A lasting legacy: Local family has produced 19 BGSU Falcons — and counting

Charles and Martha Konecny have seen 19 consecutive people from their family tree choose to attend BGSU

When Charles Konecny accepted a position with WBGU-TV – a service of Bowling Green State University – in 1964, he made a logical career move into a desirable position in a burgeoning field.

Konecny, a Korean War veteran who celebrated his 92nd birthday earlier this year, also started something he never imagined: he created what is likely one of the largest family trees in the history of BGSU.

“I always wanted to get into television and broadcasting, and it was a good opportunity,” he said. “BGSU was very well known, and to come to a station with its own PBS affiliate was a big deal.”  

Charles and his wife, Martha, planted roots in Bowling Green, and the family’s history has been intertwined with the University ever since.

With Falcon Family Weekend taking place from Oct. 18-20, the Konecny family holds a unique distinction. Since Charles Konecny started at WBGU, their children and grandchildren have picked BGSU 19 times out of 19 opportunities.

All five of the Konecny family’s children graduated from BGSU, and those five now have a combined 19 children – 14 of whom chose BGSU for college and five who are not yet college-aged.

So far, six of the 19 Konecny grandchildren have graduated from BGSU. Another eight are currently attending the University, bringing the total to 19 consecutive Falcons from one family.

Tom Konecny ’92, one of Charles and Martha Konecny’s five children, said multiple generations have thrived at BGSU due to the connections each of them made at the University.  

“I watch a lot of sports at BGSU, and time and time again, I hear student-athletes say it’s the people who make it special, and I have to agree 100%,” Tom Konecny said. “There’s a sense of community and togetherness that makes it feel like home.”

Emily Siesel, one of Charles and Martha Konecny’s 19 grandchildren, is now a junior who plays on the women’s basketball team at BGSU.

The Ohio Division IV Player of the Year as a senior at Buckeye Central High School, Siesel knew she would have options to play college basketball, but always hoped BGSU would show interest.

When the basketball team offered a spot on the roster late in her senior year of high school, Siesel said the choice was easy.

“I remember coming to Family Weekend here when I was a kid, and I always knew it was a great school, so I always had it in the back of my mind that I might come here,” Siesel said. “I knew I always wanted to play basketball, so I wasn’t sure if it would work out. At the end of the day, when it did work out, I knew BGSU is 100% where I wanted to be.”

With so many family members — including both her brother, Jacob, and sister, Katelyn — also enrolled at BGSU, she runs into someone she knows well almost daily on campus.  

“I was selling raffle tickets at the football game where we ran into my family tailgating, then my uncle and his family came over to say hi, and one of my teammates said, ‘Do you know everybody here?’” Siesel said. “It’s really nice to have so much family here.”

As an employee of the University, Charles Konecny said he always imagined his own children would attend BGSU.

But he said he could never have predicted that, so far, every one of his college-aged grandchildren would choose to become Falcons, too.

“When you have a great school in your backyard, why go anywhere else?” Charles Konecny said. “My employment not only provided income for our family, but gave all our kids an opportunity they couldn’t refuse — but I never could have known we’d have 100% enrollment with our grandkids.

“I’m really glad they all chose to be Falcons.”

For one of the largest family trees in the history of BGSU, there is only one place they have called home.

“Bowling Green has always felt like home to us, and it still does,” Tom Konecny said. “There’s just no other university we’d consider for our flock.”