Some Personal Memories of Willard Jantzen

Fifty-one years ago Willard Jantzen boarded Northwest Airlines flight 723 in Miami with plans to fly to Minneapolis and then catch a ride to Crosby Minnesota to be the best man at my wedding.  Just when the giant 747 plane left the runway and began to climb, a large flock of seagulls scattered.  A minute or so later the captain announced that they were returning to Miami because some birds had flown into the right starboard engine.  As the plane circled around to approach the runway again, it began to rain and the new concrete runway became very slick.  When the wheels of the plane touched the runway, the pilots were unable to fully reverse the three remaining engines properly for braking assist.  The plane began to hydroplane sideways on the wet runway.  It continued beyond the end of the runway into a rough field until the front nose gear hit an old concrete culvert.  The nose gear immediately collapsed and penetrated the floor of the passenger cabin terrifying the passengers in first class.  Some fainted.  Many were certain they were going to die.  Finally the plane came to a stop and all the passengers and crew exited the plane by jumping onto the emergency slides.  Fortunately no one was seriously injured.  

That evening Willard and the rest of the passengers (at least those that wanted to fly again) boarded another Northwest flight on which Northwest provided free drinks to everyone - "a champagne flight on which most everyone got drunk" as Willard remembered it.  The drinks flowed freely and some well-lubed passengers recalled the slide had been more fun than a Disney ride.  The captain was probably thinking that maybe the free drinks should end.

The next day the wedding ceremony proceeded as planned in Crosby.  Later that day a reception and dance were held in Joan's home town of Trommald, Minnesota - a small mining town once entirely dependent upon jobs at the Pittsburgh Pacific company.  Today the Trommald Bar and Silver Dollar dance hall where we danced that night are long gone as are the jobs with the mining company.  Potholes on the deserted main street go unattended and grow larger and more numerous while the number of residents declines.  But far more importantly, fifty-one years later Joan and I are still married and Willard and I remained lifelong friends.

Willard graduated from Valley City State College in 1968.  He played football on the 1964 NDCAC championship team.  He was chosen to the all-conference team in 1966.  He was a fierce and rugged competitor on the football field - undoubtedly just as tough as his father "Red" Jantzen had been as a well-respected local boxer who went on to compete at the national Golden Gloves matches.  Off the field Willard was a gentle soul who collected butterflies and rocks in his youth and postage stamps and coins all his life.  He went on to coach and teach for twenty-five years at high schools in Graceville, Minnesota; Breckenridge, Minnesota; Crookston, Minnesota; Miami, Florida; Rugby, North Dakota; and finally Argusville, North Dakota.   After he retired from teaching, Willard worked at and later managed the Bjornson Park Golf Course in Valley City.

Willard was not always the best student in high school, but he became a very good teacher and a great coach.  He was an instinctively natural coach and always gave me encouragement and advice on my own quite lackluster basketball skills.  Coach Don Dehne finally recognized that Willard was a pretty good basketball player and Willard became the starting forward instead of me.  In just a couple games in the playoffs he scored more points than I had in my career.  I cheered for Willard just as he had for me.  Throughout the years of our friendship I learned more about life and myself from him than I did from any of my teachers in high school or college.

Willard went through a number of life's ups and downs, but never complained to me.  Sixteen years ago he survived a bout of cancer.  Prior to that and again after that he survived heart attacks.  More than one doctor mentioned how genial Willard always was and noted that "whatever" was one of Willard's favorite words.  I never met anyone who did not immediately like Willard.

Last year Willard suddenly lost his voice and was able to speak only in a whisper.  He was diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer which had metastasized to other organs.  He underwent state-of-the-art chemotherapy treatments which slowed and even reduced some of the tumors, but after a few months the progress stopped.  His overall health was not good enough for continued chemotherapy treatments, but he hoped they could resume.  He did not want to live out his remaining time in a nursing home.

In late February I visited Willard at Essentia Hospital in Fargo.  I showed Willard the posting I had put on the blog about him.  He smiled and raised his right hand with a thumbs up.  I read the comments to him that people had posted and after each one he again smiled and raised his hand with a thumbs up.  My thanks to those of you who posted a comment or sent him a note in the mail.

A few days after my visit Willard was moved from Essentia Hospital to CHI Mercy Hospital in Valley City for Swing Bed care (a type of skilled nursing care).  Surprisingly he was assigned to the same room his wife Donna had been in for two months following her hip surgery late last year so he was quite familiar with the room and felt comfortable.  Willard hoped and expected he would be able to go home in a week or two and possibly resume his chemotherapy.  But after a week his condition grew worse and an ambulance took him back to Essentia in Fargo where he died on the morning of March 10, 2024.

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Below is my favorite photo of Willard.  This was taken when his team was getting ready to play a game at the Orange Bowl Stadium.

And here is a photo of the 747 after its "crash" landing.

For a lighter recollection of Willard, see my post in this blog dated January 12, 2022 titled "Golfing with Dick McConn and Will Jantzen" and the post on March 17, 2024 titled "The Golf Lesson"

This is a picture from last summer.

And here is a photo and article from Larry Gauper about Willard at the 1957 Science Fair.