Unfortunately we have very limited space in the Omegaphone and we received many more updates or had to edit those we were able to print. We wanted to share all the news from our brothers.

Thank you for all the news and info you provided.

Bob Kennedy '50 - My wife Doris died on November 17, 2010. She had been ill for six years and is now at peace. We had a good marriage since 1951, just a year after graduating from Penn State. Our five wonderful children are all nearby and have given us nine grand children and three great grandchildren so far! They all have made for an interesting life and I will always be grateful for my years with my brothers at Theta Chi.

Two of my closest associations, Bruce Blauch `49 and Bob Baylson `51 were both friends in my high school class and we enlisted together in the Army Air Corps in 1942 after graduation. At Theta Chi it seemed that all brothers had similar close bonds. So much friendship radiated from "Giffies" kitchen to the lunches and at the evening dinners from Grace to dessert. Studies were demanding for me, but I always had fun from watching the skits put on by pledges, to the beer kegs on weekends.

Keeping in touch after graduation was not easy with jobs and family. Other than Bruce and Bob, I had some occasional contact with Joe Jackson '50, Bob Bossler '49, Herb Wittman '50 and Bob Clarke '50. Approximately five or six years ago Bruce and Bob died. My family continued to take more and more time and before I knew it, I turned 87 and found myself thinking, "That was some life!"

Tom Morton ’53 - Over the many years we have had little contact with my fraternity brothers although some live not too far away. We thought that after retirement we would have time for those many things we were never able to do when we were working and raising kids. For us, regretfully, it hasn’t worked out that way. Our 3 girls settled between 400 and 1300 miles from us, so our visits to them and the grand kids gobble up considerable time. We still live in our home of 53 years. Maintaining the house and its one acre plot is a job for young people and it takes us a long time to do most everything even though we have pulled in the maintenance perimeter substantially.

Here is a crop of us at the 1952 Bowery Brawl as well as a one year old picture of us. What a difference 59 years makes! I got a lump in my throat while cropping that Bowery Brawl picture.

Don Griffith ‘54 - This is Don Griffith wasting away here in Margaritaville North, Winter Park. We have visited with Rod Wiseman ’54 and his spouse at the Windsor Tea House in Mt. Dora, FL. I tried to get a hold of John Pershing ’55, but got no response from him. I believe that he lives in the Carolinas. He was in my pledge class back in 1953. I have been in the South; Texas and Florida ever since leaving Pennsylvania in 1954. I guess I am a Southerner now.

I attended TCU while living in Fort Worth and received an MBA degree there in 1971. Rod Wiseman '54 and I got together in the 70s one time in Houston, TX where he worked at the time.

George Walz ‘55 - I recently visited the house for the first time since the '60's to get a firsthand knowledge of the condition of the structure. If any of the Alumni have any doubts about the need to contribute to the drive to rehabilitate the house, go for a visit! You will find it as I did; it is in bad shape compared to the way we left it in the 50's. The Brothers that I met, not many as it was the summer session, seemed interested and were very helpful.

Jim Caldwell ’57 - My first wife passed away in 2008 and I remarried in 2010, life is good.

There were many memorable traditions, notably the serenades. Serenades were fun, especially when it was your "pinned" girl that was the recipient. THAT was special! The serenade was given to girls who got pinned to a brother. We would get dressed in suits with ties (dark suits of course) and go to the residence hall of the girl and sing to her under her window. We always sang Sweetheart of Theta Chi and others. The girls enjoyed it and we enjoyed doing it.

I have not been back for about 50 years; however I am planning a trip back in the near future. I would like to see the renovations of the house and see all the changes at the University. I would like to see Joe Paterno again. I played football at PSU when Joe was a quarterback coach under Rip Engle. When I was being recruited they were interested in my agility, so Joe took me to Rec Hall and we played one on one basketball. He was hard to keep up with. It’s hard to believe that he is still going strong while I have been retired for about five years.

There are many great memories from Theta Chi. Of course pledging was an experience to be remembered. Can't say it was all fun but it was certainly memorable! Another highlight of my experience was the timing of my membership. I happened to be in the fraternity when we had a number of veterans who were brothers. I respected them and enjoyed their leadership and friendship. They were special.

Dick Jones ‘60 - Keeping active is my lifelong desire. Although retired from 40 plus years in property-casualty insurance, I entered a different field. For the last five years I have been a seasonal employee of the State of Connecticut, directing boater's education classes and teaching boating safety.

Having earned my 50 ton captain's license, weekends involve running tour boats at Mystic Seaport. If you visit the seaport, look me up.

During the last few years I have been visiting the Chapter House annually and I am pleased to have observed the many improvements. And I'm also happy to note that many features are the same as they were when I left in January 1960.

Gary Riser ’64 - I lost my wife of 42 years Marcia, in December 2008. I am living in Oak Ridge, TN and am courting again. I have two grandsons in Mooresville, NC (6 and 4) and two more in Durham, NC (both 4). I have many blessings, but I will forever miss my wife.

One of the memorable evenings was on a big weekend when some of the dates stayed in the house on one of the floors. Sam Padgen’65 and I went to the PSU chicken coops -- stole a couple of chickens and released them on the floor with the girls.

Bob Losinger ’72 - I have been residing in the Minneapolis area since 1978. My wife Becky (past sweetheart of Theta Chi) and I have a winter home in Fort Myers and are looking forward to retiring in the next year or two. We need more brothers to attend the annual Theta Chi Open golf event each May - it is always a great time.

Also, I now do a weekly late night radio show on KFAI, 90.3FM, called Fused Funk. Past two shows are archived for easy listening at www.kfai.org under the Fused Funk program page.

Jason Ross ‘92 - I have recently finished up my 19th year in education. I presently am a secondary English teacher for The Hempfield Area School District in Greensburg, PA (Greensburg is 32 miles southeast of the city of Pittsburgh). In addition, I am also the Assistant Athletic Director for the school district, as well as a high school assistant track & field coach. For the last six years, I have also been an assistant football coach at Seton Hill University [Division II school in Greensburg], where I coach the special teams.

This July, I will celebrate my 12 year wedding anniversary to my wife, Heidemarie. She is an occupational therapist/certified hand therapist at Westmoreland Hospital. We have two children – Nicholas, who is 9 years old and finishing up the 3RD grade, and Katelyn, who is 7 years old and finishing 1ST grade. We live in Hempfield Township.

Unfortunately I have lost contact with most of my fraternity brothers with the exception of Jamie Wilkins’91. I was the best man in Jamie’s wedding a few years ago in Kentucky. Jamie is also in public education in a school district in Ohio. I also saw Chris Bartnik’91, another one of my pledge brothers, a few years ago at my high school’s 20TH reunion [Chris married Leslie Lindenfelder, a girl I graduated high school with].

Brian Cooley ‘94 - Work has been quite crazy lately. I was recently promoted to Associate Systems Director at the Aerospace Corporation where I've been for the last 14 years. I just turned 40, and my wife, Kathy, took me wine tasting in Temecula, CA to celebrate. My son, Brandon, just turned 2 last month, and his vocabulary is growing each day. I've attached a picture of my family.

I'm looking forward to seeing my fraternity brothers Andy Dolan ‘94, Scott Morton ‘92, and Kevin Shayer ‘92 for a golf weekend in the Poconos in August this year. I see Andy almost every Christmas, but Scott and Kevin only about every other year for golf. However, my fondest memories always include these guys, like spring breaks, road trips, socials, etc.

I haven't seen it in the Omegaphone, but maybe I missed it. My pledge brother and best friend growing up, Jeff Gray ‘94, passed away last summer (7/25/10). Quite a few brothers inquired/heard/sent condolences to his family and me. It was health related, but quite.

Additional Alumni Updates for the Omegaphone