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Obituary

He lived all of his dreams

A convertible. A big dog. A beautiful wife. And he even fired Bobby Knight.

By MARTY CLEAR
Published September 15, 2006

TAMPA - When Gus Dielens was a young man, he set a few goals for himself. He wanted to attend West Point, marry a beautiful woman, live in a big house, have a big dog and own a convertible.

Over the years, he managed to meet all those goals and surpass them. He died Sept. 2 of colon cancer at age 80.

Mr. Dielens didn't just attend West Point. He was a defensive standout on the football team in the 1940s and later served as athletic director there. His legacy at West Point included firing basketball coach Bobby Knight.

His first wife was Shirley Anne Green, a former Miss Florida with whom he had three children. Years after she died, he married Ann, who modestly sloughs off the suggestion that he actually married two beautiful women.

He owned a succession of big houses and, even after his military career ended, never kicked the habit of moving every few years, Ann Dielens said. He had two beloved German shepherds, Kellie and Chief, and several convertibles.

"In fact, his very last car ride before he died was in a convertible," Ann Dielens said.

Mr. Dielens was born in Bridgeton, Pa. He attended the University of Miami, where he lettered in football, and later West Point.

He made the Army his career, serving in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. In the 1960s he was stationed at the Pentagon, where he often wrote speeches for generals who were addressing members of Congress.

He was also stationed for a time at MacDill Air Force Base. It was during that stint in Tampa that he met his first wife.

His last assignment in the military was as athletic director at West Point, where Knight worked for him.

They got along fairly well, but Knight's penchant for using foul language on the court forced Mr. Dielens to fire him.

Mr. Dielens had attained the rank of colonel by the time he retired in 1971 and came to the University of Tampa, where he served as athletic director until the school eliminated football a couple of years later. He lived in Beach Park and most recently in Lutz.

His first wife had died, and he and his children were living in an apartment complex in 1974 when he met his second wife. He was manager of the complex, and his wife-to-be was a new resident. He had seen her and looked up her lease to find out her name.

"My real name is Sandra but everyone calls me Ann," she said. "He walked up to me and said, 'My name is Gus.' I said, 'My friends call me Ann,' and he said, 'Your name is Sandra.' That was his way of telling me that we're going to be more than just friends. So it was love at first sight."

Both had children from previous marriages, so they dated for six years and married in 1980, after the children were grown.

His wife worked as the state secretary and treasurer for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, where Mr. Dielens volunteered after retiring. They worked side by side for 16 years.

"His health was not good," his wife said. "He was wounded in action and he broke his neck playing football, and he had degenerative arthritis. He should have been in a wheelchair, but he refused."

Earlier this year, he developed cancer. He spent several months in a California nursing home, near where his son lives, but returned to his wife in Lutz just days before he died.

Besides his wife, Mr. Dielens is survived by his daughters Deborah Ann Mackey and Shirley Vandiver Dielens, son August J. Dielens III and several grandchildren.

[Last modified September 14, 2006, 10:24:21]