STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Ed Czekaj, Penn State University's former athletic director and a native of Mount Pleasant, has died, the university announced.

Penn State officials said Mr. Czekaj died Monday at a retirement home in State College, Centre County. He was 87.

Mr. Czekaj was a three-year letterman on the Penn State football team in the 1940s. He became an employee of the athletic department in 1953 and held several positions before becoming athletic director in 1969. He held that job until 1980, when football coach Joe Paterno took that position. Mr. Czekaj retired in 1982.

Mr. Czekaj was known for his colorful suits and sports coats that he frequently wore to Penn State athletic events while he was athletic director, the university noted on its Web site.

He was a senior on the 1947 Penn State team that went 9-0 and played Southern Methodist University in the 1948 Cotton Bowl. Mr. Czekaj, as well as his SMU counterpart, Heisman Trophy winner Doak Walker, each missed point-after kicks in the game, which ended in a 13-13 tie.

"Ed Czekaj was a fantastic and highly respected ambassador for Penn State," said Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley. "He was instrumental in helping Coach Paterno move the football program forward, to set the table for the great success the program had in the 1970s and into the '80s."

"There wasn't anyone more loyal to Penn State than Ed Czekaj," said Mr. Paterno. "As a player and as an administrator, he was a very, very strong leader of athletics at Penn State."

A memorial Mass is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Saturday in the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus.

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