44 | LEHIGH ALUMNI BULLETIN | CLASS NOTES ed to Cape Cod, Mass., where I now reside (I grew up on the Northshore of Boston, so I got closer to my Red Sox friends and neighbors). The Cape is a wonderful spot, and we are enjoying a retired life with volunteer activities and consulting projects from time to time. I am also part of the local Boston area Lehigh alumni group and attend the occasional activity. “Unfortunately, Theta Xi (where I lived on campus) is not there anymore but, hopefully, will be back in the future. Further, I attended a memorial service a few months ago for John Katsaros ’73, a fellow electrical engineer, who passed away after a lengthy illness. Otherwise, I am delighted to continue to enjoy the community of people I lived with while at Lehigh as much as possible, and hope that anyone who decides to say hi reaches out to me at azetlan@yahoo.com.” Like Andy, Robert L. Black joined our Lehigh U. Class of 1972 group on Facebook. Any more info you’re willing to share with us, Rob? ’73 Patrick Fekula, 1891 Evans Drive South, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250. (904) 451-4949 (M); Pfekula7@gmail.com Thanks to everyone who responded to my most recent correspondence. Due to the limitation of column space, I promise to include your stories in the order they were received. This first piece was provided by Lehigh Alumni Relations. Nancy (Wilson) Ahlum was named a Lehigh Valley Business 2025 Circle of Excellence and Woman of Influence Award recipient. The award is given yearly to women of long-standing, notable success in the community based on professional achievement and community involvement. Nancy is an associate broker at Carol Dorsey R.E., with more than 40 years of experience. She is an advocate for arts in education and serves on the board of trustees of Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites. She and her husband, Dale, live in Springtown, Pa. Marc Jacobs wrote to express his “distinct pleasure” over an unexpected meeting with Prof. Jonathan Elkus at a wind ensemble concert in California in October 2024. He explained that Jonathan was a professor of music at Lehigh from 1957-73, and also the head of the Marching 97. After Lehigh, he returned to California, finishing his career as director of bands at UC-Davis. In 1978, Jonathan had originally composed a piece titled “Go California,” also known as the University of California’s Band March. It turns out that Prof. Elkus had recently rewritten the piece in honor of the inauguration of UC-Berkeley’s new chancellor. After the concert, Marc was able to chat with Prof. Elkus, who is now 93 years old. According to Marc, although Jonathan has failing eyesight, his memory of Lehigh and the Marching 97 was excellent. “When I mentioned some names during my time, he added a few I had forgotten.” After graduating from Lehigh, Doug Hampson earned an MBA from Drexel. He grew up in Nutley, N.J., and currently lives in Holland, Pa., with Kathy, his bride of 49 years. Doug has three adult children and three grandchildren. He started his career in engineering and moved into manufacturing management, then into the integration of manufacturing and supply chain processes of new acquisitions. After retiring three years ago, Doug and Kathy have enjoyed several trips with family and friends, including Hawaii, Italy and a Viking River Cruise on the Danube. After sending his best wishes “to all my classmates,” John Henning wanted everyone to know that after living, working and raising a family in Burlington, Vt., for the past 36 years, he has relocated to Chapel Hill, N.C., to be closer to his grown children and grandchildren. “It’s been a fantastic move so far,” he stated. John is currently vice president of business development for North Star Leasing, and has no immediate plans to retire, adding, “It’s a rewarding and fulfilling mission for me.” Coming in the next column … news about John Devlin, Trevor Shellhammer, Paul Krumrine, John Loper and Ray Zielinski. The following column will include updates on Missy Muendel, Scotty MacGregor, Al Beeken and John Dittmeier. ’74 Bill White, 5418 Holiday Drive, Allentown, PA 18104, whitebil1974@gmail.com I was hoping to be bombarded with emails in the wake of our triumphant 50th Reunion, but that didn’t happen. One exception was Craig Lemle, who sent me some photos from the event and wrote, “I, too, had a great time at the Reunion. I was only able to attend on Saturday, but it was an action-packed day and very enjoyable. “There were many old friends and classmates that I had not seen since June 1974. I had planned to meet my freshman year roommate, Paul Schmitt, and we spent a lot of time together. With me was my wife of 48 years, Amy (Satuloff) Lemle ’75. Her freshman roommate was Mary Anne (Sculley) Leavitt, cousin of Tom Sculley ’75, so of course we found Tom and reminisced. Only one other SAM was there, Andrew Schmerler, but I did reconnect with Norm Liedtke, Mike Actis-Grande and Ken Wasch, too.” One of the notable things about Craig and Amy is that they may have been the first true Lehigh alum couple. Amy was part of the first class of Lehigh women, in 1971. As they approach their 50th anniversary, it’s hard to imagine any couple has them beat, but if correcting me inspires someone to write, that would be a good thing. Our esteemed president, Gus Gustafson, organized a gathering focused on The New York Times columnist and author Thomas Friedman’s Kenner Lecture this winter in Baker Hall. Mike Actis-Grande, Gus and I and our spouses were part of a group that met for dinner before the speech. Gus continues to find ways to keep our class together, even when we don’t have a reunion. Speaking of which, by the time you read this, he and his fellow Kings of Tailgates will be preparing for another season of great lunches and fellowship before every home football game. If any of you are in town for a game, be sure to stop by. I guarantee you’ll find people from our class and many other classes among the crowd. ’75 Thom Hirsch, 139 McHenny Court, Chester, MD 21619, ThomasHirsch44@Outlook.com By the time this article is published, we will have celebrated our 50th Reunion. I am sure it was a great success with many wonderful conversations, friendships renewed and memories rekindled. I will be reporting on it in upcoming articles. If you have any photos from the reunion, you can post them on our Facebook page noted below. Many thanks go out to our Reunion Committee for all their hard work. Special thanks to Jeff Sherman and Mardi Blacher-Reich (class co-presidents), Jack Fugett, Doug Henning, Phil Kline, Bill Maier, Scott McCarty, Julie (Griscom) McGraw, Rick Mingione, Roxanne (Kapikian) Panosian, Sue (Adams) Richter, Nolan Rothkopf, Curt Schmidt and Ann Schmoyer Story. If you have not contributed to our Reunion Class Gift and wish to do so, you can make your contribution at give. lu/1975. Many thanks to all those who made a contribution! With our special 50th Reunion Class Gift project, an appropriate recognition of
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