Terry DeWald ’68

Brother Terry DeWald has been successful at just about everything he tried.

As an athlete, he was a pro ballplayer. As a student, he excelled academically. And as a businessman, he has become one of the foremost dealers of Native American art and artifacts in the world. It’s been quite a life, one that Brother DeWald credits FIJI for helping develop.

“Being a FIJI has meant the world to me, and is a major fountainhead for the success I’ve been blessed with,” he said. “The principles and disciplines that were taught as pledges were invaluable, and the morals and ethics behind the rituals and the creed remain truly inspirational.”

Brother DeWald was born in 1946, and spent his boyhood years in Phoenix as the son of a well-known Time-Life correspondent and a docent director for the Heard Museum. Terry often followed his father to nearby Native American reservations, where he developed an appreciation for the culture that would play a major role in his adult life.

He came to the UA in 1964, pledged FIJI that fall and embarked on a four-year baseball career in the spring.

As a ballplayer, he was both All-WAC and All-Region in both 1967 and 1968, and was named both team captain and most inspirational player as a senior. He was drafted by the New York Mets in 1968, and played in the Mets and Cleveland Indians organizations before retiring from baseball in the early 1970s.

Since then, he has become one of the country’s foremost Native American art dealers. Brother DeWald buys from over 100 Native Americans every week and helps them sell their pieces to virtually all of America’s national parks. He serves as the private buyer for a number of celebrities, including Harrison Ford, and is also a well-known author on the subject.

Brother DeWald has also remained active in the community.

He is a member of the U of A Letterman’s Club Board of Directors, stays active in Canyon View Little League and is a major supporter of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Clinic, Pio Decimo Center and Catholic Community Services. He and his wife Peggy, a former Pi Phi at the U of A, live in Tucson and are the proud parents of two grown children and two granddaughters.

All, in a way, have been touched by FIJI.

“FIJIs as campus leaders, top academic students inspirational athletes and genuine, generous men were great examples,” he said. “I always felt honored to be a FIJI.”