Alvin Wistert

Early years

Wistert was born in 1916 in Chicago, Illinois. His parents, Kazimir J. Wistert and Josephine (Shukis) Wistert, immigrated to the United States from Lithuania in 1894 and were married at Chicago in 1907. His father was a policeman in Chicago from at least 1910 to 1927.

Wistert's father was shot while on duty and pursuing a robbery suspect in July 1926. By the spring of 1927, Wistert's father, who had served in the U.S. Army from 1898 to 1901, was disabled due to "chest emphysema with draining sinus" and was admitted to the U.S. National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He died in June 1927 when Alvin was 10 years old.

Wistert's mother, Josephine, used money from her husband's war pension and the Policemen's Benefit Association to keep the family together and to educate her six children.

Wistert attended Carl Schurz High School in Chicago, but dropped out. He did not play football in high school. After leaving high school, Wistert worked in a factory for several years. With the income from his factory job, he helped pay for his younger brother, Albert, to attend the University of Michigan. His mother later recalled, "He told me he'd stay out of school for a few years and work so Albert, the baby boy of the family, could go on to school."

In 1940, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, spending four years overseas during World War II. Wistert later recalled that he was often confused with his brother Al Wistert who played both college and professional football. In 1982, he told an interviewer that an officer approached him in 1944, "shook my hand and said 'I saw you play in Philly and at Michigan.'"

College athletics

After his discharge from the Marine Corps, Wistert worked for Procter & Gamble Soap Company in Massachusetts. He learned that Boston University was offering high school equivalency tests that would allow him to enroll there.

After one semester at Boston University, Wistert transferred to the University of Michigan. Wistert played defensive left tackle for the undefeated 1947 Michigan Wolverines football team that became known as "The Mad Magicians", and is considered to be the greatest Michigan football team of all time. Wistert later recalled the tight competition to play for the 1947 team: "There were players of almost equal ability on the first two teams. You had to play at your peak because there was someone who could always step in. Also, there was a good balance. A good mixture of youth and maturity." In addition to being the largest player, he was also the oldest. Wistert recalled, "When I played football for Michigan in 1947, opponents would say, 'Here comes Pappy and his kids again.' I was a 30-year-old college freshman. I was 13 years older than some of the other players."

As a junior, Wistert was selected as a consensus All-American while playing for the undefeated 1948 Michigan team that finished the season ranked #1 in the Associated Press poll. In October 1948, Michigan helped secure Michigan's 19th consecutive victory with a blocked punt at the 12-yard-line of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Michigan recovered the ball at the one-yard line and scored a touchdown on the next play. The 1948 team also set a Rose Bowl record defeating U.S.C. 49–0.

After the 1948 season, Wistert was unanimously chosen as the team captain of the 1949 team.

When Wistert played his final game for Michigan in November 1949, the Detroit Free Press offered to fly his mother, Josephine, to the game to watch her son play. She had never seen one of her sons' football games in person but listened to the games on the radio. She declined the invitation, noting that she had been ill would listen to the game on the radio while looking at her sons' pictures. Interviewed by Lyall Smith, she expressed her particular pride for Alvin's accomplishments:

The Sporting News published a photograph in December 1949 of Wistert's mother "Cheering Alvin's Final Game" while listening on the radio with a Michigan pennant and photographs of her three sons visible in the background.

Wistert was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1973 as the third Wistert brother so honored. In 1981, he was also inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in the fourth class of inductees alongside his brothers. Only five Michigan football players earned this honor before him.

Later life and family

After graduating from Michigan, Wistert worked in the insurance business. In 1950, he was employed as a general agent for Federal Life & Casualty in Ann Arbor. He later worked as a manufacturer's representative.

Wistert had two daughters and four grandchildren. His only grandson, Jason Alvin Neeser, played basketball at Dartmouth College.

Notes

References

1. (October 13, 2012). "Ford Named Michigan Football Legend; Morgan to Wear No. 48 Jersey".
2. (July 28, 2015). "Michigan officially ditches Legends jersey program, will retire six numbers in November". M Live.
3. (November 28, 2015). "Michigan Football Retired Jerseys". CBS Interactive.
4. Birth certificate for Alvin Lawrence Wistert, born June 26, 1916, at [[Chicago, Illinois]]. Father Name: Kazimir Wistert; Mother Name: Josephine Wistert. Ancestry.com. Cook County, Illinois, Birth Certificates Index, 1871–1922 [database on-line].
5. Marriage record for Kazimir J. Wistert and Josephine Shukis, married February 11, 1907, in Chicago. Ancestry.com. Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index, 1871-1920 [database on-line].
6. At the time of the [[1920 United States census]], Wistert's family lived at 5647 Waveland Avenue in Chicago's 27th Ward and consisted of parents, Kazimir and Josephine, and five children: Josephine (age 11), Isabelle (age 10), Francis (age 7), Evelyn (age 6), and Alvin (age 3-1/2).Census entry for Kazimir Wistert and family. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Year: 1920;Census Place: Chicago Ward 27, Cook (Chicago), Illinois; Roll: T625_340; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 1665; Image: 396.
7. (July 11, 1926). "Wounded". Chicago Daily Tribune.
8. "Sergeant Kazimer Wistert". Officer Down Memorial Page.
9. Disability record for Kasimir Wistert, age 50, occupation police officer, home in Chicago, married to Josephine Wistert of 5647 Waveland Avenue in Chicago. Ancestry.com. U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938 [database on-line].
10. Death record for Kazimer J. Wistert, died in Chicago on June 7, 1927, born about 1877, son of John Wistert, spouse of Josephine Wistert. Ancestry.com. Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947 [database on-line].
11. At the time of the [[1930 United States census]], Wistert's family continued to live at 5647 Waveland Avenue in Chicago. The household at that time consisted of Wistert's mother, Josephine, and five children: Josephine (age 22, employed as a bookkeeper), Francis (age 18, employed as a tube maker for a radio company), Evelyn (age 16, employed as a "saleslady" at a variety store), Alvin (age 13), and Albert (age 8).Census entry for Josephine Wistert and family. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Year: 1930; Census Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois; Roll: 482; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 1524; Image: 202.0.
12. (November 24, 1948). "Wistert Unanimous Choice". The New York Times.
13. Jeffrey Bergida. (November 11, 1982). "Former All-American Went Through 'Hell': Wistert able to follow brothers' tough act". The Michigan Daily.
14. Jim Cnockaert. (2004). "Michigan: Catching Up with Gene Derricotte, Garvie Craw, Jake Sweeney and Other Wolverines of Old". Sports Publishing LLC.
15. Campbell, Jim. (2006-04-15). "Conversation with Al Wistert: An old pro tells it like it was". Pro Football Weekly LLC }}{{dead link.
16. (May 26, 1947). "The Wistert Twist". Prescott Evening Courier.
17. Jones, Todd. (2007). "ESPN Big Ten College Football Encyclopedia". ESPN Enterprises.
18. (October 17, 1947). "Michigan Has Specialists At Every Position". Chicago Daily Tribune.
19. (2005). "What It Means to Be a Wolverine". Triumph Books.
20. "1948 Football Team". Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
21. Walter W. Ruch. (October 24, 1948). "Michigan Conquers Minnesota By 27-14: 65,130 Watch Wolverines Come From Behind Twice to Gain 19th Victory in a Row". The New York Times.
22. "1948 Rose Bowl: Michigan-49 USC-0".
23. "Alvin Wistert". The Regents of the University of Michigan.
24. "1949 Football Team". Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
25. Lyall Smith. (December 7, 1949). "All-America Mother -- Mrs. Wistert: Widow Saw Three Sons Win Grid Laurels at Michigan". The Sporting News.
26. {{College Football HoF
27. (August 3, 1973). "Eight Chosen For Grid Hall". The Tuscaloosa News.
28. "Hall of Honor". M Club.
29. (1950). "Wistert Ann Arbor G.A.". The National Underwriter, Volume 54.
30. "Former Grid All-American Alvin Wistert Passes Away". University of Michigan.
31. Mark Snyder. (October 5, 2005). "Michigan Record-Maker Dies". Detroit Free Press.