Celebrating 60/61 years
Bill Brown ’61 arrived at Plymouth in 1957 with $400 to his name, yet managed to make it financially all four years! He worked in the cafeteria dish room at Mary Lyon Hall dining room, cleaned floors at Samahas, worked as a night clerk at the Plymouth Inn, and worked part-time at a local funeral home. His four years at Plymouth passed quickly. “I was an elementary major from the beginning. A few highlights include playing the autoharp and singing ‘Go Tell Aunt Rhody the Old Gray Goose is Dead’ in class; music in the elementary school with Mr. Jorgenson; impromptu speeches in Mr. White’s English class; physical education with Mr. Foley and playing golf in the snow with an orange golf ball; Miss Broart asking me if her slip was showing; Dr. Solomon and his physics formulas; blowing fuses in audio visual aid class so we would get dismissed and go to Fausty’s for coffee; student teaching 5th grade at Plymouth Elementary—so many adventures.”
Brown’s first job was teaching principal, grades 4–6 in Jackson, NH. He then taught at Exeter Elementary school for 34 years before retiring at 59. He’s now been retired for 23 years.
Bill married Maureen Brown in 1962 and they had three beautiful children; Derek, Deirdra, and Darren. They lost Derek at age 21 and Darren at 15, just six weeks apart to a genetic disease called adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD). Deirdra graduated from St. Anselm with a major in criminal justice and moved into social services and just became a licensed nursing home administrator. Maureen passed away in 2013 after seven years of Alzheimer’s.
Bill has enjoyed travelling around the world over the years as well as painting, gardening and landscaping, kayaking, church bands and committees, volunteering, and doing in-depth research into his genealogy. He says one of his bucket list items is to visit the burial site at Windsor Castle of his 13th great-grandfather, Edward IV, his 14th cousin, Henry the VIII, and “possibly (yeah) have tea with my 14th cousin Queen Elizabeth II.”
Gail (Walsh) Barker ’61 taught elementary education for 37 years and had taught adult education part-time for 17 years, then her final position as ESOL for five years before retiring in 2005. She has two sons and two daughters-in-law who all graduated from PSU and she has a total of eight grandkids! She loved to travel before she lost most of her sight in 2011. She still meets with PTC friends every year to catch up and laugh about the good old days.
John Ludgate ’61 and Judy (Freese) Ludgate ’61 both obtained their MEd during their 45 years of teaching. As a member of the first four-year PE class, John enjoyed the education provided through PTC. He introduced Project Adventure to Marlboro High School, where they are outside almost every day, canoeing, snowshoeing, ropes courses, etc. He also began a soccer program at Marlboro, MA, and went on to coach soccer at all levels for 50 years. During his coaching career he won a NH state championship and many district and final championships in MA. He has also received state and national awards. After retirement, he began teaching downhill skiing and continues as a Level II PSIA instructor at Attitash where he works four days a week.
Judy worked as a business educator at Marlboro High most of her career (after 10 years of child-raising). She enjoys her various roles both as an in-home mother and educator. Her education allowed her to gain some knowledge of computers, which has become a gift in retirement. While teaching, she was a BPA advisor and had the opportunity to travel to many states and watch her students win national awards. She ran a school-to-career position and placed students in part-time positions, ran the school store, and ended her career as department coordinator. She now keeps busy volunteering for the library, gardening, attending church, and attempting to return to more travel. Judy was recently awarded the 2021 PSUAA Distinguished Alumni Service Award for her contributions as a class agent. Together they have three children and three grandchildren whom they love to visit. After retirement they began cruising and have been to all seven continents and visited many amazing cities and wonders of the world.
Kathy Nelson ’61 is happily retired since June 2000 after teaching for 29 years and living in Kennesaw, GA. She has a son, Tim, who lives in Barrington, NH, with his significant other, Carrie. Their daughter Chloe lives in Brighton, MA, with her husband Frankie Mejia. Kathy’s daughter, Sue, and her husband live in Kennesaw along with their son, Dev, and her granddaughter Haley and her husband Steven, live in Acworth, GA.
Nelson Towle ’61 held many positions over the years such as teacher, coach, principal, sub-in staff, and professor at Florida State—now he is happily retired. He obtained his master’s at Union College and a PhD at Florida State University. His wife Joan and he have a son Craig and daughter Tracy. He has been on cruises, and for eight years he lived in a motor home without a permanent house. He now lives in a senior living facility in Clearwater, FL.
Raymond and Shirley (Farnham) Mullaly ’61 have three children (a boy and two girls), 10 grandchildren (six girls, four boys) and one great-granddaughter. Their first grandchild was married in September. Shirley’s new hobbies are worm composting (Ray is not a fan) and knitting. They have travelled a lot and have three trips planned: Norway, Greece, and Sicily.
Kathryn (Stratton) Morris ’61 has three children and seven grandchildren. The oldest grandchild, Chrisana, is entering her junior year at PSU. Kathryn enjoys watercolor painting in her free time, and visited the Dominican Republic in June.
Celebrating 50/51 years
Mark DeNies ’70 was a physical therapist for almost 50 years and met his current wife when they shared a cadaver in anatomy lab at graduate school. Together they had one daughter. DeNies and his wife have travelled to Belgium, Holland, Australia, New Zealand, and Iceland, and every summer they spend a week or more in Marblehead, MA.
Robert Doty ’70 retired 10 years ago from a 30-year career with the Division for Children, Youth and Families as an assistant supervisor in the Rochester office and later as an education specialist. He and his wife Janet (Lehmann) ’72 have been married for 48 years and live in Durham, NH. During his free time he plays golf, ukulele with different groups (one of which visits elderly housing to perform concerts), is interested in the old West, and volunteers at a food pantry and local hospital. He and his wife have travelled across multiple states, Scotland, Holland, and Italy. A fond memory of his is when they had a weeklong visit to a dude ranch in Wyoming.
Phyllis (Parsons) Correia ’70 chose Plymouth State because her mother graduated from the college. She writes, “The college is family. A connection extended throughout my lifetime … and still …”
Ginny (Sandborn) Dumais ’70 was a history teacher for 33 years at Concord Christian School in NH, and Mount Zion Christian School in Manchester, NH. She and her husband, Ed, have one son, Jonathan, a daughter-in-law Linda, and two grandsons, Jacob and Kyle. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, walking, and reading. She has travelled to Washington, DC, and Gettysburg, PA.
Bob Hall ’70 is a retired teacher after 35 years, and was vice chair of Trainriders Northeast. Currently he serves on Coop School Board. Hall has been awarded Exeter Citizen of Year twice, among other awards. He has been married to his wife, Donna, for 50 years. They met at PSC and they have one son, Kevin, who married and has two children.
Eileen Egan ’70 retired after 33 years in education having served as a teacher, an assistant principal, and adjunct faculty with SNHU.
Carolyn (Ruggles) Jalbert ’70 is a retired elementary school teacher and has been married to her husband Robert for 48 years. Together they have two daughters and five grandchildren. They live in Florida for five or six months of the year, in the center of the state where they spend their time golfing and can go on cruises that are 10 minutes away from their home. She has traveled to national parks, Ireland, Singapore, Dubai, and cruises to Panama Canal and Bermuda.
Joseph Downing ’71 was a teacher for all of his career, and also was involved with athletics, including owning Joe D’s Cool-ectables Sports Memorabilia. He enjoys traveling and has visited many wonderful places in the US and the world.
Mardee (Gerren) Goldberg ’71 was a physical education teacher for 35 years in Danvers, MA. She also coached varsity basketball, tennis, and many intramural sports. She ranked 3rd in nationals of table tennis in senior games in 2013, and had various other wins. She won in all three events (singles, doubles, and mixed) in NH many years. Her daughter Mindy lives in Jupiter, FL, and son Jay and his wife live in Lexington, MA. She also has two grandkids, Bria and Milanna, and a brother who lives in Pembroke Pines, FL, who also graduated from PSC. She travelled 47 days to Australia, New Zealand, Bora Bora, Tahiti, Hawaii, British Columbia, Vancouver, and Alaska on a cruise. Fifteen years ago, for a month she travelled to Israel, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Paris, and London. Now she travels to California and coaches table tennis and pickleball.
Christine Johnson ’71 retired from Special Olympics New Hampshire in 2016. She says, “It was the best job I ever had!” Christine and her husband, Tom, live in Manchester, NH, enjoying their time with their nine nieces and nephews and eight grandnieces and grandnephews.
Linda (Merrill) Landry’71 was recently featured in an article about her 50th year as a teacher at Canaan (NH) Elementary School, and was awarded the PSUAA 2021 Alumni Achievement Award.
Patricia Lambert ’71 is retired from being a freelance photographer (mainly of horses and pets). Currently she is a traditional Irish musician, which consists of flute, whistles, and concertina. (callanishband.com) In her free time she enjoys horseback riding, playing pub sessions, and has visited Ireland three times.
Bernie McCarthy ’71 worked in the field of criminal justice from 1973 to 2019. McCarthy was formerly director of the MSU Center for Homeland Security, and at one point was appointed to the Turkish National Police External Advisory Board. He is now a professor at Missouri State University. His family consists of his wife Belinda, who he has been with for 42 years and were both active in international law enforcement associations. Together they had two kids, Matt, who is an infectious disease physician in NYC, and Megan, who is an attorney working with National Security in Washington, DC. After their kids went to college and on to their careers, Bernie and his wife travelled extensively throughout the world for business and pleasure. He now spends his time running, hiking, swimming, and sailing.
Robert Paine ’71 still teaches at Northwood School as a special education teacher and has been married for 50 years. He and his wife have two children and three grandchildren.
Nancy (Roberts) Smith ’71 has retired from working with the USPS. She has been married to her husband Kem for 50 years and together they have two kids (a boy, Ken, a girl, Andria) and four grandkids, Jonathan (a junior at University of New Haven), Aryana (a senior in high school), Tyler (a freshman at Louisiana State), and Marisa (in 8th grade). They have been on a cruise that visited Caribbean islands and Canada. Currently they are enjoying time with family and friends and going to the beach.
Bruce Ritchie ’71 returned to PSC in 1974 and worked 23 years as an AV technologist until 1997. In 1998 he was hired at Northeastern University in Boston, where he was responsible for designing and equipping all classrooms with full media technology—the first to do so in Boston. In his career he has had many certificates for advanced use of technology and was a board member on CCUMC, his professional organization. He retired from NEU in 2016 and moved with his wife to coastal North Carolina. Ritchie has been married three times and has a stepson and daughter. In their free time Bruce is an avid photographer, reader, traveler, and carpenter while his wife likes to garden. Some adventures he had include travelling to Europe, Denmark, Italy, eastern Canada, Maritimes, and 46 of the 50 states.
Celebrating 40/41 years
Stephen J. Sedensky ’80 is a state’s attorney in Danbury, CT, living with his wife Nancy. Together they have two children, Audrey and Stephen. In his free time he enjoys hiking.
Nils Anderson ’81 has had his fair share of career changes, including industrial supply, office furniture distribution, technical field service training (early 90s), then he finally made the change to public high school education, teaching physics for the past 25 years. He has been married to Karen (Phillips) ’82 for 38 years and they have two sons, Jeff and Erik, who are both employed in Boston. Past adventures include a nine-week cross-country trip (summer ’81), and trips to South Africa, Italy, and the Caribbean. In his free time, he does amateur (ham) radio.
Julie S. (Mulligan) Bishop ’81 has retired and enjoys staying active in the outdoors.
Jennifer (Bickford) Grisi ’81 was in the land business before leaving the full-time work force to homeschool her two children. As vice-president she oversaw day-to-day operations in the upstate NY office she worked in and made occasional visits to offices in Colorado. She has been Rotary area governor for the last six years and was honored with the Paul Harris Fellow award in 2017. She was married in a barn on her family farm in Sandwich (NH) almost 30 years ago. Her geologist daughter recently married and is about to switch careers from the Department of Defense to become a high school earth science teacher. Her son just graduated from UMD and has accepted his first aerospace engineering position in San Diego. In her free time, she is about halfway toward climbing the 46 High Peaks (4,000-footers) in the Adirondacks of NY and is also working on hiking all the NH 48 when they are back in Sandwich at their cabin. She loves to snowboard and paddleboard as well as travel. Favorite trips were to Sweden via Iceland to visit family, and for their honeymoon; to Switzerland and Liechtenstein with their daughter’s Girl Scout troop; to Hawaii a couple of times; and all over the states on family road and ski trips.
Gary Heckman ’81 retired from Aetna Insurance Company after 35 years. He spent most of his career in the Information Technology Department. Since retiring in 2017, he volunteered for three weeks at the World Rowing Championship at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, FL. He currently volunteers at Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue. Heckman has a part-time, year-round job with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a driver in Bradenton, FL. When he is not volunteering or working, he is usually out riding one of his Harley motorcycles.
Paul Luciano ’81 has held various positions in the food service industry over 30 years including regional sales manager for Sara Lee and work for Perdue Farms and Maple Leaf Farms. In 2002 he was salesman of the year with Perdue Farms and in 2013 he was inducted into the Kennett High School Sports Hall of Fame. In the past he has travelled to the Caribbean, Hawaii, Europe, and across the US. He has a wife, Linda, and two stepdaughters, Julie and Amy. Paul is a currently business development manager for Performance Foodservice Boston on the South Shore and Cape Cod. In his free time, he plays golf and is interested in antique cars.