CLASS NOTES | SUMMER 2025 | 49 the iconic game of basketball to deliver life-changing opportunities and experiences. Built of, by, for and with the communities they serve, PYB provides a safe, nurturing environment for young people to build the skill sets and mindsets they need to succeed on the court and in their education, careers and lives. It was a fun night with the bonus of getting to watch the Lehigh women’s NCAA game. In addition to Kenny, PYB board member Helene Glassberg was there to show everyone around the beautiful new facility. Some of the classmates joining the festivities were: Jill (Seibert) Schelling, Marisa Calabrese Moore, Sean Diver, Greg Seidel, Matt Heldberg, Mark McGowan, Kent Weaver, Rich Curtis, Brian Briggs, Charlie Fersko, Greg Wilson, Celeste (Primiani) Forester, Randi Lesser, Marla (Brecher) Cushing, Heather (Johnston) Herman, Josh Petersohn and Gene Souther. Another note about our beautiful and brilliant Helene Glassberg. She is one of Penn’s leading cardiologists, chairs the board of the American Heart Association and serves on the board of Philadelphia Youth Basketball, sharing Kenny’s passion for giving back. Sadly, I want to share the passing of Rick Fuller. He was in regular contact with his Lambda Chi brothers, who let me know about this unexpected loss of our classmate. He was married to Allison (Ahern) Fuller and is leaving behind their cherished son, Hayden. Jeff Gendel reports he’s been fortunate to connect regularly with John Goldberg over the past year. Jeff’s daughter, Audrey, and John’s daughter, Nina, are both Class of ’26, AOPI sisters, and were living abroad in Florence, Italy, last spring. I heard from Robert Ford, who took a break from his Wall Street job to perform original poetry set to music at universities in Costa Rica and Mexico. He released his sophomore album, “Footprints of Steel,” in April, featuring his words in collaboration with musicians including Adam Holzman (Miles Davis, Steven Wilson), Carli Muñoz (Beach Boys) and Gene Pritsker (Matrix Resurrections, Joe Zawinul). Check out robertcford.com for further details. ’90 Michael Lewis, mpl1968@yahoo. com and Dave Tratner, dctsports@gmail.com Hello, Class of ’90! When you read this, you will have completed the ritual and rite of passage of partaking in your 35th Reunion from this past June. Hope you all had a blast! In the next issue’s update, we’ll try to capture a few highlights from Reunion #35. In the meantime, Arlene (Helminski) Milon ’89 wrote Dave Tratner and Michael Lewis just after last issue’s deadline the following call-out of our classmate, Steve Yaros. “Steve was recently named president of Feld Entertainment. Steve has been with Feld since 1990, working his way up through event marketing and sales positions, corporate communications, media monetization, and digital marketing, last serving as the SVP of global media and motocross. Feld produces Disney on Ice, the recently relaunched Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circuses (or is it “Circi” for plural?), and the Monster Energy Supercross Series. Finally, Feld produces the SuperMotocross World Championship, which Steve is credited with creating and which can be seen on NBC and Peacock.” Phenomenal, Steve, and congratulations! And thank you, Arlene! Moving from the dirt track to the gridiron, a slew of classmates saw Lehigh Football take home its 13th Patriot League football title in its victory over Lafayette at Goodman Stadium last November. Or, shall we say, “a slew of our classmates stood outside the stadium for hours on end while Lehigh Football won the Patriot League title, inside the stadium.” Apologies to anyone we missed, but seen in the parking lots that blustery November day were: Michelle (Kaskel) Haar, Sandy Hume-Whelan, Kristin (Franchina) Layne, Susan (Samson) Miller, Jen (Jacobson) Nelson, Carrie (Hoffman) Purvin, Clare (Monaghan) Sievers, Tom Ferrara, Derek Fitteron, the honorable Reunion Chairman Tom Flynn, Marc Layne, John Lee, Michael Lewis, Pat McDonough, Mat O’Connor, Bill Rossi, Dave Sievers, John Sweet (and his wife, Kathy (Bolliger) Sweet ’93) and lots of Lambda Chi offspring! Got new updates? Grandkids? Kids who graduated from the greatest university on the planet? Wrote a book (think “free advertising”)? We want to hear from you! Thank you to those who keep it going with Class of ’90! ’91 Diana (Zoller) Perkins, dianazoller@ gmail.com Andrea Strong, Dana Susman, Susan Lanter Blank and Stacey Winter got together at Akhtar Nawab’s new restaurant in Prospect Heights. (Susan’s kids and his kids went to school together, and he and Andrea wrote a cookbook together.) It’s called Wayward Fare, and they all agree that the food is amazing! Dana’s daughter is graduating from the University of Vermont this year. Stacey Levine’s daughter, Ella, is going to Duke in the fall. Susan bumped into Lisa Chajet, who was recently acknowledged as the number one sales associate in New York by Coldwell Banker Warburg. What an incredible accomplishment! ’92 Melissa (Gitlin), Jacoby, mgjaco by@gmail.com; and Rachel (Beck) Diamond, rachelm beck@hotmail.com It’s with great sadness that we share the sudden loss of Jarrod Kaufman in late January. Jarrod quickly acclimated into the South Mountain campus thanks to his outgoing and friendly personality. As a member of Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity, Jarrod was active in his fraternity life while also balancing his determined focus to become a doctor, which he did after earning his medical degree from the Sackler School of Medicine in Israel. Jarrod went on to become a “founding member of Premier Surgical Group and Premier Vein Center in Brick, N.J.,” his obituary reads, “where he was widely recognized for his expertise in general and laparoscopic surgery. He served as Chairman of Surgery at Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus and New Jersey Chair of the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons. “Beyond Jarrod’s notable professional achievements, he was a dedicated humanitarian. As president of Hernia Repair for the Underserved, he led global surgical missions. … Following the tragic events of October 7, 2023, Jarrod dedicated his service and philanthropic endeavors to support soldiers and victims in Israel.” Not only did Jarrod go to Israel shortly after the attacks to help treat burn victims, but he recognized the need for additional laser equipment for such treatment, sourced it and got it to Israeli hospitals. Jarrod’s connection to Lehigh extended long after graduation. In fact, both his daughters attended Lehigh: Victoria ’22, who is a graduate student in clinical psychology at Widener University; and Hannah ’25. During their years on campus, Jarrod and his wife, Rachael, where active in Chabad Lehigh. While 30+ years since our days at Lehigh, Jarrod remained in close contact with many friends, including his Sammy brothers, pre-med cohort and people he met along the way
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