Alex Waterhouse-Hayward

Brother Raymond Fleck, C.S.C. - Call Me Ray

Monday, January 26, 2015

This morning I received an email from Raymond Fleck.

Alex: I'll be in Austin the end of February for the St. Ed's Homecoming Weekend. Will you be there? Have you been in contact with Mike East? All the best to you and yours. --- Ray Fleck

I answered that with the death two years ago of my religious mentor and friend Brother Edwin Reggio, C.S.C. that it would be unlikely that I would attend. This plus diminishing funds while living in a big house my wife and I cannot afford to fix is the deciding factor.

Raymond Fleck replied:

It was fun to get together with you and Mike at that earlier reunion, but time marches on. Sometimes we do have to go through these rough patches. Yes, Brother Edwin was a wonderful guy. You know, he was a native of New Orleans, so when Hurricane Katrina devastated the area, he and I were in contact about it. The Brothers' old Holy Cross High School was wiped out, but after a couple of years, Edwin told me they were rebuilding at a different location in New Orleans, up near Lake Pontchartrain. I went over to see the new place, and what they accomplished was truly impressive. Hang in there, Alex. --- Ray

I have written twice here and here about what I call the Brother Edwin Friendship Quotient. This email from a man who is at least 11 or 12 years older than I am is another proof of Brother Edwin’s (I could never have gotten away with calling him Edwin nor would I have wanted to.) insight into friendship between disparate ages.

Mike East, Raymond Fleck, Lee Lytton III - 2011

Brother Edwin Fleck, C.S.C. may have been just 30 when he had the high position of Religious Superior in my 1958 Edwardian annual. I had finished 9^th Grade at St. Edward’s High School in Austin. He had an office next to the principal’s on the main floor of our New-Gothic building that housed our dorms, cafeteria, chapel and classrooms. I remember seeing what seemed to be a tall gaunt man who with his glasses reminded me of a scientist ( particle physics?) or philosopher. He never said a word for me as we had no connection except that his office was in the same building where I lived. After 1958 his photograph disappears from my Edwardians but I knew he was around for at least a couple more years. At some point he became the president of St. Edward’s University with whom we shared our campus.

In 2011 I attended a reunion at St. Ed’s and there was the tall and gaunt man in his glasses wearing seersucker sports shirts. Now, not as tall as I remembered him, he was simply Raymond Fleck and he introduced me to his wife. The remote man I thought he was, was warm and friendly . I even had his doctorate all wrong. It was in chemistry not in physics.

During some casual conversations over breakfast I found out that he had a connection with a former classmate of mine Mike East. From this connection I found out that the remote and gaunt scientist had the added talent of being able to get rich but thrifty people to donate money to the university. For years many at the university had thought that East Hall (the university’s first dormitory for women) was simply called that because of its location. Raymond Fleck set the story straight here.

As my friends move away or die I find it pleasant and rewarding to understand the making of new friends - in particular my friendship to Raymond Fleck. When he was Brother Raymond there was an unfathomable gulf between us. It has dissolved. Brother Edwin would simply say to me, “I told you so. It’s math.”

And here is a clarification of it all from Raymond Fleck:

I first went to St. Ed's in 1954, to teach Chemistry at the University. Three years later, at 30 years of age, I became President. The office of the President was across the hall from the High School Principal's office. In those days, the President was the Religious Superior of all the Brothers assigned to the High School and the University. In 1964, the office of Religious Superior was separated from the President position. I continued as President of the University, and Brother Romard Barthel (a long-time teacher of Physics at the University) became Religious Superior of the Brothers assigned to the University. In addition to continuing as Principal, Brother Peter Celestine Maranto became Religious Superior of the Brothers assigned to the High School.The 1960s were often times of chaos and personal trial. I left St. Ed's and its presidency in 1969, and left the Brothers of Holy Cross in 1970.

Here is my LinkedIn profile summary:

A native of Brooklyn, NY, Ray graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School. He enlisted in the Navy while he was 17, towards the end of WW II, and served for 18 months, ending up as an Aviation Electronics Technician. A life-long member of the Catholic Church, he served in the Brothers of Holy Cross for 22 years, including 12 years as President of St. Edward's University in Austin, TX. After leaving St. Edward's and the Brothers, Ray engaged in research in environmental chemistry at UC Davis, served as President of Marygrove College in Detroit, MI for seven years, and worked in research administration at UC Davis and at Cal Poly Pomona. He retired in 1995 after 41 years of service in higher education.

Lee Lytton III

Mike East

Link to: Brother Raymond Fleck, C.S.C. - Call Me Ray