I graduated from Cornell in 1967 and the same weekend married Martha Elespuru (CHS ‘64, although she had moved to North Syracuse in the summer of 1962) – no honeymoon because she had to return to Baltimore two days later for the final three months of her program at the Johns Hopkins Hospital School of Nursing. We lived in Manhattan for three years while I attended Columbia Law School and Martha ran the adolescent unit at Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic of New York Hospital-Cornell Medical School.

Upon law school graduation in 1970, I signed on with the oldest (1844) and largest law firm in New Jersey where I happily practiced until retiring two years ago. I represented several hospitals, worked on a few big mortgage deals, and served on national teams of lawyers representing pharmaceutical companies in the defense of their drug and medical device products, in connection with which I traveled extensively both in the United States and abroad. The law firm expanded greatly during my years there, growing from 27 lawyers in a single office to 375 lawyers in eight offices extending from Boston to Baltimore. (One of our offices was in the World Trade Center North Tower, and I was often there – including the day before 911.)

Actually, I didn’t really retire, I just changed my focus and am now selling wine at a renowned wine shop in the quaint Delaware River village of Stockton, NJ. I greatly enjoy the gentler pace.

Martha and I were blest with a son, David, now 34, and a daughter, Elizabeth, 31. In 1975 we built a house in the distant suburbs of western New Jersey in a lovely area of rolling countryside known as Hunterdon County, where we still reside. Martha studied for a degree in psychology at Trenton State College while raising our children and eventually received an MA in counseling as well. She is presently running cancer screening programs for the medically-disadvantaged in nearby Morris County.

David lives in Asheville NC and Beth in Fairfield CT. Both are happily married and leading rich and productive lives, and they have provided us with four wonderful grandchildren.

We have traveled extensively in the United States and Europe. Much of this travel relates to keeping tabs on grape harvests and wine-making in California, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. Other travels involve visiting Martha’s cousins in the Basque Country of northern Spain.

Our fathers are both deceased. Some of you may remember my father from Pall-Trinity-Micro, where he served as personnel manager until his retirement in 1975. Martha’s father was the service manager at Ames Chevrolet at the time of his untimely death in 1979, after which her mother married Bob Murphy (father of Karen Murphy, CHS ’60), who passed away three years ago. She now lives near Martha’s sister Rosalie (CHS ’62) in Maryland. My mother lives with us at the spry “old” age of 93.

Martha and I often reminisce about our high school years—our families, friends, and teachers—and of the many fond memories we have of CHS, band, Main Street, and church.

We are both grateful to Barbara and Steve for their efforts in putting CHS ’63 back together again!

......Fred Lehlbach