Elbert Chance, longtime public address announcer at University of Delaware football games for 50 years (1953-2002), passed away last week. Mr. Chance also served as the Delaware Alumni Director and was the school's first Sports Information Director in 1952-54. Affectionately known as "the voice of the Blue Hens," Chance was also a talented writer who published several books and articles including the popular
One Hundred Years of Delaware Football.
"He was definitely an icon," said Scott Selheimer, UD's current Sports Information Director. "He was synonymous with Delaware football and Delaware stadium."
Information courtesy of
Delaware Athletics.
•
Full story from University of Delaware
•
Memorial Information
•
NewarkPostOnline.com: Elbert Chance, legendary voice of Delaware Stadium, dies at 90
NEWARK, Delaware: University of Delaware alumnus, long-time director of alumni relations and the voice of the Fightin’ Blue Hens for 49 years, died Sept. 8 at Millcroft Senior Living in Newark, Delaware. He was 90.
Former Delaware Athletic Director Edgar Johnson called Mr. Chance "a 'one of a kind' loyal Blue Hen," saying that "he loved UD, devoted his life to working for it and helped preserve the history and tradition of Delaware football. His 100 years of Delaware Football is a colllector's item filled with wonderful anecdotes and facts on football's storied past, players and coaches.
From 1952-54, he served as assistant to the director of public relations and as the sports information director.
While he was serving as sports information director, then University President John Perkins approached him about announcing Blue Hen football games. Mr. Chance became the exclusive voice of the Fightin’ Blue Hens, serving in that role for 49 years until he stepped down in 2002. Throughout that time, he missed just five games. He also announced the University of Delaware Marching Band shows and was made an honorary member of the band in the 1970s.
Mr. Chance served as director of public relations from 1954-56 and headed the combined offices of Public and Alumni Relations from 1956-59. In 1959, he was named director of the Office of Alumni Relations, a position he held until he retired in 1985.
In 1984, Mr. Chance received the Outstanding Alumni Award, and he was named to UD’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001 and to the Alumni Wall of Fame in 2003.
A talented writer and researcher, he wrote countless articles and stories on the history of Delaware athletics, as well as three popular book on UD football: A Brief History of Football at the University of Delaware, 1889-1963; coauthored with John Garvick; Blue Hen Chronicles, published in 1983; and One Hundred Years of Delaware Football, published in 1989 by the University of Delaware Press.
The Elbert Chance Papers, housed in Special Collections at the University of Delaware Library, include copies of “Newark As It Was,” a weekly column he wrote for the Wilmington News Journalfrom 1987-1992, as well as speech he wrote on the 50th anniversary of Newark High School’s Class of1943.
From 1997-2007, Mr. Chance edited the newsletter of the University of Delaware Association of Retired Faculty.
Photos courtesy UD.