Herman Reckelberg, former member of the board of directors of the Green Bay Packers, Inc., died Friday.
Reckelberg, 91, served on the board from 1987 until 1998. He was chosen when Judge Robert Parins was president of the Packers. Reckelberg held emeritus status at the time of his death.
"We used to go the Standard (Oil) station on Broadway, Paul Mazzoleni's, and he said, 'You should be on the board,'" Reckelberg said in a 2010 interview. "I said, 'Oh hell, I don't have a chance.' I said, 'I know all those guys, played ball with some, but I'm no CEO or owner of a company. I'm just a regular guy.' He said, 'You're a superintendent.' So he got together with my son and they wrote up a little something and sent it in.
"I never thought anything more of it. All of a sudden one day my wife called and said, 'The judge wants you to call him at the Packer office.' I gave him a call and he said, 'Do you want to be on the board?' Boy!. You could have knocked me over with a feather."
Reckelberg also served on the board of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, Inc., and was a longtime active member with the group. In 2014, Reckelberg received the Bart and Cherry Starr Recognition Award at the annual Packers Hall of Fame banquet. The Starr award recognized his leadership within and commitment to the hall.
Reckelberg also was an outstanding athlete in his own right.
In 1945-46, Reckelberg led Green Bay East High School to only its second Fox River Valley Conference basketball championship and its first in 21 years. He led the conference in scoring and also was a repeat all-conference selection. In football, Reckelberg was East's starting quarterback as a junior and senior when the Valley was considered one of the top two or three conferences in the state. In 1944, his junior season, East won the championship and Reckelberg was selected second-team all-conference. He also was a second-team choice as a senior.
Reckelberg also signed a professional baseball contract and pitched with the Green Bay Bluejays in 1951. The Bluejays were a farm club of the Cleveland Indians and members of the Class D Wisconsin State League. Two years earlier, Reckelberg signed with the Philadelphia Phillies and spent two weeks at their minor league camp.
Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be handled by Proko-Wall Funeral Home in Green Bay.
