Month: March 2026

Paul Seimers ‘ 61 ΣΩΤ, a dedicated engineer and loving family man, passed away peacefully on January 20, 2025. Paul was one of the 13 Charter Members who started Sigma Omega Tau Fraternity, our founding brotherhood, in West Eggleston Hall in October 1958.

Paul received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He did graduate work at The University of Virginia and Virginia Polytechnic Institute in fluid dynamics and heat transfer. Paul joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1961. During his NASA career at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, he was involved in many engineering, research, and flight activities as a designer, researcher, principal investigator, experiment development manager, project scientist, and project manager.

He designed hypersonic wind tunnels and arc jet facilities to address the Lunar mission rerun to earth reentry. He served on the Lunar Orbiter Spacecraft Operations team as the assistant to the Space Flight Operations Director.

Paul will be remembered for his pioneering spirit, his love for adventure, and his unwavering dedication to his family and community.

Click here to read more about Paul’s life and his family.

Sam Parsons ‘ 73 ΙΞ392 passed away on September 25, 2024.

Sam graduated from Holy Cross High School, then joined the Marine Corps, serving during the Vietnam conflict (Oorah!). His heart then took him out west where he ran hunt camps, worked cattle ranches and attended West Texas State Uniersity. Returning home, he attended Virginia Tech, majoring in creative writing. He wrote articles for western magazines, local newspapers, and even published a few of his own short story collections.

His professional career was in real estate, first working at Smith Mountain Lake in the early years, selling property by boat. He then moved to Lynchburg where he owned a tropical plant business and continued to sell unimproved property and farms as well as land tracts he bought and subdivided for resale.

Click here to read more about Sam’s life and his family.

Frank W. “Willi” Harksen ‘ 79 ΣΛ93 of Mechanicsville, VA, passed away on Monday, December 22, 2025.

Bill graduated from Virginia Tech and was a proud member of the fraternity. He worked for the City of Richmond for many years before joining Hanover County where he served for over 20 years, first in the department of public utilities, then as Deputy County Administrator. After he retired, he enjoyed spending time at Virginia Beach. Bill was a lifelong tinkerer and enjoyed “fixing” things around his home with near-daily trips to the hardware store.

Click here to read more about Willi’s life and his family.

Reid William Ammen ’74 ΣΛ51 of Roanoke, Va., and formerly of Calabash, N.C., passed away peacefully on Saturday, May 17, 2025, following a battle with esophageal cancer.

Reid lived a full life: he was his own boss working as a professional certified public accountant (luckily, as he took an afternoon nap daily), loved every dog he ever met, and selflessly served others through many volunteer endeavors in the community and his church.

Click here to read more about Reed’s life and his family.