In my last column, I mentioned that Wil Wilbern had suffered a stroke and was interested in some contact (and comfort) from his friends in the class.  I am glad to report that Gordon Maxson, Bill Erdman, Ralph Fortney, Bill Smith, Bill Murray and yours truly responded.  Wil sent a thank-you note to the class and said his therapy is ongoing, that he feels pretty good, and that he will come back full bore!  Good luck, Wil,

Harry Stowers sent this along after our 50th.  After Lehigh, the Air Force, marrying Sarah, his hometown sweetheart from West Virginia, and the sales department at Caterpillar Tractor Co., Peoria, Ill., Harry and his two brothers, including Eugene '44, obtained a Caterpillar franchise in Eastern Tennessee in 1960.  Today, Harry is chairman of Stowers Machinery Corp., and his eldest son, Wes, is running the company.  Harry says that he and Sarah divide their time between Knoxville and their home in Hilton Head, S.C., and that they both enjoy good health.

I received a note from my Arizona neighbor, who is actually no miles away!  Dick Schmidt is busy as parks and recreation commissioner in his hometown of Fountain Hills.   Dick is also president of ADOG, the Dog Park Support organization, and he "moonlights" for a local courier service,. delivering documents a over the Valley of the Sun.  His wife, Carolyn, makes exquisite fabric handbags, but a problem back has reduced this creative activity,

An impressive bio came my way from John Douglas Leith, revealing the following history since graduation: M.D., Penn 1956; internship University of California, San Francisco, to 1957; Lieutenant (Marine Corps USNR) at Pearl Harbor to 1959; Ph.D.,- University of Wisconsin, Madison, zoology 1964; taught at Pitt Medical School to 1967, then at University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, to '71; residency in pathology at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston, to 1975; pathologist at Brockton Massachusetts Hospital to 1993; retired since then and busy doing genealogy on wife's family that required several visits to Scotland and Germany.  Great story, John.  Good luck.'

The last part of this column is coming from Bowater, Cornwall, England, where Daz and I have spent most of June 2003.  Daz and I have over the years, swapped homes in the UK, have met some lovely people.  On one of our 11 "swaps", we met Jerry and Vicki, who are our hosts at this moment.  As I write this, I am looking out over an expanse of golf course and farmland that looks like a movie set.  I half expect to see Alistair Cooke or Sir Lawrence Olivier walk up the moor to greet me!  We're experiencing warm, sunny weather, contrary to the widely held belief that it's always cloudy and rainy here.  We must have brought the nice weather from Arizona.  The locals want us to move here!  T.T.F.N. (Ta Ta for Now) and let me know how you have spent your vacation.

Deceased:

• Mike Fuller

• Phil Sturiale

Revised:  March 11, 2009