Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Paul Durham was a jack of all trades in McMinnville

http://newsregister.com/archive?articleArchiveId=a223370


Legendary Linfield coach dies


Jun 26, 2007 McMinnville N-R/News-Register from staff and wire reports
HONOLULU - Legendary Linfield College football coach Paul Durham died Friday night at his home in Honolulu. He was 93.

Durham's 1956 team started the string of 51 consecutive winning seasons that continues to this day and is college football's national record for all divisions.


He was Linfield's head football coach for 20 seasons, compiling a 122-51-10 record for a .694 winning percentage. In his final 12 years, "Once I got the hang of it," he said, the Wildcats went 90-16-6 (.830), won six Northwest Conference championships and reached the national championship game of the NAIA twice.


Durham took over the athletic director position at the University of Hawaii in 1968. He held that position until he stepped down in 1975 for health reasons.


Durham, who also served as the sports editor for the News-Register for several years while coaching the Wildcats, said the thing he is most proud of is the type of players he was able to recruit to represent Linfield.


"You have to have good people," he said at a luncheon in his honor at Linfield in 2005. "A lot of them have done wonderful things after college. I claim a lot of them as my sons."


Durham said he stayed in touch with quite a few of his former players.


"A lot of them come to Hawaii and we have lunch and tell a few lies," he said. "I'm lucky that way."


Durham was a star athlete at Linfield in the 1930s, competing in football, basketball and track and field, and is one of the few Wildcats in history to earn 10 letters.


He received a small scholarship to attend Linfield as the nation sank into the Great Depression. He earned a free room by working at the original Macy's Funeral Home in McMinnville.


"I shared a bed with another football player," Durham said. "In those days, two guys sleeping in the same bed did not raise any eyebrows."


Durham was a jack of all trades in McMinnville. He did everything - from coaching the Linfield football team to writing for the McMinnville News-Register to singing every Sunday morning in the First Baptist Church. He wrote a popular column "Dodging with Durham" while with the News-Register.


"I don't know how I became sports editor of the News-Register," Durham said. "I always enjoyed writing, took a journalism class in high school, and wanted Linfield sportsmen's names in the paper. I always knew people enjoy seeing their name in print, even me, and that led to the column, built on names. I don't remember writing in high school or college in the school paper, but I may have.


"When I started writing the column in the N-R, (publisher) Phil Bladine, a good friend of mine, named it 'Shooting the Bull.' After a bit, some readers started adding a word to it in their minds, and we decided we had to get a new name. Bladine suggested 'Dodging with Durham,' which was fine with me."


One observer opined that Durham might have been the only college football coach in America who was never criticized in print by the local sports editor.


During summers, he ran the McMinnville city recreation program - overseeing activities in the city park during the day and softball games at night.


Well-known for his singing prowess, Durham also taught music early in his career as a coach at Yamhill High School.


In a Letter to the Editor (New-Register, May 26, 2007) Yamhill resident Gordon Dromgoole wrote, "During 1940, (Durham) also directed "The Mikado" put on by the school. My uncle, Gordon Zimmerman, was a junior and played the lead. Coach Durham told him, 'You can't make a basket, but you sure can sing!'


"I'm sure most people aren't aware of coach Durham's theatrical talents because he was such a great coach, but many in Yamhill remember him as a multitalented asset to the community."


In town for the Linfield Hall of Fame banquet in November 2005, Durham received two standing ovations.


"I've led a wonderful life, worked with great cohorts and around terrific students, and wouldn't change anything," he said. "How about that? Sounds like I could have been a preacher."


Durham said he appreciated the way the people of McMinnville treated him and wanted them to know that Mac would always have a special place in his heart.


"Thank you for being so nice to me and my family while I went to college here from 1932 to 1936 and when I lived here after that for 20 wonderful years," he said. "I was lucky."


"Coach" is survived by three children, Jeff of Tigard, Terry of Beaverton and Cathy Devine of Chicago; seven grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren (with two more on the way) and more friends and admirers than ever could be counted.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Paul H. Durham October 18, 1913-June 22, 2007


Paul H. Durham:
Oct 18, 1913
-June 22, 2007

Paul H. Durham was born to Darr and Gretta Phillips Durham on Oct 18, 1913 in Portland, Oregon. He died at age 93 on June 22, 2007, in Honolulu

Graduated Franklin High School in Portland in 1932.

He graduated from Linfield College in 1936, majoring in History, English, and minoring in Physical Education while earning10 varsity letters.

He earned his Masters of Education at the University of Oregon in 1941. He additionally gained a major in Physical Education at Lewis and Clark College.

He married Amelia Litzenberger in 1938 in Portland and they divorced in 1979.  She died in 2004. On Aug. 14, 1981, he married Katherine 'Kitty' Chang. She died in 1994. 


He taught and coached Yamhill (Oregon) High School from 1936-1940.

Moving to Portland, he taught and coached at Franklin High School from 1940-1942.

Teaching at Portland’s High School Commerce (now Cleveland), 1942-1946, he then returned to Franklin High for an additional two years. Then, moved to McMinnville in 1948 to join his alma mater, Linfield College, initially as football coach. 

From 1948-1968 he taught and coached (football, co-men’s basketball, golf) at Linfield College and in 1949 became its Athletic Director. 

Moving to Hawaii in 1968 he became the Athletic Director for the University of Hawaii Manoa (Honolulu) till 1975. He was a faculty member of University of Hawaii in the Health and Physical Education and the College of Education from 1975-1981 when he retired in Honolulu.

He married Kathryn 'Kitty' Chang August 14, 1981.

Honors and offices he held:

President of Linfield Alumni Assn.
President of McMinnville Kiwanis Club
Oregon Sports 'Man of the year' , 1961
NAIA National Football Coach of the year, 1962
President of Northwest Conference Coaches Assn.
President of NAIA Football Coaches Assn., 1963
President of NAIA Coaches Assn. (for all sports), 1964
Member of NAIA National Executive Board
Third Vice-president of NAIA
First Citizen of McMinnville, 1965
Member of Oregon Olympic Games Committee, 1966.
Linfield Alumnus of the year, 1966
Member of the National Alliance Football Rules Committee
Franklin High (Portland, Oregon) Alumnus of the year, 1967
Honolulu Quarterback Club 'Sportsman of the Year', 1970
NAIA Football Coaches National 'Hall of Fame'
Member of Helms Athletic Hall of Fame Los Angeles
Chairman and Director of NAIA National Baseball Tournament
NAIA District II Coach of the year
Member of the American Football Coaches, All-American Selection Committee for small Colleges
Member of UPI Small College National Rating Board
Oregon Sports Hall of Fame 1989
Linfield Sports Hall of Fame 1998

He was preceded in death by his wife, Kitty ( in 1994); brother Dr. Philip Durham and his sister, Nellie Marr.

Source: Macy & Son Funeral Directors, McMinnville, Oregon

https://www.macyandson.com/obituaries/Paul-H-Durham?obId=1647189#/celebrationWall

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Inducted in 1996 into the University of Hawaii Athletics Hall of Fame. His bio for that “hall:”

Paul Durham was UH athletics director from 1968-75. He was instrumental in moving the UH sports program from a club level to the threshold of Division I competition. During his tenure at the University, football and baseball moved to all-collegiate schedules. Prior to moving to Hawai‘i, Durham served as head football coach at Linfield College, where he earned honors as the 1962 NAIA Coach of the Year and the 1962 Oregon Man of the Year. Durham was inducted into the Los Angeles Football College Hall of Fame in 1975.

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PAUL DURHAM / 1913-2007

Former UH athletic director won players’ respect

By Cindy Lui, Honolulu Star-Bulletin 

STORY SUMMARY

He was inducted into the University of Hawaii Sports Circle of Honor, the Linfield College Athletic Hall of Fame and the Los Angeles Football College Hall of Fame.

But the honor that perhaps meant the most to Paul Durham was the annual summer gathering of his former Linfield football players in McMinnville, Ore.

"That says a mouthful about the respect his players had for him, that they came back to see him every year," said former UH athletic director Hugh Yoshida, who played for Durham at Linfield from 1958 to 1961. "He was a very strict coach but very understanding. We lost a good man."

Durham, who served as UH's athletic director from 1968 to 1975, died Friday night at his Kahala Nui residence. He was 93.

Durham was unable to attend the Linfield reunions the past few years and had not planned to attend the one next month. He recently, however, videotaped a message to his former players that will be shown during the July 10 gathering.

"I know it will mean a lot to the guys," said Al Wills, the former Kalani athletic director who played for Durham at Linfield from 1949 to 1952.


FULL STORY »

Tony Ah Yat so respected Paul Durham that he named his first-born son for his former college football coach.

"He truly lived aloha," Ah Yat said yesterday. "All my adult life, he was like my dad. He always made you feel like you were the greatest.

"I feel fortunate that I was able to spend a lot of time with him this past week, saw him Friday. We lost a great, great man."

Durham, the 13th athletic director at the University of Hawaii (1968-75), died Friday evening at his Kahala Nui residence. He was 93.

Ah Yat is part of the still-running island pipeline that has sent dozens of players to Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore. Durham, remembered as one of the founding fathers of the Wildcats athletic program, fostered the relationship with Hawaii as football coach (1948-67) and athletic director (1949-68).

Less than a year after Durham brought Linfield to play in Honolulu Stadium -- beating the Rainbows 15-13 in the 1967 season-opener -- he was hired to succeed Robert Martin as athletic director.

Durham was 122-51-10 (.694) in his 20 years at Linfield, guiding the Wildcats to six conference titles and two appearances in the NAIA national championship game. He was named Oregon Man of the Year in 1961 and NAIA Coach of the Year in 1962. His 1956 team started a string of consecutive winning seasons that reached 51 last season

Durham was a star athlete at Linfield in the 1930s and earned 10 letters in football, basketball and track. He graduated in 1936, then coached at several area high schools before returning to his alma mater in 1948. The foyer that serves as the main entryway into the athletics complex was named in his honor in 1989.

Durham was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1969, Los Angeles Football College Hall of Fame in 1975, UH Sports Circle of Honor in 1996, the Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998 and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Hall of Fame last year. This February, he was honored by the Honolulu Quarterback Club for his service to the organization.

Durham accomplished much in his tenure at UH, helping position the school for the eventual move from independent to Western Athletic Conference membership. He hired legendary baseball coach Les Murakami in 1971 and oversaw the "Fab Five" men's basketball team's rise to national prominence (1970-72).

"He was a great man and did some great things for us during those years," said Bob Nash, a Fab Five member who recently was hired as head basketball coach. "He helped bring us all to Hawaii to play, was always very supportive of the program. It is truly a loss for Hawaii."

"Even though I didn't work for him, I got to know him well during my time," said recently retired Rainbow basketball coach Riley Wallace. "He was someone who loved UH every second of the day. I enjoyed him coming into the office, talking story about the past and where we were going."

Al Wills was on Durham's second team at Linfield in 1949. The former Kalani athletic director played for the Wildcats for four seasons, then returned after a stint in the Army as Durham's assistant line coach.

"He was a father to all of us then and he's been a father to all of us through the years," Wills said. "All of us kids ... old guys now ... have so much to thank him for. It seems that he was always a part of my life.

"We used to play golf every Monday, but one Monday he said, 'Let's go to the Quarterback Club and listen to (newly hired UH football coach) Fred vonAppen.' We never played golf on Mondays again."

That was in 1996. Durham rarely missed a Quarterback Club meeting after that.

Durham is survived by sons Jeff and Terry of Oregon, daughter Cathy of Illinois, seven grandchildren and seven greatgrandchildren. Services have tentatively been scheduled for Thursday at Borthwick Mortuary. Additional services will be held in McMinnville.

His wife, Kitty (Chang) Durham died in 1994.

 

 

Paul Durham born October 18, 1913 in Portland, Ore.

Paul Durham born October 18, 1913 in Portland, Ore.

Paul Durham died June 22, 2007 in Honolulu, Hawaii


Paul H. Durham (Paul Henry Durham) was born to Darr and Gretta Phillips Durham October 18, 1913 in Portland, Oregon. He graduated from Portland's Franklin High School  in 1932.
He went on to receive a bachelor's degree from Linfield College in 1936, majoring in History, English, and minoring in Physical Education while earning 10 varsity letters in athletics.

He married Amelia Litzenberger in 1938 in Portland. They divorced in 1979.

He earned his Masters of Education at the University of Oregon in 1941. He additionally gained a major in Physical Education at Lewis and Clark college.


He taught and coached Yamhill High School from 1936-1940. He then taught and coached at Franklin High School from 1940-1942. He taught at High School of Commerce (now Cleveland), 1942-1946, he then returned to Franklin High for an additional two years. Moved to Linfield in McMinnville in 1948.

From 1948-68 he taught and coached at Linfield College and while there in 1949 became the Athletic Director. Moving to Hawaii in 1968 he became the Athletic Director for the University of Hawaii till 1975. He was a faculty member of University of Hawaii in the Health and Physical Education and the College of Education from 1975-1981 when he retired.

He married Kathryn "Kitty" Chang August 14, 1981. She died in 1994.

Honors and offices held:



President of Linfield Alumni Asso.
President of McMinnville Kiwanis Club
Oregon Sports "Man of the year" , 1961
NAIA National Football Coach of the year, 1962
president of NWC Coaches Asso.
President of NAIA Football Coaches Asso. , 1963
President of NAIA Coaches Asso. (for all sports), 1964
Member of NAIANational Executive Board
Third Vice-president of NAIA
First Citizen of McMInnville, 1965
Member of Oregon Olympic Games Comittee, 1966.
Linfield Alumnus of the year, 1966
Member of the National Alliance Football Rules Comittee
Franklin High Alumnus of the year, 1967
Honolulu Quarterback Club "Sportsmans of the Year", 1970
NAIA Football Coaches National "HAll of Fame"
Member of HelmsAthletic Hall of Fame Los Angeles
Chairman and Director of NAIA National Baseball Tournament
NAIA District II Coach of the year
Member of the American Football Coaches, All-American Selection Comittee for small Colleges
Member of UPI Small College National Rating Board
Oregon Sports Hall of Fame 1989
Linfield Sports Hall of Fame 1998

He was preceded in death by his Wife Kitty in 1994; his brother, Dr. Philip Durham; and his Sister, Nellie Marr.