56 | LEHIGH ALUMNI BULLETIN | CLASS NOTES manager at Bain & Company. Ray lives in Palo Alto. Richard Kirby graduated as a chemical engineer but went on to law school at Catholic University of America. He has been practicing law ever since. Rich is a shareholder in R|K Invest Law, PBC, where he concentrates on resolving complex corporate, securities and commercial issues. He specializes in representing victims of Ponzi schemes in fraudulent transfer cases and victim restitution funds. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have contributed to my columns over the past 28 years. While I will no longer be our class correspondent, I look forward to continuing to hear from classmates. Editor’s note: Our many thanks to Sam for his decades of service to the class. His dedication has kept the class connected to one another and the university, and we are extremely grateful. ’72 Charles S. “Chuck” Steele, 2080 Flint Hill Road, Coopersburg, PA 18036. (610) 737-2156 (M); signscss@aol.com We moved more shirts since our last issue, but I still have a surplus, L through XXXL. There are fewer of the smaller sizes, so contact me and we’ll see if we can fulfill your needs. For this issue, I have information about three Jims. James J. Rosamilia started with us in 1968, and still appears in the official 1972 roster that I receive from the Alumni office. He engaged me about a shirt via voice message, which we followed with an extended phone conversation. We didn’t know each other at Lehigh, but both hail from neighboring school districts in the northeast Philadelphia suburbs. “Rosey” (his chosen spelling of that nickname) explained that he didn’t actually graduate with us in 1972. You won’t find him in our 1972 Epitome unless you turn to page 263 and find the “Rosie” [sic] caption. He received a B.S. in metallurgy and materials science in 1975, because he juggled studies with employment as a steelworker at Bethlehem Steel. For more than five years he served as special projects engineer in the Alloy Rods Division of Allegheny Ludlam in the western portion of the state. Although a successful expert in alloys, he still sensed a void. Interested in health care for much of his life, he enrolled at Northwestern Health Sciences University, where he emerged a doctor of chiropractic in 1985, made Minnesota his home, and has maintained a private practice there ever since. The Rosamilias love to travel and seem to be able to make it back to Lehigh every several years. He assured me that his work/life balance involves focusing on family, longtime dedicated friendships, plenty of hiking and fly fishing. WLVR-FM founder Jim Cameron continues his broadcasting work, even after retirement. He is program director of DarienTV79.com, his Connecticut town government’s cable TV station. He also serves on the local Representative Town Meeting and is chair of their Board of Ethics. Jim also writes a weekly commentary on transportation for CTMirror.org, focused on trains, planes and automobiles. During the pandemic he published his first book, “Off the Record: Confessions of a Media Consultant,” highlighting stories from his 40-year career as a media trainer, prepping clients for interviews on “60 Minutes,” etc. “The case histories are all true,” he says. “But the names have been changed to protect the guilty.” He keeps in touch with Lehigh’s growing journalism program, counseling majors on how to network themselves into their first jobs. And, when he visits campus, he occasionally pulls a DJ shift on WLVR-FM HD2. Jim recently scored a couple of our 50th reunion shirts and, when wearing them, keeps bumping into fellow alumni. “We have tons of Lehigh grads in Darien, Conn., and it’s always a pleasure to tell them about the ‘old days’ before Lehigh was even coed!” He’s also a proud father of 32-year-old Kathleen, who is an actress touring internationally with the Canadian musical “Come From Away.” Did you know that you can visit alumni.lehigh.edu/ class-correspondence and complete a simple form in order to provide me with an update about yourself? James L. Kurtz did. “After three years in broadcasting following graduation, I became involved in a family business and the flooring industry for 49 years, retiring June 2024. Still Lehigh Valley residents, wife Elaine and I regularly visit grandkids in Illinois, North Carolina and Philly.” A marketing major, this Jim was also very involved in the Lehigh Radio Network while an undergrad. ’73 Patrick Fekula, 1891 Evans Drive South, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250. (904) 451-4949 (M); Pfekula7@gmail.com This is the third of three 2024 class columns dedicated to our fellow classmates and their spouses and/or guests who participated in our 50th class reunion in 2023. Yes … and I know I’m repeating this one more time, especially for those of you who were unable to be there in June of 2023 … that’s when the Class of ’73 swept the reunion awards! We won the Petty Flag for best performance during the Parade of Classes, along with the other two reunion awards: most alumni and guests in attendance (126); and highest percentage of returning alumni. In addition, our class swept the top two individual awards presented by the University when Bernie Suess was presented with the Joseph Persa Award and Celeste Varricchio received the Eugene Grace Award. In addition, Jim Duane received the wellearned class Alumni Award. In past columns this year, we acknowledged groups, in alphabetical order, of those in attendance at our June 2023 reunion. In this column, we recognize the remainder, with a wholehearted thank you for participating in what, I believe, may have been the best 50th reunion in the history of Lehigh! Here they are: Missy Muendel, Stephen Myers, Joan and James Nicholson, John O’Hara and Carol Baumerich, Randall Pecsek, Jan and Dana Pizarro, and Howard Polsky. Also, Richard Racosky, Deborah and Ronald Ransom, Edward Ratkoski, Linda Ratz, Mark Rayford, Susan and Daniel Richter, and Ruth Scriptunas. In addition, Trevor Shellhammer, John and Evelyn (Stewart) Simensen, along with James Singer, Mary Ellen and Eugene Smar, reunion committee member Bruce Smith and wife Susan, Karen and James Spinner, and Marie and Robert Strobel. Thanks also goes to Class President and reunion committee Chair Bernie Suess and his wife, Carolyn, John Swartwout, Bradley Utz, Robert Van Etten, reunion committee member Celeste Varricchio and her husband, Bob Greenwald, Dana and John Vitcavage, and Barbara and Joseph Zelechoski. My apologies go to Michael Holtz and Joy Reader. Joy was left off the list of reunion attendees in the last column. One last shout-out goes to the 50th reunion committee members who, I believe, as stated earlier, organized the best class reunion in the history of Lehigh University. A big thank you goes to Bernie Suess, John Dittmeier, Jim Duane, Bob Hoerner, David Morrison, Bruce Smith and Celeste Varricchio. Last, but certainly not least, thanks to the spouses of the reunion committee members who pitched in with the many tasks
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