From the National President's Desk: In remembrance of John Cosgrove

by Bill Crane, Georgia '80

Atlanta, Georgia
4/20/06

With 60,000 living members...it's unlikely that a day doesn't go by that our Circle doesn't have another brother join Chapter Eternal.

Sometimes these passings create a larger break, though only temporarily, in the links which bind us all together.

Former National President, John Cosgrove, Florida '68, recently elected Mayor of Cutler Bay, Florida, longtime member of the Florida House of Representatives, and lifelong Florida Gator and initiate of our Alpha Eta Chapter is one of those
Phi Taus...who lived his life as a larger link.

John passed recently due to complications from appendicitis while travelling in Africa with his daughter Tiffany.

In addition to his law practice, insurance consulting and volunteer work as legal counsel to our National Council, John has spent the last several years trotting the globe and writing regular travel columns for a chain of weekly suburban newspapers in Metro Dade County and the city of Miami.

John was a man of many passions, his family, politics (particularly of the Democratic persuasion), travel, food and Phi Kappa Tau.

He was a champion, true believer and passionate defender of fraternity life...and a leader and advocate for Phi Kappa Tau.

As an undergraduate, John was a Chapter leader, IFC officer on the University of Florida campus, and one of our first undergraduate National Council members.

Elected to the National Council in 1979, John served more than 25 years (almost consecutively) as a member of Council, VP, President, past-President and then an ex-officio member and our pro bono Legal Counsel to the National Council and Executive Offices.

He did all of this while raising a family, building a law practice and serving in a varietyof local and regional elected capacities in Miami and greater south Florida.

John and former National Council member Joe Joiner, Georgetown '73, 're-birthed' and created the modern day version of our Phi Kappa Tau Leadership Academy in 1988. Next year's Academy will mark the 20 year anniverary of that milestone.

John was known for his bawdy sense of humor, his well-thought legal and political counsel, his love of political battles and his love for Phi Kappa Tau.

I first met Brother Cosgrove, as many undergraduates have, singing about
a Large Wheel at Phi Kappa Tau's Diamond Jubilee Convention in Oxford, Ohio in 1981 at Miami University, the site of this year's Centennial Celebration.

John always revelled in meeting and geting to know our Resident Council members and leadership. He was always keen on recruiting and mentoring future leaders...as evidenced today by folks like Ken Nanni, Florida '91, Brian Galgay, Florida '02,and both Bill, Florida State '73, and Andy Macak, Florida State '03.

If you visited Miami, John was also the consummate Phi Tau host. When Hurricane Andrew destroyed his home in 1993, he and his wife Bernie were almost apologetic to temporarily be unable to host visitors while they rebuilt an even more beautiful home, and replaced John's seemingly irreplaceable collection of Bald Eagle replicas and carvings.

While having lunch last week with a prominent former Florida journalist who has also known John for years...he shared an anecdote which I think is very illustrative of John.

A prominent developer and political chieftain of the day offered John $30,000 in the early 1980's to NOT seek a particular elected post.

John was then a young attorney and area political activist...raising his family and building his law practice. He declined the bribe and sought and got elected to the office in question.

Then and now, the Florida General Assembly met year-round, but offered a salary substantially lower than the referenced $30,000.

Florida law at the time allowed the developer to escape prosecution as it only would have been illegal if John Cosgrove HAD ACCEPTED the bribe.
How very Miami...

What is most unusual about John is that he would also recount this story as evidence of his fast growing political clout in the region as the power structure of that day offered him $30,000 NOT to run... And the same folks would later become among his most regular contributors.

John remained an ardent Democrat in a state that became flooded by the GOP in the early 1990's. He ran an unsuccessful statewide race for Insurance Commissioner, and served on the National Campaign Steering Committees for both U.S. Senators Al Gore and John Kerry...all while maintaining a very cordial and working relationship with Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the President's Brother...who ran against and later
bested both Gore and Kerry.

Having visited Brother Cosgrove in Miami on many occasions over the past 25 years, I was always amazed by the time he made for Phi Kappa Tau. During many visits to his law offices, I watched the walls fill with a variety of honors, awards and photographs with Presidents, Senators and prominent business leaders and celebrities.

However immediately over John's head, and in the center of the wall of his office... almost the first thing a visitor would see...was John's certificate of initiation (his shingle), an honor from his home Chapter thanking him for his many contributions, and a plaque containing a gavel in recognition of his service as our National President.

This again was a visible and significant demonstration of the importance which John placed on Phi Kappa Tau in his life.

We extend the deepest of sympathies to his wife Bernie, his son and our brother Mike as well as his daughters Tiffany and Colleen. Florida and Cutler Bay have lost a native son devoted to public service...and Phi Tau has lost a leader, lifelong brother and outside advocate and friend.

We can only hope in John's next destination he is already lobbying for a better place...or a larger piece of heaven for his fellow Phi Taus in Chapter Eternal.

I for one haven't any doubt.

In Phi,

Bill Crane
National President

If you have questions about this page, please contact Ian Andrews at iandrews@phikappatau.org.