Chris Pate owns a 1967 Rose Bowl game ball signed by the entire Purdue team

There’s a Purdue-Indiana basketball ticket from 1932 … signed by Johnny Wooden

Pate owns a ticket from every Purdue-Indiana football game except the first two

BEDFORD — The mecca of Purdue sports memorabilia cannot be found on the Mackey Arena concourse or inside Ross-Ade Stadium.

(At least, not yet. More on that later.)

Imagine a landmark moment in Boilermaker history – and we mean deep in that history. Chris Pate probably acquired the program for the game, or the ball the teams used, or some trinket players received. In many cases, all three are displayed on the walls, bookshelves and showcases in the basement of his Bedford-area home.

That’s right – this treasure trove resides fewer than 20 miles from IU’s Assembly Hall.

The only signs of Pate’s allegiance on the main floor of his home are French bulldogs Skillet and Amelia — named for Purdue legends in football and aviation. He and his wife, Corry, met as Chemistry lab partners as freshmen. She encourages the collection – as long as it stays on the lower level.

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It helps that Pate’s motivations go beyond his own enjoyment of the trinkets, equipment and paraphernalia.

“I told her, if I get hit by a bus, don’t have a yard sale,” Pate said.

Pate’s business cards list his title as “Purdue Sports Collector.” It’s an unofficial title, though he does have permission to say he is associated with the athletic department. He isn’t merely building a passion project for he and his son, Grayson, to enjoy in the basement. He wants to share this legacy.

Over time, fandom transformed into a calling.

“Chris maxes out on everything,” said Tim House, deputy athletic director and associate vice president for development. “He gives to the John Purdue Club at the highest level he can, he comes to games, he’s on the sidelines photographing. He’s really trying to help us preserve and enhance the history.”

Why does the most prolific collector of old gold and black memorabilia live barely outside the shadow of Assembly Hall? It’s convenient to his job at Naval Support Activity Crane. He helps equip F-18 fighter jets with radar-jamming technology.

Pate said he turned down an appointment to the Air Force Academy to enroll in Purdue’s engineering school in 1995. (He was also accepted to Georgia Tech, but decided “I couldn’t do that to my dad,” an ardent Georgia Bulldogs fan.) Instead he arrived in West Lafayette on a full ride through Air Force ROTC, with dreams of following the school’s linage of astronauts.

He arrived at perhaps the most perfect juncture in Purdue’s sports history for creating a fanatic. Men’s basketball completed its Big Ten championship three-peat during his freshman year. Joe Tiller arrived during his junior year. He was a classmate of Ukari Figgs, the Most Outstanding Player of the 1999 women’s Final Four, which culminated in Purdue’s national championship.

“Everyone was good, and it was such an awesome time to be at Purdue,” Pate said. “I think that just kind of fueled the fire.”

Pate won a tournament to earn a walk-on spot on Purdue’s golf team as a freshman. He chose not to return for a second year, but wanted to remain involved in athletics. He landed a job in the equipment room, which led to a post as manager for the inaugural Boilermaker women’s soccer team. (In recognition of those roots, the Pates host annually the current equipment managers on the eve of the Old Oaken Bucket game.)

Those gigs provided Pate access to some discarded or phased-out memorabilia in real time. He also wound up in the right place at the right time. When Katie Douglas threw the ball in the air as the women’s basketball team began celebrating that national championship victory, guess who caught it on the way down?

Pate’s true collecting career did not start until after graduation, though. For a while he maintained a modest display in a built-in China cabinet. Then a 1995 men’s basketball Big Ten championship ring popped up on eBay. The final sale price – around $500-$700 by Pate’s best recollection – seems modest compared to some later additions. Back then, though, a purchase like that came with a tinge of pain.

“It was one of those things where I didn’t know if I had enough money to pay for that and pay my mortgage, but I made it work,” Pate said.

That ring, which originally belonged to a Mackey Arena worker named Bob Shedrow, was sold by a Bloomington resident named John Pfeifer. Pate, already living in Bedford by then, decided to skip shipping and pick the ring up in person. There he encountered Pfeifer’s IU collection, considered the largest in the world.

The display astonished Pate – and inspired him.

Pfeifer, an Attica native, collected IU and Purdue pieces for decades. When he decided to start parting with the Purdue half of the collection, Pate became a frequent customer.

He also became part of what he refers to as a “good ‘ol boys network.” He met or connected with collectors of other Big Ten teams, who helped each other locate and obtain pieces. Tippecanoe County pawn shops knew to call Pate if any historical Purdue items come across their counter.

The next piece in the collection remains Corry’s favorite – a 1967 Rose Bowl game ball signed by the entire team. It was presented after the game to astronaut Roger Chaffee, who along with fellow Purdue grad Gus Grissom was training for the Apollo 1 mission. They rode in the Rose Parade on Jan. 2, and 25 days later died in a fire during training.

Pate’s own astronaut endeavors ended when asthma forced him out of ROTC. For someone who grew up going to Space Camp, though, that ball transcended sports history.

The pursuit grew from there, exponentially. Think a 1932 Purdue-Indiana basketball ticket is a rare item? How about one signed by Johnny Wooden, as the All-American and future coaching legend went by as a student.

Pate points out the ball from the 1901 Purdue-IU football game. Then he trumps that revelation by motioning to the 1900 ball displayed in another room.

The jersey Mark Herrmann wore when he broke the NCAA passing record hangs next to ones worn by Glenn Robinson, Drew Brees and Rick Mount. A leather football helmet from the 1920s made it all the way to Egypt before Pate bought it on eBay.

He completed a run of Old Oaken Bucket game programs — and has several dating back earlier than the 1925 start of that traveling trophy. So then he set out to complete a run of all the tickets from that rivalry game. He’s only missing the first two.

Pate’s collecting history in real time, too. He recently added a pair of Zach Edey’s enormous shoes – worn until they wore out because they were so hard to find for the 7-4 two-time national player of the year.

Pate welcomes media attention — not for egotistical reasons, but because he hopes his story might bring previously unknown items into the daylight.

“You never know what else is still out there,” Pate said. “You feel like Granny’s attic has been emptied at this point. But there’s still stuff out there.”

By 2002, Pate’s collection began to outgrow the corner of the dining room in the family’s two-bedroom ranch. So they built their current home with plans to house the memorabilia in the basement. It still functions as a space for overnight guests – as long as they don’t mind floor-to-ceiling Boilermaker colors, apparel and heirlooms.

While Pate’s collection threatens to exceed his basement’s dimensions, he is not a hoarder.

“As much as I love having this stuff down here, some of it is too good to be in my basement,” Pate said. “It needs to be at Purdue. It needs to be on display where Purdue fans can see it.”

That wish recently began to materialize. Pate gave Purdue some pieces of his collection for use in the newly renovated Pete Dye Clubhouse at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex. They were on display when the courses hosted the Junior PGA Championships.

House said meetings have been held with the basketball staff to discuss how Pate’s collection might be incorporated into the Mackey Arena concourse. A future display at one of the football facilities remains possible as well.

“His leadership and showing how much he cares about our history becomes contagious amongst our fan base and everyone who comes across the work he’s done and comes across him,” House said. “There’s a myriad of ways he impacts what we do.”

As Pate sees a visitor out, a FedEx truck pulls up to his driveway with multiple packages.

The tour of the basement museum ends, but the exhibits never stop growing.

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