CLASS NOTES | FALL/WINTER 2025 | 43 in their fraternities among their fondest memories. A Gryphon credited life lessons and lasting, caring relationships to that experience. Steve “Moose” Edwards wrote the good memories were too numerous to count, but “most center around living at the Pi Lam house.” George “Cap” Fowler said, “My fondest memories about Lehigh are solely related to Theta Chi.” Doug Dworski: “My personal life benefited from that feeling of self-confidence, which I gained being president of my fraternity (Alpha Sigma Phi), being on the freshman football team and being able to throw parties for large groups of people.” The Gryphon is Rocky Chin. He credits that experience with giving him “valuable life lessons from getting to know/respect/ mentor a new class of freshmen each year.” He added that his “peers were a great group.” But lasting memories came from elsewhere, too. English major Tom Spencer has high regard for the English department faculty of our years, especially revered professor James Frakes. No surprise that others give credit to Lehigh for their professional successes. After he earned his M.S. in ocean engineering from the University of Miami, Doug’s many career stops included working for the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company on Navy ships and a submarine and a nearly 24-year career with the marine department of ARCO and other ARCO companies. He wrapped up his career with 10 years as an independent consultant in environment, health and safety. Steve became a lawyer with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP in Costa Mesa, Calif., where he is now of counsel with just a few clients as he glides into retirement. He wrote, “Life literally took me to Laguna Beach, Calif., and Park City, Utah. If you had asked my Lehigh self if this was possible, you would have gotten a strong ‘no.’” Rocky followed Lehigh with a graduate degree from Yale’s City Planning Department and then law school and continued to a long and fruitful career as a government civil rights attorney. Now retired, he serves on the New York City Commission on Human Rights, enjoys four grandchildren and occasionally writes, most recently an essay in the book “Corky Lee’s Asian America,” subtitled “50 Years of Photographic Justice.” George’s life and career took him all over the world, especially Asia, and during that time, he lost touch with nearly all Lehigh contacts. “Fortunately, the 50th reunion corrected that, and I have been thoroughly enjoying reconnecting with my fraternity brothers.” He now lives in the Bay Area and would welcome visits by Theta Chi brothers “wandering through.” Not all chose to imagine themselves in a role of having the power to make Lehigh better, but those who did had a wide range of opinions. If you did not receive a survey via email and would still like a chance to participate, please email George or Pete and we’ll send it to you. ’70 Editor’s note: To share your news or if you would be interested in becoming your class’s correspondent, reaching out to classmates and writing a column three times a year, please contact the Alumni Office at 610-758-3686 or alumni@lehigh.edu. ’71 Tom Wible, tomwible+ lehigh71@cardin alglen.org, seventyone4fun4ev er.letartliveon.com/ The Class of ’71 will be hosting its 55th reunion next June. The reunion committee comprises the four class officers; if any class members would also like to serve on the committee, please email Jim Lichtenwalner at lichtenwal@aol.com. We will be recruiting affinity group leaders (AGLs), as we did for our 50th reunion. The AGLs will typically be a rep from their living group, club (e.g., Marching 97, Glee) or athletic team and will meet online with the reunion committee about once a month. The theme for our 55th reunion will be “Back Every Year.” This will allow great flexibility in encouraging each AGL to invite members of their group who might have graduated a few years before or after. John Texter writes: “I’m spending the month of May 2025 in Suzhou, China at Soochow University as a guest professor, visiting academic colleagues in Shanghai and Beijing, and enjoying the temperate weather. I had a super postdoc, now professor, Feng Yan, who has the leading Chinese lab in polymerized ionic liquids and ionic polymers for energy device applications. I’m working on writing manuscripts and advising graduate students and getting to know the local hiking trails.” ’72 Charles S. “Chuck” Steele, 2080 Flint Hill Road, Coopersburg, PA 18036. (610) 737-2156 (M); signscss@aol.com This issue continues my effort to feature more classmates who have joined our Class of 1972 Facebook page. I met Richard C. Elterich during my first days at Lehigh. We were whisked off to band camp the day after our arrival to become part of the Marching 97. He, too, was from the Philly suburbs, having graduated from Wissahickon High in Ambler. Rich left home for Bethlehem and has resided in the Lehigh Valley ever since. A mechanical engineer, he spent 33 years with Severn Trent Services in Colmar. In his own words, “The bulk of my career involved water purification and analysis equipment design and manufacture.” He doesn’t consider himself ready to retire. Rich remains a dedicated member of the Alumni Marching Band. In fact, I cannot recall a reunion parade without him and his trombone. Another non-retiree is Bernard M. Yatauro. An electrical engineering major, he worked for five years as an account executive with AT&T and then spent the next eight at Chase Manhattan Bank as VP, division executive telecommunications. In 1985, he founded his own corporation, Communications Analysis Systems and Service (CASS) Inc., and continues to serve as their CEO. They are headquartered in Port Washington, N.Y., with additional offices in Manhattan. The firm resells Avaya and Cisco telecommunications and networking equipment and designs and installs voice recognition systems and specialized applications. Bernie serves as a volunteer board member of the local Boys and Girls Club. On his Facebook page, Robert “Bruce” Barkhorn reports himself as enjoying retirement. He enjoys hiking and deep-sea fishing. The family are fans of the Giants, Yankees and Nets. Richard Mitzner, originally from Valley Stream, N.Y., majored in industrial engineering. On campus, he was a VP at Beta Theta Pi and a member of the varsity wrestling team. First a plant engineer at Union Carbide, he became industrial engineering manager with Nabisco Brands in 1979. Rick’s last employment was as senior director global engineering for Pfizer, from which he retired in 2016 after 30-plus years. Straddling his time at Nabisco and Pfizer, he managed to earn an MBA from NYU in 1988. When not in or on the water, Rick now resides in NYC. ’73 Patrick Fekula, 1891 Evans Drive South, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250. (904) 451-4949 (M); Pfekula7@gmail.com A big thank you to everyone who asked how they could help the residents of western North Carolina deal with the devastating damage caused by Hurricane Helene. On a recent trip to the area, I asked several residents how they were recovering. A consistent response from these self-reliant folks was their gratitude for the outpouring of love
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