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Jerome Robert Van Meter
Legend Will Lead Parade Festivities
By MANNIX PORTERFIELD
This article appeared in the Beckley Register-Herald.
Twice he donned the uniform of a soldier and twice he shouldered a rifle when
America was engaged in global conflict, but Jerome Van Meter never set foot on
foreign soil.
At the tender age of 17, he wanted to join the Marines and help fight the "war
to end wars."
Dead set against him going off to war, his mother refused to sign the papers,
and Van Meter instead wound up in the Army after his 18th birthday.
"I thought I wanted to go over there until I got to talking to some of the guys
who came back, and it was no picture show deal," said the legendary West
Virginia high school coach.
Then, at age 41 and facing the draft, he volunteered for the Army again and this
time became a training officer.
Come Nov. 11, he will lead the annual Veterans Day Parade in Beckley as honorary
marshal. The event is sponsored by the American Legion Post 32.
"Many military men, even though they are not in the battlefield on foreign land,
play very important roles in service to their country," said Jim Rubin, chairman
of the parade committee.
When World War I flared, the United States had a standing army of a mere 50,000.
"That's all we had," Van Meter recalled. "President Woodrow Wilson had not
increased that because he won his second term by keeping us out of war."
By a twist of fate, the president's name figured prominently in the life of Van
Meter, who collected six state titles in basketball and three football crowns at
Woodrow Wilson High School.
Van Meter entered the infantry at Illinois Wesleyan as President Wilson turned
to American campuses to train troops. Soon after Van Meter was in service,
however, the armistice was signed.
"A few more months, and I would have been over there," he said.
An influenza epidemic swept through the Army, depleting the forces and
threatening Van Meter's life at one point.
"We lost more people with the flu than anything else," he recalled. "They took
these guys off the farms and put them in those breezy barracks.
"In one company, there weren't a dozen on their feet at one time. There were no
nurses or anything like that. It was a terrible situation."
Stricken himself, Van Meter shrugged off the flu bug and begged to be released
from a hospital.
"I told them to let me out and put me on KP," he said. "I wasn't going to stay
in that bed and not eat. That was the only time I enjoyed KP."
During World War II, Van Meter wound up in an anti-aircraft artillery unit until
the war was nearly over. Commissioned a second lieutenant, he was assigned as
battery executive, then battery commander, and eventually was re-assigned to
battalion S-3.
In deference to his coaching job, Van Meter was sent to Atlantic City, N.J., to
supervise recreation for returnees.
"Of course, we had a beach there, and that was a headache, or could have been,"
he said. "Those soldiers coming back couldn't swim across the street, but
thought they could."
Van Meter also assembled a basketball team, and it was in this stint he rubbed
shoulders with some athletic greats, among them tennis star Bill Tilden and New
York Yankees star Joe DiMaggio.
Between wars, Van Meter spent time in the National Guard while holding down his
first coaching job at Point Pleasant.
Van Meter, who turned 97 on Aug. 15, enjoys a distinction held by few -- serving
during two world wars but never leaving the country.
"In World War I, I got a rifle," he mused. "In World War II, I gave them the
rifle."
Serving with Rubin on the parade committee are Sue Cox, Jim McGrady, Willa
Milliken, Charles Keesee, Margaret Bower, Fred Henley, Jim Tweetie and Lewlyn
Williams.
Rubin promised this year's edition would be one of the "biggest and best" to
honor men and women who have served in the armed forces. The parade is to form
at Park Junior High, then snake through town via Neville and Main Streets.
Mayor Emmett Pugh plans to ban street parking during parade hours so that
participants may have access to the width of the streets.
Van Meter wasn't sure just what is expected of him as parade marshal.
"I guess what I have to do is smile and wave to the people," he said. "I don't
have an Army hat. I gave all that stuff away years ago. I'll have to borrow
one."
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HBO Show to Include Van Meter
By MANNIX PORTERFIELD
This article appeared in the Register-Herald on April 28, 1997.
One year into this century, a West Virginia legend was born, and for Jerome Van
Meter, a folk hero in high school sports, fame keeps spreading.
Early in May, the 96-year-old retired coach, accompanied by one of his stellar
athletes at Woodrow Wilson High School, will fly to California for an interview
with a crew from Home Box Office.
Van Meter is to be included in a special HBO documentary on Americans born near
the start of the 20th century as the world nears the next millennium.
"This will be a documentary about a lot of people who, at that time, will be
close to 100 years old, with their memories of the 20th century," an HBO
executive in New York explained.
The HBO spokesman said the cable network plans to scout the nation for people in
their late 90s.
"We're not looking for celebrities or the famous, but as in the case of this
man, people who have influenced their communities from all walks of life.
"In fact, most people who see the film probably will not know this man until
then. Producers are just going out to find people of that age with interesting
stories to tell."
Van Meter likely could fill an entire two-hour program with his memories.
Before he carved his niche in West Virginia history as a coach, Van Meter lived
a storied life, working in a bakery to get through school and serving in the
Army through two wars.
After serving in the famed Rainbow Division in World War I, he returned home to
pocket $3.50 a week.
"What would that buy today?" he laughed, recalling how he worked five days a
week, including a 4 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift on Saturdays to stay in school.
"That was pretty rugged, but that was the way I started," he said.
Soon after the guns of World War II erupted, Van Meter volunteered and wound up
training troops for overseas combat.
His college education weighted in math and science, Van Meter took a coaching
job at Point Pleasant before arriving in Beckley.
In a brilliant career that spanned four decades, beginning in 1929, he compiled
a 155-55-12 mark in football and logged a record of 501-159 in basketball.
Van Meter notched three state titles in football and six in basketball -- four
them in a row.
Known across West Virginia as the Gray Eagle, he comes in for another honor in
June when he will be inducted in the National High School Sports Hall of Fame.
Jack Groseclose, a tackle and center for Van Meter in the Class of '54, will fly
with his old mentor May 7 to the Laguna Hills, Calif., home of another Gray
Eagle athlete -- Lew Webb. The two plan to return May 10.
At Webb's home, Van Meter will be interviewed by the HBO film crew for a
documentary that likely will not be aired until December of next year or
possibly as late as 1999.
"We want to run this as close to the new century as possible, with all the
emphasis now on the millennium," the HBO official said.
In nearly a century of life in America, the legendary coach has seen it all --
and been around an abundance of celebrities.
For instance, in Springfield, Ill., at the state fair, he watched as
barnstorming Barney Oldfield doubled over on the second curve in his famed
"submarine" trying to set a new speed record.
Emerging from the wreck, Oldfield, his teeth still clutching a lit cigar, eyed
Van Meter and inquired, "Hey, kid, you see my hat?"
He watched President Teddy Roosevelt uncork a fiery speech to admirers, but the
young Van Meter, standing almost a quarter of a mile, never knew what he said.
"He had a tinny voice, and I couldn't hear a word he said," he said. "But I
remember watching him raise his fists as he talked."
On the music scene, Van Meter laughed at how he and a buddy took takes to a John
Philip Sousa performance and tried to romance their ladies by dancing to march
tunes.
"You think you could waltz to `Stars and Stripes Forever?'|" he asked. "We took
those girls out in a Ford automobile, and all Sousa played were marches. You
don't do very much waltzing with that."
How did their dates respond to such music?
"I don't know," Van Meter said. "They didn't have much to say. We got 'em home
about 1 o'clock in the morning. Their parents were sitting up waiting on them."
Across the century, Van Meter has watched one revolution follow another in every
phase of American life -- social, economic, political, scientific, spiritual,
entertainment, etc.
"I've seen changes in everything," he said. "Church used to come first in the
community, and now it comes second."
Van Meter remembers the pre-mechanized days of farming when work animals were a
common sight. For two summers, he worked a section of railroad track, riding a
handcar to keep men supplied with picks, shovels and water.
"They were looking for loose ties," he said. "One thing I remember is the double
track Chicago and Alton Railroad, which was later gobbled up by the Illinois
Central.
"That was back in the days of horses. I'd work 10 hours a day, carrying water.
They might give me a nickel or a penny."
Across the years, Van Meter has rubbed shoulders with some of the major names in
sports -- Notre Dame's sainted Knute Rockne, Alabama's Bear Bryant, Pop Warner
and Jim Thorpe, to name only a few.
Yet, for all his success as a coach, ex-Flying Eagle athletes such as Groseclose
remember a side of Van Meter that separates him from his peers -- the
father-like image of a man who looked beyond their schoolboy days to prepare
them for life itself.
"I love him," Groseclose said. "It's hard to tell how many young men he has
coached and steered in the right direction in his lifetime. He's fantastic."
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Gray Eagle To Take Place in National Sports Hall of Fame
By MANNIX PORTERFIELD
This article appeared in the Beckley Register-Herald.
Tom Landry, Johnny Bench, Jack Nicklaus ... make room, guys, for another legend,
Jerome Van Meter.
Come summer, the beloved Gray Eagle of Woodrow Wilson High School takes his
rightful place alongside such notables -- all members of the National High
School Sports Hall of Fame.
"Oh, Lordy, what am I doing in such company?" Van Meter asked, with trademark
modesty, when apprised of some past inductees.
The 96-year-old Van Meter will join 13 other honorees July 9 in an induction at
San Antonio, Texas, this year's gathering site of the National Federation of
State High School Associations.
In his illustrious career that spanned four decades, starting in 1929, the
retired Beckley coach compiled a 155-55-12 mark in football and a 501-159 record
in basketball.
Van Meter bagged three state titles in football and six in basketball -- four of
them in a row.
What's more, the coaching legend, a father figure to the hundreds he coached,
molded his young charges for the future -- instilling in them the values of hard
work, clean living, sportsmanship and honesty. Many have come forth in late
adulthood to salute the character traits that Van Meter taught them, saying his
leadership set them on the path to success.
Bruce Howard, publications and communications director for the hall of fame,
said Van Meter was chosen after a two-tiered selection process. Each year, he
explained, a screening committee looks at all nominations offered. Those that
are deemed worthy of national recognition then are put into the hands of a
selection committee, which rates them on a scale of 1 to 5. A typical pool
begins with 50 nominations and is whittled to 14.
Van Meter was nominated last year, but didn't make it until this year after he
was renominated by Beckley attorney Pat Fragile, a member of Beckley's 1962
championship basketball team led by the Gray Eagle's successor, the late
Lawrence "Preach" Wiseman.
"I think, generally speaking, it seemed to the committee that in terms of the
coaching profession in the state of West Virginia, he was among the best, if not
the best," Howard said.
While Van Meter's record is stunning, Howard pointed out that the won-loss mark
is not the sole criteria.
"We don't have a set number of victories or championships that qualifies someone
for this honor because of the varying amounts of games that a person can coach
or participate in, from one part of the country to another."
In reality, he said the hall of fame looks beyond the simple arithmetic of a
won-lost log.
"Certainly, winning percentage is a factor," he said.
"Beyond that, (it's) what he contributed in ways other than just winning ball
games, that being the person was a believer in sportsmanship, a believer in
assisting kids in all areas of their lives. We're looking for an individual who
is an all-around type of person.
"We knew there were certain qualities about this gentleman."
Only three other West Virginians have been accorded the honor since the hall of
fame was launched in Kansas City, Mo., 15 years ago -- Jerry West, who went from
East Bank High School to greatness at West Virginia University and with the Los
Angeles Lakers; Jennings Boyd, who won a national record eight straight state
championships in basketball at Northfork High School; and Russ Parsons, who was
a high school coaching great in football and track at Oak Hill, Charleston
Catholic, Stonewall Jackson and Parkersburg.
(In 1947, the first year the state Secondary School Activities Commission
crowned champions in football, Stonewall Jackson, coached by Parsons, and
Woodrow Wilson, coached by Van Meter, were declared co-champions.) Fragile was
moved to nominate Van Meter during a visit to the national federation in Kansas
City.
Scanning the plaques and photographs of hall of fame members, Fragile recalled,
"Out of curiosity, I looked at the West Virginia section to see who was in it
from West Virginia. Quite frankly, I was shocked that Coach Van Meter wasn't in
it."
Digging into the matter, Fragile learned that no one had ever nominated him, so,
as a state director for officials, Fragile was in position to suggest the
inclusion of Van Meter in a process that had to go through the SSAC.
Fragile said the SSAC's executive director, Warren Carter, shared his sentiment,
adding, "It was an injustice that coach was never nominated." Carter pledged his
support and help in getting Van Meter in the hall, so Fragile did the legwork
twice in compiling the nominating package.
"I was absolutely thrilled," Fragile said of the affirmative message from Kansas
City. "It was one of the nicest phone calls I ever received when they called and
said he had been accepted. And he was thrilled." Ever modest, Van Meter shied
from taking credit for his amazing success on the gridiron and the court.
"You don't do it with magic," he said. "I'm thankful that I had a lot of good
assistant coaches and some great guys. I had some great kids. My boys made it to
every major bowl game in the country, and I'm talking about starters."
Perhaps a key to his brilliant record lay in his philosophy -- the future of the
boy was far more crucial than the present goal on the athletic field.
"I never paid a whole lot of attention to winning," he said.
"If they want to give me the honor, that's fine. I'll take the honor on the
condition that the guys did all the work and should get the credit. We had a
great bunch of guys."
Even so, Van Meter admittedly is "tickled" by the hall of fame induction.
"It is an honor, but only in relationship to the guys that put me there," he
said. "They should get the credit. If they want to do that, honor these guys,
then glory be."
Van Meter was quick to rattle off the names of some assistants who provided him
with crucial backup -- Ken Hunt, Buckshot Underwood, Tom Williamson, Nelson
Bragg, Vic Peelish and Wiseman.
Household names such as Len Dawson, Bob Mathias, Pat Haden and Archie Griffin
are among other celebrities picked in past inductions. "I'm flabbergasted to be
in there with Tom Landry," Van Meter said of the Dallas Cowboys coaching legend.
"I feel like on the outside looking in at him. I'll be scared to death.
"For me to be in all that company, I'm speechless. I hope I don't lose my
nerve."
For Fragile, a former Air Force pilot, and Van Meter, flying to Texas will be a
homecoming of sorts.
"That's my old stomping grounds," Fragile said. "I took my flight training there
and met my wife (Mary Lou) there, too. So it's like going home for me."
Van Meter, likewise, spent some time in the Lone Star State, attending a
coaching school at Southern Methodist University.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beckley's Van Meter Has Seen, Been Part of Century of Sports
By ANDY HANSROTH
This article appeared in the Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail.
BECKLEY -- When Jerome Van Meter first heard about the game of basketball as a
young teen-ager, he didn't even know anyone who owned a car. Because there
weren't many cars around back then.
Van Meter, you see, turned 96 on Aug. 15.
Born in 1900, he vividly remembers starting his career as a high school coach at
Point Pleasant in 1922. He served as an educator for more than 50 years and a
coach for 35.
"The thing I find so awesome about being here this long is, I've lived through
almost an entire century,'' said Van Meter. "There was no television when I was
growing up. No one had cars. There weren't even any airplanes, although I
remember seeing my first one. It looked like a bird on the horizon.''
And anyone who knows anything at all about sports in Beckley knows about coach
Van Meter -- who led Beckley (now Woodrow Wilson) High School to nine state
championships.
"And I had three runner-up teams in basketball,'' said Van Meter. "In 1926 at
Point Pleasant we went to play in a national high school basketball championship
in Chicago. We lost to Kansas, who was beating everyone that year.''
Under Van Meter's direction, Beckley won its first state basketball title in
1946 -- one year after he started coaching at Beckley. Van Meter also led the
team to basketball titles in 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954 and 1957. His teams won
football titles in 1947, 1948 and 1951.
His career coaching records, according to statistics compiled by Beckley's
George Springer, included going 170-69-11 in football. And Van Meter's
basketball record was 612-218.
That's an almost unheard of (in today's terms) .737 winning percentage.
People don't forget things like that -- even though Van Meter has not coached at
Beckley since 1959.
That's right, even 37 years after his last days as a coach at Beckley High
School, people remember Jerome Van Meter and hold him dear to their hearts.
He is an institution in Raleigh County.
Dave Barksdale is the current basketball coach at Woodrow Wilson High. Barksdale
didn't play sports under Van Meter, but he has a deep respect for the former
coach.
"Coach Van Meter retired before I was coming up in school,'' said Barksdale. "So
I never got to play for him. But I was like every other kid in Beckley. We all
grew up following the Flying Eagles.
"Coach means a lot to me and he meant everything to folks like my parents and
the rest of Beckley at that time.
"Today when we're doing well, he always calls and congratulates us,'' said
Barksdale. "And even when we lose, it seems like he always knows exactly what to
say to pick you back up. He's tremendous in that respect. A lot of his former
players say he was always good at that when he was coaching, too -- knowing just
what to say to pick his players up.''
That Van Meter was a leader became evident in service to his country.
"I fought in World War I in the infantry and then went back to train troops at
Camp Stewart, Georgia as an Army drill instructor in World War II. We got' em
off the trains and put' em back on down there. And I was also in the National
Guard at Point Pleasant as a machine gun instructor, teaching fellas how to
shoot the old .30-caliber water-cooled machine guns,'' he said.
"When I started in the coaching business, they didn't give you much room. You
were supposed to raise all the money and furnish the teams with uniforms and do
everything else, too,'' said Van Meter, who came up with a sound scheme for
selling tickets and raising money for high school sporting events.
"I'd get the prettiest girls from the school and send them out to sell
tickets,'' he said. "It always worked.''
Beckley's current football coach, Pete Culicerto, played both football and
basketball under Van Meter.
Culicerto holds his former coach in highest esteem.
"He's an amazing person,'' Culicerto said. "At 96 years old, his mind is
remarkable. He'll talk about people who played for him in the 1920s or 1930s and
he'll remember where they lived, their parents, everything about that person. I
can't do that now at age 61. He's just an exceptional, outstanding human
being.''
Culicerto said Van Meter was top-notch in his profession.
"He was a disciplinarian who stressed fundamentals and he was always very fair
with everyone. He kept up with the game more than most people, primarily by
subscribing to a lot of newspapers and reading a lot about sports.
"He was a top-notch coach in everything he did because he devoted himself
entirely to coaching. He coached football and basketball the same way, too, by
teaching strict fundamentals.
"Coach Van Meter had a toughness about him, particularly in football. His
confidence carried over into the players. When he prepared you, you knew you
were going to be able to achieve your goals,'' Culicerto said.
Van Meter does recall reading a lot of sports sections when he was coaching.
"I got all those newspapers and I always knew what they the opposing teams were
doing,'' he said. "Sometimes those sports writers may have been too good, by
giving us almost too much information.''
Culicerto recalls that Van Meter always knew the statistical averages of
opposing players.
So what did he enjoy doing most, coaching football or basketball?
"It didn't make any difference to me,'' said Van Meter, who has, at one time or
another, coached almost everything. At Point Pleasant he coached all sports for
20 years, including baseball and track.
"I didn't have time to have any preference for one sport or another,'' he said.
"We went straight from football into basketball and straight from basketball
into baseball and track.''
Van Meter was also the athletic director during his tenure at Beckley and Point
Pleasant.
"I always had an awful lot of good help,'' he said.
That good help included such former coaching assistant greats as Beckley's
Buckshot Underwood.
"He was a line coach here and helped us win the 1947 football championship,''
said Van Meter. "He left here and went on to become a line coach for Bear
Bryant. Buckshot also ended up as a high school coach in Texas. I'm pretty sure
he was Jimmy Johnson's high school football coach.''
The game of basketball was in its infancy when Van Meter started coaching it at
Point Pleasant High School in 1922.
"We played back then in an old wood-working shop,'' said Van Meter. "The
backboards were laid right up against concrete walls. Well, our players could
run and climb those walls clear up to the hoop. And our opponents didn't like
that. So I just told them it was my place and they were going to have to play by
my rules. Eventually, we got a real gym to play basketball in.''
Van Meter was born in Williamsville, Ill., and attended high school there until
he joined the Army.
He went to Eureka College, Ill., in 1918 and attended the University of Illinois
for two years after that. He also attended two years of coaches training courses
at Notre Dame under Knute Rockne.
He coached at Point Pleasant from 1922 through 1942, then served in World War II
for three years. In 1945, he started his coaching career at Beckley. And in that
first year his team had no field to play football on.
"So we signed a note and were personally responsible for building the stadium at
Beckley High School,'' said Van Meter. "I think the Lord was with me.''
That facility (named Van Meter Stadium) is still used for multiple middle school
athletic and community activities in Beckley.
His memories are numerous, says Van Meter, but some stand out more than others.
"I was on the state selection board for all-state football and basketball and I
coached the North-South football game as an assistant and a head coach, too,''
he said. "That game used to be played in December it's played now during the
summer months and we had an awful lot of snow that first year.''
Summing up his life briefly in a newspaper-size story doesn't do Jerome Van
Meter justice. After all, how could anyone possibly condense nearly a century's
worth of experiences into 30 or 40 inches of newsprint? Truly, it cannot be
done.
Van Meter, however, is very happy with the way life has treated him. And he
doesn't mind summing it up in a single sentence.
"I guess I've gotten to do it all,'' he said.
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CWV Gymnasium Dedicated, Named After Former Coach
By JOHN EARL OTTE
This article appeared in the Register-Herald.
Dr. Charles Polk, president of The College of West Virginia, described it simply
as "just another good day in the life and times of CWV."
The good day he was referring to was Sunday's dedication ceremony for the new
J.R. Van Meter Gymnasium, in the old Beckley Junior High School gym.
The building, complete with state-of-the-art weight-training equipment and full
facilities for male and female athletes, was renovated to accommodate the CWV
Cougars men's basketball, women's volleyball and women's softball teams for
practices and some competitions.
Many people participated in the dedication ceremony, including Van Meter, who
expressed words of appreciation to those in attendance.
"I'm proud that they named this place after me," the 98-year-old former coach
and teacher said. "It's a beautiful place. You walk in and it just catches your
breath."
The man whom many refer to as just "Coach" lead the Woodrow Wilson Flying Eagles
to six state basketball championships and three state football championships in
the 1940s and `50s.
Van Meter's legacy in the Beckley sports realm was something that meant a great
deal to a former player of his, Howard Hurt, the all-time leading scorer in
Woodrow basketball history and former starter on the Duke University basketball
team. Hurt was one of the speakers at Sunday's ceremony, and spoke highly of his
former coach.
"He taught us how to live, through discipline, hard-work and persistence," Hurt
recalled. "He taught us how to live, love and learn, but most importantly he
taught us the importance of leaving a legacy."
That legacy also lives on in the classroom with the creation of the J.R. Van
Meter Endowed Athletic Scholarship, now in its second year of existence. The
1998 recipient Cougar volleyball player Adrienne Banks commented on what an
honor it was to receive the scholarship.
"As a 1998 Woodrow graduate, I always heard the name `Van Meter' as being
synonymous with winning," Banks said. "Thanks to this scholarship, I can play
the sport that I love and gain an education at the same time."
"Coach Van Meter gave all of his talent, love and affection to the teams he
coached," said Lewis McManus, former Speaker of the W.Va. House of Delegates and
current co-chair of CWV's Steering Committee. "He is honored for his coaching
but should also be honored for his care for the community."
The importance of this new facility to the athletics department at CWV could not
be understated, according to Athletic Director and men's basketball coach Bob
Bolen.
"It used to take six or seven days of calling around to a bunch of different
people and places just to get in one day of practice," Bolen said. "Now we have
a place to call home."
The choice of naming the facility after Mr. Van Meter could not have been more
perfect either in Coach Bolen's mind.
"They could not have named this gym after anyone who touched more people's lives
in the Beckley community than Coach Van Meter," Bolen said.
Van Meter spoke to the crowd about his many memories in the sport of basketball.
He spoke of how the sport got started, where he learned about it and how he
brought it to Beckley. The crowd laughed as Coach reminisced about playing
basketball in barns and chicken coups when there was no where else to play.
But Van Meter became emotional as he spoke of what a great coach's wife Aline,
his wife of 72 years who passed away in February, had been during all those
years.
"She was a great coach's wife because all that work I did took time," he
recalled, "but she always said that's OK; go ahead."
The Beckley legend ended his speech with a simple thought, but one that came
from his heart.
"You people are my people," he said holding back tears, "and I love you all."
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Van Meter Adds Prestigious Community Service Award to His Trophy Case
By R. SHAWN LEWIS
This article appeared in the Register-Herald on Aug. 29, 1999.
Legendary Beckley coach Jerome Van Meter has another honor to add to his
impressive trophy case, and this one may be the biggest of them all: The Spirit
of Beckley.
The community service award, presented by the Beckley-Raleigh County YMCA,
"recognizes exemplary service which benefits all people of Beckley, Raleigh
County and West Virginia."
"The individuals receiving this award manifest, in their lives and deeds, the
selfless concern and care for others, which constitutes the essence of our
community's proud spirit."
Van Meter, who recently turned 99, certainly fits that description. It's
doubtful anyone alive today has touched more southern West Virginians than the
man known simply as Coach.
"He's such a great image for everybody," said Bob Crews of Luray, Va., who
played for Van Meter during the 1950s.
Spirit of Beckley campaign co-chairman Bill O'Brien's relationship with Van
Meter goes back to the radio personality's days at Beckley Junior High, where
Coach was principal.
"My feeling is that we couldn't have a better honoree than Coach Van Meter,"
O'Brien said. "He's meant so much to so many people in and out of athletics.
He's just the right person at the right time."
Affectionately dubbed "The Gray Eagle," Van Meter literally has a Hall of Fame
resume. Consider these marks:
Beckley's winningest basketball coach with 674 wins, including state
championships in 1946, '51, '52, '53, '54 and '57.
Beckley's winningest football coach with 222 wins and state championships in
1947, '48 and '51.
The second-winningest high school basketball coach of all time in West Virginia.
Member of the National High School Sports Hall of Fame.
Life member of the National Basketball Hall of Fame.
Member of the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
Member of the College of West Virginia's Honorary Alumni Hall of Fame.
The list goes on. And on. And on.
Still, it falls short of the measure of this great man, O'Brien said.
"It's not wins or losses, or victories or state titles. This man, just his
values, these current generations need to know about," O'Brien said.
Former Woodrow Wilson High basketball standout and Class of '52 grad Dwayne
Wingler agreed.
"He touched so many people, you didn't have to be an athlete to fall in love
with him," Wingler said at Van Meter's 99th birthday celebration last weekend.
"He just touched so many people. He did so much for sports in Beckley. He's just
a great man."
Another Van Meter disciple, Lewis Webb of California, added: "He was like a
father to me. We are still very close. I talk to him about two or three times a
week. He is one of my best friends."
Coach's influence on Beckley is nothing short of divine, Webb said.
"He had a colossal impact on the city. The Van Meter influence has been an
absolute halo for Beckley."
Indeed, divine intervention may have played a part in the Gray Eagle's arrival
in the City of Champions. Just ask the coach himself.
"I guess it was fate that brought me to Beckley from Point Pleasant," Van Meter
remarked during his birthday party at Beckley's Pancake House.
"I've known him since I was a sophomore in high school," former student Jack
Front said. "I heard of him since he got out of the service in 1946. He gave so
much to his students and to the city.
"Everybody who played for him shared a common bond. He taught the value of being
people and about preparation and hard work."
Van Meter's legion of fans has developed a special relationship with Coach that
transcends athletics. Today, some members of that inner circle visit Van Meter
daily and meet his needs.
"We take care of him because we want to," Jo Lee Daniels said. "We are loyal and
dedicated to him because he is such a wonderful man."
That dedication included driving Van Meter to and from Hidden Valley nursing
home in Oak Hill, where his late wife, Aline, was a patient.
O'Brien was part of that committee.
"They were a team. She was just a wonderful lady," he said.
Daniels added: "It was not unusual for him and his wife to have the football
team over for dinner. They never had any kids of their own, so they compensated
by taking care of their students."
The Van Meters' adoptive family spans into the thousands. Many of those folks
will be on hand Oct. 5 at the Raleigh County Armory Civic Center when the Spirit
of Beckley is officially presented.
Tickets to the gala affair benefit the Spirit of Beckley campaign, which seeks
to raise $100,000 for the YMCA this year.
For ticket information or to help with the campaign, call 252-0715.
Previous recipients of the Spirit of Beckley include Lucy Hays, Mary Cape Smith,
Leslie C. Gates, Charles K. Connor Jr., Margaret Sayre, Dr. and Mrs. M.M.
Ralsten, Warren A. Thornhill III, Nancy Pat Lewis-Smith and Hulett C. Smith,
Alex D. George Sr., Elmo J. Hurst, Erma Vecellio Grogan and Leo Vecellio Sr.,
and James C. Justice II.
Sports writer Jody Murphy contributed to this report.
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A Good (Van) Meter for Those Feeling Old
By MITCH VINGLE
This article appeared in the Sunday Gazette-Mail on May 21, 2000.
LORDY, LORDY, I just turned 40.
Friday, to be specific. A time, I figured, for reflection. A time to evaluate my
life decisions. A time, well, to freak out, raid my savings account, buy a
roadster and get new hair.
But since I had an Early-Life Crisis and am planning on a Late-Life Crisis, I
decided to skip the Mid-Life Crisis.
Instead, I figured I would sit in my rocking chair, get out the laptop computer
and regale you with stories of yore. Like the time I almost got in a fight with
Andre the Giant. Like the time I saw O.J. Simpson - after the trial. Like the
time I saw Frank Gifford flirting with a stewardess - before his "conviction.''
Like the time I literally bumped into Franco Harris at Three Rivers Stadium -
and asked him just who he thought he was.
Then I got a phone call. Legendary Beckley coach Jerome Van Meter, I was told,
will be appearing in Charleston to speak at a breakfast this Friday at Harding's
Restaurant.
Eighty days before his 100th birthday.
Made my idea of yore-regaling seem silly. So I called Mr. Van Meter. And he
answered on the first ring.
"Coach,'' I said, "I was going to do a column on turning 40. Then I heard you
were coming over to speak.''
He laughed.
"You're just a kid,'' he said.
I'd never so enjoyed being "kidded.'' Then I put my pen to paper. The coach had
stopped coaching at Woodrow Wilson High, where the stadium is named after him,
in 1959 - the year before I was born.
"I just keep putting one foot in front of the other,'' he said.
Van Meter, a 1997 inductee into the National High School Sports Hall of Fame,
said he still walks a couple miles a day "around the hill'' where he lives. Then
he started spinning tales.
Yours truly was going to tell a story about Pearl Washington. Him?
"I went to a coaching clinic given by Knute Rockne,'' Van Meter said. "He was
good, but he had others there that showed us how to play - the Four Horsemen:
[Harry] Stuhldreher, [Elmer] Layden, [Jim] Crowley and [Don] Miller.''
I was going to tell you about keeping stats for Washington and ...
"Then I went to Ohio,'' Van Meter said, "Pop Warner and Jim Thorpe were there.
All Thorpe would say to us was ‘Huh?' But he'd talk to Pop Warner.''
The coach went on. He spoke of meeting Red Grange. He spoke of coaching
football, baseball, basketball and track in Point Pleasant before moving to
Beckley. ("I,'' said he, "was a busy boy.'') He spoke of playing basketball in
gyms with posts as obstacles. He talked about coaching Woodrow Wilson High to
its first state basketball title in 1946, beating Stonewall Jackson and George
King in the championship.
Van Meter, I realized, is a state treasure. I remember black and white
television. He remembers when there were no cars. He spoke of farms, wheat,
oats, horses, mules, wagons.
"I was born and raised in Illinois,'' Van Meter said. "Home of Abraham Lincoln.
I didn't know Lincoln, but I passed his house a couple times.''
Talk about a lesson in humility. I was going to tell you about a basketball
player named Washington. Van Meter was talking about Abe Lincoln.
"I do what I have to do,'' Van Meter said. "I feel good except for a stingy arm.
But I don't moan and groan about it.
"I just endure.''
And by enduring, Van Meter endears.
Inspiring the rest of us "kids.'' stats for Washington and ...
"Then I went to Ohio,'' Van Meter said, "Pop Warner and Jim Thorpe were there.
All Thorpe would say to us was ‘Huh?' But he'd talk to Pop Warner.''
The coach went on. He spoke of meeting Red Grange. He spoke of coaching
football, baseball, basketball and track in Point Pleasant before moving to
Beckley. ("I,'' said he, "was a busy boy.'') He spoke of playing basketball in
gyms with posts as obstacles. He talked about coaching Woodrow Wilson High to
its first state basketball title in 1946, beating Stonewall Jackson and George
King in the championship.
Van Meter, I realized, is a state treasure. I remember black and white
television. He remembers when there were no cars. He spoke of farms, wheat,
oats, horses, mules, wagons.
"I was born and raised in Illinois,'' Van Meter said. "Home of Abraham Lincoln.
I didn't know Lincoln, but I passed his house a couple times.''
Talk about a lesson in humility. I was going to tell you about a basketball
player named Washington. Van Meter was talking about Abe Lincoln.
"I do what I have to do,'' Van Meter said. "I feel good except for a stingy arm.
But I don't moan and groan about it.
"I just endure.''
And by enduring, Van Meter endears.
Inspiring the rest of us "kids.''
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Van Meter Gearing Up for 100th Birthday
by MANNIX PORTERFIELD
This article appeared in the Register-Herald on June 12, 2000.
Jack Groseclose suddenly felt a football plop into his hands after a leaping
teammate tipped an opponent's pass.
Without hesitation, the Beckley middle linebacker barged into the end zone.
Problem was, the Flying Eagle defender crossed the wrong goal line.
Princeton wound up with a safety, and Beckley's victory margin - 19 points - was
shaved just enough to spoil a gambler's 20-point spot in a bet with a friend.
Needless to say, Groseclose wasn't welcome in a Beckley eatery the man owned for
some time. Such was life in the Fabulous Fifties.
Dwayne Wingler laughed this week at his former teammate's gaffe, but with some
measure of restraint.
After all, the multi-talented athlete helped clear Groseclose's path with a
block, as did some other Flying Eagles caught up in the mass confusion of the
moment.
"We were all turned around the wrong way," Groseclose laughed.
That story - and thousands just as funny, all portals to Beckley's storied
athletic past - are in for some rehashing (and perhaps a little embellishment)
when Jerome Van Meter, the white-haired man in the business suit, once a
familiar icon on the Beckley sidelines, turns 100 on Aug. 15.
The Gray Eagle is heading toward a different goal line - the century mark.
As many as 400 people from across the nation - many of them former players, "my
boys," as Van Meter affectionately dubs them - are likely to turn out for the
historic occasion for a man who built Beckley into a formidable football and
basketball machine.
Wingler, a devil-may-care human dynamo whom Van Meter once labeled as his finest
athlete, has ample ammunition in the story department.
Perhaps the one that sticks out best for the irrepressible Wingler came when his
athletic days ended and he was at school polishing up for the spring
commencement at Woodrow Wilson High School.
Two pals sneaking a smoke in the boys' room spied Van Meter ambling down the
hallway. Not wanting to be caught indulging, the two handed a lighted cigarette
to Wingler. There wasn't enough time to douse it.
"I'm standing there, holding this cigarette, and they left," he said. "That was
probably the most embarrassing moment of my whole life. I felt so bad I almost
felt like crying."
Wingler tried to explain, "Coach, I know you're not going to believe me, but
this is not my cigarette."
"Dwayne," Van Meter answered, "I'm not in the mood right now to hear any stories
from you."
Even today, Wingler isn't sure he ever convinced the Gray Eagle of his
innocence.
"I got into enough trouble that I was guilty for, but to get into something when
you were really innocent ..." he mused.
In advance of Van Meter's 100th birthday, Groseclose, another former athlete,
Lew Webb, and Jo Lee Daniels of Beckley, whose late husband, Bob Daniels, was
also one of Van Meter's stellar athletes, arranged to move the venerable coach
from The Bayberry, a retirement center he called home the past eight years, to
Greystone Inn near Shady Spring.
"Coach needs more attention now than he had before, so we got him into a place
that will really be able to care for him," Daniels explained.
"He's doing fine, other than a small place on his neck. That set him back a
little bit."
Van Meter steered the Flying Eagles to three state titles in football and six
more in basketball, and holds the distinction of being a surviving veteran of
America's two world wars.
To all the men who played under him, there is a common thread - an image of him
as a father figure.
"Van Meter is more or less my mentor," said Groseclose, who took it on his own a
few years back to play the son's role and provide personal care for his former
coach.
Without fail, Groseclose pays him a daily visit to make sure his needs are met
and provide him with company.
"His short-term memory is fading, but his long-term memory is still there, all
the stories he tells," Groseclose said. "I get reruns about every night. And
they are pretty accurate."
Indeed, when he appeared last summer before Marshall University's football team,
at the behest of a former player of his - coach Bob Pruett - the Gray Eagle
amazed the Herd with crisp and vivid details of games played decades before they
were born, down to the exact scores and dates.
Van Meter quit driving a few years ago in deference to his diminishing eyesight,
but legally, he remains licensed. His card expires Aug. 31.
"I wonder how many 100-year-old people in the state of West Virginia have a
valid driver's license?" Groseclose asked.
Wingler, the school's own version of Cool Hand Luke, set a state single-season
scoring mark of 664 points in 1954, the year he led Beckley to the state
big-school basketball crown over arch-enemy Mullens in the finals. In that
tournament, Wingler set four records and matched two others. He grew up
fatherless, but Van Meter stepped in to fill the void.
"Coach means everything to me," said Wingler, now living in Richmond, Va.
"He was always the person I looked up to when I played sports for him. He made
us behave ourselves. He was very much on discipline. We didn't want him to catch
us doing anything bad, like smoking or drinking a beer."
Wingler sees his onetime coach in the mold of Gen. George S. Patton, minus, of
course, the salty language in an era where the coaching staff's speech in
particular, and society in general, was squeaky clean.
"They were hard on us in a nice way," Wingler said. "They weren't like Bobby
Knight. I can't remember them ever using a curse word. We didn't have those
words in our vocabulary like they use today. They can hardly make a movie now
unless they put those words in."
While the former athletes helped Van Meter move to a new home, Daniels began
laying plans for the birthday bash, set for Aug. 12 - a Saturday - at Daniel
Vineyards in Glen View.
The guest list could have embraced some heavyweights in sports, but in his
longevity, Van Meter simply has outlived his peers - among them such
acquaintances as Bear Bryant, Woody Hayes, Jesse Owens, Knute Rockne, Tom Landry
and Notre Dame's famed "four horsemen," to name a few.
"We're just in the planning stages right now," Daniels said.
"We plan on lots of birthday cake and balloons, and music. It's going to be a
big party."
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100 Years in the Making: Beckley Coaching Great Celebrates a New Milestone
This article appeared in the Register-Herald on Aug. 13, 2000.
By DAN STILLWELL
The "Gray Eagle" held court Saturday.
He reminisced with old friends. He posed for numerous pictures. He smiled.
He even danced.
Legendary Beckley coach Jerome Van Meter celebrated his 100th birthday in style
at Daniels Vineyards in Glen View, surrounded by many former athletes and
students.
"Howdy!" the still sharp-minded Van Meter told his adoring audience. "I tell you
it's great to see you all so happy. It's just beyond words. It's a glorious day
for me."
Bill O'Brien of WJLS Radio served as emcee for the event, which was attended by
over 400 people.
"All of us here have been touched by coach Van Meter. We're all successful
because of what he taught us," O'Brien said. "But he's the richest guy in town."
Recently-retired Woodrow Wilson football coach Pete Culicerto, who played years
ago for Van Meter, said, "The party tells the story. People have come from all
over the U.S. to be a part of it. It shows what he's meant to so many people."
Van Meter would be revered for his coaching accomplishments alone. He won 674
games and six state championships in basketball along with 222 games and three
titles in football.
He's a member of the National High School Sports Hall of Fame, the National
Basketball Hall of Fame and the West Virginia Sportswriters Hall of Fame.
Yet, it was his great character that drew accolades at the event.
"My father was killed when I was seven years old, so coach Van Meter was really
the only father I ever knew," said Dwayne Wingler, the one-time brash Flying
Eagle star from the mid-1950s who went on to become a successful businessman in
Richmond, Va. "He kept me in line. He taught me a lot about character and about
life. Those years with him you carry with you forever. That's why so many people
are here today."
Bill Lilly and Bill Myles, both 1949 Woodrow Wilson graduates, recalled his
sportsmanship and fair play.
"We were playing Hinton and one of their players had an injury. Before the game
coach told us he didn't want any of us to try to hurt him," Lilly said. "He
wanted to win more than anyone around, but we had to win by the rules."
Myles said, "Coach treated everybody the same way - he wanted you to be the
best. He always thought you could do better, and he was probably right."
Van Meter wasn't a man players wanted to cross.
"If you were out running around after 10 at night you'd walk two miles out of
your way to keep him from seeing you," observed Wingler, who occasionally found
himself in hot water during his career. "At halftime he'd sometimes chew us out
and after a few minutes about half the guys would be crying. We couldn't wait to
get out of the locker room and do better."
The "Gray Eagle" was also an understanding man, fortunately for Jack Groseclose,
who once ran an interception back to the wrong end zone.
"Coach didn't say anything. He didn't want to discourage me," Groseclose said.
"In fact, he took me over and introduced me to a scout from VPI. There was no
repercussions until coach Vic Peelish started calling me 'Wrong Way Groseclose'
and it stuck."
Van Meter and Groseclose have solidified their friendship over the years.
"I've taken care of him for close to five years, ever since he lost the ability
to drive," Groseclose said. "I see him every evening. He does real good. He
still is concerned and remembers who he calls 'his boys.' He keeps up with the
biggest part of them."
There were many highlights in the party, including the reading of a letter from
President and Mrs. Clinton, and the announcement that Van Meter has earned a
prestigious Daily Points of Light award.
But the biggest cheers came when Van Meter and chief party organizer Jo Lee
Daniels danced at the end.
Van Meter moved with grace, effortless twirling the delighted Daniels.
"My late husband Bob had started the Woodrow Wilson Alumni reunions, and coach
Van Meter and I danced together at one of them," Daniels said. "I had told him
we had to dance again, and I reminded him of that today. He jumped up and we
danced. It meant so much to me."
His presence obviously meant much to a great number of people.
"He doesn't have children, so these folks are his family," Culicerto noted.
For his part, Van Meter plans many happy returns.
"I talked to St. Pete and he said, 'Not yet. You're not worth it.' Then the
'other guy' said, 'I don't want you.' So I'll be here awhile!" he said with a
grin. "Thank you a lot. Hope to see you in 2001."
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