Church Notes

Class Notes for Alumni of the Church Home and Hospital School of Nursing

By Deborah Corteggiano Kennedy ’73

Homecoming 2008: A Huge Success

With 66 CHH alumnae in attendance-more than ever before-Homecoming weekend was full of good times, great laughs, and more than a few Kodak moments. Six members from the class of ’48 celebrated sixty years of nursing, and the 17 “Golden Girls” of ’58 looked wonderful in their gold Mardi Gras beads and special name tags made by Phyllis Bannister Abendschoen ’58.

Phyllis took original class yearbook photos and put them inside wallet-size frames that were worn over the weekend as name tags. Since the frames were magnetic, they are all now in a place of prominence on everyone’s refrigerator! The group was given gift bags of “golden” trinkets including Gold Cross pens graciously donated by Susan Blakeslee Phillips, ’73.

Two classmates who had not returned to Baltimore since graduation 50 years ago, were Jimmie Gail Sanders Landers ’58 and Sue Coffin Plaza ’58 who traveled from Texas and Pennsylvania respectively to be with their classmates on this very special “golden” occasion.

Everyone enjoyed seeing the CHH archives on display at the School of Nursing and especially enjoyed seeing Hopkins nursing student Kristine Hauser, accelerated ’09, mingling while wearing Susan Riddleberger’s original student uniform! Special guests at the luncheon were Mr. and Mrs. Thomas “Gil” Whedbee and Mr. George Riepe. Both gentlemen said they really enjoyed seeing Dr. Jack Zimmerman and “all the fine Church Home nurses.”

At the closing of the luncheon, we were led in singing Ensign on the Hill by the lovely voices of Yetive Hull Habicht ’66 and Donna Royster Swope ’66.

Group photos were taken by Robert Smith Photography. To purchase photos, visit www.robertsmithphotography.com. The password is “SON2008.” You may also contact Mr. Smith by calling 800-956-0989 or 443-956-3588.

Church Home Class of 1948	Kristine Hauser, accelerated ’09, models a student uniform from the 1970s, and visits with Sue Riddleberger ’73, Deb Kennedy ’73, and Catherine Hardesty Eydelloth ’73.
Church Home Class of 1958	George Riepe (left), former Chairman of the CHH Board of Trustees, and Gil Whedbee, former President/CEO Church Home & Hospital attended Saturday’s luncheon.

ABC Hopkins Features CHH Alumnae

In July, Susan Riddleberger ’73 had her fifteen minutes of fame when she was featured in part II of Hopkins, a documentary made in six parts by ABC News. Sue has worked at Hopkins in Cardiac Surgery for 26 years. On the night the segment aired, Sue immediately got a phone call from her classmate, Cindy Shobe Quinn ’73 to share her excitement. Congratulations, “Riddles,” on such a prestigious career at Hopkins!

Lost and Now Found

You’ll never guess where I stumbled upon two CHH alumnae. One I discovered in a letter to the editor in Advance for Nurses, in which the writer mentioned that she had worked in the Emergency Department at CHH. I sent a letter to the editor asking to please try and connect us. Very soon I received a reply from Diann Dekowski Kittock ’72, who is living in Lincoln, Nebraska and sends a big “hello” to all her former classmates and friends in Baltimore.

In August I was having lunch at the Christopher Daniel restaurant when I thought I recognized a woman at another table. I stopped by the table before leaving the restaurant, and seated there was Doris Rill Del Negro ’64. Doris had been out of touch so I mailed her copies of 11 past Church Notes to bring her up to date.

Transcript Update

To obtain copies of your transcript, contact Aniese Gentry at Quinlan Storage (formerly Chart One Storage) in Jessup at 888-416-5353 (ext. 7550 or 3907).

Purchase Your CHH Pin, Cap, or Ring

The CHH Cap can be obtained from Kay’s Caps by requesting School #33. The cost is $11.00 for each cap plus $6.50 shipping and handling for 1-5 caps. Caps are available in size medium or large. Orders can be placed by phone (516-791-8500) or by mail (Kay’s Caps, PO Box 818, Valley Stream, NY 11582).Exact replicas of the CHH pin are available in 14K or 10K gold. CHH school rings are available in gold or silver. Due to the increase in gold prices, call for an updated price. To order a pin or ring, call Vince Fino, 9650 Belair Road, Perry Hall, MD 21236, 410-256-9555.

Updates

Send any address changes or notice of deceased members to: Deb Kennedy, 1990 Gulfstream Court, Forest Hill, MD 21050; 410-893-2421, debkennedy29@hotmail.com.

Thank You for Your Archives

The archives have received many wonderful items for the Church Home collection!  Some recent additions are:

• Nancy Cooper Fritz ’48: several excellent nursing textbooks.
• Julia Holland Webster ’48: 1948 class pin. The class of 1948 was the only CHH class to independently order their class pin, much to the dismay of Miss Creutzburg. Julia also donated a 1998 medal that was sent to all members of the class of 1948 who had served in the military on the occasion of their 50th class reunion, along with photos and brochures and news articles that surrounded this tribute.
• Janice Asbury Perry, ’58: The original sign, “Church Hospital Receiving” that hung by the Emergency Department. This was retrieved before the hospital was torn down.
• Maryland Miles Massey, ’58: graduate uniform, cape, notebook, yearbook, class picture, mug and even a brick from Church Home before it was torn down.
• Phyllis Bannister Abendschoen, ’58: a three-panel poster of the class of 1958.
• Margaret Parry Cannoles ’63 and Penny Haviland ’63: 1963 and 1975 yearbooks.
• Lynn Buddo Grip ’67: 1967 class picture.

In Memoriam

Geneva Werner ’39
Dorothy Whittington Sullivan ’56
Hazel Perry Wright ’58
Susan Ernst ’61
Donna Gettinger Broccolino ’67
Susan Richards ’67