Roselyn McKittrick, Milan '54 Museum Founder, Dies

McKittrick's museum preserved the story of the 1954 Milan Indians basketball team.

Milan '54 Museum founder Roselyn McKittrick died on Saturday, March 16. File photo.

(Milan, Ind.) – Perhaps even more than a Hollywood movie, Roselyn McKittrick may have been the single biggest reason the legend of the 1954 Milan High School boys basketball team has survived all these years.

McKittrick died on Saturday, March 16 surrounded by her children in Milan. She was 84.

She was the founder of the Milan ’54 Museum,  the biggest collection of memorabilia about the high school basketball team which inspired the movie Hoosiers. The museum started with a small collection in McKittrick’s antique shop on Carr Street.

Today, it is housed in a former bank building and barber shop to show off thousands of items – jerseys, films, scorebooks, even the giant state tournament bracket – related to the Indians team and their storied "David versus Goliath" run to a state title.

The museum released a statement about its founder's death: “Roselyn established our museum to commemorate the unbelievable achievement of the MILAN Indians 1954 Indiana High School State Basketball Championship. She worked with much determination to provide a museum that has attracted tens of thousands of visitors. Her passion was for the town of Milan and the Miracle of the Milan Indians. Her passing is immense and she will be sorely missed. We pray for her family. We as her followers, commit to carrying on her Legacy.”

In a past interview with Eagle Country 99.3, Roselyn recalled what MHS coach Marvin Wood’s wife, Mary Lou, told the 1954 championship team after their historic win.

“It’s nice to be important, but it is more important to be nice,” McKittrick said. It was one of her favorite stories to tell when reminiscing about the team.

Roselyn was also an unofficial town historian in Milan. In 2016, she was an honorary torchbearer for the Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay through Ripley County.

McKittrick is survived by sons Dennis and Tom McKittrick, daughter Rhonda Harvey, five grandsons, and three great grandsons.

Services for Roselyn McKittrick will be held Saturday, March 23 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church in Milan. Her family is asking that memorial donations be made to the St. Paul Lutheran Church Sunday School Program or the Milan ’54 Museum.