C.S. "Pop" Doan

The invitation for the celebration

The tickets to Saturday's events.  I'm pretty sure I won't ever have a basketball ticket that indicates "FLOOR" seating again.  Unless they're free :)

From the ceremony program

My great-grandfather was a math professor at Purdue in the 1920s.  He was friends with the athletic director, and one day stopped by to visit.  The AD was in a ticket mess; tickets were everywhere, and he didn't know what to do.  He turned to his friend, the math whiz, for help.  Pop's response: "I'll take care of it, as long as you go home."  That decision turned into Pop's being the first athletic ticket manager in the Big Ten, a position he held for over 40 years.  During that time, he only missed one football game (I would love to know the reason behind that miss).  He and his wife Hazel hosted post-football game parties at their house after every home game, where my Dad got to meet people like Red Mackey and Duane Purvis.  Pop also strung the "P"s onto the Old Oaken Bucket, which is awarded during the Purdue-IU football game; and, family legend has it, the Bucket used to sleep under my grandfather Joe's bed, so as to deter those crazy Hoosiers from stealing it!  Pop became friends with most every athlete who crossed the sacred Boiler Country, and passed that love of Purdue onto his only son and his oldest grandson, who both played baseball at Purdue.  The Purdue defensive & offensive players of the Purdue-IU game are awarded the "Pop Doan" award, and until the recent Mackey Arena renovations, there was a large photo display of Pop's newspaper articles, photos, etc.

All of that leads up to the phone call my Dad received during the six days he was home between his hospitalization for pneumonia (December 3-9) and his scheduled surgery on December 15, 2011.  He answered the phone to hear, "Hi, this is Morgan Burke (for those uneducated Boiler fans, Burke is the current and awesome Purdue Athletic Director).  I'm calling to tell you that your grandfather has been elected to join the next class of Purdue Athletic Hall of Fame inductees, and we will honor the class the second weekend of April.  We hope you and your family can join us." (Okay, I have no idea what he actually said, other than mistakenly calling Pop Dad's father.  Anyway, you get the drift).  This was SUCH a fun, exciting thing to hear under normal circumstances - throw in the emotional turmoil our family was going through with Dad's illness, and it just became something for him to work toward.

We slowly got the word out about this incredible honor (for reference, people like John Wooden are in the Purdue Athletic Hall of Fame), and we had a nice cast of characters there for the induction ceremony.  Mom, Dad, Julie and I.  Uncle John & Aunt Vi from Washington, DC.  Bob Starbuck (Pop's great-nephew) from North Carolina.  Nial & Susan Henry (Pop's great-niece) from Wilmington, Ohio.  Chris & Cari Van Pelt (Pop's great-great-nephew) from Cinci/Indy.  Pop would have been pleased, I believe, at this event that brought many of us together for planning (Susan's brother David Gregory was also a huge help in getting photos, information, etc, but was unfortunately unable to join us).

This Purdue grad was very grateful to celebrate this occasion with my family; realizing that I am a third-generation Purdue grad, all starting with a NON-Purdue grad starting an amazing legacy at Purdue nearly 100 years ago, was pretty humbling.

BOILER UP!!!