CLASS NOTES | FALL/WINTER 2025 | 47 Alumni Award at the Brown & White Dinner. Also, two couples, Carol and Andy Hollingsworth and Susan and Mark Hembarsky, renewed their vows at Packer Chapel after many (too many to count) years of marriage. Tremendous thanks to Doug Pitney, our reunion chairperson, for all his efforts in making this an incredible reunion! And special thanks to Craig Madsen for compiling the tunes from our college years to enjoy during our class dinner. Melissa Buckmaster wrote in to say that she and her husband, Mitch, had a “really nice time at our 45th reunion” and thanked all the “volunteers who made the weekend so memorable!” She noted that “the campus looks great and it’s nice to see that our university is well run.” Melissa made special mention that she enjoyed reuniting with “the ladies from Dravo A-3 (Jennifer (Somes) Martin, Wendy Weiss, Mary (Weis) Archer and Mary Beth (Keating) Gakos), as well as reconnecting with many friends and acquaintances.” Her home is in Wilmington, N.C., and she and Mitch are taking a Viking river cruise from Vienna, Austria, to the Black Sea, with a side tour to Transylvania. They are looking forward to visiting Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary and particularly Romania and will be sure to wear some fresh garlic necklaces once they arrive in Bucharest to ensure they come back in one piece. Then, they will travel to Denver with their two adult sons for some cool weather and hiking in the Rockies. John Butkus and his wife, Gigi, were featured in a very nice article published on the alumni website. John and Gigi fell so much in love with the Old Mill Tavern in Chester, N.J., they decided to become full-time tavern owners. Their tavern is famous for the weekly funny saying on the letter board that marks the roadside in front of the establishment, an initiative that helped provide humor and distraction to the community during the COVID years. The article is a great read. My wife, Susan’s, favorite letter board featured in the article is “Nobody told me that when u get a husband, the ears come separately.” We should all try to stop in and say hello to John and Gigi when we get the chance! ’81Tom Wocklish, twocklish@alum. lehigh.edu Sarah (Goldfarb) Boden and I communicated recently. I asked what makes her happy. She spilled: “Happiness and joy, that’s being on my bike, which I will be riding in Ireland in a few weeks on a backroads trip in County Cork, and seeing my darling granddaughter Nora who lives with her mom and dad in Leeds, UK. “I’ve been blessed with an amazing life. I transitioned my career out of finance through operations, then was a ‘remedial CEO’ where I would fix or sell mid-stage tech companies to then being an executive in public transit. I’m currently a sales manager at Spare, one of the leading software companies in the demand response sector. My career has taken me from New York to London to Seattle, and I now live two blocks from the beach in Ventnor City, N.J. Now all I need to do is figure out how to retire! “The Lehigh Alpha Phis recently got together for our annual Jersey shore reunion at Kris (Rattie) Braga’s beautiful home. Randi (Golomb) Cunningham, Jackie (Lachman) Hirsch ’82 and Karen (Moncher) Sherman, were [there], but we had others from the Class of ’80 with us as well.” Randi Cunningham and husband Roger figured out the retirement thing. Living in central Florida, having celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary, they are enjoying a relatively empty nest. They have two sons. Adam just got engaged, and he lives in St. Louis. Their older son, Jordan, lives in Atlanta. The empty nest has been addressed with two beautiful cats, Shakira and Davina. They enjoy travel, recently visiting Cambodia, where they saw some exotic cats and visited cat cafes (who knew?). Randi and Roger also like to hike. “Having recently moved back to Georgia,” Randi said, “I’m taking advantage of Lehigh alumni opportunities locally to connect and establish new relationships. A freshman sendoff was hosted by Peter Lauer ’82 in Buckhead. We also joined fellow Lehigh alumni, family and friends for a summer night at the ballpark as the Atlanta Braves took on the Chicago White Sox!” Please let us know what is making you happy. Write an email or give me a call. ’82 Michael Whalen, michaelwha len81@gmail. com. On Facebook, like “Lehigh University Class of 1982.” I have replaced the legend John Belardo, so bear with me as I ramp up to speed. Hard to believe it’s been 43 years since we walked across the stage to grab our diploma. Whether you are chasing grandkids, tackling new adventures or just enjoying a wellearned cup of coffee, we want to hear from you! Thanks to a few of you who wrote in, your updates make this column what it is. Here’s what some of your friends and classmates have been up to: For the past 17 years on the third Friday in July, more than 150 Lehigh football alumni, players, coaches and friends gather for a memorial golf tournament to remember and honor Jim Gum ’84 and to raise money for ALS research and provide a scholarship to one football player. Jim was a member of Beta and loved by so many of us. He lost his courageous battle in 2006 to ALS. The event is organized by Jim’s best friends John Shigo ’84, James Serratelli ’86, Tony Semler ’84, Phil Trinkle ’84 and Mike O’Hagen ’84, as well as Jim’s wife, Stacy, and his son, Conor ’16. Like most years, I caught up with other Delt brothers Joe Macellara, Anthony Pinnie ’81, Dr. Rob Mills, plus dozens of other teammates from 1978 through recent years, including Keith Conley ’81, Mark Sitar, Jeff Dunn ’80, Rich Titus ’81, Ed Tulskie ’82, Eric Yaszemski ’80, Bob Palsgrove ’81, Kris Nielsen, Joe Diorio ’77, Charlie Marck ’81, Jeff Hunt ’84, Dave Szablowski, Marty Horn ’86, Rennie Benn ’86, Dave Eaton ’86 and Anthony Graziani ’06. I am missing others, and I apologize for that. New Dean of Athletics Jeremy Gibson and head football coach Kevin Cahill were present as well to speak and award this year’s scholarship. Neil Stubits, Dave Tavianini and Drew Everett represented the Class of ’82 at the annual Lehigh Home Club Golf Outing on May 19 at Bethlehem Municipal Golf Club. They had a great time. Last year, Sue Troyan, the deputy director of athletics, played in their foursome. This year, Zach Ambrose, Lehigh ticket services manager, joined the foursome. ’83 Nancy Liu Freedman, nancyliule high83@gmail.com Two kind souls sent me some news! Dave Thomson writes: “Denis Esslinger joined me and several others at the Lehigh in Action event for Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites. We cleaned up the area around the newly renovated 1782/1834 Grist Miller’s House. “In June, David Yannarell and I served as docents for the Lehigh University President’s House, which was on Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites’ 2025 House Tour. We were joined by President Helble ’82 and his wife Becky along with Cynthia Kuhn MBA’85 and Becca (Humphreys) Terrell ’91. Afterward, Dave and his wife, Jill, and I joined President Helble and Becky at a wine and cheese reception in the Grist Miller’s House in Bethlehem’s Colonial Industrial Quarter.” Gregg Novek writes: “Vivian (Hanes) Monroe and her husband, Bill, visited my wife, Amy, and me at my home in North Carolina. Viv and Bill recently moved to North Carolina from
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