48 | LEHIGH ALUMNI BULLETIN | CLASS NOTES Fred Batson ’50 attended. I will reach out to Fred for the next issue and welcome any alumni from the class of 1950 or earlier to contact me. Our featured classmate is Richard Malcolm Ritter, a business graduate and member of Alpha Chi Rho fraternity. All postulants had to learn full names and other information about classmates (similar to West Point cadets). That semester the publication Musings gave information about each new member. Here’s what was written about Dick: “Born on April 21, 1929, Richard M. Ritter calls Allentown his home. Dick received his high school education at Lawrenceville Prep in New Jersey. Dick did very well for himself in the field of sports while he was there, winning his letter in basketball and tennis. Since Dick has been living in the house, he has taken an active part in the inter-fraternity sports. He was a member of the basketball team, and he plays second base on our undefeated softball team. Dick is in the College of Business Administration with the hope of becoming a sports announcer after graduation.” With Dick’s help, the Crows went on to win the league basketball championship that year. Speaking of intramurals, members of our fraternity were active in wrestling, bowling, basketball, softball and swimming. Dick’s wife, Pat, was seen at many Crow events during his undergraduate time. Lastly, in addition to Alpha Chi Rho, Dick was a member of the commerce fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi. To keep you in suspense, in a future column we hope to tell you about Crow exploits, including a wrestling record that can never be broken. Please drop me a line so we can keep this column going. Editor’s note: Dick Ritter passed away before publication. Our condolences go to his family and friends. ’52 Bill Erdman, (407) 644-0391; 1171 Willa Vista Trail, Maitland, Fla., 32751 wce96@seeoursite.org; seeoursite.org/lehigh I’m writing this after hurricanes Helene and Milton whistled their way through Central Florida. Fortunately, this area was spared any serious, widespread damage. Unfortunately, they didn’t blow any Lehigh news my way. I sent out a note asking for news, warning that I may be driven to tell you about my adventures again. Your news would protect you from major boredom. No news from you guys except a repeat email from Wally Field. So, boredom will prevail. I won my challenge to our family to bike my age in September— only half of them beat my 306 miles for the month. Thanksgiving was a special, special time for me: Fifteen of our family were able to gather in Austin, Texas, for our first reunion in seven years. It was scary listening to our four kids talk about their retirement plans! Note: My deadlines are always April 1, August 1 and December 1 for your next opportunity to share news with everyone. Hold the phone! Bob Arndt sent me an email as I was two clicks away from sending this watered-down class column to the Alumni Office. Bob said, “I’m sorry to be so late with this. Our computer system from Comcast has been out of service in our entire retirement building all week. My granddaughter Jnana Breck-Arndt (pronounced Jana) graduated in May 2024, summa cum laude [from Syracuse] in psychology. This she accomplished having graduated from a small high school in Vermont. She overcame the disappearance of her mother from a hospital clinic in Tucson, Ariz., in January 2019. To this date, authorities have not been able to find her. Very mysterious circumstances as her car and cell phone were still at the hospital after the disappearance.” ’53 Herb Roemmele, 12133 Plantation Way, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., 33418; (732) 796-3013; herbertroemmele@gmail.com In June of 2023 at the 70th Reunion, Bob Gill, Arthur Tauck Jr. and Herb Roemmele sat down to give an oral history of their memories of the university and how it has impacted their lives going forward. This special interview can be heard in full at: preserve.lehigh.edu/digital-special-collections/university-history/alumni-oral-histories/ roemmele-tauck-gill-oral-0. The interviewer, Janet Norwood ’16G, wrote the following article (printed here in part) about the remarkable impact these three alumni have had on Lehigh. “Roemmele first connected with Tauck and Gill at Columbia High School in Maplewood, N.J., which at the time sent a significant number of students on to Lehigh. ‘In the year that we graduated, 12 people came to Lehigh and graduated from Lehigh,’” he recalls. … “The three reminisce about friends and faculty. ‘One of my favorite courses was advanced economic theory and a guy named Froggy Peters—Froggy, because he had a gravelly throat—taught that,’ says Tauck. ‘… I just used to love to listen to that guy weave the story of economics and how one thing relates to another.’ “Roemmele was in ROTC and delivered food to campus for the ‘Eats Man’ to help pay tuition. ‘We had a truck, and we went around to the dormitories from around 7 to 9 o’clock at night in fraternities,’ he says. ‘I would yell out “Eats Man!” … and people would come down and buy food. It was a Lehigh man and his wife … they made these sandwiches, and we had ice cream and milk, etc.’ “All three alumni got involved in Greek life and served as president of their organization: Roemmele in Sigma Nu, Tauck in Delta Upsilon and Gill in Chi Phi. Gill says the experience gave him the tools for a successful career. ‘I think most important to me was managing the house and the discipline that had to be built out on occasion and, as in your case, Art, I think it helped both of us grow up and be managers. …’ “When Gill graduated, he chose a job as a trainee at JCPenney over higher-paying positions at other companies. The dean at the time asked, ‘What in the world do you want to go to JCPenney for?’ And I said, ‘You know, Dean, it’s not where you start. It’s where you end up. I’m the lowest-paid guy in the graduating class. When I come back from my 25th reunion, I will not be. …’ “Gill, in fact, ended up working at JCPenney for 39 years before retiring as vice chairman and chief operating officer. “Tauck proclaims himself a lousy manager. ‘I never would have been able to work for [Bob]. He would have gotten rid of me in a hurry. But I really managed more by walking around and managed by example. But I just love to do things different than the way they had been done.’ “Tauck went on to run one of the highest-rated international travel companies in the nation. ‘I always believed if you take care of people, they’re going to take care of you,’ he says. ‘We worked very hard to do that and came out as a successful company.’ “After Lehigh, Roemmele worked at AT&T and Chase Bank before being called into service in Korea. After his return, he made his way to Merrill Lynch, becoming a broker for more than 60 years. He retired at age 85. “The friends have left their mark on Lehigh, each in their own way. Roemmele supported the renovation of Williams Hall; his philanthropy is recognized in the naming of the Roemmele Global Commons. Gill, who has two children and two grandchildren who are Lehigh graduates, created an endowed scholarship and has met routinely with student recipients through the
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