Class Notes
1963
Gay Griffith Means, Shreveport, LA, of the North Louisiana Historical Association reports the following Overdyke Award recipients for Best Undergraduate Papers. Winners include Charlie Starnes '03 for his paper entitled "Slum Clearance and Self Interest in Shreveport Under the James Gardner Administration-1954 to 1958." Starnes took 3rd place in the Undergraduate Division in Spring '04. Sara Thompson '05 won 1st place in the Undergraduate Division in Spring '05 for her paper, "Optimism was not Enough: Shreveport's Reaction to the Onset of the Great Depression." Both student entries were prepared under the supervision of Dr. Sam Shepherd, Jr., Professor of History at Centenary College. The papers were recently published in the North Louisiana History Journal, Fall 2005, Vol. 36 No. 4. Alumna Gay Means is Editor of the Journal. The Overdyke Awards were founded in memory of W. Darrel Overdyke, Professor of History at Centenary College. Other Centenary alumni on the Board of the North Louisiana Historical Association include Beverly Smith '64 and William McCleary '48.
1984
Warren Morales, Houston, TX, is teaching math at a new school called Challenge Early College High School, where students have an opportunity to graduate from high school with an associate's degree and transfer about 60 credits to a 4 year university. The school is on the campus of Houston Community College. Warren teaches at the high school and the college.
1985
Lee Morgan, Hightstown, NJ, is in "Almost Heaven: John Denver's America" which opened the second week of November at the Promenade Theater in New York.
1995
Wendy Kaye Davis Kanar, Midland, MI, is taking some time off from her duties as a lawyer in Midland, MI to take care of her brand new twin sons: William Michael Kanar and Alexander James Kanar, born September 20, 2005.
1996
Lynd Matt, Cambridge, MA, has joined the staff of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts as the Assistant Director of Development. His fundraising work will include primary responsibility for the Annual Fund, coordination of some small events, and management of a portfolio of major donors. You can read more about the work of the Diocese on its web site: http://www.diomass.org
1996
Jolie Kowalski, Prairieville, LA, is a stay-at-home mom taking care of her two boys, Gabriel age 4, and Joshua age 1.
1999
Beth Bonner, Baton Rouge, LA, and Matt DeVille are engaged to be married in May, 2006.
1999
James Eakin, Kansas City, MO, has been invited to be on the faculty at the Aspen Music Festival again for the 2006 Summer Session and will be teaching film
scoring side by side with Howard Shore, the Academy Award winning
composer of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and either John Williams
(Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc...) or Danny Elfman (Batman, Corpse
Bride, Willy Wonka, etc...). This past summer he was on faculty and
taught with Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Stucky and George Tsontakis.
This past February he had a premiere by the Turtle Creek Chorale
at the ACDA National Convention (American Choral Directors
Association) in Los Angeles. The commissioned work was titled "The
Language of Angels" for acappella men's chorus. It was met with
rave reviews.
He is about to begin a new work for the Turtle Creek Chorale that
will premiere at the Meyerson Symphony Center in April of 2007. The
text was written for him by the famous poet Michael Dennis Browne.
The work is yet to be titled, but is about the horrors in the world
but ends with hope for better days. The work will feature the Turtle
Creek Chorale, The Texas Boys Choir, Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, and
Tenor soloists, and the core players of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
who will also be joined by an ensemble of ethnic instruments. The
work will be about 45 minutes to an hour long. It is also the Turtle
Creek Chorale's goal after the premiere to take this work to Lincoln
Center in New York and perform it with the Harlem Boys Choir.
He is almost done with his doctoral studies and has completed his Doctoral Comprehensive
Examinations.
2001
Matthew Smitherman, Shreveport, LA, passed the Louisiana Bar, and is practicing with the firm Lemle Kelleher in Shreveport
2002
Nikki Doughty, Dallas, TX, was recently promoted to Senior Copy Manager, Fashion for Neiman Marcus Online. She oversees all fashion copy for the website and marketing materials while managing a writing team. Nikki has been employed with the company for a year and a half.
2002
Magan Graham, Norman, OK, graduated from University of Oklahoma Law School and passed the Oklahoma Bar Examination. She has accepted a position with the law office of Daniel M. Davis.
2003
Katie Cooper, Bronx, NY, has accepted a job at a pharmaceutical advertising agency called Cline, Davis and Mann in New York. She is working in the account management part of the agency as a "Team Support Manager," and Is part of one of their biggest accounts - the Lipitor account.
2003
Chip LeDuff, Camp Lejeune, NC, is serving in Iraq and would love to hear from his Centenary friends. Email him at .
2004
Noah Ward, Bangna, Bangkok, recently moved from Boston and signed a contract with a semi pro soccer team in Bangkok, Thailand called the Londoner.
2004
Brandon Wollerson, Austin, TX, has completed his first year of graduate study at University of Texas School of Social Work in Austin, TX, where he is completing a Masters degree in social work. He will graduate in May 2006, and plans work in Hospice Care.
Marriages
Karen Townsend '92, Statesboro, GA, married Keith L. Murphree on July 2, 2005 in Statesboro, Georgia.
Amy Warren '96, Charlotte, NC, married Daniel Hollister Warren '96 in October 2005.
Katharine Harper '98, Cedar Park, TX, will marry Bill McCormick on Dec. 2, 2005.
Catherine Cabaniss '00, Memphis, TN, has announced her upcoming marriage to Robert F. Sharpe, Jr. on December 31, 2005. She currently works as a planned giving officer for a non-profit children's organization.
Births
Padrig Sexton and Holly Rice Sexton '94, Ypsilanti, MI, had a son, Colin Timothy Sexton, October 27, 2005
In Memoriam
Andy Foreman '48
11/2/2005
Roscoe White '49
7/27/2005
