Class Notes

NEWS OF 1986

From James and Lynda Farrell Swartz:

Hard to believe how fast time is flying by! Hope everyone is happy and healthy. We don’t hear from many of you. Why is that? Please drop us a quick note so we have fun things to write about.

Homecoming was a great day. Not many from our class attended, though. Corinne Parker Edmonds, Carmella Marsala Griffo, Penni Keck Kospiah, Lisa Celot Keck, and Kelly Krieble all helped out at Houndfest.

We saw Rob Hoag and Rick Taylor, who said this was their first trip back to the College in several years. John Walton helped again with parking. John and Valerie Hand ’85 Morris volunteered a lot of time at the Kids’ Tent. A huge thank you to them and all the volunteers!

We received a note from David Mix, who has worked at a Lutheran church in Elmira, N.Y., for 15 years. David would love to reconnect with classmates. We hope all of you have registered with Moravian’s on-line alumni community. That’s a great way to catch up with one another.

Carol Traupman-Carr welcomed a daughter, Allison Rose, on August 8. She told us that classmate Bryan Hay, who founded the Main Street Brass, had been on tour in England, and that his repertory included an arrangement of “Shenandoah” by Carol.

Greg Kotanchick surprised us with an e-mail. He went back to school at the University of Colorado/Denver and spent the past three years as an advocate for disabled veterans in Chicago. Recently he moved to the Seattle area.

From the Alumni House:

Joan Dickinson enjoys her work as senior vice president at American Home Bank, where she oversees two branches and is in charge of commercial loans. She likes being at a small bank and being instrumental in helping it grow.

Kalli Rimikis-Kerr and her husband, Gregory, just moved into a home not far from their old apartment and love it.

NEWS OF 1985

Reunion Homecoming 2005
October 21-22

From Paula Colizzo Lewinski:

Back in August I got a great surprise in my e-mail: a letter from Bob Condron. He and his wife, Wendy Tretheway ’87, have been married for 16 years and are the parents of a daughter and two sons. They live in Fort Mill, S.C., where they ended up after deciding to be a little closer to family post-9/11. Bob had given up his partnership in an insurance practice to do this, which allows him more time for family and for contributing to their community. He has been certified as a volunteer firefighter. Wendy is back at work teaching math at the local junior high.

Len Korn, his wife, Mercedes, and four (yes, four) children are finally returning to the United States after several years in England. I was sure they were on their way to being expatriates. But they’re returning to their home in Basking Ridge. N.J.

Our 20th reunion is coming up, so mark your calendars for October 21-22. Anyone interested in helping plan our reunion, please contact Lynn Muschlitz LaBarre or Alumni House.

From the Alumni House:

Laura A. Maxwell has been named a fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society. She successfully completed the nine examinations that test understanding of the business of property and casualty insurance, as well as a course on professionalism. She works at Milliman Inc. as a consulting actuary.

NEWS OF 1984

From Dianne Sciabica Mandry:

We held our 20th reunion at the Homecoming game October 16. The festivities began with tailgating at Houndfest and ended with gathering at the Old Brewery Tavern and Bethlehem Brew Works.

The following people attended some or all of our Homecoming reunion:

LaurieAnn Yeisley-Drogin, Joe Luksa, Chris Lentz, Jill Murphy, Pete Cohen, Mary Beth Sinnott Vatcher, Robin Martin-Peteaglia, Sue Bennett, Cindy Gessell-Phillips, Leigh Newbaker Smith, Tom Grygiel (a.k.a. Boz), Teresa Hoadley Langston, Sally Brong, David Reed ’83, Rich Duda ’83, Christine Heske Taunton ’82, Mike Nicholas, Chuck and Gerry ’85 Skiko, Linda Dade Storey ’86, Matt Pirozzi ’88, Barbara Devens Amidon, and Mary Kay Greene.

NEWS OF 1983

From the Alumni House:

Kim Laukaitis married Brian Roche on June 14, 2003. Between them, they have four children: Myles, 15; Stephanie, 14; Lara, 12; and Colby, 10. They live in Lancaster, where Brian works for the NBC affiliate as a news anchor.

NEWS OF 1982

NEWS OF 1981

NEWS OF 1980

Reunion May 20-21

From Molly Donaldson Brown:

Santa came to my computer early this year with e-mails from some of our classmates.

A message from Bob Scardina was loaded with updates on his life. He’s been single for more than six years now, “and loving it,” he adds. He still lives in Hightstown, N.J., and works for Merrill Lynch in computer operations in its teleport on Staten Island. He expects to be there until sometime in 2006, when a new data center opens in Levittown. He’s crossing his fingers for a transfer to the new facility.

Bob says his children are growing up quickly: Bianca is already 16 and sons Anthony and Michael are 11 and 13. Both play football in Hillsborough, N.J., which, he says, “helps me to relive my past.” Their coach is a good friend of Charley Craig ’81. (Small world.) Bob spent last Memorial Day weekend at Pat Parenty’s house. Pat is working in New York City.

An interesting message from Roberta Titus Edgar, who wrote about our classmate Russ Rentler. “I had the privilege of hearing Russ perform at my church’s coffeehouse,” she writes. “Check out his website at www.russrentler.com for pictures, his bio, and schedule of performances. Perhaps you can catch him when he performs in your area. His CD is terrific!”

Russ was a biology major at Moravian and then went to medical school. In College, he played his guitar in the Pub and for Christian fellowship. And he performed at times with another musical classmate, John Gorka. Russ plays many instruments—banjo, guitar, harmonica, dulcimer, and autoharp—and all without knowing how to read music. He made his own dulcimer!

Responding to my poll of our classmates who might have children at or near college age, Roberta writes that her daughter, Amanda, interviewed at Moravian and attended a Junior Open House there. Amanda is interested in a small liberal arts school, and she wants to stay in Pennsylvania. Amanda wants to major in education with dual certification in special education.

The third surprise came from Kris Wellington Priore, who, besides writing, stopped by my office for lunch last fall. She and her family were in town checking out Lehigh Valley colleges, as her older son is in the application process now. Christopher and his younger brother, Alex, now tower over their mom.

Last fall I got together with another classmate, Janet Fruhwith-Jarvis and her husband, Dale, and their son, Brett, a high school freshman. Janet and I go way back, even further than our college years. We met in seventh grade! The reunion was great fun; we brought pictures and enjoyed silly stories from our past.

Jot down my e-mail address above and take a moment to send me a message and update all of us on your own reunions and contacts. We’d love to hear what you’ve been up to!

From the Alumni House:

John (“Woody”) Snyder manages to sail in the middle of the landlocked state of Iowa, where he is a professor of physics at Iowa State University. In September, he organized a regatta at Pella (home of Pella Windows) in which 11 sailboats from five states participated. These included the national champions from the 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2004 competitions. His own team, with himself as skipper and Lu Han, a former student of his, as crew, came in first in the International-FJ division and the FJUS Eastern Regional Championship. The FJ is a specialty racing craft.

NEWS OF 1979

From the Alumni House:

Martha Jane Weaver Lownie remarried in 2002. Her husband, David MacGregor Lownie, hails from Scotland. In addition to her professional singing and recording schedule, she is on the voice faculty at The Bishop's School in La Jolla (San Diego), CA and also maintains her own private voice studio.

NEWS OF 1978

From the Alumni House:

The Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference of the United Methodist Church elected John Schol a bishop at its annual conference July 15. On September 1, he began his ministry as bishop of the Washington, D.C., area.

John has been senior pastor of the United Methodist Church in West Chester since 1997. After graduating from Moravian, he earned a Master of Divinity in 1981 and a Doctor of Ministry in 1995, both from Boston University. From 1981 to 1993, John directed a four-church cooperative in Philadelphia.

John and his wife, Beverly Anne, have three children, Mark and twins Kristin and Rebecca, who are juniors at Moravian.

Corinne Fusco Patt, secretary of the Maryland PTA, just finished serving on the committee on communications of the Maryland Parent Advisory Council, an organization established by the Maryland State Department of Education. She also has finished a two-year term on the Parent Community Advisory Board for the Prince Georges County public schools.

Kathryn Schaar Burke ’93 illustrated Mule Boy by Joan Gilbert, a retired literary agent who settled in the Mahoning Valley and became interested in the history of the Lehigh and Delaware Canals.