![]() Arline Caspersen Peres '39 writes that she moved from Florida to Minnesota this year to be near her daughter. She is living in an Assisted Living Home, which she describes as “a very lovely, two-bedroom apartment overlooking the woods. People have been very friendly and helpful”. She uses a walker and stays very busy these days. Her daughter and family are a short drive away, though she does not see her son and his family often as they live in Florida. She does hear from them often. “I still feel our nursing years were the very best, and I think of them many times.”
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![]() Dorinda Bell Burrows '42 writes “I’m hanging in there; however I do have advanced Parkinson’s disease. I am living in the old homestead where my husband, Dr. Belton Burrows was born and raised. After graduation, Belton and I were married and eventually moved to Boston where we raised six wonderful children. My husband was chief physician and director of the Radioisotope Unit at Boston University for many years and has since retired. He is 89 years old and I am almost 86! I was an active artist and won many art shows in Boston and Duxbury, Massachusetts. I had my work hanging in several banks and other locations. My husband unfortunately has a moderate degree of Alzheimer’s, but we are getting along. Two of our children, Emily and Dr. Warren Burrows are staying with us for our last years. My best to all the other gals still hanging in there!”
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 Ellen Smith Scott '46 is now a widow of 30 years retired to the Town of Austerlitz, Columbia County, NY. She is living with a colleague from Ellis Hospital, Schenectady, NY (She was Director of the Ellis Hospital School of Nursing for 23 years), in a new house that they designed and built three years ago. Her colleague's 25 acre property is part of her family farm; delightful country with a field, ponds, woods, and view of the Catskill Mts.
She writes, "I am now a bird watcher and a Director of the Alan Devoe Bird Club, on the Board of the Foundation for Baroque Music in Saratoga Springs, NY, a member of the Austerlitz, Fort Edward, and Washington County Historical Societies, a member of the "Book Chat" Club, and a member of the Spencertown Academy for the Arts. Our household is ruled by our Siamese cat, Rama, who is my constant companion. I am fortunate to have traveled from Manhattan to finally fulfill my dream of retirement in the country and near the Tanglewood Music Festival!"
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![]() Nancy Halsted Bryant '54 and her husband, Jack, are enjoying good health at home in Westminster Canterbury of the Blue Ridge. Their family is growing, – they now have five great-grandchildren! – and they see several of their grandchildren quite often.
She writes, “Our big story for the year has been the continuation of our work in Kenya on the problems of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in the urban slums of Africa. It has been an exciting and inspiring venture. Given the extreme limitations of resources in the slums of Africa, we have seen our major challenge as helping community people to learn what they can do to improve and protect the health and well being of their children.
“In addition, we are teaching at the Great Lakes University of Kisumu this spring. The subject will be: ‘The Health and Well-being of OVC in the Urban Slums of Africa’. Jack is also teaching at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and at the University of Virginia mainly regarding various aspects of the health care of poor populations, and he sits on the Board of Directors for the Hospital Albert Schweitzer in Haiti.
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![]() Sally Nelson Black '55 and her husband, Gordon Black, enjoyed the experience of starting over again this past May when they moved into a senior housing complex. They vacation in Florida each winter, and they enjoy playing golf. Sally notes with fascination that the graduates of CUSON have taken many diverse directions in their careers, proving the value of a nursing education.
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![]() Mary Eldredge Baker '55 was visited in Naples, Florida by Jeanne Clayton Rebholz and her husband Hal from Wisconsin. “We just finished being marshalls for the Senior Golf Classic here in Naples” Mary writes. “It is great fun watching the old pros. We always stop off and visit Beverly Roberts Mulder on the way down.”
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![]() Elaine Fox Jones '63 is unfortunately struggling with Alzheimer’s disease, and her husband writes “our days are filled with surprises and struggles”. Elaine’s mother, Siggie Fox, lives with them and was hospitalized last fall but is doing well now. They find great support from their church.
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![]() Mary Jane Lynch Corn '67 writes “My husband, Jim, and I moved from Connecticut to Southport, NC about four years ago. I retired in 2003 after thirty years as CEO of a Visiting Nurse Association. We now enjoy a ‘somewhat’ leisurely life of golf, travel, volunteering, and visiting with our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter, who live nearby in Charlotte. We are loving this new lifestyle!”
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![]() Barbara Lough Frye '67 writes, “We are anticipating a move to DE within a year. My husband, David, is retired and now, after forty years of marriage, we are ready for a change. After years of singing as a soprano with the Metropolitan Operatic Festival and with the New York Oratorio at Carnegie Hall, I worked as a Urological nurse in NJ. I am now perfectly happy to be at home as a wife, mother and grandmother! We now have four children and two grandchildren. I do continue to sing sacred music as a concert soloist and I use my nursing knowledge and skills with our ever-growing family.”
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![]() Catherine Radix Mansell '72 enjoyed contacting many old friends about the 2007 class reunion. She recalls the class of ’72 suffered through some difficult years during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s as women’s roles were changing very rapidly, especially in New York City. It wasn’t the easiest time to become a nurse, she remembers. She did, however, have an exciting career, first in pediatric nutrition research at Babies, then as the Director of NCLEX and CGFNS programs at Kaplan Educational in New York City. She received the Robert Wood Johnson award for an asthma education grant at Brown University. There was never a dull moment in her career, and her degree from Columbia was always a factor in her success. She writes, “The hospital’s program of subsidizing graduate education was a terrific benefit to me. I am very grateful”.
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![]() Gail Bain '72 completed her MBA at Columbia after graduating from the nursing program. Her career included diverse positions as the Head Nurse of the Medical/Surgical ICU at Montifiore Hospital and Medical Center as well as the VP of Citibank NY and People’s Bank, CT. She hopes to see her friends at reunion including Margaret Grob Maffett, Margaret Mahlow, Kimberly Chester and Roberta Spagnola Campbell.
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![]() Judith A. Best '74 writes of a personal loss: “In 2004, I went to Tennessee on vacation and required urgent surgery. While I was bed bound, the pipes in my New Jersey home burst and leaked into the walls for about a month. When I was well enough to travel, I returned home to discover that thirty some years of my life were lost. My school pin was one of the items missing among the wet plaster and water.
“Our school pin is not just a mere piece of jewelry or decoration; it is an emblem of pride and serves as a personal and public mark of distinction. Through all my years of practice, including many years of management and finally a Nurse Practitioner program, I always wore my pin on my lab coat lapel with great pride that I am a graduate of the Columbia School of Nursing. I might also add that the education I completed in 1974 carried me well through my Nurse Practitioner Program so many years later. I graduated knowing that I had received ‘the best’ education and found that upon graduation, I was immediately hired into a specialty area which then propelled me into my career of management. For this I am grateful to this day!”
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![]() Kathryn Gallo Kreger '77 obtained her MSN in 1995. She has been working as a certified school nurse at River Dell Regional High School for the past eleven years. Her oldest daughter, Danielle, is in her senior year at the College of New Jersey and is studying Elementary Education. Her younger daughter, Julie, is a sophomore at the University of Delaware and is studying Psychology. Kathy looks forward to seeing her classmates at the next reunion.
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![]() Nina Eldridge Born '82 writes, “The Nursing Class of ’82 is having a ‘Do-Over’ 25th Reunion. Thea Crist from the nurse-anesthetist program and I plan to attend. We hope to see you at the reunion! Please join us.
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![]() Robin McKeon Michalak '83 writes, “It seems amazing that as of May 2008 I have been a RN for 25 years! Where has the time gone? I began my career at Yale New Haven Hospital as a surgical nurse. I went on to work on the Acute Rehab unit for two more years. I then became involved in Discharge Planning and Case Management and worked in almost every specialty in this capacity. Most of my experience was on the Oncology Unit which I really loved.
“I married my husband Ted in 1990 and, four years later, my daughter Clare was born. I decided to cut back to part-time hours and left Yale after 15 years to work in the insurance end of the health care business. I was a Case Manager for Preferred One, which was a Medicaid HMO, and I wore many hats in that organization including Disease Management, Case Management, Utilization Management and Quality Assurance. I became a Certified Case Manager in 2003.
“In 2006, I felt I needed a change and returned to Acute Hospital Case Management at St. Mary’s Hospital per diem. Currently, I am the Case Manager at Griffin Hospital, a small community hospital in Derby, CT and the only hospital to be named one of the top 100 companies to work for in the US by Forbes Magazine.
“Clare, now 13, is very active in sports. In my spare time, I enjoy choral singing and last year I became a certified Master Gardener. I am looking forward to seeing my classmates at the reunion this year.”
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