By James Geerdes
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“Once a Hawkeye, always a Hawkeye.”
These are the words of 89-year-old Marilyn Neely, who has attended every Iowa Big Ten opener for the past 70 years and has never missed more than two home games in a season since 1946.
“I started at an early age loving Hawkeye football,” Neely said. “I would stay by the radio and listen to Hawk games as a little kid.”
Throughout her youth, she enjoyed sports. She played 6-on-6 girls basketball in her hometown of Renwick, Iowa, and attended Hawkeye games with her father, Walter Long. Similar to his daughter, he attended every Hawkeye Homecoming game for 74-straight years.
“Now-a-days, kids are sending applications all over and taking so many tests [for college],” Neely said. “But there was never any question of where I was going to go. It was the University of Iowa.”
Until her graduation in 1950, she sold Homecoming badges, purchased season tickets, and was an active member of the Tail Feathers Club, Iowa’s old spirit club. After graduating, she moved to Mason City, where she married fellow Hawkeye Marion Neely.
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After two years, they moved back to Iowa City so Marion could go to law school. The two eventually settled in their college town, and Marion Neely established himself as an attorney in town.
“We said our paths always came back to Iowa City,” Marilyn Neely said.
During her working days, she was an English teacher and a librarian at Northwest Junior High and City High. Now, she has two children, Susan and Bob, and two grandchildren, Eve and Ben Jones.
She is especially excited about the upcoming Penn State game because her children and her granddaughter, a junior at Penn State, will travel to be by her side at Kinnick.
Last year, Neely visited Penn State to visit Eve.
“Last year at the Penn State game, she would high-five every Hawkeye fan in sight,” Eve said.
Neely still walks a mile to Kinnick Stadium for home games, standing and clapping for the “Iowa Fight Song.”
Football is not necessarily the main attraction for her, though.
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“I think I am just a person who likes the atmosphere,” she said. “I just like the whole picture … But as far as being very technical, like knowing this play and that play, that’s not as interesting for me.”
Neely’s passion for the UI goes beyond just game day. Her dedication to the Iowa City community is self-evident.
“In 2008, during the big flood, Mom asked me if she could go volunteer and do sandbags,” Bob said about his elderly mother. “And I had to say, ‘No, Mom, you can’t be out there.’ ”
Neither of her children still lives in Iowa City. Susan resides in Washington, and Bob lives in Chicago. She spends her springs and summers between the two cities with her children and grandchildren and stays warm in Florida during the winter.
“I always joke around that I’m only home during the football season,” she said.
Neely stays involved within the Iowa City community, even if she is no longer a full-time resident. She is heavily involved in three book clubs and enjoys shows at Hancher.
“She is a very young 89-and-half-year old,” Susan said.
Even if Marilyn is no longer in Iowa City full time, she will always know where home is.
“I have no family in Iowa anymore at all,” she said. “Neither of my kids live here. I’m not sure where I will end up, but I will always be an Iowa girl.”