HEY, COACH!!

TRIBUTES TO GEORGE "DUKE" BENZ
SEPTEMBER 6 1917 -- JUNE 23 2007

Duke has encouraged and directed my path through life. He is the main reason that I have succeeded and enjoyed a wonderful life. I haven't had many days in my adult life without some thankful thoughts for all of the things that Duke has done for me and so many of my friends.The Lord sent me a guardian angel when He sent Duke to Saranac Lake in 1956.

I will always believe that Duke Benz should have stayed with us in 1959 and that a few of the " Harper Valley Leaders " at that time should have left with shame.

Duke had a poem, framed and hanging in his office that even made sense to me 51 years ago and may have had a special influence on the many roads that he traveled in life:

I give no thought to my neighbors birth

or the way he makes his prayer.

I grant him a free place on this earth

if only his game is square.

Annon.

Thanks one more time,Duke, for the solo drive from Minot to Greeley to my college graduation What a surprise! Especially when you snuck up on me and punched me out of my chair!

Steve Morgan


When I said goodby to Duke in 1959, little did I realize he would still be influencing my life many years later. We connected again in 1963 in Boulder, Colo and stayed connected until the last months of his life. Over the years he gave me much advice and wisdom, sometimes during my hardest struggles. In one of my down moments while I was talking to him I told him that I had a problem and that something inside me said it didn't feel right. He said Jimmy if it doesn't feel right then God is talking to you and telling me it wasn't right. I never forgot that and passed that on to my kids. I paid tribute to Duke in my book (*note: "A SMALL ITALIAN LIFE") by saying, "I wish he would have been my college running coach". He called me from Florida and thanked me for the comment. Thank you, Duke. I'll miss all those talks.

Jimmy "Paisan" Corso


Duke taught me how to play football and how to be a good man and leader of men while he was the coach at Saranac Lake High School in the late fifties.

He taught me self confidence, how to lead, how to set goals and accomplish beyond my believed abilities. These skills, along with getting below the center of gravity of the person being blocked have helped me succeed in the Navy, in business, and most important at being a good father and husband.

I am so grateful for knowing Duke and regret that the past forty seven years I have only seen him once and that was at the class of 1960's reunion in 1985. I was delighted at that time that my wife and children got to meet the "Duke" of whom I had spoken of to them with such fondness and admiration. In the short time that he spoke with them they could see why I was so deeply impressed.

Other than family, no one has had the effect on my life which Duke has had. He was a great man and the best motivator I have ever met and I have met many people since he coached me.

Allen Williams


In the 1950s and 60s, our family went up to Saranac from Utica several times a year. That is because my mother, Helene Hollaran (maiden name Stearns) was a Saranac native, and still had relatives in the area. We stayed at her mother's home at 24 Front St. One summer day, probably around 1959 or 60, my father and I went over to the area around the high school, so he could hit me some fly balls, and I could pretend to be Willie Mays. A man saw us, and came over, and asked if my father if I wanted to play on a team while we were in town. My dad said sure and I then spent what seemed like 2 months (but was probably 5 or 6 days) playing ball.That man was Duke Benz-somehow he got me onto a team that played at a field near the high school, took the time to give me and the other kids there batting and fielding tips, and even though I was left handed, he let me put on the catcher's gear and catch a game (I used a first baseman's mitt). I remember that like it was yesterday. I only remembered his name as "Duke" (as in "Duke" Snider) and at age 10 or 11, thought that was such a cool name. I have never forgotten the kindness he showed me and my father, total strangers, that summer.

I just happened to find your website today, because I was looking for information on Christy Mathewson's time while he was in Saranac, and your link came up. Then I saw the story on Duke's passing. Sorry to hear about that, but it sure seems like he lived a great life, and left behind more than a few friends. I will always remember how nice he was to a little kid from Utica almost 50 years ago.

-Kevin Hollaran