Eagle great Ferlise dies

   The University of Southern Mississippi lost a great friend Wednesday morning with the passing of Pat Ferlise at his Sarasota, Fla., home after a lengthy illness.

   “Pat Ferlise was the true `rock’ and giant of Southern Miss athletics,” said Southern Miss Director of Athletics Richard Giannini. “He was the first Southern Miss athlete to make a major gift to our athletic program as he had an incredible love for the University and to this athletics program. He will truly be missed and our thoughts and prayers go out to Rosalie, his three sons and their families.”

   Ferlise, a football letterwinner from 1951-52 as a two-way guard, was an outstanding athlete who earned all-state honors at Phillips High School in Birmingham, Ala.

   In 1994, he donated $100,000 to the USM Eagle Club to fully fund a football scholarship annually for a defensive lineman. The gift was the largest ever, fully funded contribution to the Eagle Club for an athletic scholarship and the first established by a Southern Miss letterman.
Ferlise and his family then gave a gift of $250,000 in 1995 to build a new athletic ticket complex, which now bears his name, The Pat Ferlise Center. The new facility houses the Eagle Club fund raising arm of the athletic department, along with the complete athletic ticket operation.

   Ferlise is survived by his wife, Rosalie, and three sons, Felix, Milton and Steve, along with several grandchildren. Ferlise was 80.