Terry Hoeppner’s 18-month battle with brain cancer ended early Tuesday morning, but Drew Hoeppner said the man who preached “Don’t Quit” fought until the very end.
“We went through a period where on Saturday they were saying he shouldn’t make it through the night, then Sunday morning he shouldn’t make it until the afternoon, and on and on,” his son said from the basement of his parents’ house as friends and relatives gathered upstairs.
“All of a sudden we’re at Monday evening and he’s still holding steady, still holding strong, and honestly there were times when the doctors were just baffled by how long he held on.
“But my dad absolutely fought it until the very end, and I don’t think there was ever a time when anyone in our family didn’t expect him to open his eyes, and say he was ready to go. And that was right up until the end when the doctors told us that if we wanted to say our final goodbyes that we should probably do that.”
At 6:50 a.m. Tuesday, the Indiana University football coach died due to complications from brain cancer. He was surrounded by his family, including his wife Jane, daughters Allison and Amy, and son Drew. Hoeppner, 59, underwent his first brain surgery just after Christmas in December 2005. He had a second surgery Sept. 13, 2006 and missed two games.
Indiana announced March 18 that Hoeppner would miss spring practice. The family believed Hoeppner needed time off to recover from the rigors of coaching but was optimistic he would return. Shortly after the announcement, however, he began a new round of radiation treatments that lasted a few months. Hoeppner was hospitalized last week for pneumonia but was released Friday afternoon. Not quite 24 hours later, Hoeppner was taken back to Bloomington Hospital by ambulance.
“Obviously his health had continued to deteriorate, but on Friday I know that Jane was excited and enthusiastic that he was coming out of the hospital, and he did,” athletic director Rick Greenspan said. Greenspan said he spoke with Jane again Saturday morning, and everything appeared fine.
“By later in the day,” Greenspan said, “all of that changed.”
Drew Hoeppner arrived in Bloomington on Thursday. A pilot, he had been working for the past three years to get a commercial pilot’s job and learned Thursday he had been hired as a first officer for a regional branch of USAirways Express. He told his dad Friday.
“That’s very comforting for me right now to know I was able to share that with my dad,” Drew said.
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On Sunday, family and friends spent time with Hoeppner in the hospital. In the afternoon, he visited with Greenspan, as well as his entire coaching staff.
He even had a quick visit from Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who chartered a plane in Los Angeles and flew to Indiana to spend an hour by the side of his college head coach. Roethlisberger played for Hoeppner at Miami of Ohio and calls his former coach a father figure.
Hoeppner arrived at Indiana in December 2004 with dreams on leading the Hoosiers to a Rose Bowl. While he was unable to accomplish his annual goal of reaching a bowl, his Hoosiers were in contention to do so both years. His teams went 9-14 but rekindled passion in a dormant fan base.
Greenspan, who struggled throughout Tuesday to maintain his composure after losing not only his football coach but also a close friend, said he was grateful for the time he spent with Hoeppner and his family Sunday.
He found comfort that their final conversation fell on Father’s Day.
“Terry was an amazing man and I will always cherish the 2 1/2 years we were able to spend together,” Greenspan said.