Middlebury Athletics lost a steadfast fan, community member, friend, and enthusiastic supporter with the passing of Richard "Butch" Varno, who died on October 14, at Helen Porter Rehabilitation and Nursing. 
 
For over half a century, Middlebury College student-athletes helped Varno, who had cerebral palsy, enjoy sporting events and other activities in the community. The tradition began in 1960 when Roger Ralph '63 saw Varno's grandmother struggling to push his wheelchair through snow and mud on the way home from a football game and offered to pick them up. Little did he know that "Picking Up Butch" would become a college ritual that continued for over 60 years. 
 

 
Head men's basketball coach and longtime friend Jeff Brown reflected on Butch's impact on the program. 
 
"Butch Varno has impacted our basketball program in so many ways," said Brown. "His relationships with our players helped shape a positive team culture. Lessons learned from Butch are in gratitude, grit, resilience, and caring for others. Although he is no longer with us, his spirit remains with all who have been touched by his presence. On a personal level, I am thankful that I was able to learn those lessons from Butch through our longtime friendship."
 
Varno's story drew national attention over the years, inspiring a Sports Illustrated column by Rick Reilly in the spring of 2003, an ESPN SportsCenter Feature that fall, and a visit from Steve Hartman of the CBS Evening News in 2007. The ESPN story later won an Emmy Award and a prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award. ESPN later returned to do an E60 Feature on the 50th anniversary of the tradition in 2010. Other features about Butch appeared in the Associated Press and the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine.
 
Butch's involvement with the College extended beyond games and to the wider student population. Beginning in the mid-1990s, Butch spent time with a loosely organized group of student volunteers who would later become an official student organization—Butch's Team— under the direction of the Center for Community Engagement (CCE), in the early 2000s. In 2003, Butch, at age 56, earned his GED, with support from one of these student volunteers, Sara Smith '04, who became a good friend. Butch and the students from Butch's Team also saw each other during weekly visits and at special events they organized in his honor, including many birthday celebrations. He also practiced his physical therapy exercises with them, took trips to campus and other parts of town, went for walks, or simply talked with and spent time with them.  
 
After a nearly two-year hiatus away from sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Butch was excited to return to the sidelines last fall. He was able to enjoy another year with his Panther teammates and was most recently in attendance at Alumni Stadium on October 8, cheering on the football team before his passing. 
 
For more about Butch's life and legacy, please visit Middlebury's In Memoriam tribute.