“I am very appreciative and very humbled by it. My family and I are very honored by it,” said Keilitz, who has not missed a single homecoming game and only missed one football game in 40 years.

Keilitz missed the game because of a baseball meeting during the World Series in mid-November of 1985 or 1986.

Keilitz, CMU’s first All-American baseball player in 1964, served as an assistant coach before taking over head coach duties in 1971. He served for 14 years as coach, earning four Mid-American Conference Championships, compiling a 453-203-6 record. He was named MAC Coach of the Year four times and NCAA Regional Coach of the Year twice.

After the Chippewas finished second in the NCAA Regionals in 1984, he stopped coaching and moved into administration, taking over as athletics director of the Chippewas, where he served until 1994.

With Keilitz as athletics director, the Chippewas won 26 MAC Championships, and every coach earned at least one MAC Coach of the Year.

“It certainly is well earned,” said Athletics Director Herb Deromedi. “It’s hard to expound on all that Dave has meant to the CMU. He was an outstanding baseball player, being recognized as an All-American.

“He then began a very successful coaching career first as an assistant coach to Waldo Sauter, then as a head coach, where he won four Mid-American Conference titles. He then followed a career in administration and now he is Executive Director of the American Baseball Coaches Association,” Deromedi said.

“It just shows the willingness to continue to be a part of CMU as an active alumnus.”

Keilitz’s duties for the weekend include serving as the grand marshal for the parade, which starts at 10 a.m. Saturday. The parade will make its way through campus and downtown Mount Pleasant, ending at Sacred Heart Parish, 302 S. Kinney Ave.

He also will participate in the pre-game celebration beginning at 11 a.m. in tents near Rose Ponds.

The festivities will last until game time at 1 p.m., when the 3-2 football team takes on Mid-American Conference West Division favorite Bowling Green (4-0).

“It will be a great weekend, and hopefully we will pull out a great victory,” Keilitz said.

After the game, Keilitz will be at Wayside Central, 2000 S. Mission St., for Instant Replay reception hosted by the Chippewa Club from 4 to 6 p.m. The cost is $2 for club members, $4 for nonmembers.

After leaving the Athletics Director position, he was offered the job of executive director of the American Baseball Coaches Association, which he accepted after the headquarters were moved to Mount Pleasant.

Keilitz was a major contributor to the building of Theunissen Stadium last year — he donated $100,000 to the $4.6 million stadium.

For his service and commitment to the university, the clubhouse at the stadium was named after Keilitz and his wife, Sue, before the start of last season. He also was the baseball team’s Fan of the Year.

“These are the kind of people CMU needs. It just shows the type of great people that have been a part of CMU,” Deromedi said.

This year has been a busy one for Keilitz, who was named recipient of The Lefty Gomez Award, one of the most prestigious awards in all of amateur baseball. Named after the great Yankee pitcher Lefty Gomez, the award is presented by the ABCA each year to an individual who has distinguished himself among his peers and has contributed significantly to the game of baseball locally, nationally and internationally.