Personal Life
"The will to win is not worth a nickel, unless you have the will to prepare"
"You don't put morale on like a coat. You build it day by day."
Oosterbaan died in 1990, having spent his entire career associated with the University of Michigan. As one of his obituaries noted, he "went to Ann Arbor as a freshman in 1924—and never left." All-American Ron Kramer said of his former coach: "Bennie Oosterbaan is the Michigan tradition. The man gave his whole life to Michigan." When he died he was the most recent Michigan football coach to have a team ranked #1 in the nation at the end of the season.
Oosterbaan's wife of 57 years, Delmas, had predeceased him a few months earlier on July 23. He was survived by his sister, Grace Hedner; his daughter, Anna Wilson; and two grandsons. Two of his brothers, Guy and Andy, died when Oosterbaan was a young man. Oosterbaan is no relation to John Paul Oosterbaan who was a member of the 1989 NCAA Championship basketball team. While at the University of Michigan he was a member of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.
Don Lund, Michigan's associate athletic director for alumni relations who also played basketball for Oosterbaan said: "There's no question he was the greatest athlete we ever had here at Michigan." Ohio State Buckeyes football coach Woody Hayes once said of Oosterbaan: "If he weren't from Michigan, I'd like to have my own son play for him."
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