Monday, December 23, 2019
How sorry I was to just learn that Jim Dinnan passed away recently. We were SAE fraternity brothers in the late 60’s at UMO where I was a year ahead of Jim. He was a big strong athletic looking guy who as I recall had been a premier high school football player in his home state of Connecticut. We regularly enjoyed a few beers together and often played racketball on campus; it was actually called paddleball back then. Jim was a competitor always giving 110%. My most vivid remembrance of Jim was from the Spring of 1967 or 1968. Jim had a large motorcycle and one warm Spring day was doing wheelies on the front lawn of the SAE House without wearing shoes. He asked me to get on the back of the cycle with him, which I did, and proceeded to do another wheelie. Tragically, as the wheelie went up the cycle twisted and turned and Jim lost control. The bike rolled and as Jim tried to control its descent, his foot pushed off the rubber sleeve from the footrest. As I fell off, the bike turned and the footrest impaled Jim’s ankle. He received a serious wound to his ankle. He was a strong and resilient guy. I graduated from UMO in 1970 and 1971 and unfortunately never saw or had further contact with Jim. Notwithstanding, the enduring bonds of friendship through our SAE brotherhood have remained over the years as I now mourn the loss of my friend and SAE Brother Jim Dinnan. My sincere condolences to his family and friends. Art Lloyd Littleton, CO
