- Date Of Birth: December 6, 1925
- Date Of Death: September 28, 2018
- State: Idaho
Don Fodrea passed away September 28 at a Boise care facility. He was 92 years old. Don was born in Lewiston, Idaho to Ormond C. Fodrea and May Williard Fodrea on December 6, 1925. He lost his father days before his third birthday. His mother and older brother and sister were quite involved in raising him. He loved the freedom of his youth running all around Lewiston and the Snake River with his friends.
When Don was fourteen, he moved to Boise with his mother for her new job. He was not terribly happy to move south, but soon found friends through sports and settled down. He graduated from Boise High in 1943 and followed many of his classmates by enlisting in the military. His enlistment was delayed when he reported for duty on crutches with a broken ankle from a pick-up football game. He later joined the Army Air Corps in December of 1943 and was eventually stationed in Moody Field, Georgia. True to form, he found the local air corps baseball team and asked the officer in charge if anyone could play. After a few practices, he was on the team and assigned to Moody as an athletic instructor. His training for combat was over. The Moody Field Raiders travelled to many army bases and Don played with and against teams that included many top college and professional players. Don’s “war stories” were not those of combat heroics, “I played baseball for the army!” He also played basketball for the army. His final basketball team started two All-Americans and three all Big 10 players; he said he sat on the bench a lot, but got to play with some of the best in practice.
After the war, Don declined a professional baseball contract with the Philadelphia Athletics and a college scholarship with Duke University. He said he was tired of the south and wanted to return to Boise. There he met his future wife, Marie Campbell. She was a resident at the Kopper Kettle, a girl’s boarding house run by Don’s mother. Don courted Marie as he played baseball and basketball and attended classes at Boise Junior College and the University of Idaho. He asked her to marry several times and she said no. He kept at it and they married on June 5, 1948. This union produced three children, sons Donald James Fodrea, Jr., Robert W. Fodrea and daughter Jo McCosh.
Don and Marie lived in temporary trailers while attending the University of Idaho. The trailer homes were brought in from Vancouver shipyards for the returning GIs. At nearly six foot four Don could not stand up straight in the trailer except in the center air vent; furthermore, the showers were nearly a block away. Their marriage survived this test of their commitments and they later moved to Wilder, Idaho, where Don started his teaching and coaching career.
At Wilder Don taught PE and coached the baseball, basketball, and football teams. In 1954, he began teaching and coaching for the Boise School District at East Jr. High. He soon moved to Boise High where he taught PE, math and coached the varsity basketball team. In 1968, he transferred to North Jr.
