Kathie de Russy looks back on her time at St. Anne’s fondly. She still loves each and every one of her students, the faculty, and the grounds. She remembers the Sisters filling jars with their crabapple jelly during the summer and also wine, which a parent tried to sell (it was called “The Cloisters” but never took off). She remembers the delicious smell of her initial third-grade classroom, since it sat right above the kitchen during the early years.  Her favorite traditions were May Day, Founders’ Day, and the first day of school. She also loved being able to get to know Mother Irene, who taught her a multitude of life lessons she’ll never forget.

 

Kathie joined St. Anne’s alongside Marcia Brennan and Dave Vander Meulen in 1976, starting out as an art and P.E. teacher before moving into the third grade with Laura Underwood and then Kim Grant. Following third grade, she moved to teaching Lower School Science for a number of years. Her tenure encompassed five heads of school (Mitch Walker, Richard Wood, John Comfort, Ramsay Stabler, and Alan Smiley). She eventually moved into the library as an assistant and led our extended day program.

 

When she wasn’t teaching, Kathie worked at Cherry Creek State Park, Aurora, CO, as a paramedic park ranger. She also taught first aid and CPR classes in all the state parks. After teaching for 34 years at St. Anne’s, Kathie left to complete her required years toward retirement as a park ranger. She also became a docent at Wings over the Rockies Air and Space Museum in Aurora, CO.

 

Currently, Kathie lives on Ft. Monroe in Virginia, tutoring online while sitting at a desk used by Sister Geraldine, the bookkeeper for the Sisters. Her family had a strong military presence; her grandfather was Commander of the Islands for years, stationed at Fort De Russy in Hawai'i. Her father, a career Air Force officer, was stationed all over the world.  Kathie’s Corps of Engineers ancestor, BGEN Rene de Russy, guided the construction of Fort Monroe, Virginia, in 1819. Kathie is now a volunteer at the Casemate Museum on Fort Monroe and is passionate about photography. She says she wouldn’t trade her years at St. Anne’s for anything.