Search this site. One Stop Apply Visit Give. Triple Play. June 4, —You may not suspect that the ensemble of a successful scholar would comprise a salmon-colored cloth jacket paired with a vibrant streak of bright green hair. The worn, pinkish jacket, which Youngen has treated with care since the day it was handed to her in , represents her first career, that of a professional baseball star. Each of the two careers has been good to Lois Youngen — so good, in fact, that the smiling, effervescent octogenarian finds herself in the blessed position of being able to give back, not just with her money, but with her memories, her time, and the proven experiences of a born leader.
Playing sports was always important to Youngen, all the way back to her s childhood in Westfield Center, Ohio. Young Lois opted for the former—for a few weeks, at least—until other neighborhood ballplayers began mocking her teammates for allowing a girl among their ranks. Lois was unceremoniously benched… until, that is, her former colleagues realized they were losing more games without her talents, and ushered her back behind home plate once again.
The next January, Lois received an invitation to join the Daisies for spring training in Virginia. Youngen premiered in the league Over the next three years, she played as catcher and outfielder positions for both the Daisies and South Bend Blue Sox. In , Youngen applied for teaching opportunities in the physical education departments of both the University of Oregon and the University of New Mexico, resolving to move to whichever institution called her first. The early Duck got the athlete, and Youngen road-tripped across the country to the Great Northwest.
Youngen entered the UO at the rank of assistant professor. She taught an incredible twenty-six sports and activities — everything from softball, basketball, and volleyball to archery, badminton, and bowling.
More than once, Youngen says, she was assigned to teach a sport with which she was unfamiliar, but she quickly picked up the rules and methods of the game before the first class. Somehow she found the time to work toward her doctorate, which she completed at Ohio State University in Her legacy on campus continues; Youngen was instrumental in securing funding for the Student Recreation Center.
