College news
• Katarina C. McDonald, a history major from Londonderry, was one of 472 seniors who graduated from Colby College in Waterville, Maine, on May 25, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree at the college's 193rd commencement.
• Lise Moran of Townshend was awarded a Master of Arts in Historic Preservation from Plymouth (N.H.) State University at their 143rd commencement on May 17.
• Natasha Cummings of Windham received a B.S. in textile fashion merchandising and design from the University of Rhode Island.
• Sarah French, a junior in actuarial mathematics from Vernon, was named to the President's List for the spring 2014 semester at Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I.
• Bradleigh Bleecker of Brattleboro has been named to the Plymouth (N.H.) State University President's List for the spring 2014 semester.
• Rebecca O'Neill, a junior majoring in Latin American studies from Westminster and a member of the women's rowing team at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, received New England Small College Athletic Conference All-Academic distinction for the spring 2014 season.
• Hillary Harrington of Bellows Falls was named to the dean's list at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., for the spring 2014 semester.
• Nathan Nichols, a chemistry and physics major from Newfane, and Michael Dolan, a biochemistry major from West Townshend, were named to the Dean's List for spring 2014 at Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y.
• Connor Aprea of Putney has been named to the Plymouth (N.H.) State University Dean's List for the spring 2014 semester.
• Sean Kiziltan of Newfane and Andrew Clark of Dummerston are recipients of the Keene State College Enrichment Scholarship, which recognizes first-year students who display high academic performance.
School news
• Hilltop Montessori School graduated 10 eighth-graders in a ceremony last month. Colin Costa-Walsh, Miles Hiler, Jazmin Smith, and Isabella Thurber will be attending Brattleboro Union High School in September. Zach James, Mac Kelley, Jeremy West and Sarah Young will attend The Putney School. Ian Fenn will attend Vermont Academy and Lexi Larsen will attend Bellows Falls Union High School.
The school also saluted its alumni from its 2010 class that graduated from high school. Maya Sutton-Smith of Brattleboro, graduated from Northfield Mount Hermon as a member of the Cum Laude Society and winner of the Award in Arabic. She plans on attending Connecticut College in the fall. Ella Guerts of Manchester, Vt., earned her diploma from Burr and Burton Academy and will attend the University of Montana, and Katie Tsuamoto of Brattleboro graduated from Brattleboro Union High School and plans to attend Sacred Heart in Connecticut.
Other Hilltop Montessori Alumni receiving honors include: Northfield Mount Hermon lower classwomen Paige Fenn '15, The Douglas A. Jones Award; Jacqueline Elliot, The Henry R. Huntting Literary Prize; and Harper Baldwin '15, The Brown University Association Alumni English and The Henry F. Cutler Scholar Award. Hilltop Alum and Dublin School student Dieter Brehm '17 received academic achievement awards in English and Physics.
Transitions
• The Windham County Sheriff's Department in Newfane recently added five new members to its force: Deputy First Class Andrew Brothers, Deputy First Class Benjamin Gates, Deputy Tyler Clark, Electronic Monitoring Coordinator Dawn Hubbard and Grant Manager Beth Shrader. Also, Mark Anderson was promoted from sergeant to lieutenant.
Obituaries
• Melanie Anderson DeLonge, 59, formerly of Saxtons River. Died June 3 in her home in Arlington, Va., after a yearlong battle with cancer. Daughter of Phyllis and the late Henry Anderson. Mother to Emily Haggerty and Austin DeLonge. Sister of Sue Gioulis (Peter), Wendy Schoenemann (Robert), Jill Kimber, John Anderson (Terry), Don Anderson, Jen Anderson, Heidi Anderson (Lee) and Bonnie Anderson. Born in Orange, N.J., she grew up in a large family in Westfield, N.J. At the age of 16, she pursued her career in art, drawing pen and ink house sketches for Barrett & Crain Realty in Westfield. At 18, she moved to Grafton, and continued to work for Bob Barrett & Company. In addition, she worked freelance, creating many renderings for advertisement, brochures, business cards, and more, including portraits of private homes, both here and around the world. Over the next 40 years, she also lived in Chester, Westminster, Wilder, Burlington, and Saxtons River, where she raised her family. As an active member of the community, she was an original board member of Main Street Arts in Saxtons River, spent many summers working for the Saxtons River Playhouse, and enjoyed regular card games at the Inn and walks with friends. She co-created the Side Door Studio, painting numerous whimsical pieces for sale. She donated much of her time and artwork to charitable causes and she never neglected a birthday or special occasion, honoring a countless number of friends and family with her homemade creations. Besides being an accomplished artist, she played the piano beautifully and with great enthusiasm. She loved classical music, old movies, theater, books, hosting dinner parties, wine, good food, and holidays, especially Christmas; always setting up her tree the day after Thanksgiving. As a young woman, she also loved to travel, driving cross-country twice and visiting family in Germany, Holland, and Austria, where she had the opportunity to meet the young orphan she sponsored as a teenager. She was best known for running “Mel's House,” a daycare in her home in Saxtons River. Spanning over a decade, she lovingly cared for more than 100 children from the surrounding communities and she stayed in touch with many of them and their families as they grew up. Memorial information: A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 12, at the Westminster Institute, which will be open from 2 to 4 p.m. with the service at 2:30 p.m. Please dress casually, as she would have wanted. Donations to Main Street Arts in Saxtons River, Westminster Cares, and Westfield Y Greta's Run in Westfield N.J.
• Barbara Miller Keil, 93, of Westminister West. Died July 1 at her home with her family. Wife of Jack Keil for 64 years. Former wife of Victor Blom. Mother of Nick Keil and his wife, Jill; Betsy Kluck-Keil and her husband, Roger; and the late Peter Keil. Born in Kalamazoo, Mich., where she attended Kalamazoo College and the University of Michigan. She married her first husband, a lieutenant in the Royal Netherland Marine Corps, in 1943. Having both Dutch and American citizenship, she enlisted in the new woman's branch of the Royal Netherland Marine Corps. She went in convoy to Scotland where she joined her husband and in turn, became a civilian translator. She returned to the United States and was divorced in 1949. In 1950, she married Mr. Keil. They were together for 64 years. They lived in New York City for a year and then moved to Grand-View-On-Hudson, N.Y., for 58 years, moving to Westminister West for the last eight years of her life. While in Grand View and after receiving her M.S.W. from Fordham, she was co-founder of the Rockland Parent Child Center, one of the first parent-child centers in the country. Later, she served as a Guardian Ad Litum for the Vermont Family Court. Her interests lay in her gardens, classical and jazz music, travel, friends and her family. Memorial information: A memorial service was held at the Westminister West Church on July 5. Donations to Parks Place Community Resource Center, 44 School St., Bellows Falls, VT 05101; or, Rockland Parent Child Center, 137 1st Ave., Nyack, NY 10960.