Former UNI basketball coach Nordly dies at 77
Services for Oliver M. "Hon" Nordly, 77, of 803 Washington Street, will be 11 a.m. Friday at St. Patrick's Catholic Church with Monsignor Daniel Tarrant officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. There will be a scripture service at 7:30 p.m. today at Dahl- VanHove-Schoof Funeral Home. Nordly died Wednesday morning at his home.
He was born November 18, 1905, in Red Wing, Minnesota, the son of Olaf and Gertrude Stromberg Nordly. He graduated from Red Wing High School in 1923. He received a B.A. degree in economics from Carleton College in 1927. During college, he was president of his senior class and captain of the basketball team for two years. From 1927 through 1937, he coached football, basketball, and track at Rochester, Minnesota. He married Florence Hutcheson June 21, 1930, in Belle Creek, Minnesota. He was head basketball coach at Iowa State Teachers college (now the University of Northern Iowa) from 1937 through 1952. He led his team to five conference championships and was later awarded a plaque for being the most winning coach in the history of UNI. In 1954, he became an agency manager for State Farm Insurance and served as supervisor for the agents in Northeast Iowa counties.
He retired in 1970. He served on the Cedar Falls City Council for ten years and was chair of the Metropolitan Planning Commission for two years. He also served on the board of directors of the Cedar Falls Chamber of Commerce. He was active in the affairs of UNI and received the UNI Alumni Service Award, honorary membership in the Letterman's Club, and membership on the UNI Century Club Board. In recent years, he served as solicitor for the UNI-Dome Fund Drive and was active in the Cedar Falls Chamber of Commerce, supervising six committees. In 1975, he received the Cedar Falls Sertoma Club Service to Mankind Award.
He was preceded in death by his parents, one brother, and one granddaughter. Survivors include his wife; four daughters, Mrs. Gene (Katherine) Lybbert of Cedar Falls, Mrs. Joan McCann of Waterloo, Mrs. Keith (Judy) Moody of Cedar Falls and Mrs. William (Sara) Paup of Parkersburg; nineteen grandchildren; three great- grandchildren; three brothers, Louis Nordly of Red Wing, Carl Nordly of El Cerrito, California, and Harold Nordly of Northfield, Minnesota; and one sister, Mrs. Donald (Gertrude) McKusick of Olivia, Minnesota. Friends may call at the funeral home until 10 a.m. Friday. Memorials may be given to the American Cancer Society or to the church.
Copyright Cedar Falls Record, November 4, 1982.