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Jerry McKenna is an American sculptor, notable for his bronze sculptures of military leaders, religious figures and sports stars. [1]
McKenna was born on December 28, 1937, in Connellsville, PA. He has lived in Texas for over forty years. [2] He attended Boys Catholic High School in Augusta, Georgia, Bradley Central High School in Cleveland, Tennessee and St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio.[ citation needed ] He began his formal study of art at the age of fourteen at the Gertrude Herbert School of Art in Augusta, Georgia. Later, he continued his studies at the American Academy of Art in Chicago and at the San Antonio Art Institute. He received Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame, where he was influenced by the sculptor-in-residence, Ivan Meštrović. [3] He also received a Master of Arts from Webster University in 1981.[ citation needed ]
McKenna is a former U.S. Air Force officer and decorated[ citation needed ] Vietnam War veteran. His early recognition as a sculptor came from his bronze portraits of Air Force generals, including Generals Henry "Hap" Arnold," Jimmy Doolittle, Doyle E. Larson, Billy Mitchell, Ira C. Eaker, and John Dale Ryan [4] In 1994, McKenna was commissioned to create The Lincoln-Douglas Debate that stands in Lincoln-Douglas Square in Alton, Ill, where the last of the debates took place in 1857. [5]
McKenna's sports sculptures include seventeen portrait busts in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Knute Rockne at the College Football Hall of Fame and his birthplace in Voss, Norway, [6] [7] sculptures of Charles A. Comiskey at U. S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Dan Devine, George Gipp, Frank Leahy, Lou Holtz, [8] Ara Parseghian and Moose Krause at Notre Dame Stadium, [9] Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch for the University of Wisconsin, The French Connection (ice hockey) (Rick Martin, Gilbert Perrault, and René Robert) at First Niagara Center in Buffalo, NY; Basketball coach Bill Sudeck at Western Reserve University; hurling star Ollie Walsh in County Kilkenny, Ireland, two sculptures of Tim Horton—one in Buffalo and the other in Hamilton, Ontario, [10] and his sculpture of the late Ralph Wilson, founder and owner of the Buffalo Bills, unveiled in September 2015. [11] McKenna also created the life size sculpture of Olympic Gold medalist in weightlifting, Paul Anderson. The sculpture stands in the Paul Anderson Memorial Park in Toccoa, Georgia.
McKenna received the University of Notre Dame's 1962 Emil Jacques Medal of Fine Arts and the 2001 Rev. Anthony J. Lauck Award.[ citation needed ] Also, in 2001, McKenna was awarded an Honorary ND Monogram by the Notre Dame National Monogram Club. [12] He was named the 2003 Sports Sculptor of the Year by the All-American Football Foundation.[ citation needed ] In 2013, Irish America Magazine added him to their list of the Top 100 Irish Americans.[ citation needed ] In 2014, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) named his sculpture of The Four Horsemen as the number one in their list of the Top Five Statues in College Football.[ citation needed ]
McKenna lives in the small Texas Hill Country community of Boerne, Texas and works in a studio that was originally built as a cattle barn. He has both U.S. and Irish citizenship and spends part of each year in Ireland. [13] In 2016, was named Chieftain of the worldwide Clann MacKenna, at a ceremony in County Monaghan, Ireland. In June 2016, he was inducted into the Lou Holtz/Upper Ohio Valley Hall of Fame. [14]
McKenna was married to Stephanie Lyn Hawkins from 1961 to 1971, and Gail Ann Thomas from 1972–present. He has one daughter, four sons and eleven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. [15]
Knute Kenneth Rockne was a Norwegian-American player and coach of American football at the University of Notre Dame. Leading Notre Dame for 13 seasons, Rockne would accumulate over 100 wins and three national championships.
George Gipp, nicknamed "The Gipper", was a college football player at the University of Notre Dame under head coach Knute Rockne. Gipp was selected as Notre Dame's first Walter Camp All-American, and played several positions, particularly halfback, quarterback, and punter.
Ara Raoul Parseghian was an American football player and coach who guided the University of Notre Dame to national championships in 1966 and 1973. He is noted for bringing Notre Dame's Fighting Irish football program back from years of futility into national prominence in 1964 and is widely regarded alongside Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy as a part of the "Holy Trinity" of Notre Dame head coaches.
Louis Leo Holtz is an American former football player, coach, and analyst. He served as the head football coach at The College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the New York Jets (1976), the University of Arkansas (1977–1983), the University of Minnesota (1984–1985), the University of Notre Dame (1986–1996), and the University of South Carolina (1999–2004), compiling a career record of 249–132–7. Holtz's 1988 Notre Dame team went 12–0 with a victory in the Fiesta Bowl and was the consensus national champion. Holtz is the only college football coach to lead six different programs to bowl games and the only coach to guide four different programs to the final top 20 rankings.
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Notre Dame Stadium is an outdoor football stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana, the home field of the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team.
Louis Leo "Skip" Holtz Jr. is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League (USFL). Previously, he was the head coach for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (2013-2021), South Florida Bulls (2010–2012), East Carolina Pirates (2005–2009), and Connecticut Huskies (1994–1998). He has also served as an assistant coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks (1999–2004), Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1990–1993), Colorado State Rams (1989) and Florida State Seminoles (1987-1988).
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Thomas John Lieb was an American Olympic track and field athlete, an All-American college football player and a multi-sport collegiate coach. Lieb was a Minnesota native and an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame, where he played college football. He was best known as the head coach of the Loyola Marymount University and University of Florida football teams.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were led by Bob Davie and represented the University of Notre Dame in NCAA Division I college football from 1997 to 2001. The team was an independent and played their home games in Notre Dame Stadium. Throughout the five seasons, the Irish were 35–25 and invited to three bowl games, including the school's first ever Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl.
James Easter Heathman was an American former farmer and U.S. Army veteran, who, as a teenager in 1931, witnessed and discovered the crash of a Transcontinental & Western Air airliner, which killed eight people, most notably University of Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne. Heathman, who was 13 years old at the time he discovered the plane crash with his father on March 31, 1931, was the last living witness to the plane crash. Heathman later became a Knute Rockne historian and often led free tours of Notre Dame fans to the site of the crash, especially during the last 20 years of his life.
The Notre Dame–USC football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team of the University of Notre Dame and USC Trojans football team of the University of Southern California, customarily played on the Saturday following Thanksgiving Day when the game is in Los Angeles or on the second or third Saturday of October when the game is in South Bend, Indiana.
The 1988 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Irish, coached by Lou Holtz, ended the season with 12 wins and no losses, winning the national championship. The Fighting Irish won the title by defeating the previously unbeaten and No. 3 ranked West Virginia Mountaineers in the Sunkist Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona, by a score of a 34–21. The 1988 squad, one of 11 national title squads for the Irish, is considered to be one of the best undefeated teams in the history of college football. The Irish beat the teams which finished the season ranked #2, #4, #5, and #7 in the AP Poll. They also won 10 of 12 games by double digits. The 1988 squad is best remembered for its 31–30 upset of No. 1 ranked Miami, ending their 36-game regular season winning streak. The game is remembered to this day as one of the most memorable games in all of college football.
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John McKenna is a Scottish sculptor born in Manchester. He is based in Turnberry, South Ayrshire, Scotland.
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