By John Lentz

Dr. James L. Wittenauer passed away on August 23rd in Fort Myers, FL at the age of 84. He was the director of Indiana State University’s Office of Recreational Sports for an incredible 40 years and an emeriti faculty member of the Department of Physical Education. He was a Life Member of NIRSA, who joined the association in 1961. Those are the hard facts. I would like to offer another look at this very good man.

I first met Jim as a graduate assistant at IUPUI. Jim was very accustomed to combining his sabbatical leaves with tours of higher education recreational sports programs and facilities throughout the country, and that was what brought us together at the invitation of IUPUI’s Dr. Jeff Vessely. It was only a short four years later that Jim called me and told me he had an assistant director’s position open and that I should apply. That began a 34-year relationship with a man I would eventually call my “second Dad.”

Jim impressed upon me the value of participation in IRSA and NIRSA. If you were to look at those old group pictures of NIRSA attendees in the very early years of the 1960’s, when NIRSA conferences were held on college campuses, you would see Jim’s face among the other more celebrated attendees. He rarely missed a conference over his long career and he was often times accompanied by his wonderful wife, Diane, who often helped coordinate the NIRSA spouse/guest program. Jim was not one for the spotlight and he spent most of his career learning how he could grow his Indiana State program.

It is interesting to note that Jim grew the program at Indiana State as an undergrad student working for the Sycamore athletics department. He did such a great job of it that the school decided to hire him as the director of Recreational Sports and physical education professor. He eventually became the first full-time director and never left ISU.

Dr. Witt functioned through his career as a statistics and records guru. Until I had to make room for more office and filing space, during my tenure as director, I could go to files and pull up the entire 1966 intramural year that included residence hall, Greek, IM Sports Club, and All-Campus point calculations and awards lists for each sport. I was amazed at how many times I would get a visitor during Homecoming week who wanted to see a “sport file” from some decades prior to show a son or daughter that they were on the All-Campus championship volleyball team. Although trigonometry and analytic geometry would have helped me to understand how everything was calculated it taught me organization on a different level.

Through his over 40 years of service to the university, he oversaw the program’s growth from an intramural-centered offering to include an enhanced informal recreation and fitness program. Upon his retirement in 2000 he had grown the staff to include an associate director, assistant director, and multiple graduate assistants and developed the program into a recognized and influential member of the campus recreation field. His long-held dream was to see the development of a stand-alone student recreation center. Although the plans for a new facility unfolded in 2005, after his retirement, he continued to be a significant supporter and influential voice behind the scenes when the Student Recreation Center (SRC) finally opened in July of 2009. His support garnered him recognition as the SRC’s administrative suite was named in his honor.

Jim was also a long-time advisor and member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and was twice recognized as advisor of the year. He was a great father to two sons and a daughter. He was a lifelong Cubs fan and held partial season tickets for a number of years driving the three-plus hours up the road to the Friendly Confines and he felt completed when the Cubbies did the unthinkable in 2016 World Series. He and Diane spent many hours volunteering in their retirement home of Fort Myers in a number of roles. Jim even worked as an usher for Florida Gulf Coast basketball games.

I will always remember a quiet but wise man who helped me “grow up.” I honestly can’t remember him ever showing a temper other than a side-ways glance. Many of you who were regulars in NIRSA during the ’70s-’90s would recall seeing a tall distinguished-looking gentleman and wonder who he was. It was likely Jim.

A good life lived.

The family will be having a service for Jim on November 23, in Fort Myers, Florida. You may sign the guestbook or share memories here: https://obituaries.tribstar.com/obituary/dr-james-l-wittenauer-1083146921