Former Iowa basketball player Ned Postels dies at age 96

IOWA CITY — The University of Iowa announed Saturday that former Hawkeye basketball letterman Ned Postels passed away earlier this month at the age of 96.

Postels was a member of Iowa's 1945 Big Ten Conference championship team, serving as co-captain for the 1944-45 club. The Makato, Minn., native lettered three years.

Upon graduating with a degree in civil engineering, Postels worked at Catepillar in Peoria, Ill., and from 1975 on owned a beverage company, florist shop and nursery in Grinnell.

Postels and his wife, Reba, endowed the Ned & Reba Postels Family Basketball Scholarship at Iowa. Memorials may be designated to St. Paul's Episcopal Church, UICA (University of Iowa Center for Advancement), or to Carver Family Center for Macular Degeneration Enrichment Fund, mailed in care of the Smith Funeral Home, PO Box 368, Grinnell, Iowa 50112. Memories and condolences may be shared with Ned's family online.

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