1947
Class correspondent:
Peg Loveless Browne
pegbrownenj@medleas.com
Posted 4-8-19
June Urffer Moyer writes that she spoke with Barbara Schlegel Miller. Barbara has two sons, six granddaughters; two live in Florida, two live in Texas, and two live near Fleetwood, Pa., and two great grandchildren. Barbara still takes walks and goes to the gym. Margaret Loveless Browne is still having a hard time since her son passed away in October. Margaret says he was the type of guy who took care of everyone. We send our sincere condolences to Margaret. She is still flying to Colorado to see her grandchildren. Katherine Nies Geiger still plays bridge and she is no longer driving. Katherine’s husband, Maurice, was June Moyer’s dentist and June says she never minded going to the dentist! June Moyer speaks with Phyllis Rose Iacocca ’45 occasionally. Phyllis still lives in Allentown, Pa. Her husband Julius, passed away in January. Phyllis is confined to her own home with caregivers around the clock. June Urffer Moyer is still active and well. She and her daughter, Kathie, are active in their church and June says that she is still driving. She exercises daily, enjoys reading, writing letters, and other daily activities. June wishes all the girls “Good Health”
Posted 1/30/19
We are sad to report that Samuel Remaly passed away on January 5, 2019.
Posted 10/5/18
We are sad to report that Janet Parks Weinland passed away on September 5, 2018.
June Urffer Moyer writes that she spoke with Margaret Loveless Browne. Margaret is doing well and she travels to Colorado three times a year to see her grandchildren. Margaret also enjoys meditation, bridge, and keeping in shape. Margaret’s older sister passed away in December.
June also reports that her husband, Bob, passed away on January 7, 2018. Bob was 92, and they would have celebrated their 70th anniversary in June. I am blessed to have a caring, wonderful daughter living with me and an attentive son in Virginia. I still drive and enjoy writing, reading, attending bible study, exercising, and many friends.
Barbara Schlegel Miller’s husband, Ken, passed away in January, a day after his 92nd birthday. The Millers’ resided in the Highlands in Wyomissing, Pa., and Barbara gets much comfort from the residents. Barbara has started yoga classes, goes to the gym three times a week, sings in a chorus, and attends bible study.
Kitty Nies Geiger became a great-grandmother. Kitty is 94 and has given up driving. Kitty informed me that Jean Achey Schrader suffers from dementia and no longer lives at home with her husband, Jack.
Phyllis Rose Iacocca ’45 and her husband, Julius, still live in their home in Allentown, Pa. She and Julius do have some health issues, and they do have caregivers. They celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on August 22, 2018.
Posted 1/29/18
We are sad to report that Teresa Soltis Maus passed away on January 7, 2018.
Posted 11/29/16Hi girls. Can it be 70 years since we graduated?
Barbara Schlegel Miller and hubby have lived in a retirement community in Wyomissing, PA for 19 years. Barbara is well. Hubby has health issues. Presently she has one sister. Two sons live nearby and visit regularly. Another son lives in Texas.
Margaret “Peg” Loveless Browne and I exchanged a few phone calls. Her husband died in 2005. In 2016, Peg moved into a Quaker related retirement community in Devon, PA. She is doing well and keeps busy. Peg has 3 daughters and 2 sons, 9 grandchildren, and happily awaiting 4 great grandchildren. They know there’s a set of twins. Surprise, the twins arrived on November 16th and they are boys. Meanwhile, after 35 years, Peg has picked up her knitting needles. Her youngest granddaughter lives in Colorado. Peg flies there often and is planning a trip soon.
Kitty Nies Geiger and I had a long phone conversation. She is 94, still driving. She loves to read and is very active. Her husband died 24 years ago. Kitty still lives in her home in Allentown. Her son lives nearby and her daughter lives in the Philadelphia area. Kitty has two grandsons and 3 great grandchildren.
I speak with Phyllis Rose Iacocca ’45 frequently. Phyl and hubby live at the same address in Allentown. They celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary in August. Phyllis had a set back from a fall in January 2016. She manages to get around with a walker, and has a part time care giver. Two daughters and a son live nearby and a daughter who is a retired nurse lives in New York.
Betty Riegel Mesner and I spoke in early spring. She is blind and has since taken up residence with her sister in Nashville, TN.
Bob and I have resided in California longer than we resided in PA. We’ve made 80+ flights from coast to coast enjoying our summer cabin in Sumneytown, PA. We enjoyed our timeshare in Puerto Vallarta and celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary in Hong Kong and Indonesia. We enjoyed trips to Europe, Alaska, and Hawaii. In October of 2016 Bob moved into Residential Assisted Living, where he is safe from falling and receives excellent care. My heart is broken, but I still drive and I am thankful I can go see him every day. He is blind from Macular Degeneration, and he has hydrocephalus. We celebrated our 69th wedding anniversary in June. I am blessed, to have our daughter living with me. Our son lives in Virginia and we are in contact often.
We are sad to report that Helen Kanuskey Canfield passed away on November 14, 2017.
We are sad to report that Doris Trine Kennedy passed away on November 20, 2017.
Posted 8/3/17
June Urffer Moyer writes: Congratulations on 70 years since your graduation from Moravian. As your correspondent for fifty years I contacted the Alumni Engagement office and a surprising number of us are still around, so how about writing to me and getting reacquainted. I would love to hear from you. Let’s put the class of ’47 back on the map. Please mail me your notes.
Posted 4-26-17
We are sad to report that Jean Zehner Lombardi passed away on April 2, 2017.
Posted 6/24/16
We are sad to report that June Hunsicker Kuhns passed away on June 12, 2016.
Posted 3/29/16
We are sad to report that Paul Miller passed away on March 25, 2016.
Posted 12/21/15
We are sad to report that Gladys Hejl Labaj passed away on November 6, 2015.
Posted 1/29/15
We are sad to report that Charlotte Schisler passed away on January 1, 2015.
Posted 7/30/14
We are sad to report that William Weinland ’47 and ’49 passed away on June 22, 2014.
Posted 3/31/14
We are sad to report that Bernard Boyer passed away on March 28, 2014.
Posted 12/7/12
We are sad to report that George Kirkpatrick. passed away on November 17. George was your class correspondent for many years.
Posted 4/3/12
We are sad to report that Ernest Barthol. passed away on March 19, 2012.
Posted 8/31/11
From the Alumni House:
We are sad to report that Marjorie Coleman Silverberg passed away on August 19, 2011.
Posted 4/4/11
From the Alumni House:
We are sad to report that Mary Jean Grider Spangenthal passed away on March 3, 2011.
Posted 2/03/2011
We are sad to announce that Harold Suess passed away on January 24, 2011.
Posted 1/26/11
From the Alumni House:
We are sad to report that former class officer Edward Steager passed away on January 11, 2011.
Posted 10/6/10
From the Alumni house:
We are very sad to announce the passing of two classmates, Robert Powell on August 10, 2010, and George Strauss on September 16, 2010.
Posted 12/1/09
From the Alumni House:
We are sad to report that Helen Kanuskey Canfield, lost her husband, Donald Canfield ’51. He passed away on November 12.
Posted 9/1/09
From George:
I am eager to hear from anyone. Please drop me a line if you have time. I wish everyone well.Posted 4/20/09
From Peg:
I sent out more than twenty postcards to get news, and several faithful classmates responded: Helen Kanusky Canfield, Kitty Nies Geiger, June Hunsicker Kuhns, Betty Riegel Mesner, Charlotte Unangst Schisler, Jean Achey Schrader, and Mary Jean Grider Spangenthal. It was great hearing from you all, and many thanks from me to you.
Helen and Don spent an enjoyable week in August vacationing in Pittsburg, N.H., with their son and his family. The last week in August they drove to Dayton, Ohio, where they had a mini-Florida reunion with seven other couples who didn’t make it to Florida in March when the Canfields were there. They played shuffleboard, ate dinner together, etc. Everyone had such a good time that they plan to repeat it next summer. The Canfields became great-grand parents for the first time; they have a beautiful granddaughter named Lilly.
Kitty is still healthy and is happy to still be in her own home. She uses her time to do volunteer work at Lehigh Valley Hospital’s gift shop, to play bridge, and to go to lunch with friends. Her son lives in nearby Emmaus and her daughter, Sarah, lives in Philadelphia, so they are able to keep close. Her travels this year included two weddings—for a grand-niece and a second cousin—and she goes to visit close cousins in Hamburg, Pa.
June and Jerry have lived in Florida for 54 years. They “still miss the seasons up North,” but are very comfortable down South. They moved into a condo three months ago and found it difficult to adjust after living in a ranch home on 2½ acres. Their condo building has 522 units, and although their church is technically next door, they have to walk there. Their son Scott is following in the steps of his father. He is now in his first year of dentistry at the University of Florida. Their second grandson is a sophomore in high school.
Betty misses her husband terribly. He died February 8, 2008, and she is trying to adjust to widowhood. Despite her blindness, Betty is taking organ lessons, knitting, and attending church regularly. She is starting an exercise program, and she writes that “life is never dull in my home.” We can certainly believe that!!! She has caregivers for 8 hours each day, and says “my dear friends indulge me with patience and love.”
Charlotte’s middle daughter, Gail, is doing well now after a breast lumpectomy in December 2007. She had to make daily trips for six weeks, over Colorado’s snowy mountain passes, for radiation. Amazingly, she completed a 27-mile hike in two days, and raised $2,300 for breast cancer research. All is fine. Charlotte has been taking physical therapy now for 6 weeks—1½ hours of painful, very hard, and exhausting daily exercises—for her spinal stenosis. She hopes to see the benefits soon. Her oldest daughter, Carol, has two grandsons and 2½ year old Katelyn. They live in North Carolina. Her youngest daughter, Patty, got married last summer. She lives in Allentown and is in PR at Nestles.
Jean’s husband had a successful knee operation at the end of August. He should have done it sooner, but he didn’t want to miss any of their granddaughter’s track meets at Haverford College, where she throws the discus and shotput. She broke Haverford’s discus record as a sophomore this year. Jackie’s sister, Jessie, lives in Belle Meade, New Jersey, where she works for an accounting firm.
Mary Jean writes that she is fine and happy except for some “nasty arthritis.” Her sons objected to her driving, so she has a lovely person who helps her with her shopping and doctor appointments. She comments that she feels she is living in an exceptional time in history and hopes to live long enough to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Mary Jean is most fortunate to have all her family live in Richmond, Va. She is especially happy to see her two little great-granddaughters as often as possible—“the loves of her life.”
I, too, am doing fine—some annoying arthritis and always working physically to keep what I have. Medford Leas has a fitness studio with five trainers who keep us going, and I swim and do water therapy five days a week. Last spring I did a “Brain Gym” program, based on hearing and following instructions, and this past week I completed Brain Gym II, which is based on vision and peripheral vision. It was fascinating. I traveled last April to visit the west coast of Italy, visiting Milan, Lake Como, Portofino, Genoa, etc. I much prefer the east coast where I took 18 trips with my Latin students. I traveled to Colorado twice this year to see two of my children and grandchildren. One of my granddaughters spent the year teaching in Taiwan. My third granddaughter is an assistant coach of field hockey at Drexel University in Philadelphia, so I became a Drexel hockey fan this year.
From George:
I am taking an informal roll call to learn how many of the 43 men in our graduating class are still living at about age 86 or so. Will you please send me a postcard? It need only say “present.” Other comments are welcome. If you are in poor health, my heart goes out to you. Most of us began our journey through Moravian College in September 1941 in a freshman class of 77 and a student body of about 300. At that time, our class was the largest freshman class in the history of Moravian College for Men. As WWII progressed, the student body decreased to 27. The war ended in August 1945. The student body was back to more than 300 by the time of our graduation. Eleven Moravian College students were taken during the war, and many were wounded. Our good friend and classmate Stanley Frankenfield died some months later of a South Pacific disease known as elephantiasis, after he had briefly returned to campus. I was a combat infantryman in France, Belgium, and Holland. After being wounded on a cold and dark night, I was taken prisoner of war by German soldiers. I was awarded the Purple Heart, as were many of our classmates, and the Bronze Star.