ERIE, Pa. — Gannon will honor alumnus and longtime supporter and advocate Joe Gaeta at Saturday's football game at Erie Veterans Memorial Stadium.
 
Gaeta, a 1962 Gannon graduate, is stepping back after 55 years of volunteering as a mentor and fundraiser with Gannon Athletics at the end of this academic year.
 
One of the founders of the Gannon Golden Knight Booster Club, now known as Knight Nation, and has served in a number of roles with the organization, including as president and a current member of the board of directors. Under his guidance, Knight Nation membership has grown to more than 1,000 supporters, and since its inception in 1972, the group has raised more than $2.5 million to support the student-athletes and programs of Gannon University.
 
A Brooklyn, New York, native, Gaeta was a member of both the men's basketball and baseball teams at Gannon, lettering in both sports. Serving as team captain of the Golden Knight basketball team, he helped lead the Knights to their first NCAA Division II regional appearance, and amassed more than 600 points in his career.
 
After graduating from Gannon, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, and after three years of active duty service, returned to Erie, where he began a long career with the General Telephone Company — now Verizon. He retired from the U.S. Army Reserves in 1993 with the rank of colonel, and retired from GTE three years later.
 
Gaeta was inducted into Gannon Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011, the Metropolitan Erie Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2006 and the La Salle Academy (N.Y.) Hall of Fame in 2005.