Dr. Jerry Bejbl (BAY-bull) was the first player in Slippery Rock University football history to have his jersey retired.

A 1963 graduate of Slippery Rock State College and 1986 inductee into the SRU Athletic Hall of Fame, he was a standout football and baseball player during his undergraduate days at The Rock.

In football, he earned honorable mention All-America honors as a senior. He was also named the Most Valuable Player in Slippery Rock's 13-6 win over East Stroudsburg in the 1962 state championship game.

Dr. Bejbl was a fullback and kicker and scored 91 points to lead The Rock to a 9-1 record in his final season. That point total stood as the school record for over 30 years.

"He was very aggressive and intense," the late Jim McElhaney recalled.

McElhaney, an All-America selection as a wide receiver, was a Rock teammate of Bejbl and, in 2004, became the second player in Rock history have have his number retired.

McElhaney coached Rock wide receivers for 14 seasons (1988-2002) before passing away in July 2003.

"Jerry was a real team player," McElhaney continued, "and he set a good example for the younger players.

"He became successful after college for the very same reason he was successful during his playing days," McElhaney said.

Dr. Bejbl is the retired president and owner of The Armoloy Corporation, which developed and refined a chronium electroplating process for metals, molds and dies, and has continued to set the torrid pace for others to try and follow well after his graduation.

He took over a company that had one plant and revenues of $50,000 and turned it into a multi-million-dollar company with 11 plants throughout the world.

And he has not forgotten his roots. He made the largest alumni donation in school history in the mid-1990s when he provided $200,000 towards the construction and equipment of the weight training facility that bears his name and is housed within the N. Kerr Thompson Stadium complex.

Ground-breaking ceremonies for the facility were hold at Thompson Stadium on Nov. 15, 1997.

Dr. Bejbl earlier endowed a $50,000 Jerome Bejbl Football Scholarship at SRU in 1988.

"Jerry is one individual who has never forgotten what the University did for him and what Rock Football did for him," Rock head coach Dr. George Mihalik says. "It is a real tribute to Jerry that he felt it was appropriate to endow a scholarship and underwrite a weight center project to help young men gain an education and be successful student-athletes."

In recognition of his performance as a player and his donations as an alumnus, Dr. Bejbl had his football number (31) retired as part of a halftime ceremony on Oct. 10, 1996, and was named by the University as a recipient of the Robert Eberly Award for Philanthropy.

We would be remiss if, as we salute Dr. Bejbl for his contributions to The Rock and the SRU football program in particular, we did not also pay tribute to his wife, Kathleen Toomey Bejbl, a member of Slippery Rock's Class of 1962.

The Bejbls are the parents of a daughter and two sons and have lived in DeKalb, Illinois, for over 30 years.