But now, the rest of the story.

It was back in the fall of 1946 when he first pulled into the Memorial Stadium parking lot on the K-State campus in a 1930 Model-A Ford. Since then, Berber has seen all but two home football games of the Wildcats in the last 61 years.

Laughing, Berber said, “Yeah, I think you could say I bleed purple. I love football, I love basketball, and I love Kansas State.

Naomi, his wife of 55 years, goes so far as to say, ‘’If they moved the Kansas State football team to the Mojave Desert, we would have moved right along with the team.”

The only home KSU games Berber has missed in the last 61 years came on Sept. 13, 2003, when he missed the UMass game to attend the funeral of his sister (Ann) in Leoti, in western Kansas, and the Iowa State game on Nov. 20, 2004, when he was recovering from cryo surgery for prostate cancer.

For certain, no one deserves a “Mr. Powercat” label more than Berber when you consider the following.

• In the first seven years Berber had season tickets — 1946-1952 — Kansas State won five games. That’s a total of five games!

In fact, Berber attended nine home games covering a portion of three seasons before he left the stadium a winner — a 37-6 win over Arkansas State.

• Overall, in seven seasons K-State went winless; in 16 other fall seasons, the Wildcats had no more than two wins.

• Berber went through coaches Hobbs Adams, Sam Francis, Ralph Graham, Bill Meek, Bus Mertes, Doug Weaver, Vince Gibson, Ellis Rainsberger, Jim Dickey and Stan Parrish before Kansas State finally got it right with Bill Snyder.

But even the ever optimistic Berber admits, “No, never,” when asked if he ever thought that the Wildcats could become a perennial Top 10 team, going to bowl games 11 years in a row, winning four Big 12 North Division titles and one Big 12 Championship.

“I don’t think anybody thought Kansas State would win like that,” said Berber, who turned 82 this past summer. “I hate to say this, but I was an elder in church with President (Duane) Acker, and he was just a guy you didn’t talk sports with. It wasn’t like it’s been with (Jon) Wefald.”

How it all startedBerber grew up in Beeler — population ‘’about 200′’ — located just 16 miles west of Ness City on Highway 96.Berber grew up in Beeler — population ‘’about 200′’ — located just 16 miles west of Ness City on Highway 96.With his sister afraid of going to school at the age of 6, it was 4-year-old TJ — ‘’TJ stands for TJ, that’s it.'’ — who accompanied her to school.Berber grew up in Beeler — population ‘’about 200′’ — located just 16 miles west of Ness City on Highway 96.With his sister afraid of going to school at the age of 6, it was 4-year-old TJ — ‘’TJ stands for TJ, that’s it.'’ — who accompanied her to school.'’She was scared to death, so I was just going to stay there for a couple days to be with her. But there was a new teacher, and with my mother being Mexican American, things got mixed up, so I just started school,'’ said Berber. Chuckling, he added, ‘’I think my mom probably knew it wasn’t right, but I think she just wanted me out of the house.'’

The early start resulted in Berber graduating from Beeler High at the age of 15, and enrolling at Dodge City Community College to play football and basketball at the age of 16.

“I tell people that I have something in common with coach (Ron) Prince,'’ Berber laughed. ‘’We both played at Dodge City, but I was about 100 years before him.”

After serving with the Marine Corps in World War II, Berber was headed to the University of Kansas to enter law school in the fall of 1946.

“The lights on my Model A were getting dim, so I stopped in Manhattan to get them fixed,” Berber reflected. “I ended up eating at Scheu’s and some guys there said, ‘Why do you want to go to KU and be a lawyer, we party here every night.’ “

That was all Berber needed to become a Wildcat.

“That first year I had tickets as a student, guys from the barracks would take cases of beer to the stadium. Before long they didn’t know if they were watching a football game or a poker game,” Berber said. “That’s when I snuck over to the west side of the stadium because I really wanted to watch the game. I just loved football.”

Living in one of seven Splinterville barracks reserved for war veterans located across from Aggieville, Berber completed a degree in history and physical education, and decided to try his hand at coaching.

After going to Fairview High School, located in Brown County, he returned to K-State to complete work on a master’s when he became friends with Earl Woods, father of Tiger Woods.

“I remember going to the Palace Drug Store for Cokes, but they wouldn’t let him in because of his color,” Berber recalled.

Berber would later coach at Leonardville, become principal at Green, and superintendent of schools at Delphos.

All were locations close enough to Manhattan that Berber never missed a home game.

Not one!”I sat by Elmer Hackney (former KSU player). Elmer was a big guy and Naomi used to sit where he would be on the north side of her to block the wind,” said Berber. “He didn’t show up one game, and Naomi just gave him the devil the next week because that wind hit her and she froze.”"I sat by Elmer Hackney (former KSU player). Elmer was a big guy and Naomi used to sit where he would be on the north side of her to block the wind,” said Berber. “He didn’t show up one game, and Naomi just gave him the devil the next week because that wind hit her and she froze.”It was also as a KSU student that Berber started a 60-year officiating hobby that lasted until last year with middle school volleyball.”I sat by Elmer Hackney (former KSU player). Elmer was a big guy and Naomi used to sit where he would be on the north side of her to block the wind,” said Berber. “He didn’t show up one game, and Naomi just gave him the devil the next week because that wind hit her and she froze.”It was also as a KSU student that Berber started a 60-year officiating hobby that lasted until last year with middle school volleyball.”The first football I officiated was a 6-man game at Randolph,” Berber said. “I got $4.”

Berber, who served as commissioner of the Blue Valley League (now the Twin Valley) for 29 years, worked with the likes of Ralph Brooks, Gary Zinn and Bruce Brazzle in football for nearly 30 years, and was paired with Gary Patterson in basketball for a portion of his 40-year whistle-blowing career.

Berber also officiated junior varsity K-State basketball games where he caught the eye of Kansas coach Ted Owens, who recommended him to be a substitute Big 8 Conference official.

In 1959, Berber started a for-real career that would run until 1990 with the McPherson Farmers Alliance Insurance Company, which allowed him to return to Manhattan, where he still resides, cheering each and every Wildcat team.

After enduring the Weaver era of 1960-1966, which were seven seasons when K-State did not score a single touchdown against arch-rival Kansas, Purple Pride hit the KSU campus with the arrival of coach Gibson in 1967, and the opening of KSU Stadium in 1968.

Berber was there for the last game at Memorial on Nov. 18, 1967 — a 40-6 loss to Colorado — and in place at 4-34-7/8 for the first game of KSU Stadium on Sept. 21, 1968 — a 21-0 win over Colorado State.

“Leaving Memorial was sad, but it was even sadder that nobody was there,” Berber said.

With the move to the present stadium, Berber took the financial plunge and purchased a pair of the premier chairback seats at a pricey $500 per seat.

“I told Ernie (Barrett, KSU’s AD) that I didn’t have that kind of money, so he said I could take a couple years to pay it off,” said Berber. “I still didn’t have the money, but I wanted those seats because I loved Kansas State that much.”

Berber says that the games after 61 years sort of “blur together,” but says his fondest memory is the Quincy Morgan catch of a Jonathan Beasley pass that beat Nebraska, 29-28, in 2000.

He remembers Mack Herron as being “one of the greatest I ever saw,” and remembers Gene Keady once running for a touchdown with one shoe on.

“That Veryl Switzer was excellent,” Berber adds. “He could really tackle.”

Berber remembers that Switzer’s mother drove from Nicodemus every weekend to see her son play. Her routine included stopping at Naomi’s father’s (Roland) Skelly Station for a breakfast break before the game, and then would get a free fill-up after the game on her way home.

He also remembers one of the first night TV games played at mid-week at KSU Stadium.

“Nobody was there. There wasn’t anyone sitting within 60 feet of us,” said Berber, who, along with Naomi, has attended two postseason games, going to the Copper Bowl in 1993 and Cotton Bowl of 1996.

In basketball, Berber has been around long enough to see the closing of Nichols Gymnasium in 1950, the opening of Ahearn Field House in 1950-51, the final game of Ahearn in 1988, and the opening of Bramlage Coliseum in 1988-89.

The last season?Berber first learned he had prostate cancer in 2004 and underwent a freezing procedure called cryo surgery.Berber first learned he had prostate cancer in 2004 and underwent a freezing procedure called cryo surgery.In 2005, he went through radiation, and just two months ago, he learned that the cancer had spread to the point treatments would be useless.Berber first learned he had prostate cancer in 2004 and underwent a freezing procedure called cryo surgery.In 2005, he went through radiation, and just two months ago, he learned that the cancer had spread to the point treatments would be useless.”That puts you in your place in a hurry,” Berber said.

“But I feel great. I have some weakness in my lower legs, but I feel fine. I played nine holes of golf yesterday (last week) and even got a couple pars,” Berber said.

Pausing, Berber says he understands that this will likely be his final season of Kansas State football at 4-34-7/8.

Of his prognosis, Berber said, “The doctors say with bad luck, it could be by the end of the year; with good luck, next spring.”