Building - The Kinkaid School

Building
Relationships
The Kinkaid School would not be the learning environment that
it is today without its community: the teachers and coaches
working their magic in their classrooms, the arts and athletics,
students creating life-long friendships and alums maintaining
the Kinkaid legacy throughout the years.
As a testament to our community, the following pages illustrate
exactly how we go about Building Relationships. Whether we
are celebrating love stories between Kinkaidians, renewing
friendships from years ago, or honoring the teachers, coaches
and mentors who dedicated themselves to their students,
these relationships remind us of the special place Kinkaid
holds in our lives.
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Lasting Relationships ...
A number of love stories began with two Kinkaid students who had no idea they were about to embark on one of
their greatest journeys, true love.
Many Kinkaid events are not only strong traditions but they are legendary
experiences for students, which oftentimes lead to romance. Take for example Bob
Kent ’67 and Sally Dudley ’70. Their first date was on November 4, 1966
at the Kinkaid vs. St. John's football game. Bob was a senior and Sally was a
freshman. They dated on and off (mostly on) for five years before they were married on
August 14, 1971. They raised two boys together, Alan, 38 and Robert, 31.
This August will be their 40th Anniversary!
Emily Attwell Crosswell '59 and O. Holcombe
Crosswell '59: It was September of 1955 as I
embarked on a new adventure---a forced one! As a
true Lanier Junior High Purple Pup I was quite sure
that it was an adventure that I would not like...but my
father thought otherwise!
Thanks to the fact that my best friend, Ginni
Vetter, was going to Kinkaid with me and I knew a
few great girlfriends already there I thought survival
might be possible. Mrs. Kinkaid, Mr. Cooper, Gilbert
& Sullivan, Purple & Gold, smaller classes and Friday
night lights football offered enough for me to realize
that Kinkaid could be interesting.
As fall proceeded I had a “crush” on an
upperclassman who was totally cool and had a great
group of friends. My good fortune began when my
heart was broken by the breakup with this totally
cool guy. I was comforted by his best friend who
assured me that I would be OK. Indeed I was OK .....
this “best friend” was Holcombe Crosswell, who won
my heart soon after, and we started “going together”
that fall.
On August 18, 1962 we were married while we were
seniors at The University of Texas. Holcombe and
I have four children who attended Kinkaid: Lisa
Crosswell Stone '83, Allen Holcombe Crosswell,
Brady Evans Crosswell, Clare Crosswell McLeroy
'88 and 12 grandchildren, many of whom attend
Kinkaid.
We both continue to be involved with the school.
Holcombe is a past Chairman of the Kinkaid Board of
Trustees. Today we still have many good friends who
were classmates with us and we all enjoy sharing the
stories of times and adventures spent at Kinkaid. My
good fortune indeed!!!!!
~Emily Attwell Crosswell '59
Carl Mengden ’47 and Ann Collette ’50: Ann and
Carl first met when Ann was selling refreshments
and Carl played football (six man) on the old main
campus. Program dances at the old Junior League,
fraternity parties at the Univeristy of Texas at Austin,
and deb parties in Houston provided the path to
Navy Lt. Carl and Ann’s wedding in 1954.
After Carl’s naval service, the
couple lived in Houston, Abilene,
Texas, Roswell, New Mexico and
back to Houston.
Ann and Carl have three children
– Michael born in 1956, Susan
born in 1958, and Catherine born
in 1961. In 1951 Ann and Carl
moved to the Lucky L Ranch near
Comfort, Texas in the hill country
between Boerne and Kerrville.
Carl raised turkeys, often 120,000
a year, and later he cultivated a
special garlic for H.E.B. Central
Markets in Austin and San Antonio.
Ann divided her time between cattle raising and
selling cleaning products to Hill Country camps,
Dugosh Airport Service in Kerrville, and the Zachery
apartment complexes in San Antonio.
Both Ann and Carl were very involved in civic,
school, and church organizations. Giving back to
and supporting your local groups was stressed by
the Kinkaid faculty. Ann’s consistent dedication to
independent planning for organizations, school and
family events would have pleased Mrs. Hooks and
Mrs. Clifford. Carl’s love of painting
led him to open the Comfort
Art Gallery. The value of a
private prep school education
was the primary factor for the
Mengdens' children attending TMI,
The Episcopal School of Texas in San
Antonio for high school .
In 2004 Ann and Carl left their
beloved hill-top to settle once
more in Houston. One of their
favorite pastimes has been to hold
small at-home dinner parties for
friends from their Kinkaid years.
Good things just keep coming as
they settle into their rocking chairs.
Ann and Carl are so very thankful for all the many
blessings God has given their family, and one of
those blessings is their education and friends from
their Kinkaid years.
Ross Rommel, Jr. '65 and Deborah (Warren)
Rommel '66: It is fun to think back to the high
and low points of my Kinkaid career. First the low
point. In 1952 my mother, who attended Kinkaid
when it went only through
middle school, took me to
meet Mrs. Kinkaid at her
office at the old school
facility on Richmond. I was
enrolling in kindergarten. I
was dressed in my Roy
Rogers outfit, which
included a hat and toy
pistol. We walked into Mrs. Kinkaid's
office, whereupon I pulled my toy pistol,
pointed it at Mrs. Kinkaid and said "Bang
you're dead". My mother was mortified as
her young son was sent to Mrs. Keeler's
office for counseling before he had spent even one
day at school.
No question about the high point! It was my senior
year in November 1964 walking down the hall in the
high school wing. That's when I first saw this young
knockout transfer student from Dallas. Beautiful
brunette with gorgeous eyes. I was smitten. The rest
is history. First date was in the Spring of 1965 at a
cast party at Mr. Cooper's house after a school play.
We dated for eight years. That included the time
while we were attending college in Virginia
at the University of Virginia and Sweet
Briar College, while I was in the
U.S. Marine Corps,
and while we were
in graduate school
in Houston. We were
married on March
10, 1973. Deborah
recently retired as a
teacher and I as a trial
lawyer. We have three
wonderful children. We
now live in Hunt, Texas
where, among other
things, we are trying to learn how to raise olive
trees. We will always owe the Kinkaid School a huge
debt of gratitude for the education we each received
and the opportunity it afforded us to meet one
another.
~Ross Rommel, Jr. '65
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Marion Perryman Liedtke ’73 and Cadell Liedtke
’73: While we met in third grade in 1963, we really
did not get to know each other well until we were
together in Mrs. William’s fourth grade class. Right
off, we had issues; Marion Perryman was gold and
Cadell Liedtke was purple. However, Cadell won
Marion’s heart with his solo
in the H.M.S. Pinafore.
Our middle school
years flew by and then
high school found us
as varsity cheerleader
partners. While we
did not exactly date
until college years,
we were great friends
and would accompany one another
on occasion when one of us needed
a date.
Senior year, senior skip day, graduation
in 1973 and the senior prom were all spent with
someone else. Marion went to Hollins College in
Virginia and Cadell went west to Claremont Men’s
College. It may have been the old “absence makes
the heart grow fonder” thing because the summer
after our freshman year in college, we began dating.
Cadell gave Marion golf lessons, which as we all
know leads to serious relationships. It only took a
year for Marion and Cadell to decide to meet halfway,
back at the University of Texas where they would
graduate in the 1977 and marry the following July.
After a wonderful honeymoon, we ended up in
Midland, Texas, and in 1979 were blessed
with our first daughter Leslie. This was
followed with twins girls in 1981, Bessie
and Wynne. Claire
completed our family
in 1985.
The 33 years that we
have been married
have been filled with
happiness. The arrival
of the next generation
has given us eight
grandchildren (three boys
and five girls) and one on
the way. The oldest is a Falcon granddaughter in
the class of 2025. Once again we have issues over
whether she will be purple or gold!
Ben Whitman '92 & Lindsey Whitman ’92: When
Ben Whitman entered the second grade at Kinkaid in
1981, Lindsey Greenfield had no idea that he would
one day become her husband. She never even had a
real conversation with him until middle school, when
Lindsey quickly realized that Ben made her laugh. In
seventh grade, Ben became Lindsey’s first true male
friend, someone she could talk to about anything.
While they liked each other off and on through
middle school, their timing was never right as they
were always “going” with other people. They finally
shared their first kiss freshman year, and after dating
for several months, Lindsey told Ben she “needed
space for her friends.” Ben didn’t
like that idea very much, and
the two hardly spoke again
until about halfway through
their sophomore year.
By 11th grade, they
were best friends again,
and they got back
together senior year after
a surprise kiss from Ben on the night of the
senior boy’s formal. After graduating in 1992,
the two stayed together through February of
their freshman year when the long distance
relationship became too difficult. However, Lindsey
and Ben remained close friends throughout college,
and though they dated other people, Lindsey still
had Ben in the back of her mind. After graduation,
Ben moved to L.A. for his first job. A few months later,
Lindsey followed to attend interior design school at
UCLA, though her family would say it was to pursue
Ben!
On Valentine’s Day 1997, their love was once again
rekindled with a kiss while dancing to Frank Sinatra.
Ben proposed in December 1999 when he and
Lindsey were settled back in Houston, and the couple
married at La Colombe d’Or on November 18,
2000. They celebrated their ten year
anniversary last November and have
two adorable
children, Allison
(4 ½), who will be
starting Pre-K at
Kinkaid in the fall,
and Jonathan (2).
Elizabeth Pullen Schwing '83 and Ned Schwing '83:
It’s always interesting to see how people respond to
the question: “where did you meet your husband?”
When they hear high school, the response is almost
always: “awww, that’s so sweet!” We met in Mr. Pitts’
sophomore English class in August of 1980. Ned
had just returned to Kinkaid
after attending boarding
school on the east coast,
which is how he landed
in my class.
At the end of the
movie “When Harry
met Sally,” there is
a scene where they
were reflecting on
how they met: “we were friends…, and
then we weren’t, and then we fell in
love”. Well, we became friends first (for
a short time), and fell in love (after), and
we have remained best friends throughout. Lots of
track meets, phone calls (no texts then) and formals
followed. We both played soccer and ran track. Ned
played football, and growing up with three brothers, I
wish I could have as well, but settled on cross country
and track. We graduated from Kinkaid three years
later in 1983; then got married on September 19,
1987, right after graduating from UT. Since getting
married, we have lived in L.A., Austin, Dallas
and now, Houston. We will
move for the ninth
time in late June. We
have three incredible
kids: Ford (20), Abby
(17) and Annie (16).
Life is busy but good,
never boring and full of
surprises, still.
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~Elizabeth Pullen Schwing '83
Elizabeth Buza Devlin '00 and Ryan Devlin ’99:
Ryan and I met in 1996, my freshman year and
his sophomore year at Kinkaid. We met through
our mutual friends and found our groups of friends
hanging out after school and on most weekends.
We instantly bonded over our passion for sports and
God. Something clicked between Ryan and me that
is unexplainable. Our friends and family members
used to tease us about why we were not dating. We
insisted we were just friends. But could we be more?
We tried dating one another, as the majority of
our free time was spent either on the phone or
hanging out together. It felt perfect. We attended
every dance together, every SPC together, and each
other’s graduation days.
Ryan graduated from Kinkaid in 1999, and I
in 2000. Ryan began his collegiate career at Rice
University and I attended Brown University. Half way
into Ryan’s sophomore year he transferred from Rice
to Brown and we enjoyed college life together up in
the northeast, once again supporting each other’s
football and field hockey careers, as well as weekend
trips to Cape Cod, Boston and NYC. We both moved
back to Houston immediately after graduating from
Brown. Ryan was ready for marriage after college; I,
on the other hand was trying to find my career path.
We got married (finally, as many people say) after 12
years of dating on January 12, 2008, celebrating our
third anniversary this past January.
Our wedding saying embodies our entire
relationship: “Come along, grow old with me. The
best is yet to be.” As we celebrate birthdays, holidays,
and anniversaries, we have now been in each other’s
lives longer than we have not. We look forward to
many, many more years together and experiences
we will share.
~Elizabeth Buza Devlin '00
I entered Kinkaid in the
Marilyn Taylor
d Bruce
8th grade in 1977 and
Phillips '82 an
immediately fell for Marilyn
H. Phillips '82
Taylor, who had entered in the 6th
grade. Even as a 13 year old, I knew
one day that she would have
my last name. We dated
all through high school and college, but
occasionally heeded the advice of our parents by
attempting to date other people. Although it was
tough, and our relationship was continuously tested,
we made it through all those years of immaturity.
Dating other people was one of those things that
just didn't work out, and we always ended up in
each other's arms. Our classmates saw the worst of
our frequent childish fights, but looking back at what
made those battles so serious was the passion we
shared for each other.
For the 12 years prior to our marriage, there was
almost never a day where we did not talk on the
telephone, or in the summers, write to each other.
There were no cell phones, texting or internet then
so when Marilyn went off to Camp Longhorn or
Europe, we collected each others letters. Through
all that, it is nothing but good fortune and God's will
that the Kinkaid Homecoming Queen of 1981 came
home to marry the person that loved her more than
anything or anyone in the world. Children: Loren '08,
Lindsey '11 and Taylor '15.
~Bruce Phillips '82
Surprisingly enough, Bill
Cathriner and I both opened
our email on April 27, and
found the exact same request
from Kinkaid.
The email was a request for
our "love story" and the day it
arrived was our official 20 year wedding
anniversary. Bill and I share only one of the many
fabled Kinkaid romances, even within the Kinkaid
class of 1981. Our other wedded classmates are
Bridget O'Toole Purdie '81 and Burke Purdie '81,
and from the looks of things cooking at our 30th year
reunion, a third class of '81 romance may be brewing!
Our tale begins 37 years ago. The beloved John
Cooper was our headmaster, and he was enlightening
our hearts and minds with Aesop's fables. Bill and I
actually became acquainted in Mrs. Andres' seventh
grade science class. We were studying life sciences
and the human body of all things, but the "love" part
of this story had not yet ignited, just the friendship.
We were living the everyday common student life
at Kinkaid, but our story does in some ways parallel
the fairytale love story of the uncommon William and
Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
William and Kate met at school, he courted her
friends, he was chivalrous and fair headed, and did
I mention his name is William. Kate is brunette, very
patient and studied art history. After many years of
friendship at school, Kate decided she needed to get
William's eyes off of her friends. Kate went out on
a cat walk and finally captured William's attention.
I, too made the same decision, but only wished I
could go out on a cat walk. Instead I choose to go
out "on a limb" at a Mexican luau. When I fell off the
limb and into the freezing cold pool - Bill left the
arms of another woman, darted over like a knight in
shining amour and rescued me. The passion ignited
not long after that infamous plunge. Like Kate, I had
to wait while Bill journeyed off to pursue his career.
Being particularly good at the role of lady in waiting,
I waited four and a half years until our wedding day,
and Kate waited nine years for hers.
After our wedding day, Bill and I were fortunate
enough to put into practice everything Mrs. Andres
taught us about the reproductive system, and we
were able to reproduce two Kinkaid science students:
Annie '13 and Virginia '16. The romantic flame is
still burning and our lives have been a complete
fairytale. A fairytale which of course includes some
very ferocious dragons that come in the form of
things like job transfers, hurricanes, illnesses and the
fiercest of all: the loss of loved ones. But what exactly
is the point of marrying a chivalrous husband, if it is
not to help you slay these dragons?
So we paddle along in the river of life and try to
teach our girls how to stay afloat. We teach them to
treat others kindly, to do the right thing even if no
one is looking, and to keep an eye out for chivalrous
"lab partners" in science class.
Perhaps the best matrimonial lesson comes from
Kate and William's minister at Westminster Abbey. To
paraphrase, he said that as people drift further and
further away from their faith, they tend to look for
meaning and fulfillment in life from their spouse. No
spouse is capable of providing this. Our "happily ever
afters" only come from above.
So we will keep the faith and keep rowing along,
hoping for nothing but a "happily ever after" for you
too!
~Jackie Goss Cathriner '81
'81
Bill Cathriner
ss
Go
ie
and Jack
Cathriner '81
Jennifer Jones '87 and Doug Rosenzwieg ‘87:
Jennifer Jones and Doug Rosenzweig met in 1980 in
sixth Grade. Jennifer started Kinkaid in third grade
and Doug in sixth. They were friends from the very
beginning. In fact, Doug thought they might be more
than friends when he asked Jennifer
to “go steady” in seventh
grade. Unfortunately for
Doug, he did it with a
few friends on the phone
with him, and she politely
said “no thanks.” Despite the setback,
they remained friends,
and Jennifer even handed
out programs at Doug’s bar
mitzvah that summer. They
went through the rest of middle and upper school
as good friends, without so much as a date or
even a thought of one. They graduated in 1987
and went their separate ways – Jennifer to Penn
and Doug to Tufts – but stayed in touch, calling on
birthdays and holidays and seeing each other when
all of the gang was back in town. Doug came back to
Houston in 1994 and Jennifer in 2000. When Jennifer
moved back to town, she coincidentally moved into
the apartment complex across the street from Doug.
He always had the role of “social coordinator,” so he
got the group together to reconnect with Jennifer.
After a few outings, the group dwindled to just
Jennifer and Doug. They stayed up late one night
talking about the special friendship they had known
for so many years and posed the question – do they
take the next step?
As it turns out, 20 years
after the first time, Doug
was ready to ask Jennifer
to “go steady” again, and
this time the answer was
“yes.” They dated a few years,
got engaged in 2004, and
married in 2005. There were
six Kinkaid alums in the bridal
party, with many more in
attendance. Now with 4 ½ and
2 ½ year old boys, Zachary and Jacob, Jennifer and
Doug recently celebrated six years of marriage and
almost 31 years of friendship.
Josh Nichols '99 & Lelia (Lee) LaGrasse Nichols
'00: We started off as friends in high school, but in
the summer of 1998 a romantic spark brought us
together. We started spending more time together
those first few months, and our relationship quickly
grew into something special and fun-filled: movies
and parties on the weekend, studying after school
together, supporting each other at our respective
sports games and activities. Josh graduated
from Kinkaid in 1999
and left for Princeton,
which began five years
of nurturing a longdistance relationship.
Lee would travel up
to New Jersey and
Josh would come
home on holidays,
but our relationship consisted of a lot
of late-night phone calls.
The next year, Lee graduated from
Kinkaid and went to Georgetown. The
visits to see each other became easier — only a three
hour train ride. We had independent lives during
college, something that made our relationship
stronger: we had our own identities outside of being
a “couple,” yet still enjoyed being a part of each
other’s lives. After our college graduations, we found
ourselves in New York City. Josh worked long hours
at Goldman Sachs, and Lee worked rotating days and
nights as a nurse at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center and then Mount Sinai Hospital. After five
years, we were finally living in the same city together,
despite feeling like ships passing in the night, and
loved getting to reconnect as a couple.
In the fall of 2005, Josh proposed and we
were married October 7, 2006 in
Nashville, TN. When we moved back to
Texas the next year, Dallas became our
new home. We have
loved Dallas, with Josh
working in a start-up
real estate company
and Lee working as a
Nurse Practitioner in
cardiology. On February
20, 2011 we welcomed
our beautiful daughter,
Dinsmore (Dinny) McCrea
Nichols, into the world.
We are excited to be embarking on the next
stage of our relationship—the exciting, stressful,
sleep-deprived, loving world of parenthood!
Here are additional Lasting Relationships that were
reported to the Alumni Office this spring:
Brad Morgan ‘96 and Lauren Roemer Morgan '96
John Harvin '99 and Molly Brock Harvin ‘99
Dale Martin '65 and Peggy Dickson '65
Greg Frazer '65 and Marion Shepherd '65
Clay Parker '65 and Kathy Sabom '65
Lawrence Labanowski '02 and Leslie Roemer
Labanowski '02
William Jarvis Evans '03 and Allison Monteith
Evans '04
Richard Susman '65 (deceased) and Linda Rauch
'66
Charlie Nettles '05 and Kimberly Nettles '04
Warren Wackman '63 and Winnie Clark '65
Will Brown '95 and Erin Jones Brown '96
Burke Purdie, Jr. '81 and Bridget O'Toole Purdie ‘81
We would like to make Kinkaid Love Stories a regular
section within our magazine. Feel free to send us
your information at [email protected] or call Leslie
Labanowski at 713-243-5054.
Matthew Wheelock '90 and Jill Wheelock ‘88
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