ClassNotes

1960s

Joan Brock ’64, and her husband, Macon Brock, were featured in the June issue of Virginia Business magazine for their longtime philanthropic efforts. The Brocks support a number of organizations, including Longwood. Their latest gift—the largest in university history—was $5.9 million to create the Brock Endowment for Transformational Learning.

Joann Buckley ’66, coauthor of African American Doctors of World War I, spoke at the Library of Congress in May with coauthor Doug Fisher about three of the doctors featured in their book. In early November, Buckley spoke about the book at the 44th Annual Conference on D.C. History, hosted by the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.

Anne Lancaster Hall ’67 had a blast slinging paint during the Alumni Color Wars at the Mega Reunion Weekend held in June 2017. (The July 2017 issue of the magazine stated she stayed on the sidelines.) “I was, in fact, one of the paint slingers ... probably the oldest one on the field,” said Hall, who included with her note a photograph of herself thoroughly doused with red paint.

1970s

Susan March Payne ’75, an artist and retired art teacher, had an exhibition in May at the Blue Ridge ArtSpace in Boone, North Carolina. The exhibition featured landscape paintings in acrylics and oils. Before moving to Boone, Payne taught in Virginia Beach and later coordinated summer camp programs at the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Jimaye Sones ’76 is retiring after 34 years with the Department of Defense. Sones was one of Longwood’s first male students. Over his 34-year career, Sones was a member of the DOD Executive Service at its highest level, tier three. Sones’ last assignment was with the Defense Information System Agency as the director of readiness and security. During his career, he received three levels of service performance medals and one presidential award from President Barack Obama. Sones lives in Edenton, North Carolina.

Ellen Reed Brandenburg ’77, who died July 14, was supported by her Longwood Alpha Gamma Delta sisters during her three-year battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. A group of “Alpha Gams” with whom she kept in touch over the years donated to the scholarship fund set up by coworkers in Brandenburg’s memory and to a fund set up to help with medical expenses for Brandenburg’s daughter, who is undergoing cancer treatment. Brandenburg was supervisor of speech pathology at Medical City North Hills Hospital in North Richland Hills, Texas. The Alpha Gamma Delta alumnae group, whose communication is coordinated by Julie Willard Pollard ’76, has met for brunch the last Saturday of February in Richmond for at least 25 years. Former Longwood President Henry Willett Jr. attended this year’s meeting.

Kathleen Mullooly Cook ’79, a physical education teacher and coach at St. Agnes Cathedral School in Rockville Centre, New York, received the school’s Elizabeth Ann Seton Award in May. The award recognizes dedicated service to Catholic education. Cook, who has a master’s degree from Adelphi University, has taught since 2000 at St. Agnes and coaches soccer and basketball.

Donna Gum ’79 is the executive director of Mental Health America of Augusta, Georgia, a position she has held since 2002. The organization works to educate the public about mental health and appropriate treatment for mental illness.

1980s

Pair reunite for basketball competition

Karen Boska Oliver ’87 and Barbie Burton ’90, former teammates on the Longwood women’s basketball team, joined forces again nearly 30 years later at the National Senior Games, held in June in Birmingham, Alabama. Their team, Northern Virginia-based NOVA United, finished fourth among 19 teams in the women’s 50-54 competition, winning four of its seven games. Held every other year, the National Senior Games is the largest multisport qualified competition event in the world for men and women 50 and older. “It was an exhilarating experience and wonderful to be able to reminisce with Barbie after so many years,” said Oliver, a homeschooling mom (of six children) who lives in Springfield. Burton, a certified therapeutic recreation specialist who lives in Reston, has worked for the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services for more than 26 years, most recently in transitioning residents of institutions to community settings.

Retired Col. Janice M. Johnson ’82 spoke at the 2017 Commemoration of 9/11 Responders held at the Farmville Fire Department. In her remarks, she noted the critical roles of first responders in the aftermath of the attack and told the stories of two soldiers she knew who were killed. Johnson retired from the U.S. Army in 2001 after 32 years of service. She began her military career as an enlisted medic in 1978, and then joined the ROTC program at Longwood, where she was early commissioned into the Adjutant Generals Corps as a reserve officer in 1981. Johnson holds a J.D. from New College of California School of Law.

Lynne Gilbert ’84 became the head softball coach at Virginia State University in June. She taught in the Chesterfield County schools for more than 30 years and coached varsity softball on the high-school level for 27 years, including 22 years at Manchester High School, where her teams won a state title, one regional title and seven district titles. David Lydiard ’84 is serving his second two-year term as president of the Bellevue Civic Association in Richmond. Lydiard, a Realtor, has lived in Richmond since 1995.

Ty Bordner ’87 is vice president of solutions consulting and product marketing for Amber Road. Before joining Amber Road, a provider of on-demand global trade management solutions, he spent 10 years with JPMorgan Chase Vatera in various leadership roles. He has a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University.

1990s

Network fills gap for women working as email marketers

Jen Capstraw ’96 is president of Women of Email, which cultivates professional growth among women in the email space. The professional network, which Capstraw cofounded with three other women in June 2016, has 1,039 members in 27 countries on six continents (all but Antarctica). It has hosted in-person events in four countries, launched a mentorship program and manages an active online community. “This is my passion,” said Capstraw, a digital marketing specialist who is a business consultant for the Adobe Experience Cloud and a contributor for MediaPost. Women account for 47 percent of email marketers, but the cofounders of Women of Email had noticed that women were underrepresented at email conferences, prompting the organization’s creation.

Alum commands Army Garrison

Col. Clinton “Clint” Cox ’96 assumed command of the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort Benning in May. He oversees the Army’s third largest base in personnel (almost 40,000 permanent employees and an average daily population of nearly 18,500 trainees) and geographic area (182,000 acres). Fort Benning, near Columbus, Georgia, is where all infantry and armor officers and soldiers begin their training and where paratroopers for all military branches do their basic airborne training. “I’m like a city manager,” said Cox, whose assignment is for two years. An airborne ranger who served with the famed 101st Airborne Division for much of his career, Cox is a veteran of two combat tours in Iraq and four combat tours in Afghanistan. He served most recently at the Pentagon with the Joint Chiefs of Staff as deputy director, Joint Operations Division Global Force Management. Cox is a graduate of Longwood’s ROTC program. He and his wife, Alison Martin Cox ’95, a high-school and middle-school teacher, have two children.

O’Kelly McWilliams III ’90 was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Retirement System by Gov. Terry McAuliffe in May. He is managing partner of Gordon & Rees Scully Mansukhani’s Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland offices.

Dr. Tracey McGregor Mason ’91 was promoted to the rank of professor of chemistry at Stevenson University in Maryland in July. She was the recipient of the 2017 Braude Award from the Maryland Section of the American Chemical Society, presented in October, recognizing research work with undergraduates. Mason has taught since 2008 at Stevenson, a private school near Baltimore. She has a Ph.D. from Virginia Commonwealth University, did postdoctoral research at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, and taught as a Peace Corps volunteer in Fiji from 1994-96.

Charles Moss ’94 became principal of Southside Elementary in Dinwiddie County in August. He had been assistant principal of Sutherland Elementary, also in Dinwiddie. Before joining the Dinwiddie school division in 2013, he was a teacher and a school administrator in Louisa and Spotsylvania counties. He has a master’s degree from Old Dominion University.

Thomas Johnson ’98 is dean of workforce development services at Eastern Shore Community College in Melfa.

2000s

Lessley Mader ’00 was inducted into Staunton’s Robert E. Lee High School Hall of Fame in August. Mader, a 1996 graduate of Robert E. Lee, earned 11 varsity letters in five sports and played on the school’s undefeated state championship basketball team. She played basketball at Longwood. Mader, who earned a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, is director of exceptional children (special education) of school support for the Guilford County schools in North Carolina.

Bonnie Pancoast ’00 is a physical therapist, and became a board certified neurological clinical specialist in July 2016. She earned her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree in 2005 from Marymount University in Arlington and currently practices as a physical therapist at a MedStar National Rehabilitation Network outpatient clinic in Washington, D.C., with a large portion of her practice devoted to stroke and brain injury patients. She also serves as an adjunct faculty member in the physical therapy programs at Marymount University and George Washington University.

Tricia Ramsey Smith ’01 was named division president of Schell Brothers in Richmond in March. Before joining Schell Brothers, she was with Ryan Homes for 15 years. Smith has spent the majority of her real estate career in sales and sales management, overseeing southern Virginia as a regional sales manager. She also has worked in land acquisition and oversaw general homebuilding operations as a general manager.

Daniel Bullington ’02 was appointed chief technology officer for i2i Population Health in May. He had been senior manager for IT architecture for DaVita, a Fortune 100 health care provider, and previously served in a variety of IT leadership roles with financial services companies, including Asurion, Jackson National Life, Capital One and Wells Fargo. He has a master’s degree from Virginia Tech.

Lucy Lafoon Hall ’02, M.S. ’06, was named principal of Kenbridge Elementary in Lunenburg County in July after serving as assistant principal for two years. She also worked at Kenbridge as a second-grade teacher for eight years and as librarian for six years.

Dr. Jon Mikolashek ’02, assistant professor of history at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is the co-author of an article, “Deciphering Shades of Gray: Understanding Counterinsurgency,” published in Small Wars Journal in May.

Carman Faison ’04 is a CPA at Mitchell Wiggins and was recently promoted to a senior management position. Faison joined Mitchell Wiggins in 2005 after working in the commercial finance area. She specializes in working with closely-held businesses, auto dealerships, financial institutions and nonprofits.

Eddie Cassady, M.S. ’05, became chief of the Martinsville Police Department in June. He joined the department in 1985 and had been deputy chief since 2014.

Casey Wilson Jackson ’05, M.S. ’10, became principal of Victoria Elementary in Lunenburg County in July. She was formerly assistant principal of South Hill Elementary.

Jennifer Steele ’05 became head softball coach at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, in June. Previously, she had been head coach at Jacksonville University since 2014; head coach at Randolph College, where she was named 2009 ODAC coach of the year; and assistant coach at Longwood and George Mason University.

Trent Armitrage ’09 returned to the position of executive director at the Virginia House Democratic Caucus this summer. He served previously as executive director in 2015 and as deputy executive director in 2013. During the 2016 cycle, he served on the political desk for House Majority PAC, helping to coordinate more than $23 million in spending across 22 congressional races.

Amy Frye ’09 is getting back in touch with fellow Longwood alumnae through the Blue Ridge Alumnae Association, which was created last summer by her sorority, Alpha Sigma Tau.

2010s

Patrick Crute ’10 and Ashley Jarrett Crute ’10 welcomed their first child, Ragan Mae, on Feb. 16. She is the first grandchild of J. David Crute ’81 and Patricia Whitehurst Crute ’80.

Sonya Ragsdale ’10 announced her engagement to George Blackwell in July. Ragsdale, who lives in Kenbridge, is deputy clerk of the Circuit Court of Lunenburg County.

Kimberly Rich ’11, a kindergarten teacher at South Boston Elementary, was a crafts instructor in July at the Kids Kollege, a summer arts program in South Boston. Rich has served as a volunteer with the program.

Carrie Grandy Robbins, M.S. ’11, is a speech-language pathologist in High Point, North Carolina. She switched from full-time to part-time work in June to take care of her 2-year-old twin boys.

Jamie Brentlinger ’13 and John Ponton ’13 became engaged on Sept. 3, 2017. Brentlinger, a recreation supervisor for Howard County Recreation and Parks, and Ponton, head athletic trainer at Mount Vernon High School in Fairfax County, currently reside in Severn, Maryland.

Gary Shanaberger ’11, MBA ’13, became town manager of Appomattox in August. Since 2009, he had worked for Longwood’s Small Business Development Center. He owned and operated Shanaberger & Sons, his family’s outdoor power equipment company in Farmville, from 1992-2008.

Katie Holloway Cheseldine ’13 is a lead sales associate for CustomInk, where she has worked since June 2013. She and her husband, Rob, moved in February to Richmond, where Rob manages CustomInk’s first stand-alone store and Katie works from home.

Josh Barmoy, M.S. ’15, is the baseball coach at Randolph-Henry High School in Charlotte Court House. Barmoy has been on the coaching staff at Randolph-Henry High School for two years.

Paige Harris ’14, M.Ed. ’15, and Thomas Heizer were married in October. Harris is a fifth-grade teacher at Riverheads Elementary in Augusta County.

Jawaad Douglas ’15 was named the girls’ basketball coach at E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg in June. He had been at North Stafford High School, where he was an assistant coach for football, boys and girls basketball, and track.

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