Greetings, Class of 1984! I am still basking in the warm glow of spending the weekend back in Williamsburg for Homecoming. From the dedication of the spectacular expansion of the Alumni House to the beautiful Sunset Ceremony on Friday evening, from gathering at sorority court to the events and tailgates before the football game, and from cheering the football team to victory to seeing all the familiar places as well as the many new developments on and off campus, being back home was wonderful! I hope many of you were able to catch up with dear friends during Homecoming or that you will be able to return home to alma mater some time soon!
My husband, Greg Miller, and I enjoyed spending the weekend at the beautiful home of Kari Guillen Traver ‘85 and Tony Traver ‘85, with its expansive view of the James River and occasional glimpses of the beloved ferry going back and forth between Jamestown and Scotland in Surry, Virginia. Before the game, the Tribe cheerleaders stopped to share a cheer with all of us tailgating with Emily Powell Boddy ‘88 and Mark Boddy ‘87, and soon afterwards we had the pleasure of meeting our new athletic director, Brian Mann, and our head basketball coach, Dane Fischer. It was great to visit with Marna Ashburn ‘85 and Drew Gilfillan ‘87 during the tailgate as well. Having tea with my sister, Jennifer Horrocks Francois ‘91 while her husband, Kent Francois ‘91, cycled with Greg was another highlight of the day. Both Jennie and Kent and Kari and Tony were celebrating special reunions during Homecoming as those from 2020 were celebrated this year. Coach Fischer reminded us that his practice space, Kaplan Arena (formerly William & Mary Hall), was being used to celebrate the 2020 graduation during Homecoming! Catching up on so many postponed events made for a busy weekend on campus!
The drizzly Williamsburg weather did not dampen spirits during the weekend and the rain held off for the beautiful Sunset Ceremony, the memorial service to honor alumni, faculty, and friends of the university who have passed away during the preceding year, held each year in the Wren Courtyard. This year, we also honored those who passed at any time since the last ceremony was held in 2019. While always so sad to say goodbye, it was an honor to represent our class and recall special memories with two of our classmates, Ford Cochran and Sally Lewe Bratz, who were among those honored at this year’s ceremony.
I shared the sad news of Ford’s passing in our Class Notes back in 2019, but Sally’s passing was more recent, in August 2021. While at William & Mary, Sally was a member of the women’s tennis team and of Delta Delta Delta sorority. After she graduated, Sally dedicated her career to sharing her love of tennis with players of all ages as a teaching professional. She was a USTA certified tennis professional, serving as coach of the Haverford College and Villanova University tennis teams and then coaching privately for a number of years in Pennsylvania and Delaware before relocating to Charleston, South Carolina, several years ago.
Sally remained close to her William & Mary friends, especially those in our sorority. She was an active participant in our sorority graduating class’s Zoom group that began meeting during the pandemic over the last year, which enabled all of us to reconnect and support one another. Born on St. Patrick’s Day, Sally always brought fun to any gathering and her loyal friendship, warmth, and humor will be greatly missed by all of us and by all those who knew her.
Rhonda Gillespie Raney ’84, J.D. ’87 was named executive director at Interact, a Raleigh-based non-profit organization that supports victims and survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence in Wake County, North Carolina. Raney holds undergraduate and law degrees from William & Mary, and she has dedicated much of her career to work in government and non-profit organizations.
Soh Yeong Roh served as the host of William & Mary student fellow Amy Zhao ‘19, who attended the Global Research Institute’s Summer Fellows Program and completed her fellowship at the Art Center Nabi, a media art museum founded by Roh, in Seoul, South Korea. The Summer Fellows program pairs student fellows with William & Mary faculty and international organizations to conduct research around the world. During her fellowship, Zhao assisted Art Center Nabi with technical developments, such as free-form data visualization. Her work and that of artists presented at the center inspired her to develop ideas to address intellectual property issues in the art world through block chain technology, which she will progress as the winner of WizForm’s Build Your Dream Competition. Soh Yeong Roh is the founder and director of Art Center Nabi, and she is also a member of the William & Mary Reves International Advisory Board. Roh completed graduate work in economics at the University of Chicago and a master’s degree in education at Stanford University before completing further graduate work in media communication at Yonsei University in Seoul. She founded Art Center Nabi in 2000, transforming a former art museum into the new media art museum, providing an ideal place for Zhao to flourish in her fellowship. Roh’s book Digital Art was published by Jaeum&Moeum in 2014.
Luanne Spruill Gutermuth has been named chair of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. She retired as executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Washington Gas last year. She founded LSG Solutions LLC, a consulting firm that advises organizations on strategies to improve effectiveness and achieve strategic objectives. Gutermuth serves on the boards of Washington Performing Arts and Northern Virginia Family service and volunteers in a variety of capacities in other community and industry organizations. She and her husband Mike recently started running Good Spirit Farm, a farm winery in Round Hill, Loudoun County, Virginia. Their son Matt Gutermuth ’22 is in his fourth year at William & Mary.
I shared previously that my husband, Greg Miller, had reconnected with Allan Robinson after he and his wife, Elaine Bogan Robinson, retired to St. Helena Island, near Beaufort, South Carolina, where Greg works. Allan played on the William and Mary men’s tennis team with Greg during his freshman year, and both he and Greg have continued to play over the years. They recently participated in their first national doubles tournament together and were happy to learn that their results placed them among the top-ranked players in their age group nationally.
It was a special pleasure to bump into Richard Goodman ‘89 on Prince George Street during Homecoming. Richard is a member of a W&M book club I joined several years ago when I was living temporarily in “the DMV,” the term locals use when referring to the region around Washington that includes parts of Maryland and Virginia. My group used to meet in Tyson’s Corner, but has been meeting online lately, enabling me to continue to participate from South Carolina. Although the group has been meeting for several years, some members have never met each other in person, so this made meeting Richard in person so wonderful! Getting to know alumni from many different graduating years and sharing discussions about books has been such a pleasure, so I encourage you to find out what activities your own local alumni chapter may have of interest.
As we continue through a challenging season, as a nation and as part of the William & Mary family, be sure to let those who meant a lot to you during your years at William & Mary know how much you value their friendship. If there is someone you haven’t talked to for a while, give them a call or drop them a line — these things can mean more than you know.
Connecting with each other seems more important now than ever, so I encourage you to let those who meant a lot to you during your years at William & Mary know how much you value their friendship. I visited with Tim Wilson recently, and we remarked how the bonds of friendship within our class at William & Mary have impacted our lives — and how unique this experience seems to be and how grateful we are for it. [Editor's Note: We are sorry to report that Tim passed away on Nov. 23, 2021. More information will be included in the spring edition of this column as well as in our In Memoriam section.]
If you have any updates you’d like me to include in the next Class Notes, please be sure to let me know! You can reach me via email, text, phone, Facebook message or mail.