Brant short university of kentucky

Art Spaugy, Student Athlete

By Brant Short

Photos courtesy of Brant Short

In our family, the story of Arthur E. Spaugy was told and retold, as all good legends are, so I knew of his sporting achievements at the University of Idaho and of his tragic death.

When I was growing up in the 1960s, I was often told about Art’s photograph on the university’s gymnasium wall.

He was my mother’s cousin, although they never met. He died in 1933 and my mom, Barbara Stennett, wasn’t born until 1938.

Brant short university of kentucky football

But she knew his biography and shared it with me as part of my family legacy.

Actually, I never thought much about Art until she gave me several photographs of him and press clippings about his death. They had been collected by my great aunt Olga Fisher, who died in 2004 and was the last family member to know Art personally.

Although she was technically Art’s aunt, they were only six years apart in age and were more like siblings.

Olga shared many stories of Art with my mother, who passed the