Pope stands proudly next to his
Honor of Philias.

Henry “Hank” Pope, Pennsylvania ’43,
passed away in Red Bank, N.J., on March
14, 2015, at the age of 94. Through his
declining health, his caring wife of more
than 50 years, Elaine, made sure that he
was always comfortable.

Hank will be forever linked to the series
of “Delta Pen” newsletters during World
War II that allowed the Penn Delta SigEp
brothers serving our country across the
globe to stay in touch, improved morale
and assured their service and sacrifice
were not forgotten by those stateside,
remember, there was no email or TV
coverage back then. These letters were
later edited and compiled in the book
Brothers in War published in 2005.

Due to an operation that removed
one of his kidneys, Hank was unable to
serve in the war. Instead, he compiled
and edited information from about 800
personal letters written by over 70 Penn
Deltas stationed all over the globe at the
time.

In 27 monthly newsletters, Brother
Pope sent a condensed version of these
heartfelt messages to chapter brothers on active duty. Henry’s newsletters allowed
the brotherhood to rejoice together on
happy occasions such as a marriage or
birth and to mourn together the loss of
brothers who were killed or injured in
action.

Hank wrote to brothers serving in the
military to “Remember the Reunion—the first two Penn-Cornell football games after the war.” These two gatherings
after WWII were among the best
attended alumni events in the chapter’s
history.

Many commented years later that
Hank’s newsletters meant as much to
them as the letters from family. It eased
brothers’ burden from the misery of war
and reminded them of a simpler time at
the SigEp house.

In August 2001,
before a group
of 1,600 brothers
and more than 55
years after his
final issue of the
“Delta Pen,” Pope
was honored at
Sigma Phi Epsilon’s
Centennial
Conclave with the
Honor of Philias.

Hank will be
greatly missed and
his selfless act of
brotherly love will
live on forever in the annals of Sigma Phi
Epsilon.