True Husker Fan

[huskernumerouno]

My prayers are with this guy

 

 

Cancer-stricken Crete man gets to meet Huskers' Pelini

By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star

Saturday, Feb 09, 2008 - 12:18:39 am CST

His enthusiasm can’t be dimmed, even now, when his voice is sometimes weak and the news is grim.

 

Ron Van Nortwick still wears red each day, still knows which recruits are in and which are out. He still makes predictions. Of course he does.

 

Isn’t that part of being a Husker fan, even in February, even when it’s tough to get out of that recliner because there’s so much pain?

 

“Nine wins,” he says of next season. “They got the big man now and they got Dr. Tom backing him up.”

 

The 71-year-old heard the worst news a few weeks ago. The cancer was terminal. Doctors said time was running out. Maybe a month, maybe two.

 

Tumors are everywhere. Daily radiation treatments at St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center.

 

Still, he made time each day to take a look at the NU football recruiting chart. He kept his subscription to Rivals going. Who’s in? Who’s out? You don’t just stop being a Husker fan.

 

Sometimes emotion overtakes him. He thinks of Saturdays past.

 

He grew up in North Platte. There wasn’t a radio in the house. That’s OK. A friend had one. They’d gather around that thing.

 

“We’d just sit and eat popcorn and listen to Bobby Reynolds tear up the football field.”

 

That is how a Saturday in the fall was spent. He knew it then and he’s never forgotten it.

 

He was there for the glory days in 1970 and 1971, a season-ticket holder. He’d arrive on game day in a four-wheel-drive Bronco, driving it down to the rail yard. Pay for parking? Please. “I’d make my own parking place.”

 

His favorite Husker memory comes from the 1995 season’s national championship game.

 

The Huskers were eating Gator meat that night. Late in the game, already well-decided, Christian Peter picked up a fumble on a PAT attempt. The play was blown dead, but Peter kept running, high-stepping, laughing. Ron was laughing right with him.

 

After retiring from the railroad in 1999, he moved to Las Vegas with his wife Sandy. But they came back after five years. Sandy, pretty big on the Huskers herself, said she was interested in moving to Crete.

 

Ron thought about it. Hmm. ... “Only 22 miles from Big Red, so that’s acceptable.”

 

It was all so great, life with seven kids and even more grandkids.

 

And then came that awful news.

 

A gentle nurse named Star Stuhr from Tabitha Health Care Services has been coming over.

 

One day she asked him: Is there any last thing you really want to do?

 

“I thought around, well, no, not really, I’m just plain old Ron. I don’t want to do anything, no celebrations.”

 

But then he noticed in the newspaper mention of a recruiting dinner. That’d be kind of fun.

 

“Maybe I can arrange that,” Stuhr said.

 

“Well, as long as you’re doing that, I’d like to meet Dr. Tom, because he’s a pretty famous guy, and I’d like to have my old friend Harry Tolly with me.”

 

Tolly grew up with Ron and played quarterback at NU in the late ’50s.

 

Stuhr tracked down tickets. Ron grew excited. He didn’t expect to meet new Husker coach Bo Pelini, but if he did, “I’d probably walk up to him and give him a big ol’ kiss.”

 

Well, the whole thing was wonderful Thursday. Ron sat in the back. Table 66 was a long way from Bo.

 

But before the night was over, there was a surprise visitor, an extended hand. Bo.

 

“Welcome back to Nebraska,” Ron told him.

 

They talked for five, maybe 10 minutes. Ron told Pelini to get those guys playing with fire and passion, to bring back the tradition. He couldn’t have been a happier Husker fan.

 

“I’m very devoted. I’ve cussed them out once in a while. I’ve almost attempted to kick the TV once in a while before I realized what I was doing. I’ve gotten mad at them. But the next day would come and I’d always love them again.”

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

God bless Ron! That was a great story. I'll be praying for him.

[huskerinkc]

Great article. Not just a great Husker fan but obviously a great man. If you read the board Ron, God bless and we are all rooting for you.

[kc_husker]

Youve got to love stories like these. God bless Ron

[BIGREDIOWAN]

What a sad story, but at the same time a great story. I'm going to be praying for that guy and here's to a quick recovery.

[HuskerTrucker]

I will add my prayers to the rest of yours, maybe they will make a difference if it is God's will. Good luck, Ron, God be with you, my friend.

[Touchdown Tommie]

What a neat story! I hope this a great memory you can hold onto. My prayers are with you....