Deceased July 15, 2010
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In Memory
It is sad to report Dick passed away in July in Tucson. He came to Amherst with the contingent from Western Reserve, where his father was the baseball coach. He was one of my roommates in the Fall of ’42 in North College and joined his brother Jack ’45 as a Beta.
During the war, he was a bombardier based in Italy and flew 50 missions. He returned to graduate and then began an outstanding career as a baseball coach and in administration. Initially he was at Western Reserve with his father. Then in the ’50s, he coached at Hiram College. In the early ’60s, he coached baseball at Chapman College (Calif.) and became the dean of the college and won a national intercollegiate baseball championship.
In 1963, he became the director of athletics at Brown University for a number of years. Later, he was assistant executive director of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. He also served as a consultant to the Ford Foundation for Athletic Facilities and was involved in the building of the Superdome and had a key to the City of New Orleans.
He published many articles including “New Surfaces” and “Pitching Can Be Taught.” One of his other talents was landscape painting. He spent the summer for many years in scenic Montana, Wyoming or Idaho for this. He earned a master’s degree from the University of Arizona and also one from Brown University. He was married to Peggy Provin (University of Missouri) for over 30 years. He had two sons and a daughter from his first marriage. We extend our deepest sympathies to Peggy and his family.
Ed “Josh” Watkins ’46