Indiana University of Pennsylvania Athletics

What did Gene Lepley do during the quarter-century he spent at IUP?

The better question might be, what didn't he do? Lepley coached swimming, football, wrestling and basketball on campus, taught sailing as a credit course, worked as an athletic trainer, was a member of the health and physical education faculty for 25 years and served as the department chairman toward the end of his tenure.

A 1945 graduate of Indiana High School, where he was a standout running back and co-captain of the football team as a senior, Lepley returned home after earning his undergraduate degree at Slippery Rock in 1950 and teaching for a time at Millersville High School near Butler. He earned his master’s degree at IUP in 1960 and three years later joined the faculty. But Lepley didn't restrict his efforts to the classroom: He held positions as trainer and assistant coach in football and wrestling. Lepley even found time to coach the Keith Laboratory School basketball team and direct the elementary intramural program.

In 1967, he revived IUP's varsity swimming program, which had been dormant for 13 years. Lepley coached the team for five seasons, compiling a 26-39-1 dual meet record while operating on a shoestring budget, without scholarships. He was instrumental in the development of Neil Postas, who became IUP's first swimming All-American in 1973 by finishing ninth in the 100-yard butterfly at the NCAA College Division meet, held in Detroit.

Swimming wasn't the only water sport to catch Lepley's fancy. He had a passion for sailing and was co-owner of a 32- foot sailboat, The Big Indian; that he skippered on Chesapeake Bay. Lepley instilled his love of the sport in others, by teaching sailing as a credit course at IUP. He also taught basic, advanced and Chesapeake Bay sailing through the university's school of continuing education.

In addition, Lepley was instrumental in inaugurating the annual Indiana County Tourist Bureau Regatta at Yellow Creek State Park. He directed the popular regatta from 1977 to 1987. In his spare time-the little there was of it- Lepley served as president of the Indiana County Tourist Bureau, was charter president of the Indiana Jaycees and served as an Easter Seals Society board president.

Lepley, who earned a doctoral degree from West Virginia University in 1970, retired as a faculty member in December of 1988. By then he had played, coached, taught and promoted a variety of sports at Indiana High and IUP and in Indiana County for nearly five decades. Lepley was inducted into the Indiana County Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.

He and his wife of 40 years, Peggy, had two children, Susan and Gene. Lepley is also survived by three grandchildren: Gene, Sara and Evan.