If you comb the newspaper looking for profound truths, obituaries are a good place to start.
Every death presents an inescapable fact of our lives: They end. But obituaries also affirm the lives led by our loved ones and many others. They often detail the lives of saints on earth, and sometimes sinners.
As 2022 comes to a close, we remember some of those who left an indelible mark on the Lehigh Valley, through the careers they chose, the communities they served, or the people they inspired. Some led long lives; others’ lives ended far too soon; some erred in their ways.
We remember Lehigh Valley leaders, those who affected the community, and young lives lost too soon, including an Allentown School District paraprofessional who was fatally struck in a traffic accident while working at her school.
We at The Morning Call felt a deep loss in the death of Mike Hirsch. He served in various capacities during his career at the newspaper, most recently as editor of the opinion pages.
As we look optimistically to the new year, it’s customary to reflect on those we’re leaving behind. Anyone who has lost someone during 2022 can especially relate. Here, then, are some of noteworthy lives lost during the year.
January
In early January, news emerged of the death of renowned Allentown artist James Paul Kocsis, 85, who died three days after Christmas. It was a quiet, and thus uncharacteristic end, for Kocsis — an eccentric spitfire who rejected the commercial world of art dealers and galleries but long sought the level of recognition that might have been his had he remained part of it.
Jan. 4, Diane S. Repyneck Martin, 63, battled breast cancer for a decade. She served more than two decades as a district judge for Hellertown and Lower Saucon Township, retiring in January 2009. She also met her future husband, Martin Guitar Executive Chair Chris Martin, during a case before her in which he contested a speeding ticket.
Jan. 10: Robert Durst, 78, was a millionaire real estate heir who for decades was surrounded by suspicion of murder in the deaths of his wife, Kathie Durst, and a longtime friend, Susan Berman. A 1965 Lehigh University graduate, Durst, who died in a state prison hospital in Stockton, California, also made national news more than 20 years ago. Charged in Texas with the gruesome murder of a neighbor, Durst skipped bail, prompting a nationwide search. That manhunt ended when Durst was nabbed for shoplifting a $6 hoagie, a Band-Aid and a newspaper at Wegmans near Bethlehem. At the time, he had $500 in his pocket, police said.
Jan. 17: Allentown police Detective James Stanko, 51, a friendly, recognizable face throughout the city as a community liaison officer, died after being hospitalized since the beginning of the year. Stanko worked with Allentown police for more than a dozen years, about half that time in community policing. “Throughout my life, I have been led by the morals that have been instilled in me since a child,” Stanko said on his LinkedIn page. “My father, my Superman, has taught me the value of honesty, integrity and love. These character traits, reflect in my work ethic, decision making and the way I treat and respect others.”
Jan. 26: Ruth Zettlemoyer, 79, who died from COVID, spent three decades as a volunteer seamstress to Liberty High School’s Grenadier Marching Band. She selflessly doted upon many through small acts of kindness that left a lasting impact.
February
Feb. 3: Timothy E. Stephens died at St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill, where he served as police chief for years. Stephens spent his career in police work, as a lieutenant for Bethlehem police from 1968-95, then becoming Fountain Hill chief. He also served as a chaplain for Bethlehem police.
Feb. 10: Rosemarie LaBarre, a Bethlehem Area School District teacher, and her four grandchildren died in a Monroe County fire. LaBarre was watching the Ribera family children, Kathryn, Kaleb, Kristian and Kasper, while their parents, Carlos and Markie Ribera, were out, when the fire erupted.
Feb. 28: The Rev. Daniel Gambet, 92, served for more than two decades as president of DeSales University in Upper Saucon Township. Colleagues and friends remembered Gambet as an ardent educator, philanthropist and leader who was not only passionate about uplifting the community, but was also an avid golfer who knew how to tell a joke. “I was charged by Dan to always be on the lookout for good jokes,” said Hank Barnette, former CEO of Bethlehem Steel. “Often, we were in a board meeting with an envelope with Dan’s name on it, which somebody would hand to Dan, and he knew what it was. The only qualification was he was never to attribute the joke to me when he told it — and he told many of them.”
March
March 11: Zora Felton, 91, became the first Black woman to graduate from Moravian University in 1952, when it was known as Moravian College for Women. Felton was a trailblazer and force for positive change in her community, both while growing up in the Lehigh Valley and during her career in Washington as a museum curator.
April
April 1: Brianna Baer, 15, and Abigail Kaufman, 10, died from smoke inhalation and burns in an accidental fire that destroyed their parents’ Hellertown home. “This is what small communities do,” Hellertown Mayor David Heintzelman told those who attended a memorial for the girls two nights later. ” … We mourn together. We will miss their smile, their energy, their laugh.”
April 6: Howard L. Kutzler, 57, was manager at Bethlehem and South Whitehall townships during his public career that ended in 2017. He went on to work for Jaindl Land Development Co. He was responsible for many large projects during his public service, including St. Luke’s Hospital-Anderson Campus in Bethlehem Township.
May
May 2: John Stoffa, 82, served two terms as Northampton County executive and was a government administrator for decades before that. But he wasn’t your typical politician or bureaucrat, never flashy or boastful, and not one to engage in an election-campaign tiff. He was, according to those who knew him best, a true gentleman, unique in political circles for not being partisan or parochial. “He was the unpolitician,” said Tony Iannelli, president and CEO of Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. “He was not a backslapper, but more a genuine, quiet, thoughtful person.”
May 17: DeSales University graduate and actor Marnie Schulenberg, 37, died of breast cancer. Originally from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Schulenberg enrolled at DeSales for its theater program. She joined “As The World Turns” in 2007 and appeared through the soap’s final episode in 2010. Later, Schulenburg starred in a reboot of “One Life to Live” in 2013.
May 19: Robert Youst, 95, was a volunteer counselor in Northampton County for older residents who needed help with Medicare or other matters. Robert and his wife, Ella Mae, founded and operated the Drug Service pharmacy near Bethlehem with an “innovative” drive-in window long before the first McDonald’s restaurant in Pennsylvania. After retiring, the pharmacist found a second career as an avid volunteer and advocate for the elderly.
May 29: Wolfgang Otto, 90, a Hess’s executive, was responsible for designing the department store chain’s flagship Allentown store during Hess’s heyday. Otto was Hess’ vice president of visual merchandising, meaning he was charged with capturing the imagination of would-be shoppers by painting the five-floor store as a one-of-a-kind destination full of elegant clothing, marvelous toys and a restaurant that served a legendary strawberry pie.
June
June 2: John E. Backenstoe, 89, was a retired Lehigh County judge who earlier held a Pennsylvania House of Representatives seat for Allentown. A Republican, he was the youngest member in the state House when he won election in 1960 at age 28. He served two terms, was beaten in 1964, then later was elected a judge. As president judge, Backenstoe led Lehigh County, which was facing a federal lawsuit over prison conditions, to open a new jail in Allentown.
June 26: Helene Whitaker, 72, was vice president for academic affairs at Northampton Community College, where she worked more than three decades. The Bethlehem woman was instrumental in turning the school into one of the most effective and respected community colleges in the country. She worked and was active while living with a genetic disability known as achondroplasia, which stunted her growth and left her with braces on her legs.
June 28: Thomas Bonekemper, 79, who lived in the Quakertown area, owned degrees in medicine and the law. He was on the medical staffs of Quakertown and Grand View hospitals while serving the Upper Perkiomen Valley in private practice from 1972-1976. He also was chief medical officer of the VA Outpatient Clinic in Allentown. Separately, Bonekemper was a co-founder of the Quakertown Blazers of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League and league president more than 35 years.
July
July 31: Mia G. Due,16, was one of two people killed in a crash on MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township. The teen attended Whitehall High School, where she was described as a “very positive contributor” to the Whitehall-Coplay School District community, Superintendent Robert J. Steckel Jr. said. Jose Estrada-Estrada, 42, of Reading also died in the crash. Authorities have charged an Allentown man with causing the crash.
August
Aug. 3: Mike Hirsch, 62, was a writer and editor at The Morning Call since 2001, the last few years as a content director of Opinion and Community Engagement. He previously served as the paper’s business editor and features editor. He battled Lou Gehrig’s disease since 2019, winning awards in 2022 for his columns about living with the disease. He often sprinkled his trademark humor in his columns, along with odes to his family, including his wife, Mel.
Aug. 9: Isiah M. Bedocs, 17, died while working on a commercial wood chipper in North Whitehall Township. The Coplay teen, who was home-schooled, also attended Lehigh Career & Technical Insitute. “He was a happy teenager who went to work and sadly didn’t come home after a tragic accident,” wrote family friend Christine Castro, who organized an online fundraiser to help his family.
Aug. 15: Pete Carril, 92, was a nationally known, well-regarded basketball coach at Princeton University who grew up in Bethlehem, played collegiately at Lafayette College, and began making his mark in the sport in the Lehigh Valley. Before heading to Princeton, Carril coached at Easton Area High School and Lehigh University. “He toughened us up mentally and physically and made us better people,” said Gabe Lewullis, a former Allentown Central Catholic High School star who played on Carril’s last Princeton team in 1996. “We all have our share of Carril stories. And when we get together for his funeral service we’re going to have a lot more stories to tell I am sure. He was one of a kind.”
Aug. 19: Delma Iacocca Kelechava, 100, was the only sibling of Chrysler Corp. Chair and automotive giant Lee Iacocca, who had a stellar life of her own. She was a worker and mother of three children whowith her husband, Larry, raised them in the Midway Manor Community in Allentown, which was developed by Delma’s father, Nicola Iacocca. She gave an interview to The Morning Call in 2019 a day after her brother’s death, joining others who paid tribute to Lee Iacocca’s career and his Allentown upbringing.
Aug. 28, Lorraine Dickey, 60, an Upper Macungie Township doctor, died three weeks from complications of a cervical spine injury after a biking accident. Dickey was former medical director and chief of neonatology at Lehigh Valley Health Network who overcame a serious head injury from a skiing accident in 2001 to continue practicing medicine, according to The Narrative Initiative, which she established. Its mission: positively transforming the experience of health care.
September
Sept. 2: Cathy Neelon, 55, died the Friday before Labor Day as she drove home from working a varsity football game as a producer for Astound TV Network. Police said a man driving drunk and in the wrong direction on Airport Road hit Neelon’s vehicle as she was heading home from the Astound studio in East Allen Township.
Sept. 6: Angela Yowakim, 25, was fatally hit by a car outside Dieruff High School, her alma mater, where she worked as a paraprofessional. “Angela was a real, caring human being,” Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk said in a news conference a day after her death, which also was called to remind motorists and pedestrians about being careful on the streets. “I hope that we can move our community here in Allentown, drivers and pedestrians alike, to understand the importance of traffic safety.”
Sept. 25: Treshawn Tracy, 15, was shot to death outside Stevens Park in Allentown. He loved to dance, played on the junior varsity football team at Allen High School, and was full of life, those who knew him said. Another teen from Allentown has been charged with homicide. “We have to remember the goodness of Treshawn,” said Mel Thomas, Allen’s football coach.
Sept. 28: Keith Kozel, 49, of Easton, died while learning to fly in a plane crash in Salisbury Township. shortly after taking off from Allentown’s Queen City Airport. He was riding with an instructor who survived his injuries, thanks to the rescue efforts of first responders and the medical community.
Sept. 30: Clarence Smoyer, 99, was a World War II tank gunner from Allentown hailed for his courage and deadly aim during the battle for Germany’s “Fortress City” of Cologne. In March 1945, the Army corporal, who grew up in Carbon County, destroyed a fearsome Nazi tank in a duel near the Cologne Cathedral. Caught on film and shown in newsreels around the world, it’s one of the most famous tank scenes of the war. Smoyer earned a Bronze Star for his feats, but it was given to him decades later. Still, those who knew him said he never complained, was never boastful, and was always a gentleman. “He was one of the greatest of the Greatest Generation,” said Mike Sewards, who took Smoyer on trips to speak about his war experiences.
October
Oct. 3: Jeffery Tapler, 61, was Salisbury Township’s emergency management coordinator, a former township police officer and former police chief in Lower Milford Township, Tapler dedicated his life to law enforcement and emergency services, but is also remembered for his weekend polka music and Pennsylvania Dutch shows on local cable television with the moniker “Uncle Jeffrey.”
Oct. 14: Malissa Davis, 78, was a two-term Bethlehem Township commissioner, serving as board vice president. She was a Lehigh Valley transplant, having lived in Texas and Colorado, among other places, but immersed herself in government and volunteerism in her adoptive community.
Oct. 30: Gary A. Smith, 87, was a radio journalist at radio station WEST-AM in Easton, then went on to work in city government. He later became executive director of the Easton Housing Authority, where he sometimes became a magnet for controversy. He retired from the Housing Authority post in 2004 amid criticism of his management style and a federal investigation into excessive travel expenses detailed in a Morning Call story.
November
Nov. 7: The Rev. Canon Joel W. Atkinson Jr., 84, served as outreach minister at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem until his retirement, then went to work for episcopal churches in the Slate Belt. His Bethlehem work was constantly to aid the least fortunate.
Nov. 8: Bruce Trotter, 82, was a longtime Allentown area educator and coach who left valuable life lessons with those he taught or mentored in football. Perhaps his greatest legacy, according to his obituary: Trotter gave up his love and success for coaching high school football to help his brother-in-law, Herb Guss, deal with spinal cord injuries following an accident. Trotter’s obituary quoted from the Bible, John 15:13: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Nov. 13: Robert Uguccioni, 87, was the face of Poconos tourism for 40 years as head of the Pocono Mountain Vacation Bureau. He saw the area morph from a honeymoon haven into a $1 billion-a-year tourist mecca with the state’s first stand-alone casino. Uguccioni was also someone noted for a quip. “I represented 35 golf courses and never played,” he told The Morning Call in 2007. “I want to learn to play golf now.”
December
Dec. 7: Marvin Gruber, 59, and Zachary Paris, 36, were among many who donated their time as firefighters. Both were volunteering with the Community Fire Company in New Tripoli, Lynn Township, when they were killed fighting a house fire in West Penn Township, Schuylkill County.
First responders, including hundreds of firefighters from three counties, paid their respects Dec. 8 and 17. The first time was when the two men’s bodies were transferred from Schuylkill County to the Lehigh County coroner’s office, which handled their autopsies. On Dec. 17, Paris and Gruber were eulogized in viewings and afternoon services at Northwestern Lehigh Middle School that drew hundreds of firefighters from several states and Canada.
“They did it for the love of it and they did it to serve their community,” said Jason Zimmerman, a Heidelberg Township volunteer firefighter who had run with both men. “There is no doubt in my mind that the impact they left on this community and beyond will be forever remembered.”
Dec. 11: Frances Hesselbein, 107, led an extensive life not just in terms of age but also leadership. The Palmer Township resident spent nearly 15 years as CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA and served in many other roles. In 1998, she earned the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Dec. 13: Curt Simmons, 93, grew up a Lehigh Valley baseball legend and went on to become a Hall of Fame pitcher who played for a time with the Philadelphia Phillies. Simmons was the last surviving member of the Phils’ 1950 “Whiz Kids” World Series team. He grew up in Whitehall Township and more recently lived in Ambler, Montgomery County.
Dec. 19: Larry Stoudt, 84, served Nazareth in many capacities, including 45 years as a council member. The borough website noted after his death that council “lost one of its pillars,” and Stoudt was lauded for being a “reliable helping hand” in the community.
COVID deaths
Finally, the pandemic continues nearly three years after it arrived on U.S. shores.
The Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center recorded nearly 1.1 million nationwide deaths as of this month. Pennsylvania was nearing 49,000 deaths, while in the Lehigh Valley, the number had surpassed 2,500.
Material for this story was gathered from staff and wire reports, and obituaries.
Morning Call journalist Anthony Salamone can be reached at asalamone@mcall.com.
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