CLASS NOTES | SUMMER 2024 | 53 kayak on Long Island Sound. For those of you who weren’t able to attend our 60th reunion last year, I have a treat for you. Newt Wilson, Fred Braun and some others of the reunion committee prepared a document titled “Lehigh Memory Joggers.” The Alumni Office has been kind enough to provide a link to it in the cloud. It should be available in perpetuity, so put this link aside for future use if you like: shorturl.at/qFGT6. I suspect that these “joggers” will bring back some powerful memories. Meyer Haberman writes that his oldest granddaughter just graduated from UCF in Orlando and that he and wife Susan will be taking the Orient Express this summer from Paris to Prague. They continue to travel throughout Europe despite being 80-somethings. Go for it, Habermans! This issue brings a short column about the Class of ’63. Remember that class correspondents can’t make things up, so send me any news that is fit to print. ’64 David A. Riemondy, 774 Malibu Lane, Indialantic, FL 32903. (321) 777-9659 (home); (321) 506-7302 (cell); malibu4u@ cfl.rr.com It grieves me to report that Fred Kersens passed away in January after a long illness resulting from a stroke he suffered several years ago. Our condolences to Crickett, his wife of 60 years, and family. Fred grew up in Beachwood, N.J., and graduated from Toms River High School in 1960. He went on to study metallurgical engineering at Lehigh University and led a successful career in the field for 25 years before retiring in 1992. He and his wife lived happily on a lagoon in Bayville, N.J., for 40 years. Allen Wurzbach says he remembers with fondness many summer weekends at his canal-front home. Sailing the Barnegat Bay became a “Priority,” the name of his sailboat, before moving to Barnegat in 2012. Fred enjoyed traveling the world with Crickett, including their annual vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. His Taylor Hall friends will remember Fred was always the life of the party and would never refuse an opportunity to perform on a stage. Recall he organized and directed our class parade at our 50th and 55th reunions. As I write this column, a dozen of us are busy making plans for our 60th reunion in June. By the time you read this, it will have come and gone, and I hope I will be able to say it was a great success. Working with the committee has reminded me what a fine group of men our class represents. I’ve always thought Asa Packer created Lehigh to produce leaders of American industry. Clearly, we have done our part. If I can find the energy, I should just make a list of highlights. In the meantime, here’s an update on a couple of our very successful classmates and Lehigh alumni contributors. Ted Muendel stands out for his success in the business world and years of support to Lehigh alumni as president of our Alumni Association and a member of our board of trustees. Ted is the current advisory director and former managing director and international chair and co- founder of Stanton Chase, an international executive search firm with over 70 offices in 45 countries. After 35 years, he has wound down a bit and started a new career as a film story/script writer and producer. Check out “Indian River Productions LLC.” Ted has won several screenplay writers awards. Ted and wife Diane enjoy living on the Gulf Coast in Tierra Verde, Fla. Ted is part of a Lehigh tradition. His dad graduated with the Class of ’30, his daughter is Class of ’94, granddaughter ’25 and sister is part of the first female Class of ’74. Dr. Ira Lieberman has served as an adviser to Lehigh’s Martindale Center for the Study of Private Enterprise for over 20 years. Ira is an internationally recognized expert on privatization and debt resolution. He has written extensively and has been published on four principal topics: the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union; privatization and restructuring; financial crises and workouts/ resolution strategies; and microfinance. His latest books are “In Good Times Prepare for Crisis” (Brookings Press, 2018), as co-author of “The Crisis of 2020-2021 and Beyond” (2022) and as co-editor of “The Future of Microfinance” (Brookings Press, 2020). Ira graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in economics and international relations. In 1966, he earned an MBA in finance and accounting from Columbia. Ira worked in private business for some 18 years, starting with Arthur Andersen’s consulting division in New York. In 1980, he took a break to earn a doctorate in international relations/political economy at Oxford University. Returning to Washington, D.C., in 1985, Ira joined World Bank. Ira found himself on the leading edge and became an internationally known expert on the opening of Eastern and Central Europe and the former Soviet Union and their transition to market economies. In 1999, Ira moved to the European and Central Asia region of World Bank as a senior manager for private sector and financial sector development. He was subsequently appointed senior adviser (deputy director) to ECA’s private and financial sector department. Over the years, Ira led crisis resolution teams in Mexico, Korea, Turkey, Argentina, Portugal and Spain. Since retirement as president and CEO of his own consulting firm, Ira has continued to advise emerging market and developing country governments, private firms and not-for-profits. Ira and Phyllis split their time between homes in Bethesda, Md., and the Berkshires. Sadly, Phyllis has developed Alzheimer’s and recently went into a care facility. Ira visits her daily. Their son and daughter-in-law are Lehigh Class of ’94. ’65 Ronald L. Workman, 1981 Berrel Court, Yardley, PA 190677225. (215) 808-0809 (H); ron_workman@prodigy.net Here’s a heads up: our Annual Fall Tailgate will be held on Sept. 28, the date of Lehigh’s first 2024 Patriot League football contest (Bucknell). We are inviting our adopted Class of 2015 to join in the tailgate event to extend the Lehigh adopted class tradition into a continuing legacy. The tailgate will continue with a visit and discussion from Lehigh leaders. The abundance of good food and drink with covered/ tented seating for all will also continue. Look for more information this summer via email and social media. The university recently released its annual endowment report, which indicates our Class of 1965 scholarship continues to grow, having a value of $522,790 on March 31, 2024, and providing over $22,440 in annual scholarship aid. You can help to grow the scholarship and extend our class legacy by designating your annual giving for the Class of 1965 Scholarship Fund. From J. David Hoeveler, “On Nov. 22, I made a call to classmate and fraternity brother Bob Broege. Sixty years ago, to the day, Bob and I were playing squash at the Saucon Valley Country Club when the attendant there interrupted our game and summoned us to watch the television. It was reporting the shooting of President
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