Hall of Fame
Ellis Verink was the kind of scholar-athlete who brought special distinction to Coe sports and to his lifetime career. Mr. Verink won all-state honors in basketball for three consecutive years and captained the team as a senior. In track, he held records in the pole vault and high jump. He would compete in those two events and then move to the shot put, discus, broad jump and high hurdles. His many medals have hung in Eby Fieldhouse as an incentive for modern Coe trackmen. Letters in football and tennis rounded out his athletic activities. But Ellis Verink also distinguished himself by his performance in the classroom. He was the highest-ranking student in the Class of 1914. He stayed at Coe to earn his master's degree, teach botany, and coach basketball. Then he entered YMCA work, a service that included a six-year term in China. In 1933 Mr. Verink entered the insurance business and for two decades he served in sales and management positions. In light of his scholarly interests and his consistent Christian witness, he was one of the few persons ordained to the Presbyterian ministry without a formal theological education. His name is perpetuated at his alma mater through the Ellis and Phoebe Verink Endowed Scholarship which he established in his lifetime and which he generously endowed through a bequest at his death in early 1974. In 1918 Ellis Verink coached basketball at McPherson College. At season's end the team captain spoke these words, "Mr. Verink has not only taught us basketball, but he has taught us to be men - men who know how to earn a victory, men who know how to take defeat when it comes." This rich emphasis on character, as well as athletic skill, was a benchmark of Ellis Verink's career. For this reason, it is a personal satisfaction to me to present his name for induction into the Coe Athletic Hall of Fame posthumously.
