Del Archibald Remembered as a Great Friend to FSU
By Jim Lamar
Seminole Boosters and the Florida State athletics community lost one of its dearest friends on July 1 when Del Archibald lost his fight with cancer. Archibald, 62, is survived by his wife, Kathy; four sons, a step-daughter and eight grandchildren.
FSU and Seminole Boosters is losing a very good friend, said Tom Carlson, a former FSU basketball coach who now serves as a fundraiser in Seminole Boosters. Del was a guy who asked for little and gave a lot. He wanted to help the program — he wanted to secure the future of the program — and Del and Kathy did just that. They did more than just make a large donation. They became very good friends of mine and that friendship is something I will always cherish.
Archibald never attended Florida State, but fell in love with the Seminoles' athletics program more than 30 years ago. A season ticket holder in both football and men's basketball since the mid-70s, Archibald was also a member of the prestigious Micco Club, comprised of donors who have made a single gift of more than $1 million to Seminole Boosters.
Del and Kathy Archibald's names appear on a plaque outside of the offices of the men's basketball coaching staff.
Del always felt like athletics was a good program for young people in terms of it teaching life skills, Kathy said. It takes discipline to make a good team and to be a part of a good team and that was one of the things he saw in sports that helped young people. He saw the potential of athletics as a valuable resource for our young people.
Though he is well revered in the FSU community as a loyal fan and donor, Archibald is perhaps better known in the professional world as one of the printing industry's pioneers. With what almost amounted to a printing press in the back of his truck, Archibald founded the Printing House in 1972. That company became the third-largest printing operation in the state of Florida.
In 1976, the Printing House began a long and prosperous relationship with Homes & Land magazine. Together, the two companies are believed to be the first to publish a real estate listings magazine.
The Printing House is also believed to have been the first printing operation to use color in real estate magazines and, after buying Homes & Land, the company was the first to make use of the internet to market real estate listings.
Most people refer to the cutting edge,' but we called it the bleeding edge,' Kathy said. We were always trying to come up with innovative ways to cut costs and work with technology. Del was the master at finding better ways of doing things.
He had a tremendous amount of common sense. There was nothing he couldn't fix if it was broken. He just had the ability to look at a problem, break it down and solve it. That ability to solve problems evokes some of the greatest stories friends now tell about Archibald.
Carlson said he still marvels at Archibald's mechanical prowess.
I don't think anyone ever knew how intelligent he was or what a master mechanic he was, Carlson said. He could fix virtually anything. Here he is the CEO and Owner of one of the most successful printing companies in the country and -— from what I've been told — he could tear a printing press down and put it back together by himself.
He was just one of those amazing guys that you feel fortunate to have come across in your life.
Burt Mead, a friend and regular golf partner, said he once told Archibald that his golf cart was acting up.
Now, you've got to remember that Del could probably buy all of us 100 times over, Mead said. But he comes over to my house, picks up my golf cart, takes it home and works on it himself. He brings it back a day or two later and it's fixed.
Del was just that type of guy. We've lost such a great individual and such a great friend. Many of those friends he left behind were first met on the golf course.
Archibald and Mead were part of S.L.U.G.S. — Spencer's Light-hearted Unskilled Golfers Society — that regularly played at Killearn Country Club. Though he didn't begin to regularly play golf until after he sold the Printing House in 1996, Archibald quickly became a favorite in the S.L.U.G.S. group.
Del never really got to be a kid, Kathy said. He was a father at a young age and he had to work to support his family. And he was always building the business. We worked a long time to build the business, so when he finally retired he said, Now, it's time to play.' No one thought he would be able to let go of work. Nobody thought he'd be able to give it up, but I think he finally discovered happiness without work when he was playing golf. Outside of his family, maybe the only thing that captured Archibald's interests more than golf was Florida State athletics.
Carlson can still pinpoint the Archibalds' seats at the Civic Center — right across from our bench, about 10 rows down and almost right between the foul line and center court — and says he made it a point to acknowledge him before each basketball game. Del and Kathy's first date came at an FSU football game.
We loved going to football games even back then, Kathy said. The teams weren't very good — actually the teams were terrible when we started going — but we enjoyed being around other people and hoping that the football team would be good.
We used to go to all the games in Tully Gym when you tried to burn your opponent out from the sweat and the heat. We always loved basketball and Del did a lot to help out in the early years of the program.
The Archibalds were fixtures at the annual ACC Tournaments.
We stayed until the final game every year, Kathy said. We were one of the few FSU fans that stayed for the whole thing every year.
As friends now share, Del Archibald made it a habit of helping others without making a fuss about it.
Mead recalls a time when Archibald volunteered to pick up a friend in need from the airport early one morning.
He had just met the guy, Mead said. But he wanted to help out. That was the kind of guy Del was.
And his generosity towards FSU athletics can be described in much the same way. As generous as he was, he was a very humble gentleman, Mead said. About four years ago, FSU wanted him to be introduced at halftime of one of the football games. I remember him saying, Burt, I don't want to do it.' But they talked him into it. We were up in the stands yelling and waving at him when his name was called out and there was Del on the field with his head down. He really just didn't want to be there. He was very enthused about the honor, but he didn't want it to be a big deal.
That's why the Archibalds donated money anonymously to the Boosters for years. Kathy said they finally allowed the Boosters to put their names outside of the basketball coaching offices, in part because of Del's appreciation of the men's basketball team. We went out to Fan Day last year, Kathy said. Just going through and meeting those young men was very special. They were so nice and such polite young men and it really made us feel good about helping out.
Archibald made plenty of people feel pretty good, especially those who came to call him a friend later in life.
He was a wonderful man, Carlson said. A wonderful man. He went from being a super, energetic, aggressive CEO owner type of a guy into a lovable best friend type of a guy. I think at his death, you could feel a lot of the love people had for Del.
I know that Florida State has lost a great man and a great friend in Del Archibald.