Special Donor Issue - University of Minnesota, Crookston

UMC’s Herschel Lysaker Leaves Legacyin Sports and MusicFrom the Grand Forks HeraldBy Lisa Gibson, Herald Staff WriterIn MemoryHerschel Lysaker, clarinetist and recognizedathlete, died Wednesday, February 8, 2006 atage 95.He had been residing in the Villa St. Vincent NursingHome in Crookston since July 2004.Lysaker loved music. He began playing the clarinet insixth grade, crying because his mother made him practicetwo hours per day. The practice paid off though,and Lysaker held first-chair at Concordia College andalso played solo clarinet in the Fargo-Moorhead symphony.Lysaker joined the Ninth District Band about thistime and eventually became the business manager.He continued to play in the band as he coached footballand basketball and served as the athletic director atthe University of Minnesota, Crookston, where theLysaker Auditorium is named after him. UMC also hasestablished the Herschel Lysaker Endowment Fund tohonor his legacy as a coach and athletic director.“He loved what he was doing,” said his wife, YvonneLysaker, whom he married in 1997.Lysaker was inducted into the Minnesota Football Hallof Fame, the Concordia College Hall of Fame, and the UND Athletic Hall of Fame, where hereceived the Tom Clifford Award.Lysaker retired from UMC in 1976, after 32 years of service.“It never failed,” said Yvonne Lysaker, “whenever we would go to meetings, men would put a handon his shoulder and say, ‘How’s my old coach?’” Yvonne added, “I would laugh because they usuallylooked older than he did.”Herschel Lysaker remained active in the Ninth District Band until 2002 when he retired at age 91,saying, “It is time for someone else to take over, and I will help out as long as I can.”“He didn’t miss a convention or parade,” Yvonne said. Lysaker was very dedicated to the band andis quoted as saying, “I’ll quit when I can’t march anymore.”Yet, even after retirement, Lysaker joined the band again this past summer and played with themat many venues.Yvonne recalls being told many times by many different people that they would not be where theyare if it weren’t for Herschel Lysaker.“He was a giving person and was concerned about others,” said Yvonne Lysaker. “If someone neededhelp, he was always right there. He was a very, very special man.”36