Oberlin College Athletics

George A. Vradenburg, Class of 1910 Born in 1882 in Galesburg, Michigan, George A. Vradenburg grew up near Sioux City, Iowa. His first brush with his alma mater came in 1901, when he was so impressed by an Oberlin College Glee Club performance that he decided to move to Ohio before finishing high school. Upon his arrival in Oberlin, Vradenburg started several businesses and worked at the Pyle Inn to earn money toward his education at Oberlin Academy.

The commitment to and love for the school that Vradenburg displayed before enrolling at Oberlin was evident during his tenure at the College as well. He played on the varsity football, basketball, and baseball teams at Oberlin College for four years and, in his senior year, served as head basketball and baseball coach and assistant football coach. In his spare time, he served as the business manager of the Oberlin Review. With Jimmy Brand, who later served on the Supreme Court of Oregon, Vradenburg developed what became known as the Oberlin Honor System. He received a bachelor's degree from the College in 1910.

Vradenburg met his wife, Lena Bushong, while both were attending Oberlin. His son George Jr. '41 and grandson George III '64, graduated from Oberlin, and his daughter-in-law Beatrice White attended the College as well. Vradenburg went on to become a successful businessman in Toledo. He invented (and sold to the Ex-Cell-O Corporation) the machine that manufactured the first paper milk bottle and founded the Ohio chapter of Junior Achievement. Vradenburg continued to give back to his alma mater in extraordinary ways. He served as a College Trustee throughout the 1930s, co-founded and chaired the Glen Gray Memorial Scholarship Fund, and contributed to the building of the George M. Jones Field House. Vradenburg passed away in 1952.