COEUR d'ALENE - The plan to build a multi-sport field house at Coeur d'Alene High School has received a huge boost.

Charles "Bud" Ford, 82, has offered $100,000 to the Viking Field House campaign. Ford, of Coeur d'Alene, has requested the new facility be named in honor of his wife, June Ford.

The drive to raise funds to build the field house is being led by the mothers of former Viking athletes Ryan Reinhardt and Devon Austin. The teens died in a car crash just months after their 2010 graduation from CHS.

"It's heartbreaking," Ford said. "It's a tragedy. They have a loss, and I have a loss."

June, Ford's wife of 40 years, has Alzheimer's dementia and is now confined to a wheelchair.

Ford reached out to Ryan's mom, Laura Wilson, and Devon's mom, Paula Austin, last summer, after reading a Press story about their efforts to raise funds to build the field house. "Coeur d'Alene has been very good to me," Ford said. "The Coeur d'Alene School District has given myself and my children an excellent education."

Ford, a 1948 graduate of CHS, has his own special connection to North Idaho student athletics - a 61-year career officiating football games throughout the region. He also officiated basketball games for 35 years, but gave that up in the 1970s.

Choking back tears, Ford said Friday that his wife will never leave the nursing home where she now resides.

"She is a brilliant woman," he said.

At different times through the years, June worked for The Coeur d'Alene Press and Idaho First National Bank. She also sold real estate, Ford said.

"She was a wonderful stepmother to my children," he said.

Ford, who says he's "nearly a native son," owned an appliance store in Coeur d'Alene for many years. He also owned Hayden Pines Mobile Plaza and Hayden Pines Water Company.

Parents, coaches and other Vikings athletic supporters have been working on the field house fundraising campaign for several months.

Ford's gift will bring them up to the $150,000 needed to construct the 100-by-75-foot facility. The plan is for the building to be situated in the southeast corner of the CHS parking lot.

"There are a million different projects he could have picked to donate to," said Ryan's mother, Laura Wilson. "We are moved beyond words. It's not just the money. It's the love, the caring for the community. It's a huge honor."

Devon Austin's mother, Paula, said this is a wonderful Christmas gift for them.

This holiday season, the second since the loss of their sons, has been particularly painful, said Laura Wilson.

Ford said he understands the mothers' pain as he grieves the loss of his wife to Alzheimer's.

"Sometimes, I wonder how I'm going to get through it," he said.

It's not the first time Ford and his wife have made a significant contribution to student athletics in Idaho.

They gave a $1 million gift to the University of Idaho's Kibbie Activity Center Renovation and Expansion Project in Moscow. The newly remodeled Kibbie Dome, and its Bud and June Ford Club Room, was unveiled earlier this year.

School board members in Coeur d'Alene have not yet approved the naming of the "June Ford Viking Field House." Planners of the facility have also asked that a memorial be added to the building: "In memory of Devon Austin and Ryan Reinhardt."

The school district does not have a policy addressing the naming of facilities in exchange for gifts. They are now working to draft a facility naming policy and a separate memorial policy.

"We need to have framework in place that sets guidelines ensuring that a gift is consistent with the missions and values of the school district," said board trustee, Tom Hamilton.

Acceptance of Ford's gift, without a policy in place, would set a precedent that could put the district at risk of litigation if, in the future, they turn down a donor's request to name a facility, Hamilton said.

He said he is unaware of any board opposition to the project.

"We're very excited about his gift. It's unbelievably generous," Hamilton said.

Organizers of the field house campaign will be continuing their fundraising efforts so they can pay for equipment and other expenses they anticipate beyond building the structure.

Donations can be sent to Viking Dugout Club (501c3), 2707 N. Ninth St., Coeur d'Alene, 83814.

They should be marked "Viking Field House."