Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
1954 Sugar Bowl Team Member Donaldson Passes Away
November 06, 2019 04:50 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Charles "Chick" Donaldson, a two-way player on Art Lewis' 1954 Sugar Bowl team and later an assistant coach for Lewis and Gene Corum, has died.
Donaldson passed away Tuesday morning after a lengthy illness, according to his son Randy.
Donaldson, from nearby Greensburg, Pennsylvania, was too little to play high school football and instead served as team manager at Jeannette High.
Then, following a stint in the Navy, he began his college football career at West Virginia in 1951 at age 24. Three years later, a now-220-pound Donaldson was one of the oldest players to ever earn All-Southern Conference honors when he was voted to the team as a center at age 27.
Donaldson played alongside Mountaineer legends Sam Huff, Bruce Bosley, Joe Marconi, Fred Wyant and Bobby Moss on teams that won 23 of 28 games from 1952-54 and finished ranked in the nation's top 20 all three seasons.
West Virginia won eight of nine regular season games during Donaldson's junior year in 1953 and was invited to face Georgia Tech in the 1954 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans – West Virginia University's first-ever major bowl appearance.
Donaldson also lettered in golf.
Following graduation, he joined Lewis' Mountaineer staff in 1955 and was later elevated to offensive line assistant and head scout. He served in that capacity through the 1965 season when Gene Corum was fired.
Since 1968, Donaldson had resided in Nashville, Tennessee, where he served as an officer in the Davidson County court system.
He was 92.
Donaldson passed away Tuesday morning after a lengthy illness, according to his son Randy.
Donaldson, from nearby Greensburg, Pennsylvania, was too little to play high school football and instead served as team manager at Jeannette High.
Then, following a stint in the Navy, he began his college football career at West Virginia in 1951 at age 24. Three years later, a now-220-pound Donaldson was one of the oldest players to ever earn All-Southern Conference honors when he was voted to the team as a center at age 27.
Donaldson played alongside Mountaineer legends Sam Huff, Bruce Bosley, Joe Marconi, Fred Wyant and Bobby Moss on teams that won 23 of 28 games from 1952-54 and finished ranked in the nation's top 20 all three seasons.
West Virginia won eight of nine regular season games during Donaldson's junior year in 1953 and was invited to face Georgia Tech in the 1954 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans – West Virginia University's first-ever major bowl appearance.
Donaldson also lettered in golf.
Following graduation, he joined Lewis' Mountaineer staff in 1955 and was later elevated to offensive line assistant and head scout. He served in that capacity through the 1965 season when Gene Corum was fired.
Since 1968, Donaldson had resided in Nashville, Tennessee, where he served as an officer in the Davidson County court system.
He was 92.
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