Class of 1963
Class Chair:
George Evans, 304/789-6022; gjevans@labyrinth.net
Class Notes:
Kristin Wright Louden
Dick and I have spent a lot of time remodeling our kitchen and dining room. We're happy to finally have it done and be back in our home. I am still in touch with several Earlhamites, specifically Becky Correll and Peggy Vaughan. Becky has just retired and we are getting together regularly.
(Posted January 28, 2008)
Mariellen Owens
John Gilpin (staff, 1959-62) writes of his wife, Mariellen Owens, '63:
Mariellen joined me at University of Illinois after we were married in 1963. She earned two master's degrees, taught school for a couple years, and eventually took a job with the university in the then-nascent field of computer-based education. In November 1978 Mariellen suffered a psychotic break whose effects were made worse by a bad psychiatrist. After a hospital stay, disability leave, and demotion to menial office work, she began to turn the corner in 1984 through association with GROW, a mental self-help organization, and a new psychiatrist. In 1990 she regained her professional-level job. When her research unit closed in 1994, Mariellen was one of the few female employees to find another job within the university. She retired formally in 1997, and actually stopped working in 2002. Along the way she published articles in Friends Journal, co-edits a Quaker-oriented periodical (What Canst Thou Say?), and edited an anthology of articles therefrom (Discovering God as Companion). This spring, to general acclaim, she finished a 3-year stint as clerk of the Urbana-Champaign Meeting. On top of all that, she is the most wonderful wife imaginable. I am very proud of her.
(Posted April 30, 2007)
J. Walton Blackburn
We have moved to Chatham, IL. I hope to get to reunion in October for class of 57. I am still working with the Ilinois Dept. of Human Services writing and editing administrative directives for the Bureau of Policy - chance to do some writing which I love though there is routine to it also, which is not bad. I am now a Methodist pastor's spouse and find that the Methodists have many of the good works of Quakers and a fellow pastor was a conscientious objector. I found a letter my father wrote about being a CO at camp Sherman in 1918 - he helped to reorganize the camp emergency hospital and thought he would have earned some stripes on his shoulder if he had not been a Friend. They helped to save many to survice the flu epidemic. I am more and more proud of Earlham the more I learn about the alumni and EC good works. If you are interested in Quaker theology, my second cousin, Wilmer Cooper's book on A Living Faith, A Comparative and Historical Study of Quaker Beliefs is great but also deep. Read Tom Hamm and Hugh Barbour's books on Quaker history - an extraordinary tale since the 400 or so who died for their faith in the 17th century - they were an extraordinary bunch who had to get the message out as they thought the world would end soon, such as the chaos in England at that time. I learned about where a lot of my spiritual ideals came from by reading Wilmer Cooper's study. Earlham continues a wonderful tradition of Friends yet brings together many ideas which were deeply dividing Quakers in the past centuries.
(Posted April 19, 2007)
Linda Huntington
Faced with the freedom of retirement, I'm trying to get my bearings. I'm focusing on fun right now: lots of dancing, hiking, concerts, ballets, art galleries, my first cruise (a cajun/zydeco dance cruise), classes, and a little volunteer work (teaching English as a second language). I feel younger now than I did in high school. My classmates at my 45th high school reunion (Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School) didn't recognize this party girl. I hardly do myself!
(Posted April 3, 2007)
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Page updated: January 28, 2008