N O T E S #421, St. Petersburg, FL 33716 thomaskeating@yahoo.com Greetings, my classmates! The 157thmeeting of the Rivalry has just concluded, and I was very happy to visit theGoodman and Packer campuses and the Sig Ep, Delta Chi andPsi Upsilon tailgates to see old friends and classmates. Lehighwon! The other guys lost! I enjoyed all the banners hanging on campus, but onewasmostmemorable forme: “Lafayettewearsmasks in cars.” I heard frommy pal and fraternity brother, George Blandino, in September. George has been working for AT&T for many years and reports that he is paying Villanova tuition fees for his son, Michael, who is a sophomoremechanical engineer. Somuch for retirement plans! His daughter, Jennifer, graduated in August with a doctorate in physical therapy, ready for board exams and job seeking. Congratulations Mr. andMrs. Blandino on raising such great kids! If you are like me, when you receive the Alumni Bulletin, you immediately thumb back to the back pages to read the columns from our wonderful class correspondents. After that, I read the cover story and the news inside. I was pleased to read the following in the Fall 2021 Bulletin: Our classmate, Dr. Sherrie Blevins Green, “a retired programmanager with the National Science Foundation (NSF), received the Dr. Costel Denson ’56 Award, which is given to an individual who demonstrated leadership in increasing diversity in the workplace and educational institutions. Green worked tirelessly during her career to increase diversity of program awardees and review panels and to broaden participation of those underrepresented in STEM.” Be sure to read her story, as told to Mary Ellen Alu, on the Lehigh website, called “A Metamorphosis Occurs.” I remember that if you did not know Sherrie, you knew of her. On campus, she was pleasant and kind, determined and deeply intelligent. She was musically gifted and into fitness (remember the “1980s fitness craze”?). There is something satisfying in having seen our classmates at the beginning of their journey to eminence and celebrating their progress along the path. Well done, Sherrie! Great career, great cause! It was with sadness that I noted the passing of John K. Wetzel inAugust 2021. I knewJohn in the Marching 97 and as one of the forty 1984 CE students, a collegial and distinguished group, amongst whom I count many friends. My freshman roommate, Benjamin Blinder, kept in touch with John and knew himwell, so he offered the following remembrance: “As youmight remember, John was a big, gregarious, fun-loving guy, and at Lehigh extremely dedicated to the Marching 97. He was a good tuba player and served on the executive committee as frosh manager in the fall of 1982. Every year there were officially sanctioned away football games when the entire 97 would travel by bus and perform, but some games we couldn’t afford to send the entire band and so 10-20 of us would just jump in cars and make an ‘unofficial’ appearance to perform (we called them ‘flames’)—John would always join those flames, sometimes leading them, and have a blast. John was a deeply religious man who wanted to live his faith. Following graduation, he developed interests aside from engineering and started a successful business with his wife, Judy, planning Disney vacations for people, but he always came back to Lehigh for Alumni Band performances alumni.lehigh.edu/reunion for more information
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