Pi Sigma Chi – Sigma Nu

ROBERT C. MARSHALL (F66; CE April 19, 2024) 

ALWAYS TRULY COMMITTED
FOREVER DEARLY REMEMBERED

By John Vandevelde [Author’s note: This is a considerably longer than usual obituary because losing Robert has been both personal and emotional, especially after working closely with him the past two years when I came to know him better, and because I greatly admire his achievements in life, his contributions to our brotherhood, his strength and dignity in facing terminal cancer, and his appreciation of history and writing. I hope he would have given me a “thumbs up” in my attempt to tell his story, although he probably would have told me it should be shorter.]

Robert Clayton Marshall’s family lived on a small farm when he was born in Pontiac Michigan on September 10, 1946. The longest Robert lived in one place, 22 years, was at his “rancho” in Lockhart, Texas. Robert was by nature a farmer and rancher.

Every farmer and rancher knows the difference between “involvement” and “commitment,” because when they sit down to a hearty breakfast of bacon’n eggs, they really understand that the chickens were just involved, but the hogs were fully committed.

No surprise that Robert knew the difference. And he was always fully committed to the important things in his life—his family, his wife, his kids, his work, his home, his friends.

Robert’s commitment extended to his fraternity. Robert attended Cal Poly Pomona and became a Brother of Pi Sigma Chi—a member of the ‘Unlucky 13” pledge class in the Fall of 1966. He brought great joy, enthusiasm, laughter, energy and commitment to our brotherhood for his active years and for the rest of his life. His contributions over the years— not just his involvement by being present at gatherings, but his commitment to staying connected and connecting other brothers through his years of oversight and contributions to our Facebook page, to preserving so much of our history, to creating our website and membership management system in the past two years and to generously providing financial support—were all recognized in 2023 when he became a recipient of our highest honor, the Flammae Custos Award.

Robert’s sense of commitment took him a long way through a lot of transformations. The most abbreviated version of his life story is to learn that he went from:

• A little kid with a father struck by polio
• Being the first in his family to go to college
• Digging ditches for Southern California Gas Company after being drafted and discharged because of labile (sudden spiking) blood pressure
• Surviving potentially lethal bladder cancer at age 26
• Moving out of Gas Company’s ditches and into their high-rise offices as a fast-rising member of their computer info team
• Finishing college while working
• Joining Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) and rising to become the Chief Information Officer of one of their entities
• Totally reinventing himself after ARCO gave him and many others a “golden handshake,” becoming a Texas rancher with projects and chores that never ended
• Another reinvention into a highly educated historian with a special interest in WW-II
• Transforming himself into a Texas State University history professor, where he taught mostly 20th century American history for 10 years
• Bladder cancer reappeared two years ago, Robert sold the ranch, tractor and pickup to totally reinvent himself again, this time into a retiree, without a chore to be done, in a Wilshire Blvd. high-rise, gazing out to the Pacific Ocean with all his affairs as manageable as possible for his loved ones as he underwent his cancer treatments at UCLA.

Robert’s parents, John (“Jack”) and Lila, his two considerably older sisters, and his brother, John, 2 years younger, were living on a small farm in Pontiac in 1946. Robert’s father worked mostly on automobile assembly lines. In 1952, when Robert was 6, his family, like millions of others in the Midwest and across the country, became part of the post WW-II Great Migration West. They sold their farm and left the cold weather to find sunshine and better jobs as the “California Dream” promised. They drove here, like so many others, following much of Route 66, the “Mother Road,” to Pomona. They towed a trailer, pulling it all the way into a trailer park in Pomona. The six of them lived in that 8’ x 36’ trailer. Robert and brother John slept in recliner chairs in the tiny living room of the trailer.

In those days, shortly after they arrived, when polio was not yet checked because the vaccines would not arrive until 1955, the unimaginable happened. Robert’s father came down with polio. He was not always able to work steadily after that, but lived a long life, passing away in 2006. When Robert’s father became sick, his mother became the primary breadwinner, working as a secretary until she retired. Most of those years she worked at UCLA.

Robert’s parents did manage to leave the trailer behind after about a year when they bought a tiny house on Piedmont Ave. in Claremont (east of Town Ave. and just north of Arrow Hwy.) After a year or so they moved to a slightly larger, still small, house in the Westmont area of Pomona, near what was then the General Dynamics plant on the western side of Pomona. And when Robert was in the 5th grade, they moved into a newer, larger tract house in the Ganesha Park area of Pomona, on Kellogg Park drive, about a block from John Marshall middle school, three blocks from Ganesha High School, and I mile as the crow flies to Cal Poly. That’s where Robert and his family lived through Robert’s Cal Poly years.

It was a different time on Kellogg Park. People called the area “Walnut Park,” because when the tract homes were built, every house had one walnut tree in the front yard. There was no 57 Freeway or Chino Expressway. Working cattle ranches took up most of the nearby Chino Hills and Diamond Bar. Kids, including Robert, would jump the fences and run around in the grazing areas. San Jose Creek ran nearby, and after heavy rains snaked down from Mr. Baldy and the water receded, huge frogs would emerge and kids, including Robert, would catch them. Most boys in the area became Boy Scouts, including Robert (photo R).

Boys on bicycles delivered newspapers to front porches, and that is how Brother Jack Carlino (F67), who delivered the San Gabriel Valley Daily Tribune in the area, first met Robert. Jack was a couple of years younger than Robert and was friends with Robert’s younger brother, John, who Jack would stop and see on his newspaper route. Brother Chris Reinhardt (S69) went all the way through school, from the 2nd or 3rd grade through high school with John. Chris was at the Marshall’s house many times and, like Jack, met Robert. Both Jack and Chris say they admired Robert. Chris and Jack say even though they were a few years younger, Robert was just a really nice guy to them. Chris says Robert was like a big brother to him. The younger kids looked up to him and Chris and Jack say Robert was always helpful, treating them like friends, not like little kids.

Robert was on the gymnastics team at Ganesha High, as was his teammate and friend, later to be his fraternity brother, Stan Grinager (S67; CE23). Robert competed in the rings and parallel bars events. And he was committed enough to stay in shape over the years, one of the few of us who could comfortably wear his original Pi Sig RJ in his later years, which you can tell from the photo on page 1.

The family did not have a lot of money, and growing up Robert always worked at one job or another to take care of himself—including cutting lawns, working at a restaurant and a job at a glass factory. And while at Cal Poly he worked at Pep Boys on the West end of the Pomona Mall [where many fraternity brothers worked over the years, including Eric Holm (S63; CE08), Rick Fetterling (S64), John Vivilacqua (S65; CE11), Mike Pexton (S65), and yours truly]. He had summer jobs as a laborer on a ditch digging crew for the Southern California Gas Company. His first car was actually an ambulance, a 1950 Ford, but he worked hard enough to have a British racing green Triumph TR4 with chrome wire wheels when he lived at the fraternity house at 783 Kingsley.

After high school, Robert went to Mt. Sac for a couple of years and then went on to Cal Poly, where he pledged Pi Sigma Chi. His pledge class dubbed themselves the “Unlucky 13,” because after some ill-advised “RFs” on the actives, including leaving the pledge meeting without permission, the Pledgemaster decided to extend the pledge period by two weeks.

Robert was given an odd nickname by his pledgebrothers—“Fluff.” Turns out that in those days actives would assign to some of the pledges various tasks around the house. Denis Kurutz (W66; Hon. Kappa) told Robert that it was his job to fluff up all the pillows on the sofas and chairs in the living room at 783 Kingsley every time he came into the house. It’s not clear if Robert liked the task or was good at it, he probably was, but the nickname was given and it stuck.

Robert was good at most things and set his own very high standards. Jack Carlino remembers that both of them had sportscars when they lived at the Kingsley house, Robert’s Triumph TR4 and Jack’s yellow Corvette. Both of them would wash their cars pretty regularly, and often wax them in the tree-shaded driveway area at the house. But Robert was a perfectionist, while Jack was more of a pragmatist—until he met Robert. Robert’s car was always immaculate, paint shining, chrome spokes flashing. And when Robert waxed the Triumph, he would take the time to make sure all the wax was out of every body joint or door jamb, whereas Jack didn’t used to even think about it until Robert started giving him a hard time about why he was satisfied with doing such a “shitty” job by leaving wax in the joints and cracks. But Jack points out that Robert had a way of always adding a smile, or a tease, or some pointers, making those comments not at all hurtful, and motiving you to emulate him. Jack says to this day he thinks of Robert when he waxes his car.

And Robert had a lot of initiative and an entrepreneurial spirit. He had a knack for coming up with good ideas coupled with humor and clever marketing skill. Those attributes came in handy when Robert became House Manager. Jack remembers that nobody could keep anything in the house refrigerator because it would be gone in minutes. So Robert got hold of a soda vending machine and put it near the back door. He stocked it with a variety of sodas, including things like orange, grape and so on. He bought the sodas in bulk and sold them at a low price. But he added his own twist. You see, Robert always loved puns! So each morning, when the guys in the house went out the back door, they would see a new Post-it from Robert on the front of the machine with a pun, something like, “Orange you going to have a soda today,” or, “Water you choose to drink today,” or “Have a grape day.” Jack says the puns worked, because soon guys just had to see what the pun was each day, even if they were not planning to buy a soda.

As you can see in one of my favorite photos of Robert, he loved to have fun and be the center of attention (photo L). He served as Social Chair for a time and he loved the parties. But he also loved spontaneous fun and was always up for an adventure. One of those adventures produced another of my favorite photos of Robert.

It had recently snowed at Mt Baldy and someone at the house came up with an idea—“What the hell, it’s only 15 miles and 30 minutes, let’s go play in the snow.” Mike Pexton, a car guy who loves to drive, took off in his always classy and clean Ford, with Jerry St. Lawrence (F66; CE09), Matty Kolodge (F66; CE15), and Robert. They had a great time and made an artistically-fabulous, mostly anatomically-correct “snowgirl.”

For purely medicinal purposes because of the cold, while they were up there they apparently had a few beers along with a lot of laughs.

And then Mike discovered he had lost his keys somewhere in the snow!

It was a different time—pre-cellphone for one thing. So Mike called the landline phone at the fraternity house and Tom Runa (S66; Hon. Lambda) had the bad judgment to answer the call. Bonds of Brotherhood prevented Tom from saying “No.” Instead, Tom said, “What the hell, it’s only 15 miles and 30 minutes, plus I think they must have beer.” So he and Pat Miller (S66) found Mike’s extra set of keys and drove up there to rescue the snowgirl sculptors and take this wonderful photo in which Jerry looks like he is determined to protect the virtue of their girl against the wandering hands of Mike and Robert (photo L to R, Robert, Jerry, Mike and Matty).

They say, “All good things must come to an end,” and that was true for all of us. No matter how much fun we were having, eventually we had to move on to jobs or, in those days, service in the armed forces— voluntarily or otherwise. In Robert’s case, in 1969, he was drafted and went to basic training at Fort Ord, but he was discharged after a few months because of labile blood pressure (sudden changes with high blood pressure). Robert had summer jobs working for the Southern California Gas Company digging ditches. It involved a lot of manual labor. After his discharge from the Army because of his erratic blood pressure, instead of returning to Cal Poly, he was hired by the Gas Company as a full-time member of a of a crew that dug ditches. Robert learned to operate the heavy equipment they used on bigger jobs. He was good at it, but he had ambitions to use some of what he learned in college by moving over to the business side of the Gas Company. Like many large businesses, the Gas Company regularly posted all job openings. Robert saw a job posting for a computer programming trainee. He interviewed for the for the position and was given the job. He learned quickly and became a key part of the team. He also became close friends with another programming trainee, Dennis Jones, and they worked together at the Gas Company for about 10 years.

A lot happened in those 10 years:

Robert married.

• He and his first wife bought their first house, in Temple City. Robert, just 24, made a lot of improvements to the house, doing the work himself, a pattern repeated in later years. In a sizzling hot California market they doubled their money when they sold it 2 years later.
• At 26 Robert had his first bout with cancer—bladder cancer, which was treated surgically at USC Hospital. And he beat that cancer to live cancer-free for the next almost 50 years!
• They moved to a very modern house squeezed onto a very small lot three blocks from the water in Manhattan Beach. Tom Runa, a practicing landscape architect by then, designed a deck at that house, and it was built by Tim Motherhead (F66), a graduate and teacher at the time, who did construction work in the summers, and Jerry St. Lawrence, also a graduate and working in finance at Star-Kist Tuna Co.
• They had their first child, Steven, while living in Manhattan Beach;
• Then they moved back to San Gabriel Valley, to a larger house in Monrovia, where they had their second son, David.
• Robert and his first wife divorced.

In 1979, Dennis Jones, who by then had been working for Robert at the Gas Company, was the first to move to ARCO. He told Robert how great he thought ARCO was and Robert ended up applying and getting a position there, again working with Dennis.

Robert all along had been taking classes to complete the work to earn his Bachelor of Science in Business, which he received from Redlands University shortly after moving to ARCO in 1979. After that, he later took classes at Loyola Marymount University in the early 1980s, working on an MBA that he never quite completed.

When Robert worked at ARCO, and before that at the Gas Company offices, he was a sharp-dressing, suit-and-tie wearing executive, in the heart of downtown Los Angeles.

While Robert was officed downtown, his Pi Sig Big Brother, Ken Coopman (S66), graduated from Cal Poly in 1968 and by now a seasoned commercial loan officer and Executive VP at Bank of America, was in the opposite “ARCO Tower.” Mike Pexton, Robert’s fellow “snowgirl” sculptor, had graduated and for much of that period was in the Union Bank tower, where he was a commercial leasing officer. And Jack Carlino at about that time, also graduated, was a business broker at Business Corporation of America on Wilshire Blvd., connecting prospective buyers with prospective sellers of all kinds of business entities.

Robert was always interested in what his fraternity brothers were doing and made efforts to stay in contact with them and learn from them. Mike Pexton remembers seeing Robert frequently for lunch and being in contact when they were both working downtown and at the same time both living in Manhattan Beach. Jack Carlino remembers having lunches a number of times, always someplace different, often somewhere on or near Wilshire Blvd., always suggested by Robert, who seemed to know every place that was interesting and good. Ken Coopman remembers seeing Robert during the years Robert was with ARCO. And when I was working in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in downtown LA, and later in private practice, I remember seeing Robert, along with a handful of other brothers, at some of the very first “Ascension Thursday” lunches that Father Jerry Cummings (Honorary66; CE97) organized.

Robert made a point of meeting with his brothers, singly or in groups, whenever he could. But there was another, much more important meeting that took place after Robert moved to ARCO.

Robert’s group at ARCO took on projects collecting, crunching and analyzing data for various departments within ARCO. One of those departments was the Finance Department. And one of the people who Robert regularly did projects for was Deborah Leeb, the Director of Internal Audit for worldwide operations at ARCO. She was quite accomplished herself, with a Masters in Art History, followed by a paralegal certification and then an MBA.

Deborah liked the work Robert did, but she also liked Robert, and vice versa. At the time Robert was divorced and had custody of his two sons. One thing led to another. They got together and on May 19, 1989, Robert and Deborah were married. Robert’s celebration of life services set for May 19, 2024, would have been their 35th wedding anniversary.

They moved to a fixer-upper house in Altadena and soon transformed it into an architectural showpiece (photo L). Life was good. Deborah adopted Robert’s two sons and they made a great home and life together.

External forces were at work, however. Change was coming.

ARCO management made a decision to become an attractive bride for a corporate marriage. One of the steps it took was to cut its workforce expense by offering “golden handshakes” to employees who were interested in taking an early retirement. Both Robert, who since 1994 had been the CIO of one of the ARCO entities, and Deborah were interested, but were considered too essential and would require too expensive a handshake. However, as talks progressed with British Petroleum, which would lead to an acquisition in 2000, both Robert and Deborah kept asking, and eventually each of them reached a generous severance agreement—Deborah first in 1997, and Robert in 1998. Robert was just 52 and, with Deborah, set to comfortably retire.

Their sons were both out of high school and into college. Their home in Altadena was just the way they wanted it. They had started a small business consulting practice in 1997.

But Robert had an itch. He wanted to do something different. He wanted a “Rancho.” He wanted land he could “putter around” on. In 2000 they sold their home in Altadena and bought Southaven Ranch, a 50 acre cattle ranch in Lockhart, Texas (billed as the “Little City With The Big Heart,” and officially declared by the Texas legislature as the “Barbecue Capital” of Texas; it’s not far from tech-rich Austin). The ranch included a large but bleak ranch house, an apartment, a workshop larger than most houses Robert grew up in, a barn, and two structures that were historical, a slave cabin and the “Withers House.”

Since Robert was an historian, he would want me to explain that the Marshall’s ranch was on the “Chisolm Trail,” named for Jess Chisholm, a half-Cherokee trader who developed the trail in the 1830s to bring trading goods, including cattle, to frontier trading posts in Texas. Lack of market access during the Civil War had produced an overstock of cattle in Texas. In the first post-Civil War year of 1866, cattle in Texas were worth $4 per head, compared to over $40 per head in the North and East. In 1867, Joseph McCoy built stockyards in Abilene, Kansas, and encouraged Texas cattlemen to drive their herds to his stockyards where they would travel by rail to the North and East. Texas cattlemen, at first a rancher by the name of O. W. Wheeler, answered McCoy's call. He and others used the Chisholm Trail to bring the first herd of 2,400 head from Texas to Abilene. This herd was the first of an estimated 5,000,000 head of Texas cattle to reach Abilene over the Chisholm Trail, which drew cattle driven from all parts of Texas cattle country to gathering places before the long drive north. One of those gathering places was the Withers ranch. M. A. Withers owned one of the biggest ranches around Lockhart at the time, with a ranch house plus nearby corrals covering about four acres back in the day. Cattle from far and wide were driven to the Withers’ corrals, where re-marking and re-branding would take place before the 700 mile cattle drive from there to Abilene. When the Marshalls made their purchase, the old, dilapidated Withers ranch house and the nearby slave cabin were still standing on a corner of the ranch.

You can see why the historian Robert loved his ranch and its rich history. Robert had plans for the ranch. He, with Deborah, transformed it from a tired, small cattle ranch to a hay ranch that was perfect for a gentleman rancher of his and Deborah’s sophisticated taste. It took about three years, but they totally refurbished the ranch house, added a pool, built a large pond, added sidewalks and driveways, lots of landscaping, a couple of acres of manicured grass, and more. Of course, like most of the ranchers, they had a tractor and a pickup, but they were probably the only ranchers in Lockhart who drove a pair of Mercedes cars.

After the first year of so of using his own tractor to mow the hay, Robert started contracting with hay crews to mow and bale the hay to be stored and later sold. But Robert still loved to do all kinds of things himself. He bought a riding mower for the manicured lawn around the house, and he mowed that lawn himself. In fact, Bruce Brandenburg (F66) recalls that Robert, always trying to perfect things, used the tracking function on his cellphone to figure out the most efficient and perfect path to follow when mowing the lawn, creating a complicated map of his mowing route.

Not every project Robert took on went perfectly. Bruce remembers Robert telling him that he had decided to clear a bunch of ivy that had climbed all over a huge tree. Robert climbed up in the tree and pulled every last piece of the vines down, only to realize not long after that it was poison ivy. He broke out in a rash so bad that he had to spend time in the hospital recovering.

Once the rancho was like he and Deborah wanted, Robert got another itch. He had always been a history buff, especially about WW-II. So in 2003 he decided to go back to school and get a masters degree in history, for no reason other than his own enjoyment. He started attending Texas State University, located about 15 minutes away in San Marcos, Texas. He loved it. He was older than his classmates, made friends with a lot of them, had a lot of confidence and enjoyed a lot of academic interaction with them. He finished his studies and received his Masters of Arts in History in 2005. At the commencement, the Dean of the Graduate Department offered him a job as an Adjunct Professor. Robert accepted on the spot and taught there for 10 years.

Things were all in order on the ranch after the first few years of hard work and Robert and Deborah were living the good life on the rancho.

• They were able to travel—Europe, Iguazu, Galapagos and more. On one trip they met some fellow travelers from London and became lifelong friends, taking a number of “mystery” trips together, taking turns in planning their trips without the other couple knowing the destination.
• Deborah grew up with fine art in the home and she and Robert were able to spend time collecting art—he the whimsical things and she the serious things.
• Their sons were doing well. The oldest, Steven, and his wife, Valerie, and their two kids, Miles and Cooper, were in Los Angeles, but they got together often. The younger son, David, lived in the Philippines, where he and his now wife, Marissa, own and run a company providing billing services for US health care providers, but David came to Texas regularly to manage some rental properties and visit. So Robert and Deborah saw their kids and grandkids a lot. (Photo below of almost all of the family, L to R, daughter-in-law Valerie holding grandson Cooper, son Steven, with grandson Miles standing below, Deborah, Robert, and son David.)

All was in place and going according to plan for Robert and Deborah.

But then everything changed.

Early in 2022, Robert learned that there was a tumor in his bladder. The cancer had returned after close to five decades. Sadly, Robert’s. Younger brother, John, had suffered the same cancer and had passed away a few years earlier, in 2018.

At the time Robert got the bad news, he, Bruce Brandenburg, John Mairs (F85), and I were spending a lot of time on zoom calls, selecting a vendor to provide a membership management system and creating a website as part of that system. Robert’s primary role was to use our available spreadsheet data to create a data base on the new system, which he did. He played other roles, including serving as Communications Director for our group and editor for the content. The four of us spoke often, and for the next two-plus years Robert’s cancer was the ugly elephant in the room during every conversation.

I was shocked. I knew about Robert’s bout with cancer at age 26. In fact, when I had my own bout with cancer in 2009, after learning I was extremely fortunate because it was an indolent form of lymphoma not requiring treatment at the time, I decided to take almost 3 months off from my law practice to ride across the country on a bicycle, raising money for cancer causes. On that ride I carried a small journal with the names of people who contributed and the names of people I knew who had faced cancer, some of whom were survivors, and some of whom had passed. Robert’s name (photo R, at bottom of page) is in that book as one of the survivor’s who gave me great comfort during that ride.

Robert was brave, open, optimistic and realistic about his cancer. He talked about it with me and others. He kept our website group of Bruce, John Mairs and me, and our boss, Jack Carlino, plus other brothers and friends, abreast of the excruciating and frustrating ups and downs of his fight. At the same time, except for the relatively rare and brief times when he went through chemo treatments that knocked him down, he took on and completed his work on the website. The work was a welcome diversion and gave him great satisfaction.

He and I talked about how the cancer evaluation and treatment process creates a kind of “roller coaster” of emotions. One time they scan and find something that can be fixed, then they find something else. Sometimes the “something else” is not such a big problem, other times it is. He went through those bumps and dips a number of times, starting with treatment in Texas, followed by good news on the bladder tumors, followed by discovery of tumors in his liver, and new treatment for that.

Then came the wildfires. They are not that unusual in Texas hay country. And they have to be put out and kept out or they will smolder and restart. Things got to the point that Robert could not get out in the fields and put out the fires. He hired a ranch hand to take care of things, but soon he and Deborah made a decision. They were going to sell the ranch and come home to Los Angeles, where Deborah grew up and had some family. They sold the ranch, tractor, pickup and lawn mower and moved here in October, 2022. They bought a full-service, 18th floor condo on Wilshire Blvd., close to UCLA hospital, which would be taking over his cancer care.

The place was beautiful. The views (below) were breathtaking. All the distractions of wildfires and taking care of 50 acres were behind them. It was a total, 180 degree, night-and-day change from the rancho, but Robert felt good about how things were, as did Deborah.

Robert had lots of help and support, and not just from Deborah and his and her family. And Deborah had support, including one of the students Robert met at Texas State, Sandra George. Sandra became very close to both Robert and Deborah. In the early 2000s, she became what they ended up calling their “surrogate” daughter. She even lived with them for a while and they took care of her and helped her through school. She was so close that she helped take care of Robert in Texas when he first began treatment for his cancer, and again in the last days of Robert’s cancer battle, she was with them in Los Angeles, helping them to deal with whatever she could.

There were more ups and downs after they arrived in LA, with multiple trips to the ER, multiple admissions and stays, multiple kinds of treatment. Often the treatments seemed promising at first, but the tumors kept coming back. Along the way, more than once, Robert talked about ceasing treatment. Then the news came that there were tumors in his brain. A new treatment was tried and stopped when it did not help. And then another option would make sense, and be tried, and once again stopped. And then the scans were worse. And then he had some seizures.

Towards the end Robert seemed to be at peace with deciding to forego any treatment, and, as he said to me and others more than once, “let nature take its course,” which is what he did.

Robert was in hospice care, at home, with the three women he most loved —Deborah, her sister, Diane Ross-Glazer, and their surrogate daughter, Sandra George—at his side when he passed away early on April 19, 2024.

What an accomplished, admirable man, fully committed to all the things important in his life, even worrying about and making things as good as he could for his loved ones as he was slowly being taken away from them by cancer.

Thank you for all the good things you did.
Rest in peace Brother Robert!

“Here’s to Brother Robert, he’s with us, he’s with us . . . .” 

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Our "Homecoming 2024" luncheon was a great event with a good turnout. Almost all of the 19 candidates joined us in the beautiful setting of the student-run restaurant at the Collins College of Hospitality Management. There was plenty of time to mingle before lunch, a chance to meet and talk with the candidates one-on-one, time to catch up with old friends, and time afterwards to hang out and have a beer at Innovation Brew Works.

For those of you who were there, tell your brothers who weren't that they missed out. For those of you who missed it, please join us next time. The more the merrier, and especially for us older guys, don't let these chances run out.

Fifteen or sixteen of the nineteen candidates were there and spread out to different tables. They were able to meet and chat with the many alumni who were there, and we with them.

KAPPA GAMMA NEWS

Vice President Jordan Wu (S96; EC 00-01) briefed us on the status of the Kappa Gamma re-establishment.

One of the highlights was hearing from Kappa Gamma's recently elected Commander, Bruno Mendez, a 3rd yr Finance major (at the lectern. above), who gave a great and very enthusiastic report on the progress they are making.

Bruno (above L) also gave special thanks to Chaysen Babcock, the Sigma Nu staffer that has been on campus this semester in charge of the the recruiting efforts, working with Vice President Jordan Wu and the Alumni Advisory Board and teaching the candidates how to establish and build the colony, with a goal of re-issuance of the Kappa Gamma charter next year sometime.

PRESIDENTS "VISION FOR THE FUTURE"

President Jack Carlino (F67), made comments reviewing the progress our fraternity alumni group has made in the past few years--organizing ourselves by incorporating and having a real structure and legal existence, re-building our connections to the Cal Poly administration, strengthening our brotherhood with the creation of a website that allows for better communication, building and improving our scholarship fund (the "Legacy Fund," close to $90K now earning money at Sigma Nu Educational Foundation) and working to re-establish the Kappa Gamma chapter at Cal Poly.

Jack also emphasized that this year there is a heightened need for brothers to get involved and help.

• The Kappa Gamma colony will want a house at some point, and we will have a role in helping them to find that house as a place to meet, have events and grow the brotherhood among our new young actives, all enhancing Sigma Nu's status and success at Cal Poly.
  
  
• Organizationally, there is a need for 5 directors this year.
  
  
• Next year the terms of the initial set of 4 officers (who are chosen by our directors and will "term out" next year) will expire and replacements will be needed.

Jack urged brothers to join in and get more involved at the committee and director levels to keep our brotherhood alive at both the active and alumni levels and continue our alumni gathering tradition of over a half a century--especially since there will be a big transition next year. Jack introduced all the officers and directors and asked anyone who wants to get involved to reach out to any of them.

FLAMMAE CUSTOS AWARDS

In keeping with the comments by Jack about the progress made and the transitions to come, the "Flammae Custos" awards at our luncheon this year reflected the transition that is underway from colony to chapter, with other transitions to come for our Kappa Gamma colony and for our alumni group.

Flammae Custos means "keeper of the flame," and it is awarded to brothers who have gone above and beyond to keep our spirit of brotherhood alive. As all of you should know, the award, named for Father Jerome Cummings (Honorary 66; CE 97), a young priest assigned to Pomona after graduating from LMU, where he loved being in a fraternity, and completing the seminary. He was made an honorary brother of Pi Sigma Chi and later single-handedly started in the 1970s our tradition of annual gatherings of alumni. Father Cummings taught those of us from that era to cherish our relationships and stay in touch. The award is considered to be the highest honor we can confer as alumni.

There were an unprecedented four "Flammae Custos" honorees this year, and each of them was absolutely deserving. Those four represent a transition from the Pi Sigma Chi era to the Sigma Nu era in that two of them, Larry Hurst (F62; Hon. Theta) [4th from L] and Mike Groener

(S66) [far L] were from the 1960s and two of them, Juan Lopez

(F78/KG#1 82; EC 81-82) [2nd from R] and Brian Rheinhardt

(F79/SN82) ]far R], were "THE GUYS" who were most instrumental in Pi Sigma Chi becoming the Kappa Gamma chapter of Sigma Nu, doing the work for Kappa Gamma to receive its charter in 1982.

• Mike went out of his way to keep us together after many of us in the 1960s graduated. He opened his home to many a party, including this one in this photo below, with Father Cummings and yours truly at the top left, Treasurer Steve Yoss (S66) facing the camera, and over his left shoulder Denis Kurutz (W66, Hon. Kappa; CE 20), and over his right shoulder Clark Nicholson (W66; Hon. Mu). Those gatherings, small and large, and there were a lot them, kept us together before the annual luncheons started. And in the years since Mike has been a supporter and a regular attendee when he was not across the country.

• Larry, in addition to being one of our outstanding Presidents in the Pi Sigma Chi era, has probably been to more of our events than anyone. He also enjoys a game of golf and probably has not missed many of our tournaments. And for many years, Larry, as a Catholic Deacon, officiated at many ceremonies for brothers that were happy, like weddings and baptisms, and those that were sad, like a number of memorial services for brothers who went to Chapter Eternal. For so many years Larry has filled a critical role in keeping our flame of brotherhood alive.
  
  

• Juan and others, including Brian, had the foresight in 1980-81 to see what the future held. The reality was that none of the local fraternities (Pi Sigma Chi being the first, followed by several others that lasted into the early 1980s) were going to survive the arrival of national fraternities at Cal Poly Pomona. And in fact, there are no local fraternities at Cal Poly today. And all the local fraternities that did not go national simply died. But, despite resistance by a few brothers, Juan and Brian led our fraternity in its transition to Sigma Nu, receiving its charter in 1982. In other words, maybe more than anyone else, they quite literally kept our brotherhood alive. And of course, before our alumni groups joined forces some years ago, Juan was very active in keeping the brotherhood alive among Sigma Nu era brothers. And in the last few years Juan has been active in PSC-SN Legacy, Inc., participating in events, serving as a Director and organizing events as Chair of our Events Committee.
  
  

• Brian embodies the spirit of brotherhood that makes our fraternity so special. He was side-by-side with Juan in keeping our fraternity flame of brotherhood burning by helping to lead his Pi Sigma Chi brothers to become Sigma Nus. In addition, Brian has served for many years on what was our "Legacy Board" (now our "Legacy Fund Committee") to raise money for scholarships. He still serves on that committee and he has been a regular and generous supporter of the Legacy Fund. He also serves currently on the Alumni Advisory Board, advising and guiding our candidates. If you have ever asked, you know that Brian has one answer when you ask him if he can help with something. It is, "Just tell me what you need me to do!"

The photo above includes all of the Flammae Custos honorees who were at the luncheon. As you can see, everyone but Jordan Wu is wearing an "RJ." Juan and Brian, in RJs but also being Sigma Nus, are representative of one transition--and were deservedly honored. Jordan was instrumental in the transition that united our alumni and has done much more--and was deservedly honored for all that he has done and continues to do.

In years to come, those who have been, are, and will be, keeping the flame of our brotherhood burning, eventually even some of the candidates who were with us at the luncheon and will graduate and join us as alumni, will be honored and join in similar photos--hopefully for many years to come.

CHAPTER ETERNAL

When we have meetings like our luncheon, or when we attend a memorial service for a brother who has passed, our tradition is to remember and honor our brothers who have passed away and to sing a version of a drinking song from the earliest days of Pi Sigma Chi.

"Chapter Eternal" is a term we have learned from our Sigma Nu-era brothers and embraced. At our luncheon last Friday, Juan Lopez introduced another tradition that helps us to remember and think about those with whom we became brothers. Juan arranged for a small table, with a single setting, a white rose and a red carnation, a Sigma Nu flag and, for our united alumni group, a Pi Sigma Chi RJ.

It was the first time we have done this, and it was a very touching scene.

Sadly, we lost six brothers since we last had an opportunity to gather and honor those who have passed. There names and photos were on the handout for those who attended --

Like always, it was a sad and solemn minute or two when we saw their faces on a big screen, remembered them, and then sang our song.

It was even sadder on Friday, because we had learned just hours earlier that Robert Marshall (F66), one of our Flammae Custos honorees last year, had passed away in the early hours that day after a very tough, up and down, two-year fight with cancer.

May all our departed brothers rest in peace!

The lessons in all this may be that:

• we are incredibly fortunate to have experienced the relationships we enjoyed so much during our college days;
• we are blessed to be able to help others--actives and alumni--enjoy those same experiences and relationships;
• we are blessed to continue those relationships through the years we have beyond college; and
• we should enjoy sharing time together whenever we have those opportunities.

In Brotherhood,
John Vandevelde, Secretary

KAPPA GAMMA COLONY UPDATE WE NOW HAVE 16 INITIATED CANDIDATES . . . WITH MORE TO FOLLOW

Hello Brothers, I want to share with you the unique experience enjoyed by all of us who participated in the Kappa Gamma Chapter re-founding members Candidate Ceremony.    CANDIDATE CEREMONY-- On Sunday, February 25, under the moonlight, we initiated 16 of our 17 recruits.  They are now Candidates and will be the Beta Phi Pledge Class Spring 2024. (The one candidate who could not be there due to his work will be initiated soon.)   It was an honor having Chaysen Babcock (Northern Arizona), our resident Sigma Nu Recruitment and Expansion Consultant, take on the Commander role in the ritual along with Kappa Gamma Brothers Herndon, Walczak, Shearer, and Vasquez in various positions. Candidate Bruno Mendez led his fellow re-founding members into the shrine for the ceremony.  Due to the bad eyesight of us older guys, we all struggled putting pledge pins on candidates, nonetheless, we taught them the proper way to wear their pin.  Following Sigma Nu's Risk Reduction Policy, instead of providing each candidate with a bottle of cheap champagne, we celebrated by dining on catered food from Olive Garden. The candidates and alumni mingled and shared their positive Sigma Nu experiences.  ONGOING RECRUITMENT-- Chaysen and the 17 re-founding members will continue to recruit throughout this semester.  All of them and any additional recruits this semester will be considered as the re-founding members of Kappa Gamma Chapter. They are immediately allowed to hold positions and create a new fraternity culture with the alumni's guidance. Another unique opportunity for all of these men is that they will be allowed to wear t-shirts and sweaters with “Sigma Nu” in Greek letters. This is a great way for them to represent our fraternity on campus. Currently, they are creating a T-shirt design symbolizing the return of Sigma Nu at Cal Poly Pomona.  Alumni will have an opportunity to buy the shirt when it's done, hopefully at our April 19th luncheon.  MORE ON THE WAY?-- On Sunday night, the candidates met a potential candidate for the Fall 2024 Pledge Class.  Brother John Mairs brought his son, Chase, a high school senior, to meet the guys.  Chase has received acceptance letters from Cal Poly Pomona and CSU San Marcos. Of course, all of us were trying to convince him to attend CPP.  If Chase goes to Cal Poly Pomona and joins Sigma Nu-Kappa Gamma in the Fall, he would become the first direct legacy duo (father and son) completely within our Kappa Gamma Chapter.  Our very first Pi Sigma Chi and Sigma Nu direct legacy was Mark Chaput (SN122, F87), son of Clay Chaput (S66, CE05).  Another direct legacy, but within different Sigma Nu chapters is Jordan Rodriguez (joined Sigma Nu at Washington State Univ.), son of Randy Rodriguez (SN53, S83).  MEETINGS-- This semester the Chapter meetings will be on Mondays at 7:30 pm in Building 5, Room 136. Pi Sigma Chi and Sigma Nu brothers are welcome to attend. Please inform me ahead of the time if you are going to attend so I can let them know--you can simply reply to this email.  LUNCHEON-- Don't forget to register for the “2024 Homecoming Luncheon” on Friday, April 19, 2024 at 11 am at Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch, Collins Center, on Kellogg Hill.  All the candidates have been invited to attend and are looking forward to meeting more of us.  Just click on the button below. In Brotherhood, —Jordan Wu, Vice President THANKS!!!:  Many, many thanks to these brothers for participating in the Candidate Ceremony in the re-establishment of our Chapter: Peter Meisenzahl 30, John Mairs 104, Al Quiming 147, James Herndon 159, Jordan Wu 237, Ryan Lenocker 247, Brian Lee 256, Jeff Genuino 323, Jonathan Shearer 389, Kevin Wu 391, Robert Walczak 397, Anthony Vasquez 471.

WHAT'S HAPPENING & WILL HAPPEN WITH SIGMA NU-KAPPA GAMMA RE-ESTABLISHMENT?

Brief Summary:  In the last three weeks there has been a lot of effort by on-site Sigma Nu HQ staffers Mac McNeilly, Chaysen Babcock, Ricardo Guevara, and Reagan Basil, with our own Vice President, Jordan Wu, very involved. Brothers from different eras have lent their support, helped man recruiting tables and have attended the Preference Dinner (photo above) as well as other events.  Right now there are about 2 dozen rushees with 17 accepting bids so far. These young men are in the process of committing by paying the candidate initiation fee and being inducted as “candidates.”  The recruiting will continue throughout the semester as the colony forms and grows. The goal is to have a re-founding member class of 25-30 men by the end of this semester and we have made great progress toward that goal.

Plan to meet the candidates, who will be our guests, see old friends and learn more about re-establishment of Kappa Gamma at our luncheon Friday, April 19th, 11 am at RKR restaurant at Collins Center, Kellogg Hill.

REGISTER NOW

THE MORE FULSOME STORY The Process at Cal Poly Pomona  For those of us for who pledged Pi Sigma Chi, and even those who pledged in the early Kappa Gamma years, a lot of this is new, so here is more info to help you understand what is happening and what the future holds: Oversight: There is much more oversight than we ever experienced--by our own Alumni Advisory Board (AAB), the University and the student-led Interfraternity Council (IFC). Minimum requirements for units needed to be eligible as a full-time student: 12 units.  This is validated through the University and not self-reported. Minimum GPA requirement is a 2.5 cumulative. This is also validated through the University and not self-reported.  Recruiting Process: IFC has established the second week of the semester for recruiting--delayed this year because of the teachers' strike and shortened because of the rainstorms.  Students who decide to rush one or more fraternities are considered. Checks are made through the University on whether each rush meets the GPA and full-time student requirements.  Each fraternity chooses which rushees will be offered a bid.  The rushees/prospective candidates have one week to accept a bid. However, IFC has agreed that because we are in the process of forming the colony and re-establishing the chapter, we can continue recruiting on a rolling basis for the rest of the semester, which we are doing. Kappa Gamma Colony Candidate Process: If a candidate accepts a bid from SN, he has to pay a candidate initiation fee of $125.  In the SN fraternity, there is an initiation ceremony called the "Candidate Ceremony." This is a Sigma Nu secret ritual in which the person is initiated to become a "candidate" (what we used to call a “pledge”).  An initiated candidate is entitled to call himself a Sigma Nu, wear SN gear, etc.  The new Kappa Gamma colony’s first Candidate Ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, February 25th.   Because our recruiting will continue this semester, there may be more than one Candidate Ceremony as additional students are recruited and commit to joining Sigma Nu. Growing from a Colony to a Chapter: The chartering process, with help from SN staff and Kappa Gamma alumni, means lot of work over this semester and the coming semesters to satisfy a number of requirements to be re-chartered as the Kappa Gamma Chapter.  All of it cannot be listed here but some key elements over the next year or more include: The election of officers. Establishing a bank account and collecting dues. Organizing regular weekly meetings. Creating bylaws. Successfully recruiting additional members this semester and in coming semesters to reach a sustainable size. Engaging actively with the University and the community in social, service and academic pursuits.  While not a requirement by Sigma Nu, there may be a desire to establish a fraternity house to rent and use as a meeting place and the center of their fraternity activities. Once the colony has met the requirements, Sigma Nu will re-issue a charter to Kappa Gamma Chapter and all the candidates who have met the requirements will be initiated as Knights/Brothers.  The Goal: "ROCK CHAPTER" The good news is that Sigma Nu staff are committed to making Kappa Gamma not just a chapter, but a “Rock Chapter”.  More on that later, but it means what it sounds like — a solid, strong, permanent, unmoving and unchanging Chapter and meeting place with Brothers who have achieved excellence in all areas and represent the permanence of the Sigma Nu principles of Love, Honor and Truth that will enrich their lives.  Pi Sigma Chi-era Alumni Option: The philosophy of our alumni group, Pi Sigma Chi-Sigma Nu Legacy, Inc., has been and will remain that we are all part of one fraternity.  All alumni from all eras are our brothers and welcomed as members of our alumni group to all of our alumni activities.  That will never change. However, once the Kappa Gamma chapter is re-chartered, Pi Sigma Chi-era Brothers will also have the option of being initiated into Sigma Nu.  There is a fee associated with the initiation, which currently runs $250.  This fee covers the cost of a badge, membership certificate and card, and enters you into the national Sigma Nu database. Being initiated as a Sigma Nu would entitle you to all the benefits of being a Sigma Nu, including attending all fraternity rituals and ceremonies in perpetuity, and you can still wear your RJ proudly! When Kappa Gamma was first chartered In 1982, the late Gary Andrews (W68/SN82; CE 22), who was closely connected to some Sigma Nu brothers at the time, chose to be initiated into Sigma Nu and was very proud of having done so.  It is an option you should know about and consider when the time comes.

HOMECOMING 2024 LUNCHEON REGISTRATION IS OPEN-SIGN UP NOW! "WE ARE BACK"

AND WE ARE "SIGMA NU STRONG" ____________ The recruiting of candidates to re-establish Sigma Nu Kappa Gamma Chapter has been very successful, with 27 "rushees" already.  We have obtained permission to continue recruiting this year, so the effort is ongoing and we expect the number will grow. Meet the candidates and see old friends at our "Homecoming 2024 Luncheon:" Friday, April 19th Collins Center Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch (on Kellogg Hill, free parking) 11:00 no-host bar 11:30 lunch served Finish lunch and meeting by 1:30 (Collins is student run, so it is not open-ended, but we can adjourn to the Innovation Brew Works, 3650 W Temple, to continue visiting) Seating is limited and we have to leave room for the candidates, our guests at this luncheon, so SIGN UP EARLY--DO NOT MISS OUT. Price--$50--is less than our cost for just the food, and we are counting on sponsorships--$100 WHITE ROSE & $200 RED CARNATION-- to defray the extra cost and the cost of hosting the candidates.   All signups are online, by credit or debit card.  Use the button below. In Brotherhood, --John Vandevelde, Secretary

REGISTER NOW

Bill Ward (S63) is going through a tough patch right now and needs a little support and love.  We don't know exactly what health issue he is dealing with, but according to his oldest son Ryan, Bill has been in the hospital a good part of January, is in a skilled nursing facility now, and will soon go to Grand Vita in Carpinteria for palliative care. Many of you know he was the first serious photographer/historian for our fraternity in the early/mid 1960's, taught photography at Cal Poly (reportedly and easy "A" if you were a brother) and went on to receive two Masters at UCLA, teach there for many years and serve as Chairman of the Department of Theatre, UCLA school of Theatre, Film and Television.  We are sending this to his contemporaries of the 1960s so you are able to reach out to him with your memories, thoughts and prayers.  You can do so by sending an email c/o his son Ryan, using the button below.   I am sure Bill would love to hear from his Brothers. --John Vandevelde, Secretary UPDATE: Bill passed away last night at home surrounded by his family.  We are in contact with them and in a couple of weeks they will be ready to share more information about him and any planned services that we may be able to attend. "Here's to Brother Bill, he's with us, he's with us . . ."

Sad news. We lost another brother.

Brother Joe Green passed away quietly and peacefully, and not entirely unexpectedly given a history of heart disease. On January 11, 2024, at his home in Farley, Missouri, about 25 miles NW of Kansas City, Missouri, Joe was taking care of some things around the house, sat down in his wife’s car, and quietly passed away. Joe made a lot of friends, had a great life and enjoyed many things in his 82 years. It definitely was a life well lived.

Joe was born in Bell, California, on December 28, 1941. His parents, like many others of that era, had migrated to California, having moved from the Kansas/Oklahoma area, settling in West Covina and then Claremont. Joe’s father was a graduate of the University of Kansas and his mother studied music in college.

In California, Joe’s parents were fortunate to be able to ride the popularity crest of the most successful musical organ ever made, the Hammond Organ, invented in the mid-1930s and heavily marketed as a home-music instrument for much of the middle decades of that century, with over 2 million of them being sold. When Joe was growing up, his parents owned and ran a number of stores selling Hammond Organs and pianos up and down Southern California, from San Diego to Los Angeles, including a store in Pomona.

Joe attended Claremont High School. He played football there, but was a year younger than most of his classmates and not a big guy—maybe 5’8’ and 140 lbs. Claremont High had some very strong teams in those years. Their legendary football coach for 18 years, Leonard Cohn, had a record of 141-19-1, including winning a CIF championship in 1958. And they had a bunch of very big guys playing, including Joe’s high school classmate and later Pi Sigma Chi fraternity brother, Carl Myers (F61; Hon. Zeta 63-64) at 6’6” and about 250+ lbs. Joe was not big, but he was an athlete and he wanted to be on the field, so he played on the JV team and had a great time. Joe and Carl both graduated in 1959. Other Claremont HS friends who later became Pi Sigma Chi brothers included Dean Wickstrom (S61; CE unk.), Bill Gray (F62; Hon Iota 64-65), Darryl Sharum (S61), Dave Jones (F62) and others.

How Joe happened to attend Cal Poly Pomona where he joined Pi Sigma Chi is an interesting story, reflective of a very different time in the application and acceptance process at Cal Poly Pomona, then a very new, rapidly growing branch campus of Cal Poly SLO, with less than 2,500 students. Joe was the oldest of the four Green kids. His parents had both gone to college and wanted their kids to do the same, preferring that he go to USC. But unlike his younger brothers and his sister in years to come, all of whom went to USC, Joe was working in the family business during and after high school, including delivering organs and pianos, and didn’t really want to go to college at all. According to Joe’s wife, Molly, after working at the organ and piano stores for a year after high school, his father told Joe he was going to college whether he wanted to or not, so he took Joe to Cal Poly and signed him up. it was that simple back then.

Joe started as a landscape architecture major and enjoyed it, but a professor at Claremont College, the father of a girl he was dating at the time, told him he was not gong to make money in that field and should change majors. But instead of suggesting business or economics majors, which would have related to what Joe eventually did as a career, for some reason the professor suggested Joe switch to social science, which he did. That change, and some time outs along the way, meant that Joe did not graduate until 1966. [Photo left is from 1962 Madre Tierra, thanks to Founder Larry Stalions (12Pack57)].

It turned out that when he went to Cal Poly, Joe, just like Carl a year later, found some of his Claremont HS friends there and pledged Pi Sig in the Fall of 1960.

Joe loved being in the fraternity. He lived in the fraternity house at 3101 Pomona, rooming with Dudley Lewis (F60; Hon. Epsilon 62-62) and Bill Shelton (S60). He enjoyed a beer and a party, but he was not an extrovert. He did not demand a lot of attention and could be kind of quiet, but he was a great guy with a wonderful, dry, some say “deadpan,” sense of humor that could easily crack people up and he was always up for some fun. Carl Myers recalls an “explosive” incident Joe caused at the 3101 house. It was when the fraternity had a full-on, genuine "French chef," Henre, trained at the Waldorf Astoria, but with a drinking history. He was a fabulous cook, preparing full-on French cuisine, served in the dining room, with Brothers wearing white shirts and ties. Someone decided it would be great to show off to their local Representative to Congress, John Rousselot (Republican and, unclear if the brothers knew this, a Director of the John Birch Society at the time) to join them. Rep. Rousselot accepted, appeared, and all went well. Then, during the dinner, some home-brewed beer made by Joe, stored in a closet off the dining room, started to go off, popping caps, making noise and smelling bad. Somehow the noise and aroma was ignored, everyone finished dinner and no issue was made of Joe’s home brewery.

Jim Zangger (F62) recalled when he and Joe decided to go Mazatlan, Mexico, during the summer of 1964, driving there in Jim’s 1957 Chevy. They recruited Joe’s friend from Claremont HS, Hector, and Brother Bill Ward (S63) to join them. In the middle of the night, near Phoenix, a big gust of wind blew through the car and took some of their documents, birth certificates, etc., out of the car. They all voted on whether to turn around and go home or continue. The majority voted to continue, deciding to try to bribe their way into Mexico. They crossed the border at Nogales about noon the next day, got the documents they needed after paying a small bribe, and continued to Guaymas, over 500 miles from Pomona, where they spent the night before continuing to Mazatlan, which was another 700 miles. They arrived there at 11 pm the next night, buying gas along the way that came in 5 gallon tins, and dealing with torrential rains enroute. They spent two weeks on the beach in Mazatlan, swimming, fishing, meeting local people, drinking beer and exploring the city. In Jim’s words, “It was a trip none of us would ever forget, and [on the long trip home] I don’t remember us stopping.”

Joe got married in April 1966. The story of how he and his wife of 57+ years, Molly, met is a lesson for brothers who are foolish enough to bring a great date to a fraternity party and allow themselves to get distracted. Molly graduated from Glendora HS and after a year attending what back then was Missoula College, was back home and in 1965 was going to Cal Poly Pomona. Her best friend was dating Brother Jim Zangger (F62), and convinced Molly to go to a Pi Sig fraternity party at the second fraternity house, at 866 Foothill in San Dimas, as the date for Brother Jim Sisson (S60). However, while they were at the party, Brother Sisson wandered off to use the bathroom. Molly sat on the stairs waiting and Joe zeroed in, beer in hand and a smile on his face. Joe introduced himself to Molly, they started talking, and it seems it was a storybook case of “love at first sight.”

When Joe graduated, he worked for a while for his father, then landed a position involving musical instruments that were a lot easier to deliver than organs or pianos—he joined Fender Guitar Co., dealing with sales and distribution. He later was hired by Yamaha Motorcycle Co. to deal with their sales and distribution in the US. Yamaha moved him and his family to Oregon, which they loved, living there for a number of years until Joe was hired as the President of Stentofon, the US branch of a Norwegian company in the health care systems field, with their US base located in Kansas City. And after that company was bought out by a German company that replaced everyone, Joe was hired by a Swedish company to serve as President of Best Health Care Communications, also based in Kansas City, responsible for the 3 US, Canada and South America. Molly explains that Joe always traveled a great deal, first to Japan with Yamaha, and later to Scandinavia and other parts of Europe, and to South America and all around the US and Canada. Joe loved learning the diverse business cultures that he interacted with, stressing that he learned you could be effective if you tried to deal with everyone the same as one might in the US. The two of them were able to travel together for many of the business conferences at which the companies hosted clients and distributors, often with their spouses, wining and dining them. They loved those trips of course, and were able to visit many wonderful places around the world. Joe was President at Best Health for 22 years, retiring in July, 2023.

Along the way, Joe and Molly had three girls. Two are college graduates and the third has her own business. At one point all three of them, plus Molly, were in college at the same time, while Joe was paying lots of tuition and cheering them on. They now have six grandkids (three boys, three girls), five of whom graduated from college and the other has her own bakery business.

The family had great times over the years, enjoying lots of outdoor activities, horseback riding, snow skiing, boating, water skiing and fishing. Joe himself was a history buff, especially the history of the US, in particular anything “Western” or “cowboy.” And he would make sure they stopped to see anything unusual on their trips—even things like the world’s largest yarn ball.

Unfortunately, Joe had heart problems along the way also. His father had died of heart disease. Joe had bypass surgery at age 50 and three years ago he had a heart attack when he and Molly were visiting Yellowstone Park. So Joe’s passing this month was not a total surprise, but was very sad and came too soon.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that people consider making a donation in Joe’s memory to his favorite charity, St. Joseph’s Indian School (www.stjo.org/give). As we do in these circumstances, we are making a small donation to that organization in Joe’s memory on behalf of our fraternity alumni group. We will remember and honor Joe and our other recently departed Brothers at our next gathering, our luncheon at Cal Poly on April 19th.

“Here’s to Brother Joe, he’s with us, he’s with us . . . .”

"HAPPY NEW YEAR" TO EVERYONE OUR LAST LEGACY FUND UPDATE JUST 2 DAYS LEFT IN OUR 2023 YEAR-END "Record Setting" "HOMECOMING CAMPAIGN"

LAST CHANCE TO DONATE BEFORE YEAR-END Q--So WHY donate if we already broke records (most $, most donors)? A--Not for the money, but for YOU! Because--THERE WILL SOON COME A DAY WHEN . . . .

We are gathered together celebrating the successful re-establishment of Kappa Gamma It will be a big gathering  People will STAND UP, TALL AND PROUD, raising the roof, applauding and cheering We want you to be with us and celebrate--no matter what But if you didn't donate in this campaign-- even if you meant to even if you donated sometime in the past but didn't get around to it this critical year even if you did other things for our group over the years You will FEEL LEFT OUT  You will just plain FEEL BAD  You will know you MISSED OUT on the opportunity to kick in a few bucks and stand just as tall and as proud as anyone else.

At this point it's not about the money.   We just want you to be a proud member of our team  when that day comes.   We just want you to be with us, FEELING GOOD like everyone else, standing, raising the roof, shouting, applauding and celebrating. Just $25, or whatever you want, but add your name to our list of donors. It's really, really late, so if you decide to donate, it's best now to donate online--easy and very fast, no passwords or log-ins needed. Have your credit or debit card ready, just hit the blue button and a few clicks later you are done. Just 10 more new/first-time donors and we will hit another of our goals, making this an even more successful campaign. And we'll hit every goal if 18 of you make your donation recurring.

DONATE ONLINE

From Robert Walczak:

"The annual "Sigma Nu Kappa Gamma Ugly Xmas Sweater Pub Crawl" has always been a good excuse to get the brothers, friends and family out to catch up and share stories during the busy holidays. There were brothers from many generations of Kappa Gamma who attended. This annual event has been going on for 15+ years and was started by brother Ryan Carmondy many years ago. There were brothers that we havent seen for over 10 years that were able to attend and it was great to catch up with them and reconnect. Theres alot enthusiasm of Sigma Nu coming back to campus next year and the support is strong."

We had a great time celebrating Christmas 2022 and the beginning of 2023 in Guyana with Joseph, Hana, Elizabeth and Paul in 30°C heat. Meanwhile, Scotland was having a deep freeze. We returned home in February to a water flooded bedroom, TV room, lobby and bathroom. Edward and a friend had cleaned up all the mess and we had high hopes that we could have the rooms refurbished before the arrival of the immigrating Andrews at the end of April. The various Insurance companies had a completely different timetable e.g we finally got a starting date of July 10, 2023. Fortunately, when the Andrews arrived at the end of April they were not bothered about their new living conditions as they considered having walls was a step up from their Guyana farm accommodation.

May and June were spent adjusting to the sudden lifestyle changes caused by a household of six, keeping two grandchildren entertained with educational and recreational activities, job seeking, house hunting (still hunting) and adjusting to the Scottish culture, weather and food. It was fun, interesting, and enjoyable but also exhausting. The main excitement for the grandparents was having 4 of our grandchildren nearby.

In June I decided to change the pathetic insurance saga to our advantage. I convinced my lead insurance company to cancel all their subcontracts and make a settlement with me which they did. I employed Paul to help me do all the refurbishment work. I have done all this work myself (more than once) and trained all my children in DIY. Paul agreed. He is a very quick learner and enjoyed mastering lots of new skills as well as having a full time job with no commuting costs. We ended up with an excellent result and finished on July 10. Paul is now doing an apprenticeship in garden ornament making with our neighbour.

By this time Elizabeth got a Civil Engineering job with a Glasgow firm, Joseph and Hana both got registered at Kilwinning schools and joined the Scouts and Cubs. Elizabeth became a Cub leader. Hana spent time at a local dance class and was featured in “Just Juliette”. Joseph and I attended a course on “the Universe” held at the local Windfarm Science centre. Joseph spends every Saturday at the library for chess and other activities. Other activities included: Joseph learning to ride a bike, Scout camps, Viking Festival, Circus skills, Photography, Science Museum, Kilwinning Gala Day, Museum of Rural life - you get the idea! Finally, both Joseph and Hana are doing extremely well at their schools and of course signing up for all the extra curricular opportunities. At the October break they all went to Blackpool. Keep up to date with the Andrews - Hana from Guyana on Youtube (Like and subscribe!)

It seems the Edinburgh Broussards deemed 2023 the year of family mini holidays: London, Fife, Venice, Turkey, Iceland, Greece, …. This year Finlay joined the Nursery at Rory’s school which means only one school run/walk/cycle - sometimes all 3 on the same day. They are both doing extremely well at school as well as several extra curricular activities.

Lorna’s award winning Rock and Roars business is thriving. Her handmade children’s unisex clothing is a big hit. Check it out on Facebook. Edward finished his time with Accenture this year, spent 2 months as a full time dad and the mini holidays but in November he launched his new AI business, Tomoro. Check it out: https://tomoro.ai or https:// www.insider.co.uk/news/scot-founded-ai-firm-launches-31511350

Aug 30 was our 50th wedding anniversary so we celebrated with a lovely week’s holiday in Nairn, a northern coastal town on the Moray Firth. Our B&B was excellent. The weather was sunny and there was an annual Culture and Music Festival. We attended several events at the Festival as well as a few bicycle trips along the coast. We pretended to be 24/25 again. It didn’t work but it was fun trying.

In October we travelled to Colorado - a well overdue visit . It was a fantastic holiday. 3 weeks of blue sky, warm sun and the Aspens changing colours. 4 days in Snowmass with Wilby, Nadine and James and the rest of our holiday with Bob and Sandy, Paul, Wendy, Kaylah in Colorado Springs. James, Nadine and Wilby joined us for a week in Colorado Springs. Wilby is great fun and it was a real treat getting lots of time to play and get to know her. James and Nadine are planning to move to Germany or Scotland soon but their love of Snowmass is making it difficult. We are looking forward to their arrival but we will need to get a bigger table.