In 1997, Robert T. Reeder, Colorado School of Mines ’49, became his chapter’s first and only member to be awarded the Order of the Golden Heart. He served as the chapter’s Alumni and Volunteer Corporation treasurer for nearly 20 years in the ’70s and ’80s. His SigEp brothers and fellow volunteers remember him as an outstanding treasurer who performed his work in the tradition of Past Grand President Charlie Patch, Colorado 1912, the AVC’s first treasurer, who served for nearly 50 years.

Reeder’s varied career included positions as associate professor of mining at Colorado School of Mines, chief mining engineer for Gates Corporation, and as an engineer and manager with several companies that included Texas Gulf Sulfur, Cary Salt Company, White Pine Copper Co., and Clinchfield Coal Co. He also served as president of the Colorado School of Mines Alumni Association Board of Directors in 1983 and received the school’s Outstanding Alumnus award in 2000.

Reeder was active in the Golden community as a member of Rotary and St. Joseph’s Parish. Widely traveled, the Reeder family lived in New Mexico, Michigan, Colorado, Utah, Louisiana, West Virginia, Wisconsin and California, but Reeder always felt that Colorado was home.