Gustavus Adolphus College

Dick Kumlin '55 lettered for four years on Gus Young's fabled basketball teams of the mid-'50s, starting at forward on two championship teams (1954 and 1955) and captaining a squad that went 15—1 in the MIAC and reached the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Tournament in his senior season. Nicknamed "Spook," the 6_7_ Minneapolis Washburn grad played in 99 games at both forward and center for the Gusties during his college career, averaging 8.4 points per game and contributing heavily on the boards at a time when statisticians didn't keep track of rebounds.

After graduating from Gustavus Kumlin moved to Peoria, Ill., where he worked at Caterpillar Tractor and played for the Peoria Caterpillars, a semi-pro AAU basketball team. A year later he was invited to a tryout with the NBA's Minneapolis Lakers and survived until the final round of cuts. After a stint as a sales representative with Texaco in Milwaukee, Wis., he moved back to the Twin Cities in 1963 and became sales manager at Blumberg Photo and Sound, working there until he succumbed to cancer in 1968 at the age of 34. Dick and his wife, Joanne, had two children: Kristen and Craig Johnson. Craig followed his father to Gustavus, graduating in 1988.