Thornton Academy Postscripts Alumni Magazine Winter 2008 | Page 16

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CLASS NOTES

1927
Ralph Meserve was recognized in
August for 75 years as a member
of Saco Mason Lodge 9.
1936
The Roy Fairfield Maine History
Center at Dyer Library in Saco was
dedicated in September. A number
of alumni and friends contributed
to an endowment fund that Roy set
up to provide professional support
for the center. Walter and Althea
Fogg Johnson rented a house at
Ferry Beach in July, and the extended Fogg and Johnson families spent
time reconnecting. Walter celebrated his 90th birthday last May with
a party and an avalanche of more
than 150 cards and messages.
1937
Marianne Holt Gillis wrote the
Alumni Office in the fall: “I am now
in an assisted living apartment at
the Gorham House, in Gorham. . .
My house will be up for sale soon.”
1939
Marian Adams Hanson volunteers
at her church’s thrift shop two days
a week.
1940
Mahlon Ross shared info with his
classmates recently. “I am still very
much involved in the Pussini Foundation, The Richard Wagner Society
of New York and the Vocal Record
Collectors Society,” he wrote.
1942
Harold Blaisdell wrote last September, expressing how much he
had enjoyed the Senior Alumni
Reunion. “I really enjoyed the gettogether yesterday. It’s amazing to
me how much Thornton has grown
since I graduated. I hugged several
of the ladies. (I wouldn’t have dared
to when I was a student).”
1943
65th Reunion
Mary Sawyer Jordan wrote in August: “Still breathing (huffing &
puffing). Just had our 60th Class
Reunion at UMO. Looking ahead
to our 65th at TA in 2008, RAHRAH-RAH.” Marilyn Leary Milliken
also shared news: “I now have two
great granddaughters, Lilly and
Keira Milliken, one granddaughter,
Courtney, five grandsons, Ashley,
Todd, Blake, Everett, and John Milliken.” Mary Brownlee Savage is
now residing at Evergreen Manor.
Earl Dawley wrote: “As an electrical engineer for Western Electric
Co., I traveled around the world
to Asia, Africa, Europe and South
America, as well as to islands in the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the
Caribbean.”
1944
Marjorie Drowne Googins has
lived in Englewood, FL, for 35
years. Rachel Whipple Small is living in Gainesville, Florida, and still
active in civic and political organizations.
1945
Pat Henderson Reny retired from

16

Saco & Biddeford Savings on July
27, 2007, her 80th birthday, after 19
years. She is cleaning out her home
and moving to a new apartment.
Irene Lonsdale Rancourt and her
husband George celebrated their
61st wedding anniversary last summer with family and friends. Helen
Lundy Boyd and her husband Lee
celebrated 60 years of marriage in
August. “We have a son, Justin, an
electrician for Daisy Brand Sour
Cream, and a daughter, Lundra, a
veterinarian and also a BS degree
nurse, and studying for her masters in nursing. LOVE TEXAS!”

1946
Wallace Nutting completed two
terms as mayor of Biddeford and
has decided to take some time off.
He and his wife, Jane Walker Nutting ‘47, plan to move from Biddeford Pool to Saco. (See story on
page 21). Robert McAvoy returned
to campus in October when he and
five other alumni were inducted
into the TA Athletic Hall of Fame.
See story on page 11.
1947
Raymond Hackett, his sons Bruce
and Ray, and their wives, dropped
by campus for an impromptu tour
in October. It was the first time
Ray had returned to campus in
many years. He reminisced about
chemistry and physics classes, the
football team, being class president, and taking his now-wife to
the senior prom in Emery Gym.
Ramona Cook wrote in November:
“We continue to divide our time between Connecticut and Vermont.
We have become great grandparents. I am very involved in art as
a landscape painter and am doing
very well both with exhibitions and
sales.” Catherine Letellier Marceau moved to California in 1958,
living in Redwood City and Milpitas, and is now in Turlock. She has
been married for 58 years and has
19 grandchildren.
1948
60th Reunion
John Anagnostis has published
a book, “49 Storer Street,” a compilation of articles written over
the years for the Journal Tribune
about Saco and Biddeford, starting
in 1600 and working up to the 20th
century. Janet Garon Huot is keeping busy volunteering at TA, the
Animal Welfare Society and Bon
Appetit Soup Kitchen in Biddeford.
Ernie volunteers at TA “when they
need him”—which is often!
1949
Jeanine Wortman Post is busy
with church volunteer work, yoga,
bridge, and trips to see her son
Doug and his wife Ellen. Ellen Gagnon Dube and her husband Noel
“Pete” have been amusing Saco residents for 2 years with their whimsical “lawn men.” The stick figures,
Fred and Clyde, on the Dubes’
Ferry Road lawn, change costumes
and poses to mark holidays, beach
time, graduation, and other occasions. During the football season,
one wore a TA helmet and the oth-

Photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette ‘89
Christine Clarke, Bob Hurrell and Ella Mae Grant Blackmore check out an old ‘62
yearbook at their reunion.

er a helmet from Biddeford, with
the ball changing hands occasionally. Bill Kany has left his position
as chairman of the board of Saco
& Biddeford Savings at the age of
75. He jokes: “I got caught up in
my own rules,” meaning the mandatory retirement age. Bill remains
active in a wide variety of Saco civic
affairs and Thornton activities.
1952
Helen Rancourt Hilton writes that
she is “retired and loving it!” She
and her husband are enjoying their
kids and grand kids. They spend
the winter in Florida, and Helen
volunteers in the church office two
days a week when they are in NH.
Marga ret Hooper Cote is still busy
with the troops at Westover Air
Force Base near her home in Chicopee, MA. Last fall she said goodbye to her nephew, Rod Hooper,
son of Herbert Hooper ‘47, who
was leaving for Kuwait. “If any of
you have family members leaving
Westover, please know that they
will be well fed and cared for and
sent off with a big hug and a promise that the USO will be here when
they return.”
1953
55th Reunion
Classmates will be pleased to hear
that the new gym at Alfred Elementary School in Alfred, ME, where
Frank Tarazewich was principal
for many years, has been named in
his honor. A committee is raising
funds for the memorial sign, asking
individuals and groups to “buy a letter.” Contact Skip Huot—207/2833859 or Julie Berry Gerrish ‘72, a
teacher at the school— 207/3249499. Rita Choroszy Boudreau
wrote in the fall: “We now have 24
grandchildren! The oldest is Capt.
Joe Morin, an Air Force helicopter
search and rescue pilot now serving his fourth tour in Iraq.” Audrey
Murray Goucher called in September to offer old TA photos from her
mom, Marjorie Rhodes ‘32. Audrey
was a member of the Class of ‘53
but left at the end of her sophomore year. Donald Lester retired
in 1991 from Jordan Marsh and in
2001 from LL Bean. He and Robert
Tims were inducted into the TA
Athletic Hall of Fame in October
2007. (See story on page 11.)
1954
Barbara Hobb Storck is celebrating

POSTSCRIPTS * WINTER 2008

the 14th anniversary of her shop,
Heart’s Desire, in downtown Saco.
The shop sells consignment clothing and accessories, everything
from casual to evening wear, and
some really fascinating curiosity
items. Richard Grant was inducted
into the TA Athletic Hall of Fame in
October. (See story on page 11.)
1955
Donna Hill Lee started an education consulting business training
teachers three years ago. In March
2007 she spent three weeks in Australia and New Zealand. Shirley
Peck is retired and enjoyed watching the Red Sox win another world
championship. When Marilyn Macomber Ives moved back to North
Saco, she found a new pastime. She
volunteers with the Ambassador
Horse Program, providing foster
homes for horses who would otherwise be euthanized or sold at
auction. The organization accepts
donations of retired standardbred
horses from trainers and retrains
them for pleasure riding. Marilyn
provides the “land, labor and love,”
and foster horses enjoy the company of her horse, Chestnut. Also
involved in the program is Lori
Pennell ‘93, who does much of the
actual training.
1956
Richard Monroe and his wife Susan
purchased a new home on Harrison
Bay. “We love it here in Tennessee,”
he wrote. “We are in perfect health
and are still involved with special
needs students in Hamilton County schools, enjoying life to its fullest.”
1957
The Class of ‘57 enjoyed their 50th
class reunion last October at Homecoming, with 31 classmates gathering from as far away as Florida.
They enjoyed three days of activities. After all the celebrating was
over, the class presented Thornton
with a donation. Leone Cloutier
Rickabaugh and her husband Reed
took their ninth trip to Alaska with
their RV. They were on the road for
six months. Elizabeth Treadwell
McKinnon and her husband John
celebrated their 50th anniversary
in July with family and friends.
1958
50th Reunion
Marjorie Cole Thompson wrote in