Former Northwestern Football Captain Dies at 103

EVANSTON, IL - Donald E. Heap, a longtime Evanston resident who was the captain of the Northwestern University football team in the early 1940’s, died last month. He was 103.

Heap was an alum of both Northwestern and Evanston Township High School, growing up “in the shadows” of Dyche Stadium, according to an obituary from Donnellan Family Funeral Services.

He was a World War II veteran serving in the Navy, then came back to Northwestern to coach baseball and football and was on the staff of the Wildcats team that won the Rose Bowl in 1949. He retired from the Evanston Parks and Recreation Department before relocating with his wife, Helen to Fox Lake then Lisle.