Private weekend funeral services to be held for Steinbrenner
By: Staff & Wire Report
Issue date: 7/15/10 Section: Sports
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He had just celebrated his 80th birthday July 4. Private ceremonies will be held during the weekend in Florida.
Steinbrenner was a close friend of the late Coach Eddie G. Robinson. He also was listed on the former Grambling Foundation Board. Grambling was the only football team to play in Yankee Stadium.
"Condolences have been offered to the Steinbrenner family by Grambling's President Dr. Frank G. Pogue, Eddie Robinson Jr. as well as myself," said Wilbert Ellis, retired GSU baseball coach.
Ellis said Steinbrenner brought his Yankee team to play the Grambling Tiger baseball team as an exhibition game. The games were in 1979, 1989 and 1997.
"I remember Steinbrenner brought his team to Grambling to help the baseball team improve its field and the funds went athletics and baseball," Ellis said.
"I spoke with him prior to the opening of the Robinson museum and he gave us a contribution," Ellis said.
"Most people talked about the mean side of George but I remember the kind side of him," said Ellis.
"The story about George and Grambling stems from Coach Rob, Prez Jones and Collie Nicholson and then extends to me," Ellis said.
"All I know is that Grambling has lost a friend, said Ellis.
Steinbrenner had a heart attack, was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, Fla., and died at about 6:30 a.m, a person close to the owner told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not disclosed those details.
His death was the second in three days to rock the Yankees. Bob Sheppard, the team's revered public address announcer from 1951-07, died Sunday at 99.
For more than 30 years, Steinbrenner lived up to his billing as "the Boss," a nickname he earned and clearly enjoyed as he ruled with an iron fist.
While he lived in Tampa he was a staple on the front pages of New York newspapers.
"He was an incredible and charitable man," his family said in a statement. "He was a visionary and a giant in the world of sports. He took a great but struggling franchise and turned it into a champion again."
Steinbrenner's mansion, on a leafy street in an older neighborhood of south Tampa, was quiet Tuesday morning. Private security guards milled around on the empty circular driveway inside the iron gates.
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