Class Notes

NEWS OF 1964

From Kathleen Cavanaugh:

What a terrific surprise to receive a letter from Ed Wolfsohn, with a great photo of himself, Steve Sculley, and Bruce Coull proudly exhibiting a striped bass caught in the lake near Bruce’s cottage in South Carolina.

Ed lives in Asheville, N.C., and teaches English at Haywood Community College. Steve is a commercial real estate appraiser with businesses in St. Augustine, Fla., and Asheville, N.C. He has 10 grandchildren! (Is there anyone in the Class of 1964 who can beat that?) Bruce probably knows the best fishing holes in the state, as well as those in the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and South Africa—all places he has visited this past year as dean of the School of the Environment at the University of South Carolina.

Molly Krater Dinneen took time off from her docent duties this summer while she and her husband, Jim, traveled via Vancouver to her nephew’s wedding in Japan. Her accounts of the Shinto wedding ceremony (which includes five changes of bridal gowns), family trips into rural Japan, a near-miss typhoon, the language barrier, and the many acts of kindness are captivating.

Janice Whitfield Landis e-mailed that she and John ’65 will be joined by their youngest son, Sam, in the family winery business, Vynecrest. As part of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, Vynecrest partnered with Musikfest this year. Jan, president of the Wine Trail, hopes that next year they can put up a “Welcome Moravian Alumni” sign at their booth. This will be the fourth year Vynecrest is at Christkindlmarkt during the holiday season. She says working at these Bethlehem landmark events gives her a great sense of pride. Vynecrest also participated in the Lancaster Wine and Artisan Festival at Landis Valley Museum this summer.
If the men of ’64 can get together for fishing expeditions, the women of ’64 should consider a reunion at Christkindlmarkt!

NEWS OF 1963
Reunion: May 30-31

From the Alumni House:

Gary Straughan was elected president of the Eastern District Executive Board of the Moravian Church in America/Northern Province at the synod held at Moravian in June. Gary and his wife, Amy, will move to Bethlehem this fall. They have five children.

Don Vogel reminds his 1963 classmates to mark their calendars for May 30-31 for our 40th class reunion. With committee members Gary Sandercock, Marty Garcia, Dave Cornelius, and Bill Leicht, Don soon will be contacting the class with details of the weekend.

NEWS OF 1962

NEWS OF 1961

From Sam Maczko:

From the survey taken at Alumni Weekend 2001: Dennis L. Bleam is married with two grown children and two grandchildren. He and his wife, Shahnaz, have lived in Scottsdale, Ariz., for the past 13 years. Dennis retired from the U.S. State Department after 27 years of foreign and domestic service. He says the Scottsdale area is growing rapidly, which is not a good thing. From 1991 to 1999, the Bleams owned a coffee beanery franchise in the Paradise Valley Mall. They now own and operate a home-cleaning service. Dennis still finds time for golf and says he hasn’t scored below 84—yet.

Ken Sepe and Joe Castellano pulled the OGO cannon at the Alumni Weekend parade in June. Ken, Joe, and I have been getting together once a week to play golf this spring. The scores aren’t that good, but the laughs are great. Ken is making plans for his son Andrew’s wedding in July. Joe is about to be a grandfather for the third time.

We’re in close touch with John Bregman, who is busy running his business and moving into a new house. John recently became a grandfather for the third and fourth time.

Irene and I took a round-trip train ride from Toronto to Vancouver, Canada. The six-day trip was wonderful. In Vancouver, we rented a car and visited our daughter in Portland, Ore. On the return trip, we stopped at Jasper and spent four days in Lake Louise and Banff. The magnificent Canadian Rockies were worth the trip. Snow fell, though it was May.

Your classmates would enjoy hearing about your last 41 years. Please send updates!

NEWS OF 1960

NEWS OF 1959

From Kathy Werst Detwiler:

Greetings to all from your newly retired correspondent. With my 30-year teaching career completed, Wayne and I left Central Pennsylvania in June for a three-week Alaska/West Coast trip. If you’ve not yet taken the time to see these places, I urge you to seize the opportunity. What a beautiful country we live in! As classmate Pat Conover Diener said in her holiday greeting: “This is a time when we should realize and be grateful for all the blessings that we have.”

Pat has family in Bulgaria, as well as close to her home in Pottstown. She has been involved in Habitat for Humanity and sings in her church choir.
An update from Houston arrived from Tom Meder, who retired in March from Schenker International, a worldwide freight forwarder. Tom and his (also) recently retired wife, Fran, look forward to travel and to time with their 14 grandchildren, ages 2 to 22. They await the arrival of their first great-grandchild!

From the Alumni House:

Monk Morelli’s 10-year-old granddaughter, Gianna Morelli, received the Junior All-American First Team Award from the Plantations Junior Golf Tour 2001-2002 in the girls 8 -11 division.

NEWS OF 1958
Reunion: May 30-31

NEWS OF 1957

From Pearl Stein:

What a terrific weekend at our 45th class reunion! Herbert Moselle, with his wife, Marcia, returned for the first time since graduating. Richard Wright and his wife, Barbara, enjoyed all the festivities, especially the parade. Cornelia Schlotter, Arlene Sell, and Anne Frankenfield Howlett went to Founder’s Day.

Enjoying the luncheon with faculty guest Ruth Roberts Hailperin were Karen Johnson Berry with her husband, Harold; Carmella Carrescia; Cornelia Schlotter; Lee Weaver and his wife, LaRae; and Juliana Bobo Ott. Herman and Jeri Collier and Bob Burcaw were faculty guests of our class. Sharing their experiences were Earl Zeiner with his wife, Adele; Gordon Sommers with his wife, Susan; George Toth with his wife, Ingrid; Gwyned “Ned” Williams; Louis Noe; Doris Noctor Woodward ’49; Myron Savacool ’58 and his wife, Dorothy; and Luther Kemmerer. Irene Breslin Genther and her husband, Frank, enjoyed the company of Pat Miller Helfrich and her friend Brooke Hartman. Also there: Gudrun Krauss Lounsbury with her husband, William; Diane Yaeck Wellington; and Carolyn Edwards Simmons with her husband, James. Jerry ’61 and Beverly Love ’55 Potter, Jo-anne Neuman Pessin, Katie Kapsalis Kehayas, and Elaine Thomasch Nolfa, with her daughter, kept up a lively conversation at our table throughout lunch. We had a chance to talk to Elaine’s husband, Nick Nolfa ’60, at the Saturday evening activities.

The Class of 1957 was awarded the prize for the most spirit! No other class came close because of the leadership of Pat Helfrich, committee chair, and Jerry Potter, parade coordinator. Pat arranged for the six chauffeur-driven Thunderbird convertibles, and Jerry designed and ordered the large signs we carried. Our class, “Updated and Better Than Ever,” marched proudly. Riding in style were Carl Ackerman, committee chair, Juliana Bobo Ott, Cornelia Schlotter, and Carmella Carrescia, John Subach’s wife, Helene; Irene Breslin Genther and her husband.

Donald Bortz and his wife, Dolores, attended the Friday evening barbecue (held inside because of the weather) but could not come Saturday because Donald was being honored by East Stroudsburg University, where he is a professor emeritus of education. This is his third award for outstanding teaching.

Thanks to Marietta Schwartz Banach ’56 for sharing our celebration.

Myron Genel had registered to attend the reunion, but flu prevented him from coming. We missed him.
Many alumni spoke proudly of their children and grandchildren. I would guess that Luther Kemmerer has the most grandchildren: His six children have a total of 24 offspring.

It is interesting how many Moravian graduates have devoted their careers to working with children. Richard Minich ’67 of Portland, Ore., was in business for himself and now teaches and coaches for the Special Olympics. Lee Weaver is a retired professor of engineering at the University of South Florida. Retired educators from the Class of 1957 include Thomas Burke, Irene Genther, Joan Schnable Haupert, Anne Howlett, Carmella Carrescia, Dena Drucker DeYoung, Elaine Nolfa, Jo-anne Pessin, Tina Bando Ridgeway, and Jerry Potter—and this is just a small sampling! Katie Kehayas, Diane Wellington, and Roberta Buzeff Thomas are class members who continue to teach.

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend the reunion. We already are thinking of our 50th. A special thanks to all the staff at Alumni House for their time, patience and generous help. Many thanks to the reunion committee: Earl Zeiner, Carl Ackerman, Pat Helfrich, Irene Genther, Beverly and Jerry Potter, Gordon Sommers, and George Toth. And our gratitude to Joan Sabol Langley ’56—she wrote a tribute in memory of Barbara Shelton Mellon, who died in 2000.

In November, Bill and Ruth Salabsky ’58 Cornwell will spend a week aboard the Millennium, visiting San Juan, Catalina Island off the Dominican Republic, St. Thomas, and Nassau. This will be their sixth cruise in the last five years!

We extend heartfelt sympathy to Roland and Suzanne Evans ’55 Passaro, whose 38-year-old son died following surgery; and to Shirley Kunsman Bilheimer, on the passing of her husband, Harold ’42.

In future columns, I will include more news about our class taken from the bios in the reunion booklet. Good health to you and all your families.

NEWS OF 1956

From Pauline Ritter Benner:

Thanks to Joan Schnable Haupert ’57, I got an update on Pete Haupert ’56, ’59. He and Joan are happy and busy in retirement. His main interests are travel, woodworking (including a beautiful cradle of Nicaraguan mahogany for their new granddaughter), and cooking. (He spent a recent week learning the finer points of French cuisine at a cordon school in Paris.) He also enjoys golf, gardening, hiking, biking, and camping. And he still finds time to return to Nicaragua with his sons to help out with the missions there. Joan says studying foreign languages and traveling to Portugal continue to be highlights for them both.

Dick ’60 and Mary Kilpatrick Kohl have been in touch. Though retired from the E.C. Church in Pine Grove, Dick serves as interim pastor at their church near Reading. Their children are scattered to Thailand, Michigan, and Alabama. The Kohls make it a point to visit them as often as possible and enjoy it very much when they return to Pennsylvania with their families.

Marian Buchman Schwoyer relates from Surprise, Ariz., that she and Bill also enjoy retirement and like the Southwest very much, despite the very hot summers. They are active in their church and attend classes through the Arizona State West program, where they’re learning Spanish.

As for us, in late April we hosted our fourth Service Elderhostel on the Gettysburg battlefield. It’s always quite a week of work: painting picket fences, making and staining picnic tables, landscaping, cleaning windows, etc. But we have a great time and meet people from all over the country. We enjoy our grandchildren, golf, travel, gardening, and other Elderhostel programs.

The Class of 1957, with six Thunderbird convertibles and lively signs, took the prize for the “most spirit” for its entry in the 2002 Alumni Weekend parade.

Photo: Gregory M. Fota '69