Class Notes

NEWS OF 1955

From Helen Varady Keyser:

A project is under way to preserve the history of Moravian College for Women. The task of collecting oral histories, memorabilia, and archives was begun at a dessert party July 10 at the home of Josephine Pongracz Falco Kohls. Attending were Elizabeth Tyler Bugaighis, project co-leader, Mary Jo Falco Johnson, Mary Pongracz, Polly Raynor, Beverly Bell, Pat Miller Helfrich, Helen Desh Woodbridge, and myself.

Kay Moyer Cressman swims every day and volunteers at the library. Her husband, Marvin, still is a practicing neurosurgeon. Both continue to work with hay production and beef cattle as their “hobbies.”

Anne Collins Frey was a judge at the Blue Grass Festival and Cook-Off at Bushkill Park near Easton this summer.

Capt. Francis Donchez ’87, son of Rose Mandic Donchez, is the new police commissioner for the city of Bethlehem.

We celebrated the 259th Founder’s Day with a reception at the home of President and Mrs. Rokke, followed by a Moravian Lovefeast at Peter Hall. Carol Traupman-Carr ’86, professor and then-chair of the music department, now assistant dean for academic affairs, spoke on “Passion for Pianos: Keyboard Instruments and the Young Ladies’ Seminary.” We had lunch in Clewell Dining Room. Seated at the Secretarial 1953 and 1954/1955 table were Helen Desh Woodbridge ’54, Barbara Cump Schmoyer, Joan Landrock Schlegl, Anne Collins Frey, Nancy Zeleski Frantz, Shirley Beck Dutt ’54, Lois Lutz Geehr ’54 and her friend Liz, and myself. After lunch, we toured the Blue Parlors.

Anne Enright, Helen Desh Woodbridge, Anne Collins Frey, Barbara Cump Schmoyer, and I attended the alumni reunion luncheon in Johnston Hall the next day.

John and I enjoyed being part of the “Spirit of Bethlehem” and sister city celebrations at Musikfest. One highlight was an ecumenical church service at which Mary Pongracz directed the choir for our Slovenian delegation and members of St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic and St. John’s Windish Lutheran Churches.

At the luncheon held in Josephine Pongracz Falco Kohls’s home, guests were Mary Pongracz, Marietta Schwartz Banach, Pat Miller Helfrich, Betsy Honey, Margaret Bugaighis (wife of Professor Muhammed Bugaighis, who recently retired from the math department at Moravian), and I.

In the midst of all this, I had my Nitschmann Junior High School reunion at the Holiday Inn, where I met Tom Clay, Ray Salabsky, Anne Collins Frey, Allan Cristol, and Arthur Spenger. The next day we had our 50th Liberty High School reunion, again attended by Arthur Spenger and Ray Salabsky.

NEWS OF 1954

From Helen Desh Woodbridge:

Greeters at the Open House at President and Mrs. Rokke on Founder’s Day were Shirley Beck Dutt and Beverly Bell ’56 as well as Lois Lutz Geerh and me. This year Lois was accompanied by a friend from North Wales who wanted to experience a Lovefeast and Moravian music. During the Lovefeast, Carol Traupman-Carr ’86 gave a talk on pianos at the Moravian Ladies’ Seminary and College. Some of us sat on the familiar benches. We saw again the beautiful stained-glass windows, which picture subjects and values learned at Moravian College for Women: religion, literature, music, education, drama. To the left of the stage in Peter Hall is an organ. [Editor’s note: It was built by an 18th-century Pennsylvania maker and is on permanent loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.] But whatever happened to the organ we played during chapel services and recitals?

Bev attended the June 25 Lovefeast and candlelight service at Central Moravian Church, where the hymn-singing was enriched by the voices of members of the American Guild of Organists. This event made up for the Christmas Vespers, which she missed because of injuries from an auto accident. May 19 was Alumni Day, which began with a parade before another delicious lunch in Johnston Hall. This was Bev’s 45th class reunion, and she got to ride in one of the open cars. At lunch, I enjoyed the company of Anne Enright, Nancy Zeleski Frantz, Anne Collins Frey, Helen Varady Keyser, and Barbara Cump Schmoyer.

My niece from Athens, Elizabeth Anyfantis, visited her family here this summer, bringing her 16-year-old daughter.

Please send us news and memories of your days at Moravian College for Women. You may e-mail news to Anne Enright at aenright@webtv.net.

NEWS OF 1953

From E. Allen Schultz:

We are pleased to be able to report that Ed Pastir and his wife, Gigi, relocated within Hellertown to the Four Seasons.

An e-mail from Phil Trimble: “My wife, Pat, and I moved to Williamsburg, Va., last year from Plymouth, Mich., after I retired as executive director of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. This was really my third career; the second was a stint in consulting, and the first, after leaving Moravian, was active duty in the Navy for 28 years. Our children are scattered all over the country, and we spend some time visiting them and our three grandchildren. Our taste for travel was developed courtesy of the Navy, and we have continued to go places the Navy never sent us now that we have the time. Most of our time at home is spent enjoying our new sailboat, the Colleen III, cruising on Chesapeake Bay. While work commitments prevented me from attending previous reunions of the Class of ’53, I definitely plan to attend our 50th and renew old friendships.”

Your correspondent hopes the rest of you will make our 50th class reunion a priority in your schedules for 2003. We need to form a 50th Reunion Committee soon. Please let the Alumni Office or me know of your interest in serving.

Dave Henkelmann said he was laid low in July by vertigo. That curtailed his part-time work driving for a limousine company and his annual trip to Massachusetts to visit family. However, his wife, Mel, was able to make the trip and spend time with sons Chris ’77 and Bruce.

Belated condolences to Gerry Roncolato, whose brother passed away about a year ago. To the best of our knowledge, Gerry is retired in the mountains of western North Carolina, enjoying the beautiful scenery.

In June, I had the privilege of participating in a mission trip to Honduras with a group from First Presbyterian Church, St. Petersburg, Fla., for the purpose of building a church. We flew from Tampa to Miami and then to Tegucigalpa, where takeoffs and landings are adventures unto themselves. The Tegucigalpa airport is reported to be one of the most difficult in the world because of the surrounding mountains. Our worksite was about an hour’s drive from Tegucigalpa, about 3 miles outside the city of Guiamaca. In the four days we had to work on the project, we got the foundation laid. There is no electricity for power tools or equipment, so everything was done by manual labor. Even being aware of the difference in the economy and living conditions, it’s still a tremendous shock to experience it firsthand. With such a full schedule, we did not have time to contact Manuel Larios ’52, who is on the staff of the Clínica Centro Médico in Tegucigalpa.

As I’m writing this column in early August, my wife and I are looking forward to traveling to Winston-Salem, N.C., at the end of September for the opening of a state-of-the-art facility that will house the Moravian Music Foundation and the Archives of the Southern Province of the Moravian Church. This building was a dream for many of us about a decade ago when I was executive director of the music foundation. The dream became a reality through the leadership of Nola Reed Knouse and a visionary board of directors.

From Helen Varady Keyser ’55:

Gladys Smith Winkelmann was devastated to put her boxer, Sport, to sleep after a long illness, but she’s happy to have another little boxer, Toby.

NEWS OF 1952 - Reunion May 31 – June 1

NEWS OF 1951

From Carol Buechner McMullen:

We enjoyed being back on the familiar Church Street campus for the activities of Founder’s Day, especially the program in the Chapel and lunch in Clewell Dining Room.

Saturday for the Parade of Classes, our group donned bobby socks and skirts, carried a banner and sang a song with lyrics by Vanita Egge Marvin (to the tune of “It Had to Be You”). After the parade, we learned that our class had won an award for creativity. For this, June Shafer Scholl and Vanita deserve credit.

About a year ago, I learned of a project to preserve the history of Moravian College for Women. During the reunion weekend, the project team scheduled interviews. Nancy Oplinger Dover and I were among the alumnae who participated.

Dorothea Schoffner Atallah is retired, has downsized to a townhouse, and enjoys gardening as well as square and round dancing.

Janet Coble Beringer has retired after working as a medical technician and favors Bermuda as a vacation spot.

Alice Zacharchuk Bove has had a varied career as a stewardess (they weren’t flight attendants in those days) and purser for Pan American Airways, flying Latin American routes; as a teacher; and as a county officer for the Aging Advisory Council. She has traveled in Europe, Central America, the Caribbean, Alaska, and Hawaii.

Pat Kresge Buck has retired from work as a librarian and enjoys her four grandchildren.

Nancy Oplinger Dover, also a retired medical technician, now tutors students in reading, bicycles, walks, and travels, especially to Maui. She also finds time for activities with her nine grandchildren.

Byrdie Loveless Jackson has traveled to Europe, Scotland, Australia, and China. At home she is busy with a house, dogs, cat, and garden. In the past year, she began using WebTV and values the contact with friends and relatives all over the world.

Connie Rooke King sent greetings from Florida, where she continues to be active in music, accompanies choirs, plays the organ, and enjoyed a choir tour of Europe. She also is an enthusiastic gardener.

Lois Weaver Koeckert, another retired medical technician, volunteers for Meals on Wheels and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Her other interests include gardening, golf, bridge, and travel.

The family of Fern Bachman Koplin is a very important part of her life, but she also likes teaching, playing the organ, and music therapy.

After many years in Bethlehem, Mae Rose Morrison Kuentz has moved to south Jersey, 10 minutes from the beach. Her four children are scattered around the United States, so driving cross-country to California and back proved a grand experience.

Elizabeth Schlegel Landau leads a busy life as a volunteer. Her church activities include choir, teaching Sunday school, and Bible study. She has volunteered for Meals on Wheels for 26 years, and she is pianist-director of Krazy Kids, a senior-citizen musical group that gives 30 or more performances a year.

Vanita Egge Marvin has had a varied and interesting career, much of it in advertising. After taking early retirement in 1992, she enjoys trips to New York to visit her daughter, Jane, and loves plays and musicals.

Jane Kincaid Missimer takes great joy in her two grandsons; she also likes traveling, reading and gardening.

Apart from her family, the greatest interest of Betsey Tait Puth is the study of art and art history. She is a docent at the Terra Museum of American Art in Chicago as well as a trustee of the Music Institute of Chicago and of Moravian College.

Mary Lou Weaver Ryan sings with her church choir and sang with the Bethlehem 250th Anniversary Choir.

June Shafer Scholl has escorted tours to Oberammergau (the town of the Passion play in Germany), Alaska, Hawaii, and Scandinavia. She’s also visited Italy, Greece, Turkey, Morocco, the Canary Islands, Mexico, the former Yugoslavia, China, England, Scotland, Wales, and Austria. Her interests include photography, grandchildren, and Elderhostels.

Lois Shafer Smith, retired from teaching, swims in Senior Olympics at state and national levels and enjoys gardening, music, and being with her children and grandchildren.

Judy Graves Thurman and her husband play golf and travel, especially to visit their grandchildren.

To all our classmates who could not be with us at reunion: You were in our thoughts, our hearts, and our conversation.

From Andy Jasso:

“Blue and Grey All the Way” was the theme for the 50th Men’s Class of ’51 reunion.

It started Friday with the reception and barbecue on the Church Street campus lawn. Saturday morning began with breakfast, where the Classes of 1951 (men and women) and the Class of 1949 Secretarials received their 50+ pins from President Rokke. This put everyone in a good frame of mind for the parade that followed the U.S. military veterans’ plaque-dedication ceremony. Cars for the parade were provided by Pete Lukehart and Bob Scholl, and local school bands donated the marching music. All marching members wore blue blazers and gray slacks, as well as white hats emblazoned with “50 Years of Magnificence,” provided by Bill Werpehowski. Our sign was designed and provided by Bill Kilpatrick. Our class won an award for highest participation of reunion attendees.

After the parade was the reunion luncheon in Johnston Hall. The day ended at a cabaret featuring the Twilighters.

A heartfelt thanks goes to Lou Molnar, who provided computer expertise, and to all the committee members for a job well done.

These men returned for the reunion: Carl Ackerman, Donald Canfield, Rev. Milt Detterline, John Giering, Robert Kelley, Bill Kilpatrick, William Reichard, Claude Santee, Joseph Schrader, Robert Simonson, William Szabo, and Bill Werpehowski.

The Class of 1951 returnees missed those classmates who did not or could not attend. We wish them all well.

NEWS OF 1950

NEWS OF 1949

From Thomas F. Keim:

Since the last issue of the alumni magazine, two members of our class have died.

William H. Woods died July 3 at home after a lengthy battle with cancer. Bill and his wife, Mary, were very close friends of ours. Louise and I spent many good times with them at the shore and at the Old Country Buffet in Allentown, Bill’s favorite place to eat. He also served as class correspondent with me, and I am grateful for all his years of service to our class. Bill spent his career as manager for Blazer Consumer Discount Co., formerly Family Finance, with offices in Easton and Allentown. He retired in 1983. Bill’s wonderful family includes five children, twelve grandchildren, a great-grandson, and his brother, Kenneth, of Arlington, Texas. For many years, you could find the family gathered at Bill and Mary’s on Sundays for dinner. Bill loved music, particularly jazz and pop. I do believe he had every recorded selection by Glenn Miller, his favorite.

Ralph Miller died June 9 after a lengthy illness. He had a distinguished career as a research chemist with Campbell Soup Co. in Camden, N.J., from 1950 to 1991. He created various brand-name products and retired as a vice president. He was affiliated with the National Food Processors Scientific Advisory Board, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Institute of Technologists; and he was a representative to the United Kingdom Food Manufacturing Research Institute. After Moravian, he received a master’s degree from the University of Delaware, where he was a research fellow. His wife, Lucille, and sons Ronald and Robin survive him. Another son, Ralph Jr., predeceased him.

We extend our sympathies to the families of Bill and Ralph on behalf of their class.

On a happier note, I had a letter from Andy Martimick. After a total replacement of his left knee in 2000, he and his wife, Betty, are still traveling. They returned in May from a 12-country tour of the Persian Gulf, which included an interesting five days in Iran. (Andy says he has been in 142 countries and Betty in 139.) They are planning some unusual destinations for the near future, including Mongolia and Tibet. For the last 15 years, they have spent summers in Colorado at a dude ranch, enjoying horseback riding and golf. They get back to Allentown to visit with his brother every year. They have lived for 40 years in Phoenix, and Andy has been retired for 15 years.

Bernard Terzigni wrote that his family’s medical legacy continues, with 10 family members being physician-specialists, nurses or pre-med students. He is a former chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at Nova University College of Medicine in Miami. He says he has no time for retirement; he’s still traveling, building custom homes, gulf fishing, taking trips to Disney World with his grandchildren, and practicing medicine part-time with his son and daughter-in-law. He says his wife, Joyce, is hanging in there with him.

The best to all! See you Alumni Weekend May 31 and June 1, 2002.

From Norma Boldt Wynne:

We heard from Faye Werley Jurden that she and John are very proud parents. Jan, their daughter, who attended our 50th reunion with her mother, was installed as an associate judge of the Superior Court of Delaware on May 29.

Louise Scott Gross wrote that she had to wait until the age of 73 to break a bone in her body: her toe.