CLASS NOTES | SUMMER 2023 | 51 “Chris Zarins may never retire. Somewhat concurrently with retiring from his last academic gig as chief of vascular surgery and professor of surgery at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., he and a former student founded a company called Heartflow, Inc. (heartflow.com). Heartflow brings together human ingenuity and advanced computational technology to help combat heart diseases in a non-invasive way. He serves the company as founder and senior adviser on clinical science. He and his wife of 50-plus years, Zinta, moved to Austin, Texas, six years ago, where he continues his active involvement with Heartflow. In his spare time, he enjoys golf and hopes to live to 100—so he can shoot his age. He has three adult kids and seven grandchildren, four in Austin and three in California. “Dave Decker and his wife of 50-plus years, Sharon, have lived not far from the beach in Los Angeles since 1971 and, despite the homelessness and political craziness, have no plans to leave. He retired from the practice of law about 12 years ago and doesn’t miss it. He keeps busy with board of director positions in the nonprofit senior housing industry, serving as director of the Retiree Activities Office at the Los Angeles Space Force Base (even though he retired from the U.S. Naval Reserve as a JAG officer) and serving on the elder board of his church. He has three adult kids and two grandchildren, all in the southern California area.” Rob Gibby says: “My three children are an absolute joy. I did not do very well in the marriage department, having had two attempts that ended in divorce. However, thanks to the Internet, I met Anne five years ago, and now, I understand what a good relationship is all about. “My 30-year career in the steel industry came to an abrupt halt when the owners of the small business I was running wanted their son to take my job. What seemed to be a disaster 20 years ago turned out to be a blessing. Since no one would hire a 60-year-old, I reluctantly started my own business. My older son, Ross, made a huge success out of it. Then he went on to start CRDC Global, a company that takes landfill-bound plastic and makes an aggregate that improves concrete. The main plant in Costa Rica will process 90 tons of scrap per day. The first U.S. plant is in York, Pa., and that will do 10-15 tons per day. I spent three or four days a month in York doing odds and ends. Check out crdc.global. “My younger son, Todd, is in the ‘software as a service’ industry with his own venture capital business. My daughter, Bayne, lives in Hollywood and is in the entertainment business. In the fall of 2021, she was the face of T-Mobile for many of its nationwide ads. “Through a lifetime pal, I am able to continue racing at Bonneville. We are competitive in our class, where the record is 213 mph. We’ve gone 211, and if the salt is good this summer, we should break the record. Old cars are still a passion, and that love has connected me to many enjoyable folks across the country.” Mickey and I had lunch with Larry Bothe and Pat Brod. They continue to travel and to spend some winter weeks here on the Space Coast. Larry is still doing a bit of flying and flight training but is spending much more time supporting Seymour’s Freeman Army Airfield Museum. That association had given him the unique privilege of meeting several renowned aviation pioneers. ’65 Ronald L. Workman, 1981 Berrel Court, Yardley, PA 190677225. (215) 808-0809 (H); ron_workman@prodigy.net Thanks to fellow class correspondent Dave Riemondy ’64 for this bit of news: For three days during the first week of November 2022, seven KAs (six from the Class of ’64 and one from the Class of ’65) gathered at St. Pete Beach, Fla., to renew friendships as well as bask in the sunshine and eat and drink well. John Organek and his wife of 55 years, Mary, have lived in Fairfax Station, Va., for 30 years. He has no current plans to completely retire or move from the northern Virginia area. After retiring from the Army Corps of Engineers 30 years ago, he has been steadily involved as an independent engineering and information technology consultant, most recently involved in enterprise architecture projects for various U.S. Air Force installations. He has four sons, three of whom live in Virginia and one in Arizona, and eight grandchildren. ’66 James A. Tiefenbrunn, 1201 Butztown Road, #31, Bethlehem, PA 18017. (610) 691-1714 (H); jat1@lehigh.edu I am sorry to be the bearer of the bad news that Pete’s Hot Dog Shop permanently closed its doors after nearly 85 years of operation on Bethlehem’s South Side. Condolences go out to the many ’66ers who survived on Greeker runs during latenight study sessions or closed fraternity kitchens. Larry Post sent in this update. “I got a B.S. in business from Lehigh, knowing from age 12 that I wanted to spend my career on Wall Street. I was president of Lehigh’s student investment fund and spent a lot of time at the local brokerage house (Fahnestock). I was also head of the executive committee of WLVR and had a daily investment show. After getting an MBA from Wharton, I eagerly went to work on Wall Street, with stints at Smith Barney and Salomon Brothers. After, I joined Drexel Burnham Lambert’s high yield bond department in L.A., alongside Mike Milken. After Drexel folded, I started a high yield money management firm, Post Advisory Group, and over 20 years, it grew to $12 billion in assets, at which point it was sold to Principal Financial Group, a Fortune 500 company. I helped some proteges start a new firm, Arena Capital Advisors, and then retired. In 2019, I was diagnosed with amyloidosis, a rare heart disease that required a transplant. I was very lucky and have been healthy ever since. I have two grandsons, one of whom was ranked No. 12 in the U.S. among 13-year-old chess players.” I talked with Howard Hoover, who remains a loyal Lehigh alumnus, even though he has lived for 40 years in Lafayette, Calif. After graduation, Howie joined the Air Force and served as a captain in Okinawa and Ogden, Utah. He then earned an MBA at Michigan State University and began a lifelong career with Deloitte, retiring as partner in 2008. He returned in 2012-13 for about six months to help in the Saigon and Hanoi Deloitte offices. For many years, Howie has been a member and served in leadership positions of the Japan Society of Northern California and the Commonwealth Club of California. Howie met the Emperor of Japan while on the reception committee of the former. Howie’s audit area was the financial services industry, so he is keenly interested in the banking crises that developed in 2023 with Silicon Valley Bank and others. Reflecting on our 1966 roots at all-male Lehigh, Howie is very proud of our 1986 grad and his fellow retired partner Cathy Engelbert, the first female CEO of a “Big 4” CPA/consulting firm and now first commissioner of the WNBA. Howie found the Vietnamese people to be very warm and friendly. He developed long-term friendships and has visited back and forth. Howie
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