By Frank Rajkowski, SJU Writer/Video Producer

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - The 1940 football season at Saint John's University ended at just the right time.

Three days later, Mother Nature came knocking with furious vengeance.

On Nov. 11, 1940 – 80 years ago this week – the Armistice Day Blizzard struck Minnesota and the Upper Midwest.

Unseasonably warm weather that Monday morning (with temperatures reaching as high as the 60s in some places) gave way to heavy snow and wind and a rapidly plunging mercury as the afternoon and evening wore on.

Transportation across the region ground to a standstill as heavy snowdrifts blocked roads and stranded trains on the track. According to the National Weather Service, 154 people lost their lives as a result of the storm, including 49 in Minnesota.

A large number of those casualties were duck hunters who had been taking advantage of the warm weather and wound up stranded when conditions turned rapidly for the worse.

"The blizzard brought to an end an almost idyllic autumn," The Record wrote. "It was the worst November storm in state history. Students were marooned (on campus) until Wednesday. No mail was delivered Tuesday and it was next to impossible to travel about the campus.

"All roads in the region were blocked by mountainous drifts and no transportation companies were functioning."

That came in contrast to the previous Friday when temperatures reached the mid-40s as Saint John's traveled to Minneapolis to face Augsburg in its regular-season football finale at South High School.

The game was overshadowed by the eagerly-anticipated showdown between national powers No. 2 Minnesota and No. 3 Michigan (led by All-American and 1940 Heisman Trophy recipient Tom Harmon) the following day at the U of M's Memorial Stadium. The Gophers won, 7-6, thanks to Bruce Smith's 80-yard touchdown run, and Minnesota went on to earn its fourth national championship in seven years. Smith won the Heisman Trophy in 1941.

But the Johnnies and Auggies turned in a tightly-contested matchup themselves – one in which Saint John's emerged victorious 7-0 thanks to a 41-yard touchdown run and ensuing extra point by fullback Ben Lorenz '41 (right).

The Johnnies defense then stopped Augsburg on downs at the Saint John's 3-yard line in the fourth quarter to preserve the win. That meant the Johnnies finished the season 2-3-1 in the conference, 4-3-1 overall and in fifth place in the MIAC (behind champion Gustavus Adolphus, St. Thomas, Macalester and Saint Mary's).

Thoughts of football quickly faded when the storm struck days later. The highest snowfall total anywhere across the region came right here in Collegeville, where 26.6 inches were reported to have fallen.

The deteriorating weather conditions cancelled classes that day and sent school officials scrambling to find overnight accommodations for the dayhops (students from the surrounding area who lived at home and commuted to campus).

"On the day of the blizzard, Father Peter was outblustering the weather in his frantic search for dayhop bunks," wrote James Cullen in The Record. "Every bed but that of the Liturgical Press was filled, including those in the infirmary. 

"As for me, I fought my way over to the science hall Monday, wrung out my shoes, collected what remained of my hair and walked into the classroom only to discover that 'class won't meet today.' John McGuire carried snow by the barrel out of the costume room after a window broke. Hugh Murphy, a dayhop, took a tool down to the garage when things were at their worst and almost lost himself."

The storm did indeed prove dangerous to one group of SJU students unlucky enough to find themselves on the highway that day. 

"Several persons were injured, but none seriously, as a result of a head-on collision one mile west of St. Joseph at 2 o'clock Monday afternoon," the St. Cloud Times reported the following day.

The paper stated that in one car, traveling toward St. Joseph, were a group of SJU students who lived in St. Cloud (left, courtesy of the Stearns History Museum) and Waite Park. Their vehicle collided with one traveling toward Collegeville and occupied by Peter and Joseph Kremer, as well as the 18-month-old twin daughter of one of the twin brothers.

According to the article, four of the SJU students were treated at the College of Saint Benedict infirmary while two others were treated at the residence of a doctor in St. Joseph. Lionel Spaniol was reported to have suffered a cut under his chin, John Fandel was reported to have suffered a possible broken instep and lacerations to his face and Dick Rosenberger was reported to have injured his nose.

Matt Hall, Leander Revenig and Frank Grundman Jr. were reported to have emerged from the crash unhurt. The Kremers and the 18-month-old girl were also taken to St. Joseph because transportation to St. Cloud Hospital proved impossible due to the storm. Their injuries were also reported to have been slight.

A short item in The Record later that month stated:

"In behalf of Saint John's University, The Record wishes to express the deepest appreciation and thanks of the faculty and students to the following in St. Joseph who aided those (students) stranded there during the recent snowstorm:

"The College of St. Benedict's, Mr. Henry Knevel, Mr. Matt Hardwig, Mr. John Gill, Herman Schomer, Mrs. Elizabeth Linnemann and Dr. D.W. Kohler."

In nearby St. Cloud, the Times reported hundreds of people slept in stores in the downtown business district that night.

"In one department store alone," the paper wrote. "Twenty girls made themselves comfortable under counters."

The storm caused two trains to collide on the Soo Line (left, courtesy of the Stearns History Museum) in Watkins not that far from campus. Residents of the community formed a human train to assist injured passengers and get them to the doctor's office where …

"By lamp and lantern, the doctor tried to patch them up as best he could," recalled Amanda Ellering, then a Watkins resident, in "All Hell Broke Loose," a 1985 collection of memories of the storm. "People took blankets to the city hall and many of us took in as many people as we could handle."

A number of SJU graduates across Minnesota were impacted by the storm as well.

The Record reported attorney Pierre Thomey '24 was hunting and among those forced to put up at Deer River. 

Louis Mohs '16, the advertising manager of the Minneapolis Tribune, was trapped in Parkers Prairie until roads reopened. 

Mohs, a former NFL player, helped get the late Sid Hartman started in his newspaper career and later ended up as the general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers.

James Watson '38 was aboard the Empire Builder passenger train, which stalled 12 miles outside Willmar.

But the storm didn't deter Henry Schommer '30 from making it to the marriage license bureau in Minneapolis the following day.

"You can't tell how long the blizzard will last," he told The Record. "I just wanted to be sure."

Happily, the paper reported Schommer and Olive M. Botz were married weeks later, on Thanksgiving Day.

The storm also provided plenty of snow for the toboggan run on campus located on the Observatory hill, and running down to the lake (right).

According the 1940 edition of The Sagatagan yearbook, "Spills and thrills are common. It doesn't take long to travel the long way down to the lake shore, but it's a long way back up."

7 years ago (2013) – The Johnnie soccer team upset No. 20 Gustavus 2-1 in the MIAC Playoff semifinals Nov. 6 in St. Peter. The Gusties jumped out to an early lead with a goal 26:45 into the match, but midfielder Zane Heinselman '15 responded with two unanswered goals to give the Johnnies the lead for good and send SJU to the MIAC Playoff championship game.

10 years ago (2010) – The SJU basketball team opened its 2010-11 season with a 70-65 victory over then-No. 8 (Division II) St. Cloud State on Nov. 15. The win was the first for SJU at home against the Huskies since 1983 (a span of six meetings in Collegeville). The MIAC's reigning Sixth Man of the Year, Sam Blank '11 led the Johnnies with 18 points.

12 years ago (2008) – Saint John's hockey secured its first win of the 2008-09 season, and first for first-year head coach Doug Schueller, with a 3-1 victory Nov. 7 at Lake Forest (Ill.). Now in his 13th season, Schueller has compiled a 144-130-37 record and has been named the MIAC Coach of the Year twice (2012-13 and 2020-21).

15 years ago (2005) – Dan Swift '06 and Tudor Flintham '06 scored goals, but the SJU soccer team fell 3-2 in overtime to the University of Chicago in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament Nov. 12 in Waverly, Iowa. Saint John's had closed the season on a 6-0-2 run, including a 1-0 overtime victory over Macalester in the MIAC playoff championship game the week before.

17 years ago (2003) – John Gagliardi became college football's all-time leader in wins with his 409th victory, passing Eddie Robinson's mark of 408, in a 29-26 home victory over Bethel on Nov. 8. The showdown between No. 2 SJU and No. 10 Bethel was not only for the coaching record, but also for the MIAC title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs, as both teams entered the contest with an unbeaten 7-0 conference record. Over 13,000 bundled spectators, the then-largest crowd to ever witness an SJU football game, packed into Clemens Stadium with a game-time temperature of 18 degrees.

Bethel took a 26-22 lead with 4:57 to play in the fourth quarter on a gutsy 4-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Scott Kirchoff. Bethel decided to kick off to wide receiver Blake Elliot '03, after avoiding doing so all day, and Elliott returned the kickoff 50 yards to the Bethel 40-yard line. Quarterback Ryan Keating '03 hit running back Josh Nelson '04 in the flat for a 5-yard touchdown with 2:03 left (left). On Bethel's first offensive play, defensive lineman Jeremy Hood '04 sacked Bethel's backup quarterback, forcing a fumble which Ryan Weinandt '04 recovered, to seal the historic victory.

25 years ago (1995) – SJU cross country won the first of four consecutive NCAA Central Regionals on Nov. 11 in Waverly, Iowa. Jeb Myers '97 repeated his third-place finish from the MIAC Championship two weeks prior and classmate Ryan Steines '97 followed in sixth. The Johnnies finished ninth at the NCAA Division III Championship a week later. Myers went on to win the MIAC individual title in 1996, to lead SJU to the first of four straight team conference championships, and placed second at the NCAA regional.