Hall of Fame
In 1995, his granddaughter Karen Bucke Albright was inducted into the University of Vermont’s Athletic Hall of Fame for her cross country and track accomplishments. Now, in 1997, Victor Krupensky-Williams is following in her footsteps as a member of the third class of California University of Pennsylvania’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
Born in Coal Center in 1908, Krupensky attended California High School, from which he graduated in 1926. While there, he played football and participated on the track team. From high school, he moved on to Cal, the local college.
Recognized as one of Cal’s first multi-sports stars, Krupensky helped to contribute to the success that Cal has achieved since its early years of athletics. He was a member of the football, basketball, tennis, baseball and track teams. In 1930, Krupensky was the football team’s leading scorer. Also in 1930, Krupensky helped lead Cal to its first winning football season since 1924 with a record of 5-2-1. He was a very committed athlete.
“During one of California’s battles on the gridiron, he broke his arm. It was set in a cast, and I guess that because there were so few players, he was able to convince the coach to let him play with his arm in the cast,” said John Williams, Krupensky’s son. “Evidently, he got tackled or hit or something, and he heard his arm snap in the cast. He knew that he couldn’t tell his parents what happened or the coach. He just left the arm broken again in the cast.”
“When they took the cast off, he was never able to totally straighten his arm. It was never corrected. If he stuck his arm out straight, it would come in about four inches. He did have a lot of other injuries,” Williams continued. He thought that he had some hearing impairments because of being stepped on with spikes. His nose was broken and that never totally straightened. Football was a rugged sport back then. There wasn’t a lot of padding, and the player played both offense and defense.”
Krupensky served as the captain of the basketball, tennis and track teams. Even though he was very active in athletics, Krupensky did many other things while at Cal. He was the president of the student council, men’s glee club and varsity club and he was the treasurer of Phi Sigma Pi. Krupensky was also a member of the college players, Clio, Campus Chronicle and South Hall once and worked in the dining hall.
Krupensky graduated from Cal in 19931 with a degree in secondary education. In the summer of 1932, he played tennis at Duke University where he took some graduate courses. He also took grad courses at Penn State University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. It was a college professor who encouraged Krupensky to Americanize his name. So, he changed it to Williams, and in 1932, he secured his first teaching position, as a social studies teacher in Freedom, Pa. It was at Freedom that he met his wife, Frances, who was a music teacher. Krupensky stayed there until 1934, and then moved on to Newport News, Va.
“He left teaching because his job in suburban Pittsburgh was eliminated because of financial problems. That got him to go down to Virginia with a friend of his seeking employment. He got a job in the Navy yard during the war. Then he moved to Philadelphia and worked in the Navy yard there. Then when the war was over, he got his second teaching job at North Coventry High School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania,” Williams said.
Working wasn’t the key to Krupensky’s life, though. He appreciated nature and spending time with his family.
“The thing that I remember, he had this dream to build a home in the country. So, he bought five acres and it was corn fields. He built everything from scratch. We had a totally self-sufficient place,” said DonnaWilliams Bucke, Krupensky’s daughter. “We canned and froze and dad raised peaches. He had a wonderful peach orchard. And he had currants, cherry trees and honey bees. We had a pig. We had beef. We made sauerkraut. He just enjoyed so much being totally self sufficient. It was a fun time.”
“I also remember his coaching and going to the football games. We would go and watch him coach even though it was a long commute,” Bucke continued.
When Krupensky moved on to the Summerville/Brookeville School District in 1949, he continued to coach. At Summerville, he was a special education teacher, a job which he took after returning to school and earning certification in the subject.
“He coached basketball at the school where Donna graduated from and I went to elementary school (Summerville). He was a very strong disciplinarian. His students called him ‘Doc.’ As strict as he was as a teacher, after the students graduated, they would come back. I can remember the graduates standing on our front porch telling him what they had done since they graduated from high school,” Williams said.
“He seemed to really touch the lives of many people. He would go the extra mile for them. He helped get his students jobs after they graduated from high school. He secured them a job and followed them through with it. It seemed like a lot of them appreciated it,” Bucke said.
Krupensky bought a 55-acre farm when his daughter was almost out of high school. Again, he built everything from scratch tearing down the original house and using some of the lumber to build a new one. Williams said that he lived to hunt and fish.
“He was really seldom idle. When he retired, he had to learn to relax a little, but I think his mind was always going and thinking about things to do,” Bucke said.
When Krupensky retired from teaching, he moved to Arizona. During the summers, Krupensky and his wife visited Yellowstone Park and worked in Old Faithful, a store in Hamilton Lodge. He sold fishing equipment and she sold Indian jewelry. They worked only four hours a day a couple of days a week, then she did oil painting and he fished. Krupensky also played golf every day that he could. On September 23, 1984, after playing nine holes of golf, he suffered a heart attack and died. His wife, Frances, died in June 1996. Their memories live on through their two children, four grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
“He had a directness about him. He had an ability to pursue something and to stick with it,” Bucke said.
“He wasn’t distracted much in life. He knew what he wanted when it came to a family. He knew what he wanted when it came to his personal interest in sports and nature. He wasn’t impressed with all of the bells and whistles in life. Cars weren’t important to him. He didn’t have to have the biggest house. Mother was the one who brought the culture into our home,” Williams said.
“He came from a family that had no money. They came into the states with no money and they lived as a coal miners’ family. They died poor. He wanted to provide more for his wife and children and he did. He retired from teaching making 11 thousand dollars. And when he died, there was still enough money to take care of my mother until she was 92,” Williams continued.
“I wish dad was alive to receive this award. He was extremely modest. He seldom talked about his college accomplishments,” Williams wrote. “This brings a nice closure to a good career and life.”
Victor Oliver "Skeezics" Krupensky-Williams was an exciting, triple-sport star in the early to mid-1930's, starring in football, basketball and baseball. Recognized as a player with game-breaking capabilities and one of Cal's original multi-sports stars, Krupensky-Williams was the football team's leading scorer in 1930. He was also the captain and the star of the 1930-31 basketball team, the 1930 tennis squad and the track team.
A symbol of the term student-athlete," Krupensky-Williams was also the President of Cal's student council, men's glee club and varsity club. A tireless worker with relentless spirit and love for school, Krupensky-Williams was also treasurer for Phi Sigma Pi, a member of South Hall Council, a dining room waiter, a member of the College Players, the Campus Chronicle and business manager of the Handbook. Krupensky-Williams, who scored 13 of Cal's 14 points in a 14-12 football win over Shippensburg, led the 1930 gridiron team to a 5-2-1 overall record which was Cal's first winning season since 1924.
Krupensky-Williams, who passed away in the fall of 1984, is originally from Coal Center, Pennsylvania and a graduate of California Area High School. After his Cal days, Krupensky-Williams enjoyed successful social studies/special education teaching and football coaching careers at several school districts, including Freedom, Pottstown, Summerville/Brookville and Penn Manor. He retired in 1971 and remained an avid golfer, tennis player and hiker until his demise. Victor and his wife Frances, who passed away last June, were the parents of John Williams, and Donna Williams.
