CLASS NOTES | SUMMER 2023 | 47 Spill ’61, Mike Semcheski ’62, Bill Stutzman’ 61 and Rob Broderick ’74G. A picture was published in the spring issue of the Bulletin. If you live in large complexes, perhaps you, too, could gather Lehigh alumni. My plea for contributors: Please, just send me some text related to your years since graduation, and you, too, could be a “star.” ’56 Bill Burgin, 534 W. Beechtree Lane, Wayne, PA 19087, (610) 6887374 (H); w.burgin@att.net I was happy to receive a cheerful photo and note from Brenda and Fred Jackson, pictured aboard a Viking longship sailing up the Rhine River last year from Amsterdam to Basel. The trip is “highly recommended” by Fred. The Jacksons spend summer vacations at a family cottage in New Hampshire near Lake Winnipesaukee. That lake is the purported setting of the movie “What About Bob?,” although it was actually filmed at Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta, Va. It was good to get a phone report from John Milnor on Lehigh’s February events in Florida. John attended a reception in Sarasota, visiting with LU President Joseph Helble ’82 and Anand Jagota, vice provost for research and founding chair of bioengineering in the chemical biomolecular engineering department. The guests heard details of Lehigh’s strategic plan and the “relaunching” of Lehigh’s donor societies, including the Tower and Asa Packer societies, both supported through the years by many of our classmates. John lives in Trinity, Fla., near Tampa, home of the 2021 Super Bowl champions and the volatile Tom Brady. When our niece Amy Burgin Walsh ’91 was recently back at Lehigh, she led a group of friends to the new ’56 bench, given by our class to honor our 65th reunion and located near the Linderman Library. Amy is the youngest and fourth daughter of Lolly and my late brother, Tom Burgin. Amy and husband Luke have three sons. Are you traveling? Attending a sports or dramatic event? Please share your news with me for this column. ’57 James Watson, 774 Highview Drive, Wyckoff, NJ 07481. (210) 891-1246 (H); jwatson@ execsearchine.net I had a great note from Richard “Dick” Eckhart. Dick returned to Prescott, Ariz., back in 2002 after a 15-year tenure on the faculty at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, Calif. He is still teaching math online and is active in musical and drama groups at their church and local community college, Yavapai. Since he’s lived in Prescott, he has appeared in 25 live stage productions of a musical version of the Christmas classic movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.” I was surprised that Dick was never in our great Mustard & Cheese group and not involved in acting until he moved to California in 1976. Then he became active in the choir at his church in Placentia, where he did three plays a year: Easter, patriotic and Christmas themed. I did get some bad news regarding my Theta Delta Chi fraternity brother Dick Reinhold from his wife, Helza, who is living in Cologne, Germany. Dick is still in great physical shape but is living in a memory care unit in a local nursing home. Dick is from Mr. Lebanon, Pa., and was a great varsity baseball pitcher. After graduation, Dick moved to Germany and worked in banking until he retired seven years ago. I now only have two Theta Delta brothers in my class still living: Fred Kohler in Maine and Phil Stromenger in West Palm. Also, I had a great note from Ruth and Hank Plotkin out in Carlsbad, Calif. They have moved to a new condo and wanted to get a few copies of our last Bulletins. Theirs were lost in the mail due to recent moves. After graduation, Hank moved to San Diego so he could surf and took a job with General Dynamics and became a rocket scientist. He moved on to space technology, designing new ICBM rockets. He retired in 1970 and started The Plotkin Consulting Group, which son Jim still runs. He is married to his lovely wife from Cedar Crest, Ruth Wedeen, Class of ’58. Seems Centenary women married Lafayette grads — too far away from all our great parties in Bethlehem! Regards, and please send news! ’58 Bill Helfrich, 80 Southwick Drive, Orchard Park, NY 14127. (716) 662-7927 (H); bh7831@ aol.com More sad news — but this we can handle. “Pete the Greek’s” has closed after 85 years of adding that special sauce to those famous hot dogs. I received a note in December from Harry Brooks ’59 and Leon Harbold ’59 that “Pete” declared he was selling the business. On March 16, I received a phone call from good friends Gretchen (PSU ’60) and George Campbell wishing me a happy birthday and reading the newspaper article about Pete’s closing that day when all the “special dogs” were gone. I have many memories, especially very late at night while at school and visiting campus later. That birthday call reminded me that we are all approaching 87 years old—“87 and closer to heaven.” You now can only receive Greekers with those articles, not the same without the sauce? I did receive a sad note from Andrea Ostar, wife of Bob Ostar, that he died on Dec. 16, shortly after their 58th wedding anniversary. He loved Lehigh and was a proud alumnus, especially when he wore his brown and white cap on their special trip to Alaska and was the Lehigh spokesman for everyone he met! Lukie and Jean-Claude Rousseaux had a good summer in North Carolina. They played a lot of tennis, pickleball and golf and visited with grandchildren in Charlotte and Maryland. They made their first post-COVID trip on a cross-Atlantic cruise to Netherlands, France and Belgium in time for the beautiful tulip season. They flew to Copenhagen to see their youngest grandchild, Addison, on her spring break. Jean got a short case of COVID with no symptoms, but he couldn’t fly to visit his brother, Anthony. Jean’s Parkinson’s has been stable. Out to the seas again with several days in Paris to visit his cousin, and then to take his first riverboat cruise on the Rhone. Seven days in the wine country ending in Arles Village in his favorite 400-year-old home and then to Barcelona and a 14-day ocean return trip to Fort Lauderdale, enjoying stops in Spain and Portugal and arriving home just before Thanksgiving with the whole family at Sunset Beach, N.C. Sharon and Fred Smith are doing well in Fort Myers, Fla. No damage from Ian in their hurricane-proof home with a home generator. They rode it out! They are a half-mile west of Route 75—and no storm surge. They took a break and went to their granddaughter’s wedding at Big Sur, Calif. It was small on a bluff overlooking the Pacific. They spent four days visiting Anita and Ken Rittenhouse in San Jose, remembering those Delta days at LU. Ken made some yummy rhubarb pie. He is still an avid Bills fan from all those years we shared in Buffalo. Dick Briggs keeps me up to date on his grandchildren; the latest one is going to start at Lafayette in the fall. One is graduating from and playing soccer at Lehigh, and a third graduated from Bucknell. Any
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