RUDOLPH S. "RUDY" BOTTEI, a chemistry professor
who taught generations of students that the environment is precious
and so are human beings, died April 23 at age 73. Professor Bottei
taught environmental chemistry and freshman chemistry classes
through the first part of spring semester before succumbing to
cancer. He joined the faculty in 1955 and was named assistant
chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 1964. He
published numerous research articles, served as a research director
and held several summer faculty research appointments at the Argonne
National Laboratory. But he was known foremost as a teacher and
won several awards for his expertise. At this year's commencement
it was announced that he would receive Frank O'Malley Undergraduate
Teaching Award posthumously. Bottei enlivened lectures with demonstrations
of chemistry principals and interspersed his talks with wit and
such practical advice as "don't procrastinate" and "use it or
lose it." He worked hard to keep labs and teaching facilities
in top shape and was looking forward to teaching in the planned
Science Learning Center, which colleagues thought of as "his baby."
He made students work hard but was also fair. Many considered
their cheerful, likeable professor a friend. He was known for
reminding others of the Gospel imperative to help the least of
one's brothers and sometimes took up collections for the less
fortunate. Among his many extra activities, he served as a faculty
member in the Balfour-Hesburgh Summer Program for Minority Students.
GEORGE L. KELLY '53 didn't
spend his whole life at Notre Dame or even his whole coaching
career, but he became a fixture in the athletic department in
the manner of the ultimate lifer, Moose Krause. The beloved and
widely respected former football coach died in March at age 75.
Like Krause, Kelly was laid to rest in Cedar Grove Cemetery within
sight of the campus he loved. Kelly worked in the athletic department
for 34 years, half of them as an assistant under head football
coaches Ara Parseghian, Dan Devine and Gerry Faust. In 1986 he
began serving in administrative capacities. He came to Notre Dame
as a football prospect from Rockford, Illinois, but injuries shortened
his career and he turned to coaching immediately after graduation.
His first job was as an assistant at South Bend's Saint Joseph's
High School. Three years later a former Notre Dame assistant coach
invited him to join the staff he was assembling at Marquette.
When Marquette gave up football in 1960, Kelly landed at Nebraska,
later serving as an assistant to legendary Cornhuskers coach Bob
Devaney. After the 1968 season Parseghian invited Kelly home to
his alma mater to fill an opening for a linebackers coach. He
never left. During Kelly's tenure the Irish defense ranked among
the nation's top 10 six times, including 1974, when the team ranked
first. His star players included team captains Bob Olson (1969),
Greg Collins (1974), Bob Golic (1978) and Bob Crable (1980-81).
He kept in close contact with many former players and even their
parents, often entertaining them at his home when they were in
town. For hundreds of football alumni from different eras, his
was the familiar face they sought out in the athletic department,
the thread of continuity. His many honors included, in 1997, the
Moose Krause Award, given by the Notre Dame National Monogram
Club to its member of the year. "We have lost a great one," Parseghian
told a reporter.
JOHN JAMES FITZGERALD, who taught philosophy
at Notre Dame over parts of six decades and in retirement overcame
personal tragedy to become a fondly remembered director of the
University's study-abroad program in France, passed away in February
at age 90. FitzGerald was hired by ND President (later Cardinal)
John O'Hara, CSC, in 1937, when O'Hara was on a tour of European
centers of learning and FitzGerald, 25, was finishing up his doctorate
at the University of Louvain in Belgium. During World War II he
left campus to train at Harvard en route to serving as an officer
with the Navy at Pearl Harbor and in North Africa and southern
France. He served as director of the philosophy graduate program
from 1965-71 and later as assistant vice president for advanced
studies and instruction before retiring in 1977. The proper New
Englander married a classic Southern belle, the former Patricia
LaSalle of Baton Rouge, a librarian at Notre Dame, and they had
one child, a daughter, Aline Marie. Tragedy befell the couple
in 1975, when their daughter was killed in a bicycle accident
after returning home from studying abroad in Innsbruck. Colleagues
hoodwinked the grief-stricken retired professor into adding his
name to a roster of candidates to take on the two-year directorship
of the study-abroad program in Angers, France. The FitzGeralds
ended up hosting the program from 1978-80. Many student in those
groups stayed in contact with the couple over the years (Patricia
died in 2000), and two years ago they established a scholarship
fund in the FitzGeralds' names. After returning to South Bend,
the emeritus professor taught an Arts and Letters Core course
for several more years. Friends remember FitzGerald as a master
of feigned knowledge. Often people were unable to tell if what
he was saying was true or if, as was often the case, he was making
it up. A precise and proper gentleman, he also perpetually dressed
in a coat and tie, even while gardening (he'd wear an old set)
or when he was living in a nursing home in his final years.
