Welcome
The club is a great way to connect with other local Purdue alumni in Punta Gorda, Fort Myers and Naples!
In 1976, under the direction of Joe Rudolph, then Executive Director of PAA, and the local support of Nate and Jane Paulus and Edward Elliott of Florida, the annual Jack Mollenkopf Classic was initiated on Marco Island, Florida, Professional Golfer Gene Sarazan played in the FIRST Classic. The Purdue Club of Southwest Florida (PCSWF) was formed soon after and has been successfully run under the direction of various Club Presidents and the never ending support of PAA, PMO and JPC. In 1978 Nate Paulus initiated the Purdue vs. IU Golf outing and in l980 it became the Big Three with Notre Dame alumni joining at the Marco Island Country Club. Golf Outings and the January annual meetings have been hosted at various locations along the SW coast of Florida. Historically there has been a Spring Luncheon and Social gatherings to view Football and Basketball games in the Fall and Winter. An evening at the Naples Dinner Theatre or the Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts is usually on the Club’s Social Calendar each year. It is always a real treat when SW Florida honored with special visits by University dignitaries from the Administration, PMO, Specific Schools, the Athletic Dept. and especially The Purdue Glee Club. Several of Purdue’s Presidents have been our guests/featured speakers.
Help Needed!
- We would like to increase the involvement of all our alums and friends in SW Florida; please reach out with any ideas and areas you’d like our Club to be engaged in. As well, let us know what you’d like to be involved in. We appreciate it! Please reach out to George at George.neher@sbcglobal.net
- Fundraising at our Club events for Purdue scholarships remains an integral part of our mission. This season, we will combine 75/25 raffles with silent auctions as a fun and effective way to raise funds. We would greatly appreciate your donation of a product or service that other alums may be interested in. Please contact George at George.neher@sbcglobal.net
Scholarship
Applications are due by March 1 and will be awarded on or before May 1 for the upcoming academic year.
We hope to hear from you soon! Hail Purdue!
Tribute to Ed Elliott
Former Purdue basketball player and longtime John Purdue Club member Edward Elliott passed away at the age of 92 on October 17, 2007. Elliott, the son of former Purdue University President and athletics director Edward C. Elliott, died in Naples, FL, following a brief illness. The elder Elliott served as president from 1922 to 1945 and as acting athletic director in 1940. He was inducted posthumously into the Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001. Ed Elliott was a center for the Boilermakers from 1934 to 1936 playing, for Hall of Fame coach Ward Lambert. Purdue was Big Ten champions in 1934 and co-champs in ’35 and ’36.Elliott was instrumental in the formation of the Mollenkopf Classic in Naples in 1977. The golf outing and dinner annually attracts upwards of 400 Purdue fans and John Purdue Club members. “Ed was a walking encyclopedia of Purdue athletics and as loyal a Boilermaker as there was,” athletics director Morgan J. Burke said. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to Sally, the children, the grandchildren and the entire family. He touched so many lives during his long and prosperous time with us.”
Your Club has established the Edward Elliott Scholarship Fund in 2011 at Purdue University for selected students from Southwest Florida. All Scholarship funds raised by our club goes into the Edward Elliott Scholarship Fund.
Contact Us
George Neher
george.neher21@gmail.com
317-460-0137
Purdue for Life Foundation
alumniclubs@purdueforlife.org