Grandpa Nordquist

It’s been a lot of fun having my dad in town for a few days. One topic my dad and I always discuss for hours is sports. We’ll talk about how the Utah Jazz are doing or how the season might turn out for the Seattle Seahawks. It’s something we have in common and something we enjoy sharing with each other.

We also talk a lot my grandpa Nordquist who passed away a few years ago. He loved athletics and stared in basketball, football, tennis and track while attending Westminster College and the University of Utah in the 1930’s. He passed on his love of sports to my father who become a coach and a teacher for over 30 years. 

When my father’s mom passed away a few months ago, my dad came upon a number of photo albums, some of which contained pictures few in our family have ever seen. Most pictures taken of my grandfather depict him him running or throwing a ball. I knew he was an excellent athlete but I had no idea his skills were so diverse. I don’t know many athletes today who play soccer and throw the javelin.

I spent last night going through these pictures and it brought back a lot of fun memories of the times I spent listening to my grandpa tell stories of his athletic career. He’d recount plays from the last Utah vs. BYU football game. Or he’d tell me about the latest drama surrounding the Jazz when the team was coached by Frank Layden. Some weeks he thought Rick Majerus was a saint and other times he’d call for his firing. I didn’t care which sport we talked about because his passion for them was infectious making it all interesting.

I’d give about anything to sit on the back porch of his old red brick home and chat with him and my dad about the Utes are going to torch BYU in the “Holy War”.