IUP Athletic Hall of Fame
Gene Abplanalp began his nearly-half-century- long involvement with his alma mater as a football player whose teammates of the 1952 through ‘55 seasons still recall vividly the rugged determination he brought to the game.
How well he put that to work, playing for 1997 Hall of Fame inductee Sam Smith, was recognized in 1960 when The Pittsburgh Press named Abplanalp to its all- time Indiana State Teachers College team at offensive guard.
Playing in a day when going both ways, offense and defense, was still the rule, he was a mainstay of teams that reached their share of high points, including a close 13-7 loss at powerful Ball State of Indiana.
Two years after graduating in social sciences and geography, in 1958, Abplanalp returned to Ridgway High to teach and serve as head football coach, a post he held for nine years.
In 1961, he started Ridgway's wrestling team, even though he himself had no prior experience with the sport. Now Ridgway has one of the top wrestling programs in the state.
In 1967, Abplanalp embarked on a new career with Reader's Digest and went on to earn district, regional and marketing Manager of the Year awards. Retiring in 1995, he was inducted into the Reader's Digest Hall of Fame.
From the time IUP launched ambitious alumni and athletic support programs three decades ago, Abplanalp has been among IUP's most loyal graduates.
(Initiating such ventures as the university's first men's basketball scholarship fund, honoring 1996 Hall of Fame inductee Jack Crossan, Abplanalp has been joined principally by college teammates who include Bill Dawson, George Glarner and the late Bill Eckert. His induction today is a tribute to them as well.)
Married since 1956 to the former Jane Logan, also an IUP graduate, Abplanalp is the father of Ann Lennox, a 1981 Penn State grad now a supervisor with the Pressley Ridge School in the Pittsburgh area, and 1982 IUP alum Debra Marting, now a speech therapist and pathologist for the Penn Hills school district.
Keenly interested in the residential community of which he is part, Abplanalp is president of the Treasure Lake Property Owners Association and has served on its Board for 12 years. He is also vice president of the Treasure Lake Lions Club and a Board member of the American Cancer Society in DuBois.
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