion in financing for affordable housing and economic development ventures.
These days we live in Greenwich Village and I’m conducting leadership programs for emerging leaders in the South Bronx, global fellowships of NYU grad students and staff at the NY Federal Reserve Bank.
Had the pleasure of seeing many of you at the 45th, getting together with a few folks over the years—Hugh Hegyi, Jim Landen, Bob Witeck, Debby Denno, Mary Lou Soller, and looking forward to seeing you all online and in-person when it becomes safe to gather. Stay strong my friends—cheers to courageous acts and better days to come. |