The Freshman Year of Studies was really Emil's baby. So every alum for a long long time was touched by him. Combined being a great teacher with being a great administrator with being a great guy.
His son Jim lived in Dillon. One Thanksgiving he invited a bunch of us to dinner at his home. The turkey caught fire and all kinds of shenanigans ensued. Anyway, ff 30 odd years and one of the player's family bought the house next door to Emil. I introduced the player's family to Emil on a game weekend. (Emil was sitting outside in his wheel chair.) I mentioned that I had been in the house decades earlier for Thanksgiving. Emil, "yes, that was the year the turkey caught fire....." Sharp as a tack...ND legend forever. God bless him and his family.
Jim is one of the nicest guys that you will ever meet. Brilliant.... He thoroughly enjoyed his 4 years at school. I don't think Emil would have approved of our Red Sox Yankee Bucky Dent playoff game kegger... everyone cut class to watch the game. That was one legendary party...
We had a finance test that day (Keating, I think) and he refused to change the test time. So I, devout Red Sox fan from Boston, didn't get back to the TV in Grace Hall until around the fifth inning. That was pure devastation.
What's scary is that I know or knew every guy you mentioned. As a frosh in Grace 4C there were six frosh and all the rest were juniors, all that gang with Doc, Woody, TGetz, Ted R. Gordon Drake, etc. Chris Schneeman lived right next to us, introduced me to jazz for the first time. Perry T. was one of my suite-mates. My parents were a bit dubious of us living with all those juniors, but that gang could not have been any nicer or more welcoming to us. They included us in everything, including section football and the national pastime, Stratomatic baseball. We stayed close to them the next year when they all moved OC and really missed them after they graduated. Just an outstanding group of guys.
