CLASS NOTES | SPRING 2023 | 55 health-wise, with the exception of a very scary episodic flirt with COVID-19 in mid-2020, and can still claim a nine handicap. I still enjoy weight training in our sports center and bike riding within our compound, which has 25 miles of roads inside the gates. “I am blessed with six grandsons (three currently enrolled in Texas A&M University) and one granddaughter. Guess who rules the roost in that crowd? All live just an hour away in Houston with their parents (my son and daughter and my wife’s son). Beverly, my wife of 28 years, continues to be extremely successful in selling residential real estate with Coldwell Banker but takes time to travel with me as often as we can. We have really enjoyed Alaska, Machu Picchu, the Galapagos and St. Petersburg, Russia (before Ukraine wartime), and our trip to Israel was truly special. “Over the years, I’ve built dozens of homes with Habitat for Humanity, delivered thousands of meals with Meals on Wheels, and helped collect and deliver Christmas joy to local families through Toys for Tots. A project begun and grown within my subdivision has sent over 325,000 individually wrapped chocolate chip cookies with personal notes to our military members stationed overseas. The notes that we have received in response are awesome. Well, that’s about it from the great state of Texas for now. Go, Astros.” Harry Brown, our class president, has represented us by carrying the class flag at the first-year student Rally over 20 times, and he was faithfully at the welcoming Rally for the Class of 2026 this past August. Harry also worked with the classes of 1964 through 1967 for a joint tailgate party before and after the Monmouth football game. As events repeat in the new year, please feel free to join Harry in planning and attending these class events. You are always welcome. Contact Harry at hkbrown3726@comcast.net. ’67 Eric Hamilton, journeyman618@ gmail.com I have moved from Virginia to New Mexico to work for Los Alamos National Lab. Life out here in the wild country is picturesque and grand. So far since Oct. 3, when I moved here, we’ve had four periods of light snow, unusual for my past experience. I talked to D’Arcy Roper occasionally, and he is doing well—at least he has no complaints. Neither D’Arcy nor I have heard from any of our other classmates since the reunion last June. I hope everyone is well and has enjoyed the end-of-year holiday season. I’m hoping for a white Christmas for the first time in a number of years, but I’m told it generally doesn’t snow significantly until after the new year. ’68 George Klacik, 27 Oak Forest Lane, Summit, NJ 07901, gklacikjr@ aol.com, (908) 273-7850. Our 55th reunion will be June 8-11, 2023! Call a classmate or two and arrange to see them at the reunion. Do it now, while we are still able. Larry Hans emailed that he attended the Lehigh alumni tailgate at the Princeton football game and had a wonderful time. He saw Tom Muir there and “exchanged more conversation [that day] than we did in our four years as undergraduates.” Larry sent along a photo of himself and Tom at the Princeton stadium. See the Celebrations section. I was surprised to see that Tom is wearing the Lehigh straw hat we distributed at the 45th and 50th reunions. I also still have one, which I will wear to the 55th. Lauch Hines emailed that a group of Beta classmates are planning to attend the 55th reunion. In October, a group attended a four-day get-together at Lauch’s home in South Carolina, which included many activities at local venues. Participants included Jim Bodine, Tom Hodson, Jeff Rebert, Billy Sunda, Del Bloem, Dave Bramble and Marc Particelli. John Miller emailed that he and his wife, Cathy, are well, and he is hoping to see everyone at our 55th. In his email, he wrote, “I got an email a couple of weeks ago from Lynn, wife of Eric Steckel, to let me know that Eric had passed away on Aug. 21, after a difficult battle with prostate cancer. Eric was the freshman roommate of longtime reunion chairman Rob Gould and lived his upperclassman years in M&M B-1. He was a chemical engineer and was instrumental in formulating the recipe for the famous (to us, anyway) B-1 cocktail party punch. He received his Ph.D. from University of South Carolina, where he met Lynn, and had a long and fruitful career with Abbott Labs. I think you can still find his entire obituary online following this link: dignitymemorial.com/ obituaries/irmo-sc/eric-steckel-10896706.” Suzanne and I attended the Tower Society meeting in the fall where Mark Wilson, executive director of Zoellner Arts Center, explained the innovative things being done at Zoellner to bring the arts to the university and the Bethlehem community. It is the 25th anniversary of Zoellner Arts Center. The season opened with the New York Philharmonic and will close with the Philadelphia Philharmonic, with a lot of great things in between. Check it out if you are in the area. At the Monmouth football game, I saw Doug Breene and Tom Spencer ’69. I had not seen Doug since we went on a Lehigh alumni tour through the Panama Canal and Costa Rica. Doug and Tom have been part of a focus group helping Lehigh explore how its artwork can be better displayed. Please send me an email, give me a call or write me a note so there is something to include in the next Bulletin. Sign up for our 55th reunion June 8-11, 2023. The older we get, the harder it will be to make the trip! MMXIII! ’69 A. Raymond Schmalz, 325 Lowell Ave., Mill Valley, CA 94941-3845. (415) 388-3263 (H), (415) 317-0923 (C); rayschmalz@aol.com. You will see in the obits that Alan Sheppard died. What a shock! Alan and I joined Kappa Alpha together our freshman year. Although he grew up in Palo Alto, Calif., Alan followed his father to Lehigh. His stepdaughter, Samantha (Day) Zelezen ’03, followed Alan to Lehigh. ’70 Denny Diehl, 28 Chancery Court, Millville, NJ 08332. (610) 6987136; dennydiehl@aol.com Tim Engleman (engleman@ zoominternet.net) writes: “In retirement, I continue to consult part time on machine design engineering. I finished my third and final book about Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh and the 80-year history of the Pitcairn-Crabbe Foundation. This charitable foundation (affiliated with the church) makes grants in western Pennsylvania to promote education, community development, relief of distress and religious projects.” In a note spotted on Facebook (which I don’t frequent often) came an announcement from Paul White that he’s “now a two Tesla family!” Hey, Paul, I’ve got a seven-year-old Ford Fusion Hybrid, but I realize I’m playing in a different league. From the guest speaker (that’d be moi) at the Dec. 4 senior alumni luncheon before PSU at Lehigh wrestling match: “Two other classmates joined me: Scott Gore and former Lehigh Wrestling Club president, Bob Gerlach. In addition,
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