Athletic Hall of Fame
The Gustavus Adolphus College Hall of Fame was established in 1978 at which time 19 "Charter Members" were inducted either as coaches or as athletes. As of the fall of 2022, 348 individuals (321 athletes, 16 coaches and 11 benefactors) have been elected to the Hall of Fame.
The former Hall of Fame room on the second floor of the Lund Center was originally partially endowed by the families of both Dwight Holcombe's (the only father/son combination holding membership in the Hall). The hardwood plaque upon which the individual plates are permanently displayed, now in the Hall of Champions, was donated by the family of former football coach and Hall of Fame member Jocko Nelson, who passed away in 1978.
Wendell Butcher
Football
Inducted: 1978
Wendell R. Butcher 38 was known as the "Worthington Walloper" during his football days at Gustavus. He led the Gustie teams to three straight State Championships and played every minute of every game in those three years. He was leading scorer in the conference his junior and senior years and was also leading rusher and leading passer. He was elected to three All-State teams and was named Little All-American in 1937.
He played professional football with the Brooklyn Dodgers of the old American Football League for six years.
He has been in a family business, Thermopax, a heating equipment manufacturing company in Memphis, Tennessee, with his two sons. He and retired in March of 1979. One of his sons scored the first touchdown against Wisconsin when USC played them in the Rose Bowl in 1963.