CLASS NOTES | SUMMER 2025 | 47 ’81Tom Wocklish, twocklish@alum. lehigh.edu ’82 Michael Whalen, michaelwhalen81@ gmail.com. On Facebook, like “Lehigh University Class of 1982.” ’83 Nancy Liu Freedman, nancyliulehigh83@gmail.com Happy summer, Class of ’83. Dave Thomson reported that the Class of 1983 Scholarship had a market value of $108,402 as of June 30, 2024. The scholarship provided $4,685 of assistance in fiscal year 2024-25. The current recipient is Robert Kilsdonk ’26 of Cherry Hill, N.J., who is studying in the Integrated Degree in Engineering, Arts and Sciences (IDEAS) program. Congratulations to Darryl Burley on being elected to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a distinguished member. Darryl, one of the most accomplished Lehigh wrestlers, is a two-time NCAA champion, a four-time finalist and one of just two four-time All-Americans for the Lehigh wrestling program. Darryl is the sixth distinguished member from Lehigh. I attended my first Lehigh wrestling match in February. Yes, I know, it’s embarrassing that I never attended a match before, especially since we had outstanding wrestlers in our class. Jeff Sherman ’75 and Mark Shiner ’77 helped explain the wrestling rules to me. I ran into Val (Smith) Hirsch at the match. She traveled from Maryland with her husband, Thom Hirsch ’75, who was a former wrestler on the team. They attend many wrestling matches to cheer on the team. At the pickleball event in Flemington, N.J., elite player Sandy Denton played with her fellow board of trustees members Kendall (Butts) O’Brien ’84 and Fran (Sturiale) Bartlett ’81. She took it easy on me, being the novice, when I joined their game. I had the pleasure of meeting Mimi Castaldi at Lehigh’s Center for Catastrophe Modeling and Resilience event in Sarasota, Fla. Mimi had a 15-year career with AARP and resides in Maryland and Sarasota. We had a wonderful time reminiscing about her Stoughton hallmates. At the Soaring Together Women’s Summit, attending with me were Sandy Denton, Sue (Bevan) Baggott and Kira (Cauwels) Mendez. Sandy and Sue volunteered to facilitate breakout sessions. Sue’s topic was on leadership, “Present With Power: Delivering Your Message With Confidence and Clarity.” I attended Sandy’s session on “AI: Shaping the Future of Work.” It was interesting to learn how AI can help with productivity. There are so many different Lehigh events to attend. I hosted a watch party at a local bar in Newtown, Pa., to watch the women’s basketball team play Duke in the NCAA first round. I encourage you to find an event in your area and connect with local alumni. ’84 Thomas Keating, 2343 15th Ave. N, St. Petersburg, FL 33713; thomaskeating@yahoo.com Greetings, classmates! I hope life is good and you are healthy and happy. At the risk of sounding like a generationally appropriate faulty media (broken record), I observe that you have been very silent. Got a tip from my editor that Robert Cahill wrote an article for Baltusrol News, the golf club’s newsletter, about Monroe Jackson Rathbone 1921, chairman of the Lehigh board of trustees from 1957 to 1973, an oil industry pioneer and club president. I read this well-written and captivating article with great interest as Bob wrote about Lehigh and the oil industry, which share this fascinating history. Well done, Bob, I want to read more articles from you. In appreciation of those who have gone before, we always remember our exemplary alumni and celebrate their lives. Along these lines, I was honored to attend a remembrance of John E. Murphy ’90, our Psi Upsilon brother, in Tampa, Fla. John was a special operations aviator with a distinguished 32year career. After his retirement, he consulted with a civilian firm. He was an exemplary human being, kind, dedicated, a leader to be proud of. On behalf of Lehigh and the Psi Upsilon fraternity, I gave condolences to his wife, Heather, and children, Sean and Shannon, who are their parents’ pride and joy. John was loved by all who knew him. I am happy to inform you that my son, Alexander Keating ’15, and daughter-in-law Linda, welcomed our first grandchild, Malcolm Alexander Keating, in January. Class of 2043? We shall see. One thing for sure—anywhere but Lafayette. Parents and baby are doing well, experiencing the joy of sleep deprivation and the constant changes of this new little life. As always, let me know your news. If you can attend a Lehigh event, on campus or with your local club, I heartily encourage you to do so. Our Lehigh community is talented, diverse and strong. A chance to rub elbows with them should not be missed! ’85 Jennifer Sheehan, (240) 401-3724, jksheehan@aol.com I heard from Paul Murray that he and his wife, Julie, have completed the Great Loop! It was a 6,500-mile boat trip, beginning at their home in St. Petersburg, Fla., down to Key West, up to New York City, up the Hudson River to Albany, then the Erie and Oswego canals to Lake Ontario. They then crossed the lake and took the Trent Severn waterway up to the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. From there they worked their way to Lake Michigan and on down to Chicago. Leaving Chicago, they took the Illinois River, Mississippi River, Ohio River, Tennessee River and Tenn-Tom Bigby waterway to Mobile. They then went east to Carabelle before crossing the Gulf of Mexico to Crystal River. It was then a couple more days along the west coast of Florida and they were back where they started, which is called “crossing your wake.” They boated for nine months, with half in 2023 and the rest in 2024. Paul said it was a fantastic experience where they met a lot of great people, stopped in cute towns and of course saw some fantastic scenery. You may remember they had begun this journey a couple of years back and ran into several mechanical complications and had to abort despite implementing several creative solutions. I am so thrilled they were able to begin anew and achieve this goal. Congrats to Paul and Julie. Len Ferman has published a book on the Mets. In 2022, he started a sports history newsletter called “The Sports Time Traveler.” The premise is that he travels back in time, virtually, to experience great sporting events from 50-100 years ago. All the posts are based on newspaper archive accounts of the events. But the stories he tells always have some human-interest component that makes them appeal to both sports and non-sports fans. Len’s new book is titled “The 1973 Mets–You’ve Got to Believe.” Lynn (Miller) Hylen has been featured on national television news speaking on behalf of her community, Pacific Palisades, Calif., after the devastating fires. Lynn’s home is still standing, but as you know, most of the area was severely damaged. Lynn is such an eloquent and charismatic presenter; her community is lucky to have her. Julie Anderson Rakestraw passed away in January after a three-year battle with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). After graduating from Lehigh, Julie went on to earn her Ph.D. from MIT. She had a 30-year career
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