FRANK ESPICH / The Star 2006 file photo

Old friends: 

Earl Townsend went to college with Gerald Ford, who later became president. 

One of the first things Indianapolis attorney Earl Townsend remembered of his college days with Gerald Ford is sharing dishwashing duties with the man who eventually became the 38th president of the United States.

They were undergrads and roommates for two years at the University of Michigan in the late 1930s, Townsend recalled in a phone interview Friday. Townsend, 92, said he never expected his friend and frat brother would end up president of the United States, although Ford always exhibited leadership qualities. 

They roomed together during Townsend's sophomore and junior years. The late president, who will be buried this week in Grand Rapids, Mich., was "into athletics and very knowledgeable about everything at the university" in those days, according to Townsend. 

That familiarity with the Ann Arbor campus came in handy because Townsend was a transfer student when they met, having gone to DePauw University his freshman year. They washed dishes together at the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity house and kept in touch over the years.

 Townsend remembers one visit in particular.  "He came to Indianapolis when he was president and came to my house and had lunch with us," Townsend said.