[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 41 (Wednesday, April 9, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2865-S2866]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO GEORGE DURENBERGER

  Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, on March 20, my dear friend and former 
colleague, Senator Dave Durenberger, lost his father, George 
Durenberger, at the age of 90.
  But, because the Senate was just beginning its recess at that time, I 
did

[[Page S2866]]

not have the opportunity to pay respect to my friend and the much-
celebrated life of his father. It is for this purpose that I rise 
today.
  It has been said that, ``the worst sin against our fellow creatures 
is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that is the essence 
of inhumanity.'' George Durenberger, the parent, the teacher, the 
coach, must have been acutely aware of this because there was not 
indifference in him. He saw worth in every person he met and rewarded 
them with a first chance, a second, and a third.
  In short, George Durenberger never gave up on anyone. Beyond all his 
other contributions, George Durenberger will be most remembered for his 
abiding faith in people.
  According to newspaper accounts, George Durenberger was one of the 
``best known and most well-liked men in Central Minnesota.'' By the 
same accounts, ``Big George'' as he was often called, was ``a legend.''
  Coming to St. John's Abbey and University in Collegeville, MN in 1924 
as a student, George Durenberger obtained hero status as the star 
offensive center on the football team, the first three time All-
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference award winner, and also 
the captain of not only the football team but the basketball team as 
well.
  Upon graduation in 1928, Durenberger became a professor and coach at 
St. John's and, over the course of 44 years, served as head coach of 
the football, basketball, and baseball teams--and sometimes all at 
once.
  Durenberger served as athletic director for both St. John's 
University and St. John's preparatory school athletics for all but 2 of 
his 44 years at St. John's.
  Many Minnesotans still recall that it was George Durenberger who 
started the round robin system of intercollegiate competition in the 
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. And, some still remember 
the national recognition he gained through his ace athletic program to 
condition the 87th Airborne Detachment for World War II.
  Perhaps, these accomplishments figured into St. John's decision to 
name the college's athletic field complex, the ``George Durenberger 
Field.'' But, I believe that what contributed most to his Herculean 
stature can be best expressed in George Durenberger's own words:

       A coach should be judged not only on his ability to produce 
     winning teams, but also on whether or not he has made a 
     positive contribution to the moral, mental, social and 
     emotional growth of his students.

  George Durenberger was the epitome of a teacher. He knew and loved 
people. He saw the good in them--even when they could not see it in 
themselves.
  ``The young men who came to St. John's in the early forties from the 
small towns of Minnesota and North Dakota were very much in need of a 
role model,'' recalls former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice John 
Simonett. ``Then we met `Big George'. And we looked up to him--both 
literally and figuratively.''
  George Durenberger lifted spirits, recalled another St. John's 
alumnus, ``I always left George feeling better about myself.'' George 
Durenberger ``was the first person I met as a student at St. John's in 
1924,'' remembered Fred Hughes, a St. Cloud attorney and former 
University of Minnesota Regent, ``and to this day, he remains the 
best.''
  And, consider what the Hill newspaper's Al Eisele, who attended St. 
John's, had to say. Mr. Eisele said, ``George Durenberger was as much a 
part of the modern history of St. John's University as the Benedictine 
monks who founded it 150 years ago.''
  Durenberger, ``a physically imposing man with a booming voice and 
outgoing personality,'' as described by Eisele, ``helped shape the 
lives of thousands of young men.'' As athletic director, Durenberger 
was such a forceful man, noted Eisele, that he even got the monks to 
exercise.
  In closing, Eisele remarked that Durenberger and his wife Isabelle 
were ``surrogate parents to many * * * and an inspiration to all.''
  George Durenberger never left St. John's until he died. He loved the 
institution and all the people and memories that came with it. However, 
this love was not connected to stubborn consistency but to confection. 
George Durenberger, said one friend, ``was driven by a vision of a 
`better city' ,'' something akin to the city referred to in the book of 
Hebrews.
  Another book in Scriptures, Proverbs, states, ``Train up a child in 
the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.'' 
According to George Durenberger's eldest son, my friend and former 
colleague, ``All my desire for public service and for making the world 
a better place than I found it, came from him.'' That was Dave 
Durenberger.
  In this way, and in so many others, George Durenberger made a very 
profound and lasting contribution to the world. All he withheld from 
the world was indifference.
  Mr. President, I offer George Durenberger's wife, Isabelle; his 
daughters, Constance and Mary; his sons, George Mark and Thomas; his 
nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren; and most especially I 
offer his eldest son, my dear friend, David Durenberger, my most 
heartfelt sympathy.
  Thank you very much, Mr. President.
  I yield back the remaining part of my time and suggest the absence of 
a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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