October, 50 years ago

Fifty years ago this month, alumni receiving the Oregon Stater learned of the deaths of several former Beavers who had become marquis figures to students, faculty and the alumni family. Here's a look back at the obituaries that had everyone abuzz.

The first was that of beloved music instructor Lillian Jefferys Petri. Along with her husband Paul, Mrs. Petri had become a local legend among members of the Oregon State College family and residents of the Willamette Valley. From 1924 until her retirement in 1947, Petri was head of the department of piano and compositional theory in OSC's music department and could count in the thousands the number of students she had personally influenced, either as players or listeners. She was 77 when she died in a Corvallis care center.

Alumni also learned of the death of Harvey L. McAllister, '97, who for generations of football fans was known as "Pap Hayseed." McAllister was one of 17 athletes in 1893 who launched the game of football at Oregon State. "Pap" played the center position, generally assigned at that time to the toughest player on the team, and held the spot for the next four years. After graduation, he became a bachelor resident of the town of Lexington in eastern Oregon. At age 67, he entered the Veteran's Hospital in Portland, where he remained until shortly before his death at age 87, in the Veteran's Hospital in Yountsville, Calif.

Also from California, this time the town of Eagle Rock, came word of the passing of former Oregon Agricultural College Head Football Coach Joe Pipal, who guided Beaver fortunes from 1916-17, and who finished his two-year stint with a record of 8-7-1. According to his published obituary, Pipal was credited with devising the lateral pass and inventing mud cleats for football shoes. He also holds the distinction of being one of only two coaches in OSU history (also E. J. Stewart) never to lose to the USC Trojans, playing them his first year only and winning the game on the road by a final score of 16-7.