Just do it.
Before there was Nike, there was The Rev. Leland “Lee” E. Lubbers, S.J., motivating friends and students with the simple phrase to accomplish their dreams.
A renowned sculptor and founder of Creighton’s fine arts department, SCOLA, a satellite broadcasting network and a language program called Foreign Language Immersion Opportunity, Lubbers was both creative and ambitious. He inspired others to be the same.
A friend of Lubbers for 42 years, Kira Gale credits him for changing her life. Gale intended on getting her bachelor’s degree and teaching, but after meeting Lubbers after one of his art showings at the Joslyn Museum, Gale decided to run a film series and found her passion in film with Lubber’s words of encouragement.
“He truly understood the creative spirit,” Gale said.
As much as he told others to “just do it,” Lubbers realized his own dreams as well. In the 1980s, Lubbers bought a “build your own satellite dish” kit.
“I remember going to his place – he was watching a video on how to be an engineer from the University of Wisconsin,” Gale said. In less than a year he was tracking satellites from his sculpture lab at Creighton.
This program, SCOLA, transmits TV programs via satellite, cable and the Internet in their native languages and are available to universities. Space issues dictated a move to McClelland, Iowa in 1993.
Lubbers’ language program FLIO was established in 2007. Businesses sponsor students in a country where they wish to learn the language in order to efficiently teach them business-level language.
“Besides being a language learning tool, what we’re doing allows glimpses into other cultures. By knowing more about other peoples and cultures, we see that they, too, are God’s people,” Lubbers said in a 1999 interview.
Lubbers was born in Stoughton, Wis., on June 6, 1928. He taught his regency at Creighton Prep and obtained his A.B., Ph.L. and M.A. degrees from St. Louis University. He was ordained a priest in Milwaukee in 1959. He earned the D.U.P. degree from the Sorbonne University in Paris and taught history of art and sculpture at Creighton from 1965-1993.
Lubbers was 80 years old, and he donated his body to medical science. A memorial was held June 30, 2008, at St. John’s Church.
Like Lubbers, The Rev. Lawrence “Larry” Flanagan, S.J., had a long-time presence at Creighton.
The Rev. Tom Shanahan, S.J., spoke at the wake service and was Flanagan’s golfing buddy. He said Flannigan liked to golf, and he kept golfing until he was 88 years old.
Besides playing golf, Flanagan was a member of Creighton’s faculty and a constant presence for 36 years teaching theology.
“He was a very smart man. He was a good teacher for many many years,” Shanahan said.
Mary Kuhlman, office manager of the theology dept, said despite Flanagan’s dedicated service to Creighton, he was humble.
“They offered to give him a party,” she said. “He refused. He didn’t want a party.”
Shanahan agreed he was grounded and held onto the values and attitudes he was raised with growing up in Iowa.
“He was a Midwestern farmer – never lost that quality about him. He loved nature and had a wonderful sense of humor,” he said.
The Rev. Dick Howser, S.J., said Flanagan helped people in the community by driving them to medical appointments and such if they were not able to do it themselves.
Flanagan was born in Marcus, Iowa, on Oct. 28, 1916. He earned an A.B. degree in Latin, Greek and English and a M.A degree from St. Louis University.
He did his regency at St. Louis University High School from 1946-1949 and was ordained a priest in 1953 in St. Marys, Kan. He taught theology at Creighton from 1954-1990, and attended the Institut Catholic de Paris in Paris, France. He was 91 years old.