John French, left, and Joe Vader, right, study a playbook on the sidelines during the 1957 season. Vader, a captain for the Wildcats, died on Tuesday at age 84.
John French, left, and Joe Vader, right, study a playbook on the sidelines during the 1957 season. Vader, a captain for the Wildcats, died on Tuesday at age 84.
Joseph (Joe) Vader, a former Kansas State football captain, a member of the 1958 men’s basketball Final Four team and a pitcher for the Wildcat baseball team, died Tuesday at 84 after months of declining health.
A native of Kansas City, Kansas and a graduate of Bishop Ward High School, Vader was an athlete at K-State from 1956-59.
As an end for the Wildcat football team, Vader led the Big 7 conference in receptions during the 1958 season, racking up 21 catches for 219 yards.
During the 1958-59 basketball season, Vader averaged 1.3 points and a rebound and helped lead the Wildcats to a 25-2 record and a undefeated Big 8 campaign, one of the most successful regular seasons in school history. He was also a member of the 1957-58 team that made it to the Final Four.
Vader also pitched and played in the outfield for the Wildcat baseball team
He was selected in first round of the American Football League draft in 1960 by the Dallas Texans, just three years before owner Lamar Hunt moved the team back to Vader’s backyard in Kansas City.
Vader never got that far in the pros though, and after being cut from the team prior to the 1960-61 season, he enrolled at Washburn to begin his law career. He went on to practice law in Olathe for 58 years, specializing as an adoption attorney. He was a founding member of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys.
Vader was married his wife, Diane, in for 62 years. The two had six children.
A visitation for Vader will be held Monday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at McGilley & Frye Funeral Home & Cremation Service in Olathe and a funeral service will take place Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Olathe’s St. Paul Catholic Church.
