Martin Drury was always grateful to the University of Wyoming.
He utilized the baseball scholarship he received back in the 1950's to create a life dedicated to education, helping kids and adventure.
He never forgot that scholarship. It opened doors for everything he wanted to accomplish in life.
UW meant so much to him that he, his wife, Nancy, and their five children decided to give back by providing a significant gift to help fund student-athlete scholarships here. What a legacy to leave for your family.
Marty had a passion for the outdoors, his family, athletics and his University.
He received a scholarship for baseball from Cowboy Coach Bud Daniel. Baseball was the sport he loved. Recruited out of Appleton, WI, he was a member of that remarkable 1956 Wyoming team which earned its way to the College World Series.
That '56 team was special. Many of its members had already been a part of three consecutive Skyline Conference titles, and competed in the 1954 and 1955 NCAA Regional finals. They reached another level in 1956. At that time, the College World Series was much more exclusive with only eight teams qualifying. The Cowboys went to Omaha with a roster of 16 guys, nine less than the other seven teams in the field. They lost to the eventual champion, Minnesota, 4-2, and were eventually eliminated by New York University, but it was remarkable that group even made it to the Series. The team was inducted into the University of Wyoming Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006, on the 50th anniversary of its trip to the World Series.
For that induction, the Drury family loaded up two vans, and drove from Wisconsin to attend the special evening. "We had so much fun," says his daughter Pamela. "Dad had so much fun getting together with those teammates and talking old times. He loved that experience, and so did we."
"Mort", as he was nicknamed, was a touted Cowboy newcomer in '56, as a left-handed pitcher. He became an integral part of that team.
He graduated from the College of Education in 1958.
Following his collegiate days, he spent eight and a half years in military service with the Air Force, and eventually served as a Liaison Officer for the Air Force Academy. In that role he would identify high school-aged kids and help them decided if they were a fit the Academy. He earned his master's degree in Guidance Counseling from St. Mary's University, and was a long-time high school guidance counselor in the area where he was raised.
He and his wife Nancy raised five children, a son and four daughters. They were married for 62 years!
I would have loved to live life like he did. According to his obituary he lived it "deliberately and passionately".
I'll say.
For instance, at age 75, he wanted to know if he could still throw a baseball across the plate. So, he enrolled in the Milwaukee Brewers Fantasy Baseball Camp. And, yes he could still throw strikes. I'm just guessing, but I'll bet he was the senior member of the camp!
He loved the outdoors, and especially loved to ski. He had it in his mind that he wanted to help folks enjoy winter. Cross country skiing was a passion and he felt it was a great way for families to bond and stay fit at the same time. He began a business selling and renting skies. It was tailored to families.
"We began selling out of our dining room," says Nancy. "He became a certified ski instructor so he gave lessons too. We branched out from cross country to downhill. The business grew so we had to remodel our basement. From there we not only sold skies but ski clothing."
Eventually the business outgrew the basement so the Drury family ended up moving it into a rented building. It became so successful that Marty had to retire from education in 1980, to concentrate full time on the business called Ecology Sports. At one point the family operated three locations, Manitowoc, Kohler and Sister Bay, WI. The business remains in the family today.
In Marty's way of thinking none of what he accomplished would have happened without his scholarship to Wyoming. He never forgot his university. To help Cowboys and Cowgirls and to memorialize her husband, Nancy and the family created the 'Mort Drury Scholarship'. According to Nancy and Pamela, the scholarship was totally what he was all about.
"He and my mom had been talking about the scholarship as a way of giving back to UW for five or six years," Pamela recalls. "He really believed he owed everything to that baseball scholarship. There's no doubt he wouldn't have had the effect he did on so many had that not happened. He was the first of his family to go to college."
As a certified cross country ski instructor, Marty was a steward at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, another of his adventures. According to his daughter, there were many downhill ski trips throughout the U.S. and Europe, backpack trips through Wyoming and wilderness canoe adventures. That's how he lived his life.
"He was an active guy and he wanted to make sure his family was too," says Pamela. "He had us all biking, hiking, paddle boarding, wind surfing, swimming, playing tennis. He wanted all of us to be active which we appreciated. There was a lot more doing than watching in the Drury family."
Mort suffered from Parkinson's disease during the latter part of his life. "During that time doctors changed his medication which was effective for a time, and he even started riding his bicycle," Pamela says fondly. "Mom kept him as active as possible, but it got harder and harder. He spent his last three weeks at home."
He passed away in the peace of his Two Rivers, (WI) home.
What a legacy he left for his family, but also the University of Wyoming. Like that 1956 baseball team, through his endowed scholarship, his name will live in perpetuity.
I'm sorry I didn't get to know him. He was a Cowboy through and through, and student-athletes here will benefit from his generosity and his Wyoming experience just like he did so many years ago.
