Honoring 2 Sun Devil Athletics greats
ASU remembers legendary wrestling coach Robert 'Bobby' Douglas and philanthropist W. Guthrie Packard, who died on Feb. 26 and March 15, respectively
Former ASU wrestling coach Bobby Douglas circa 1988. Photo courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics
Robert “Bobby” Douglas, a monumental figure in the world of wrestling and Sun Devil Athletics, died on Feb. 26, at the age of 83.
He earned his Master of Arts in education from ASU in December of 1980.
In his career on the mat, Douglas became the first Black U.S. wrestler at the Olympics (1964, 1968). He had a fourth-place featherweight finish at the 1964 Tokyo Games and captained the U.S. Olympic team in Mexico City (1968).
Douglas spent 18 seasons coaching wrestling at Arizona State University, accumulating a 229-95-6 record and leading the team to its first-ever national championship in 1988. He went on to become an eight-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year in that time, while accumulating 59 total All-Americans and three individual NCAA champions.
Douglas spent an additional 14 seasons as head coach of the Iowa State Cyclones during his long and distinguished coaching career.
He is one of only four coaches in wrestling history to win over 400 career dual matches, and his contributions go far beyond collegiate wrestling. He was a loyal and dedicated coach for USA Wrestling for many years.
In 1987, Douglas was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a distinguished member and is also a member of the Arizona State Hall of Fame. He was named the USA Wrestling Man of the Year in 1992.
W. Guthrie Packard Jr., a longtime Arizona State University philanthropist and supporter who gifted Packard Stadium to the university, along with his brother, Peter, died on March 15.
An Arizona native, Guthrie had a lifelong passion for Sun Devil Athletics. He could be spotted easily in and around ASU football and baseball games in his yellow Sun Devil baseball hat and white baseball jersey.
He graduated from Culver Military Academy, where he captained the varsity tennis team and played polo, then attended Arizona State University, where he was an active member of Pi Kappa Alpha, an association that developed a multitude of close, decades-long friendships.
For the entirety of his adult life, Guthrie was engaged fervently in numerous organizations supporting ASU.
In 1967, Guthrie and his brother, Peter, founded Packard Cattle Company in Elbert, Colorado. The brothers later gifted Packard Stadium to Arizona State University in honor of their father, in 1974. At the time, it was the largest single gift ever to any educational institution in the state of Arizona. Packard Stadium served as the home of ASU baseball for over 40 years.
Throughout Guthrie’s life, he served on the board of directors of a number of organizations supporting educational, civic and livestock causes including: The Sun Angel Foundation, Arizona State Alumni Association (fundraising chairman), Morrison School of Agribusiness at Arizona State University, The Culver Legion (vice president), American National Cattlemen’s Association, American Maine-Anjou Association (president), Colorado Simmental Association, Pikes Peak Cattlemen’s Association, Pikes Peak Range Riders (ride director), Desert Caballeros, El Paso County 4-H Foundation (president) and Pikes Peak 4-H Foundation.
In lieu of flowers, the Packard family asks the community to consider a gift to support Sun Devil Athletics.
