Tracy Claeys sat in the family Oldsmobile in the parking lot of an oil company, waiting for his stepfather to finish his shift as a fuel delivery driver.
Ione Walker had all three of her kids with her that day. Tracy was 5 years old, the middle child, the quiet one.
Ione was married at 16, a mother at 17 and divorced with three kids at 21. Life was hard in the farming town of Clay Center, Kan., population 4,200.
But then she met Bob Walker, who promised to take care of her and her kids. Claeys never had a relationship with his biological father. He adores Bob, his stepfather for 43 years.
"He's a good guy," Claeys said after another day spent as Gophers defensive coordinator, a job his family couldn't have imagined long ago that he'd hold.
As they waited for Bob that evening in 1973, Ione and the kids saw ambulances racing out of town. The sirens were headed for Bob.
It was a particularly windy day. At Bob's last stop, a hose broke as he refilled gas at a service station. The fumes fueled an explosion. Bob ran from his truck as fast as possible, but flames engulfed him.
A trucker passing by stopped and tackled Bob with blankets.