LeRoy Maas ’40 recently created the LeRoy E. Maas Endowed Scholarship at Bemidji State University to ease the burden of student athletes, who have demonstrated financial need, as they adjust to college life. Each year, a scholarship will be awarded to least one male and one female first-year student athlete at Bemidji State. Preference will be given to student athletes who are pursuing athletic-related career.

When Maas attempted to begin his academic career at St. Cloud State he would have fit all of the qualifications required for the scholarship he created – and that’s exactly what motivated him to create it.

Unfortunately, Maas’ career at St. Cloud State ended prematurely when his hockey scholarship fell through and he had to drop out of school due to lack of funds. He continued working and saved his money hoping to return to college.

Maas followed a neighborhood friend to Bemidji State College.  His friend, Herb Keller, was captain of the college’s football team. While Maas was a student, he lived upstairs of the Brownbilt Shoe Store. In trade for his room, he had to add wood to the fire all night to keep the stove going. He ate simple sandwiches and got a job washing dishes in trade for his evening meal.

In addition to studying, Maas played football and got a job cleaning the locker rooms. During his senior year, he was named team captain. Unfortunately, his football career and his cleaning job ended abruptly when he suffered a broken leg as the result of an illegal clip.  However, College President Charles Sattgast found out Maas could type and Maas became Bemidji State’s first School Athletic Sports Reporter. He wrote stories for local publication and submitted them to athletes’ hometown papers as well.

Maas was named Bemidji State College’s first Homecoming King and was named to the National Honor Roll. Also while in Bemidji, he met his wife, Lillian, at the local ice skating rink. They married the day after he graduated from Bemidji State and celebrated 70 years together before Lillian passed away in 2011. They have four grown children: Joann, Kathleen, Ronald and Susan; four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

An education major, Maas worked for two years at his first job at Onamia High School where he taught a variety of subjects and coached six-man football. He built his coaching experience during one-year in Tracey, Minn. where he coached football, track and basketball. When he moved on to Albert Lea High School, he was hired as the football, track and wrestling coach. He had never wrestled in his life, but he attended clinics and built a program from nothing.

Maas taught and coached for 40 years – serving in the Navy during his years at Albert Lea. He earned an M.A. from the University of Minnesota. After retiring from teaching, he served as the Albert Lea City Recreation Director for 17 years. He was inducted into the BSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Albert Lea Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010.

Maas earned many other honors and positively impacted countless student athletes during his career. He is grateful for the assistance he received along the way.

“I want to do what I can to make sure no students get squeezed out of their opportunity for an education,” he says.

Bemidji State University welcomes contributions to the LeRoy E. Maas Scholaship online at http://www.bsualumni.org/foundation/make_a_gift/ or mailed to Bemidji State University Foundation, 1500 Birchmont Dr. #17, Bemidji, MN. 56601. For more information contact the BSU Foundation at 218-755-2762 or 888-234-5718 (toll free).