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In Memoriam Russell R. Gibbons 7W1 May 29, 2017
Jonathan R. Pfaff 0W7 April 2, 2017
John F. Lynch 4W3 John Lynch 4W3, a machinist, died
April 16. Mr. Lynch was a machinist at Baldwin Locomotive, an engineer at Marco Development Co, F. F. Slocumb Corp., and Toro Machine.
He served in the Army during World War II in Europe in the 1056th Battalion Engineer Corps. He landed in Normandy on D-Day and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
He attended Drexel Institute in Philadelphia( now Drexel University).
A longtime resident of Aston, Pa., he served as Aston Township Auditor for several years. He was a member of St. Joseph’ s Roman Catholic Church and enjoyed painting, cooking, wine making, model railroads, woodworking, gardening, and spending time with his family.
Frederick W.“ Fred” LeFevre 4W8 Frederick LeFevre 4W8, a long-time
Longwood Gardens employee, died
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April 11. He was 86.
Mr. LeFevre began his career as a carpenter for builder Joseph Sullivan, West Chester, a stamper for Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Wilmington, Del., and a foreman with Fred Sinclair, Kennett Square.
In 1960, he began a 27-year career at Longwood Gardens, starting in the carpentry shop and later working in the purchasing department and as an architectural engineering aide. He retired in 1987 as head of safety.
Throughout his career, he was a building inspector in New Garden and Pocopson Townships, Pa.
He served in the U. S. Army from 1954-55 and then the Reserves until 1962.
He was a member of Williamson’ s Wanamaker Society.
He enjoyed golf and carpentry projects. He was a member of the Elks Club over 20 years and a patron of the Swarthmore Players Club over 40 years.
Charles J.“ Jack” Robbins 5W1
Charles“ Jack” Robbins 5W1, a partner in the PRA Development & Management Corp., died Feb. 17. He was 85.
Mr. Robbins’ commercial and residential projects spanned the Philadelphia region, and included southern New Jersey, and Virginia.
He was a mentor to many Williamson students and others entering carpentry
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and the building field.
He loved to travel and was an avid skier and boater. In retirement, he made furniture.
Eugene N.” Gino” Maffei 5W3
Eugene“ Gino” Maffei 5W3, a machinist and vocational education teacher, died Feb. 18.
Early in his career, Mr. Maffei worked as a toolmaker at Westinghouse Electric, Lester; a machinist at Crystal-X Corp., Lenni; the Mechanical Product Development Corp., Norwood; and Franick Enterprises, Glenolden.
He then taught metalworking and mechanical drawing at Beverly Hills Junior High School, Upper Darby, and general machine shop practice in the Delaware County Vocational Schools. He also taught mechanical technology at Williamson for several years and at the Delaware County Community College.
He was an active member of the Alumni Association and served as president and on various committees. In 2015 he received the Alumnus of the Year Award.
He earned an associate degree in industrial arts and vocational education at Temple University in 1976 and certification to teach industrial arts from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’ s Department of Public Instruction. He received an engineer certification from
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the Society of Manufacturing Engineers( SME) in 1986 and a robotic certification in 1987.
He served several years in the U. S. Army.
Joe S. Sorace 5W3 Joe Sorace 5W3, a salesman, died May
17. He was 84.
After serving in the Army Corps of Engineers, Mr. Sorace earned a degree in engineering at the Spring Garden Institute.
He worked as a salesman for various companies, including Wrapp Machinery Company in Fort Washington, Pa., York Penn Machinery in York, Pa., and Lance Machinery in York.
In retirement, he worked eight years in the Parts Department at Audi of Willow Grove.
He enjoyed caring for his yard and always had the nicest yard on the block.
Robert D. Rumberger 5W8
Robert Rumberger, a former worker at the Detroiter Plant and the Tamaqua Cable Co., died May 2. He was 79.
Mr. Rumberger was a member of Ss. Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Church, Minersville; was a lifetime member of the Rainbow Hose Company, Schuylkill Haven; and was active in the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts. He also was an Army veteran.
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had an 8-inch snow, but we were in Florida and dodged that bullet.
Before I get into the class news I wanted to give you a heads up and a date to put on your calendar. We’ re going to have another 6W5 class picnic up here in Bloomsburg at the same park we were in three years ago. I have reserved the same pavilion. The date is Sept. 12. I will be sending out a letter and map in the next few weeks, which you probably will have before you read this. It is already two years since our 50th and a number of you expressed an interest in getting together so please put Sept. 12 on your calendars now and we’ ll look forward to seeing you for a great turnout in the park.
Also, there will most likely be a fall gathering of the“ 5W4 and Friends” as they did last fall at the Shady Maple in Lancaster. We had a great turnout of 12 classmates and we enjoyed our time together and all the other“ Willy” guys and their families. As soon as I hear of their date I will pass it on.
Many of you were at school two years ago when we had our 50th and enjoyed a special weekend with your classmates. How about coming back to school again this year on Alumni Day, June 3, to see all that’ s going on at your school? The new“ Watson Dorm” will be finished and you will be able to see the dining room expansion underway. Com’ on back!
News of our classmates is once again a medical report.
Mike Kolb- Like many of us, Mike is enjoying retirement, but spending way too much time in a doctor’ s office. He is just about recovered from a successful shoulder surgery, but is now weighing the pros and cons of knee replacement. We wish you well, Mike, whatever you decide.
In our conversation, Mike and I talked
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about our recommending good young men who would benefit from a Williamson education. Over the years, he has helped a number of boys from his area get into and graduate from Williamson. I know over the years a number of you have done the same thing, but I would encourage you all to always be on the lookout for good kids from your area who need Williamson. We were all given a great gift the day we received our Williamson scholarship … it is now time to“ pay it forward!”
Jim Kimmel- I needed to call Jim, as I had an error with his email address and was getting an“ undeliverable” message. When I did get to talk to him … WOW, what a time he has just come through. I found out, to quote him,“ He had been one sick puppy.” In the latter part of last year, he had a pain in his side that was not kidney stones as he has had three or four times before. This pain turned out to be pneumonia. He then developed blood clots in both lungs. As things deteriorated, Jim was sent from Pottsville Hospital down to Hershey Medical Center where he spent five days in the Intensive Care Unit. He said through it all he was coughing and coughing all the time. In the end, he was left with some permanent lung damage, but is still praising God as he was told only three to four percent of the patients who had what he had survived. Jim said he knew God had things for him to do here yet and wasn’ t ready to call him home.
We, too, praise God that Jim is still with us and that we have at least one more picnic or one more reunion to be together.
That’ s about all the news I have for now. Please let us know what you’ re doing, because we care … really! The email addresses I have for you guys are from our 50th. If anything has changed over the last two years,
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please let me know so that I can keep you in the loop. Also, please update all your necessary information with the folks at school.
God bless you and your family, and I hope to see you at school in June or our picnic in September.
Dick
W 67 Steve Nash 205 Red Fox Court Middletown, DE 19709 302-376-9680 302-383-6860( cell) snash999 @ cs. com
Hi guys, how y’ all doing?
I really did not think I’ d be writing another article before our 50th reunion, but here we go. It is just over a month away and it seems like there are a hundred things to do beforehand. This article is going to be very short because any topic that can be written about, can be discussed in just a few weeks.
I did get a call from Vince Pitonyak this past week. He had some questions concerning money and how it was to be handled. I referred him to the school. As I’ ve stated in previous letters, phone conversations, etc., I do not want to get involved in the school’ s financial matters.
I’ ve been very distracted lately: my wife has had some major surgery to remove a cancerous tumor that developed in her jaw. I’ ve been nursing her and taking her to more doctors than I care to mention. I’ m not even sure if she’ ll be able to attend the reunion with me or not. Time will tell in this situation. I have to say this: she has been one hellava trooper through all of it. She has taught me a new definition of the word courage.
If you haven’ t done so already, get your
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reservations in and dust off that suit that hangs in the closet cause you’ ll be putting it to use on June 2.
Till then … Steve
W 68 Edgar Speer 1600 Ulster Lane West Chester, PA 19380 610-431-7574 speerhouse7 @ verizon. net
Happy Spring, Gentlemen,
The sun is shining. It is April 3 as I write these notes. Hopefully, we are finished with winter and any snow. I have been working on my garden and have quite a few seedlings growing in my kitchen. It is a small news report this session, but I need you to help it grow.
Dan Smith sent me an email saying,“ A monumental event is taking place here in Indiana. We are privileged to be getting“ Yuengling” here on draft as of March 6. Packaged product will be available in April – in time for race fans and the Indy 500. As for the Brickyard 400, most NASCAR fans and teams are from the south east and they could not get their favorite draft in Indiana in previous years. Their behavior might reflect less frustration this year. I skied at Elk Mt. last Friday 02 / 24 / 2017 with my nephew Shawn and my 70-year-old brother Craig. The temperature got up to 67 degrees on the slopes. Not Good in the afternoon. The morning was pretty good in spite of the weather. It was a celebration weekend for him and a“ Yuengling” celebration for me. We have a seventh grandchild due the end of August this year. Blessings to you all.” Great news, Dan, about your skiing, Yuengling, and your new grandchild.
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