In Memoriam: Dave Remine, Versatile Volunteer Led Mensa on All Fronts

As the only person to lead American Mensa, Mensa International, and the Mensa Foundation, Dave Remine has been one of Mensa’s most influential figures over the past three decades. His legacy was built almost literally brick by brick.

Remine passed away on July 19 at the age of 79.

A member of Tidewater Mensa in Virginia since 2016, he joined Central New Jersey Mensa in 1969 on the results of a Navy-issued IQ test. Remine began volunteering shortly thereafter, taking on increasing responsibility in national leadership roles. By 1985 he was serving as a Regional Vice Chair, a position he would serve for four years before becoming the national Treasurer (1989-93). Around this time, he also served as a National Representative to the International Board of Directors (1989-95), a Mensa governance forum he would later revisit. In 1995, while serving as American Mensa’s First Vice Chair, Remine filled the vacated Chair position, a role he ended up holding for two terms until 1999.

As Chair, Remine cemented his legacy with Mensa, helping instigate the Mensa Foundation’s ownership of an Arlington, Texas, building that housed the operations of the Foundation and American Mensa from 1998-2018. (The national office has since moved to nearby Hurst, Texas.) Donors to the cause were celebrated with engraved bricks decorating the new HQ’s sidewalks. Remine’s name is printed on the same kind of brick as all the others, but his influence was outsized.

Pam Donahoo was American Mensa’s Executive Director for 20 years, many overlapping Remine’s leadership. Of his key achievements, Donahoo said, “I think he would say it was that first building. It wasn’t the physicality of the building as much as it was the permanence, the financial foundation, that fiscal stability that it set and how it reinforced the staff, which he also helped to set up and support in that era,” Donahoo said. “There’s a good chance that Mensa might not have survived some really rough years had he not had the ambition to see [the building] forward.”

Remine’s national-level duty, plus widespread committee work, earned him the Distinguished Service Award for outstanding service to American Mensa in 2002 and the Margot Award, American Mensa’s top honor, in 2004.

“He led an astonishing life in Mensa,” American Mensa Chair Lori Norris said. “I first met Dave Remine in 1999 at Central New Jersey’s RG, Snowball. At that time, he was the Chairman of American Mensa and, yes, a bit intimidating. By the end of the weekend, I was still in awe but realized what an impressive person he was.”

Immediately after Remine’s term as national Chair, he went on to lead Mensa International as its Chair from 1999-2003. Around the same time, he also began donating his time and talents to the Mensa Foundation. Remine went on to serve 12 years on the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, including a term as Chair from 2012-16.

“His Foundation leadership and support will live long into the future,” Donahoo said. Norris likewise recalled his commitment and said, “Everyone who knew Dave fondly remembers his roaming around with envelopes seeking donations for the Foundation.”

Jill Beckham, Director of the Mensa Foundation throughout Remine’s tenure and today, said, “In his leadership, he wanted to focus on the governance area, and as part of his legacy, board term limits for trustees were passed, as well as limiting officers to terms in any one office. He felt a healthy board is one that allows for new ideas, new styles of leadership, and new approaches to the challenges it faces.”

Remine’s Foundation vision started with gifted youth. “Intelligence is a natural resource, and too often we fail to utilize it to its fullest potential,” he said in 2011. “Many gifted children are short-changed because it is assumed that they will be fine, and that is not the case. They need help just as much as the child who is struggling academically. A number of school districts across the United States do not have the resources and programs necessary to help these children. The Foundation can help with a variety of resources, including our Mensa for Kids website.”

A Lifetime Member of American Mensa since 2002, Remine had a Mensa experience that was deeper and more personal than his governance and leadership imprint. He was a retired electrical contractor whose love for travel was also a way he made deep connections with his fellow Mensa members. “I met my wife and many close friends here,” Remine said. “I even met Isaac Asimov through Mensa!”

For those wishing to honor Remine’s outstanding legacy, donations can be made to the Foundation’s Dave Remine Memorial Scholarship. Donate online at www.mensafoundation.org or by mailing a check to the Mensa Foundation, 1315 Brookside Dr. Hurst, TX 76053 — please note your gift is for the Dave Remine Scholarship Fund.