W. Barlow Ware, former voice of the Big Red and longtime alumni affairs staff member, died Dec. 19 of cancer in Ithaca. He was 86. A memorial service is being planned. The following article by Cornell Chronicle writer George Lowery appeared in the summer 2004 issue of Communiqué magazine.

Mr. Ware chooses Cornell

In the fall of 1943, a dapper Manhattanite in Brooks Brothers sport coat, gray flannel pants and bucks, a young man whose name appeared (as it does today) in the Social Register, stepped from the train in Ithaca to begin his study of farming. That he had never so much as seen a farm in no way dampened the contagious enthusiasm with which he continues to approach life. Thus began an adventure that grew into a lifelong love affair with Cornell, its students and alumni, its staff and faculty, its coaches and players.

Ware

Six decades after arriving on campus, W. Barlow Ware bequeathed the bulk of his estate, a very significant unrestricted gift, to the Department of Athletics and Physical Education. "I have faith that Andy Noel and his successors will use the income from my fund judiciously," he says. "I want students to benefit by adding to the supply of funding available to them. Considering my sports involvement, which started in 1943, there's no place I'd rather it go than Cornell athletics."

Choosing to attend Cornell was an act of rebellion and a declaration of freedom from the endless round of debutantes, mild debauchery and dances expected of a young man in his position. Breaking with the family's traditional schools of choice (Virginia, Williams, Princeton), going north to the wilds of upstate New York, eschewing medicine, law or business for the cultivation of the soil -- well, Barlow Ware obviously decided to move along different tracks.

As a freshman, Ware unsuccessfully tried out for the soccer team as a fullback -- "which was difficult, because I could dribble and kick the ball only with my left foot," he recalls. Then one day during his first semester on the Hill a friend, James Munroe '45, approached him with a proposition: Would Ware be willing to take over his duties as wrestling team manager? Munroe was being drafted into military service the very next day and needed to secure his replacement immediately. After some deliberation -- for he did not want to take credit for Munroe's work and had never heard of the sport, but didn't want to let the team down -- Ware agreed.

The wrestling team student manager of 1943 took on a range of demanding, physically grueling duties, such as daily lugging bins of practice laundry from the Old Armory to Schoellkopf Memorial Hall, making all train travel arrangements for away matches and accounting for the team's budget. Ware was second in authority only to the coach. He thrived in the sweaty intensity of the sport and held the post throughout his undergraduate career. Crew, swimming and boxing were housed in the Old Armory, and the coaches and managers of these sports became his surrogate family.

Meanwhile, the indefatigable preppy took his introduction to the rigors of farming in stride. After Ware failed an aptitude test with a score of two out of 40 (one point was awarded for knowing which end of a cow to milk; unfortunately, the cow had been squeezed dry by a number of other future farmers), he was assigned to a farm overlooking Cayuga Lake. The hours were long and the work hard, but Ware "absolutely loved it."

Barlow Ware with Big Red athletes and the Big Red bear.

All went well until an incident in which Ware allowed some horses to trot too fast on a curve, toppling a hay wagon, followed by an agonizing stretch of pitchforking. It was then, he allows, "I realized farming wasn't for me."

Agriculture degree in hand, Ware trained to be a "very junior" executive with A&P in New Jersey. During his time away from Ithaca, he sometimes donned the Cornell bear suit at away games near the city. After seven years the siren call of Cornell came in the form of a job offer to join the Alumni Fund staff, working for the late Hunt Bradley '26. After Ware's acceptance, Bradley took him to Day Hall meet President Deane Malott. "Here he is Deane, delivered!" Bradley told Malott.

Ware "retired" from his Cornell job as director of special projects in 1996 but still works full time pro bono. Colleague Linda Kabelac '69 says, "Barlow's exceptional concern and assistance made it possible for many students to receive a Cornell education, and he has reached out to countless alumni. Cornellians the world over know and love him."

Soon after Ware arrived back in Ithaca, he was asked to announce games at the new Lynah Rink and then at Schoellkopf Stadium. "I'm a doer, not a spectator," Ware notes. From 1957 to 1986, he was the voice of Cornell varsity hockey and football. His minimalist play-by-play coverage and distinctive clipped delivery -- "Trip-ping!" Ware would declaim as a Big Red iceman struggled to regain his footing -- is legendary.

Andy Noel, the Meakem-Smith Director of Athletics and Physical Education, remembers: "Barlow has a terrific voice for announcing. He had a way of enunciating that was fun and unique. I recall many members of the Lynah Faithful would smile when Barlow would say, 'A two-minute penalty for so-and-so from Yay-ill.' Barlow was not announcing to hear himself talk. He was announcing to provide service. He didn't try to become the show, but he was always an interesting part of the event."

Ware also served some four decades as a finish-line judge for track and field meets. He opened his house to generations of Cornell coaches and athletic administrators. Ned Harkness, Maxie Baughn, Dick Schultz, Charlie Moore and the late Bob Blackman are among those to have checked into the Ware house when they first came to town. Coaches and players brought spouses and children and parents to stay, sometimes for rather a long time. Ware thoroughly enjoyed his many houseguests.

One guest of the inn is former basketball coach Scott Thompson, who says, "Barlow has served as the 'welcome wagon' to many coaches and athletic staff over the years. Through his warmth and humor, he has educated many new coaches about Cornell University. He remains close friends with all who have come through his door."

In 2003, Ware was inducted into the Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame. His Brooks Brothers days behind him, Ware today often sports the casual uniform of the modern Ithacan: comfortable sneakers, khakis and his trademark Tilley safari hat. But his journey from the Plaza Hotel to Ho Plaza, his excellent Big Red adventures, his graceful good humor and his enduring love for all things Cornell continue in the inimitable style he first brought to Ithaca all those years ago.