Former Blue Devil Marshall Rauch Passes At 102
A long and remarkable life
We’ve been watching Duke Basketball for a minute now and while it’s a beautiful tradition, there just haven’t been very many Jewish players. We can think of three: the great Art Heyman, the steady Bob Fleischer and of course Jon Scheyer, who starred for Duke’s 2010 national championship team and is now Duke’s head coach.
Beyond those three, maybe Robbie West? We’re honestly not sure.
However, Boswell clued us into a much earlier Jewish Blue Devil who just passed away at the age of 102, and to say he lived an interesting life might be an understatement.
Marshall Rauch played for Duke briefly during World War II when Cameron, then known as Duke Indoor Stadium, was just three years old. A Depression kid, Rauch sold pigeons in high school. According to this Wall Street Journal column, he applied to Duke because friends were heading south for college.
There’s a lot here so please read the article but here are some bullet points:
- He joined the Army Air Corps to avoid the infantry, and unfortunatley found that he had a terrible propensity for airsickness. Got sent to the infantry anyway and fought in France.
- Got married right after the war in 1946 and stayed married until 2010 when his wife passed away.
- Built the world’s largest Christmas tree ornament business.
- Served in the NC house.
- Served on the UNC board of governors.
- Mentored Baron Davis among others.
It’s not really a basketball story, but the Brotherhood is the Brotherhood, so we thought it was worth passing on. The man lived an interesting and apparently lovely life.