Bob Ufer

Robert Pormann Ufer (/ˈjuːfʌr/ YEW-furr; April 1, 1920 – October 26, 1981) was an American track and field athlete and radio broadcaster. As an athlete, he set the world indoor record of 48.1 seconds in the indoor 440-yard (quarter-mile) run and was selected as an All-American in 1943. As a broadcaster, he served as the lead broadcaster for the Michigan Wolverines football team for 36 years, starting in 1945. He was in the first group inducted in 1978 into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor along with Gerald Ford, Bill Freehan, Tom Harmon, Ron Kramer, Bennie Oosterbaan, and Cazzie Russell.[1][2][3][4]

Bob Ufer
Ufer in 1978
Born
Robert Pormann Ufer

(1920-04-01)April 1, 1920
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
DiedOctober 26, 1981(1981-10-26) (aged 61)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Michigan
OccupationBroadcaster
Years active1945–1981

Early years

Ufer was born in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in the Pittsburgh suburb of Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania.[5] His father Clarence was a lumber broker who had been on the track team during his time at the University of Michigan.[5][6] Ufer was a track star at Mercersburg Academy, competing under coach Jimmy Curran, and was part of the 440 yard relay team that broke the world scholastic record with a time of 42.2 seconds. This feat earned Ufer and his relay teammates—Jack Watt, Austin Kellam, and Paxson "Pax" Gifford—a place on the Penn Relays Wall of Fame.[7]

At the University of Michigan, Ufer set eight freshman school records in track.[8][9] At the Big Ten Conference track meet in 1942, he set a new world indoor record of 48.1 seconds in the 440-yard dash, breaking the old record of 48.2.[10] He was a three-time Big Ten Conference champion in the indoor 440-yard dash.[11] Ufer also played halfback on the Michigan freshman reserve football squad in 1939.[12] He graduated with an A.B. in history in 1943.[13]

Broadcast career

Ufer called Wolverines football on Ann Arbor radio station WPAG from 1945 to 1976 and on Detroit's WJR from 1977 to 1981. He is remembered for his exuberant, partisan broadcasting style, openly rooting for Michigan.[14][15] Ufer's trademarks included pronouncing "Michigan" as "Meee-chigan," in the style of Fielding Yost, and honking a horn that had been used on General George Patton's jeep after every Michigan score.[16][17]

Personal life
Ufer grave
Ufer Building

Outside of broadcasting, Ufer was a life insurance salesman who founded his own company, Ufer & Co. Insurance, in 1947.[18] The offices of Ufer & Co. Insurance, which had been sold by Ufer's sons in 2009 to Kapnick Insurance Group, were moved to a location adjacent to Briarwood Mall to a building renamed "The Ufer Building" in his honor.[19][20]

On October 26, 1981, nine days after his last broadcast, Ufer died at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit after a three-year battle with cancer.[21] He was survived by his wife Phyllis and seven children.[22] Former Michigan defensive coordinator Jim Herrmann told The Michigan Daily in 1995, "Bob Ufer was Michigan football. That's what he lived and died for. I think he would have liked being described that way."[23] Ufer was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Ann Arbor.[24]

Ufer's son, also named Bob Ufer, was the commissioner of the International Hockey League from 1994 to 1998.[25]

References
  1. Luke Pasch (September 13, 2012). "The Voice of Michigan Football: Remembering Old Man Ufer". The Michigan Daily.
  2. "Bob Ufer – The Voice of Michigan Football". Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  3. Gene Wojciechowski (November 14, 2006). "From the sound of it, Ufer remains a Wolverine legend". ESPN.
  4. "Bob Ufer Dead". The Argus Press (AP story). October 27, 1981.
  5. "Bob Ufer". Toledo Blade. Associated Press. October 26, 1981. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  6. Fannie Weinstein (January 18, 1996). "U-M grads rush toward their goal to bring life and career of Bob Ufer to Hollywood". The Detroit News. Retrieved April 1, 2008.
  7. Peterman, Cy (April 30, 1939). "Curran's Biography More Exciting Than Fiction". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. S1.
  8. "Ufer Favorite in Big Ten Meet: Bids for Third Triumph Tomorrow at Chicago". Chicago Tribune. March 10, 1944.
  9. "Bob Ufer, Michigan, Bids in Hollis '600'". Boston Globe. February 2, 1944. p. 8.
  10. "Bob Ufer obituary". The Sporting News. November 14, 1981. p. 59.(Ufer "held the world indoor mark for the quarter-mile in 1942")
  11. Hergott, Jeremiah, ed. (2008). Two Thousand Eight Michigan Men's Track & Field. Frye Printing Company.
  12. Block, Woody (November 28, 1939). "Blues Whip Favored Reds, 7-6, In Freshman Intra-Squad Game". The Michigan Daily. p. 3.
  13. Michiganensian. Vol. 47. Ann Arbor, Michigan: The University of Michigan. 1943. p. 267.
  14. "Ufer's maize-and-blue boosterism to go nationwide". Chicago Tribune. January 1, 1977. p. S A3.
  15. Rosenberg, Michael (October 17, 2001). "Michigan's Epic Poet a Homeric Homer, Ufer Chronicled a Football Odyssey". Detroit Free Press. p. E.1.
  16. "Bob Ufer - The Voice of Michigan Football". Bentley Historical Library. The University of Michigan. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  17. Wojciechowski, Gene (November 14, 2006). "From the sound of it, Ufer remains a Wolverine legend". ESPN. Retrieved January 14, 2021. In fact, I'm not sure whether some station managers even would hire Ufer these days. Think about it: He referred to himself in the third person, pronounced Michigan, "Meeee-chigan," and he honked a horn after every Wolverine extra point, field goal and touchdown.
  18. "The Ufer Group". Retrieved January 14, 2021. The Ufer Group is an independent, family-owned insurance agency that has served the Ann Arbor community since 1947.
  19. "People & achievements in the greater Ann Arbor area, including McMullen Properties and Interim HealthCare". AnnArbor.com. July 21, 2011. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
  20. "A2Y Chamber - News". business.a2ychamber.org. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012.
  21. Lapointe, Joe (October 27, 1981). "Voice of Wolverines, Bob Ufer, Falls Silent". The Detroit Free Press. p. 1.
  22. Lapointe, Joe (October 27, 1981). "Voice of Wolverines, Bob Ufer, Falls Silent". The Detroit Free Press. p. 6A.
  23. Reid, Andy (November 18, 2009). "Andy Reid: Bob Ufer at practice? Rodriguez definitely 'understands' this rivalry". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved January 14, 2021. Bob Ufer was Michigan football," former defensive coordinator Jim Herrmann told the Daily in 1995. "That's what he lived and died for. I think he would have liked being described that way.
  24. Vukelich, Liz (November 27, 2013). "'We know how it's been since the man left us': The graveyard walk to honor Michigan football history". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  25. "Robert P. Ufer - Ufer, Spaniola & Frost P.C." Ufer, Spaniola & Frost P.C. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
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