Pelinis' father dies of illness
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By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
The Pelinis will be preparing for Nebraska’s bowl game with heavy hearts.
Husker head coach Bo Pelini’s and defensive coordinator Carl Pelini’s father, Anthony, died on Tuesday night in Akron City Hospital in Ohio.
Anthony Pelini, 85, had been ill throughout the fall and spent time in the hospital.
Bo Pelini has credited his dad as someone whose tenets helped guide the way he lives today.
“They sacrificed everything for us,” Bo said when speaking of his parents last year. “He didn’t push us into anything. We played when we wanted to play, but if we were out there, we better conduct ourselves the right way. We better act a certain way. If we didn’t, that’s when we heard it, and he’d get that fixed in a hurry.”
Anthony Pelini fought in World War II, receiving both a Purple Heart and a Meritorious Service Medal for his service during his time in Europe. After that, he went to Ohio State on the GI Bill.
He wed Mary Catherine in October 1955. Married for 46 years before her death, they had eight children — five boys and three girls. Every one of them earned a college degree. He had 26 grandchildren.
Anthony worked as a pharmaceutical salesman for more than 30 years before retiring in 1991. He was a parishioner of St. Dominic Church in Youngstown, Ohio.
There will be a rosary on Friday night at Fox Funeral Home in Boardman, Ohio.
Bo and Carl Pelini issued a statement released Wednesday by Nebraska officials.
“Our entire family would like to thank Nebraska fans everywhere for the words of sympathy we have received,” the statement read. “We are very appreciative of all of the thoughts and prayers.”
Nebraska is scheduled to leave at noon Friday for Jacksonville, Fla., where the Huskers will face Clemson in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 1.
Though Anthony was not an athlete like his sons, Bo has said his father never missed one of their games.
In the summer, just before Father’s Day, Bo shared a story about how his dad hung a baseball from the ceiling in the family’s garage, mapping out a batter’s box so his sons had their own makeshift batting cage.
“(Dad) didn’t sit there and watch me practice, but he’d have things to say like, ‘This is how you practice, this is what you do. You’re not just going to show up and be good.’”
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.
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