completed in 2010 before the original chapter house
was demolished the week of Dec. 13-17, 2010.
In 1959, the 45 men of the University of Wichita’s Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter shared at least one thing in common with Sig Ep chapter houses across the country – their traditional red door. WU’s Sig Eps resided under the watchful eye of house mother, Ruth Price, at their home at 1740 N. Vassar.
According to the 1959 Parnassus, “From behind the red doors come men imbued with a common purpose, that of preserving and furthering the traditions of the fraternity.”
One of those men, Curt LaGree ’59/64, is today a familiar presence at the WSU Alumni Association. A mechanical engineering grad now retired from Boeing, LaGree is especially known for his longstanding service on the planning committee for the association’s annual golf tournament, the Shocker Open.
In 1959, he was the first-semester president of his fraternity – and the most important event of the year for Sig Eps was their installation as the first national fraternity on campus. “After months of preparation,” reports the Parnassus, “Eta colony became Eta chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon on April 3, 4 and 5.”
LaGree is one of some 1,100 Sig Eps who passed through the red front door of the original chapter house from 1959 to 2010, when a new house was completed. It took several years of fundraising efforts by Sig Ep Kansas Eta alumni to secure funding for the construction project — and one week in December 2010 to demolish the old house. From a camera in a second-story window in the new house, located directly north of the old one, the demolition was photographed for a time-lapse video that can be viewed on YouTube. The video uses about 17,500 of the 23,000 photos taken.
The music accompanying the video is from “Sigma Phi Epsilon Sings,” a record produced for the occasion of the fraternity’s 60th Anniversary Conclave in Chicago in 1961. Members of the Kansas Eta chapter were selected to make the record, which was recorded at RCA Studios in Chicago in 1960. Among the Sig Ep singers: Larry Eck ’63, Don Estes ’66, David Holmes ’63, Don Luallen ’61, Vaughn Sink ’61/61, Tom Snyder ’62 and Ralph Spurrier ’61.
Three other Sig Eps, Denis Dieker ’77/80, Joe Hand ’99 and Chris Purdum ’07, are current alumni association board members.
