CLASS NOTES | SUMMER 2026 | 43 back in November 2025, when first presented. ‘Looking Back: A video retrospective on the life and career of John Covert. Outstanding athlete, sought after high school and college cross country, and track and field coach, and sport innovator’ was created and produced by John Heil and Chip Magdelinskas, with contributions from Roger Jackucewicz, Tim Steele and Dave Thomson ’83. The video can be viewed on Facebook, or https://youtu.be/ HiQVBmPfAYk.” Remember, our 55th Reunion is less than a year away. Please reach out to the Alumni Relations office if you pulled the plug on old phone numbers, moved or updated your email address. ’73 Patrick Fekula, 1891 Evans Drive South, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250. (904) 451-4949 (M); Pfekula7@ gmail.com With an average gift of $1,942, it is with great pride that I report members of the Class of ’73 contributed $66,035 during Lehigh’s annual Giving Day + March Mania. While that was only 2% of the total $3,224,105 raised, our class ranked 19th of 75 classes, and our average gift was almost three times the amount of the average gift total. A big thank you goes out to everyone who participated! Speaking of supporting Lehigh, Howard Polsky was featured in a recent alumni mailing, “Partner with Lehigh to create your legacy.” He is quoted as stating, “Only when I got actively involved was I able to fully appreciate the complexities of operating a university in today’s rapidly changing world, and the need to address the future challenges it faces.” Howard “knows the state of the university well, based on over a decade of service as a two-term member of the Dean’s Advisory Council (DAC) for the College of Arts and Sciences and serving as the current chair of the DAC for the College of Education. … Beyond his DAC involvement, he has spread his donations out to athletic teams, academic departments, and university-wide efforts,” according to the mailer. Karen and Al Beeken have been married for more than 47 years and have three children and four grandchildren. While they consider themselves “Pittsburghers,” they raised their family in Valparaiso, Ind., where Al’s career in the steel industry involved executive sales, marketing and operating roles for companies providing products and services to steel producers around the world. They found their way back to Pittsburgh in 1999, as their children had scattered to San Diego, Chicago and Los Angeles. After 20 years of officiating high school basketball, Al got involved with his local high school as an assistant, coaching both basketball and golf. “Having fond memories of fraternity life, and as a member of Lehigh’s golf team,” Al said, “my high-water mark was winning the 1971 Eastern Collegiate Golf Championship.” Retiring in 2008, Al is now enjoying what he describes as “a life of golf and winters in SW Florida.” Roderick Reardon Jr. shared that he and his wife, Kathleen, have three daughters, Erin, Emily and Laura, along with three grandsons, Benjamin, Simon and Rory. Originally from Collingswood, N.J., the Reardons have been living in Lake Mary, Fla., since 1985, where Roderick continued his career as a consulting environmental engineer specializing in wastewater treatment. Now semi-retired, he works part-time, travels, walks for exercise and spends time with the family. Daniel Richter, who was mentioned in our last column as being featured, along with Andrew Knoll, in an article in the Bulletin, reports that he is still teaching and researching at Duke University, where he was recently promoted to distinguished professor in the Nicholas School of the Environment. Daniel mentioned he played soccer for Coach Tom Fleck, served as a Gryphon and loved every minute of his time on South Mountain. He added that he is married to the former Susan Adam ’75 and attended her 50th Reunion in 2025. Let’s see if we can get Daniel to bring Susan to our 55th Reunion in 2028. ’74 Bill White, 5418 Holiday Drive, Allentown, PA 18104, whitebil1974@gmail.com I’ve spent some time in recent months with classmates, but since they’re people who have appeared regularly in these columns, I’ll focus on someone else I heard from early this year. It’s Peg Church—officially Margaret Peaslee when we were students—who passed along one of her Morning Call newspaper letters to the editor. Here it is: “The year 2025 marked the 50th anniversary of the first official class of women at Lehigh University. In recent years I have cheered on the contributions of LU student writers in The Morning Call. These letters strike me as a fine example of local community involvement and education. The letters have observations and critiques on shade tree coverage in Bethlehem, climate issues, solar power, electric vehicle charging, as well as concerns about pollution from plastics. These letters help our community better understand sustainability, environmental issues, health repercussions, as well as future impacts.” When I asked her for more information about what she’s been up to, Peg wrote that she has lived in South Bethlehem for more than 50 years and retired from the Philadelphia School District as an elementary school counselor. “I volunteer with the Lehigh Valley Citizens Climate Lobby, the Care for Creation Committee of Central Moravian Church and attend various entities of the Bethlehem Environmental Action Committee. “My husband, Dan Church, and I have children and grandchildren in the Bethlehem and Philadelphia areas.” She referred me to her writeup in our Reunion yearbook, which noted that she was a pioneer not just as a transfer to Lehigh as one of its first women, but also as a young Bethlehem steelworker when women weren’t particularly welcome and were there only because of a federal lawsuit. She did graduate work at Lehigh and DeSales universities before becoming a school counselor in Philadelphia, where she was touched many times by gun violence affecting her students. She wrote in the Reunion yearbook that she remains hopeful because young people see the issue of gun violence more clearly and are encouraging those around them to act. She also has been an outspoken climate advocate. In recent months, she has been involved in protests over genocide in Gaza and the killing of Renee Good. She concluded, “Let me add that Dan and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary at the festive and magical Hotel Bethlehem. They have the world’s best hot chocolate!” Now it’s your turn to share your story. As geezers, most of us have retired from our professional lives, but like Peg, we still have plenty going on. So, let’s hear about it. ’75 Thom Hirsch, 139 McHenny Court, Chester, MD 21619, ThomasHirsch44@ outlook.com Steve Villas gave a recent interview to Lehigh indicating he has been spending his time “paying it forward” to Lehigh and its students. Steve feels that “Lehigh gave me everything, both educationally and personally. My education, career, independence, lifelong friends, even my wife.” Steve’s wife, Liz, is a Bethlehem native. The couple were married in Packer Memorial Chapel. They renewed their vows there 40 years later. Grateful for support from the College of Education for their disabled son, in 1996, Steve and Liz established the Villas Family Scholarship Endowment. It supports students pursuing degrees in special education and those involved with the Centennial School. Beyond philanthropy, Villas has devoted years of service to the university. He currently serves on the COE Dean’s Advisory Council and previously served on the Alumni Association Board. Steve spent 45 years spanning the global petroleum indus-
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