Chansky's Notebook: Circles of Influence

Bobby Gersten went out with a standing ovation from a sold-out house.

There’s an old joke about not having anyone at your funeral because you outlived all who might have come. That was not the case for Gersten, the oldest Tar Heel athlete after passing away at 99 in October.

He had a small tribute service from his Chapel Hill friends at the Cedars, and Monday night about 1200 people packed the auditorium at Bernard Baruch College in Manhattan, a fitting farewell from his three distinct walks of life, all of which often intertwined.

Most of the attendees knew Bobby G from a summer camp he ran for about 60 of its 104-year existence in the Adirondacks. But many also knew him from his Carolina ties that, in turn, led them to Brant Lake as campers or counselors over the years. Still, others made his acquaintance in educational circles on Long Island, whether or not they wound up at camp or Tar Heels.

Gersten graduated from UNC in 1942 after serving as captain of the basketball team that featured George “The Blind Bomber” Glamack and the baseball team just before Walter Rabb began his 30 years as Carolina’s diamond coach. Bobby G was also president of the Monogram Club, which back then was like a fraternity for jocks. All that led to UNC awarding him the Patterson Medal as the most involved athlete at the end of his senior year.

He was one of Carolina’s lifetime recruiters, although his insistence that he convinced Frank McGuire to hire a young assistant named Dean Smith might have been one of Gersten’s many exaggerations. He did send Larry Brown to UNC from Long Beach High School and most members of his extended family went on to be Tar Heel fans for life.

When you run through more than 25,000 campers, counselors and staff over six decades, you have turned on a lot of folks to Tar Heel sports. He was a fan almost until his dying days, trying to attend a UNC home sporting event whenever one was being played here.

Sports and students were his true loves and he exercised like he wanted to live forever. He almost did.

After coaching high school, he became Dean of Students for new Nassau Community College, which opened with a small enrollment. When he left, that number had grown to 16,000. He taught diversity and sex education long before they became fashionable.

Bobby G’s impact cut a wide swath with those he outlived or left behind. Rest in peace, my friend.