Sunday, June 22, 2008

Biography of Henry Lever, longtime Linfield coach


Henry Lever from 1938 Oak Leaves yearbook, Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon. Linfield College football head coaches (left to right) Ad Rutschman (coached 1968-1991), Paul Durham (coached 1948-1967) and Henry Lever (coached 1930-1938, 1940-1942). This photo may be the only existing photo -- or one of the few -- showing the three coaches together. It appeared in the May 22, 1968, McMinnville, Oregon, News-Register newspaper. The occasion was a May 18 farewell banquet -- in the college’s Dillin Hall -- for Durham. He was leaving Linfield to become University of Hawaii athletic director. Tim Marsh photo.
Henry Lever helped Linfield become athletic success
Henry Work Lever (pronounced "Lee-vur") was born in Loveland, Ohio, near Cincinnati, on October 4, 1883. His genealogical "roots" were English and German immigrants, who settled in Pennsylvania in the 1770s, later moving to Ohio.

He survived a near fatal burst appendix at age 15 with a life-saving operation on the kitchen table of his family's farm home. Surviving appendicitis typified his life. Small in stature -- standing about 5-foot-9 -- Lever was always a fighter, determined to succeed, and usually doing so, in everything he took on.

After graduating in 1901 from Loveland, Ohio, High School, one of his successes was college football. There are indications he may have played football at three Ohio colleges. His daughter, Margaret Lever Dement of Madras, Oregon, said her father studied “engineering, math and football. In those early days, football was extremely rough and tough with practically no uniform or headgear protection."

He studied at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and Ohio Northern University in Ada, before graduating from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, in 1908.

Engineering, math and football did not get all of Lever’s attention in college. For example, during his senior year The Athena, Ohio U’s student yearbook (he was its sports editor) says he was in the Philomathean Literary Society, Scientific Literature Club and YMCA. He was also track team captain and Phi Delta Theta fraternity president. In summary, Dement said, he was a "Big Man on Campus."

In September 1908, Lever started his first job at what is now Valley City State University in Valley City, North Dakota. He was athletic director and taught in the math and physics departments. He also coached football, men's and women's basketball, baseball and track. While it may have been his first job after college, Valley City State’s The Blizzard student yearbook says he was assistant athletic director at Ohio University, 1907-1908.

At Valley City State, he met Marguerite E. Sherburne, an education student who enjoyed music and art. She also was an outstanding basketball player, playing forward and guard, for the women's team he coached. She was part of the music conservatory and active in group vocal (Choral Society, Glee Club) presentations on campus. Involved in drama and an officer in the Clionian Literary Society for women, she started attending Valley City State at age 15 and graduated August 28, 1909, with a four-year elementary degree, preparing her to be an elementary school teacher.

Henry and Marguerite married in September 1909; they had nine children.

"After about three years in frigid North Dakota, the Levers moved to the warmer and beautiful Ozark Mountains of Missouri to farm," said Dement." Farming did not work out well,” so his family stayed in Missouri” and he coached football in 1911 and baseball in 1912 at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. He coached football in the 1913 season and men's basketball in the 1912-1913 and 1913-1914 seasons at Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

About 1916, the family moved to Alberta, Canada, with dreams of becoming rich when "irrigation was to come to the dry land prairies," she said. Wet weather helped produce bumper wheat crops and financial success. However, the good weather was followed by about five years of grasshopper plagues and severe drought. Farmers' resources were drained and most, including the Lever family, were broke. During these Canadian years, Lever used his engineering abilities while working on the Lethbridge Northern Alberta Irrigation project.

In about 1921, the Levers returned to the United States, settling in a Yakima, Washington, farming area. Later, they moved to the southern Oregon coast, where Henry managed a large ranch at Wedderburn. Soon thereafter, apparently, the Levers moved up the Oregon coast to Myrtle Point, where he taught algebra and geometry and coached football, basketball, baseball, and track at Myrtle Point Union High School.

An ability to coach "all sports" and his reputation as a hard-worker and leader at Myrtle Point convinced Linfield College President Leonard W. Riley to hire Lever in 1930. It was a wise decision. Serving the college until 1949 as athletic director, he coached football, basketball, baseball and track and field. He became know as the "Grand Old Man" of Linfield athletics and, to some, “The Fox.” An issue of Oak Leaves, Linfield's student yearbook, said his initials, H.W., stood for "Hard Work."




Photo of Henry Lever from 1956 book "Linfield's Hundred Years: A Centennial History...", edited by Kenneth L. Holmes. Paul Durham wrote the book's sports section. Cutline for this photo: "Coach Henry Lever, the 'Grand Old Man' of Linfield athletics since 1930.

During summers, he helped recruit Linfield students, including Irene Hartman, who later became wife of Linfield President Harry Dillin. She remembered Lever serving during World War II as Linfield's purchasing agent and college commons manager.

Lever was the Linfield Wildcats' football coach from 1930-1938 and 1940-1942. His career record is 30-54-7 (.368). His 1935 team was the first for Linfield to win a Northwest Conference football championship. Serving as men's basketball coach for 15 seasons, Lever compiled an overall record of 173-109 in 1930-1941 and 1942-1947. His winning percentage of .613 is the best in school history for basketball coaches with at least two seasons on the job. He coached men's track and field from 1931-1935 and 1941-1943. In addition to coaching Linfield baseball -- and leading the Wildcats to its first Northwest Conference title in that sport in 1947 -- he also served as a scout for the Cincinnati Reds major league professional baseball organization.

During the Lever Era, he was "mainly responsible for lifting the performance of Linfield athletic teams to a respected position in the Northwest Conference and on the Pacific Coast," said Paul Durham.

His ability to get consistently strong effort from players with abilities in many cases not comparable to that of opponents, gained him the utmost respect of his players, the people of McMinnville, and the opposing coaches, players, and fans, Durham said.

According to an article in the McMinnville News-Register, Harry Dillin said Lever had a "wide range of talents and abilities. He was an indefatigable worker. He was a great person, one of the most tremendous persons I have known. He was gracious and talented. He had a great sense of humor."

Durham added, even more important than Henry Lever's ability as coach was "his contribution to the character development of the students with whom he worked."

During his years at Linfield, Lever had an offer to "return to Wisconsin – where he coached previously – “at more than twice my Linfield salary" according to an account he wrote in the November 1975 Linfield College Bulletin alumni publication. However, Lever turned down the offer, saying, "My beloved wife voted with me to stay at Linfield, where there was much work yet to do."

Margaret Lever Dement said her father was blessed with able assistant coaches during his time at Linfield. They included Orile Robbins, Wayne Harn and Hal Smith. Robbins is best known as a successful head football coach at McMinnville High School, where the "most inspirational" award is named for him.

Harn,a former Oregon State University football player, was Linfield head football coach in the 1939,1946 and 1947 seasons. Smith, like Lever in the Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame, was an outstanding football player at Washington State University. In addition to coaching football at Linfield, Smith served as the college's head wresting, track and field and cross-country coach, as well as head of the Linfield Physical Education Department.

Margaret Lever Dement remembers her father put his engineering skills to work at Linfield when he laid the plans for the first grass football field in the Northwest Conference, Linfield's Maxwell Field. According to Harry Dillin, Lever also helped develop plans for old Riley Gymnasium and Memorial Hall, a residence hall built into Linfield football and track and field's Memorial Stadium.

As a job in the summer of 1942 -- in the early part of World War II -- Henry Lever's engineering background was helpful when he was involved in the construction of what is now McMinnville Municipal Airport. He and Luther Taylor, a Linfield chemistry professor, were runway grade inspectors. There were two runways. He inspected one runway and Taylor inspected the other. Construction was a wartime project funded by the U.S. Army.

Durham said Lever and his wife Marguerite "loved to do things for others." Wildcat athletes looked to him as a leader and to her as a mother figure, said Dement. "Many times she fed hungry athletes, especially during the Depression years."

Durham, who lived in Portland and graduated from Portland's Franklin High School in June 1932, started at the Linfield as a student in September of that year. He knew of the college because his older brother was a Linfield student. Lever came to Portland and promised Durham a “job in a restaurant for food, a bed at Macy's funeral parlor in downtown McMinnville, and half tuition for academics and athletics. In the heart of the Depression, I needed all the help I could get" he said.

Durham was one of Lever's Wildcat athletes and went on to become the college's football coach, men's co-basketball coach with Roy Helser and athletic director. Durham succeeded Lever as football coach. Lever stayed at the college during the 1948-1949 academic year, turning the reins as athletic director over to Durham in 1949 when Lever retired.

Durham said Lever "meant a lot to me." He was a "solid leader and example. His influence as a Christian gentleman still carries on in men like (former Linfield football coach) Ad Rutschman and the men Ad (coached)."

Henry and Marguerite had been interested in Oregon's High Desert area. She died of cancer at age 62 in 1952. In 1953, he moved to Madras, Oregon, in the High Desert. He farmed briefly there before earning his real estate license at age 80. Later, he earned his real estate broker's license. The motto for his real estate firm, The Henry Lever Agency, was "Service with Integrity."

Linfield has the Henry W. and Marguerite S. Lever Fund, through which students receive scholarships. When the college was affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the fund was named for Marguerite and scholarships were given to student-athletes. The scholarship recognized Marguerite as and an outstanding college basketball player and Lever’s service as a Linfield coach. When the college moved from the NAIA to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III, the scholarship was changed because Division III does not allow athletic scholarships. The Lever family decided the scholarships should support Linfield students studying music, since Marguerite was a talented singer.

Henry Lever died July 1, 1980, after being hit by a truck as he was running across a busy state highway in Madras. He was 97 years and the oldest active real estate broker in Oregon.

Henry Lever's memorial service was held at Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in McMinnville with speakers including Linfield representatives and his Linfield football players as his pall bearers. Both Henry and Marguerite are buried at the cemetery.





Photograph:
Henry Lever, age 94 in 1977, in his Madras, Ore., real estate office. Photo by Margaret Lever Dement, his daughter

Although he moved from McMinnville, Henry Lever came back to McMinnville and Linfield several times, including:
  • during the spring of 1968, when he attended a banquet honoring Durham, whom he coached at Linfield. Also at the banquet was Ad Rutschman, who was coached by Durham at Linfield. In total, they were the Linfield Wildcat head football coaches, starting in 1938 and ending in 1991, with three seasons during that span being coached by Wayne Harn.













  •  in 1977, when he was honored for his contributions at halftime of a Linfield football game. During that halftime photo shows Lever on the left and Charles U. Walker, Linfield president, on the right.

Lever was honored by Linfield when:


  • the McMinnville City Council changed the name of Stadium Street to Lever Street in 1961, according to Joe Dancer, who served from 1960-1986 as McMinnville City manager. Lever Street borders the college's athletic complex, football field and baseball diamond. The name change came at the urging of Linfield President Harry Dillin. For more information, see
    1961: Street named for Coach Henry Lever.


  • he was posthumously enshrined in the Linfield College Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998. The others included Paul Durham, Roy Helser, Henry Lever, Ad Rutschman and Ted Wilson. Daniel Lever represented his father at the enshrinement event.

    POSTSCRIPT --  Henry Lever's coaching successes at Linfield included leading the Wildcats to their first Northwest Conference titles in football (1935) and baseball (1947). The 1935 football title was the first NWC championship in any sport for the Wildcats.

    ........................................................................

Of the nine Lever children, seven graduated from McMinnville High School, four going on to earn degrees from Linfield:
"Hank" Lever, Henry W. Lever Jr., born April 4, 1913 in Dixon, Missouri, was a firefighter in Portland, Oregon. A McMinnville High School grad, he died November 8, 1990.
Deborah R. Lever, born 1915 in Dixon, Missouri, graduated from McMinnville High School and Western Oregon University. She taught school in Oakridge and Coos Bay. She died in 2001 in Springfield, Oregon.

Robert W. Lever, born 1917 in Coalhurst, Alberta, Canada. He served in the U. S. Marine Corps. A McMinnville High School grad, he lived in Snohomish, Wash., and died in May 2005.

Clarence James Lever, born July 1922, in Wedderburn, Oregon. A graduate of McMinnville High School and California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, James Lever served in the U.S. Army. During Word War II he served in Africa. After Italy he went to Italy. There he was among American Army troops to "fight all the way to Rome.  The big guns that were used in that campaign are the reason he is deaf now.  He (is)  helpful, kind, and has a sense of humor!," said a family member.  He lives in Newberg, Oregon.

Richard N. Lever, born November 1929 in Myrtle Point, Oregon. A grad of McMinnville High School and California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps. He lives in Seattle.

Margaret D. Lever Dement, born August 12, 1911, in Dixon, Missouri, she lives in Madras, Oregon. She graduated from Myrtle Point High School and, in 1934, from Linfield with a B.A. in English and Music. At Linfield she played tennis for coach Harry Dillin, then an economics professor and later Linfield president. Her background includes teaching high school in Glendale, Oakridge, Vernonia and Myrtle Point, Oregon. Former manager of the Jefferson County Historical Society Museum in Madras, she is a former news correspondent for the Oregonian and Oregon Journal daily newspapers of Portland, Oregon.

Thomas S. Lever, born July 11, 1910 in Valley City, North Dakota, he died May 16, 2001, in Seattle. At Linfield, he played tennis for Coach Harry Dillin, then an economics professor and later Linfield president. A McMinnville High School grad, in 1934, he graduated from Linfield with a B.A. degree in political science. He owned an advertising business, Lever Appreciation Advertising, in Spokane, Washington.

Barbara L. Lever McLarty, Portland, Oregon, born 1919 in Alberta, Canada. She graduated from Linfield in 1941 with a B.A. degree in speech and English. She is a former teacher at Silverton, Oregon, High School and also taught in Ione, Oregon. She and her husband, Jack McLarty, are former owners/operators of The Image Gallery in Portland, Oregon. In Portland, they now own/operate McLartys' Choice, a gallery and art dealer.

Daniel Deforest Lever* He lives in Aurora, Ore. Born November 1934 in McMinnville, he is the youngest son of Henry and Marguerite Lever. After serving in the U.S. Army, he graduated from Linfield in 1960 with a B.S. degree in social studies and physical education. Lever played Wildcat football for Linfield coach Paul Durham, 1956-60. He was sometimes called “Danny.” In 1961, he earned a Master of Education degree. He started his teaching and coaching career at Madras, Ore., High School. Lever coached football and wrestling. Later, he moved to Newberg, Ore., High School where was head football coach in the mid-1970s. In addition to football, he was assistant wrestling coach to head coach Pete Russo when Newberg won a state wrestling title in 1970. He is married to JoAnna Dillon, who graduated from Linfield with a degree in music education.



Newberg, Ore., Graphic
Published: 11/9/2009 12:45:56 PM Daniel D. Lever
*Daniel DeForest Lever of Aurora, who has family in the Newberg area, died Nov. 2, 2009. He was 74. He was born Nov. 17, 1934, in McMinnville to Henry and Margeurite (Sherburne) Lever. He graduated from high school in 1953 in Prineville, then joined the U.S. Army. On Sept. 15, 1957, he married Joanna Dillon. He was honorably discharged in 1961 and they made their home in Aurora. He attended Linfield College where he received a master’s degree in education. He taught at Madras High School until 1964, when he came to Newberg High School and taught U.S. history and coached football and wrestling. He retired from teaching in 1993. He enjoyed working on his farm, reading history and watching football. Survivors include: wife Joanna of Aurora; daughter Carrie Jo Vincent of Aurora; sons, Daniel and Jon, both of Aurora; sisters, Margaret Dement of Madras and Barbara McLarty of Portland; brothers, Clarence of Newberg and Richard of Seattle; and six grandchildren. A memorial service was held Nov. 4 in the First United Methodist Church with Pastor Jane Shafer officiating. Committal took place in Willamette National Cemetery in Portland. Memorial contributions may be made to Willamette Falls Hospice in care of Attrell’s Newberg Funeral Chapel, 207 Villa Road, Newberg, OR 97132.

Daniel Dean Lever He lives in Canby, Ore. A grandson of Henry and Marguerite Lever, he is the son of Daniel Deforest and JoAnna Lever. Daniel Dean Lever studied at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, Ore. He graduated from EOU in 1987 with a B.S. in education social Studies and physical education. He teaches social studies at Canby, Ore., High School. Lever and started his teaching (social studies and P.E.) and coaching (football and wrestling) career at Monroe, Ore., High School in Monroe Oregon. His athletic director was Linfield grad Del Coursey, a Linfield grad and former Wildcat athlete. (Coursey was an assistant to Coach Roy Helser when the baseball Wildcats won the 1966 NAIA World Series.) Lever was head wrestling coach and football and baseball assistant coach at Monroe. In 1991 as an assistant to head baseball coach Steve Luby, Monroe won the 2A state baseball championship. Lever says, “I was head football at Monroe my last year at Monroe, but was asst. 4 years I was asst. 5 years in baseball and head wrestling coach also for 5 years. At Canby, where I teach now, I was an asst. in football from 1992 to 2005. Most of my football coach was spent as head freshman coach. Mike Doty was the head coach I worked for and he still is the head coach at Canby. I also was an asst. in wrestling for the same time as football and the head coach was Dan Nugent.” Married to Anne Barry, a grad of EOU and Oregon Health Sciences University (B.S. nursing), she is a Willamette University nurse practitioner. The Lever family includes Linfield student/football player Daniel William Lever, a great-grandson of Henry Lever; Cate Lever, a Carroll College (Helena, Mont.) student; Margaret Lever, a student in the Canby School District.

Marian Dement Granby She lives in Madras, Ore. Henry and Marguerite's granddaughter, Marian Dement Granby, is the daughter of Margaret D. Lever Dement. She attended Linfield for two years and graduated in 1971 from Southern Oregon University with a history B.A. degree. She also holds a master's in education degree from SOU. She substitute teaches at Madras, Oregon, High School.

Among Henry and Marguerite Lever’s great-grandchildren children are Rob Lever, Anne Lever Reed, Kristina Granby and Daniel William Lever.
Rob and Anne are respective 1992 and 1994 Linfield graduates. Rob Lever lives in White Bird, Idaho, and works for the U.S. Forest Service. Anne lives in Portland, Ore., and is an interior designer. Kristina lives in Nevada and teaches sixth grade in Las Vegas. She is 1999 University of Oregon graduate in English and earned a UO master's degree in education in 2000.

As this is written (Oct. 2008), Daniel William Lever is a Linfield student (health & physical education major) and a running back on the Linfield Wildcat football team. On the left is a photo of Dan William Lever wearing uniform, #27, on the sidelines of a Linfield football game at Maxwell field during the 2007 (Oct. 6, 2007) season.

Dan William Lever's Tualatin, Ore., High School head football coach bio as of 8/24/2018 includes that he was hired (April 2017) to head the Tualatin HS Timberwolves after serving as offensive coordinator at Moorpark College, a two-year school in Moorpark, Calif. He played running back at Canby, where he graduated in 2005, and in college at Linfield. He was head coach at Class 3A Gervais in 2010. He was an assistant college football coach at Southeastern Oklahoma State, Puget Sound, Santa Barbara City College and Moorpark. His Tualatin HS coaching bio includes, "While down south (in California) Lever served as both a Run Game Coordinator and Offensive Coordinator. Lever helped over 45 student athletes sign letters of intent to both Division I and Division II schools in just 3 years. At Santa Barbara Lever helped guide the Vaqueros to their first 2 bowl berths in 19 years. Lever has also positions as the offensive line coach at Division III University of Puget Sound and tight ends coach at Division II Southeastern Oklahoma. Levers first coaching job was as the head coach at Gervais High School. He was a 3-year letter winner at Linfield College and grew up in nearby Canby. Lever is extremely proud to be a 4th generation teacher and coach. Dan and his wife Corinne are happy to be a part of the pack."

On the right is a photo taken during the Linfield's 2008 Homecoming football game (Oct. 11, 2008) of (left to right) JoAnna Lever, Daniel Dean Lever and Daniel Deforest Lever.


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Grave markers of Marguerite Sherburne Lever (1889-1952),
Henry Work Lever (1883-1980) and Sophia D.  Sherburne
(1849-1947), mother of Marguerite Lever) at Evergreen 
Memorial Park, McMinnville, Ore. Photos by Wildcatville
taken 10/11/2012.






 

Linfielder Dan W. Lever: Continued success as a football coach

Written/posted by Wildcatville 6/15/2022

Linfiedler Dan W. Lever (Daniel William Lever, Class of 2008), a great-grandson of Linfield legend Henry Lever, has had continued success as a football coach.

(Henry Lever was Linfield athletic director 1930-1949 and "coach of everything” 1930-1945, He’s honored on the Linfield campus in McMinnville with “Lever Street” which runs next the Linfield athletics/p.e. building and behind Linfield football’s home, Memorial Stadium/Maxwell Field/Catdome.)

Dan W. Lever was a running back for the Wildcats, lettering in 2006, 2007 and 2008 With this story is a Wildcatville photo of Dan W. Lever wearing uniform, #27, on the sidelines of a 2007 Linfield home football game.

He was a 3-year letter winner at Linfield College. Dan was named “Physical Education major of the year” in 2008 by the Linfield faculty. Lever is extremely proud to be a 4th generation teacher and coach.

The newly appointed head coach of Silverton (Oregon) High School, Dan W. Lever previously was Tualatin (Oregon) high School head football coach, and He coached Tualatin to the state championship game in 2021.

Dan W. Lever is a fourth generation football coach.

Great-grandfather Henry Lever was the head football coach at Oregon’s Myrtle Point High School (1925-29) before moving to Linfield. Henry’s background included being head football coach at Valley City State in North Dakota, Texas Christian University, and Carrol in Wisconsin.

Dan W. Lever’s grandfather, Dan, was the head coach at Madras and Newberg in Oregon.

Dan, the father of Dan W. Lever was the head coach at Monroe and an assistant at Canby. Both are in Oregon.

As a graduating student, Dan W. Lever was named “Physical Education major of the year” in 2008 by the Linfield faculty.

Dan W. Lever first head football coaching job was at Gervais (Oregon). He assisted in football programs at Southeastern Oklahoma State, Puget Sound in Tacoma and California’s Santa Barbara Community College before taking over at Tualatin.

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Dennis Anderson's research discovered 'The Streak'














After the 1994 Linfield at Western Oregon football game, Dennis Anderson (right) interviews Linfield football coach Ed Langsdorf (center). Linfield won the game, 7-0, played in Monmouth, Ore., on WOU’s McArthur Field. Linfield's J.P. Green scored the only TD of the game on a 4-yard run and Brandy Alexander kicked the PAT with 3:24 left in the third quarter. Photo by Wildcatville.

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In October 2005 (either Oct. 17 or Oct. 17), the McMinnville News-Register produced a special "The Streak"section about the Linfield football team assuring its50th consecutive winning season.



ON COLLEGE FOOTBALL;
A Small College With a Mean Streak

By Chris Dufresne
Los Angeles Times
Sept. 27, 2001



You wonder what else can go right for Oregon.

Last weekend, the state conked USC and crowned a new Miss America on the same night.
Last year, Oregon State made Notre Dame look like an intramural squad in the Fiesta Bowl and this week awaits the chance to do the same to UCLA when the Bruins visit Corvallis.

We're green with envy. But wait, there's more.

Oregon is also caretaker of one of the more remarkable, yet little-known, feats in sports.

Folks at tiny Linfield College referred to it simply as "The Streak," and while most concede it can't last forever, no one is ready to surrender it on their watch.*

"Not while I'm here," running back David Russell says. "The streak is not going to end."

Linfield football has not posted a losing season since 1955, a stretch that spans 10 U.S. presidents and several moon walks. A private Division III school located about an hour's drive southwest of Portland, Linfield last year extended its NCAA-record streak of consecutive winning seasons to 45, although the Wildcats are, gulp, 1-1 entering this weekend's game against Pacific Lutheran.

In 1998, Linfield established the NCAA record with its 43rd winning season in a row, eclipsing the mark of 42, previously shared by Harvard and Notre Dame.

At 39 and counting, Nebraska holds the longest current streak of winning seasons among Division I schools.

"Yeah," Russell says, "but we've got 45. But it's not about publicity. We're Division III, we're not too concerned about the public eye."

Football jewels can be unearthed in the most unlikely hamlets. Two years ago, Division III Mount Union of Ohio broke Oklahoma's hallowed mark of 47 consecutive victories, yet what Linfield has done may be more impressive.

The streak means everything to Linfield players and fans. It is considered a sacred trust, passed down from class to class.

And were it to end?

"All those people who were here before, you'd let them down," defensive end Chad Barrett says.

There probably would be no streak talk if not for Dennis Anderson, a sportswriter for the Honolulu Advertiser who played on the 1954 Linfield team that finished 3-6.

When Anderson's son, Bryant, chose to attend Linfield in the 1980s, Dennis became enamored of the program, then coached by the legendary Ad Rutschman.

"When you watched Rutschman conduct practice, there'd be guys all over the field," Anderson says. "He'd say one word and they'd be running full tilt. He didn't have to blow a whistle. He had a command about him."

Anderson was so impressed he begin using his vacation and comp time to spend football seasons at Linfield to help out as an administrative aide.

Anderson has spent 14 of his last 16 falls in McMinnville.

In 1986, while working on another project, Anderson independently started compiling information on consecutive winning seasons. He says the NCAA didn't keep such information. Anderson established the record was shared by Notre Dame and Harvard at 42 and that Linfield was creeping up the list.

The streak took on a life of its own, culminating with Linfield's 20-19 victory over Willamette on Oct. 17, 1998, which secured the school's 43rd consecutive winning season.

Fans tore down the goal posts.

Linfield has added two more winning seasons since, and its cumulative record since 1956 stands at 338-88-10.

Yet, some players think obsession with the streak can be a burden because it lowers expectations, since it only takes a 5-4 season to maintain the record. It's rumored the school does not schedule 10 games because that would require six wins to preserve the record.

"We don't talk about it," Barrett says of the streak. "We expect to at least not have a losing season. That's the minimum."

Close calls? You bet.

The 1987 team started 1-4. Joe Brimm, an offensive lineman, started the chant "33!!!" as a rallying cry.

Actually, the streak at the time was only 31 seasons, but it was the thought that counted.

"He got the math wrong," Linfield Coach Jay Locey, the defensive coordinator on the 1987 team, says.

Late that season, a Linfield player batted down a fourth-down pass against Lewis and Clark to preserve a victory and go to 3-4, then the team won its last two games to finish 5-4.

In 1996, Locey's first season as coach, Linfield had to win its last two games to finish 5-4.

"That might have been my first and last year," Locey jokes.

There is no easy explanation as to how Linfield has maintained the streak for more than four decades.

"You have to be lucky a bit, to keep something like that alive," basketball Coach Larry Doty, who played receiver at Linfield in the 1970s, says.

Continuity has been a key. Linfield has had only four football coaches since 1948: Paul Durham, Rutschman, Ed Langsdorf and Locey.

Rutschman is considered the spiritual backbone of the program, leading the Wildcats to three National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics national titles and 24 consecutive winning seasons before he retired in 1992.

Linfield moved to Division III in 1998.

Rutschman, a Linfield graduate, set the standard for excellence. He is known as "The Lombardi of Linfield," a man who devoted his life to the school. Many say Rutschman could have been a top coach at any level, including the NFL, but chose to work his magic in a small circle.

"That doesn't make him any less of a coach," Doty says. "In some regards, it makes him more of a coach."

Rutschman was recently inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and he says 120 of his former players went on to become head coaches.

Mike Riley, the San Diego Chargers' coach and a one-time Linfield assistant, is Rutschman's most accomplished offspring.

Asked why he stayed, Rutschman says, "I've never been a person who has looked ahead. I've had only two jobs in my life, and I didn't apply for either one."

On a much smaller scale, he likens the program's template to Nebraska's, which moved seamlessly from coaches Bob Devaney, Tom Osborne and Frank Solich en route to 39 consecutive winning seasons.

Rutschman was a straight arrow. He did not allow cursing or his players wearing caps in public places. The team motto, etched above the locker-room entrance at Maxwell Field, is: Are You a Better Football Player Today Than You Were Yesterday?*

As for the streak, Rutschman offers: "If you absolutely had to come up with a reason why, you could sum it in one word: performance."

Rutschman was a great tactician and disciplinarian, but he also developed important out-of-state recruiting pipelines. While playing NAIA, Linfield was allowed to offer scholarships.*

Not so now. Rutschman was opposed to the school's decision to join the Northwest Conference in joining NCAA Division III. Some think not being allowed to offer scholarships puts the streak at risk.

Folks will get antsy if Linfield falls to 1-2 with a loss against rival Pacific Lutheran this week.

"Man, I don't want to be part of the team that ruins the streak," running back Russell says. "You'd have to leave the state ... seriously."

Hurry-Up Offense

Coach in crisis, Part I: Bob Davie, Notre Dame: The university's patience will be tested if the Irish fall to 0-3 for the first time in school history with a loss at Texas A&M. "I didn't know we were 0- 3 yet," Davie snapped this week. Notre Dame's problem is more than a plodding offense that has scored two touchdowns in two games, both of which were set up by special teams. Notre Dame's problem is that it recently rewarded Davie with a five-year contract extension that pays him $1 million a year through 2005. Alabama has no problem passing the hat to buy out a coach's contract, but Notre Dame is supposed to serve a higher purpose. Gripes, it let Gerry Faust hang around five years. But make no mistake: A defeat at Texas A&M will set off cries for Davie's ouster and make men in collars squirm.

Coach in crisis, Part II: Joe Paterno, Penn State. We never thought we'd live to see it, but a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist this week called for Paterno to retire at the end of the season. Penn State is 0-2, has lost 12 of its last 18 games and Paterno still needs two victories to pass Bear Bryant on the major college all-time victory list. Penn State faces the distinct possibility of losing at much-improved Iowa this week and then faces a Big Ten gantlet of Michigan, Northwestern and Ohio State.

The Nittany Lions at 0-6? It could happen. Paterno, though, shows no signs of concession. "When I accept a loss, then you guys can write stories about my retirement," he said at his press conference this week. "I am excited about the challenge. I am angry."

Coach in crisis, Part III: Bobby Bowden, Florida State. OK, the word crisis is relative here, but the Seminoles' drop to No. 18 in the polls this week after a 41-9 loss to North Carolina indicates a clear lack of consumer confidence. Bowden's teams have bounced back from losses before. In fact, Bowden has posted only one perfect season in his remarkable career, the 12-0 run to the 1999 national title. Florida State rebounded from a defeat against Notre Dame in 1993 to win the national title, and earned a place in the 1998 title game after an early season loss to North Carolina State. "Will we respond from an ugly defeat? That's what it's down to," Bowden said. The problem is this season's team, already young, has suffered nine injuries and is woefully inexperienced at quarterback. Florida State still has to play Miami, Florida and Georgia Tech. Barring a quick recovery, this could be the Seminoles' first three-loss season since they went 7-4-1 in 1986.

Rutgers has been outscored, 111-0, in its last two Big East Conference losses to Miami and Virginia Tech, the most the Scarlet Knights have been outscored in any two-game stretch in the school's 113-year history.

Cup of Palouse



Cup of
Palouse
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean nec tellus. Aenean posuere. Suspendisse ac enim. Integer mi odio, mattis a, volutpat eu, mattis nec, neque. Suspendisse urna diam, sagittis in, dictum at, blandit in, nibh. Vestibulum sollicitudin, magna eu pellentesque consectetuer, metus neque malesuada dolor,

Nunc facilisis tristique metus. Morbi vel orci. Nullam facilisis. Vivamus ut tortor. Nunc faucibus pretium eros. Sed ligula. Suspendisse sed risus. Sed in diam ut libero vehicula interdum. Quisque vitae ligula at diam iaculis faucibus. Mauris congue.





Friday, June 20, 2008

Linfield is connected to Spokane by history













CORRECTION (posted Feb. 5, 2011) --
Part of the property Mrs. Linfield gave to McMinnville College was not that upon which sits the Fox Theater. Rather it is property catty-corner from the Fox site. On what used to be the property owned by Mrs. Linfield is now the Knitting Factory Concert House, 919 W. Sprague Ave. These photos taken Jan. 2011.
.................................................................................................................


"Linfield Corner" (Fox Theater) in Spokane. Front page story in
Review student newspaper about Mrs. Linfield's gift and change of
name from McMinnville to Linfield College.

Chartered in 1858, for many years McMinnville College struggled for survival. But its future was assured in 1922 when Frances Ross Linfield gave property in Spokane, Wash., to the college.

In honor of the gift and to show thanks for the more than $250,000 the college realized from the sale of the land, trustees renamed the college in honor of Mrs. Linfield's late husband, the Rev. George Fisher Linfield.

The property is at West Sprague Avenue and North Monroe Street in downtown Spokane. The specific location at that intersection is now home of the Fox Theater. It's not far from the Bing Crosby Theater and the Davenport Hotel. See photo (taken Dec. 2008) of the "Linfield corner"/the Fox in Spokane.



Speaking of Spokane, the Linfield Wildcats get covered by Spokane news media when they play the Whitworth University Pirates of Spokane/Mead's Country Homes (near Waikiki Road) area. One news outlet (see photo) providing coverage is KXLY-TV, Channel 4, ABC. This station has struggled at times to correctly identify Linfield and its teams. Once its spelled it "Lindfield" on the screen and also called the Wildcats the "Lynx."

Sources: Linfield news release, 4/22/2008; Inspired Pragmatism: An Illustrated History of Linfield College, 2007; Linfield grad viewer of KXLY-TV.

"Coach Durham was about lives"



Linfield General Interest News from Linfield Sports Information
Updated July 2, 2007

Durham eulogy touches hearts

McMINNVILLE, Ore. - You could call them Durham's Disciples.

More than 200 former players, retired and active coaches, friends, admirers and family attended services Monday (July 2) for Paul Durham, the legendary former Linfield College football coach, who died June 22 at his home in Honolulu. He would have observed his 94th birthday on October 18.

Durham's 1956 team started the string of winning seasons that has eclipsed every other school that has ever played college football and continues at 51 years.

Today's service was held in Linfield's Ted Wilson Gymnasium, which is entered through the Paul Durham Foyer, where a relief of the former Wildcat coach and athletic director is mounted prominently.

Although Durham the coach is enshrined in at least seven Halls of Fame, from Portland to Los Angeles to Hawai'i, and he guided Linfield into two national small-college championship games, it was Durham the Man who was celebrated by 14 speakers during today's 75-minute service.

The Rev. John Lee of Portland, a letterman in three sports and baseball All-American in the mid-60s, quoted a hymn and the Bible in describing the coach who recruited him off the mean streets of Hartford, Conn.

Lee said there is a hymn including these words, "When I am resting in my grave and there is nothing more to be said, may this life that I have lived speak for me . . . may the service that I give speak for me."

Coach Durham's impact speaks for itself, Lee said. "Coach Durham was about lives."

Quoting from the Book of Genesis, Lee said, "God said, 'Multiply and replenish the Earth with like kind.' "

With a wave over the crowd of mostly white-haired Durham's Disciples, Lee said that through his consistent teaching of values, respect, sportsmanship and dedication, "Coach Durham replenished Oregon with himself."

Scott Carnahan, the current director of athletics at Linfield, noted that Durham was one of the founders of Linfield's athletic tradition. "His influence still lives here today."

Ad Rutschman, who played for Durham from 1950-53 and succeeded him as football coach with 23 winning seasons and three national championships, noted the "impact he had on me and my family. He was my coach, mentor, colleague, role model, and friend."

Pete Dengenis, another All-American recruited from Hartford, said, "I never had a dad at home and Coach Durham was my father figure.

"He gave (the Hartford players) the opportunity to be productive citizens when we could easily have become throwaways." Dengenis, class of 1964, is a consultant with the Oregon Education Association.

Bob Ferguson, a 1965 All-American who played on Linfield teams that lost a total of four games in four years, remembers best how Durham looked everyone in the eye and asked, "How you running, buddy?" "

"The message was crystal clear," Ferguson said, "He cared about you. Everyone who played for him understood that."

Years later, visiting his former coach in Hawai'i, Ferguson asked Durham, "How you running, buddy?"

Coach answered: "80-20. Working on 90-10."

Terry Durham, one of Paul's sons and a Linfield quarterback when the Wildcats won their third and fourth Northwest Conference championships in five years, said:

"Very few people leave footprints on the Earth. I think he did.

"Dad left a legacy of people who followed his life."

Another service was held June 28 in Honolulu, Coach Durham's home the past 40 years, since he left Linfield to be director of athletics at University of Hawai'i in 1968.

Private family interment will be at Rose City Cemetery in Portland.

The family prefers that memorials be donations to the Paul Durham Endowed Fund for the Support of Athletics in care of the College Relations Office at Linfield.

The annual reunion of Durham's former players is scheduled Wednesday, July 11, on the second floor of at Riley Center at 10:30 a.m. (with lunch at 12 and informal, open-mike program at 12:45 p.m.)

"Dusty" Rhodes of the Tacoma Giants


James "Dusty" Rhodes was MVP of the 1954 World Series for the Leo Durocher-coached New York baseball giants. That series was between NY and the Cleveland Indians, with games played at the Polo Grounds in New York City and in Cleveland Stadium.

For the record, he played for the Giants in NY 1952-1957 and the Giants in San Francisco 1959. What a bat (bats left). What an arm(throws right)!

In Tacoma, he was known as an outstanding outfielder for the Tacoma Giants of the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The Giants were in Tacoma 1960 (playing in the brand new Cheney Stadium) through 1965.

The photo here is from the 1961 season with the T-Giants... a sepia-tone card sponsored by National Bank of Washington.There was an identical card issued by/on behalf of Union Oil.


Thursday, June 19, 2008

For whom is the HHPA (Health, Human Performance & Athletics Complex) named?

It's not named for Paul Durham, Ted Wilson or Hal Smith.

On the Linfield campus on Linfield Avenue is the college's Health, Human Performance & Athletics Complex," also know as HHPA.

Some have made the mistake of calling the complex "Durham Hall" or "Ted Wilson Gym" because there is a Ted Wilson Gymnasium sign in front of the building. It's neither. It is HPPA, home of:
  • Paul Durham foyer;
  • Hal Smith Fitness Center;
  • Ted Wilson Gym.
HHPA was dedicated Nov. 4, 1989.

Photo above was taken July 12, 2008. Photos below were taken Sept. 24, 2008. Top row, l-r, Durham plaque and relief. Bottom row, l-r, Smith plaque and Wilson exterior sign
.

List of Linfield SIDs (sports information directors)








Before 1947-48 (See below+)

1947-48 Jack Clark 
1948-49 Jack Clark 
1949-50 Denny Morlan
1950-51 Denny Morlan 
1951-52 Phil Comfort+
1953-54 Jack Collins
1954-55 Ken Wheeler/Dennis Anderson

1955-56 Gil Stewart/Jerry Dennon/Floyd McKay+
1956-57 Gil Stewart

1957-58 Jack Maitlin/Ray Grady
1958-59 Gordon Gillmouth+

1959-60 Hal Cowan
1960-61 John Buchner
1961-62 Hal Cowan
1962-63 Hal Cowan
1963-64 Hal Cowan

1964-65 George Murdock
1965-66 George Murdock

1966-67 Rick Pullen
1967-68 Rick Pullen

1968-69 Tim Marsh+
1969-70 Chuck Humble

1970-71 Rusty Rae+
1971-72 Rusty Rae
1972-73 Rusty Rae

1973-74 Steve Davis+
1974-75 Steve Davis

1975-76 Craig Allen+
1976-77 Phil Bond+

1977-78 Phil Bond/Tom Bailey
1978-79 Jon Enyart/Dale Rhines+

1979-80 Steve Davis
1980-81 Steve Davis
1981-82 Steve Davis

1982-83 Joe Miglioretto

1983-84 Keith Fredrickson/Dan Farmer/Kip Carlson
1984-85 John F. Dillin Jr.+/Dan Farmer

1985-86 Larry Luta
1986-87 Larry Luta

1987-88 Chuck Charnquist+
1988-89 Chuck Charnquist

1989-90 Kelly Bird
1990-91 Kelly Bird
1991-92 Kelly Bird
1992-93 Kelly Bird
1993-94 Kelly Bird
1994-95 Kelly Bird
1995-96 Kelly Bird
1996-97 Kelly Bird
1997-98 Kelly Bird
1998-99 Kelly Bird
1999-00 Kelly Bird
2000-01 Kelly Bird
2001-02 Kelly Bird
2002-03 Kelly Bird
2003-04 Kelly Bird
2004-05 Kelly Bird
2005-06 Kelly Bird
2006-07 Kelly Bird
2007-08 Kelly Bird
2008-09 Kelly Bird
2009-10 Kelly Bird
2010-11 Kelly Bird
2011-12 Kelly Bird

2012-13 Kelly Bird
2013-14 Kelly Bird
2014-15 Kelly Bird
2015-16 Kelly Bird
2016-17 Kelly Bird
2017-18 Kelly Bird
2018-19 Kelly Bird
2019-21 Kelly Bird
2021-22 Kelly Bird
2022-23 Kelly Bird
2023-24 Kelly Bird

 


  + Footnotes: 


--When this list was originally posted, there was no one listed prior to Jack Collins, 1953-1954. But, in 2009, Wildcatville found information in the 1952 Linfield Oak Leaves yearbook which indicated that Phil Comfort was SID in the 1951-1952 school year. So... the text below might be suspect. Perhaps there was an SID or two prior to 1951-1952? Here is the maybe suspect text: Both Henry Lever and Paul Durham were masters of dealing with news media. In their time coaching that usually meant talking to sports editors and sports writers. Even if they did not have the title as Linfield SID, they probably were. During quite a bit of Durham's time working at Linfield, he was sports editor of the McMinnville News-Register and/or sports columnist for the N-R. The column, originally called "Shooting the Bull" was later changed to its best known name, "Dodging with Durham." Certainly Durham's greatest impact on Linfield sports coverage was in the N-R. However, coverage of Linfield athletics in the Oregonian and Oregon Journal in Portland and Oregon Statesman and Capital Journal in Salem was also significant. Lever and Durham played no small role in helping (influencing?) positive coverage for the Wildcats.

--Page 83 of the 1952 Linfield Oak Leaves yearbook, on an Athletic Department page titled COACHES, has photos of coaches Paul Durham, Roy Helser and Hal Smith. There is also a photo of Phil Comfort. Story text says, "Phil Comfort served in the position of Athletic Manager for the department. Phil served well in his capacity of director of publicity, financial manager..."


--Page 3 of the 1955-56 Linfield men's basketball media guide in the listing for athletic staff are Floyd McKay, Jerry Dennon as handling "Athletic Publicity."

--During the time Paul Durham (Linfield coach, athletic director, faculty member) was McMinnville News-Register sports editor, Gordon Gillmouth (McMinnville High Class of 1958 and Linfield Class of 1963) was a N-R sports writer. He covered McMinnville High school sports for the N-R for seven years, three while in high school and four years while at Linfield.

--Craig Allen's resume says he was SID Sept 1974-June 1976. The 1975 Linfield football media guide, which he produced, shows him as SID. The 1976 Linfield spring sports (men’s and women's track, baseball, men's tennis, men's golf) media guide, which he produced, shows him as SID.

--Linfield Athletics Newsletter, Summer 2004 -- Hal Cowan ’64 of Bend retired from Oregon State University after a 38-year career as sports information director, 28 of which were spent at OSU. He previously worked at Central Michigan University, the University of California, the University of Oregon and for the Portland Storm of the World Football League. He was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America Hall of Fame and was the recipient of the Arch Ward Award, the top individual award given to an SID. Cowan got his start as a student SID at Linfield. His work included serving as publicist for Linfield's 1961 Camellia Bowl football team.

--Linfield Magazine, Fall 2004 -- John Buchner ’63 of Albany was named to the Oregon Newspaper Hall of Fame. He retired as publisher of the Albany Democrat-Herald in 1998, after working as a reporter or editor at newspapers in Ashland, Bend, Stayton and La Grande.

--Linfield Athletics Newsletter, Fall 2004 -- Tim Marsh ‘70 and his wife, Diane, have been added to the Pullman, Wash., Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame. They were recognized for contributions to Pullman, including to chamber activities and to Washington State University, Pullman High School and Comets club track and field programs. As a Linfield student, Tim lettered in cross country and track, and served a year as Linfield's sports information director.

--In 2009, Phil Bond told Wildcatville, "I think, if memory serves, that I was SID in 1976-77 rather than Craig Allen. He teed me up in '76 before he graduated."

--In 2009, Dale Rhines told Wildcatville, "I think I was SID in 1977-78. I came to Linfield in September of 1977 and was only there one year... I might have worked with Jon (Enyart) that year- I know I worked with someone."

--In 2014, Steve Davis died. Read more
http://wildcatville.blogspot.com/2014/04/no-one-was-more-loyal-than-steve-as.html


--In 2015, Ken Wheeler died 11/8/2015. On 11/9/2015, Floyd McKay told Wildcatville, "Sorry to hear of Ken's death. He was editor of the Linfield Review when I met him, in 1953-54, and did sports publicity and stringing for the Portland papers. I signed on as sports reporter, I think, and then followed him in sports publicity and stringing. Kenny was a hard-news guy rather than a features guy as I recall, and his descriptions of action and their implications were spot-on. He had an amazing run with the Oregonian; that type of long-term loyalty on the part of paper and reporter is fading very fast."

--Those who have served as SIDs of more than one NWC school or more than once at the same NWC school include:
--Russ Blunck, Pacific grad -- Pacific (twice)
--Chuck Charnquist, L&C grad -- Lewis & Clark, Linfield
--John F. Dillin Jr., WU grad -- Willamette, Linfield
--Mike Larson, PLU grad -- Willamette, PLU
--Tim Marsh, Linfield grad -- Linfield, Whitman

--Chuck Charnquist, Linfield SID 1987-1989, died Oct. 28, 2021. Read more about him here: https://wildcatville.blogspot.com/2021/10/death-of-chuck-charnquist-former.html

 --Photo shows Linfield head football coach Ad Rutschman and Steve “Sparky” Davis, Linfield Sports Information Director, sharing a laugh after Linfield’s 1982 NAIA national championship football win over William Jewell (Missouri) at McMinnville High School’s Wortman Stadium. This photo by Rusty Rae, a former Linfield Sports Information Director, is copyrighted by Rusty Rae. If you have questions about the photo, please contact Rusty Rae at 206-669-2400 or rusty.rae@tertrerougetimes.com