Wilton native, former Viking Hilgenberg dies

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By Don Doxsie | Tuesday, September 23, 2008 8:51 PM CDT | () comments

The news Tuesday was sad, but Don Grensing never will be able to think of Wally Hilgenberg without a smile.

“He was one of the smartest and toughest people I ever coached in my life,” said Grensing, who spent close to a half century serving as a coach and administrator in and around the Quad-Cities. “He never let up in anything he did. He was a winner all the way.”

Hilgenberg finally lost one battle Tuesday, succumbing to Lou Gehrig’s disease at the age of 66.

But those who knew the former Wilton High School, University of Iowa and Minnesota Vikings athletic hero said the disease from which he suffered over the past two years never really got the best of him. Former Vikings tight end Stu Voigt, a close personal friend, said Hilgenberg remained positive up to the moment he died peacefully surrounded by family members at his Lakeville, Minn., home.

“He’d say, ‘It’s not when you go, it’s where you go,’ ” Voigt told The Associated Press. “He handled these last six months with a lot of dignity.”

Hilgenberg, who was inducted into the Quad-City Sports Hall of Fame in 1993, got his start in athletics in Wilton under the tutelage of Grensing in the late 1950s.

“When he was a senior in high school we didn’t lose a football game until the last game,” Grensing recalled. “We won 22 in a row in basketball. The baseball team only lost three games. It was mostly because of him.”

Hilgenberg’s older brother, Jerry, had played football at Iowa in the 1950s and Wally followed him there, serving as a Hawkeyes co-captain in 1963. A hard-hitting linebacker, he was drafted by the Detroit Lions although he didn’t really find his niche in the NFL until a few years later. He was traded to Pittsburgh, which released him in preseason camp in 1968.

“Minnesota picked me up on waivers for $100,” Hilgenberg recalled years later. “I found out then what I was worth.’’

It was one of the biggest bargains in NFL history. He almost immediately became the Vikings’ starting right linebacker and he stayed with the franchise for 12 years. The Vikings made it to the Super Bowl four times in that span although they lost all four of those games.

In retirement, Hilgenberg settled in the suburbs of the Twin-Cities and worked in the insurance and banking industries.

Much to the delight of Don Grensing and others, he also found religion.

“He had very firm religious beliefs and he led his life in that way,” said John DeDoncker, president of The National Bank in Bettendorf, who became acquainted with Hilgenberg through business dealings.

“He was just a fun guy and a very good businessman,” DeDoncker added. “He was very well respected within the banking community.”

Hilgenberg also remained active as a hunter and fisherman until learning he had Lou Gehrig’s disease in 2006.

As the degenerative disease took its toll, he was determined not to live out his final days in a hospital. He even had an elevator installed in his home.

“I know the family and Wally made the decision not to go with a ventilator, which probably would have prolonged his life a little bit,” DeDoncker said.

It also would have prolonged his suffering.

“He was unable to move his arms and legs back in April when I ran an Ironman triathlon to raise money in his honor,” DeDoncker said.

Hilgenberg wasn’t doing much better last fall when his old coach, Grensing, last saw him. Grensing had gone to Minneapolis to visit his daughter, Linda, and her family, and they surprised him by taking him to visit Hilgenberg.

They sat and watched a Bears-Vikings game together and relived the old times.

“We had a great 3 hours together,” Grensing said. “At the end, as I was leaving, he said ‘I’m going to get up and shake hands with you.’ He managed to push himself up out of his chair and we shook hands.”

When the news arrived Tuesday, Grensing wasn’t surprised. He found some irony in the fact that as a kid growing up in Muscatine, he had idolized Gehrig, the Yankees player for whom the disease is named.

“I was about 10 years old when Lou Gehrig died (in 1941), and I remember that I just cried,” Grensing said. “I’m not crying for Wally. He’s in a better place now.”

Don Doxsie can be contacted at (563) 383-2280 or ddoxsie@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.

Wally Hilgenberg

Born: Sept. 19, 1942,

Marshalltown, Iowa

Died: Sept. 23, 2008,

Prior Lake, Minn.

Hometown: Wilton, Iowa

Family: Wife Mary; four children (Angie 39, Amy 38, Eric 35 and Christy 28); 17 grandchildren.

Career Highlights

- Led Wilton High School to 43-4 record in basketball in last two years

- Three-year letterman in football at Iowa, 1961-63; co-captain in 1963

- First team all-Big Ten, 1963

- Special mention on Iowa’s all-time football team

- Fourth-round draft choice of Detroit Lions (NFL) and Denver Broncos (AFL) in 1964

- Backup linebacker for Detroit, 1964-66; starting linebacker for Minnesota, 1968-79

- Played in Super Bowl with Vikings in 1970, ‘74, ‘75 and ‘77

- After playing career, became proprietor of Bank Compensation Strategies, Minneapolis

- Inducted into Quad-City Sports Hall of Fame in 1993