I don\u2019t normally save voicemails, but I kept this one. It was a message from Dr. Ganus. I had spoken in chapel that morning, and though he could not attend, he had watched the service on TV. In that familiar voice that was both deep and soft, he complimented me on my talk and added, \u201cI just wanted to say \u2018amen\u2019 and glad you\u2019re with us at Harding.\u201d He signed off with a hope that he would see me soon, \u201cmaybe at a basketball game.\u201d <\/p>\n
That final part was a nod to the fact that for the last dozen years, Dr. Ganus and I sat in the same section during basketball season \u2014 right behind the bench. Every home game, he would climb into the stands, shake my hand, and say with a gleam in his eye, \u201cI\u2019m surprised to see you here.\u201d Long after his knees had given out and he was forced to carry a cane, he still came for both the women\u2019s and men\u2019s games, watching the action with an eagle-eye. <\/p>\n
During halftime, someone from the scoring table would bring him a printout with the stats from the first half \u2014 not that he needed it. Often, before he had even seen the sheet, he would lean over and say, \u201cWe only shot 12% from the three-point line.\u201d As long as he was able, he would get up during the final seconds of the women\u2019s game and make his way to the court to greet the players as they headed out. He knew every Bison and Lady Bison by name.<\/p>\n
The most amazing thing is that he was that dedicated to many sports at Harding. He traveled for football games. He braved the afternoon sun during baseball season. Just last winter, he took the women\u2019s softball team out for breakfast at IHOP. <\/p>\n
I can\u2019t tell you how hard it is to write about all this in the past tense. <\/p>\n
Even someone who didn\u2019t know Dr. Ganus would be amazed at his resume. Twenty-two years as Harding\u2019s president. Twenty-six years as its chancellor. Fifty-four years as an elder at College Church of Christ. Seventy-six years as a loving husband. Ninety-seven years on this Earth. Father to Cliff, Debbie and Charles. Grandfather and great-grandpa many times over. And his passports were filled with stamps from 117 different countries.<\/p>\n
Clifton Ganus Jr. came to Harding in 1939 as a freshman from New Orleans. Less than a minute after getting out of the family car, wearing a white suit, he met a fellow student from the small town of Strawberry, Arkansas, named Louise Nicholas. They were married the same day he graduated in 1943. \u201cI got my bachelor\u2019s and lost it the same day,\u201d he often quipped. <\/p>\n
After vowing he would never become a teacher, he returned in 1946 to teach Bible and history and never left. As the decades went by, it was stunning to think that he had taken Bible classes from Harding\u2019s first president, J. N. Armstrong. He was a link to our past \u2014 he\u2019s been called \u201cthe keeper of our story\u201d \u2014 but he was just as interested in our present and future. <\/p>\n
There are so many things to love about Dr. Ganus. He was an avid \u2014 and occasionally aggressive \u2014 player on the faculty flag football team. On four occasions, he took a 700-mile boat trip down the Mississippi River in a craft that he piloted himself. He went fishing in Alaska every August. He loved hamburgers, cashews, peanut brittle and catfish. Each year he sold tickets to a pancake supper to benefit the Lions Club, having been a member for 70 years. For over 30 years he spoke at the annual Bible lectureships in the Caribbean. He made frequent trips to Uganda to visit the Harding Christian Academy he helped establish. Well into his 90s he was still in high demand as a public speaker. At 96, he spoke in Dallas at the memorial for Botham Jean. <\/p>\n
Harding grew significantly under his watch, and his tenure saw the transition from college to university, the construction of multiple campus buildings and the beginning of many academic programs. Yet no matter how large the school got, Dr. Ganus never lost his personal touch. Long after he had stepped down as president, he did his best to call each faculty and staff member on his or her birthday. Two months before he died, the No. 1 Bison fan called each of Harding\u2019s coaches in to discuss the prospects for the season. <\/p>\n
I once heard Dr. Howard Wright, one of the first African-American students at Harding, relate a tense moment on campus after Martin Luther King Jr. was shot in 1968. A fight nearly broke out when black students wanted to lower the flag to honor Dr. King, and some white students taunted them. Dr. Wright never forgot what Dr. Ganus did in chapel that day. With gentle firmness, he said, \u201cA great American has died, and we will lower the flag in his honor.\u201d <\/p>\n
For all his remarkable accomplishments, he was the least pretentious man you could meet. Humble, kind and unfailingly optimistic, he was devoted to God, to his family, and to the school that he loved. He lived in the same modest home for 58 years, wore old suits and gave money away. Once when he heard that a friend of mine couldn\u2019t afford to travel to the basketball tournament in Oklahoma, a check for $500 appeared in the mailbox. <\/p>\n
Dr. Ganus had a great sense of humor. When Dr. Bruce McLarty became Harding\u2019s fifth resident, he asked the third executive what to expect. Dr. Ganus said, \u201cThe first year I slept like a baby . . . I woke up every two hours crying.\u201d When he learned that I was related to computer science professor Scott Ragsdale, I jokingly said, \u201cI try not to talk about it.\u201d Without missing a beat, Dr. Ganus responded, \u201cI haven\u2019t heard him mention it, either.\u201d <\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think he wasted a single hour of his 97 years. He loved life and lived it with gusto. I have often heard people say that they wanted to be Dr. Ganus when they grew up. You can count me in that group. It is hard to see him go. Dr. McLarty put it well when he said, \u201cWe had gotten used to him being invincible.\u201d Fortunately, as Christians we know that he still is. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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