Art Freeborg, 1931 Rose Bowl Player For WSU, Dies At 87

Art Freeborg, one of the last living members of Washington State University’s 1931 Rose Bowl football team, died Monday of natural causes at the Olympia retirement center where he lived.

The 87-year-old former quarterback was born in Spokane on Sept.

9, 1910.

Freeborg attended the Rose Bowl three weeks ago, along with former ‘31 teammates Joe Hansen and Myron “Mike” Davis. Before the 1997 season, their ‘31 squad had been WSU’s last to play in the Rose Bowl game.

Freeborg graduated from WSU in 1933 with a degree in physical education. He was a member of the Beta Upsilon chapter of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.

Freeborg was a sophomore on the Rose Bowl team and wore jersey No. 47.

Davis, his 89-year-old former teammate, recently recalled Freeborg’s early days on the team.

Before Freeborg had earned a spot on the traveling squad, he convinced coach Babe Hollingbery to allow him to pay his own way on road trips, Davis said. This was in the midst of the Great Depression, however, and Freeborg could not afford to pay his train fare.

Undeterred, Freeborg would hide under the seats when the conductor came through the car, Davis said.

A widower, Freeborg suffered from Parkinson’s disease in recent years. He lived at the Capital Retirement Center in Olympia, where he died.

Freeborg requested cremation and no funeral service is planned, according to a spokesman at Mills and Mills Funeral Directors in Olympia.

, DataTimes