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| Theodore Lesko ’40 and his son; Father’s Day 2015 |
76 years after departing the grounds of University Park, and now at 99 years old, Kappa Sig Brother Theodore Lesko ’40 looks back on his time at Alpha-Delta with fondness for the feelings of Brotherhood and Camaraderie. A member of a number of other organizations at PSU such as Skull and Bones, Blue Key, and the tennis team, Lesko says Kappa Sigma meant the most to him.
“My fondest memory of my four years at Penn State was being a member and an officer of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. The feeling of brotherhood and camaraderie that existed among the members was very meaningful to me. I was elected Vice President and was honored to serve in that capacity for a great group of guys and a great fraternity. I was in a number of other organizations at Penn State like Skull & Bones, Blue Key, tennis team, and manager of the gym team but Kappa Sigma meant the most to me.
| “My experience as a brother at Kappa Sigma helped me in a number of ways throughout my life.“ |
I also met my future wife, Jean Harshaw, at Penn State in the summer of 1940. She had graduated from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland in 1937 and was taking post-graduate courses in English at Penn State. I was on the tennis team and had heard about a Miss Harshaw who was a pretty good tennis player. She was also very attractive and vivacious, which was an added bonus. Little did I know that Jean had actually played on the men’s tennis team at Washington College which, although it did not have a women’s team at the time, was still a tremendous accomplishment. Jean beat me in tennis the first time we played, which taught me a lesson in humility. It was a momentous first meeting for us. We continued to date and were married in April 1942. After 73+ years of marriage, three children, four grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren, Jean passed away in December 2015.
So I have a number of fond memories of Penn State and Kappa Sigma and the experiences there that shaped my life.
My experience as a brother at Kappa Sigma helped me in a number of ways throughout my life. In my position as Vice President of the fraternity my responsibilities often required that I enlist the support of the brothers on various projects. In order to be effective I developed my social skills and management skills which helped me later in life on both personal and professional levels. I recall one time when I was responsible for establishing the lineups for Kappa Sigma’s intramural sports teams. I had to evaluate the skills and strengths of the brothers and then create the lineups. While it doesn’t seem like a big deal now it required certain skills which I was still in the process of developing at that time in my life. It gave me confidence to take on bigger jobs and responsibilities in my career and community.”
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