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Blugold Hall of Fame
John Furrer

John Furrer, who prepped at Janesville Craig High School, played two years for Glenn Meidl and two years for Steve Carson on the Blugold baseball teams of 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983. He was a two-time All-Conference pick as well as the team MVP in 1983. He broke the school single season home run record in back to back seasons with eight in 1982 and 10 in 1983. Furrer led an assault on the school single season record book in 1983 by setting new standards for at bats (114), hits (46), RBI (37), doubles (10) and home runs (10). His .404 batting average was the second best in school history and he finished the season with a .754 slugging percentage. The 16-14 record in '83 was the first winning record in a dozen years and the most wins by a Blugold baseball team in a season at that time. Furrer batted .318 in 116 career games with 21 home runs and 24 doubles for a .558 slugging percentage. He also stole 37 bases in 45 attempts.

Following his UWEC graduation in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in marketing, Furrer attended Western Illinois University for advanced studies in Sports Management. Following an internship with the Tucson Toros, he was hired by the Chicago White Sox and spent nine years with the major league team, leaving in 1994 as the Director of Group Sales and Private Party Sales.

He joined Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company for five years as an insurance agent, dealing in life and disability insurance and annuities.

In December, 1999, he began work for his current employer, Marshall and Ilsley Bank.

Outside of his work responsibilities, Furrer has spent his career coaching baseball and officiating basketball as well as utilizing his business capabilities in community service. He has been a member of the Menomonee Falls Optimist Club for 10 years; is a past board member of the Menomonee Falls Leadership Foundation; has been a coach, board member and treasurer for the Menomonee Falls Falcons select baseball program; has been a board member and treasurer of the Menomonee Falls Youth Basketball Association, has been a board member of the Menomonee Falls High School Scholarship Foundation and is a past member of the WIAA Officials Advisory Board.

Furrer has been a WIAC basketball official since 1998, working the conference championships in 2008 and 2011. He has also done three NCAA Division III sweet 16 games. He has officiated five WIAA state tournament games including three state championship games. He worked the 2002 girls' Division I state championship game between Hudson and Waukesha South with his father.

In 2009, Furrer was honored with the Menomonee Falls Friend of Education Award for his volunteer work with youth activities in the village as well as presentations to high school classes on money management and teaching in the local Junior Achievement program.

Furrer and his wife Cheri, a teacher's aide in the Menomonee Falls School District, have two sons, Ryan, age 19; and Michael, 17.

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University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Athletics • McPhee 208 • Eau Claire, WI 54702-4004

Phone: (715) 836-3062
Questions/Comments: UW-Eau Claire Sports Information