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Kingswood Homecoming: Gretchen Markle Thams '45 Visits Campus

11/13/2025

Gretchen Markle Thams ’45 has returned to Kingswood many times over the years, but her most recent visit carried special meaning. Known to her classmates by the nickname “Itchy”— she attended her 80th Reunion in June as the sole representative of the Class of 1945. Family members joined her for the milestone celebration. Because the Reunion dinner took place on the Cranbrook campus, Director of Alumni Relations Susan Post invited Itchy back to Kingswood in the fall for lunch—a chance to revisit favorite spaces and meet today’s students and faculty.

Itchy's friend and classmate Marjorie “Marge” Smith Hendricks '45 had planned to attend as well, but health complications prevented her from joining the dinner. After Reunion, Itchy visited Marge to share photos and stories from the weekend, and the two enjoyed a wonderful visit. Itchy was glad she had the chance to visit, as Marge passed away just weeks later.

Itchy began her Kingswood journey in 1940, when World War II still felt like a distant conflict to most Americans. She reflected on how much the school has changed since those days and how much still feels the same. “So many things are different now,” she said, “it is strange seeing all of the boys in the Kingswood halls and classrooms.” Nonetheless, she said it still felt like home.

She was delighted to see her names and those of her classmates, carved in the panels of the Rose Lobby above the benches where students now tuck their backpacks during lunch—a lasting mark of the Class of 1945. She lingered there, tracing the names of her classmates and remembering the friendships that shaped her Kingswood years. Among them was noted historian Natalie “Bunny” Zemon Davis, one of two fellow Jewish students in their class. “It was clear that Bunny was brilliant, even then,” Itchy recalled, noting that years back she had the privilege of attending a talk by Dr. Davis in Detroit when the stage version of her book The Return of Martin Guerre was performed.

Eight decades after graduation, Itchy’s ties to Kingswood remain unmistakably alive—woven through memories, friendships, and the familiar halls that continue to welcome her home.

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