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Words can hardley express the tragedy felt on August 29th, 1976 when fire destroyed the Beta-Tau Kappa Sigma Chapter House. As if the loss of the chapter house was not enough the deaths of five young Brothers still touches the hearts of our alumni and active chapter members to this day. The following is excerpted from the Lawrence Journal World.
The fire swept up a stairwell and became concentrated on the second and third floors, officials said. There was no internal alarm in the house to warn the 30 men staying there.
Mrs. Annabelle Beeks, who lives next door, said she heard “something like firecrackers” around 3 a.m., then the shouts of men.
She immediately called the Baldwin Volunteer Fire Department, she said, but the line was busy.
Fire department officials said the first call came in at 3:06 a.m. McCoy, who had one of the few recently installed house phones in his room, reportedly called the department after waking many residents by shouting. McCoy lived on the second floor in the newer addition, on the south side of the building.
The firefighters arrived on the scene within five minutes, city police said. Fire Chief Archer Carlson said the fire was “fairly well in progress” and had engulfed the top two floors by that time.
The news reports of the day do little to express the sorrow and adversity of August 29th, 1976. Nor do they convey the personality and character of Stephen Hoge, Ted Bailey, Mark Morris, David Sloop and Stuart McCoy. “Harpo”, Steve, Teddy, Stu and Dave were an active part of the Beta-Tau Chapter of Kappa Sigma. The following are excerpts from the Baker University memorial service remarks of Brother Dennis Domer. The remarks speak to the character of these “Five Friends and Brothers”.
Steve Hoge was our chapter Grand Master, or President. In my memory, he was one of the few persons to have been re-elected to that office. Steve, at twenty-one, had already displayed extraordinary potential for leadership. When Steve presided over our chapter meetings, we knew that he was gently in charge. He worked very hard this summer to make our home at Kappa Sigma a good place for twenty-eight men to live and study. Steve helped formulate our rush strategies and hired our new housemother. He was fine young man.
Teddy Bailey always greeted me on campus with the warmest smile, and I don’t believe he ever failed to say, “Hi, Mr. Dommer.” Nor could you miss Ted’s razor-edged mind. He spoke after careful thought. But at the same time he possessed the energy and exuberance of youth. Ted loved Kappa Sigma and he was loyal to Baker. He was a prime example of sincerity and goodness. We placed great trust in him for he was our Master-at-Arms. What a fine young man he was.
Mark Morris; we called him affectionately “Harpo.” Mark graduated from Baker last May but he came back to Kappa Sigma to help us with our fall rush. For many years interested alumni such as “Harpo” have returned to Beta-Tau for the important rushing season. I personally appreciated Mark because he had no façade. What you saw and heard was the real Mark. This clarity of mind and purpose made “Harpo” a superb pledge trainer. He too was a fine man.
David Sloop, “Sloopy” to us, was one of the most considerate human beings we ever knew. I never heard him speak ill of anyone. In chapter meetings he defended, often alone, those who were criticized. And what a sense of humor this brother had. He was serious, of course, but in the most difficult times, David brought us cheerful words of happiness and hope. He was our Grand Scribe, or Secretary, and he spent a great deal of time on our rush program. Dave’s absence will be sorely felt, but our memory of him is joy and laughter. What a fine young man he was.
Many brothers in this room thank Stu McCoy for their lives. He discovered the fire and his last service to our chapter was his telephone call to the Fire Department. We must praise him especially. Stu was our creative talent. He brought our university theater a keen eye for outstanding stage sets, because he built many stage sets during his high school days at Shawnee Mission East. In addition, he was an actor and growing in that profession. We saw him in a lead role in the play Summertree this July. He was in the cast of Man of La Mancha in March. He had an excellent singing voice and that voice will be missed in the Baker Choir. His voice saved many yesterday. He was extraordainary.
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Tragedy Strikes by Fred Searles
When the phone rings at 5:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning it is either a wrong number or something terrible has happened.
August 29th 1976, 5:00 a.m., my phone is ringing. I answer with a sleepy “hello”.
An anxious voice tells me, “The Kappa Sig house is on fire. Several Brothers are unaccounted for and feared trapped in the house. Can you come right now?”
It is a twenty-minute drive from Ottawa to Baldwin. I was there in ten. What I saw was totally devastating to me. The third floor was gone, dormers and all; the new addition on the rear was gutted and the brick walls were in danger of collapse. I had lived in the SE 3 for three years. I had my desk in the dormer window – no more. Flames were still erupting everywhere. My young Brothers were embracing each other in disbelief on the front lawn.
About this time a cameraman from WIBW-TV in Topeka stuck a microphone in my face and asked, “What will you do now?”
With no authority or direction from the Board of Directors, I answered firmly, “We will rebuild!”
With another look at my beloved home for four years, virtually destroyed forever, I drove slowly back home to pray in my church that awful Sunday.
A memorial service was held soon in the packed Methodist Church in Baldwin. Brothers Dennis Domer and Ken Snow, among others, provided comforting words to the grieving congregation.
Now our thoughts turned to what we would do next. The Alumni Board met immediately led by Bob McDowell. A painful decision was made to demolish the remains of the old house and build a new Kappa Sigma House.
In the months following, contributions were very generous and the Board hired an Ottawa architect, Earl Devore, and an Ottawa builder, Lloyd Builders, to design and construct our new house. I was appointed by the Board to be their representative for inspection purposes.
We began to build in stages as we could afford, a $300,000 new Kappa Sigma House. It was agreed early on that it would be a one-story house blending the architecture of our old house with that of Memorial Headquarters in Charlottesville, Virginia.
On one of my frequent inspections of the construction progress, I discovered a concrete storm shelter under the north wing of the new house. This was not in the original construction plans. I soon learned that this was the architects and the builders’ personal gift to the Fraternity. So now we were going to have as safe a house as possible, one story with a storm shelter. A footnote is that our architect, Earl Devore, has a son that is a sophomore Kappa Sig living in the house that his father designed.
Let’s end this tragic story on a happy note. The Beta-Tau Chapter of Kappa Sigma is now one of the top five Chapters nationally. Was our time and money well spent? You bet it was. For it is well, my Brothers, carry on.