CLASS NOTES | FALL/WINTER 2025 | 41 Attendees at the reunion were Joe Alber, Jim Birdsall, Bill Cooke, Ron Delfini, Paul Doxey, William Draper, Charlie Eyer, Rich Kaplan, Ron Klayton, Rein Mannik, Ken McGray, Jim Miller, Seth Morton, Rick Penske, Rick Siegel, Ken Smith, Marty Solomon, John Varady, Joe Walton and me, Ron Workman. We won an award for having the most attendees of the post50th reunion classes, and Joe Walton did an excellent job of emceeing our Saturday evening dinner. Our guest speaker was new Dean of Athletics Jeremy Gibson, and President Helble made a visit. On Thursday night, Class President Rick Penske was awarded the Persa Award, Class Treasurer Paul Doxey the Alumni Award, and I was recognized as one of the three class correspondents celebrating at the Reunion who have served in that role for over 25 years. I have been doing the column since 1992. I had a great report from Jim Martin, detailing the Ninth Irregular Reunion of Theta Xi Class of 1965. Due to space constraints, I edited it quite a bit. If you want the full report, email me and I’ll forward it. “During the first week of April, the Theta Xi brothers and their spouses met … at the Isle of Palms, S.C…. “Carla and Larry Peterson informed us that due to advancing age and residual rehabilitation issues, they are no longer able to travel to our TX reunions. Carla has found her recovery from the stroke she had last year to be difficult, and Larry feels that he needs to be at home and to rely on assistance with caring for Carla. Gretchen and Jim Ruhl did not attend, as Jim had been recovering from surgery to install a shunt and, while recovering, he experienced a severe setback that required additional surgery. Barbara and Paul Doxey didn’t attend, as Paul said he is about reunioned out and as a Class of ’65 officer, he was committed to our 60th reunion … at Lehigh. “This recent event, like previous ones, was organized by Jim and Gerrie Martin. They have just completed their 24th year living in Charlotte. This was the first year in many where they confined their travels to the USA. “Joan and Kerry Rowles continued to spend hours driving to various places in the east. They spent time again this year with their son at his farm in eastern Tennessee and at the end of July, they traveled to Maryland with their daughters and their families. They remain active in their church on Marco Island, Fla., and spend time with their family, especially enjoying time in Pennsylvania with their granddaughters as they become young ladies. “Roz and Ray Phillips made the decision to downsize and are moving into an adult community near their current home in Chapel Hill. Once again traveled to Emerald Isle for a beach vacation with their sons and their families. Ray experienced several medical issues during the past year and is finding that advancing age has made him less inclined to want to travel. “Gwyneth and Jon Sharp joined us from their long-time home in Lewes, Del. This past year, they visited their son and his family in Rhode Island, and they made a trip to California. “Our final attendees, Bonnie and Frank Pratt, flew down from New York/Connecticut. They spend a lot of their time in Stamford, living near their son and their two grandchildren. Bonnie stays active in her clubs and Frank plays as much golf as the weather permits. They traveled to Greece for their 50th anniversary. At this point, they are considering selling their New York apartment but aren’t sure they want to give up city life and their long-term relationships. “We all celebrated our 81st birthdays this past year and many of us will be reaching our 60th anniversaries with the same spouses, next year. We agreed that we are all slowing down but still enjoy traveling— some more than others—and, even more importantly, enjoy getting together and reminiscing about our wonderful years at Lehigh.” ’66 James A. Tiefenbrunn, 1210 Kirkland Village Circle, Bethlehem, Pa. 18017. (484) 695-4692 (C), jat1@lehigh.edu It is only about six months until our 60th reunion. The dates are set for June 11-14, 2026, with the most popular activities on Friday and Saturday. It is not too early to plan to attend. Why not contact friends and see if you can put together a group from your fraternity, residence hall, sports team, club, major, etc.? For those with some mobility issues, see if you can recruit children or grandchildren to come with you to provide help and support. The younger set seems to have a good time and enjoy seeing “grandpa” in the parade of classes. Possibilities abound. Jeff Poindexter provided an update, and I quote, “I don’t recall the last time I gave a status report. I’ll start with my time in northern Virginia. My last assignment in the Air Force was at the Pentagon. I wrapped up my career in the Air Force, continuing to support satellite operations as a program element monitor for the satellite control facility, then detailed to the intelligence community, where I was a mission director for satellite operations. I retired and continued to support satellite acquisition and operations as well as other very interesting things in the intelligence community until I finally stepped back in 2014. Peggy was in the same kind of business, first government, then contractor and finally retiring as a government senior executive in 2011. “What started as a threeyear tour in Washington turned into a 30-plus-year period living in Great Falls and Paeonian Springs, Va. During this time, we raised two daughters, who grew up in one place and went to school at Saint Joseph and Lehigh. As a family, we traveled all over the world, skied and spent wonderful summer vacations on the eastern shore. “We purchased a condominium at Incline Village, Lake Tahoe, in 2004, then bought a home there in 2011. We spent two years renovating and moved to Lake Tahoe permanently in 2014. Incline Village is a unique town with its own private beaches, ski area, golf courses, etc. I … obtained my Realtor license. Our two daughters and husbands moved to Lake Tahoe in 2020, and we now have three grandkids, with one more on the way. Needless to say, Peggy and I keep busy. In our spare time, we continue to travel, socialize in Incline and babysit our grandkids, who are 2, 3 and 6.” Please be reminded that this Class Notes section of each Bulletin issue is the most popular and “go-to” section of the magazine. Folks enjoy reading about fellow alumni, but it requires input from you. I try to reach out to folks via email. If you don’t do the techno stuff, I would be happy to get a phone call or letter from you. Contact information is listed at the top for your ready reference. ’67 Eric Hamilton, journeyman618@ gmail.com Continuing with updates after my email last spring, Adrian Corbiere writes, “After Lehigh, I spent 10 years teaching high school math and coaching football and swimming, and I earned a master’s degree. Summers were spent managing a country club on Fishers Island, N.Y. I spent the next 45 years financing commercial real estate for large institutional investors. I retired in 2022 in Annapolis, Md. Boating, golfing, working out and going to grandkids’ lacrosse games occupy my time. As Toby Keith has sung, ‘Don’t Let the Old Man In.’” Fred Cuthbertson called, and we reminisced about life, family, friends and Lehigh. He noted that he was vice president of the IFC and chairman of the first Greek Week celebration, which took place in 1966. He talked about IFC originating the bed race tradition with female drivers and how the race criteria and rules have changed since then. Jay Golding thanked me
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