Class Directory A-D

Ron and I have been ping-ponging up and down the east coast since 1970 when he helped me earn my MRS. We do not anticipate any more moves except to either a nursing home or the funeral home. We have lived in Montreat, NC, now for almost 17 years – the longest either of us has lived anywhere. We have one daughter, Jenn Parnell, who is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and Towson University. She and her husband currently reside in Baltimore, MD where she teaches jewelry design with a group of others in an independent studio. I have worked in a couple of law firms as secretary and an assistant. Worked for Emory Medical School at the Grady’s when we were first married. Have also done girl scouts, PTA, and the band parent thing while Jenn was growing up. In addition, I began quilting and have taught quilting for close to 40 years and have worked in 5 different quilt shops from to NJ to NoVA and then NC during the process. I have made the mistake of learning to knit, which means I now have a small yarn shop in my house as a part of my larger fabric shop! Still enjoy both. Since our time in Montreat, I have served on the board of a local organization that helps provides counseling for those with no or low insurance; served in several positions on the board of the Montreat Scottish Society (including a term as president, although I always preferred “queen”); and served a four year term on the Montreat Town Council where I served as commissioner for the environment. I am currently serving as chair of the Town’s Tree Board. For 31 years Ron worked with Shell Oil by helping to run the media center at the Shell Houston Open golf tournament, part of the PGA tour. During the last 6-7 years, I traveled with him to Houston and worked for him. Yes, FOR him – I told him these were the only days during the year that I would do what he wanted me to do! He tells me that payback is hell. Currently, I have a part time job for another of his clients doing data input. Anyone who comes to Montreat can often find us at the Presbyterian Heritage Center. We often see Christ and Bob Meade, with whom we reconnected through mutual friends who have a house here in Montreat. I enjoy the many gardening challenges of living on the NC mountains, and love it when it snows. We are both living the statement of a good friend: I survived the 70’s once and can do it again!!!!! Know many of my classmates are with me on that one!

I met and married Roscoe O. Carter almost 46 years ago and we have three grown children and four grandchildren. Roc and I met on a blind date arranged by my older brother three years after graduation. 

My degree is in English. I earned a Master’s in Education in 1978 and a Ph.D. in Learning Theory from Old Dominion University in 1984.  I taught remedial composition, writing, and learning to incoming college freshmen at numerous institutions of higher learning in the greater Detroit, Michigan area. I worked eight years at Wayne State School of Medicine in Detroit helping the faculty learn how to teach and teaching the medical students how to learn the immense amount of information that they were required to learn.  The last eight years before retiring, I was Director of the Holman Learning Center at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

In 2015, I was diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s.  In addition, my father, his mother, his siblings and several cousins have Alzheimer’s. 

I was moved to respond to this not unexpected diagnosis to express my feelings and emotions in poetry, a form I have used all my life. With the help of my daughter, I have published on Amazon self-publishing a small book entitled “Living with Alzheimer’s: A Poetic Expression.” These poems were written so those who do not have Alzheimer’s can know and feel what it does to us; how this monster destroys our memories and our humanity and to prepare and sympathize with those on parallel journeys.

I am delighted to be here for our 50th reunion. The years have flown by. None of us are the same as we were 50 years ago. We should celebrate together what we have accomplished and who we have become! 

During the summer of 1967, I attended the University of Virginia to take physics and decided to transfer there. UVa had just transitioned from an all-male to a coed institution. Because out-of-state fees were so high, I worked for a year before matriculation. My first job was at North American Exploration in Charlottesville where I served as laboratory supervisor for the geochemical analysis of soil.

I loved this job, but after one year I entered UVa and earned my BS in Science Education in 1970 and my MS in Science Education in 1974. Commensurate with my Master’s program, I began my teaching career in Virginia. Moving to Florida in 1975, I taught in the Pinellas County school system. In the summer and evening, I taught the introductory chemistry lecture and lab at St. Petersburg Junior College. 

Deciding to make to make a career change, I joined Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), the pharmaceutical division of Merck & Co., Inc., in November of 1979. Certainly the decade of the 80’s was an exceptionally exciting time at Merck. We ousted IBM as America’s most admired corporation and sustained this honor two consecutive years. From 1984 to 1988, I worked at corporate headquarters and spent a month in Australia implementing a manager-training program for MSD International. My most challenging experience at headquarters was as Manager of Field Communications and Logistics, the department charged with clearing all field communications through the dreaded Medical/Legal Review Board. 

In 1995 I transferred from Merck Human Health to the Merck Vaccine Division, transitioning from therapy to prevention. I remained in the Vaccine Division until I retired in February 2011.

After 51 years, I am eager to see all of you!

Although I transferred to Chapel Hill after our sophomore year, I continue to value my two years at Agnes Scott, primarily for the rich friendships that formed there, many of which have lasted until this day.  After graduation from UNC with a degree in nursing, I moved to Boston to work at Massachusetts General Hospital.  A fabulous few years there, culminating in my engagement to my husband of 45 years, Paul Zahl.  We moved to England on our honeymoon, where he was studying for the ministry at a Church of England theological college.  There we formed deep ties, which, again, continue to this day.  

Returning to the States in 1975, Paul was ordained in the Episcopal Church and subsequently served at parishes up and down the East Coast:  DC; NYC; Scarborough, NY; Charleston, SC; Birmingham, AL; Pittsburgh, PA: and Chevy Chase, MD.  Lots of moves!  We were blessed with three sons: John, David, and Simeon.  We also spent a happy stint in Tuebingen, Germany, when Paul went back to get his doctorate in theology.  

I was very involved in the churches Paul served in the early years, along with rearing our boys. When our youngest son went to kindergarten, I went back to work, but not back to nursing.  I was fortunate to be able to turn my favorite avocation - gardening, which I had originally picked up in our years in England - into my vocation.  For the last 30 years I have thoroughly enjoyed working as a garden designer wherever we lived.  The highlight of my career was the ten years we spent in Birmingham, where I was privileged to work with some outstanding architects, contractors, and of course, clients.  Most of my work has been in residential design.  I continue to work with a few clients and friends, but am mostly retired.  

Our sons are all married, and all pursuing some form of service in the church.  John is the Rector of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Bedford, NY.  His wife Deirdre founded Candy Shop Vintage, a jewelry companion Charleston, SC, and they have one daughter, Daphne (7).  David lives in Charlottesville, VA, with his artist wife Cate West Zahl and their three sons, Charlie (8), Cabell (6) and Tommy (2).  David is the founder and executive director of Mockingbird Ministries, a multi-media ministry that seeks to connect faith and everyday life. Simeon kept the family English connection alive by returning to do his PhD at Cambridge in Theology, where he is now a professor.  HIs wife Bonnie is a director of the Templeton World Charity Foundation and they have three children, Thomas (10), Jane (8), and Arthur (5).  All three boys are published authors, following in their dad’s footsteps.  

Paul and I split our time between my hometown of Winter Garden, Florida, and Greenwich, Connecticut, where his parents lived.  We especially enjoy reconnecting with friends from the past, having lived in so many places.  It was a treat to see Mary Chapman frequently for the few years that her daughter lived nearby in Norwalk.  We have also kept in close contact with Martha (Cooper) and Carlen Maddux.  It was an unexpected joy to see Anne Ruff Boynton at Martha’s funeral.  We have the usual aging boy issues, but nothing dire. We are grateful to have an abundance of the things that matter most.  

Thanks, Reunion Committee, for suggesting we share bios and pictures. I’ve been having a great time looking at those from my classmates and traipsing down my own Memory Lane; here are a few of my stories. In August 1969 I got my own car (Freedom!) and drove across the U.S. with Penny Burr. Leaving Penny at her destination, San Francisco, I continued up the West Coast to Seattle and the University of Washington, where I had a Teaching Assistantship to help me earn my M.A. in English. I eventually adjusted to the stark contrast between a small women’s college and a huge, bustling university. The challenge of teaching Freshman English to very large and diverse classes included reading and grading many papers; I particularly recall the essay from a student who described, in graphic detail, her previous summer’s work at a brothel in Nevada. Talk about sex education!

That winter, on a rainy Sunday afternoon, I was lying on my bed in the graduate residence hall reading Moby Dick when the phone rang. Hearing the voice on the other end of the line, I sat bolt upright, for one does not lie down when being spoken to by Dr. Wallace Alston, does one?! He and Miss Laura Steele were calling to ask if I’d be interested in returning to Agnes Scott as an Admissions Recruiter. I spent the next three years in that position; it was a great opportunity to travel, talk with bright, interesting young women, and meet many wonderful alumnae.

However, when I began feeling it was another night, another flight, another Holiday Inn, I decided to get another degree, a Master’s in Early Childhood Education at Georgia State University. Six weeks in, I knew I’d made a big mistake, but at that point in my life I believed quitting equaled failure, so I persevered, teaching in my church’s pre-school and kindergarten until I’d earned the degree. It turned out to be not such a big mistake after all; Lou Frank Guill asked if I’d be interested in joining her and Marshall in Hawaii, to care for their six-month-old son while she returned to part-time work for Kaiser. Would I be interested? Yes, indeed! Thus began the very best use of that degree, ever - seven weeks in a tropical Paradise with good friends and an adorable, sweet baby whom I quickly came to love.

Returning stateside, I reached out to Career Placement at ASC and Ione Murphy connected me to Sandra Deer, playwright and Director of Public Relations at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre. My first day on the job, Sandra sent me out with the handsome leading man of an upcoming show to find him a short-term rental, but that’s another story. The best part of that job was slipping over to the theatre during my lunch break to watch rehearsals. I especially enjoyed Fannie Flagg in the premiere of Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.

Working in the world of theater was great fun, but I was beginning to need something more stable when the State of Georgia had an opening in the Social Security Disability Adjudication System (DAS). I knew from nothing about any of those words, but my liberal arts education helped me land on my feet. After adjudicating claims for a few years, that “mistake” degree got me a promotion! Because the interviewer was impressed that I had “instructional experience,” I became the agency’s Professional Relations Coordinator (PRC). I traveled the entire state by myself for a year but, in time, built the unit to a staff of eight as its Director. We served as the link between DAS and professionals anywhere who had medical records DAS needed to adjudicate disability claims. It was a very educational experience!

After 20 years, I took a leave of absence from State employment to move to Jonesborough/Johnson City, TN, to pursue my fourth and most fun degree, a Master’s in Storytelling from East Tennessee State University. For two years, I was the Graduate Assistant to the Founder and Director of the Storytelling Program, Dr. Flora Joy; this allowed me not only to earn my degree but also to work with many of the best storytellers in the country.

Returning to my home in Decatur, I realized I did not want to burden what a friend called my Heart Path, storytelling, with financial expectations. So, being single, I decided it would be most sensible to return to work for the State until I could retire with pension and health benefits in place. I became the liaison between Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) and the State Department of Education, as well as the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. It was a steep learning curve, but in a few years I was very honored to receive the Transition Visionary Award.

After retiring, I had some time to enjoy telling stories in churches, libraries, mental health facilities, schools, senior centers, and at storytelling festivals. I also served on the Board of the Southern Order of Storytellers (SOS) and wrote and published the SOS Newsletter until 2014. At that point, it was clear that my parents, who had enjoyed 92 years of quite good health, were beginning to need more hands-on attention from their only child. Daddy died in 2015, and Mother moved into my home, under hospice care, on June 30, 2016. The discharging doctor told me she’d “give [Mother] 2 days to a week [to live].” God and Mother clearly had other ideas.

I never thought I’d have the patience to teach - nor rear! - children, but a lifetime can grow patience (still working on it), and along with that “mistake” degree, it is now coming in very handy. I am blessed that Mother, at 97, retains her great sense of humor and remains pretty sharp mentally, gracious, patient, kind, appreciative, and generous in spirit, even as her body declines. When friends visit, she often says to me, “Your friends have become my friends.

Family and friends (“the family you choose”) have always been the very best part of my life, and I don’t think anyone can walk this part of the journey without a close support group of friends; at my church it’s called a “Circle of Care.” As the saying goes, “People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.” I have had all three and valued each one, but I cherish my friends of a lifetime, especially those that began at Agnes Scott.