=Linfielder Mike Barrow’s name added in 2019 to Central Oregon Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Bend, Ore., nearly 50 years after his death=

...ATTENTION: Linfielders in Bend or near Bend ... photo with this story "borrowed" from Bend Bulletin website. Would like to replace it with a similar photo and other photos you take with your iPhone or smartphone camera and email to wildcatville@gmail.com    Thank you...

Prineville native honored on Vietnam War memorial, nearly 50 years after death

Prineville native gets a plaque on Bend’s Vietnam War memorial nearly 50 years after his death

Story by Kyle Spurr in Bend, Ore., Bulletin daily newspaper on 5/26/2019

https://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/7184211-151/prineville-man-honored-on-vietnam-war-memorial-nearly?referrer=more
 

Clint Brumitt, a retired schoolteacher who grew up in Bend, occasionally visits the Central Oregon Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Bend’s Deschutes Memorial Gardens cemetery to reminisce about old friends who were killed in the war.

He recognizes the names of old classmates on the memorial. One was a catcher on his Little League team. Another was a teammate on the Central Oregon Community College basketball team.

On a visit to the memorial a few years ago, Brumitt discovered a name was missing. He couldn’t find his childhood friend, Mike Barrow, who grew up in Prineville and played with Brumitt on a local American Legion baseball team in the summer of 1962.

“In taking a moment to remember those I knew, I realized that Mike’s name was not on the monument,” Brumitt said. “That started a multiyear search to make it happen.”

That three-year search ended last week, when Barrow’s name was etched on a plaque and added to the monument, just in time for Memorial Day. But adding his name was a long process that took the help of old friends and classmates who remembered Barrow’s ties to Central Oregon.

Brumitt, who retired to Eugene after a 34-year teaching career in Southern Oregon, initially did some research and found Barrow was a Portland resident when he was drafted into the Vietnam War, so his military records did not make it obvious he should be honored in Central Oregon.

“He had changed his draft board to Portland,” Brumitt said. “So in essence, his connection to Crook County was gone.”

Brumitt went to find proof of Barrow’s connection to Prineville and contacted another old friend, Bob Claypool, who graduated from Crook County High School with Barrow in 1963.

Claypool, a retired housing supervisor at Southern Oregon University who lives in the tiny Jackson County town of Talent, still had his 1963 class yearbook that was full of photos of Barrow, including a photo of Barrow on the school’s football team.

Last fall, Claypool went to his 55th high school class reunion and told the 30 classmates in attendance about the effort to get Barrow’s name on the local monument. Two of the classmates had contact information for Barrow’s older sister, Mary Gail Barrow, who lives in Portland and gave her blessing to have her brother’s name added to the monument.

It was a successful step forward, Claypool said.

“We were always all good friends,” Claypool said of his high school class. “You don’t find that with a lot of classes. We always took care of each other in some way.”

The final hurdle to honor Barrow was to fundraise $457.50, the cost of creating a plaque with Barrow’s name to be attached to the monument.

Claypool sent letters to the 84 remaining members of the 1963 classes asking for a small donation for the project.

“Within three days we had more than we needed for the plaque,” Claypool said.

A total of 24 classmates contributed money, and the remaining funds are being saved for future events for the class, he said.

The classmates are planning to meet sometime in June or July to have a ceremony at the memorial to honor Barrow.

Before being drafted into the Vietnam War, Barrow was a three-sport athlete in high school. He excelled in baseball, basketball and football. He went on to play baseball and football at Linfield College in McMinnville. He was also remembered as an excellent student.

In 2011, Linfield College named a room in its Nicholson Library the Mike Barrow Study Room.

Barrow, who served in the Army during the Vietnam War, was 23 when he was killed on June 23, 1969.

His name is listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., among roughly 58,000 other names.

Brumitt said he hates to have lost friends like Barrow in Vietnam and is reminded of the ugliness of war when he sees the names listed on memorials. But those monuments are an important way to remember the sacrifice. And now Central Oregon residents can honor one of their own when they see Barrow’s name on the local memorial, he said.

“Every veteran should be recognized,” Brumitt said. “It’s nice to get him on the Central Oregon wall as well.”

#

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Read more about Mike Barrow here:

http://wildcatville.blogspot.com/2011/10/cheering-over-but-mike-barrow-still.html?m=1

BILLY MAXWELL and AVARD WHITMAN SHOULD BE ENSHRINED IN THE LINFIELD ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME

=BILLY MAXWELL, 1902-1976, Linfield College Class of 1924

Long time scoreboard operator for Linfield football and men's basketball games Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame, member Norm Goss followed in Billy's footsteps. Goss' Hall of Fame write-up says Goss was an "understudy to the immortal Billy Maxwell and as the first-team scorer since Mr. Maxwell retired.”

There's a possibility that Ez Koch, also a Hall of Famer, followed in Billy's footsteps, too, as a football scoreboard operator.

Billy, a former McMinnville High School principal, was a consummate Linfield sports fan, especially in football. In his Wildcat fandom heyday, you could depend on Billy watching football games, especially those on the road, from his car.

He also helped Linfield Athletics financially. That financial support ran in the family. He was son of J.O. Maxwell, who "donated most of the money necessary to purchase the property" or "donated land" on which Maxwell Field is located.

The book about Linfield history, "Bricks without Straw" by Jonas "Stein" Jonasson, published in 1938, says for about a third of a century, J.O. Maxwell "has had children or grandchildren" attending the college.

Read more:

https://wildcatville.blogspot.com/2008/05/billy-maxwell-long-time-linfield.html

Billy's footsteps are those which Hall of Famers Norm, and possibly, Ez walked. Billy should be a Hall of Famer, too.

=E. AVARD WHITMAN, 1899-1964, Linfield College (then McMinnville College) Class of 1920

Namesake of Linfield's Whitman Hall, which opened as a women's residence hall in 1965.

He was Linfield register and professor of English for 26 years, from 1938-1964.

During all or most of those 26 years he was Linfield Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR) to the Northwest Conference (NWC). And, he also served as a NWC president. 

Linfield Hall of Famer Ken Williams called Whitman "great" and "brilliant."

Impressed with Whitman's ability as registrar at Linfield, Williams decided as a Linfield student to become a registrar. And, eventually, Williams became Linfield register and FAR, too.

Whitman was held in high regard by everyone at Linfield, including Linfield Athletics director and coaches.

Ken walked in Avard's footsteps. Ken is in the Hall of Fame. Avard should be, too.

 .............

Ernest Avard Whitman (E. Avard Whitman, Avard Whitman, "Doc" Whitman)

Birth 3 Nov 1899 - China where his parents were Baptist missionaries. Birth registered in Oregon.

Death 14 Oct 1964 - Yamhill County, Oregon, USA in McMinnville General Hospital (death certificate)

Mother Elia Campbell Whitman

Father George Ernest Whitman

Born in China on 3 Nov 1899 (death certificate) to George Ernest Whitman and Elia Campbell Whitman. Ernest Avard Whitman died at age 64 on 14 Oct 1964 (death certificate) in McMinnville General Hospital (death certificate). According to his death certificate, disposition by cremation and inurnment at St. Crest Abbey Mausoleum, Salem, Ore. However, an online search 1/24/2023 did not find his ashes location at that Salem facility.

Whitman Hall dormitory at Linfield was built in 1960 and named for Avard Whitman, Class of 1921, professor of English from 1938 to 1964 and Registrar from 1946 to 1964.

 https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/ernest-avard-whitman-24-1qdj8h9

 

 

 

 

 

#

REMEMBERING STEVE THOMAS, LINFIELDER

Steve Thomas (class of 1948, biology) was an excellent player on the Henry Lever-coached 1947 Linfield baseball team which won the college's first Northwest Confernce title in that sport. After graduating, he was an exceptional groundskeeper (director of campus grounds) for Linfield from 1948 until his death in 1977. His duties included maintaining Maxwell (football and track) Field and Linfield's baseball field. But, there was so much more to his life. Read on …

Thirty-year groundskeeper dies

McMinnville News-Register, Oct. 19, 1977, page 1, with slight edits

Steve Thomas, director of campus grounds at Linfield College for almost 30 years, died Tuesday morning after falling while pruning a maple tree.

Thomas, 59, died en route to the University of Oregon Health Sciences Center. Cause of death was massive head injuries, according to Tim Marsh of UOHSC.

Using a small chainsaw and aluminum m fruit-picking ladder, he was pruning a maple tree between Whitman and pioneer halls, starting about 8 o’clock Tuesday morning. Police detective Terry Ward said Thomas either lost his balance or the ladder tipped. In falling, he struck his head on the concrete curb.

After hearing the accident, which happened shortly before 11 a.m., Whitman Hall dormitory head resident Mike Mikkelson immediately called an ambulance. Thomas was taken to McMinnville Hospital and then transferred to Portland.

He was pronounced dead at OHSU.

A 1948 graduate of Linfield, Thomas enrolled at the college before World War II. After leaving for military service in the war, he returned to complete his degree in biology.

After graduating, he began work as campus grounds director.

#

Steve Thomas: “he made the campus come alive’

By Dick Hughes, McMinnville News-Register, Oct. 19, 1977

When Linfield College groundskeeper Steve Thomas died Tuesday, he left behind a flowering campus he has cared for as a student and employee for more than 30 years.

With students gone this week for fall break and the U.S flag at half-staff after his death, the campus was quiet yesterday. Faculty and staff spoke about the loss they felt.

“He was a great person. He'll be missed, but he left a monument on the campus, said President Emeritus Harry Dillin, who was the college controller when Thomas was a freshman in 1940.

“We'll go through the campus and see Steve in the flowers. The young people who are still to come, they’ll never know Steve but they’ll see what he left them in a beautiful campus,

An outstanding athlete, with a special liking for baseball, Thomas loved Oregon and Linfield.

In his senior year, when the biology student was unsure whether to go into coaching, "I talked with him about sacrificing himself to the maintenance field, to taking care of the grounds.

“He loved his flowers, I always considered him one of the most important cogs in the Linfield family.”

Dillin said (Thomas) sometimes would come into the president's office distraught because somebody had (run through his shrubbery or cut his flowers apparently for office or home) decorations.

“He had three great loves – he family, he was a great family man; the outdoors, he loved hunting and athletics; and Linfield, he loved the campus.”

A 1948 Linfield graduate, Thomas immediately joined the grounds staff full time. As the campus expanded, he helped designed then landscaping.

The “Sounds of Linfield” phonograph record, produced in 1975-1976 includes Thomas mowing a lawn on an autumn afternoon. He was known by many of the student for his work, and attendance at sports events and practices and other events.

“For Linfield, said President Dr. Charles Walker, "Steve was a hero.”

“He loved what he did and he used his biology training to make the campus come alive.

“He never stopped learning and whenever there was a special lecture, convocation; musical event or athletic game, Steve was there. He was a sensitive human being whom we will miss deeply, but whose mark here will be seen for decades.”

#

Editorial: Life of Steve Thomas had many important lessons

McMinnville News-Register, Oct. 21, 1977

Instances of sudden, accidental death serve to remind us how fleeting are our years in this life. The Tuesday fall which killed Steve Thomas – Linfield college groundskeeper for 30 years –takes that reminder several steps further.

Little can be added to commentary by two Linfield College presidents published earlier this week. “He's a great person. He’ll be missed, but he left a monument on the campus,” said the president emeritus. “Quietly he did his job and much, much more to help the college,” said the current president. “He was known and enjoyed by everyone.”

We have one supplementary thought.

The American family is suffering from a national divorce syndrome which has produced great social problems in its wake; the American worker too often displays concern only for money and lack of real pride in his work, and mediocrity continues to creep into our lives through the resulting products and services; the American social conscience slowly is being replaced by government beauracracies, and a completely mobile population more and more turning away from its own problems,

For each of these lamentable trends, there is an important lesson in the life and example set by Steve Thomas. His family, his employer. his friends and his community all reaped the benefits of his steadfast devotion; his pride and integrity. We can think of few basic needs of today's American society more important than to relearn the lessons provided by the simple life of this one McMinnville man.

#

Obituary: STEPHEN THOMAS

McMinnville News-Register, Oct. 21, 1977

Mass of Christian burial for Linfield college dirt of grounds Stephen j Thomas, 59, McMinnville, was Oct 21, 1977, at St James Catholic Church with the Rev. John Engel officiating.

Interment was in St. James cemetery. Rosary was Oct 20 at the Chapel of Macy & son funeral director.

Mr. Thomas died Oct. 18 following an accident at Linfield.’

Son of Stephen J. and Helen Orosz Thomas was born April 13, 1918, at Barnesboro, Penn., where he was reared.

He began attending Linfield in 1939 with h[s study interrupted by Army service during World War II. After returning to Linfield, he was graduated with a biology degree in 1948.

Since then he had served as director of grounds.

He was a member of the McMinnville Men’s Garden Club, of which he was past president; Portland branch of the American Rhododendron Society; and the Elks Club

Survivors include his wife, Catherine, McMinnville, two son, Dr. Stephen J. Thomas, Beaverton; and William J. Thomas, McMinnville; daughter, Mary Darling, Corvallis; two brothers, John Thomas, Barnesboro, Penn., and Joseph Thomas, Euclid, Ohio, three sisters Helen Madaio of Euclid, Ann Bauer of North Haldon, N. J., and Betty Rubbo of Harrisburg, Penn., and five grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Steve Thomas Memorial fund in care of Linfield College.

#

Death Notice Oregonian Oct 20, 1977

THOMAS – Stephen J., late of McMinnville, Oct 18; husband of Catherine; father of Dr. Stephen J. Thomas, Portland, William J. Thomas. McMinnville; Mary Darling, Corvallis; brother of John, Joseph and Ann Bauer; 5 grandchildren. Recitation of the Rosary Thursday, Oct 20, 8: 15 p.m. at the Chapel of MACY & SON, Mass Friday, Oct 21, 1:30 p.m. at St. James Catholic Church, McMinnville, internment St. James Cemetery, and contributions may be made to Steve Thomas Memorial Fund, care of Linfield College.

#
Catherine ‘Kay’ Veronica Thomas, widow of Steve Thomas

Corvallis, Ore., Gazette-Times, March 16, 2006

Catherine "Kay" Veronica Thomas of Corvallis died Sunday of natural causes at Stoneybrook Assisted Living. She was 81.

Feb. 28, 1925 - March 12, 2006

She was born to Thomas "Tom" Harry Barker and Frances Elizabeth Grennan in Trenton, N.J. She was raised from age 2 by her aunt Mary Agnes Coyle in Jersey City. She graduated from Saint Michaels High School in the early 1940s.

Kay went to work in New York City, first as an office aide and then as a telephone operator for AT&T.

She met a handsome sailor from Pennsylvania at a dance. In 1945 she married that sailor, Stephen John Thomas, in Barnesboro, Penn., after he served as a medic in World War II. The couple then moved to McMinnville, where Stephen Thomas got a degree from Linfield College and then became the school's groundskeeper.

They had four children. The youngest, James "Jim" John Thomas, died in a car accident in 1973 when he was 21. Four years later, her husband died in a work accident.

She then moved to Newport and later Portland, where she worked at an information booth at Portland Community College's Sylvania campus. She retired in 1987. In the early 1990s she moved to Corvallis. She moved into Stoneybrook Lodge in 1999.

Kay enjoyed social dancing, including ballroom, clog and tap. She was a fan of opera and the arts. In her later years she attended lifelong learning classes at Oregon State University and worked as a liaison between the Stoneybrook library and the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library Bookmobile. She also served a term as head of the lodge's resident board.

Survivors include sons and daughters-in-law Stephen and Carole Thomas of Portland and William and Sandra Thomas of Amity; daughter Mary Darling of Corvallis; grandchildren Stephen John Thomas and wife Hiromi of Portland, Jennifer Thomas of Portland, Brett Sweeden and wife Kari of McMinnville, Mark Thomas and wife Cherise of San Francisco, Calif., Kari Haskell and husband Brian of Las Vegas, Nev., Sarah Taylor and husband Shawn of Amity, Catherine Eileen Darling of New York City, N.Y., and Dylan James Darling of Redding, Calif.; and great-grandchildren Noah Thomas of Portland, and Abigail and Lucy Haskell of Las Vegas, Nev.

Services have been held. She was cremated and then buried at Saint James Cemetery in McMinnville.

Memorial contributions can be made to Benton Hospice Service, 2350 N.W. Professional Drive, Corvallis, OR 97330, or Corvallis-Benton County Public Library Bookmobile, 645 N.W. Monroe Ave., Corvallis, OR 97330.

……………….

April 18, 2008, Linfield Review: "The triangular (Steve Thomas Memorial Garden) in front of Campbell Hall remembers Steven J. Thomas, alumnus of the class of 1948. He served the college as a landscaper and groundskeeper for many years, and he played an important role in beautifying campus. He won several awards for new varieties of rhododendrons he cultivated, one of which is now in full bloom in his memorial garden. He died after falling while trimming a maple tree on campus in 1977."

Inscription on plaque in garden:

STEPHEN JOHN THOMAS
B.A. (1948)
Director of Campus Grounds

1948-1977

This memorial garden is dedicated to Steve Thomas, who for 29 years cared for this campus with a very special dedication and made it more beautiful every year.

===

Story in April 18, 2008, Linfield Review ...

https://thelinfieldreview.com/339/the-rest/are-there-dead-bodies-on-campus-debunking-linfield-myths-a-series

... includes

"There are no other graves on campus, but there is one memorial. The triangular garden in front of Campbell Hall remembers Steven J. Thomas, alumnus of the class of 1948.  He served the college as a landscaper and groundskeeper for many years, and he played an important role in beautifying campus. He won several awards for new varieties of rhododendrons he cultivated, one of which is now in full bloom in his memorial garden.

…………

=Memory Lane 6/13. Published: June 13, 2006, McMinnville News-Register

50 years ago: The McMinnville city recreation softball season is set to open at Baker Field. Pitcher Jerry Sherwood is leaving Sunshine to hurl for VKV, where he will work for the summer. Bobby Collins and Steve Thomas have signed on with the Linfield All-Stars. Jimmy Godwin will run the Sunshine team and has picked up some of the players from the McMinnville High School championship baseball club of this spring, including Larry Peterson and Jeff Durham

=Memory Lane 3/28. Published: March 28, 2006, McMinnville News-Register

50 years ago: Deserving special recognition as a result of their outstanding work at the Quarterback club dinner for Mac High and Linfield athletes are the member of the kitchen crew: Jim Lee, Cliff Elliott, Ogden Cameron, Jim Craig, Ron Eborall, Donald Mabee, Eldore Baisch and Ezra Koch. Master of Ceremonies Billy Maxwell also called upon each of the kitchen kings to introduce one of the coaches in attendance. At the dinner, special coaching recognition was given Steve Thomas and Red Porter.

=Looking back at Yamhill County sports, McMinnville N-R, July 1, 2003

50 years ago, McMinnville N-R Sports Editor Paul Durham named his outstanding performers in the McMinnville softball league, including: catchers Red Austin, Darigold; Hal Cuffel, Sunshine Dairy; and Eldore Baisch, VKV; pitchers Clarence Neubauer, VKV; and Jerry Sherwood, Sunshine; first basemen Roy Krutsch, News-Register; Paul Halsor, Linfield All-Stars; Tom Teutsch, Sunshine; and Dick Vollstedt, VKV; second baseman Scooter Rich, Sunshine; shortstop Jack Lepper,. Walnut City Bowl; Bob Zuleger, VKV; third basemen Dick Hiller, VKV; Grant Freuler, Darigold; and outfielders Pat Smith and Milt Robins, VKV; Ken Myers and Steve Thomas, Sunshine; Joe Schmidt, Darigold; Jack Leonard and Ernie White, Linfield All-Stars; and Jack Collins, News-Register.

……..

ANNUAL SHOW OF THE PORTLAND CHAPTER, May 6 and 7, 1967

Source: Journal of the American Rhododendron Society

The Show attracted 484 entries, from 46 exhibitors. Mr. George Clarke of Portland was Show Chairman.

Trophy Winners included Peter Binford Trophy, Best Spray of a Deciduous Azalea, 'Lancaster Occidentalis', Steve Thomas, McMinnville, Ore.

…………………

WHITMAN LOSES PLAYOFF GAME

Spokane Spokesman-Review - May 24, 1947

McMINNVILLE, Ore. May 23. (AP) – A Whitman college bobble in the 13th inning handed Linfield college a 4-3 victory yesterday in the first game of the annual Northwest conference baseball playoff.

Steve Thomas raced home with the winning run when Haguewood, Whitman second baseman, fumbled Lee Reeder’s infield bouncer. Thomas had singled when then moved to second when Dewey Halsey was hit by a pitched ball.

It was a pitching duel all the way with Dean Forsythe of Whitman giving up nine hits and Gene Peterson of Linfield yielding six. Peterson helped his own cause with a trip that scored a run in the second inning. Thomas was the hitting leader of the day, though, with three singles in six trips.

Whitman 001 000 001 100 0 – 3 6 4

Linfield 020 020 000 000 1 – 4 9 4

Forsythe and Richardson.  Peterson and Burr.

………………….

Lever led 'Cats to first conference baseball title

By Allen Moody of the McMinnville News-Register, July 28, 2005

The 1947 Linfield Wildcats entered the baseball season with some pretty high expectations and they proved the pundits correct by capturing the school first Northwest Conference title.

The Wildcats had 40 players out for the team, including 15 lettermen, some of whom played for the Wildcats during the previous year, while others played for Linfield before serving in the armed forces.

"Many of us were veterans," said Cecil Golden, a member of the Wildcats' 1947 team. "I only had one year in the service. When I came to college, guys like Steve Thomas was much older than I was."

The season didn't start out quite the way Linfield had hoped, as the Wildcats dropped a 13-12 decision to Vanport College of Portland in its opener and followed that up by dropping a pair of games to Oregon State College, 5-0 and 6-1.

Gene Petersen threw a shutout in a 6-0 victory over Montana to put the Wildcats in the win column, only to see Montana come back and take the nightcap 6-4.

Ron Dunn pitched the Wildcats past Vanport 4-1 in a rematch and the Wildcats were ready for conference play.

"Gene Petersen was an awfully good pitcher and Ron Dunn was too," Golden, a left-handed pitcher said. "Bert Burr, the catcher could call throw the ball harder back to me if I got in the game."

Burr's ninth-inning single scored Dewey Halsey with the winning run in the 'Cats' conference opener against Willamette, but Linfield dropped two of its next three games and was 2-2 in conference. But those would turn out to be the final two losses of the season for the Wildcats, who won their final four conference games of the season to finish at 6-2.

At that time, the NWC was split into divisions, meaning the Wildcats would square off against Whitman for the conference title.

"We had a very primitive baseball diamond, but Henry Lever worked us hard to keep it up to shape for games," Golden said. "All three conference championship games were played at Linfield."

The first game of the series proved to be pivotal, as Linfield scored an unearned run in the bottom of the 13th inning to grad a 4-3 victory. Thomas hit a one-out single and Halsey walked, which brought Lee Reeder to the plate. His ground ball to the second baseman went into the outfield, allowing Thomas to score and bring the game to an end.

Petersen pitched all 13 innings, allowing just five hits to earn the win on the mound.

The second game was all Linfield in the beginning, as the Wildcats took a 5-1 lead after three, but four unearned runs in the fourth inning tied the game at 5. Golden came in to relieve Dunn in the fifth inning and allowed just two hits while holding Whitman scoreless the rest of the way to earn the win. Thomas and Halsey scored in the seventh inning to give Linfield the 7-5 victory.

With the conference championship wrapped-up, the Wildcats defeated Whitman 6-4 in the final game behind Dunn.

"There was no big, giant celebration because it was the end of the school year," Golden said. "We didn't have big turnouts for games in those days like they do now."

Petersen was awarded the Jack Dempsey Trophy for being the outstanding athlete at Linfield.

Thomas was the team's leading hitter, batting an impressive .472, while Halsey was second on the 'Cats, hitting .297. Petersen hit .292 and Clarence Mellbye finished the season at .291.

"I would say we were more of a running team," Golden said. "Steve Thomas only had one home run, I believe."

NOTES: Thomas and Dunn each had trophies named after them. The Steve Thomas Memorial Trophy went to the baseball team's most valuable player from 1978 to 1995 and the Ron Dunn Memorial Trophy has gone to the Wildcats' outstanding pitcher every year since 1983. ... Golden's high school coach at Rainer High School for several years was none other than Roy Helser.

Photos

-- Steve from 1970 Linfield Oak Leaves.

--Steve from May 19, 1969, McMinnnville N-R

--Steve Thomas Memorial Garden on Linfield campus

ED GRIFFIN: ONE OF LINFIELD’S GREATEST MALE ATHLETES, SHOULD BE IN THE LINFIELD ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME

Ed Griffin, one of Linfield’s greatest male athletes, should join his cousin, John Lee, in the Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame.

John, Class of 1967, and Ed, Class of 1968, are among those Linfield athletes hailing from Hartford, Connecticut. They are part of Linfield’s famous ‘Hartford Pipeline.’

If you don’t know of the ‘Hartford Pipeline’, read about it here:

http://wildcatville.blogspot.com/2011/11/linfields-storied-hartford-connection.html

It’s a “pipeline” between about Hartford, Connecticut, on the U.S. east coast with Linfield, more than 3,000 miles away, in McMinnville, Oregon, on the country’s west coast.

Hartford high school grads attended Linfield. (The “pipeline” was between Linfield and public high schools in Hartford. That’s high schools plural, not high school singular.)

John played football, basketball and baseball for the Wildcats. He has been a Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame member since 1999.

Ed played football and basketball for the Wildcats too. He was nominated to the Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003 and 2008. Why hasn’t joined John in the Hall? The Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame Committee is mum.

JOHN LEE

“There has probably never been anyone in (Hartford) as proficient in three sports,” football, basketball and baseball, as John Lee. But what set (him) apart was not merely his remarkable athletic ability,” the book says. “He was a natural leader and one of the finest and most genuine people you could ever hope to meet. He cared deeply about other people, and his sincere humanitarian instincts were reflected in the exemplary manner he chose to live his life,” said a book.

In high school he was a “superior all-around athlete” who was “eminently coachable, a player with ideal temperament for competitive sports, supportive of his teammates, respectful of his opponents, unflappable under pressure, and always willing to accept instruction and strive for improvement.”

As a baseball player, John Lee was one reason his high school team have its first winning season since World War II and its first city championship in nearly 20 years, says the book.

A highlight of John Lee’s time as a Linfield athlete was in 1965-1966. He was the first NAIA athlete to compete in national playoffs of football, basketball and baseball in the same academic year. As a prelude, in the 1963-1964 school year, he became the first freshman in Northwest Conference history to be named to three all-NWC teams.

A book credits John, after graduating from Linfield, for keeping the ‘Hartford Pipeline’ -- started by Joe Beidler, a Hartford high school coach who had coached at Linfield NWC opponent Whitman College of Walla Walla, Wash. -- going.

ED GRIFFIN

As a Linfield student, John gets major credit for Ed transferring to Linfield.

Ed attended Virginia State in Parkersburg, Virginia, as a freshman and was a starter on its basketball team.

But, he left Virginia State after his father died and returned to Hartford. Ed told the Oregonian in 1966 he went back to Hartford to “work to help out my Mom and stayed out a year and a semester.” Then, he followed John to Linfield, but had to attend Linfield a year before gaining athletic eligibility.

Those who know Ed as a Linfield athlete, will be surprised to read that he began singing in Hartford’s Mt. Olive Baptist Church youth choir as a 13-year-old. But, they would not be surprised that in addition to the choir he also played for the Mt. Olive team in a church basketball league.

“There was nothing (Ed) Griffin loved more than winning. It became part of his DNA. You only had to watch (him) play a single game at any stage of his life … to see how embedded wining was in his basketball psyche. He always made winning his first priority, and the intense desire to come out of a game with a victory would stay with him throughout his life,” says a book.

In high school Ed Griffin was basketball all-state, all-New England, all-conference and all-city. He was a Parade (Sunday newspaper supplement) All-American 3rd team 1961-1962 season pick and on the 30-member Scholastic Coach's (magazine) seventh annual News magazine All-American High School Basketball Squad. Oh, he was also a high school all-state football player.

The Scholastic Coach article accompanying its 1962 All-American team selections described Ed and another player as “backcourt whizzes.” It said 5-11 Ed “sparked his team to the New England crown, moving one coach to this unsolicited testimonial: ‘I’d put him on the all-state team if he had his right arm tied to his side.’ ”

During high school his team won two consecutive state basketball championships. Later, as a coach, he would lead Hartford high school teams to two state hoops titles.

“As a player and a coach,(Ed) Griffin was all about winning, and his determination to succeed make him one of the greatest high school basketball players the city of Hartford had ever known,” a book says.

Among Ed’s accomplishments as a Linfield athlete was twice making the all-NWC team as a football halfback and then repeating on the NWC basketball all-star team as a forward.

After Linfield, John and Ed – who had a tryout with the NFL Dallas Cowboys -- played for the Hartford Knights of the professional Atlantic Coast Football League. Ed also played for the Hartford Capitols of the professional Eastern Basketball Association.

--Read "Still A Straight Shooter: Griffin's Philosophy Working At Bulkeley" by Desmond Conner, Jan. 31, 1997, Hartford Courant.

Story (link below) includes, "Eddie Griffin, who once scored 70 points in a game, was one of the very best basketball players to come out of Hartford. Using a combination of speed and a silky smooth jump shot, Griffin led Hartford Public High School to consecutive New England titles in 1961 and '62. He received Parade All-America honorable mention the second year."

http://articles.courant.com/1997-01-31/sports/9701310414_1_hartford-school-system-hartford-capitols-bulkeley

Hartford Courant says Ed was a Parade All-American high school honorable mention pick. But, this posting (link below) says Griffin was a Parade second team All-American during the 1961-1962 season:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parade_All-America_Boys_Basketball_Team

--Read "Ex-Hartford Basketball Stars Still Lighting The Way For Youths" from June 11, 1997, Hartford Courant.

Story (link below) includes about Ed: “And Griff, well Griff, he was the man. Eddie Griffin … ah, that guy Eddie … he was so good,'' said Walter “Doc'' Hurley, a legendary player, coach and teacher in Hartford. “That guy was one of the greatest ballplayers to ever come out of the state.'' About Ed Griffin and two others: “Not only are they great athletes, but they're good people,'' said John Wardlaw, director of the housing authority. “They're great role models for young people.''

http://articles.courant.com/1997-06-11/news/9706110667_1_role-models-physical-education-teacher-coach-and-teacher

Ed is a member of the New Haven, Connecticut, Register newspaper All-Time, All-state (Connecticut) boys' basketball teams and the Hartford Public High School Sports Hall of Fame. John is a member of the Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame and the Weaver High School Sports Hall of Fame. Both are members of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.

Paul Durham coached Ed and John in football at Linfield and was Linfield athletic director during the time both competed in football and basketball for Linfield.

Durham died in 2007.

In February 2004, Durham wrote about Ed’s nomination for the Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame:

"I will vote for Eddie Griffin. He was really outstanding in both basketball and football. His high school basketball team recently won a state title in Connecticut. I know about his trouble on the Alaska trip but that doesn’t need to be publicized. My quote about Eddie: In my opinion Eddie Griffin was as outstanding a 2 sport man as anyone who ever played at LINFIELD! He was a good man, likeable, dependable in sports, and probably a good student, at least I’m sure he graduated & is a credit to LINFIELD. I don’t know much more except on the basketball court he could run down the floor covering the guy he was guarding and often end up with the ball. Never saw anybody else with that hand quickness.”

In April 2004, Durham also wrote, "I’m 100% behind the move to get Eddie Griffin into the LINFIELD Athletics Hall of Fame. He was a great athlete in two sports for us, one of the tops in my time at LINFIELD. He helped make me a better coach. Memory tells me he had a tryout with the Dallas Cowboys and that doesn’t happen to every guy across the block. And he coached a state high school basketball team to a state championship in Connecticut recently.”

--“Dodging with Durham” sports column by Paul Durham, McMinnville News-Register, Oct. 17, 1965: “When John Lee came out west to Linfield from Hartford, Conn., in September of 1962 he told Wildcat coaches about his cousin back home in Hartford who was a great basketball player and who that winter was named to the All-American High School Basketball team. That young man’s name was Eddie Griffin. When Griffin graduated from high school in the spring of 1963 he was somewhat interested in coming to McMinnville to college with his cousin but decided instead to enroll at Virginia State. As a freshman there that winter he was a starter on the varsity basketball team but dropped out of school early in the second semester due to the death of his father. Lee was more persuasive when he flew out west again last fall, 1964, and brought cousin Eddie with him. During the 1964-65 school year Griffin attended classes at Linfield, straightened out his eligibility which was fouled up because of the transfer rule, and became eligible for all athletics here this fall. Although he hasn’t played football since the fall of 1962 when he was a senior in high school, Linfield coaches know he had ability in the gridiron game since Griffin was picked as the outstanding back of (an all-star football) game in Connecticut the year he graduated.  So, it made Wildcat mentors happy to know that Griffin has decided to participate in both football and basketball here. And now, after six weeks of the season have flown by, the ‘Cat coaches are more sure than ever that they have a great one in Griffin. So far he has played primarily at a defensive halfback position, but more and more he will be used as a running back. Early in the Lewis and Clark game he showed tremendous talent carrying the football and at 205 pounds he has been very impressive as a blocker. Griffin, like Lee, can become one of the all-time greats in the history of Linfield athletics. He’s rapidly getting the “feel” of football again. He can “do it all,” both on offense and defense. And he’s even better at basketball … At least Coach Ted Wilson hopes so.

--“County Clatter” sports column by George Murdock in an October 1965 issue of the McMinnville News-Register -- It mentions Linfield 62-16 football win in McMinnville over Whitman in 1965 season. (Some records incorrectly show game score as 61-12. But, 62-16 is correct score. ) One of the finest performances in the game was by Ed Griffin “halfback who doubled as a starting halfback on defense. Griffin got the Wildcats rolling Saturday night when he appeared out of nowhere to intercept a Whit pass and race 54 yards along the sidelines to score. Another time, Griffin race 33 yards to spark a Wildcat drive. For the night, the Wildcat performer carried five times for 71 yards to lead the squad. His effort bounced him into first place among the Wildcat ground gainers with 167 yards in 19 attempts. Griffin’s efforts earned him Wildcats back of the week honors. Griffin … had to sit out last year because he was a transfer from Virginia State. He attended that school during his freshman year. At Virginia State, Griffin started on the hoop lineup and earned all-conference honorable mention recognition…” At Hartford High school he was a two-year football starter on offense and defense at halfback earning all-conference and all-state honors. For high school basketball he was a three year started and all-conference and all-state as a senior. As a senior he was the most valuable player award winning the Connecticut state high school basketball tournament and also in the New England tournament. Griffin was “persuaded to transfer to Linfield” by his cousin, Linfield student-athlete John Lee, and since graduated Rick Turner, who played basketball and competed in track for Linfield. All three are from Hartford.

-- “Sportslightner” column by Salem Oregon Statesman, sports editor Al Lightner, Jan. 18, 1966 – “Ted Wilson’s Linfield’s weren’t really much in December basketball, but what an outfit they’ve grown to since Wilson added the Hartford, Conn., representation to the lineup. That would be personified by Joe Lee, the swift, high-jumping six-footer who just becomes eligible after battling grade problems in the fall term, and Ed Griffin, the chunky, 5-10 sophomore who was the football team’s fullback until he suffered a broken leg … As a freshman, Lee had the distinction of earning All-Conference accolades in basketball, baseball and football at Linfield. Perhaps Wilson himself didn’t know that footballer Griffin was also a spectacular basketeer. We accidentally heard of it while in (Augusta, Georgia, for the 1965 NAIA national championship football game: Linfield vs. St. John’s) and ran into Pete Dengenis there. From Hartford also, and a Little All-American touchdowner when at Linfield, Dengenis extoled the merits of Griffin, the basketballer. ‘Fantastic’ was a word he often used in describing the youngster.”

--By Joe Much, Sports Editor, Salem Capital Journal, March 2, 1966 – Ed Griffin is the “Wildcat with the bored look and middle-age spread. He’s listed as a six-footer, but looks two inches shorter and a step slower … That’s until they throw up the basketball. The he turns into a player who puts the “gosh-awful go in Linfield’s fastbreak, rebounding, stealing the ball, setting up the thing and whipping murderous passes right under the nostrils of startled enemies. When that isn’t working, the portly soph transfer from Virginia State just fills the hall with soft little jumpshots that get home in amazing profusion.” In the NAIA District 2 championship game Eastern Oregon College at Linfield in McMinnville, Linfield won, 74-49. Interim coach Roy Helser (filling in for Ted Wilson, recovering from a heart attack) “admitted some early agony in the game and his thankfulness Griffin has come all the way from Hartford, Conn., to sample Rain Belt basketball. ‘You shouldn’t be hasty about these things I know,’ said Helser, ‘but this guy shows me more than anyone I’ve ever seen here. And that goes a long way back through a lot of people.” EOC coach Bob Quinn said about Griffin: ‘He’s unbelievable. I believe he could score anytime he wanted to and I know he could against anyone we could put on him.’

-- Lee, Griffin Insure ‘Cats Future by sports writer Dick Fishback, March 6, 1966, Oregonian – “(Cousins) Ed (Griffin), a 5-10 sophomore, and John (Lee), a 6-0 junior, are links in a chain that has fed Linfield a number of Hartford athletes.” … The cousins “played their way through grammar school and kept their close ties through the recreation programs. But in high school they were rivals, Griffin played for Hartford Public and Lee for Weaver (high schools).” After graduating high school, from Griffin went on to Virginia State and was a starter on its basketball team, but left school after his father died. ‘I went to work to help my mom and stayed out a year and a semester,’ he said. Then, he followed Lee to Linfield, but had to sit out a year before being eligible to compete in athletics. Roy Helser, Linfield’s basketball coach (filling in after coach Ted Wilson had a heart attack) said of Griffin: ‘There are a couple of things that make him great… First, he’s a terrific shooter and a good rebounder. But what probably distinguishes him most is his ability to take the ball from an opponent. He has the quickest hands I’ve ever seen.’ Lee and Griffin can both “come up with great plays.” Griffin has “all the tools – dribbling between the legs and behind the back, the dipsy-doodle layup and the defensive skill that can drive an opposing team into a frenzy.”

-- By Bob Schwartz, sports news editor, Salem Oregon Statesman, Oct. 23, 1966, edition – In the 1966 Linfield Homecoming football game versus Pacific, John Lee scored TD on a 26-yard pass reception. Ed Griffin intercepted a pass and was Linfield’s leading rusher with 49 yards in 13 carries. Lee gained 60 yards on two receptions.

-- “Dodging with Durham” sports column by Paul Durham, McMinnville News-Register, Sept. 4, 1966 – “Three members of the Linfield student body, from Hartford, Conn., traveled across the country by bus from the east coast to the west to get to the local campus for football drills. There were two gridders, John Lee and Eddie Griffin, and an All-American of a couple of seasons ago, now a member of the coaching staff as a student coach, Pete Dengenis. They made the jaunt in three-and-a-half days and except for sleeping problems once or twice, thoroughly enjoyed seeing the country first hand. They made several friends along the way and Dengenis became particularly well acquainted with a pretty young miss who unfortunately debarked at Chicago but prior to that time found the Linfield man’s shoulder very, very soft whenever she felt drowsy. But even some of life’s most pleasant moments are sometimes tinged with sadness, according to Dengenis.”

-- Salem Capital Journal, Nov. 13, 1966, about Linfield football – “The Wildcat running back has been somewhat crippled, however, by the loss of fullback Ed Griffin with a broken leg last week. Griffin also played defensive back.”

-- Column in Salem Capital Journal, Dec. 1, 1966 – About Linfield’s men’s basketball:: “The Wildcats this year will put a pair of polished pogo sticks named Ed Griffin and Johnny Lee into action for a reasonable demonstration of how the game in played in Connecticut. But the two New Englanders may be quite yet a full cry, both having squandered the autumn playing football.”

-- Honolulu Sunday Star Bulletin & Advertiser, Sept. 24, 1967 – One of the reasons Linfield won its historical game, 15-13, in Honolulu over the University of Hawaii was Ed Griffin. Story in the Star Bulletin & Advertiser said Linfield’s go-ahead touchdown (11-yard pass from Mike Barrow to Rogers Ishizu) was set up on a drive which was a “march” of 60 yards in 13 plays. “The passing of Barrow to Ishizu and Maurice Okumura plus the running of Griffin highlighted the drive.” Later in the game, setting up a 31-yard field goal by Tim Kubli, was a drive in which “Griffin and Ishizu were the main guns”

-- About a Linfield football, Oct. 2, 1967, Salem Capital Journal – “Then suddenly a small hole opened in the middle of the (Linfield) line and thick-legged fullback Ed Griffin popped through. He veered past two linebackers, then outran three deep defenders 81 yards to the goal line.”

--About Whitman at Linfield football game by Joe Much, sports editor, Salem Capital Journal, Oct. 23, 1967 – In the game, “Ed Griffin used the occasion to run 140 yards nearer possible All-American recognition in 17 carries. One was a sensational 80-yard scamper from scrimmage on a delayed rip off tackle. The fullback Coach Paul Durham thinks may be his best runner ever also caught a pass for a 45-yard touchdown that required some twinkle toes and finished with 24” of his team’s 40 points in the 40-7 win.

-- Salem Capital Journal, Nov. 14, 1967, about Willamette at Linfield football game – Linfield QB Mike Barrow “pitched out to the right to fullback Ed Griffin, while split end John Sadowski moseyed downfield. Suddenly Griffin stopped and flung the ball. Sadowski had been left so open that a decent pass would have sent him speeding to a touchdown. As it was, he had to circle back and make his catch just 25 yards away for a first down at the Linfield 39.” Linfield football Coach Paul Durham called it the ‘first pass Griffin ever threw for Linfield.’ Durham clarified, ‘Actually, (Ed) didn’t throw that… but he got it there and it started us rolling.’ ”

-- Linfield Grid Coach Durham Pleased with 8-1 Season, Nov. 23, 1967, Salem Oregon Statesman – Linfield football coach Paul Durham said, “In my 20 years at Linfield I would say that this year’s players did more with their ability than any team I have coached. The team just wanted to win and did the job. ‘Ed Griffin, Mike Barrow and Rogers Ishizu were the keys to our offense. I believe that Griffin is the best fullback to come along in the conference for several years.’

-- By Joe Much, sports editor, Salem Capital Journal, Dec. 23, 1967 – Linfield men’s basketball played the University of the Pacific (of California, not to be confused with Pacific University of Oregon) at the Portland Memorial Coliseum and lost 103-78. But, Griffin shined. “Ed Griffin was working a clever con act on his keepers. Then Grif made a mistake. He added insult to injury. Pacific’s Fred Carpenter has this cute little behind the back dribble bit and was getting away with it. But late in the half, Griffin coaxed him into giving it another go, then side-slipped quickly and swiped the ball for an easy lay-in … Griffin later frisked two other Pacific guards for the ball and baskets” giving the “sizeable Linfield crowd” thrills. Carpenter led his team with 22 points, but Griffin was the game’s leading scorer with 26 (12 field goals and 3-3 free throws).

-- Salem Capital Journal, Jan. 26, 1968 about upcoming Willamette vs. Linfield men’s basketball game. Story includes, “The return of Ed Griffin has added to Linfield’s fluid motion.” Jim Boutin, Willamette coach, knows Griffin must be controlled because Griffin is ‘the key to Linfield’s success.’ Griffin is the “lad who keeps Linfield in high gear with his passing finesse and playmaking.”

-- “Dodging with Durham” McMinnville News Register sports column by Paul Durham, March 16, 1968 – Gil Brandt, Director of Player Personnel for the Dallas Cowboys … of the National Football League, “flew to Portland Monday afternoon and drove down to McMinnville Tuesday morning to sign Linfield’s Ed Griffin to a professional (free agent) football contract. Considered to be an astute judge of raw grid talent, Brandt has picked up numerous football ‘diamonds in the rough’ which were completely passed up in the pro grid draft …” In the column, Durham wrote that Ed Griffin is a “truly great athlete. He is a competitor who performs best against the toughest opponent. He has quick hands and quick feet. And in sports quickness is about as important as anything can be.” Durham said Brandt was convinced Griffin was worthy of a contract because of one of the Dallas scouts, who lives in San Francisco. The scout stopped at the Linfield Athletic Office and was impressed after watching Griffin playing for the Wildcats in a film of the Linfield-Hawaii game last fall.” Durham wrote that he thought Griffin had a “terrific” chance to make the Dallas team. Griffin is fast and “what we call a ‘glider’ when he runs and covers ground must faster than he appears to. When he got out in front on his long runs (for Linfield) no one ever caught him. But even more important in football than pure speed is that quickness that is the Griffin trademark.” 

-- Wildcatville guesses that the NFL Dallas Cowboys did not have preseason workouts at Linfield College in McMinnville.

It’s likely Cowboys’ Gil Brandt (Cowboys VP player personnel, 1960-1988, he ran the Dallas scouting department) or his representative came to Linfield during Wildcat football preseason and ran some Linfield players through workouts on Maxwell Field ... timed them, etc. Bet Linfield players Gene Forman, a tackle, was “worked out” and Ed Griffin, a fullback, too.

=Ed did not make the Cowboys team. An Associated Press story in the Tue. July 16, 1968, Oregonian reported that “Ed Griffin, ex-Linfield star, was among the 12 free agents cut from the squad Monday as the Dallas Cowboys stepped up training (on the California Lutheran College campus in Thousand Oaks, Calif.)”

=“In 1954, 1955 and 1958, the NFL's New York (Football) Giants held their training camp at McCulloch Stadium in Salem, and in those six weeks each season became part of the community. The players spent their nights at Baxter Hall on the Willamette University campus and their days at the athletics fields in Bush's Pasture Park.”

=“The Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns used Pacific University facilities (in Forest Grove) for (NFL) football training camps in the late 1950s to early 1960s.”

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