52 | LEHIGH ALUMNI BULLETIN | CLASS NOTES Livingston Grammar School in Union, N.J., went on to Union High School and Lehigh University. Amongst the dozen or so attendees were Bill Schoner (Windsor, Conn.) and Bob Witteman (Belle Mead, N.J.). Sadly, our fourth classmate, Grant Anderson, passed away in 2023. Mike Gennet continues to work on his bucket list and keeps us up to date via his Facebook reports. Last fall, Mike and Chris enjoyed a few weeks in Portugal. Their trip started in Porto, the magical city of tiles, with a visit to the Livraria Lello building, one of the most emblematic examples of the neo-Gothic style in the city. In the Duoro Valley, one of the world’s best-known wine regions, Mike enjoyed some of the best port wines in the world. They then visited Batalha, the medieval town of Obidos, Algarve and finally to London before returning home to Rancho Mirage, Calif. ’63 Dr. Robert C. Elser, navman9@comcast. net; and James Newton Wilson, 959 Tree Tops, Wharton, NJ 07885, (973) LEhigh7-6516 (H), (862) 2430864 (C), b14jnw@gmail.com Larry Walker spent 40+ years in the computer industry, mostly large-scale systems: operating systems, airline reservations and big banks. “My most exciting time was 1984-1987 when I was leading Sperry Univac to be the global leader in bringing AI expert system technology into the commercial marketplace. We were making it work very well when Burroughs bought Univac and cancelled all advanced development work. Started my own expert system solutions company, which did very well for five years—then was killed by the AI winter of the early ’90s.” Dick Borner says life at 83 is very interesting. “Our class is of the age when we learn something new every day and forget five other things. Mobility is a challenge, and I don’t always go the extra mile, though when I do, it’s because I missed my exit. I may not be as funny, athletic, good-looking, smart or talented as I used to be, but I forgot where I was going with this. I often do not realize how old I am until I sit on the floor and try to stand back up. “I still think about driving to Bethlehem back in ’59 from Roosevelt High in Yonkers with Steve Breckley driving right past Lafayette deciding that Lehigh was where I wanted to attend.” Tom Hanna writes, “After graduation, I married my high school sweetheart, Carolyn, … joined Gulf Oil at the Philadelphia Refinery, served two years in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (nine months in Vietnam), and moved on to the Philadelphia Gas Works in 1970. After 25 years, I retired as vice president of engineering to start a second career as an air pollution permit writer for the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection, retiring a second time in 2017. Carolyn and I have three children, 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Carolyn passed away on September 22, 2022, after 59 years and eight days of marriage.” Doug Feltman writes, “I am happy to report that unlike many of our classmates, I am still delaying retirement as I am still enjoying running my senior in-home care business, Home Helpers. I was just selected as the Small Businessman of the Year by the Fort Lee Regional Chamber of Commerce and was honored at a gala dinner event on November 14. Won’t retire until I have a grandchild, which has been a long wait for my Lehigh graduate children from 2014.” Bill Montgomery and his wife, Loretta, have moved to a retirement community, he says for “the ‘free’ swimming and lawn care.” The downsizing was a process, yet they feel lighter and are doing well there in the Doylestown, Pa., area. Loretta’s many abstract paintings have filled their cottage and are now on display at the community center. Bill also says that he and other Gryphons from ’63 have a Zoom call about once a month. The group includes Tom Brunner, Doug Benner, Jerry Eaton, Dick Stanley and Cal Nafziger. In addition, Bill has on-screen chats with Truman Eddy ’66 ’67G, who tells Bill about the Lehigh scene after ’63, including being an occasional chauffeur for Dr. Harvey Neville, former Lehigh president; having lunch with Prof L. H. Gibson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian; driving CEOs of various companies around during large fundraising events; and more. Bill says that he never was on the inside like Truman was … a good recognition of Truman. Bill studied electrical engineering at Lehigh, then grad school and Bell Labs/AT&T, but he found that engineering was not his forte, and after more years of school, he became a licensed marriage and family therapist. Thanks to COVID, when we all became comfortable with virtual meetings and sessions, Bill says he is still practicing daily using his laptop. From Bill Hotchkiss: “After being without power for three days in our summer place in Hendersonville, N.C., 20 miles south of Asheville, we got out of Dodge and made our way back to Florida for less than a week here when Milton came through. Luckily, we had no damage in either place as North Carolina is reeling from the flooding from all the mountain streams.” ’64 David A. Riemondy, 774 Malibu Lane, Indialantic, FL 32903. (321) 777-9659 (home); (321) 5067302 (cell); malibu4u@gmail. com I’m sorry to report the loss of another classmate. Jeffrey Wyand passed away quietly at home on October 30. Jeff earned his B.S. in electrical engineering and engineering physics. Laboring in a data analyst position and taking classes at night, Jeff earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland in 1977. He worked for Squire Sanders and Dempsey in Cleveland and the corporate legal department of Standard Oil. In 1989, Jeff was recruited to Leydig, Voit & Mayer, a leading global intellectual property law firm. He worked on a breadth of client issues in the firm’s D.C. office, rising to managing partner. Jeff had notable success in developing a clientele of Japanese industrial companies who valued the firm’s presence in Washington and his expertise and consulting style. In some ways, the firm found him the irreplaceable man and encouraged him to stay on in an Of Counsel role long after most had retired. Jeff is survived by his wife Roxanna (“Roxy”); son Bart with grandchildren Leo, Wolfie and Juliet; and son Dan and grandchildren Lucas and Zoe. In my fall column I quoted from Jake Lacke’s summary of a June Zoom reunion of Delta Chi brothers. The column got too long, so I could only cover four of our classmates. This is the rest of the story. David McCracken entered the Air Force after graduation, serving from 1964-70. He was stationed at three bases in Vietnam as a pilot, then at R.A.F. Lakenheath in Suffolk, England, ultimately rising to lieutenant colonel in the reserve force. He became a pilot at Eastern Airlines from 1971-89, where he met his wife, Jeannette, an EAL flight attendant; they were married in 1997. After EAL, he worked with other commercial and charter airlines until retirement. Dave and Jeannette currently have a home in Alexandria, Va. They have one son. Jake Toews started at the PA Dept. of Highways (now PennDOT) and spent five years in various capacities designing highways and bridges. During
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