Of course my fraternity visit would never be complete without sitting down for a while with
Dennis Hollander. The last few years, Dennis and I have had some great conversations, by
email, phone or in person. Dennis is truly a brother and he exudes friendship. Over the
years I have come to love Dennis for his genuine sincerity. As with many of the brothers, I
have come to respect Dennis on many new levels. I never knew that Dennis was an officer
in the armed forces. Dennis also has a flare for writing, as I learned during our
conversation. His writing skills are soon learned if you read his posts on the T.J. High
school website. If a brother or a friend calls, Dennis will be there for you. Thank you
Dennis!!
Benny Beauchamp was a brother that I had never met until VJ’s retirement (of course he
did not really retire) in Houston several years ago. Since then it has been a delight to get
to know Ben. He is a true brother and a friend that you can truly count on. He said that he
is finishing his extra room at his retirement home somewhere close to Brenham and that it
would be available in the near future for a get-to-gather. Looking forward to it Ben!!
Any correspondence that did not send a hearty: “Well, done!!” to Brother VJ Harper would
be indeed inappropriate. Thank you, VJ, not only this year, last year as well. How you do
it is a tribute to your true “Jordan Standard”. The food was excellent and plentiful, the
drinks were great and the presentation of the awards was outstanding. The award
presentation was a complete and great surprise for me and I’m sure for all of the brothers.
It was indeed an honor to receive the Semi Century award. I thank you VJ, not only for the
reunion organization, but for your work on getting the awards from National. This was the
frosting on the cake for a great weekend. Outstanding job, brother VJ I also would like to
thank your lovely wife, who greatly impressed me with her smile and enjoyable attitude. On
a side note, VJ has a house on the 16th fairway of the Babe Zacharias course in Pt. Arthur.
I was asking him exactly which one it was. Gene and I had passed his home when we
played Saturday morning, but we did not know which home was his. I learned that it was
near the green and on the left side going toward the clubhouse. The interesting part is how
he and his wife chose this house over another. They had looked at another house they
were interested in. The house they now live in had only been seen from the outside. His
wife called him while he was working in Louisiana to say, “You’ve got to see this house!!”
VJ said he knew this was the house; immediately when he saw it. The other part of the
story, it was owned by a minister, who had buried a bible in the foundation. He said, “This
house was built upon the word.” Pretty good foundation for a Sigma Chi. VJ, may the word
shine upon you and your family and may God continue to bless you.