Indiana University Athletics
A Tribute to a Coach's Daughter
12/30/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
Jenny Suhr (11/2/79-12/29/99)
It was a hotel not unlike any other in central Pennsylvania.
Yet, on one Saturday night this past September, the Ramada Inn
on South Atherton had a different look than any other nondescript
lodge in State College.
Just hours earlier the Indiana football team fought valiantly
but had eventually fallen to a more talented Penn State Nittany
Lions team. Following the game, upon arrival at the small State
College airport, pilots and mechanics were scrambling. Indiana's
charter was experiencing mechanical difficulties and the Mr.
Fix-its were scratching their respective heads. Just off the
tarmac in a grassy field, Buck Suhr­­who serves as the
color commentator on the IU radio network and as Cam Cameron's
indispensible administrative assistant­­ was talking
on a cellular phone. He was placed in charge of organizing travel
for nearly 175 members of the IU traveling party and he didn't
like what he was seeing. The Miami Air charter was going nowhere
and he knew another night in State College was becoming inevitable.
Suhr had few options. Large jet airliners are an uncommon site at small municipal airports and this Pennsylvania jetway was no different. He called charter services to no avail and it was becoming apparent to him the he would need to find a hotel that could accommodate several hundred people on a football weekend in a major college town. He had a better chance of winning the lottery.
Jenny Suhr knew something wasn't right. The 20-year-old Indiana
University junior and former Bloomington North graduate was really
sick. The headaches and double vision were an indication that
she needed to see a doctor. We're talking about a high school
valedictorian, a young woman with model looks and above average
athleticism. These symptoms were not normal. This was scary.
This was November. This was November of 1999.
Doctors told her it was brain cancer. Some physicians were optimistic. Others were not. Jenny Suhr, the young woman every respectable young man wanted to date, every mother wanted as a daughter, and everyone wanted as their friend was dying. You just wouldn't know it because she wasn't telling and she didn't want your sympathy. She spat on your sympathy.
People were complaining. There were no rooms at the Ramada Inn. Some slept on chairs and others in the hallway. Many didn't sleep at all. The hotel lobby was a sea of bodies dressed in red IU apparel. "How are we supposed to eat?" they asked. "You mean to tell me we're spending the night...here." Buck had to listen to the complaints, the moaning, and the griping. Jenny, who had made the trip to Penn State with him, was right there by his side and he was happy to be spending time with her. Because of the demands of the job, coaches don't spend as much time with their families as they wish and you could tell he cherished this moment just as he did her frequent visits to Memorial Stadium between classes. She wasn't complaining about her spot on the cold tiled floor. It wasn't her style.
"And I wonder where you are and if the pain ends when you die"
It's Thanksgiving day and Jenny's thankful for...brain surgery. She spent the traditional family weekend with her dad, her mom Jane, her brother Errek, friends, and family at Bloomington Hospital. She had brain surgery so doctors could take out as much cancer as they could safely remove. Jenny was beaming. Let's start this road to recovery. Let's beat this thing she said. No one ever doubted her.
"And I wonder if there was some better way to say goodbye"
Jenny was the entertainer, the pacifier, and the comforter that long night at Penn State. She was one of those rare people who made everyone feel better just because she was in the room. She made her sorority sisters at Kappa Kappa Gamma better people because they knew her. They respect her. They love her. She was very involved in the community and on campus. Even after surgery she continued to coach a junior high girl's basketball team. Wally, a facility worker at Memorial Stadium said, "My daughter goes to Bloomington North and didn't know her other than in passing but she told me that she always treated everyone the same­­very, very, nicely." That is the legacy of Jenny Suhr.
The very sick, extremely busy, young woman even found time to build a strong relationship with Gibran Hamdan, a backup IU quarterback. But, it was never so exclusive that she would turn down another friend who wanted to spend some time with her even though they both knew her time may be running out.
She didn't make time for herself to feel the pain.
"Today my heart is big and sore. It's trying to push right through my skin"
Several days before Christmas, Jenny went to see Errek, a freshman at Bloomington North, score nine points for the Cougars' varsity basketball team. He was playing with a broken left wrist. She was the proud sister. If you saw her you never would have known she was sick. One day next month, Errek will return to the gym. He'll sit on the bleachers and lace his sneakers. He'll shoot his free throws alone in the gym and he'll be thinking of his sister. His life is forever changed. One's initial reaction is to think it has been altered for the worse. Then one realizes that his exemplary character has been shaped by Jenny and his parents and this will sustain him.
"You can't make somebody else see with the simple words you say all their beauty from within"
When most people on the Penn State trip were complaining, Jenny saw her circumstances as an opportunity to meet more people, have more fun, and to just live her life. She treated cancer the same way. Jenny, to those of us you touched, we say thank you.
Jenny Suhr died on December 29. Six weeks earlier she didn't even know she was sick. She didn't sustain her life to suffer. Like a coach's daughter, she played hard to the final whistle.
Lyrical quotes written by Patti Griffin as sung by Martina McBride
In lieu of flowers, a Jenny Suhr Football Scholarship account is being established. Those wishing to contribute may send a check to:
IU Foundation
P.O. Box 500
Bloomington, IN 47402
Make checks payable to IU Foundation and indicate on check that it's for the Jenny Suhr Football Scholarship account.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Todd Starowitz, Football Media Relations Director
