58 | LEHIGH ALUMNI BULLETIN | CLASS NOTES for his law firm’s newsletter. Nick began his piece by talking about “forks in the road” that result in major life changes. “While my decision to attend Lehigh in 1970 was big, it was not the major event,” he wrote. “Lehigh opened the path to law school through a significant mentor, but it was in March of 1977, when I sat on a rock outcropping overlooking a frozen Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and tallied the pluses and minuses between a job offer from General Motors to work in their labor law department and an offer from a solo trial lawyer in Bethlehem. “… GM’s starting salary was 2 ½ times greater, plus a company car and great benefits. But when it came down to it, the only ‘plus’ was the money. After my experience in the Urban Law Clinic in Detroit, I realized that I’d rather represent people and different entities than one huge corporate client. My friends in Michigan thought I was insane to choose the path to Bethlehem, but it was truly a decision made by the heart more than the head.” He wrote about the satisfaction he got from the heartfelt “thank yous” of grateful clients and his long commitment to justice involving civil rights law, including police brutality cases. Then he explained how “heart over head” came into play on his third day in the job, when he and his boss visited the Northampton County Courthouse for a deposition attended by four lawyers, the witness, Nick and “a striking court stenographer.” Asked by his boss afterward if he had any questions, Nick responded, “‘Yeah, who’s the court reporter?’ “The reporter, Karen, has now been with me for 44 years and with two wonderful children and two beautiful granddaughters. Life has been full.” Finally, I’ll renew my plea to the former lacrosse players, including several of my Phi Delt fraternity brothers, whom I joined for dinner after their mini-reunion last spring. Several of you promised me emails about yourselves so I wouldn’t have to go around the table grilling you and taking notes. Instead ... crickets. It’s time. I need you for our next issue. ’75 Thom Hirsch, 139 McHenny Court, Chester, MD 21619, Thomas Hirsch44@outlook.com This time 50 years ago, most of us were in our third semester at Lehigh. We were settling into our living situations, working hard and committed to or adjusting our academic majors, participating in extracurricular activities, having fun and, unknowingly, starting lifelong friendships. President Nixon was recently re-elected. The country was still dealing with the Vietnam War and just beginning to pay attention to Watergate. In our own world of trying to succeed at Lehigh, we were aware in differing degrees of these and other issues but expressed a tremendous optimism. We were going to change the world to the good. Now, we are the establishment and coming to grips with the world that we helped create and looking to youth of the world with a sense of optimism. These ruminations about 50 years ago mean that it is not too soon to start thinking about our 50th reunion. It will be held in June 12-15, 2025. Mark your calendars! Our class presidents, Mardi Blacher-Reich and Jeff Sherman, will be heading the effort to organize our reunion including gathering commitments to our class gift to Lehigh. If you would like to get involved in our 50th reunion, please contact them directly, or contact me at the above email address and I will forward your expression of interest to Mardi and Jeff. And don’t forget to “like” our class Facebook page run by Jeff to keep up to date on information about our class and Lehigh. It can be found at: facebook.com/lehighseventyfive?fref=ts. I recently got in touch with Fred Engelberger, our classmate and former wrestler, who graduated with an engineering degree and spent a career in production engineering management and setting up supply chains and company operations in China, Ireland and Mexico. Fred reports that he has yet to retire but is working much less than in past years. Fred regrets that he has not been back to the Lehigh campus as much as he would like but he runs into Lehigh grads all the time. Fred recently joined a group of Lehigh alumni that met in Summit, N.J., near where Fred and his wife, Linda, live. Fred very much enjoyed meeting with members from Lehigh classes ranging from 1970 to very recent graduates and comparing memories. He even ran into another group of Lehigh grads last summer on a remote beach on Cape Cod. “It was like Lehigh’s private beach.” Fred met with Thad Turner ’61 at a Wrestling Club gathering at the Saucon Valley Country Club after the Princeton match last season. Herb Campbell ’72 and Mark Lieberman were the only other wrestlers from our years at the gathering. Fred also enjoyed meeting the wrestlers from more recent years. Fred met up with our classmate Marty Lynn during the same visit to Lehigh. I checked in with George “Hopper” Shoffner, who reports that he and his wife, Sandy, are still living in King of Prussia, Pa. Hopper continues to work full time as a CPA in the accounting firm that he and his partners founded. Always the jokester, Hopper says that he is still working because “my golf game is terrible.” Like Fred, Hopper tries to get a little more time off than in the past. Hopper and Sandy “bounce around” between Avalon, N.J., Charleston, S.C., and Punta Gorda, Fla. Hopper and Sandy frequently attend Lehigh football games, where they usually run into a few classmates, especially when the team is playing well. Hopper stays in touch on a fairly regular basis with our classmates Barb Turanchik, Mike Stenko and Burt Hoffman. Like the rest of us, Hopper is having a hard time processing that we have been out of school for 47 years. He still remembers when we met the Class of 1925. They seemed a lot older than he feels. We all agree. Your classmates want to hear about you. Please send information about what you have done since you graduated from Lehigh, including those of the class with whom you have stayed in touch. Also, if you have any ruminations about our life at Lehigh 50 years ago, please send them this way. ’76 Mark E. Goehring, 10 Princeton Drive, Shamong, NJ 08088. (609) 841-0389 (C); MarkGoehring LU76@gmail.com; Look for me on Facebook! Greetings to everyone! I hope retirement is good to you and your family. As for me, I am still owner and key player in my company, Triflow Corporation. It’s hard to explain, but I still enjoy it. A lot of our work is with traditional “sustainable” energy and the global market, so that keeps me energized. Speaking of energy, Mary and I attended some of the Phillies playoff baseball games, and we were blessed to be at the first “delayed” World Series game at The Bank in Philly. We ran into Gary Iacocca and caught up on our frustrations with going to the game the night before and having that game canceled due to weather! But that night and that game when finally played was epic, with five Philly homers, and a 7-0 win. Wow! I am using that word energy again, as no stadium nor city in baseball can match the noise and excitement of that win! My ears are still ringing! Astros were the better
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