Click on the title above for a link to the Oregonian's Obituary. What follows is what I posted on this blog 4 years ago:
He met his wife in 1928 at Medford High School* and in college she was torn between Bowerman and a football player at UCLA and she told both men she would marry the winner of the Oregon vs. UCLA game. I am not making this up. Bowerman's Oregon Ducks lost to UCLA but she married Bowerman anyway. The UCLA player became a movie producer and Bowerman after college went back to Medford as a football coach until World War II broke out. He became an officer with the 10th Mountain Division and saw action in Italy where he arranged for an entire German unit to surrender. After the war he returned to Medford as a football coach until he was hired by the University of Oregon as a football and track coach and as they say the rest is history
( *The building is now the home of South Medford High for a few more weeks before they move to their new campus for the next school year)
The Hollywood producer she could have married was Mike Frankovich who produced such moves as "Meet John Doe", "Bob&Carol&Ted&Alice" and John Wayne's last movie in 1976"The Shootist."
To read more about Barbara and Bill read the book "Bowerman And The Men of Oregon" The Story of Oregon's legendary coach and Nike's cofounder by author Kenny Moore. I highly recommend it.
