Brother Roger Denney passed to the Adytum on High Jan. 12, 2009. He lived in Irvine.
Born to show business parents in 1932 in Indiana, Roger was raised in Riverside, Calif., and attended UCLA for undergraduate and law schools. Roger’s career as an Orange County attorney spanned 45 years.
Roger was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and one of the founders of the Orange County Wheelmen. Roger loved spending time on his boat, discussing politics, and joking around with his family.
Roger was a huge sports fan who always rooted for his home teams: the Angels, Rams, Lakers and UCLA Bruins.
His is survived by his wife of 32 years, Vira Joe, his sister, Shirley Jett, children, Elizabeth (Ron) Maester, Jennifer (Len) Silveri, Charles (Jennifer) Denney, Carol (Michel) Schilling, Matthew (Sarah) Denney and 13 grandchildren.
Donations in Roger’s memory can be made to the UCLA Athletics General Support Fund at (310) 206-3302.
The Upsilon Chapter Building Association holds quarterly meetings and maintains the condition of the 1931 Sigma Pi Manor. New members are welcome.
This past year, the Board funded the purchase of new dinner plates and bowls with the Sigma Pi crest emblazoned, to replenish the stock, and new photographs in the dining room. The board also contributes annually to the active chapter for educational purposes.
Current members: Matt Sumrow (President), Tom Miller (former President), Art Martinez (Secretary), David Finkel (Treasurer), Stu Johnson, Liron Nelik and Jay Ross (Chapter Advisor).
The UAA has funded many items for the chapter this year. Your donations make it possible!
$150 for scholarship to Michael Spiker for a medical trip to Africa.
$200 for Gold Crosses for alumni from 1954-1958.
$200 to the national fraternity for a commemorative brick in honor of our chapter and our founders, the Ball and Chain club, at the new Sigma Pi Centennial Clocktower at Vincennes College in Indiana. Individual alumni also contributed for a brick in memory of Joseph Marsalek, long-time Chapter Advisor (1983-2007) who died in 2007 and friend of all.
$200 for new equipment for the weight room (the old library/garage).
$500 for scholarships to actives: William Meyer “Most Contributions to the Chapter” and Julien D’Avanzo “Spirit of Sigma Pi” awards
$300 for educational purposes for actives to travel to St. Louis for the National Mid-Year Conference.
$300 for Annual Dues to National to remain in “good standing.”
$700 for framing of old photographs (including a donated photo from Doug Keppler).
$800 for new robes for meeting and initiation.
Michael Spiker volunteered in Ghana for three weeks during the summer as a medical lab technician and educator, helping to fulfill the fraternity’s Creed of “service to God and man.”
Upsilon Chapter is proud to report another productive and exciting quarter at UCLA. The house capitalized initiated 11 new brothers into the fraternity at the start of winter quarter. Such a successful rush would not have been possible without Rush chair Chase Hay’s diligent efforts and hours of hard work over the summer and at the beginning of the school year.
At Chi Omega’s Tug of War philanthropy, we placed 3rd after upsetting SAE and Sigma Nu. Brothers also participated in Phi Sigma Rho’s Laser tag on the intramural fields. Upsilon is planning two separate philanthropies this year, one with the “Sunshine Kids” (a group of children with cancer) this winter, and the other being a half marathon with proceeds going to the UCLA Rape Treatment Center of Santa Monica. As always, donations to these worthy causes are welcomed.
In sports, a dominant Robert McShane led our volleyball team to 2nd place, and soccer made the playoffs. Strong displays of athleticism were balanced by academic performance. Our house continues to have one of the highest fraternity GPAs and is well above the UCLA average. Brothers scored extremely well on standardized tests. David Lusby, former sage and IFC president posted a 171 on his LSAT, and Albert De Meo earned a 41 out of 45 on is MCAT. Evan Hou passed his actuarial exams, and former Sage Dave Bresler achieved high marks on his graduate record exams. While academics are our first priority, the house also hosted several social events.
While the house held its annual Foam Party (with help from Pablo Rivas and Randall Bass), it is sad to report that this year was likely the last year for this iconic event that attracts so many people through our doors, especially neighboring chapters like UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach St., with whom we are strengthening relationships.
The National Fraternity assembled at Convocation in Long Beach this past summer, where we made new friends from inside California and through out the United States.
Upsilon received an award for a 100-man chapter, and posted the 2nd highest GPA of any chapter (behind UC Berkeley). Delegate Alec Jossens, was part of the budget committee that elected to increase national dues in order to further expansion, and maintain Sigma Pi’s reputation as an efficient and well-principled fraternity. Convocation was an opportune time to build friendships with members of other chapters, specifically Long Beach St. who hosted us every evening after a full day of voting and meetings. David Lusby and Sam Cortina also helped needy damsels carry beer to their hotel rooms, and Jossens helped to pick up the house’s new plates (with Sigma Pi crests) from the glazing shop.
Paralleling the National Chapter, Upsilon has recently elected a new Executive Council: Sage Manuel Gouveia, Vice President Kanishk Tulsyan, Treasurer Stephen Tye, Social Chair Daniel Heriman. We hope to see plenty of alumni on Founder’s Day on Feb. 28th!
?Michael Spiker volunteered in Ghana for three weeks during the summer as a medical lab technician and educator, helping to fulfill the fraternity’s Creed of “service to God and man.” The UAA contributed $150 to his trip, which was organized by Cosmic Volunteers. Spike, an anthropology and pre-med major, developed a curriculum and traveled to villages to teach about disease prevention.
He also tested blood in labs for diseases like malaria and typhoid. In villages, Spiker was welcomed by chiefs and elders and spoke to crowds of 100. Although English is the “official” language, a translator chiefs and elders and spoke to crowds of 100. Although English is the “official” language, a translator was needed for rural areas. The government has sporadic contact with the rural villages, so volunteers like Spiker fill an important need. The government is a democracy, modeled after the United States, but tribal elders still have authority over local domestic disputes, so it’s a mix of modern and tradition.
“There was more freedom than I expected, like for school and career. But, then the women are not treated equally,” he said.
Spiker lived with a Ghanan family with host brothers his own age, and few other American volunteers were around. So, he had the experience of being a minority, but was treated well. The poverty was difficult, and public health is a problem with no running water, poor sanitation and lean-to’s as shelter, but the quiet and peacefulness of the imposing jungle was a memorable experience.
“It was pretty incredible and eye-opening. It was tough to see the conditions there. But it was enlightening to see a new culture,” he said. – Alec Jossens, 1st Counselor.
Jay Van Holt (7/20/1923 – 4/6/2008): Van Holt, a Golden Cross recipient and member of the Old Men’s Club, passed to the Adytum on High on April 6, 2008, at age 84. He lived in Santa Rosa (Marin County) with his wife Marilyn. Van Holt was friends with Tom Straeter, Fred Thornley, Herb Martin and Mitch Toland while in the fraternity in the 1940s. “He was a wonderful guy,” Bob Baker said. “He didn’t lack for a story. He was a good man. If you knew him, you’d love him.”
Van Holt served in the Navy during World War II and was stationed in Palermo, Sicily. He married Marilyn in 1952, after another tour of military service during the Korean War, and worked as a sales manager for Eastman Kodak in Rochester, N.Y., Salt Lake City, Detroit and Los Angeles.
Van Holt retired in 1985 to Santa Rosa in the San Francisco Bay area, and stayed busy with bridge, golf, and traveling, with trips to Alaska, Russia, Italy and Sicily, and Greece.
Van Holt’s wife Marilyn can be contacted at (707) 579-5583. They have four children, Jack, Tom, Maxim and Brooks, and one grandchild.
John Selby (6/1922 – 8/1/2008): Selby, a Golden Cross recipient, passed to the Adytum on High on Aug. 1, 2008, at age 85. He lived in Lakewood with his wife Dottie, and had been retired after working for Rockwell for many years. His business work was involved with the NASA Apollo moon flights and space shuttle programs.
Selby was born in Charleston, W.V., and moved to Memphis and Milwaukee before arriving in Los Angeles. He graduated from Hollywood H.S. and attended UCLA in the early 1940s, where he served in the ROTC. Selby was drafted into World War II and served as a radio operator and map reader in the Pacific Theatre, including Australia, the Philippines, New Guinea and the occupation of Hiroshima and Tokyo in Japan. He received the Bronze Star.
After WWII, Selby attended USC and graduated with a degree in Business Administration.
He and Dottie loved music, and they were subscribers to the L.A. Philharmonic, Old Globe Theatre in San Diego for Shakespeare, and the San Diego, Orange County and L.A. Operas. Their trips often centered around music, which included a Mozart-inspired trip to Vienna, and trips to New York for the Metropolitan Opera.
Selby and his wife Dottie also played bridge and golf and enjoyed reading and collecting books. They have two children, a son Richard who graduated from UCLA and is an engineer for Intel, and a daughter Pamela, who lives in Louisville.
Selby was friends with Bill Meyer, Alex Palanach and Tom Ham, and Dottie remembers that Stedman Gould, a Grand Sage from Upsilon, managed the Sears store where she worked after college.
Selby’s wife Dorothy (“Dottie”) can be contacted at (562) 866-6152.
The pride of the 1980s reunite at the UCLA-Oregon game in Eugene – Andy Carpenter (Arizona), Jeff Sargent (Oregon) and Marty Fortier (Idaho).
LONG BEACH – Jay Ross represented the UAA as an Alumni Club in good standing at the Convocation on Aug. 2. Alec Jossens, 1st Counselor, represented the active chapter and deserves extra accolades for attending all of the 9:00 a.m. business sessions while his other brothers were still sleeping from some late nights. Jossens served on the Budget Committee, which approved the budget for the new biennium. Ross was Chairman of the Credentials Committee, which certified active chapters, alumni clubs, and alumni for voting. The chapter was honored as a 100-Man Chapter and for the second highest GPA during the past semester.
During the opening remarks of the Convocation, which was held the week prior to the Summer Olympics, Ross acknowledged Dr. Chris Koutures, who was in Beijing as a trainer for the U.S. Volleyball Team, and Elvin “Ducky” Drake, who as UCLA track and field coach went to the 1960 Rome Olympics to coach Bruin athletes Rafer Johnson and C.K. Yang (teammates who won the gold and silver medals in the decathlon, capped off by a thrilling 1-2 finish in the final event, the 1,500 meters, in which Johnson ran a person best time to finish 2nd in that race behind Yang and clinch the Gold Medal).
Ross also acknowledged the two Upsilon alumni who served as Grand Sage, Stedman Gould (1954-56) and William Cutbirth (1962-64). Frank Fryberg, of Penn St., the oldest living Past Grand Sage (1964-66), mentioned that he was friends with Cutbirth and spoke highly of him and also knew James Pablo Rivas and Ed Kwak also attended the Grand Chapter banquet. Our compadres at Long Beach St. won a Grand Sage’s award for top chapter in the “Campus with 10-19 fraternities” category. Long Beach St. alumnus Nelson Ferris (an early employee of Nike and confidant of Phil Knight), LMU alumnus Ed Panconi, and LBSU alumnus Tim Leslie (a California state senator) were honored with Founders Awards.
WESTWOOD – Four brothers of Upsilon who served in the military and were killed in combat during World War II were honored along with all UCLA veterans who gave their lives for their country at a ceremony on Nov. 9, 2007: Robert “Ace” Calkins, Donald Hesse, Liston Comer and Lane Donovan.
The ceremony included the dedication of a plaque, and included veterans from World War II era to the current Iraq War.
John Kulli (Pasadena) and Clement “Jake” Jacomini (Signal Hill) were classmates of the group and remember the Upsilon brothers fondly from their days on campus in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
WESTWOOD – Four brothers of Upsilon who served in the military and were killed in combat during World War II were honored along with all UCLA veterans who gave their lives for their country at a ceremony on Nov. 9, 2007: Robert “Ace” Calkins, Donald Hesse, Liston Comer and Lane Donovan.
The ceremony included the dedication of a plaque, and included veterans from World War II era to the current Iraq War.
John Kulli (Pasadena) and Clement “Jake” Jacomini (Signal Hill) were classmates of the group and remember the Upsilon brothers fondly from their days on campus in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
In 1957, Doug Keppler led Upsilon to racing glory by winning the soap box derby race down Bruin Walk during Greek Week. He was honored by a kiss from Miss Hollywood. In the photo, Carl Jaffe and Buckley Martin hoist him after the victory. Keppler got the driver’s job because he was small (the car was only 14 inches wide) and enthusiastic about racing. Keppler weighed less than 150 pounds, which allowed the car to stay under the 250-pound limit.
Paul Finwall, an engineering student, was instrumental in building the victorious car, and he also built a smaller 12-inch car that Pi Beta Phi used to win the Ladies Race.
Finwall raced in the Los Angeles All-American Soap Box Derby from 1946-49. Keppler’s car was one of three that Finwall helped build. “Most cars that I helped with were chopped up in pieces since I had always felt that if you didn’t win there was no point in keeping it. I would start over and build a new and better one for the next year,” he said. The car that Keppler raced was built and driven by a friend, Don Brown. Don came in second in the 1953 Los Angeles Race and missed going to Akron, Ohio, for the national finals by less than a foot. Finwall’s son Ken kept up the family and fraternity tradition by winning the L. A. Race in 1979, and he finished 4th at the nationals in Akron.
Finwall’s wife Judy is an Alpha Phi from UCLA, and he still meets with friends from the fraternity, Skip Keyzers, Emmett Tompkins and Mike Merz. Finwall retired after working as a test engineer and manager of testing laboratories for Northrup. He has two sons, one who is a racing car designer.
Keppler lives in Sierra Country in northern California and has traveled to jazz festivals in Monterey, Sacramento and Port Angeles this year.
Brothers from the late 1970s gathered in Northridge in July to celebrate the 50th birthday of Bruce Thompson, including Michael Dykstra, James Lipow, Greg Hill, David Shiokari, David Pulaski, Wayne Smith, and Thomas Concannon. The group indulged in three cases of chardonnay for a wine tasting, and four magnums of some nice meritage reds (blends). If the name Tom Concannon sounds familiar, perhaps you have had a “Concannon Petite Syrah” or one of their other offerings. Tom’s family sold the winery shortly after he left UCLA, but he was raised with it his entire life. The family vineyard started in 1883, and was in the family until the early 1980s. Concannon helped the less experienced paletes enjoy them better.
Mike Dykstra was part owner of a medical practice and is now teaching high school sciences. Jim Lipow was in construction and is now teaching special education. Greg Hill is with the Bureau of Land Management, doing the mapping, restrictions, etc. for the southwest deserts.
Dave Shiokari owns his own capital business. Dave Pulaski owned a rival to JD Powers, and is now at MetLife. Wayne Smith is an attorney. Tom Concannon is a manager/VP at a division of Oracle.
Among those who could not attend: John Snodgrass, Senior VP at Morgan Stanley; and Mike McFarlin, owner of an insurance company and part time actor.
Bruce Thompson owns a small freight company, and his son just graduated Washington University in St. Louis in an accelerated BS/MS in five years. “So my wife and I just got an $8000 per year raise, in cash,” he says.
Brothers from the late 1970s gathered in Northridge in July to celebrate the 50th birthday of Bruce Thompson, including Michael Dykstra, James Lipow, Greg Hill, David Shiokari, David Pulaski, Wayne Smith, and Thomas Concannon. The group indulged in three cases of chardonnay for a wine tasting, and four magnums of some nice meritage reds (blends). If the name Tom Concannon sounds familiar, perhaps you have had a “Concannon Petite Syrah” or one of their other offerings. Tom’s family sold the winery shortly after he left UCLA, but he was raised with it his entire life. The family vineyard started in 1883, and was in the family until the early 1980s. Concannon helped the less experienced paletes enjoy them better.