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Fall 2002

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Fall, 2002 Column

Pat Moran (now deceased):

Hi '52ers!  Wow, where do I begin?  The Class of '52 celebrated its 50th Reunion, June 6-9,2002, and by any measure, enjoyed a tremendous success!  Aside from all the honors and awards to the class, those of us who returned to the campus had fun!  We schmoozed, reminisced and made new acquaintances.  The weather cooperated and sunny skies prevailed.

As I sit down to put these notes on paper, I'm overcome by the fact that of the 660 or so members in the graduating class, some 400 are still alive and 118 came back to our 501.  That 118 number is a record, as is the percentage (29%) of the returnees to the total.  I am also aware of the many '52ers who were not with us physically, but who were with us in spirit.  We will not forget them.

Daz and I drove from Tucson to Bethlehem, taking the southern route through New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, and into Pennsylvania.  We took our time so as to enjoy the Reunion, in one piece!  Our trek back home included Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, The Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming and Utah.  Thanks to Ceily and Wally Field and Barb and Bill Smith (deceased) for opening their homes to Daz and I.  To my kinowledge, the record distance traveled by a returnee was Dick Bieler (deceased), who came in from France.

The Reunion was a success because of the hard work of many people.  The two people who were most responsible are Randy Zehner (deceased), class treasurer, and Bill Smith (deceased), reunion chairman.  They were ably assisted by Bob McCann (deceased), class president, and his reunion committee: Frank Sgambelluri (deceased), Cass Camarda (deceased), Bob Flynn (deceased), Bob Kiesling, Chick Kuss and, of course, Reunion Fund Committee Co-Chairs and Class Vice Presidents Ralph Fortney and Ed Leidheiser (deceased).

On the financial side, we gave the university $9.6 million (our target was $8 million), which broke down to 84 percent class participation.  Let's give ourselves a big cheer!

Before I enumerate the awards and honors, I must thank Frank Sgambelluri (deceased) for his wonderful brainchild - The Golden Memories Reunion Yearbook.  I know I will treasure my copy.  Also, I want to extend kudos to Bill Erdman for his innovative 50' Reunion Website.  Now for the awards: Record number back for the 50th, 118 (previous record 116); Record percentage back for 50th (29%); The richly deserved Alumni Award presented to Cass Camarda (deceased) in recognition of 50 years of devoted service to his alma mater, Award for the greatest contribution to an outstanding class reunion to chairman, Randy Zehner (deceased); and the prestigious E.G. Grace Award to Norm Merksamer (deceased) for his devotion and generosity to the University.  Norm said it all when given the award, "It's easy to sell Lehigh when you love her like I do!"  And, oh yes, we didn't win the Parade Flag, but, we were a close third!

That's it for now.  The class did itself proud and once again proved it is the best!  Keep up with the Class of '52; tune back here every chance you get.

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Revised:  May 07, 2023

 

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