Benjamin S. Martin ’44

Ben, who became a legendary football coach — "the father of Air Force football" — during 20 years at the Air Force Academy, died in Colorado Springs July 24, 2004, two months after a heart attack. He was 83.

At The Hill School, he starred in football, basketball, and track; at Princeton, in football, track, and scholastically. He roomed with Windy Strawbridge and Ed Schneider, and joined Tiger Inn.

After Pearl Harbor, Ben transferred to the Naval Academy and achieved All-America mention as an end. He also was brigade commander and class president, graduating in 1945. After sea duty, he became an assistant football coach for Navy, then head coach for the University of Virginia. He led Air Force from 1958-77. His first team was undefeated, the only such success in academy history.

He was named "Coach of the Year" by Washington's Touchdown Club, and took three teams to bowls. Ben thought the pinnacle of his career was being named president of the American Football Coaches Associa-

tion in 1977. He later became an analyst for ABC Sports, broadcaster for Air Force games, and a nationally popular motivational speaker.

He is survived by his two sons, Lawrence "Bud" and Ben, to whom we extend our condolences. Ben was one of a kind to all who knew him.

The Class of 1944