A son honors his late father with special visit to NC State
Ted Dostanko (Photo courtesy Historical State collection, NC State Libraries)
Brian Dostanko has never been to NC State. But after his father died about a year-and-a-half ago, Dostanko decided it was time to make the trip from his home in Ohio to his father’s alma mater in Raleigh.
He is making the trip to honor Ted Dostanko ‘50.
After serving in World War II, Ted Dostanko played semi-pro football in New Jersey before learning that NC State needed linemen. So Dostanko moved to Raleigh, majored in textiles at NC State, and played tackle for the Wolfpack in the late 1940s.
“He was a big, quiet man, except on the football field,” Brian said of his father. “He was an animal on the football field.”
Ted Dostanko was a member of the team that played in the second-ever Gator Bowl on New Year’s Day in 1947. The Wolfpack lost to Oklahoma, but Dostanko kept tickets from that game in a scrapbook.
Brian Dostanko said his father continued to follow NC State athletics after he moved back to New Jersey.
“He talked about NC State all the time,” Brian says. “He held a very dear place in his heart for his alma mater.”
When his father died, Brian decided to spread his ashes in four places that meant a lot to his father. Brian has already been to Sunfish Pond, a spot along the Appalachian Trail in New Jersey were Ted Dostanko loved to go backpacking.
The second stop is NC State. Dostanko, his wife, stepson and two daughters (”My dad’s only granddaughters.”) are traveling overnight from their home in Ohio to spread some of his Ted Dostansko’s ashes at the Bell Tower on Friday afternoon. Arrangements were handled by the staff of the Alumni Association.
“We feel blessed that (NC State) is giving us the opportunity,” Brian said.
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