William George Boelter (1964)
BOELTER
Posted By: Pat Hochstetler (email)
Date: 9/7/2012 at 08:44:57
Des Moines Tribune – Des Moines, Iowa
September 3, 1964 pg 1Ill 2 Years, Boelter Dies at 63
William G. Boelter, 63, of Des Moines, ranked as one of the state’s all-time great athletes, died of cancer Thursday at Madison County Memorial Hospital in Winterset.
Mr. Boelter who had been ill about two years, but had entered the hospital only a week ago, gained fame playing football at Drake University in 1921, 1922 and 1923. In 1922, he was named All-Western halfback, sharing honors with Red Grange.
After his playing career, Mr. Boelter stayed on at Drake as basketball coach and assistant football coach. He also continued his studies at Drake, receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1931 and a law degree in 1932.
Mr. Boelter was born in Omaha, Neb. His parents later moved to Gooding, Idaho. Before coming to Drake in 1920, he lived for a time in Colorado.
At Drake, he also was an outstanding basketball player. In all three years of his collegiate career he was named to all-Missouri Valley Conference teams in both football and basketball.
In 1964, Mr. Boelter was named to the Des Moines Register’s Iowa Sports Hall of Fame.
Last year, he received Drake University’s Distinguished Alumni Service Award. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Drake Alumni Association.
In 1932, Mr. Boelter went to the State University of Iowa at Iowa City as assistant football coach and in 1938, moved to Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y., in the same capacity.
Mr. Boelter left coaching in 1946, returning to Des Moines to join the former Paul Manning Chevrolet agency. He became fleet manager for the firm before retiring in 1956.
Since then, Mr. Boelter and his wife have devoted their full time to operation of Camp Owanka for boys and Camp Minaki for girls near Annandale, Minn. When not at the camps, the Boelters' lived at 3221 Grand Ave. in Des Moines.
Mr. Boelter was a member of Plymouth Congregational Church.
His widow, Esther, survives.
Services are being arranged at the Dunn Funeral Home here.
Note: Burial was made in the Winterset cemetery.
Gravestone Photo
Madison Obituaries maintained by Linda Griffith Smith.
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