Herb Douglas remembered as an athlete, executive and inspiration
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Those who knew Herb Douglas, those who entrusted their futures with him and those who credit him for helping them succeed in life filled almost all of the pews inside Heinz Chapel on Wednesday afternoon.
They were not there to mourn Douglas, an Olympic bronze medalist, a Pitt man (football and track), philanthropist and trailblazing executive who died April 22 at the age of 101. It was, more accurately, a celebration of all those years.
Yes, there were a few speakers’ voices that swelled with emotion during the two-hour memorial service. But every speaker — from moderator and Pitt Chancellor Emeritus Mark Nordenberg to Olympic gold medalists Roger Kingdom, Edwin Moses and Charles Jenkins Sr. — expressed their gratitude for knowing Douglas and learning from him.
Pitt Chancellor Emeritus Mark Nordenberg talks about his dear friend, Herb Douglas. pic.twitter.com/G5ZaXr5MMz
— Jerry DiPaola (@JDiPaola_Trib) May 3, 2023
Track and field coach Alonzo Webb, one of several Pitt coaches among the more than 200 people in attendance, made a point of bringing about 50 members of his team to the service.
“I thought it was important for them to get to know exactly who he was and to hear from people he impacted,” Webb said.
Webb kept in regular contact with Douglas, up until the final days of his life.
Two weeks ago, Webb was busy preparing his team for the UVA Challenge in Charlottesville, Va.
“I had a whole lot of things to do,” Webb said. “Something told me, just go see him today. I was going to see him when I came back on Sunday.”
But Webb spent 45 minutes with Douglas before leaving for Virginia.
“The last memory I have of him is him wishing me and the team good luck at the meet,” Webb said. “And he gave me a fist pump. He passed on that Sunday morning. I was so glad I didn’t wait until Sunday because I would have never got the chance to have my last interaction with him.”
Nordenberg, a past Pitt chancellor, first met Douglas years ago at a luncheon at the University Club on campus.
“He said … ‘You seem like a reasonably good guy. Would you like to do some things with me?’ ” Nordenberg recalled. “He asked me to chair the selection committee for the Jesse Owens Global Peace Award.”
Pitt Chancellor Emeritus Mark Nordenberg talks about his dear friend, Herb Douglas. pic.twitter.com/G5ZaXr5MMz
— Jerry DiPaola (@JDiPaola_Trib) May 3, 2023
Douglas, who was one of the first Black executives in the U.S., created the award in retirement to honor individuals with a sports background who had contributed to world peace. George H.W. Bush and South African President Nelson Mandela are past recipients.
“He really cared about people, and he really wanted to bring out the best in people,” Nordenberg said. “Even though it was a joke to some, he had ambitions for people that often exceeded their own. That’s the way to get people thinking about high goals and worthy goals.”
Douglas, a past member of Pitt’s Board of Trustees and part of the inaugural class of the Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame, has a scholarship fund in his name supporting the university’s student-athletes. The indoor track in the Victory Heights project set to open in 2025 will be named after Douglas.
Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher described Douglas as “a friend and confidante … and a man of character, courage and conviction, a man of action.”
Nordenberg regularly took Douglas to speak to the football team.
“These young players, listening to an Olympic medalist and someone who had scored against Notre Dame and had overcome hurdles that they didn’t have to deal with anymore, he made them think, whatever’s in my path, I can get through it, too,” Nordenberg said.
Nordenberg was an appropriate choice to moderate the service because he said he enjoyed a special friendship with Douglas.
“I never imagined I would have a friend like Herb,” Nordenberg said. “He’s old enough to be my father. We’re from different races, different backgrounds and yet something between us clicked. We had a friendship. The bonds between us were so strong.
“And I do miss him already. But I feel so grateful that I had the opportunity to spend as much time with him as I did, to enjoy his company and to learn from him.”
Among past Pitt athletes, Kingdom might have been closest to Douglas. The two met in 1983 at the suggestion of Pitt coaches because both men ran track and played football at Pitt, no simple task. Their friendship lasted three decades, despite the large gap in age.
“He is a great pillar of this university,” Kingdom said, “almost like the Cathedral of Learning.”