You will find John Tillitski is the Notre Dame Summer 1944 Student Directory
John Edgar Tillitski Canton, Ohio St John’s HS…..PE Major…lived in Carroll Hall
if you google Notre Dame digital archives, you’ll find all the old ND student directories
And yes, Leahy told many returning vets that they were unlikely to make the 1946 ND team IF they came back to ND…..many, like your Mom’s uncle played elsewhere after the war
Leahy had 22 returned vets who had ALREADY been selected in NFL drafts, come back to ND and play on the 46 National Champs rather than turn pro
John Tillitski was part of an interesting group of ND Frosh fullbacks in 1944:
Tilllittski went off to war and played at Georgia after military service…starting FB on Coach Wally Butts SEC champs
Other 1944 ND Frosh fullbacks:
Eddie Price was the La. state HS POY….drafted off the ND campus weeks after arriving…went to Tulane after the war….Alll SEc FB 3 straight yr….though Price lost to ND twice….1st player ever to rush for 3,000 yards in a career in college football history……led the NFL in rushing once and finished 2nd another yr before blowing out his knee….member of the College Football HOF
John Corbiiero Medford Ma, actually got to play as a Frosh at ND in 44….Frosh were eligible due to the war….entered the army soon after and fought on Okinawa…..enrolled at Middlebury College after service….3 sport star….set rushing records in football….great hockey and baseball player….made the 1952 Olympic hockey team (per his Middlebury HOF bio) but signed to play MLB as a catcher with the Braves…….soon quit to re-enter the military….. Air Force…..made it a career and flew 106 combat missions in Vietnam!
Marty Wendell Chicago St George. a HS QBs led his team to the Chicago City Championhip over Phillips with star Buddy Young…..Chicago St George then played vs Mt St Michael’s Bronx in the Polo Grounds for the’Catholic National Champioship…..the largest crowd to ever see a HS game in NYC history in attendance. IIRC St George won by 1 or 2 pts with St Michales on the 2 yd line when the game ended
Went off to Great Lakes Naval after his Frosh yr at ND - moved from HS QBs to fullback as a Frosh at ND………..starred at LB in Sailors victory over ND in 45…it was the last game ND lost in the decade of the 1940s
back to ND after the war, played C and G on offense(moved from fb) and LB on defense on 2 National Chapionship Irish squads……Coach Leahy once said that Marty Wendell was the best LB he ever coached!
Vince Scott Le Roy. Ny…..I don’t have my archives with me…Scott may have come in ‘43……Scott was 4f for the military draft due to the fact that one leg was shorter than hos other from childhood polo. Scott graduated from ND…playing 4 yra and played 13 years in the CFL…making All Pro and playing in 6 Gray Cups…..a member of the CFL HOF
A pretty good group of fullbacks
Sorry to add clutter…..but it’s a good story
I left ND ‘44 FROSH Joe Gasparella off my list above because he was a. QB….but converted to fullback late in that 1944 season.
Gasarella was a 6’3 218 lbs QB from Vandergrift, Pa…..a heralded Qb recruit……Street and Smith football magazine 1944 even put his picture in the preseason publication write up on the Irish….sort of unheard of for a incoming Frosh.
Gasparella started off great at Qb….throwing 2 td passes in the ‘44 opener vs Pitt…..ND won 58-0….Joe G was backing up Boley Dancewicz…..fyi, Joe G was only the 2nd ND Frosh Qb to EVER throw a td pass for the Irish.
For the year, Joe G was 13 of 28 for 240yds.
But
Late in the Army game, Joe G was in at Qb with ND trailing 52-0…….Joe G tried a screen pass out of his end zone….it hit an Army DL right in the face mask at the 1 yd line and dropped into his hands….the Army linemen then took a step into the end zone for Army’s final Td……
Final Army 59 ND 0
Joe Gasparella was moved to Fullback for the next game….in ND lore the story was that this was punishment for the ill timed pass out of the end zone……but likely was just that ND needed bodies at fullback
Gasparella shared the fullback duties with fellow Frosh Marty Wendell and gained 71 yds on 15 carries vs Northwestern ……ND won 26-0……quite a comeback from the Army
Joe G suffered a knee injury in 45….then, spent some time in the Army…..came back and graduated from ND with a degree in Architecture.
Joe G was selected the Steelers inn the NFL draft….actually the first ND player taken in that draft….playing Qb and “ blocking back” for a number of years in the NFL
And also
Joe Gasparella was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study Architecture in Italy….Gasparella was fluent in Italian…both his parents had been born there
After studying abroad, Gasparellla became a Architect professor at Carnegie Tech…..he also was the HC of the football team for 13 years…..coaching through the years of the name change to Carnegie Mellon….credited with saving the program.
Joe G also designed some of the Steelers offices and locker room at Three Rivers Stadium
An Interesting Domer
John Tillitski can be found on page 60 (out of 67).
link—https://archives.nd.edu/dir/DIR_1944_SUM.pdf#page=60