Always a Hoosier at heart

The IU football team will play Indiana State this Saturday at its first home game of year. But sitting in the stand will be one less fan, as Governor Frank O'Bannon remains in critical condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago following a stroke on Monday.\nO'Bannon, who earned a bachelor's degree in government from IU in 1952, has still maintained his ties to the University years later.\nFred Eichhorn, president of the IU board of trustees, said he met O'Bannon as an undergraduate at IU and served in the US Air Force at the same time.\nHe said O'Bannon was a good friend to him during college.\n"He was a good man," Eichhorn said. "He was a good student and a tenacious athlete. He was well liked."\nO'Bannon started on the freshman basketball team in 1948. Eichhorn said he was a little under-sized for the Big Ten, but held his own.\n"He did it with grit and determination," he said. "He made up for his size with attitude."\nEichhorn regularly attends the IU football games and O'Bannon tries to go to as many games as he can.\nO'Bannon is not just a fan of IU athletics, but of sports in general. He played volleyball while in the US Air Force and still plays golf on a regular basis.\nAfter his two years in the Air Force, O'Bannon returned to IU for his law degree. In 1957, right before he was to receive his degree, he went on a blind date where he met his future wife -- Judith Mae Asmus. \nThe governor first lady has plenty of Hoosier roots herself. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from IU with a bachelor's degree in social work the same year she met her husband.\nFormer State Sen. Phil Gutman of Fort Wayne first met O'Bannon as an IU freshmen in 1948, then again in the Air Force and at the IU Law School.\nGutman told the Fort-Wayne News Sentinel that O'Bannon was someone "who'd always let you know exactly where he stood, and how he could help you. He might tell you, 'I can't support you, but go talk to so-and-so. I think he can.'" \nGutman hasn't seen as much of his former colleague in a while, but said it hasn't diminished O'Bannon's place in his heart.\n"He and his family are stand-up people in every sense of the word," he said. \nO'Bannon was elected state senator from Corydon, Ind., in 1971, filling the spot left vacant by his father, Bob. He was first elected to statewide office in 1988, when he became the lieutenant governor of Evan Bayh. In 1996, O'Bannon won his first term as governor, defeating former Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith.\nYears later, as Eichhorn began to lead the trustees, he met his old college buddy again, then working towards better higher education.\n"He always did everything he could for higher education," he said. "He truly cared about IU and all the public universities in the state."\nCurrently, O'Bannon's condition has improved, but recovery from a stroke involves small victories. His recovery could progress slowly with such incremental steps as a wiggled toe, a grunt or a fluttering of the eyes in response to a question.\nNorthwestern Memorial Hospital officials said he experienced one small improvement Thursday when swelling in his brain began to diminish three days after his stroke.\nO'Bannon remained sedated in critical condition. He still had a breathing tube in his throat, while a ventilator continued to assist his respiration.\nEven though the process has been slow, O'Bannon's friends are still by his side.\n"It's been a very sad few days for me," Eichhorn said. "I have tried to be positive and hope the best for my dear friend."\n-- The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Campus editor Adam Aasen at aaasen@indiana.edu.