Albion

Cedric W. Dempsey, ’54

Ced Dempsey has become one of the most respected voices in intercollegiate athletics in the U.S., and he has also championed athletic involvement as a means of enhancing international understanding. President of the NCAA since 1994, he provides leadership for the more than 1,200 colleges, universities, conferences, and affiliated organizations that comprise the association. A nine-time letter winner in three different sports at Albion (football, basketball, and baseball), Ced was named the MIAA Most Valuable Player in basketball his senior year and was inducted as a charter member of the College’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989. From 1959 to 1962, Ced served as Albion’s head basketball and cross country coach. The following year he was dean of men. Prior to joining the NCAA, he was director of athletics at four institutions, the University of Arizona, University of the Pacific, San Diego State University, and the University of Houston. He earned a doctorate from the University of Illinois in 1963. A recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from Albion in 1993, he was presented with an honorary doctor of laws degree from the College in 1995. He and his wife, June Luke Dempsey, ’54, recently funded extensive improvements in the College’s softball field. The Dempseys are the parents of three children and reside in Indianapolis.

Charlotte A. Duff

Since coming to Albion College as a faculty member, coach, and administrator in 1956, Char Duff has seen, and in fact encouraged, continuing changes in the way athletics and physical education are offered and how they are regarded by students in general, and women students in particular.

A driving force in women’s athletics for the state of Michigan and nationally, Char is a founder of the Ann Arbor Field Hockey Association and the Michigan College Field Hockey Association, and is a past president for both organizations. She also served the Michigan Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation as an assembly representative and as president. In 1977 Char received the Distinguished Honor Award from that organization. Her service on numerous women’s athletic association boards included a stint as a member of the NCAA National Field Hockey Committee, and as chair for the Great Lakes Field Hockey Committee.

In her 34 years at Albion, Char was head coach for field hockey, women’s tennis, and women’s basketball. Her career wins in field hockey rank first among all MIAA coaches in that sport. From 1976 to 1980, Albion field hockey teams captured five straight league titles.

Char graduated with honors in physical education from the University of Wisconsin in 1948, and earned her master’s at the University of Michigan in 1956. Now retired, Char lives in Albion and continues to be active, both in campus and community affairs.

Elkin R. “Ike” Isaac, '48

Elkin R. “Ike” Isaac, '48, was a member of the Albion College faculty from 1952 to 1975. He also served as head basketball coach (1953-1959), head track coach (1953-1962) and head cross country coach (1962-1969). He led his teams to one MIAA basketball title, six consecutive league championships in track and three cross country championships. He also served as athletic director.

As an Albion student, Ike earned All-MIAA honors in 1943, 1946 and 1947 for his outstanding performance on the basketball court. He was captain and voted Most Valuable Player of the 1947 team. He was inducted into the Albion College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989.

In honor of Ike's long-time support of Albion College athletics, the new outdoor track, completed in 1997, was named in his honor. The Elkin Isaac Track Drive as co-chaired by Cedric and June Luke Dempsey, both '54, with assistance from Thomas Schwaderer, '56.

The Elkin R. Isaac Endowed Lectureship was created in 1991. Today, this endowment has been expanded to fund the Elkin R. Isaac Student Research Symposium, a premier event held each spring on the Albion campus.

Ike and his wife Edie reside in Libertyville, Ill.

H. Morley Fraser

After a successful high school coaching career, Morley Fraser came to Albion in 1954 as head baseball and football coach. He remained as the head baseball coach for 18 years, winning six MIAA championships. He is best remembered for his tenure of 14 years as head football coach. During that time, Albion won five MIAA championships, compiled an 81-41-1 record, had five Most Valuable MIAA football players, recorded two undefeated seasons, and established a winning streak of 15 consecutive games. In 1961, Morley was selected as the Midwest Regional Small College football coach of the year. For his accomplishments, he was inducted into Albion's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989. Morley was further honored in 1990 when former players and friends established the endowed Morley Fraser Student Leadership Awards.

Through the years, Morley has also become well known for his pre-game talks to teams on the college and professional levels, and he has been active statewide with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

A 1947 graduate of Washburn University, he earned a master's degree in 1954 from Michigan State University.

After leaving his Briton coaching position in 1972, Morley began a 14-year tenure as executive director of Bellemont Manor, Albion College's conference center, retiring in 1987. Morley passed away in 2004.

Frank L. Joranko, ’52

As an Albion student, Frank Joranko earned nine letters in three sports: football (4), base-ball (4), and basketball (1). He is the second Albion athlete to earn MIAA Most Valuable Player re-cognition in football (1951), and was a member of the 1950 MIAA championship squad in baseball.

After earning Michigan High School Football Coach of the Year honors for leading Ferndale High School to the 1972 Michigan state championship, Frank returned to Albion in January 1973 as baseball and football coach, and later became athletic director. Compiling a 49-39-1 record as head football coach, Frank led his 1976 team to the first nine-win season in school history, while topping NCAA Division III in total defense. The 1977 team was the first MIAA football squad to compete in Division III postseason play.

On the baseball diamond, Joranko-coached teams won nine MIAA championships, and reached the Division III playoffs in 1979 and 1982. He is the first MIAA baseball coach to record 200 league wins, compiling a 200-95 league record in 23 seasons as Briton baseball coach. Frank’s tenure as athletic director from 1975 to 1991 included the introduction of women’s golf and soccer as varsity sports. He also served as professor of physical education until his retirement in 1995.

Frank’s involvement in NCAA activities includes membership on the national baseball rules committee and regional selection committee. He was also tournament director for the NCAA Division III baseball championship from 1990 to 1994 while the tournament was held in Battle Creek. Among Frank’s many contributions to the local community he served as president of the Albion chapter of the NAACP.

Frank lives in the Lansing area with his wife, Joyce Weiss Joranko, ’55. They have three children, James, Dan, and Tim.

Peter J. Schmidt

Albion alumni, faculty, and staff lost a valued coach, mentor, colleague, and friend with the passing of Pete Schmidt, September 29, 2000, following a year-long battle with lymphoma. After coaching football at Albion College for 15 seasons, Pete had joined the Indiana University football program in early 1997. As Indiana's assistant head coach for football, he turned the Hoosier offense into one of high energy. Before coming to Indiana, Pete did the same with Albion College, developing one of Michigan’s best college football programs in the late 1980s and 1990s. He posted a 104-27-4 record at Albion.

His football teams at Albion won conference championships in 1985 and then 1989 through 1996, and appeared in NCAA postseason competition five times. In 1994, Pete coached the Britons to the NCAA Division III football championship, the first time an MIAA team had won a national championship in that sport. Albion’s record that season was a perfect 13-0. He earned numerous coaching honors that year, among them NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year.

Albion athletes excelled academically during the Schmidt years with five NCAA Postgraduate Scholars in football from 1993 through 1997. Every senior football player earning a letter also earned a degree from Albion, including eight first-team Academic All-America selections and 10 first-team Division III or small college All-America picks.

Along with football, Pete also served as athletic director from 1992 to 1996. During four seasons as women’s track coach, he worked with Division III All-American Kathy Dec Prohaska, ’85, and Wendy Lombardi Kohlhepp, ’84, one of tonight’s inductees.

Prior to coming to Albion, Pete was head coach at Okemos High School for seven years, earning six conference titles while posting three undefeated regular seasons and finishing as runner-up in the Class B playoffs twice.

Pete's wife, Becky, is a high school English teacher in Bloomington, Ind. Their three children are: Amy ’97, Peter ’98, and Sarah ’99.

The Albion College Board of Trustees has established the Peter J. Schmidt Scholarship in Pete's memory.

Leonard F. “Fritz” Shurmur, '54

A football coach for nearly half a century, and considered a defensive mastermind in the National Football League, Fritz Shurmur began his professional career as a graduate assistant under Briton coach Morley Fraser in 1954. After receiving a master's degree in education administration at Albion in 1956, Fritz stayed on as a defensive coordinator.

Fritz then coached at the University of Wyoming for 12 years. From there, his career led him to the NFL and included stints with Detroit, New England, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Green Bay. In each of his NFL stops, Shurmur-led defenses ranked at or near the top of the defensive rankings. While at Green Bay, he earned his first Super Bowl ring when the Packers defeated the New England Patriots in 1997. Fritz also was the author of four books on coaching team defense.

Fritz was among the charter members of Albion's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989. An All-MIAA performer in both football and baseball, Fritz excelled in football and was captain of the 1953 team, voted the MIAA Most Valuable Player and received Little All-America honors. He was also president of his senior class and a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.

In recognition of his career accomplishments, Fritz received an honorary doctor of pedagogy degree from Albion in 1997.

Earlier this year, Fritz joined the Seattle Seahawks as defensive coordinator, while maintaining his residence near Green Bay. He passed away in August and is survived by his wife Peggy, their three children and their families.

Walter B. Sprandel

A graduate of Carleton College in Minnesota, Walter Sprandel served in the Armed Forces from 1925 to 1928. He then joined the staff at Olivet College, and, during that time, coached an MIAA championship basketball team (1933). Walter came to Albion in 1942 and was an associate professor of physical education and a coach until 1952. In the fall of that year, he accepted the position of dean of men, which he held until 1962.

Walter was an assistant football coach (1946-1951), head basketball coach (1943-1953), and head track coach (1950-1952) for the Britons. His teams won five MIAA championships: three in basketball (1946, 1948, and 1951) and two in track (1950 and 1951). For his contributions to Briton athletics and dedicated service to Albion College, he, along with Dale Sprankle, was honored with the naming of Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium in 1976. Walter passed away on April 12, 1962.

Dale R. Sprankle

Dale Sprankle graduated from Mount Union College in Ohio. He served as the director of physical education at Adrian College from 1923 to 1936 prior to coming to Albion. After becoming assistant director of athletics and coach at Albion, he was promoted in 1942 to athletic director and remained in that position until his retirement in 1958.

During his 22 years of coaching at Albion, Dale’s teams won 23 MIAA championships in four different sports. Dale coached football during his first 10 years at Albion and won two MIAA championships. He coached indoor track for five years and won the MIAA championship in each: 1939, 1941, 1942, 1943, and 1947. As the track coach from 1937 to 1947, his teams won six championships in an eight-year span. His greatest success came in cross country. From 1947 to 1958, Dale’s teams won 10 MIAA championships. His 1956 team lost the title by one point and the 1958 team finished second.

Dale was deservedly honored in 1976, along with Walter Sprandel, when the football stadium at Albion College was named the Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium. Dale passed away November 11, 1963.

Paul “Skip” Ungrodt, Jr., '52

Skip Ungrodt has shown his dedication and love for Albion in many ways. A strong advocate for Albion College athletics, Skip chaired the $1.3-million Briton Athletic Drive, and made possible the College’s indoor tennis center, which now bears his name. He also was the architect of the commemorative brick walkway that now leads to the Dow Recreation and Wellness Center, and he was instrumental in establishing the Fritz Shurmur ATO Scholarship. He also was a major donor to the Kellogg Center and the Ferguson Building.

An Albion trustee since 1985, Skip is chairman and president of Ideation, Inc. and also owns several mid-Michigan gift stores. He is past president of the Michigan Gift Association and the Gift Association of America. In Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor, he has been involved with many organizations in the areas of economic development, historic preservation, and the arts. He headed the capital campaign fund-raising drive for the Purple Rose Theater in Chelsea, and he is the past chairman of the steering committee for St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor.

During his time on campus, Skip was a letter winner and a four-year participant in tennis, and in 1997 he was inducted into the College’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

Skip and his wife, the late Charlotte Darvay Ungrodt, ’52, had three children. Skip passed away Jan. 12, 2003.