George Spasyk — No. 1A

Post date: May 26, 2019 2:33:24 AM

George W. Spasyk, 95, Indianapolis died Thursday, May 16, 2019. The former executive director of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity, George dedicated his life, unselfishly, to the development of collegiate men.

George was instrumental in the establishment of Iota Theta Zeta at Arkansas State University and considered it one of his favorite chapters. The chapter founders made him honorary member No. 1A.The youngest of nine children, George was born in Pittsfield, Mass., on July 25, 1923. After graduating from high school at the age of 16, he entered a training program at General Electric Co. that sent him to nearby Williams College for intensive study in analytical chemistry. The next six years saw him working on the Manhattan Project while also serving in the United States Navy.He enrolled in the fall of 1946 at the University of Michigan, where he joined Lambda Chi Alpha. After completing his graduate degree in business administration, he joined the staff of Lambda Chi Alpha as a traveling secretary. Two years later he became service secretary, in charge of the undergraduate operations of the fraternity. He would continue in that position until 1968, when he became executive director, a position he held until his retirement in 1990.During his 40 years of service to Lambda Chi Alpha, it grew from 137 to 223 chapters and its membership increased from 50,000 to 196,000 initiated members. In 1972, under his leadership, the fraternity’s General Assembly voted to adopt the Associate Member Program, effectively removing “pledgeship” from the fraternity.George received scores of recognition plaques and awards from the chapters of Lambda Chi Alpha and international fraternities. He was awarded Lambda Chi Alpha’s Order of Achievement in 1990 and, in his honor, the fraternity created the George W. Spasyk Order of Interfraternity Service to recognize those men and women who have contributed outstanding service in the betterment of all college fraternal organizations.

In addition, he has been honored by the highest awards within the interfraternity community including the North-American Interfraternity Conference’s Gold Medal, the Fraternity Executive Association’s Distinguished Service Award, and the Association of Fraternity Advisors’ Jack Anson Award.

He was preceded in death by his parents and eight siblings. He is survived by a great-niece who lives in Massachusetts.

Memorial contributions may be made in his honor to the George W. Spasyk Memorial Endowment Fund of the Lambda Chi Alpha Educational Foundation.

There was a private family burial. In the coming months the Lambda Chi Alpha International Headquarters will schedule multiple celebrations of life both in Indianapolis and at the Stead Leadership Seminars in Denver and St. Louis.