Nowadays: Extended Alumni/ae News
Stan Banker, pastor of Indianapolis First Friends Meeting and ESR alum
(M.Div., 1976), is leading two 8-day tours to Costa Rica in March and June
of this year. Part of the trip includes visits to the Monteverde Friends Meeting
and School, the United Nations' University of Peace, community development
projects, and the many natural sights of the country.
Victoria Burke (M.Div., 2000) has been working for over a year at Hospice
of Dayton as a home care chaplain. Victoria writes, "The other day I had a 'through
the back of the wardrobe' experience here in Dayton when I drove along a winding
red brick road surrounded by magical wintry scenery -- and all right here in
the heart of Dayton, truly a gem of a city. I love my work and appreciate
Dayton more each day."
Peter Ford (attended 1964-1967) is Director of Pastoral Care at Winchester
Medical Center in Winchester, Virginia. He was recently granted the Certificate
in Thanatology: Death, Dying and Bereavement by the Association for Death
Education and Counseling (ADEC). ADEC is the national interdisciplinary credentialing
body for thanatology. It certifies persons providing care, counseling and
education to the dying, their families, and caregivers.
Lawrence Garvey (M.Min., 1981) recently retired as Senior Pastor of
The Cornerstone Community Church of Alexandria, Indiana. Upon his retirement
he was named Pastor Emeritus of the church. Larry and Donna are now living
in North Augusta, South Carolina where she is painting and he is writing. Their
e-mail address is lagarvey@comcast.net.
Judy Guerry (M.Div., 1998) is working as a counselor in Hope Place
domestic violence shelter in Huntsville, AL. She currently serves as clerk
of Huntsville Area Friends Meeting and as a member of the Ministry and Nurture
Committee for the Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting and Association (SAYMA).
As part of the SAYMA M&N Committee, Judy helped with worship sharing and
other aspects of SAYMA's annual gathering in 2003. Judy and her partner, Charlotte
Shea, enjoyed travels last fall in Ireland, Scotland and England, especially
Cornwall, where they stayed with f/Friends and attended meeting for worship.
Judy and Charlotte sing in the Huntsville Feminist Chorus. "We sing fine songs
from all over the world that help both of us to be re-freshed," says Judy.
Thomas Jeavons (MA, 1978), General Secretary of Philadelphia Yearly
Meeting, was one of the speakers for the November 2003 conference of the Pew
Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy, held in Washington, D.C.
Thom serves as a consulting scholar for the SUNY Albany / Rockefeller Institute
of Government, which runs this project to research and analyze the background
and direction of religious organizations' involvement in social service activities.
The project also offers insights into the development of policy on government
involvement with "faith-based organizations."
Marylouise (Mainhart) Lambert (attended 1977-79) writes, "I'm enjoying
having our adult children, Theresa (23) and Gerald (26), my mother (94), my
sister and, of course, my husband, Marc, all on the home island of Alameda
[in the San Francisco Bay]. I continue to work full time as a sign language
interpreter in a local community college. It's work that I love, in programs
that so empower the students I work with.
I became alternate clerk of the John Woolman School Alumni Association a few
months before the School suspended classes. In the two years since then I've
attended almost all of the Board meetings. We alumni are deeply concerned for
the future of our School as well as preserving its past. I recently made a
website related to one of our projects: http://www.geocities.com/jwswombats/.
I'm thrilled with the students who have applied to come for the opening in
January 2004 of the new Woolman Semester Program. The board and staff have
been steadfast in their desire to again serve teens and have worked with amazing
care on all aspects of preparing this program. I'm also thrilled that one of
the teachers they have hired is an Earlhamite!
I'd love to hear from old classmates and friends from ESR. A few dear friends
in Richmond give me occasional news. During the recent 25th anniversary
of the Jonestown suicides, and the slaying of the mayor of SF George Moscone
and Supervisor Harvey Milk, I was remembering hearing of these 'hometown' tragedies
while raking leaves on the grounds of ESR, and how very far from home I felt
then. I often feel very far from ESR now, though my years there and at EC
are deeply etched in my heart" Marylouise can be reached at: mlouise007@yahoo.com
Eric (M.Min., 1964) and Deanna (M.Div., 1995) Mayer are
in their 9th year at Westtown School in Westtown PA, following a year-long
sabbatical to Rome, Italy! Eric homeschooled their three children: Elsa (9),
Jonah (7), and Jacob (5) and Deanna worked as the Dean of Students at the international
school at St Stephen's. Deanna and Eric write, "What an adventure we had. Now
we are back and Eric resumes his role as Chair of Religion. Deanna tutors privately.
We brought a special souvenir back with us...baby Peter Alexander was born
November 7, 2003. Along with our new puppy, Jersey, that brings our clan to
7! We continue to be grateful for our time and learning at ESR. We are working,
each in our own way, to bring love and light to our community and world."
Earl J Prignitz (MA, 1965) writes, "To early members of ESR especially
who might remember me I'd like to say that I am now 88 years old and living
at FFC with my wife Rosalie. I feel like I am continuing my ministry in 'My
Friendly Thoughts' pages that I keep adding to. I now have 77 of them out
there somewhere. It gives me something to do and keeps my mind active even
though I can't keep my body that way. My address for them is: http://homepageearl.homestead.com/Basic1.html. I
also have 'My Home Page' at: http://moreyet.homestead.com/MyHomePage.html. I
invite you to take a look any time you have a spare moment. Thanks."
Julie-Ann Silberman-Bunn (M.Div., 1991) writes, "My stepson Ian turned
10 in October and has been off chemo for more than a year. We are learning
how to be a family without such close support from the medical community and
it feels good! We moved in September. This is my 12th year with the congregation
in Kent, Ohio, and this year we have officially made the leap from small to
mid-size congregation. The life of the church is as always full of joy and
challenge. I would love to hear from ESR friends, I seemed to have lost touch
with most of the folks who mattered so much to me during my time at ESR. I
have recently begun a women's clergy group in the local area and it reminds
me a lot of the small group I was part of during ministry project. I am extremely
grateful for the education, welcome and friendship I received at ESR." Julie-Ann's
new address is 6193 Cox Ave Ravenna Oh. 44266. Phone: (330) 678-2275
John C. (Jack) Smith (M.A., 1971) writes, "In reading the fall 2003
issue of ESR Reports, under Nowadays, I was disappointed that there
was no news of anyone from the earlier era of ESR. And then I realized that
I have not sent in anything either and so I have no one to complain except
myself." He continues, "Here is my update of my activities. I attended ESR
in 1963-4 and received an M.A. in 1970. I came to ESR with degrees in pharmacy
and pharmacology, and now have a doctorate in pharmacy, called a Pharm. D.
I am the pharmacist member of a clinical team at a clinic in Harrisonburg,
Virginia and teach two terms of clinical pharmacology in the graduate program
at James Madison University, in the Physician Assistant Program which is at
the masters level. My wife Susan and I are nearing our 40th wedding anniversary
and are active Conservative Friends, she having served as clerk of Ohio Yearly
Meeting for 13 years and I am a recorded minister in that tradition. Our daughter,
Rebecca, and her husband, Chad, have five children, and are dairying on the
184-acre farm we ran as a dairy farm for almost 20 years. Our son, Nathan,
is a foreman for a house builder in the DC beltway area and our youngest daughter,
Sarah, is completing her Ph.D. in ecology at Princeton."
Mike Zipser (M.Div., 2001) says, "As Richmond, Indiana, is on the border
to Ohio, so is Kehl, Germany, where I live and work, is on the border to France.
When I cross the border to Strasbourg, just opposite to Kehl on the other side
of the river Rhine, I plunge into a different culture: people speak French,
they have different customs and ways of doing things. This is where I attend
my Quaker meeting, which was reborn last year. We are now 12 people with eight
different nationalities. Most of the time we speak English, German or French,
but we agreed on being silent in Alsatian, a local Germanic dialect that nobody
is really able to speak. We meet once a month. The remaining Sundays I attend
a Mennonite church in Strasbourg where I finally learned how to speak and understand
French. Both ways of worshiping give me strength for my daily life at the school
for physically disabled children. I had a clearness committee last fall, seeking
discernment on whether I should join a Christian community elsewhere, or stay
in this area. With the help of the committee and God's Spirit I decided to
stay in my profession, but to move to Strasbourg in order to help the Quaker
group grow in numbers and spiritually. In this way and through my small contributions
to an organization called Church and Peace I try to implement what I learned
at ESR, by engaging myself in my daily life at school, in the peace activities
and in my worshiping communities. I have the feeling that there is a new breeze
of God's Spirit moving the German Yearly Meeting and our small but vibrant
Quaker Silent Worship Group in Strasbourg. There are only about 85 Quakers
in the whole of France. I still miss the ESR community a lot, as well as my
Quaker meeting in Richmond. However, God is always surprising me with something
that I hadn't expected and that helps me look forward and makes my life rich
and thankful. Aufwiedersehen und au revoir."
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