Start a conversation with Bill and Lois Friel and they will quickly say, “We’re not academics” and almost as immediately say, “We love New Mexico State University.” Their love is for the Aggie athletics program and it began not long after they arrived in Las Cruces in 1963. They credit Lou Henson, former coach of the men’s basketball team, for the loyalty they have felt over the last four decades.

Bill’s position with Mountain Bell Telephone Company brought them to Las Cruces from Farmington. They were transferred to Silver City for five years but returned to “their favorite town in New Mexico” in 1973. Bill retired in 1986 after 35 years but they have had several other careers since then.

The Friels love RV vacationing. They traveled throughout the West following Bill’s retirement while he sold advertising for RV magazine. Along the way they partnered with several other families to buy an RV park in Washington State. They have an RV parked on the premises waiting for them each summer when the desert heat gets too strong.

While they were living in Washington, Lois earned her nursing degree. She worked at the university in both student and employee health centers for several years. Not wanting to be “out-smarted” by his wife, Bill attended Olympic College in Bremerton, WA, and earned a chef’s degree. In 1992, they spent a year at a sport fishing camp in Alaska with Bill serving as the cook and Lois, the nurse/hostess.

They always try to be back in Cruces for the start of the volleyball season and you will also see them at football and men’s and women’s basketball games. Coaches and athletic department staff members are frequently the beneficiaries of the Friels’ cooking and baking skills.

The Friels have received so much enjoyment from their involvement with the NMSU athletic department that they decided to give something back to the university. They established a charitable remainder trust with property they own south of Las Cruces. Scholarships to support student athletes will be established with the proceeds from the trust.

Stan Fulton