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A Remembrance
Brother Kevin Dalmasse
A Remembrance
The first time I met Kevin Dalmasse he was among a group of fresh faced CCFS novices. I had returned to my alma mater to assist in coaching debate and the recruits of fall 1973 included this cherubic faced freshman from Saint James Parish. Over the course of our interaction way back then, I couldn't help but note young Kevin's intelligence, enthusiasm and sense of humor.
The last time I was with Brother Kevin was on March 3rd of last year when concerns regarding the emergence of the coronavirus were just beginning. Neither of us wore a mask. We shook hands. Our chance encounter occurred in the Longworth House Office Building in Washington DC. I was lobbying for the Food Bank. He was leading a group of Central students on their way to meet with our fellow Viking Congressman Conor Lamb. We caught up on a few things and playfully ridiculed the aide sent to fetch Brother Kevin and his gang. As his bad luck would have it, the young fellow was a graduate of North Catholic and neither of us could resist letting him know what we thought of the lesser Catholic secondary institution now exiled in Pittsburgh's northern suburbs.
In between these meetings, Brother Kevin had become a good friend and, for me, the "single source of truth" regarding all things Central Catholic. On those rare occasions when Central appeared in an unfavorable light in media reports of Facebook posts, my first call was to Brother Kevin, who could be trusted to give the "real story." We didn't have many debates since we frequently found ourselves both on the affirmative or negative side. Sadly, my last email to him - the morning of October 6, 2020 -went unanswered. That day he went to his well-deserved eternal reward.
Brother Kevin embodied Central's values of faith, scholarship and service. His indefatigable spirit, optimistic outlook, boundless energy and quick wit will live in the memory of all who had the privilege to know him.
Brother Kevin understood and greatly appreciated the legacy of the Central Catholic Forensic Society. Shortly after our all class CCFS reunion in 2016, he shared a message that illuminated his feelings:
"...every few years, I give the debaters something I call the "Final Lecture, the main point of which is to offer them a word of encouragement to be honorable Christian gentlemen...prominently positioned in the talk is a tribute to the men who greatly influenced my approach to coaching debate...I do this for two reasons: first, because Central Catholic debate...is philosophically at great odds with debate as practiced by nearly every other national circuit team, and second, I want to pay tribute to those who have had such a profound impact in terms of my love for debate."
He concluded with this:
"It is in this section of the talk that I also introduce them to the legend of Rene. It's so hard to believe none of the current generation of student have the remotest clue who Brother Rene was. I feel like the little kid in the final scene of Camelot whom King Arthur sends running from the field of battle so that he might live to tell the tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable!"
It is now left to we who have "been there," current Central speakers and debaters, and those who will follow to continue telling the CCFS story and celebrating Brother Kevin's legacy.
Dennis McManus, ‘72