Reflections Magazine Issue #47 - Winter 1998 | Page 24

ClassNotes 24 Jean Patricia McGowan, OP ‘36 of Lake Park, FL, recently celebrated her 70th year as an Adrian Dominican with family and friends. Joan Raney Brennan ‘44 and her husband, Robert, of Monroe celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this spring. Joan is a sustaining member of the Monroe Thrift Shop and was an active volunteer for many years with Red Cross, Camp Fire, Catholic Central High School and St. Mary’s Grade School. Connie Berube Binsfeld ‘45 recently was selected by the Michigan Women’s Studies Association for the Michigan Hall of Fame. She was nominated for the honor (which is awarded to past and present Michigan women who have made contributions “of an enduring nature” in history) by Michigan Governor John Engler, with whom she has served as Lieutenant Governor for eight years. “Connie Binsfeld’s name has become synonymous with children’s advocacy because she has done everything within her power to help children in need, from chairing the Children’s Commission, to introducing the nation’s first bills banning commercial surrogacy, to personally holding drugaddicted babies in her arms,” Engler said. “You can measure her success by the new laws protecting neglected and abused children that are a direct result of her Children’s Commission recommendations, the 95% increase in the number of adoptions in our state since she became lieutenant governor, and many othe