CLASS NOTES | FALL 2023 | 63 here: passport-stamps.com.” According to the blurb: “‘Passport Stamps: Searching the World for a War To Call Home’ is a candid, darkly comic and emotionally naked tale of a former NPR journalist who—driven by grief, loss and the desire to find his ‘tribe’— seeks solace in the world’s most dangerous places and his pursuit to join the ranks of combat-tested war correspondents. The learning curve of reporting in hostile environments is steep and at times comical, at others nearly fatal. He encounters a lot of dust, ragged infrastructure, weaponry, scary driving, whiskey, lust and way too much food poisoning. When the assignment ends, he is left to confront the mental and emotional impact of the years of danger, death and destruction.” Stacey Levine and her family hosted a 10-year-old girl at their house for a week in August through the Fresh Air Fund. They were so excited for her arrival, and I know they had a great experience. Visiting a volunteer host family is a unique and fun opportunity for children ages 8-14 to travel to a new place and make new friends. Favorite activities include going to the beach, playing in the backyard, riding bicycles, barbecues, swimming and more! Kids who qualify are from NYC and get the free lunch program. https://freshair.org ’92 Melissa (Gitlin), Jacoby, mgjacoby@gmail.com; and Rachel (Beck) Diamond, rachelmbeck@hotmail.com Long ago, freshman year began for all of us. We showed up at Lehigh, met roommates who were likely strangers, and our hall became an important home base! Some amazing bonds formed during those times. We’re excited to catch up on a few! This trio—Joann Giangiulio, Sonal (Goodluck) Patel and Lori Lynch—spent a very fun year on M&M A3. It was so fun, in fact, that these women have a current group chat that is named “M&M.” Joann headed to law school a few years after graduating from Lehigh and has since focused on medical malpractice defense. She’s currently of counsel at Kilcoyne & Nesbitt, LLC, located in Blue Bell, Pa. She lives in the Philly suburb of Narberth Borough and loves her summers in Avalon and Stone Harbor, N.J. Joann is a dedicated Lehigh alumna, through her involvement in Lehigh Club of Philadelphia and the Lehigh University Alumni Board. Sonal lives in Westfield, N.J., with her husband, Parag Patel ’94, and two sons, Dhillon, a sophomore at Syracuse, and Deven, a senior in high school. After a 10-year career as an IT consultant, Sonal received her master’s in education and has now taught middle school math for 19 years. Notably, she has served on the Westfield Board of Education and is the current president. In her free time, she loves to travel and has been all over the world, including Africa, India, Greece and Colombia. Lori completed both her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Lehigh and has been teaching high school math in a Philadelphia suburb for the past 28 years. Lori and her husband live in Collegeville, Pa. Her son was recently married and is entering his final year of law school, and her daughter works in cybersecurity for a pharmaceutical company. Lori has two stepsons who are finishing their high school careers. Lori still connects with her teammates from the Lehigh women’s basketball team. Over on Dravo C1, another crew also had their share of memorable moments. Jody (Klemer) Pravacek has been living in Chicago for the last 20-plus years, but she and husband Chris just sold their house and are moving into the city to enjoy their newly empty nest. Son Noah is a junior at Iowa State, while her twins will be college freshmen—Jenna at Mizzou and Luke as a track-commit at Michigan Tech. Jody, who was formerly a civil trial attorney, works now as general counsel for Preferred Capital Funding, a legal lending company. Amy (Gold) Blau is splitting time between Cold Spring Harbor and Montauk, N.Y., and south Florida with her husband, Jonathan. She reports that they should be empty nesters, but both daughters have returned home and enjoy living with Mom and Dad! Amy is the chief of staff at Fusion Family Wealth, a wealth management firm specializing in behavioral finance. She looks forward to seeing her Alpha Phi sisters this summer, including fellow C1 hallmate Melissa (Gitlin) Jacoby, who is busy training for her 23rd Pan-Mass Challenge bike ride, where she is pushing her team toward a $10 million fundraising milestone for Dana Farber Cancer Institute (if you want to donate: https://profile.pmc. org/ML0078). Melissa’s oldest is heading to the Rockies to start at the University of Denver. Melissa’s freshman roommate, Lori Heiss Tiplady, has lived in the U.K. for 16 years. Lori lives in Surrey, England, with her husband, Mike, and two stepchildren, Cat and Alex. They are splitting time between the U.K. and U.S., where Lori has taken a role as COO and in-house counsel for her family business, Strand Finance, Inc. Keep the updates coming! ’93 Darren Saks, Dksaksinc@yahoo. com, 201-310-8460 This is my first installment as our ’93 class rep. Kristan (Atwell) Saks and I are soon to be empty nesters and will finish five for five–parents and all children are, or will be, Lehigh graduates. We had our 30-year reunion this year! Kristan and I were unable to attend, but we heard it was a great time. It’s unbelievable to think it’s been 30 years since we graduated. I heard from Elliott Waller, who had a great time with many of his old friends and reported catching up with fellow Zetes John DiVito, Mike Bank, Scott Chinitz, Brad Cuddeback, Kurt Karcich and Bill Klicka. They had fun at the reunion, especially walking The Hill and reminiscing at the Ho. He also reports he is regularly in touch with Evan Stein, Al Gardner ’94, Craig Delaney and Bill Rickelman, who are all doing well but couldn’t make the reunion. Adam Sucov is doing great and recently caught up with fellow Steven’s Lower Cents hallmate Dan O’Connor. Adam was taking his daughter back to Boston for her final year at Northeastern, after which he headed to New Hampshire to catch up with Dan. It was great to hear from my freshman year roommate, Adam Greene. His daughter is starting at Brandeis in the fall, and his middle child may be thinking about Lehigh in a few years. Lynn (Casparro) Maloney is currently the vice president of human resources for Robertet NA (robertet.com), a flavor and fragrance company specializing in natural ingredients based out of Grasse, France, with U.S. headquarters in Mt. Olive, N.J. She’s been married since 2005 with two children—Chayse, who is 15, and Roman, who is 13. They have lived in Rutherford, N.J., since 2006. “Recently, a former colleague reached out that his daughter was currently at Lehigh and was looking for an internship,” Lynn said. Lynn put her in touch with the person on her team who
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