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People SearchFind an individual who either played a sport or was a member of a support group. Search by last name by clicking on the first letter of the person's last name.
Mr. Bob Verlander
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Home Phone: 404-636-3511 Bob’s Living Memorial was originally written for the Shipley Reunion in 2001. It is a blend of athletic memories, playing for Coach Shipley, academics, family, and life after USL. Bob’s LM is part of the Shipley Tribute and was posted on Sept. 18, 2017 by Dr. Ed Dugas. Basketball player,1959 -1963; Football player, 1959-1962. Married Martha Marie “Martie” Hubisz, RN, of Salem, MA ,whom I met while serving in USAF. Married in August ’60 between USL freshman and sophomore year. Children: (Don’t count. It’s 15 grandchildren . . . . so far) Following four years in the USAF my younger “Brother” Hugh and I walked on to coach “Red” Hoggatt’s football practice field for a try-out and walked off with football scholarships. Following my freshman football season I walked on to “Coach” Shipley’s practice court and four years later he still had not run me off. But then every team needs a “hatchet” man. I’ve had a few honors throughout my athletic career, although nothing to compare with those of my teammates as Coach only recruited the best. But the honor I’ve treasured most is the honor of having known, played and been coached by Coach. Other than my family, I don’t think anything will ever top that. I tell this story a lot. Being the number “6” man on the team I spent a lot of time on the bench, most of which was sitting next to Coach. And when things weren’t going our way out on the court, Coach would have me get up and move to his other side. If the situation on the court didn’t improve he would start shuffling the seating arrangement of others on the bench. Now I’m sure Coach realized that our problem was on the court, not on the bench. But sometimes I wondered. . . . And who of us that experienced it will ever forget the “take-the-lick” drill he put us through during a practice session in Georgia after a loss to some team in Kentucky because they scored all night by driving people down the middle like water going through a damn. You’ll be glad to know Coach that that lesson stuck; I still “take-the-lick”. Of course now its because I’m not quick enough to get out of the way….Or how about Coach Roy having to take refuge in the press box because he kept getting hit with Coach’s famous clipboard. Both brother Hugh and I received our BSEE degrees from USL in ’63 and went to work for Bell Lab’s doing aerospace R&D work on the west coast. A year later I took a position as Sales Engineer for a major manufacturer of telecommunication transmission equipment (microwave radio, fiber optics, etc.) and relocated to Atlanta, GA. We have been in Atlanta doing the same type of work ever since. I am presently Director of Sales for a major equipment manufacture and do a fair amount of traveling; mostly domestic, but have been to the far East a half dozen times or so. In addition to managing a sales force, I am frequently called on to conduct technical seminars and present papers at professional meetings. For the past ten years or so I have served as a member of an industry advisory committee to ULL’s EE Department’s Telecommunication curriculum. For those interested, brother Hugh retired at 58 at a VP level with Boeing and lives on the outskirts of Seattle, WA. I ran the full court up until a couple of years ago when the phone stop ringing (at 64, I wonder why? The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak). In the early years Sam Thomas played with us. I was still able to play above the rim at 50. But one of my proudest moments is when I played on a team here in Atlanta whose starting lineup was: Verlander, Verlander, Verlander, Verlander and Verlander. You got it, four sons and myself. Coach would have been proud of the way we ran the “shuffle”; automatic and all. I had them “shuffling” in the back yard for weeks. We ended up loosing the game because once the opponents realized what we were doing they switched to a zone defense. But hell that didn’t matter; we continued running the shuffle anyway. At least we looked “well coached.” Martie travels with me a lot now that the children are gone. We have been members at Druid Hill Golf Club for the past twenty-five years and we take our golf clubs with us whenever we get a chance. I’ll have them with me at the reunion if anyone is interested in playing. I’m a 14. Look forward to seeing all at Coach’s reunion. Bob Verlander
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