Dundee Township loses an athletic legend

One of the last known surviving members of the 1938 state championship boys basketball team from what is now Dundee-Crown High School has died.

Donald Blanken Sr. passed away in his sleep Wednesday morning in his West Dundee home, relatives said. He was 89.

An all-around athlete who also excelled in baseball and golf, Blanken was a hardworking man who had sport in his blood, relatives said.

"He was a very strong, domineering person," said Robert Blanken, the youngest of three sons. "He was not mean, or a tough guy; he knew what he wanted and worked real hard at everything he did."

Born in Elgin, Blanken was a lifelong resident of the Dundee Township area and arguably its greatest athlete. After high school, Blanken attended Purdue University, where he captained the Boilermakers basketball team and was an All American. After graduating from Purdue in 1942, Blanken served in the Army during World War II. In 1979, Blanken was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, more than 40 years after leading the 1937-38 Dundee Community High School team past Reed-Custer High School for the school's only boys basketball state trophy. Blanken was then inducted as an inaugural member of the "Sweet Sixteen" Dundee-Crown Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.

Blanken's sons said they recalled watching their father play professional baseball and basketball, including games against the Harlem Globetrotters before the team became famous for their trick plays.

"He was a great man, a great athlete," Randy Blanken said. "He went into the Army and could have played baseball or basketball."

Vicki Blanken, who married Donald Blanken Jr., described her father-in-law as a wonderful man.

"When I married my husband, people used to tell me, 'Your father-in-law is famous,'" she said. "I had no idea. He was just a wonderful guy and all-around sportsman."

After his athletic career, Blanken established a carpentry career in the Dundee Township area, helping his son, Robert, build three homes in East Dundee.

Blanken is survived by his three sons, six grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Visitation is from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at Miller Funeral Home, 504 W. Main St., West Dundee. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home and burial services will follow in River Valley Memorial Gardens in West Dundee.