Jack Diesing Sr.'s involvement in the College World Series came about by accident.
In 1963, his boss at the Omaha-based Brandeis department store died. Diesing assumed many of E.F. Pettis' duties, one of which was general chairman of the series.
“I had never been to a game,” Diesing recalled in a 1994 interview. “I didn't know about it, and I said I wouldn't do it.”
But he got help and agreed to take charge of the event.
At that time, the series had lost money nine of the 14 years it had been played in Omaha. It never lost money again.
Diesing, who built the series into a premier Omaha event, died Wednesday at a local care center of complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 92.
For 46 years, the Diesing name has been synonymous with college baseball's national championship tournament.
“My dad will be missed by a lot of people, but he won't be forgotten,'' said his son, Jack Diesing Jr.
Beginning in 1964, Jack Diesing Sr. rolled up his sleeves, begged, borrowed, coerced and rallied people into transforming the series from an affair that few cities wanted into one of the top events in college sports.
Dennis Poppe, the NCAA vice president for baseball and football, said the College World Series would not be moving to a new downtown Omaha stadium next year, or have the national recognition and success it has today, if not for Diesing and others.
“He was formidable, self-confident and irascible, in a nice way,'' Poppe said. “But he was always very straightforward. You could tell he was a man of integrity. He was a very difficult person to negotiate with. He knew the figures. . .down to the penny.''
Diesing set out to make the series a winner.
He asked Omaha service clubs to sponsor each college baseball team competing in Omaha. That meant inviting the teams to dinner, transporting them back and forth to Rosenblatt Stadium and rooting for them in the stands.
Diesing created teams of people to sell books of CWS tickets, still a staple of Omaha's support. He eliminated poorly attended morning games and lengthened the series from five days to 10 days to give it more exposure.
In 1967, he created the nonprofit College World Series of Omaha Inc. to coordinate the series. He was chairman emeritus of CWS Inc. when he died.
He stopped the practice of negotiating a new contract every year with the NCAA to provide stability for the event in Omaha. He promoted the series widely.
Jack Payne, public address announcer at the series from 1964 to 2000, said Diesing was a friend of baseball. He built good relationships with coaches, fans and the NCAA.
“He was a man of getting things done,'' Payne said. “We can look back on his life and say, ‘Well done.'''
While Diesing was best known for his role with the CWS, he was deeply involved in Omaha business and civic affairs. He had a reputation as an astute businessman who blended financial and legal analyses of business proposals.
The Diesing family came to Omaha in 1881, when German immigrant William T. Diesing moved to the city. He later became vice president of the old Cudahy Packing Co.
A son, John D. Diesing, who went by Jack, graduated from St. Thomas Military Academy in St. Paul, Minn.
He obtained bachelor's and law degrees from Creighton University prior to the outbreak of World War II. He worked as a FBI counterespionage agent in Argentina during the war. He married Betty Lou Griffiths, who preceded him in death.
From 1947 to 1980, Diesing was an executive of the Brandeis chain and instrumental in the company's decision to build and open Omaha's Crossroads Mall in 1960. He was Brandeis' vice president and secretary when he retired.
Diesing was a past president of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce.
He served on boards of directors for a number of local institutions and businesses, including Boys Town, St. Joseph Hospital, Central National Insurance Co. and Omaha National Bank, now U.S. Bank. Like his father years earlier, Diesing was king of Ak-Sar-Ben, a civic organization, in 1972.
Douglas County Commissioner Mike Boyle said Diesing was vital to Omaha keeping the CWS in the 1980s.
Boyle said Diesing tipped then-Mayor Boyle that the NCAA was poised to make demands for significant improvements at Rosenblatt Stadium. The event's future in Omaha was in jeopardy, Diesing told Boyle.
Boyle said NCAA officials were surprised when he later heard the demands and agreed on the spot.
“He was a real gentleman's gentleman,'' Boyle said. “He left his fine touch in a lot of places around this city.''
Jack Diesing Jr. said his father's ultimate goal was for Omaha to be a better community and for the CWS to maintain its legacy of success for student-athletes and fans.
“He was just as nostalgic as anyone on what Rosenblatt meant to the success of the College World Series,'' he said, “but when it was time to move over to the next chapter, then it was time to move to the next chapter.''
The NCAA's respect for Diesing was shown in its endorsement of the Jack Diesing Sr. Award, given annually since 1999 by CWS Inc. to the outstanding player of the series. The NCAA has endorsed no other similar championship awards.
Besides Jack Diesing Jr., survivors include son E. Michael “Mick” Diesing and daughter Deborah Louise Blank, both of Omaha; five grandchildren and three great-grandsons.
A funeral Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. April 14 at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, with a private entombment at Calvary Mausoleum. A wake service will be at 7 p.m. April 13 at Heafey-Heafey Hoffmann Dworak-Cutler West Center Chapel, with visitation beginning at 5 p.m.
Memorials have been established to the College World Series Inc., Boys Town and the Open Door Mission.
Contact the writer:
444-1127, david.hendee@owh.com
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