During the summer of 1913, Knute Rockne and Charles "Gus" Dorias, both University of Notre Dame students working during the summer at Cedar Point, perfected the forward pass on the Cedar Point beach. That same year, Knute Rockne met Bonnie Skiles, another Cedar Point employee.
On July 15, 1914, Knute Rockne and Bonnie Skiles were married at the rectory of Saints Peter and Paul Church. Gus Dorais was the best man at the wedding. The location of the church rectory was selected, because Knute Rockne had not yet converted to Catholicism at the time of the wedding.
Knute Rockne became a legend as the football coach of the "Fighting Irish." His life was cut short in a plane crash on March 31, 1931. You can view the gravesite of Knute Rockne at South Bend, Indiana's Highland Cemetery at FindaGrave.
9 comments:
Very interesting.
Cathy
What a great topic to feature! I always enjoy learning something new! Thanks!
I wish I could have seen Knute Rockne throwing that football around the Cedar Point beach:)
Fascinating, I'll be looking for the marker when I visit Cedar Point in August!
Carol,
The Knute Rockner marker which honors his marriage place is just
a short distance from the Sandusky Library!
What an interesting post. I've heard of Knute Rockne but did not know who he was. Now I know! Thanks.
Fascinating history around summer time beaches. It is nice they commemorated his story in Cedar Point. Thanks for the history
I remember working at CP in 1989 and I sold inflatable footballs at the balloon stand and some photographer took a picture of me holding a football to post with his article about Knute perfecting the forward pass on the CP beach. I never got to see the final result. As for the commemorative sign on the beach, the following summer I was a lifeguard on the beach and saw that sign everyday. I think about Knute all the time because of this experience.
Kerry Reed/Caruso
So much amazing history at Cedar Point! Thanks for sharing your CP memories!
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