Milton Andrew Munson’s obituary recalled his life as an Air Force veteran, a pharmacist, husband and father, and as a Nebraska football fan.
The last was evident in one line in the obit which reads: “In lieu of flowers, please place an irresponsibly large wager on Nebraska beating Iowa.”
Written by Munson’s sons and running last week in the Hastings Tribune, the obituary and its call to bet on the Huskers caught fire on social media and captured the attention of two radio hosts – Josh Peterson in Omaha and Jack Mitchell in Lincoln.
Both decided to throw in some money and make a bet for Nebraska, a 1-½ point underdog, but once word got out listeners and others pitched in and the pot soon grew to more than $5,000.
Munson’s son Todd, a writer who lives in Los Angeles, was on Peterson’s show this week and said only part of the donated money will be bet with the rest going to the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.
Todd says he and his brother Troy, a neurosurgeon in Des Moines, had a complicated relationship with their father, who battled addiction and bipolar disorder, but that whenever they had a conversation it almost always involved the Huskers.
Todd wrote on Twitter that he knows his father will be all he can to help get a win and “if the ghost of my old man can’t will the Huskers to victory, then they are truly a lost cause.”