Mary (LaFlamme) Sarkisian
My husband and I are currently working from home enjoying the Florida lifestyle. Our daughter, Grace is a sophomore at The University of Alabama majoring in Journalism and loving Tuscaloosa. We are thrilled that our son, John ’25 was recently accepted into Kenyon and will be studying on the Hill this fall. He is so excited and plans to major in English with a concentration in Creative Writing and minor in Film. We cannot be happier for him and are looking forward to our visits to Kenyon over the next four years. (P.S. We will need to buy him a winter coat!)
Peter Kotchen
After living and working in the commercial real estate industry for 21 years, my family (wife Catherine, 15 year old son Trammell, and 12 year old daughter Leila) moved to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, where I have relocated my business. I can be reached at pkotchen@cgradvisors.com. I enjoyed attending alumni events in Atlanta and would love to hear if there are any classmates in North Florida.
Shelly Webb
Shelly Webb lives in Oakland, CA and is a Buddhist chaplain at a hospital in San Francisco. She stays in touch with friends from 1991 and members of her Kenyon Ladies basketball team.
Megan Lewis-Schurter
The mountains called me...so I moved to Colorado in the middle of a pandemic to take a leadership role as the new Director of Theatre at Colorado State University.
Mark Lloyd
Lockdown in Canada has meant that I haven't crossed the U.S. - Canada border to visit family or friends in over a year. We were hoping to bring our 14 yr old son and 10 yr old daughter to the (recently canceled) in-person 30th reunion. In 2021 Shawn Cummings and I are hoping to resume our practice in recent years of meeting up to watch Chris Creighton coach his Eastern Michigan football team. In the past we have driven after the game to Gambier to spend Saturday evening and Sunday morning before moving on to Cleveland to catch the Sunday NFL Browns game.
Ed Benyon
G'day, y'all! I am celebrating 6 years living in Hobart, Tasmania Australia. The move has involved a lot of transition: moving from the USA to Australia, and to the smallest island state of Australia at that, has been fascinating, challenging, and wonderful. The biggest adjustment has been in my work. Hobart, the state of Tasmania, and the job markets are SMALL, and the not-for-profit scene in Australia is very different from the USA, as higher taxes fund much greater government investment in areas that are the traditional realm of my past work in non-profit development and fundraising. I have struggled to find fulfilling work in Hobart, and have not been willing to consider jobs on the mainland, where the market is much more robust, because I don't want to be a FIFO (Fly-In, Fly-Out) Tasmanian and away from my family for a job.
Happily, I joined the Research Services team at the University of Tasmania about 1 1/2 years ago and am enjoying a role representing the university and supporting researchers as they seek and secure funding partnerships for their varied projects. Outside of work, I am the Group Leader and Scout Leader for the Mount Stuart Scout Group, where we have 75 youth members engaged in adventurous personal development and education programs. My wife, Jenny, is loving her role with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra where she performs as the Principal First Violin. My kids are in 9th and 10th grade and doing very well. It has been a good move, and I am happy to call Hobart home! We have achieved a much more positive life balance and I am enjoying becoming more and more of a local. I intend to apply for Australian citizenship this year.
We have been extremely fortunate over the past year of CV19, with only 234 active cases in the state and 13 deaths in the past year. We had periods of lock-down and strict social isolation (working and schooling from home) for several months March-July 2020, and today are operating with greater and greater freedoms of gathering and movement. We are able to live life with relative freedom and without constant health concerns while following basic hygiene and distancing practices. We have had it very good in comparison to most other places in the world and are deeply grateful. We enjoyed a beautiful Tasmanian summer full of outdoor activities. I hope that wherever you are, you and your family are healthy and doing well. I am looking forward to the vaccine roll-outs in Australia facilitating an even greater return to pre-COVID norms over the next few months, and to the eventual return of international travel so that my family may return to visit friends and family back in the USA, or they may be able to visit us here in Tassie. Despite my failure as a correspondent and my lack of social media activity, I think of you all often and hope to be able to join in on some of the virtual Reunion activities coming soon. Be well, friends!
Christopher Missett
Christopher Missett is safe in White Plains NY with his wife and son, who is a HS junior and thinking about taking a gap year after he graduates. "You know," said Chris, "when I was your age, 'taking a gap year' meant actually *working at The Gap*." His son didn't get the joke.
Geoffrey Kloske
After college I moved to New York and took a job in book publishing. Thirty years later - now married, with a son - I live in New York and work in book publishing, for the past 15 years as the publisher of Riverhead Books.
Phil Wilson
I am fortunate to have been able to work from home (still Yardley PA) through the pandemic and am entering my fourth year at CNA. My older daughter is finishing her first year in the Physician’s Assistant program at Jefferson University and younger daughter is in the process of making her college decision. I have enjoyed being in touch with old friends from the mighty class of ‘91 during these strange times and those relationships have been a big help. I am looking forward to getting out on the field with the kids in the Trenton Lacrosse program; maybe playing in an old-guys tournament in Lake Placid in August; visiting Acadia National Park this summer and an in-person reunion at some point.
Dabney (Smith) Moncher
I moved with my family from NJ to FL this past August. We are living in Lakewood Ranch, which is just outside of Sarasota. It's been an adjustment for sure, but it was the right move for all of us. We spend a lot of time outdoors and the kids are attending a much smaller school - and have been in person since Labor Day! I recently started a new job at BHG, which is based in Syracuse, but I am remote! Mark retired last year and is still trying to find enough activities to keep him busy. There is a pretty active alumni group here so hopefully we can actually get together once everyone is vaccinated! Come visit!
