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Shortly after Knute Rockne was killed in an airplane crash, the Notre Dame Alumni Association decided to hold an impressive memorial ceremony on the South Bend campus, in loving memory of the immortal football coach of the Fighting Irish.

The alumni officers thought it would be fitting on that important occasion to have present the oldest living alumnus of Notre Dame. So, the files were checked and it was discovered that the oldest graduate of that famed Jesuit institution had been a German-born student named Newmark, class of 1878. Upon further research, the alumni officials learned that this Newmark, now past 80 years old, was living at a certain address in Los Angeles, California. An invitation was mailed to him requesting his honored presence on the campus of Notre Dame -for the Knute Rockne ceremony. He responded with a brief letter. It read:

"I am unable to accept the invitation, for we old gaffers are forbidden to travel long distances. I must obey the rules if I am to remain living happily here -at the Jewish Home for the Aged."