A truly great man and Notre Dame legend!
Rockne lived at 1002 E St. Vincent St. right next to the current Eddy Commons. My grandparents lived next door at 1004 E. St. Vincent St. They were very close friends with Knute and Bonnie Rockne. In 1925 Rockne asked my grandfather to be his sponsor/Godfather when he was baptized in the Log Chapel. My grandmother acted as as his substitute sponsor/Godmother, due to a Rockne relative couldn't make it to the ceremony in time. They both went to his first communion, which was also I believe the first communion for one of his sons, and I assume confirmation.
The week before Rockne left South Bend for the last time, he was over at my grandparents house. He was playing catch with my youngest uncle in the living room, who was almost 3 at he time - my uncle missed the ball and it ended up breaking a vase. Rockne proceeded to quickly leave the house so as not to experience my grandmother's wrath. That was the last time they saw one another.
After the crash, when he was brought back to South Bend, my grandfather viewed the body. He said that Rockne had the metal cross, of his rosary beads, bent around his thumb, since he must have been squeezing it so hard on the way down before he crashed. It is comforting to know that Knute was in a state of grace when he died. South Bend is a small town, that years later my youngest uncle (who was playing catch with Rockne in March of 1931) married Mary McGann, whose parents owned the funeral home that Rockne used, which is mentioned in the article. My grandparents and the Rockne's were friends with the McGanns.
My grandfather quite often traveled with the team for away games, and when Bonnie did not go to the games, my grandfather would sometimes stay in Rockne's room in the upper berth. At one game ND left their jerseys in South Bend and my grandfather had to go out and buy some jerseys with the same colors. I believe he said the worst crowd that he ever experienced was in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Rockne made my grandfather an Honorary Member of the 1930 National Championship Team, and he would go to their reunions. When my grandfather passed away, still in his wallet, he had a practice pass to go to any practice which was signed by Rockne. My oldest brother John, Jr. (first grandson to go to ND'69) used to bring his dormmates in '65 &'66 to my grandfather's house and they'd have dinner and he told them Rockne stories. I very much remember my grandfather, but never really knew him since we lived in the Boston area. One thing we had in common was that my grandfather would stop at the local tavern to get a Manhattan before he headed home - while I was at ND, I used to stop at Nicky's (same location) for a pop(s) before heading back to campus.
My grandfather had an 8th grade education, and took correspondence courses in engineering. He took over my great grandfather's construction company and he built around 30 buildings or extensions on ND's campus. My grandfather was crushed that he was not able to build the Rockne Memorial, because of his relationship with Rockne. My great-great grandfather (French Canadian - by the way I cannot play hockey very well) immigrated to South Bend from Quebec after Fr. Sorin asked him to come to ND to help build the campus - his name is engraved in Sacred Heart Basilica. My grandparents sent their 6 sons to ND (2nd oldest uncle was a member of the '33 to '36 teams), and one of their two daughters married an ND grad from Michigan (whose son was on the ND team '72 - '75, and was the player that the captains asked to sit out the Georgia Tech game so Rudy could play).
Around 1929, the Rockne's moved from E. St Vincent St. to E. Wayne Ave., where Rockne was waked. When Bonnie Rockne was selling the house, she gave my grandfather first dibs on the house, and it was bought by the 4th son, and they lived their until my aunt passed away.
Sorry for making a short story long. Once I started I couldn't stop.
Rockne was raised Lutheran. Lutherans baptize babies, and a Lutheran baptism, properly performed, is valid. At the time Rockne became Catholic, though, it was common practice to conditionally baptize converts if there wasn't good evidence about the circumstances of their baptism. So Rockne was almost certainly conditionally baptized ("If you have not been baptized, I baptize you ...") and also confirmed when he was received into the Church in the Log Chapel.
I haven't gone back and read an account of these events, but that would have been the standard operating procedure.
excellent, biography "Coach for a Nation: The Life and Times of Knute Rockne," explains some of the reasons on page 369:
"Rockne would follow his team into the little Catholic Church across from Grand Central Station when they went to New York to play Army. He would see his boys get up early on the morning of a game, steal from the hotel lobby and head for a church. Bonnie, who was converted before their marriage, exemplified her Catholic faith around their children."
"Neighbors and friends (edited to: 'my grandparents'), and their family, demonstrated the faith in action. All were undeniably influences on him. So too was his friendship with Father Vince Mooney, a priest at Notre Dame, who would eventually instruct Rockne in the Catholic faith and then baptized him on Friday, November 20, 1925 in the Old Log Chapel on campus."
My older brother ND '75 wrote,"In attendance were Knute, his wife Bonnie, (edited to: 'both my grandparents') and Reverend Vincent Mooney, C.S.C. As my Grandpa Tom would tell me, “It was on the evening before the Northwestern game when Rockne was baptized…” The record shows that Rockne received his First Communion the next day." I believe one of Rockne's sons also received First Communion that day. It appears that there were only 5 people at the baptism, including Knute Rockne.
For the first fourteen months I (brother ND '69) attended the University of Notre Dame starting in the fall of 1965, my grandfather Thomas (1886-1966) would tell me and my dorm mates stories of his relationship with Knute Rockne (1888-1931). Rockne was the iconic Notre Dame head football coach for thirteen seasons from 1918 to 1930.
Knute Rockne 1925
My grandparents family and Rocknes lived next door to each other on Saint Vincent Street, less than one mile from the school, from 1923 to 1929 – the Rocknes at street number 1006 and the Hickeys at 1004. Tom Hickey, a contractor, had built most of the homes on that block, including his home in 1917 the Rockne home in 1920. The four Rockne and eight grandparent children would often play croquet, football and baseball with one another in the open field behind the two homes. Rock, and occasionally some of his players, would come out and play football with all the kids.
It is not known when and how the men, who would become close friends, first met. My grandparents had attended all the Notre Dame home games since the 1900 season. Later, my grandfather would often accompany the team on road trips. When the their wives, Bonnie Skiles Rockne (1891-1956) and Kate (1884-1977), did not join them for away games, the two men often shared a sleeping compartment on the train.
Rockne was not a Roman Catholic when he enrolled at Notre Dame in 1910. Rockne decided to convert to Catholicism and join his wife and their four children in that religion fifteen years after he came to Notre Dame. He had graduated from the school in 1914, served as assistant football coach from 1914-1917. Rockne was the first non-Catholic Notre Dame hired as the football team’s head coach in 1918. That would not happen again until the school hired Ara Parseghian in 1964.
When Rockne decided to convert and be baptized into the Catholic Church, he asked my grandfather to be his sponsor, then the term for today's godfather. One of Bonnie’s relatives, Mary Bough from Cleveland, was to be the other sponsor; however, at the last minute Mary could not make it to the service because of an illness. My grandfather called his wife Kate to come to the Log Chapel to stand in as a proxy. Kate hurriedly put on her coat and drove to campus.
I would love to be able to go back in time and hang out with Rock and your family.
Sadly, it was not until September of 1966 that I arrived at ND, and even though I felt his influence and presence, it would have been magical to be able to walk up to him and shake his hand and say, "Rock. I'm from the future. You helped build this place. We love you still."
Street and my grandfather's home was on 1004 E. St. Vincent Street. There were 4 lots purchased by my grandfather from Notre Dame for approximately $1,500. He built both homes and Rockne was the first to live in 1006 E. St. Vincent. This was sometime around 1917. My grandfather sold the other two lots.
In 1973, right after my grandmother passed away, the house was sold. Two Notre Dame professors were interested in the house. Instead of outbidding for the house, they flipped a coin and the English Professor won and the Sociology Professor lost. The house was later sold to the third occupant.
My great-great grandfather Louie was born in 1829, left Montreal in 1849, three months after Fr. Sorin came back to Montreal to gather some laborers to help in building the college.
Louie arrived earlier, and his younger brother Eli followed. They both worked on Scared Heart Church (it was later named a Cathedral and recently a Basilica). They both had their names engraved on the outside of the bell and inside of the tabernacle.
the street from the rocknes at the time of his death. His house was later owned by members of your family. What is your relationship to Pat and Mary Anne?
Uncle Jerry (the 4th son) and Aunt Rosemary took the house over once Bonnie Rockne moved out. The open space next to the house that was in the article, was turned into a tennis court. Pat was one of their children, therefore my first cousin.
our family's box seats were next to your family's (extended family) for 5 seasons in the 80's. I remember two of the guys my age in particular, one of whom has passed away (CosmoKid? Or similar). The other lives or lived in Elmhurst. And my grandparents lived around the bend (toward E Jefferson) from Rockne's last house.
Favorite memory from those neighboring box seats...1986, ND not good W/L record but starting to play pretty darn well, Cosmo (?) standing up and screaming after another ND TD "Bring on the Nittanys!!!" (As PSU was undefeated that year). Classic stuff. We were still next to them for 1988 Miami as well.
much younger and I used to go over to his family's house for an occasional dinner. He was a great kid, and passed way too early. His father was the 3 year old that was playing with Rockne in my grandparents living room.
I remember seeing a picture of my dad in the box, I believe it was in the late 40's. 2 seats to the left of him was General of the Army Dwight Eisenhower, who probably came out for one of the Army games not played at Yankee stadium. I think that was a university box. Your family's box was probably to right of my family's box.
Our box was to the right of yours. Yes Boomer was the guy screaming. Great scene.
from the box. My dad was the only one of the six sons that moved out of the South Bend area. He met my mom in Boston during WWII when he was in the Naval V12 program, when my dad and other ND Naval Officers were training in the Naval Supply program at Wellesley College, before being shipped out to Pearl Harbor.
My dad had to go back to ND and get his last semester of credits in 1947, to get into his MBA program back in the Boston area. My parents decided to settle in the Boston area.
So my uncles in South Bend controlled the tickets after my grandfather passed away in 1966.
Basically, boxes created by interlacing galvanized railings painted hi-gloss black with 8 decrepit folding chairs per box. I think that all survived through 97
It's around here somewhere.
It's currently next to the hot water heater. I tried sitting on it for a game in front of the TV.
We lost hence its current location. My daughter will be thrilled to inherit it...Rick
our "box seats" story is that my grandparents had them since the 1930's (season tickets when the stadium opened, box by the end of that decade). They were University donors as well. When they passed away apparently the agreement was we would keep the box, which at the time was at the highest level of boxes (I think there were 5 "rows" of boxes and they were in the 5th") somewhere around the 35-40 yard line (toward TD Jesus). Five years after the second of them passed, with the tickets in my dad's and uncle's names, they moved us to basically the 50 yard line, but either the lowest or second lowest row (this was actually considered a downgrade given how low they were. Great views of the ND players on the bench, though!). This was next to the Hickey box. Five years after that they took away the box altogether and moved us to 8 season tickets, originally on the east side of the stadium. When the stadium re-do was done for 1997 they gave my dad the option of moving back to the home side, basically behind the students, which is where we still have season tickets to this day.
significant donation to keep the seats in the original location, or be rolled over to regular season ticket holders. They had the box of eight seats since the stadium opened. I suspect the seats were given to current big donors. It's too bad that the original donors and box holders were pushed out - money appears to be more important than tradition and loyalty.
significant donation to keep the seats in the original location, or be rolled over to regular season ticket holders. They had the box of eight seats since the stadium opened. I suspect the seats were given to current big donors. It's too bad that the original donors and box holders were pushed out - money appears to be more important than tradition and loyalty.
(First of all, thank you for sharing those memories.)
Note what the state of Nebraska has to say about playing Nebraska playing Rockne's teams in the 20's. Excerpts:
Between 1922 and 1924, Notre Dame Coach Knute Rockne’s legendary “Four Horsemen” lost only two games. Both were at Nebraska.
Also:
These days, Nebraska fans are generally known for being polite to visiting teams. It wasn’t always so. Notre Dame returned to Lincoln in 1925, losing to Nebraska 17-0. Details are fuzzy, but strong anti-Catholic sentiment and abuse by fans led Notre Dame to cancel the 1926 game despite Knute Rockne’s desire to keep the profitable series going.
Nebraska football coach Ernest Bearg said that Notre Dame officials “informed me that the game in Lincoln was played in an atmosphere of hostility and that the klan spirit was apparently dominant in Lincoln.” This wasn’t empty talk. The Ku Klux Klan had 5,000 members in Lincoln at the time, about 10 percent of the city’s population. The organization was not just anti-black; it also hated Catholics and ethnic minorities. For his part, Coach Bearg blamed the decision on “disgruntled gamblers in South Bend” who were tired of losing their money. Either way, Nebraska and Notre Dame did not play each other again for twenty-two years.
of Memorial Stadium before they filled in the endzone stands.
As a boy in Lincoln I attended games in bleachers placed behind the endzones for 50 cents a game as a member of the "knothole club". The view was very poor but you could tell the players apart.
I was in attendence for the 1959 Nebraska upset of Oklahoma which ended something like a 74 game winning streak by Oklahoma over other Big Eight schools. I think that approximately 250,000 folks claimed to be at the game afterward but I was there.
My father's gas station was on 10th and R streets, right across the street from the campus and close to the stadium. He used to allow preferred customers to park at the station during game days.
Alas, not only does the station not survive but the intersection itself does not survive due to interstate and campus agglomerations.
I think the cheapest ticket is also somewhat more than 50 cents now.
When my daughter was little, I would tell her bedtime stories.
One time, we talked about her guardian angel. I asked her if she would like Knute Rockne to be her guardian angel. She liked that idea, so we voted together to give Knute the job.
When she was in high school, she was driving her Bronco and had her friend Heather with her. Neither were wearing their seat belts. My daughter, Laura, was looking down to change her CD player. Heather yelled, “Look out!” Laura looked up but could not brake in time and clipped the backward facing forks of a hay press and hit the curb in front of Joe Korn’s house on Panorama Drive. The Bronco flipped end over end twice and landed on its roof in Joe’s front yard.
Inside, Laura and Heather were pinballing around like tennis balls.
I got a cell phone call about the accident and raced to the scene. Her Bronco was there, and her high school friends who had been following her were there. They told me that 2 ambulances had taken Laura and Heather to the hospital.
I arrived and the trauma doctor told me that Heather had a small cut on her right hand and that Laura had a deep thigh bruise on her right leg. He said that if she had broken her femur she could have bled to death internally in 10 minutes.
I believe in guardian angels, and I believe that Knute Rockne paid our family back that day.
You see, before his last game in the LA Coliseum, he took the ND team to the Cocoanut Grove lounge at the Ambassador Hotel. My father was there when Rock walked in with the team. My father was a brash 21 year old guy back then. He frequented the clubs and dated a few starlets and Mickey Cohen and his boys would come up to the ranch to shoot dove during dove hunting season. My dad said they would show up in suits and patent leather shoes and try to hunt dove with their .45s and an occasional Thompson sub machine gun, and that they were terrible shots.
At the club that night in 1930, my dad walked up to Coach Rockne and introduced himself and shook Rock’s hand. Rock was polite and told my father that the Maitre d’ wasn’t going to seat him and the team.
My father walked over to the Maitre d’ and said, “This is Knute Rockne and the entire Notre Dame team! Why won’t you seat them?”
The Maitre d’ said, “It’s none of your damn business.”
My father said, “I’m making it my damn business and if you don’t seat them right away, I’m going to make a telephone call.”
The Maitre d’ scowled and said, “Oh yeah? Who are you gonna call?”
My father said, “I’m gonna call my friend, Joe Sica.”
The Maitre d’ turned pale, walked over to Rock and said, “Right this way, Sir. We will seat you now.”
Rock thanked my dad and that was that.
Joe Sica was one of Mickey Cohen’s enforcers, to put it mildly.
Photo of the Cocoanut Grove dinner lounge...
Thank you for the memory.
And thank you, Rock, for protecting Laura and Heather, and getting them a second chance.
I'd love to read more about this.
There’s no rule that I can’t go again.
Because I've been drinking.
Anniversary of Rockne's death. Easter Heathman, who was 14 at the time of the accident, took a moment to point out a rock near the memorial to me. " That's where we found Rockne". Poignant to say the least . . . Heathman's picture sits in my memory book to this day.
His birthplace. It’s right outside the train station as I recall. I think we just stumbled across it while waiting for a transfer. There’s a statue too. I tried to find it on google maps but the photo’s geotag is off; and street view around the station shows a lot of construction.
At least when it was in South Bend. I don't know whether it traveled when the HOF moved.
Jerry McKenna, ND grad and sculptor of all the statues of coaches around the Stadium and other greats around campus, made the Rockne sculpture as well.
but it's not very easy to find. When we were in Voss we searched Rockne statue and it showed us the one by the Notre Dame stadium. We ended asking a local person and they pointed us in the right direction.
Here's the location on Google Maps.
I can't believe that request happened over six years ago. Traffic pushed my web server space over its quota, so I put them on flickr.
He was upset that the wreath ND sent kept blowing over during the ceremony in the wind, and went back out to the site when all of us were back at the schoolhouse to apply some chicken wire to ensure it remained in place. Hopefully we will get a program of some kind together in 2031.
He was selfless to visitors.
"We thought it would take a president's death to make a whole nation, regardless of age, race or creed, shake their heads in real sincere sorrow … Well, that's what this country did today Knute for you. You died a national hero … Notre Dame was your address, but every gridiron in America was your home."—Will Rogers
I finally made it out to his grave last year.
Rogers also died in a plane crash. That was only one of the many things the two men had in common.
"He was a king among men. We have never met a man with greater personal magnetism, not even William Jennings Bryan."
—North Carolina Christian Advocate (Methodist)
like a really good article regarding his death.
A small audio excerpt of Fr. O'Donnell's speech, which is actually quoted in the article, is on an ND CD collection set but I don't see it on YouTube.
Like Moff, I have not had an opportunity to read it in its entirety, but if there is not any mention of the first performance of the alma mater, that's a big miss.
And the 7 others who died as well: H. J. Christansen (Chicago), J. H. Hooper (Chicago), W. B. Miller (Hartford, Conn.), F. Goldthwaite (New York), C. A. Lobrech (Chicago), Pilot Robert Fry, and Co-Pilot Jess Mathias.