Paul Waymond Caine

Paul Waymond Caine was the consummate entrepreneur and chef before his time, always friendly and displaying a pleasant disposition. He was born in Greencastle, Indiana, on May 17, 1890. He was long thought to be an only child but is now known to have had a half-brother. Caine attended Greencastle public schools and enrolled at Indiana University sometime between 1909 and 1910 as a business major. He was adept at cooking and honed those skills while working at DePauw University, where he worked as a cook in the sorority houses before enrolling at Indiana University. He was a fine caterer and was in demand by the White fraternities on campus and kept many of the Founding fraternity brothers from hunger. He lost all his belongings during his freshman year because of a disastrous fire in the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity house where he was employed. Caine persevered but was eventually forced to withdraw from school during his sophomore year, the winter quarter of 1911. He subsequently set up the Caine Catering Company in his hometown and continued his catering business in various cities, including Gary, Indiana, Peoria, Chicago, and Evanston, Illinois. Caine opened a restaurant and bakery while residing in Peoria, Illinois. He also published a catering book, Artistic Dishes, copyrighted in 1919 by the Hurst Publishing Company. He became well known in culinary circles and was well sought after to teach and conduct lectures. While residing in Gary, Indiana, Caine worked as a laborer at the Gary Steel Mill and married Jeanette E. Wilson in 1921. While living in Chicago in the early-mid 1920s, Caine assisted in organizing and furnishing the Chicago (IL) Alumni Chapter's new 'Kappa Kastle.' Caine helped the other Founders in organizing Kappa Alpha Nu and was among the first to be initiated into the Fraternity. He was also instrumental in setting up the Beta, Gamma, Delta, Zeta, and Theta Chapters. He later acquired a second-hand goods clothing store and dry-cleaner business in Rockford, Illinois. He was burned during an explosion of gaseous materials while working in his dry-cleaning business. Caine subsequently died of pneumonia on April 15, 1931, from injuries sustained from the fire.