From Fetzer To Finley: Norm Sper--A Life Well Lived
October 27, 2011 | Swimming & Diving
Oct. 27, 2011
Photo Gallery of Norm Sper's Wonderful Life
By Dave Lohse
Associate Athletic Communications Director
Norm Sper's was a name that from time to time came up in the history of Carolina athletic lore. One of the most multi-faceted collegians to ever grace Chapel Hill, he was best known as the head cheerleader during the Charlie Justice era and the first UNC swimmer or diver to ever be named an All-America by the NCAA during all four years of his eligibility.
So the news of Sper's death in Grand Rapids, Mich., on September 14, 2011 came as a sad note for those with a insatiable taste for Carolina athletic history. But when one knows the history of Norman L. Sper, Jr., one truly can sit back and appreciate that this was a man who truly lived his life well.
There has always been room for a picture of Norm Sper in every UNC swimming and diving media guide I've produced since the late 1970s, such was his impact on the history of the program. In 1947 and 1948 he was a first-team All-America in men's one- and three-meter springboard diving. He went on to be an All-America as a member of the 300-yard medley relay team in 1949 and in the 100-yard backstroke in 1950. He competed on UNC teams which won four Southern Conference championships and the 1949 team he competed on took ninth in the NCAA Championships which were held at Carolina's Bowman Gray Pool.
His name came up again on TarHeelBlue.com last spring when Joe Kinderwater, an immensely talented Tar Heel distance freestyler, notched first-team All-America honors for the fourth straight year in the pool. He became only the third Tar Heel to do so, joining Sper and Eric Ericson (1981-84).
But Sper was more than an amazing diver and swimmer. He was repeatedly elected as the UNC head cheerleader in the late 1940s, a time which coincided with the University's greatest gridiron success led by the legendary Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice. Sper cheered on Justice and his teammates in two Cotton Bowls and a Sugar Bowl. He helped introduce stadium card stunts to the East Coast and his most enduring legacy is his introduction of the Victory Bell which goes to the annual winner of the UNC-Duke football game. The Tar Heels have had control of that Bell for most of the past two decades and it still makes an appearance at every home UNC football game, painted in the color it should always be painted in - Carolina Blue. Sper obtained the bell from an old steam train while Duke's head cheerleader mounted it on a cart. Thus a valued collegiate tradition was born.
But these exploits merely touch the surface of a man whose life was far more fascinating.
Norman L. Sper, Jr., came into the world on December 22, 1925, the son of Vaudeville star Winona Winter and syndicated sports writer Norman L. Sper, Sr. He was also the godson of America's most famous cowboy, Will Rogers. Sper grew up in Hollywood, Calif., and from an early age excelled in many sports. But he had a penchant for the pool.
He qualified for both the 1940 and 1944 Olympics in diving but both games ended up being cancelled because of World War II. During the 1940s, he won five AAU national diving championships and established himself as one of the preeminent amateur athletes of his day.
He went to Andover for prep school and served in the Army in the War. His talent for diving and acrobatics led to him being tapped to put on exhibitions to raise money for war bonds. At one such event, he partnered with Esther Williams and Johnny Weissmuller to help raise $26 million. If I have to remind my readers who those two folks are, I'll admit I've grown a bit long in the tooth myself.
Post-war, Sper had an appointment to the Naval Academy but he turned it down to attend Carolina. He arrived on campus in 1946 at age 21 and was still competing collegiately well into his mid-20s. That's how things were back then. He put his life on hold to have served as part of the Greatest Generation in American history.
He married Joyce Frances Richert in 1951 and they moved to New York City shortly thereafter where they performed in Mike Todd's Aquashow. A year later, they moved to Los Angeles where he helped his father in the television production industry. Along the way sons David and Paul and daughter Melanie joined the family.
A gifted businessman, he was one of the first successful Amway distributors and he founded a business called On-The-Spot Duplicators which recorded convention speeches, making cassette copies on the spot and selling them to attendees. Sper was so good at what he did as an entrepreneur he was able to enjoy multiple retirements from his business efforts.
Despite being diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 1992 he remained active through the next 19 years of his life. He was an avid golfer and walker. He retired in 1989 in Camarillo, Calif., and then moved to Grand Rapids, Mich., in 2007 where he continued to celebrate his life with enthusiasm and aplomb until his passing.
His wife Joyce, his three children, eight grandchildren and a great granddaughter survived Sper.
I never had the pleasure of meeting Norm Sper even though in my 35 years at Carolina I've typed his name into media guides and program features and web stories literally hundreds of times. The archived pictures of him from the late 1940s certainly capture that ebullient personality that he was so famed for.
And I doubt I need to tell his grandkids that their grandpa seemed like one heck of a guy. Any person who got to dive with Esther Williams and had Will Rogers as his godfather had to be a lucky man indeed.
So here's a tip of the hat to Norm Sper. You surely led a life well lived. And we are grateful you were a Tar Heel. The Naval Academy's loss in 1946 was surely our gain.
Players Mentioned
