Tom Tear, Omega Mu Chef, 1919-1954

Omega Mu Portrait
Tom Tear
Omega Mu Chef, 1919-1954

It takes a special person to work in a fraternity, and Omega Mu is lucky that we have had such a man grace our brotherhood for thirty-five years as the chef for our brotherhood, and that is a great achievement in any career. Amidst the daily hustle and bustle of Omega Mu fraternal life, Tom Tear made an indelible impact on our brotherhood during his long tenure as our Omega Mu chef, and we are grateful for his reliable, steady thirty-five years of service to our Omega Mu brotherhood. His daily efforts on our behalf was a rich, positive yield that benefitted generations of brothers from 1919-1954. He was present with our brothers through three bewildering periods of change in history: the Great Depression, World War II, and the Korean War. Through the challenge and difficulties, and twists and turns of these periods our Omega Mu brotherhood remained were fraternally alive and strong, and without a doubt Tom Tear played a significant in making our Omega Mu fraternal life a positive experience. Quite simply, Tom Tear was a temporal grace for our brotherhood because he made our fraternal world better by his very presence. 

​It is almost unheard of for someone to work for thirty years or more at the same place, but Tom Tear did. In a word, he was unswervingly persistent, and his link in our long fraternal history is a notable one, a proud one, a fraternally committed one. Most importantly, our brotherhood only benefitted through his faithful labor! No doubt, many graduate brothers were delighted to see him when the they returned after five, ten, fifteen, twenty, or thirty five years. One can only imagine the stories that he could tell. It is safe to say that Tom Tear was a gift to our Omega Mu brotherhood during his thirty-five year pilgrimage with Omega Mu, and I am sure many brothers were grateful for his guidance and friendship. Most importantly, his resilient culinary work was daily a grace in order for generations of Omega Mu brothers to thoroughly enjoy life in the Castle, and that is no small matter in being around 30-40 free-spirited young men. 

It takes a special kind of person to work for over thirty years in a fraternity, and Tom Tear was certainly one of them! He was a tide-of-fraternal life for our Omega Mu brotherhood in every way possible in preparing wonderful meals, party snack and party favors, and in providing guidance, good counsel, and friendship to the brothers for over three decades. In doing so, led by his deep affection for the brothers, Tom enhanced the quality of Greek life that generations of Omega Mu brothers experienced in living together in both Phi Gamma Delta Castles. Consequently, Tom was universally loved by generations of Omega Mu brothers, and the legacy of his loyal service to our historic brotherhood will never be forgotten because he played a significant role in helping young men truly enjoy our Omega Mu fraternal life.​

1919 Omega Mu Brothers

1929 Omega Mu Brothers

1939 Omega Mu Brothers

1949 Omega Mu Brothers

1954 Omega Mu Brothers

As Omega Mu's longest tenured chef, serving the brotherhood from 1919-1954, Tom Tear, with fraternal zeal, spit, and polish, made every Omega Mu smoker, party, homecoming, formal, and Pig Dinner special - memorable. He was there during the the three day celebration that commemorated the opening of the present Castle in 1925, and he was there when the first Winter Carnival concluded with a fireworks extravaganza in front of the first Phi Gamma Delta house. He witnessed the glorious labor when our brothers constructed some of the most beautiful snow sculptures ever created at the University of Maine.

1920 Freshmen Smoker

1922 Winter Carnival

1923 Dinner And Dancing Party
"At 7 o'clock, a delicious dinner was served by the fraternity chef."

1935 Homecoming.

1935 Midwinter Houseparty

1936 Spring House Party

1937 Pig Dinner

1938 Fiji Frolic NO 2

1939 Spring House

1940 Fiji Spook Party

1947 Smoker and Backward Party

"The the climax of the afternoon came. Santa Claus Johnny Ballou appeared, greeted by cheers from the younger children and skeptical looks from older ones. The children, led by Santa, sang the old familiar Christmas carols....The children were then shepherded into the dining hall  where a meal with child-appeal awaited them - hot dogs, chocolate milk, ice cream
​and cookies.""

1948 Christmas Party

Early 1950's Formal

1935 Snow Sculpture

1936 Snow Sculpture

1939 Snow Sculpture

1940 Snow Sculpture

1941 Snow Sculpture

1948 Snow Sculpture

1950 Snow Sculpture

1952 Snow Sculpture

During his thirty-five years as Omega Mu's chef, Tom Tear lived a full, unique life with our brotherhood that was constantly filled with various activities and functions, and and he did all of it with a deep sense of fraternal commitment and camaraderie with each generation of Omega Mu brothers who in our two Castles. Sadly, he saw large numbers our Omega Mu brothers leave during World War II and Korea, and he welcomed them when they returned. He was present when the Castle was opened in 1925, and he was present when the Omega Mu brotherhood celebrated their 50th Phi Gamma Delta anniversary in 1949. 

Tom Tear was thoroughly faithful in his service to our brotherhood, and the temporal grace of everything Tom Tear did with his special, creative work for our brotherhood made him a perfect fit for our brotherhood during every year that he was with us from 1919 to 1954, helping create a strong level of contentment. He was a uniting, joyful, and beneficial presence in the Castle, on a daily basis, in everything he did, during his unbroken commitment to the brothers of Omega Mu for thirty-five years. Clearly, that is a great thing, a great grace that we will never forget in our fraternal history. Seemingly, he truly understood the substantive meaning of that memorable biblical declaration: "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."​

Tom Tear,
Omega Mu Chef,
1919-1954

“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