Wayne Hergott ’57 to receive Fr. Walter Reger Distinguished Alumnus Award

Wayne Hergott '57 is this year's recipient of the Fr. Walter Reger Distinguished Alumnus Award.

He will receive the award at the 2016 Alumni Association Homecoming Banquet on Friday, Sept. 16, on the campus of Saint John's University.

The celebration will begin with Mass in the Abbey and University Church at 5 p.m. It will then move to the Great Hall for the Alumni Association Homecoming Social starting at 5:30 p.m., followed by the banquet at 6:15 p.m. in the Founder's Room of the Quadrangle.

In addition to the presentation of the Reger Distinguished Alumnus Award, the banquet will also pay tribute to the 1976 NCAA Division III National Championship football team, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

The Reger Award is the highest honor bestowed by the Alumni Association and recognizes an alumnus or alumni each year for his/their outstanding volunteer service to the SJU community.

Hergott came to SJU in 1953, the same year that football coach John Gagliardi arrived at SJU from Carroll College. Hergott was Gagliardi's first Johnnie quarterback. He was also on the baseball team, where he would win three MIAC championships. After graduating, Hergott served in the military, and then went on to enroll at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul.

He practiced law for 31 years as a civil trial attorney before retiring.

"I loved what I did. I was never bored. There are people whose lives are better because of what I did," Hergott said.

Not one to sit idle, Hergott then earned a master's degree in spirituality and worked as a retreat leader and a spiritual director after his retirement.

He continued to stay in touch with his alma mater and his former classmates. After the death of a SJU football teammate in 2009, he began organizing regular lunch dates with his fellow Johnnies in the Twin Cities. These lunches were so popular that they evolved into what is now known as Lunch Bunch — a growing group of Johnnies that meets monthly for socializing, lunch and a speaker.

"Those of us who have been fortunate enough to have spent several years attending his lunches and who have known him for the past half century-plus can testify to the influence Wayne has had on us. And anyone who knows Wayne will agree that he is our model in trying to aspire to the virtues and lifestyle of Fr. Walter," said Jim Bassett '58.

The Fr. Walter Reger Distinguished Alumnus Award is named after the long-time secretary of the Saint John's Alumni Association. Known as "Mr. Saint John's," Reger, OSB, was a dean, history professor, prefect, member of the university orchestra and purveyor of Johnnie Bread. He befriended hundreds of SJU students and kept up personal correspondence with them after they graduated. Reger died in 1971, and the Alumni Association Board of Directors launched the award program later that year (the award's first recipient was Fred Hughes '31).

The cost of the event is $40. Register online or call Leila Utsch at 320-363-3654.