  Our Omega Mu brothers who served in the military are cherished and constant fraternal friends, and we would like to say thank you for the steadfast, purposeful commitment you made to our nation to defend those four freedoms we all believe in: “Freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.” For those brothers who were killed in defense of these freedoms, they will always occupy a consecrated place in our linked fraternal heart because they exemplify the idea of superlative commitment, strength, and fortitude for the good to the end itself. The greatness of their collective purpose and will, on our nation’s behalf, will never be forgotten. By their “clear-eyed faith and fearless heart,” these brothers have left us a fraternal legacy that echoes what we often say about Omega Mu Fijis: “Perseverance and determination are omnipotent.” Their code of integrity, courage, duty, responsibility, and self-sacrifice on behalf of our nation is a powerful legacy that we will always be proud of as Omega Mu Fijis. Whether it was at New Orleans, Red River, Fort Blakely, Marianna, San Juan Hill, Santiago de Cuba, Chateau-Thierry, Verdun, El Guettar, Elba, Monte Della Vedetta, the Battle of the Bulge, Rabaul, Inchon, Pusan, Chosin Reservoir, Pork Chop Hill, Hue, Easter Offensive, Phu Cat, The Iron Triangle, Hamburger Hill, la Drang Valley, Bien Hoa, Khe Sanh, Rumaila, Al-Batin, Medina Ridge, Kabul, Kandahar, our Omega Mu brothers have demonstrated devotion to duty in defense of freedom and liberty. They are the stability of our nation, and we, the Omega Mu brotherhood, revere, honor, and salute their persevering and determined spirit within our great nation and our historic brotherhood. We will always honor the heroism of all of our brothers who have served in the armed forces from the Civil War to the present. Thank you. Omega Mu Veteran Dana A. Beers, 1984  Omega Mu Years        
    Military Career  Dana was an aircraft commander in the United States Air Force. He flew B-52's during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm
     Dana joined the Air National Guard flying KC-135’s as an Instructor Pilot in a variety of worldwide operations, and he retired as a lieutenant colonel.  KC-135, above and below   “What if the space be long and wide, That parts us from our brother’s side A soul-joined chain unites our band, And memory links us hand in hand.” (Phi Gamma Delta fraternity song)    Fraternally,
Chip Chapman, ’82 Perge
0 Comments
Our brothers’ careers have been productive, constructive, spirited, and prosaic. They displayed impressive skills, talents, and abilities They were, and we continue to be, a beautiful and lively expression of our enduring fraternal beliefs, and that underlying harmony is far-reaching in expectation for all brothers’, undergraduate and graduate. It is the core of what our fraternal founders asserted in 1848, 1874, and 1899: to live active, commendable, and responsible lives, and to build up community. Clearly and compellingly, they added, and continue to add, positive value at the local, state, national, global, and fraternal level. In many instances, they were committed leaders and leading voices in their career fields. They prove that success of any kind does not occur by luck or accident, and we remember them because they continue to provide that message for our time. Put simply, our Phi Gamma Delta fraternal culture has a commitment to excellence through life, and Omega Mu has produced many outstanding men who have done just that in many fields, and were good citizens in their various communities, and in the world at large. It is a well-established fact that everyone appreciates beautiful architecture, and architectural taste has many broad expressions, but it is the character of the whole that always matters the most in designing beautiful, functional buildings, down to the smallest detail. Beautiful, functional architecture can be quite transformative, inspirational even, in creating a positive civic-mindedness, a social cohesion, and a communal pride and care in where one lives. The communal and artistic implications that go into the design process to create the synergy of social cohesion and pride is essential for the benefit of any town or city, college campus, and fraternities. In short, the communal good, and what Frank Gehry did for the city of Bilbao comes to mind with his imaginative, stylistic Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. However, like any art form, architects have widely divergent architectural ideas as to what is beautiful. Some architecture, functionally and aesthetically, is thought-provoking and marvelous, some lack aesthetic feeling, some down-right puzzling, even confusing, and some are flat-out architectural eyesores. And, like any other form of art, everyone responds differently to the broad range of architectural styles from Frank Lloyd Wright, Eero Saarinen, Renzo Piano, Louis Kahn, Zaha Hadid, Alvar Aalto, Santiago Calatrava, Norman Foster, Kenzo Tange, Richard Neutra, Frank Gehry, and so many others. In our fraternal context, we can all agree that the Castle is architecturally warm, beautiful, and inviting. Quite simply, in architectural conception, inside and outside, there is architectural fluidity, balance, and dignity, making it the most beautiful building at the University of Maine. It has a character all its own, and it is our architectural gem and treasure, our fraternal home, and we are all grateful for it. This sentiment of gratitude for our fraternal home and friends only grows, and it is fraternally satisfying, generation-to-generation, to walk through the front door each time we return to the Castle, our home. The Castle and our fraternal brothers bind us together, still. Three of our brothers found meaning and fulfillment in the field of architecture: Frank E. Kidder, Raymond J. Mayo, and John Rohman. Each of them were committed to architectural excellence in designing distinct, charming, thoughtful public buildings, schools, homes, churches, and chapels. There is an essential quality of good taste, functional and aesthetic, in what each of them have done in the field of architecture. Their technical architectural discipline was outstanding and, not surprisingly, each of them had splendid achievements in their respective careers. And so, we fraternally appreciate, honor, and celebrate their architectural accomplishments from the University of Maine, Bangor, Portland, Boston, and Denver, to name just a few place. Each of them are esteemed in our fraternal history, and we are pleased that they are our fraternal brothers. Each of them exhibited our determinant fraternal character of persistence and determination, and their historic significance can never be overstated. We have long been, from one generation to the next, proud to be Omega Mu Fijis. For this reason, we continue to cherish our fraternal friendships, our shared memories, and our evolving, forward-focused history at the University of Maine. These things, above and beyond everything else, are the underlying rooted connections that make us proud to be Omega Mu Fijis. Why, after all, should we believe otherwise? We have always been a scrappy fraternal brotherhood, individually and collectively, since 1874, and we will continue to be that way ‘- here, now, always’ (T.S.Eliot). You cannot shake our historically proud fraternal confidence, and it is with our enduring fraternal self-confidence and collective integrity, which is almost instinctive, we will reach our 125th anniversary in 2024. It will be a great celebration, and not one to be missed because our brotherhood has a rich, distinguished fraternal heritage at the University of Maine. Though many fraternal brotherhoods have long-vanished at Maine, our connection to our land, our fraternal home, and each other, of any age, endures. That is special, and time, commitment and a great deal of work has made it so. With that in mind, we owe a great deal to all of our fraternal brothers who came before us. Proud Q.T.V. and Fiji brothers. With all honesty and truth, fraternal life is not an old-fashioned, outdated notion! In sum, at its best, it is meaningful, sometimes extraordinary, and that is good enough, and it has validity through life. The linked chain of our brotherhood, decade-through-decade, is special, and we are proud. Perge. Omega Mu Portrait Raymond J. Mayo, 1900    Raymond J. Mayo, Architect  Miller and Mayo Architectural Firm 1907-1926  Delbert D. Coombs
 Miller and Mayo designed the home for Delbert D. Coombes, an artist, in Auburn, Maine.  Miller and Mayo designed the Whitney Cottage, Good Will Home and School, Hinckley, Maine.  Miller and Mayo designed the home for Edward L. Bradford in Auburn, Maine.  Miller and Mayo designed the home for Frederic C. Dudley in Portland, Maine.   Miller and Mayo designed Berry Hall at New Hampton School, New Hampton, New Hampshire.    Miller and Mayo designed Roberts Hall at Colby College, Waterville, Maine.  Miller and Mayo designed the Thomas Emery School, Biddeford, Maine.  Farmington State Normal School  Miller and Mayo designed Purrington Hall, Farmington State Normal School, Farmington, Maine  Miller and Mayo designed Stateway Apartments, Portland, Maine.   Miller and Mayo designed East Hall, Gorham State Normal School, Gorham, Maine.  Miller and Mayo designed the Elm Theater, Portland, Maine.           Miller and Mayo designed the B. C. Jordan Memorial Hall, Ocean Park, Maine.  Miller and Mayo designed Portland High School, Portland, Maine.  Miller and Mayo designed the home for Henry B. Estes, Auburn, Maine.  Miller and Mayo designed the Gorham Town Hall, Gorham, New Hampshire, above..  Miller and Mayo designed the Cottage Farm School, Cape Elizabeth, Maine.  Miller and Mayo designed the Lewiston United Baptist Church, Lewiston, Maine.  Miller and Mayo designed the Cyr Building, Waterville, Maine.  Miller and Mayo designed the parish house for the Woodfords Congregational Church, Portland, Maine.  Miller and Mayo designed the Thomas B. Reed School, Portland, Maine.   Miller, Mayo, Beal Architectural Firm 1926-1929  Miller, Mayo and Beal designed the Edwin Gould School, Hinckley, Maine.  Miller, Mayo and Beal designed Norway High School, Norway, Maine.  Miller, Mayo and Beal designed Scarborough High School, Scarborough, Maine. “What if the space be long and wide, That parts us from our brother’s side A soul-joined chain unites our band, And memory links us hand in hand.” (Phi Gamma Delta fraternity song)    Fraternally,
Chip Chapman, ’82 Perge Omega Mu Voices Daniel J. Cosgrove, 1971  Sam Cosgrove and Paul Pooler  Bill Pond, Paul Lessard, Ted Crowell, Bob Doyle, Chris Eaton, Sam Cosgrove, Jack MacBrayne  Chris Eaton, Paul Pooler, Mike O'Leary, younger brother, Sam Cosgrove  1968 Omega Mu Pledges Jim Browne, first on the right Daniel J. Cosgrove Omega Mu, 1971 I roomed with Jim Browne in the Castle, for a period of time, and got to know him. He was quite the character. He lived life to the fullest. He studied seriously, and after graduation he returned to Vassalboro to help his family make a great golf course into a 36 hole gem. It now has the distinction of being the most visited golf course in Maine, hosting over 90 tournaments every season, with of the tournaments being run to raise money for cancer research and suicide prevention.   Jim moved on and became the head greens keeper at the Waterville Country Club. I used to drive by the maintenance building every morning while delivering milk, my summer job, to summer camps, and I would bang on the horn going about 40 tossing half pints of chocolate milk, and Jim would run out and catch every one like an NFL wide-out.  The Browne’s purchased the Lakewood Golf Course in Skowhegan, and Jim took over as manager. He never charged me a dime when playing there.       He married his long time girlfriend, Barbara, and they built a home in Vassalboro that, I believe, she still lives in to this day. One evening Jim didn’t feel well and got up in the middle of the night and went downstairs. Barb found him on the couch the next morning where he passed. Jim’s son runs the course in Skowhegan, and they both take after their dad, a solid pillar of a man!  Omega Mu Voices James D. McLean, III, 1972  Jim McLean Omega Mu, 1972 I always remember Jim as a very happy guy, with a smile that could light up a room. While at Maine, Jim met his future wife, Barb, and they were inseparable. Jim always showed her the greatest of respect and affection. They were a model couple.
Jim was a real Mainer: few words and get right to the point. He was also very proud to be a FIJI.   Just how proud he was illustrated by one funny incident at a house meeting, where Jim had, sort of, nodded off to sleep. We were discussing an upcoming party, and it was being discussed that we hold it in the RAM, but it was noted that the acoustics might not be very good. 
Jim woke up with a start, and with great enthusiasm, and sense of defending the honor of Phi Gamma Delta, loudly asked, "Who the heck are the Acoustics and why won't they play in the RAM?” Everybody in the chapter room cracked up. Once satisfied that no scurrilous band named the Acoustics had insulted FIJI, Jim grinned and went peacefully back to sleep.That was Jim. 100% there for the important stuff, and amiably unconcerned over the minor stuff. He was a very loyal guy to the house and to Barb. A gentleman's gentleman all the way, and one of the most naturally happy people I have ever met. He was a great father, husband, son, Omega Mu brother, and friend of many people.  Omega Mu Voices Richard M. Paganucci, 1971  Tom Richardson, Mike Soloby, John Nale, and Dick Paganucci Richard M. Paganucci Omega Mu, 1971 Jim came to Fiji with Doyle Vautour, as they went to Hall-Dale High School together, and had been close friends for years. It was surprising because his two older brothers, Billy & Bobby, were Phi Mu’s. He was also a heck of a football player at Hall-Dale but chose not to play at Maine.    L-R: Leigh Morrill, John Collins; seated, Doyle Vautour; John Kimball, and behind John is Dusty Rhodes  Phi Mu Delta  “What if the space be long and wide, That parts us from our brother’s side A soul-joined chain unites our band, And memory links us hand in hand.” (Phi Gamma Delta fraternity song)    Fraternally,
Chip Chapman, ’82 Perge |
Archives
May 2023
Categories |
RSS Feed