I was deeply saddened to read about the sudden passing of Judson Wallace's father Charlie on Thursday at the age of 69. I got to know Mr. Wallace and his family better and better each season during the four years Judson was at Princeton and the friendship between the Wallaces and my parents developed independently to the point where they even came to my folks' home a couple times for brunch during Ivy basketball weekends.
Thinking about Charlie last night as this news sunk in I immediately recalled five unrelated memories:
1. The way he used to remind Judson "fingertips!" from the stands when #30 was at the free throw line. I fully admit I still mutter that word to myself when certain Tigers step up to the stripe in crucial situations.
2. Even in the cold Northeast winters there was something endearing about his insistence on wearing loafers with no socks wherever he went.
3. When I traveled to Atlanta to cover Georgetown in the 2007 Final Four, the Wallaces were adamant that Nicole and I stay at their home with them (despite the fact they were already hosting three of Judson's former teammates) or at least go out for a meal. While I felt uncomfortable accepting their first invitation and the subsequent onset of Passover made the latter offer impossible, I knew that their hospitality was genuine and that by being unable to swing either I had let them down. I was glad that we could reconnect at the Georgia Dome's open shoot-around like old times in Jadwin and beyond.
4. The Wallace family remains the only Princeton basketball parents to add me unsolicited to their annual Christmas card list. Each December it has been sweet to receive a new color picture of the four of them and put it with the other cards on our mantle.
5. A former Army officer, Charlie was convinced from the moment I became engaged that he had the authority to officiate a wedding ceremony between Nicole and I on a boat in the middle of Lake Carnegie. We were eventually married (on dry land) a year after the Wallaces' older son graduated from Princeton.
He was the good kind of character and he will be missed. My condolences to Beth, Stewart and Judson.
As mentioned in the article I linked above, a Memorial Service will be held on Tuesday in the main sanctuary of Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta.
In lieu of flowers, a contribution to the Citadel School of Business Administration / Center for Financial Services Education has been requested by the family c/o Ron Green, The Citadel School of Business, 171 Moultrie Street, Charleston, SC 29409.
In other news the 14-Game Tournament offers a 2011-12 preseason primer and the Pottstown Mercury has more on Saturday night's Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony that Pete Carril attended.
