Active in golf and golf promotions in the Greater Cleveland area for over 45 years. Spent nearly 30 years as tournament director of the Cleveland District Golf Association and also served as its Executive Director. Appointed Executive Secretary and Treasurer of the CDGA Caddie Foundation in 1972. Served on the Ohio Publinks Executive Committee for 15 years and assisted in promoting the 1959 Carling Open Championship and the first Cleveland Open. Was a charter member and organizer of the Great Lakes Senior Golf Association and served as its executive secretary from its inception in 1969. Won several senior four-ball championships as an active golfer and was Cleveland Match Play Champion in 1953.
Served as Athletic Director of the Greater Cleveland Catholic Youth Organization from 1941 to 1972. Under his direction CYO football leagues grew from 19 to 79 member teams. He was instrumental in adding track, cross country, soccer, softball and wrestling to the CYO sports program. More than 4,000 boys played CYO football in his final year as athletic director.
The most successful football coach in the history of the Ohio Athletic Conference, he built a 154-53-6 record during 23 years as head coach at Baldwin-Wallace College. He reached the zenith of his career in 1978 when he directed the Yellow Jackets to the NCAA Division III National Championship and was named Division III Coach-of-the-Year. He also guided B-W to the national playoffs in 1979 and 1980 before retiring because of illness to which he succumbed in April, 1981. Also served as Director of Athletics at B-W and is a member of the Baldwin-Wallace College Letterman’s Hall of Fame. (He was the nation’s leading scorer as a running back for the Yellow Jackets in 1943.) As a high school coach at Mentor High, he ran of 34 consecutive victories from 1952 to 1956 and extended the streak to 39 at Massillon High where he coached two seasons before coming to Berea. That record earned him a niche in the Ohio High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
First archer ever to win both the National Field Championship and the National Target Championship. Won the target championship in 1949 and 1951 and the field championship in 1950. At one time held eight of a possible 12 U.S. archery marksmanship records. Represented the United States in the International Championships in Denmark in 1950 and placed third. Was scheduled to represent the U.S.A. in the 1952 championships in Brussels, but succumbed to leukemia before the competition took place.
United States Men’s National Volleyball Coach since 1977 and a national team player from 1970 through 1976, playing in two Olympic qualifcation tournaments (1972 and 1976). Played for the U.S. team in 1970 and 1974 World Championships and for the U.S. Pan-American Games team in 1975. Was a USVBA Collegiate All-American and team captain at Ohio State University in 1969 when he was also named Midwest Collegiate Player of the Year. Was a USVBA Open All-American from 1972 through 1975 and USVBA Player of the Year in 1975, Midwest Collegiate Coach of the Year in 1972 and 1973 at Ohio State.
First Ohioan elected to the Speed Skating Hall of Fame. Started competitive racing in 1906 at age 13. Set senior men’s indoor record in the half mile in 1916. Turned professional in 1920 and raced professionally until 1940s. Trained numerous young speed skaters after turning pro, best known of whom was Jack Shea, winner of two gold medals in the 1932 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid.
One of the best handball players of his era in the United States, he won the National AAU Junior Singles Championship in 1932, the National AAU Junior Doubles Championship in 1928 and the National AAU Senior Doubles Championship in 1933. In 1934 he added the National YMCA Double Championship to his collection. In the period between 1928 and 1944 he won six Ohio State AAU, four Northeastern Ohio AAU, and ten Ohio YMCA singles titles and shared five Ohio State AAU, four Northeastern Ohio AAU and seven Ohio YMCA doubles championships.
A two-time Olympic champion, he won his first gold medal for the United States in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. He repeated as the Olympic bantamweight champion in the 1960 Rome Olympics, lifting 760 pounds to give the U.S. its only weightlifting medal in that competition. His 237-pound snatch at Rome equaled the word record. Although training only briefly between Olympics, he finished second in the 1958 world championships and was the Pan-American Games champion in 1959.
Native of Cleveland who migrated to Israel in 1970, and in September 1972, while representing his new country in the Munich Olympics, lost his life to terrorists along with ten other members of the Israeli delegation. U.S. national Intercollegiate Champion at Tulane University in 1965 and a member of the United States weightlifting team in 1966 when he won a gold medal in competition with Mexico. Represented the U.S. in the Maccabiah Games twice, winning a bronze medal in 1965 and a gold in 1968. Represented Israel in the Pan-Asian Games in 1971, winning a gold medal, and was elected to the national AAU Weightlifting Hall of Fame in 1974.
First ever to win national Highlander Class championship fives times, capturing the title in 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1977. Was national runnerup in 1976, 1978 and 1979. Also won the Great Lakes Highlander Class championship in 1977. He was the Edgewater Yacht Club’s Highlander Class champion for 11 consecutive years and was acclaimed EYC’s “Skipper of the Year” for outstanding work in behalf of sailing in 1972, 1973 and 1975.