Class Notes are compiled with information gathered from the reply cards in each
issue of Reflections, alumni updates sent via e-mail and the web, newspaper
clippings, and letters. We do not report engagements or pregnancies but will
gladly announce weddings and births.
Information received after February 1 will appear in the Fall issue.
Mary Brocchetti Pavan ‘35 writes
from East Lansing: “I am 87 years
old and live in an assisted living
establishment. My daughter is a
dental hygienist. My grandson is a
graduate student in Tallahassee, FL;
his wife is a veterinarian.”
Frances Louise Borges, OP ‘40
taught elementary school for 59
years and is now retired and living in Maria Health Care Center
where she volunteers for the Adrian
Dominican Sisters in the mailroom.
She also takes a Scripture class
and enjoys cultural events at Siena
Heights and in the community.
Mary Frances White, OP ‘40 has
lived at the Villa Serra retirement
center in Salinas, CA, for 11 years.
She no longer travels much but has
fond memories of a 60th Jubilee trip
to Kuwaii.
Dorothy Singer Elliott ‘45 lives in
St. Louis, MO, with her husband of
51 years. Of their four children, two
live in St. Louis, one in Chicago and
one in Kansas. Dorothy still works
part-time as a consultant dietician.
Mary Louise Dahl Corcoran ‘46 is
a retired counselor and teacher who
is “living near downtown Nashville,
TN, in historic Lockeland Springs.
I am using my counseling skills as
a volunteer at the Crisis Intervention Center. My interests include
historic reno vation, gardening
and travel.” Mary Louise and her
daughter visited the Siena Heights
campus last spring for the first time
in many years.
Marjory Thompson Iott ‘49 and
her husband, Robert, celebrated
their 50th anniversary last spring.
Recent travels have included trips
to Maine (visiting Lois Hueneman
Chazaud ‘49) and to San Jose,
CA to visit family and tour the
Napa Valley wine country. Seven
sons and seven daughters have
given Bob and Marjory 29-goingon-30 grandchildren. “We are truly
blessed!”
Joan Gardzinski Bartoszewicz
‘50 lives in Grosse Pointe Farms
with her husband, Leonard, a dentist. They have 9 children, 13 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.
Over the years, Joan has been active with Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts,
school activities, several dental
organizations, “Pregnancy Aid”
of Detroit, and the Bon Secours
Hospital Assistance League, as
well as being a local elections commissioner. She previously taught
and was librarian at St. Ambrose
Elementary School in Detroit. She
loves cooking, playing bridge,
travel and family.
Ita Marie Brennan, OP ‘50 lives
in W. Palm Beach, FL, where she
retired after a career as a teacher,
principal and religious educator in
many locations. Since retiring, she
has assisted teachers and helped in
the library at Rosarian Academy.
Dorothy Jeanne Burns, OP ‘50
spent many happy years teaching
elementary school and working
as an elementary principal. Since
1990, she has visited hospitalized and homebound seniors of
St. Alphonsus Parish in Dearborn
where she lives. A pilgrimage to
the Holy Land is a highlight of
recent years.
Virginia Ernst Gerhardt ‘50 of
Sandusky, OH, taught music for
three years after her Siena gradu-
ation, then focused on raising four
daughters and two sons. Now there
are 14 grandchildren in the family. These days, Virginia and her
husband volunteer at church and in
their community. They enjoy traveling and have visited the Holy Land
and other holy sites such as Lourdes
and Fatima.
Marie Cataldo Kuhnlein Gilbert
‘50 and her husband, Harry, live
in St. Clair. Marie was widowed
when her 10 children were aged
5-16 and remained a single parent
for 12 years. Working as a teacher
in inner-city Detroit, she managed
to send all 10 children to college!
She married Harry 17 years ago
and they take great pleasure in their
combined total of 23 grandchildren.
They enjoy travel in Europe (especially visiting a daughter in Spain)
and Marie remains active in a longtime prayer group.
Barbara Hengesbach, OP ‘50 of
Hazel Park, formerly Sister Agnes
William, spent 46 years teaching elementary, middle and high
school students before switching
to a part-time career in “senior
outreach.” Now she works with the
elderly, ministering to homebound
seniors and those in nursing homes,
along with bereavement work.
A gardening enthusiast, she also
enjoys travel, baking, sewing and
reading. “I’ve always been proud
to belong to a Congregation that
was far-sighted and willing to take
risks,” she says. “I hope many of
you (alumnae of the ’40s) felt the
strong support of the Adrian Dominicans while you were at Siena
striving to be valiant women of the
Gospel!”
Joan Nylen Italiano ‘50 lives in
West Boylston, MA, and winters
in West Palm Beach, FL. Joan was
an Adrian Dominican Sister for
the first seven years after graduat-
ing from Siena Heights; she subsequently became a Lay Dominican in the West Springfield, MA,
Chapter. Joan and her husband,
William, have a daughter who is
a computer graphic designer, a
son who builds homes and teaches
vocational education/carpentry,
and two grandchildren. An artist
who has exhibited her sculpture in
dozens of solo and group exhibitions, Joan taught high school and
college art for 40 years and was
the first woman hired in a tenuretrack position at the College of the
Holy Cross (Worcester, MA). She
is profiled in numerous directories
of women artists and has garnered
many awards for her sculpture
through her career.
Ann Mitchell Politzer ‘50 is retired after an education career that
included 15 years as a 6th grade
teacher and 25 years as a middle
school counselor. She and her
husband, John, an architect, live in
Grosse Pointe Park where Ann volunteers with Bon Secours Hospital
and is active in parish work.
Ellen Robertson, OP ‘50 lives in
Okatie, SC, in the “low country”
where she was called in 1972 to
start a