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Badge made available by Delores Esakson, class of 1962.
- Art Spoelstra, WKU Hall of Famer. -
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The success any sports teams can be significant influenced by one outstanding player. This seems to be especially true of basketball, where one particularly tall play can materially alter the effectiveness of a team.
At six feet eight inches, Art Spoelstra was the outstanding basketball
player at Godwin in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In a sport where height
clearly has advantages, he was one of a handful of players in the Grand
Rapids area with both the height and ability to help carry Godwin's basketball
team to great success.
Recent photograph of Art Spoelstra.
Thursday, 10 April 2008
Arthur C. Spoelstra Sr., 75, of Evansville, formerly of New York City, passed away Wednesday, April 9, 2008, at Select Specialty Hospital. He was born September 11, 1932, in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Arthur was a former NBA player and all American at Western Kentucky University, where he is in the Hall of Fame. He loved all sports and played a mean game of golf. He recently retired as a union stagehand for many Broadway Theaters in New York City.
Arthur is survived by his wife of 36 years, Irene Spoelstra; son, Arthur C. "Neal" Spoelstra Jr., of Owensboro, Ky.; son, Bobby Spoelstra, of New York City; son, Michael Spoelstra, of New York City; daughter, Carol Leggett, of Baton Rouge, La.; granddaughter, Jamie Holt and husband, Steve; great-grandson, Landon; dog, Star; special friends, Larry Sartore, Sherri McGhee, and Roberta, Steve and Misty Boyle.
Private services will be held. For further details contact Alexander North Chapel.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Vanderburgh Humane Society, 400 Millner Industrial Drive, Evansville, IN 47710. Arrangements by Alexander North Chapel, 4200 Stringtown Road.
Published in the Courier Press on 4/10/2008.
From a piece in the Evansville Courier & Press, posted April 11, 2008:
Art Spoelstra never made more than $5,500 in an NBA career that began in 1954 with the Rochester Royals and ended when his knees gave out 17 games into the 1957-58 season with the New York Knicks.
"The team flew into Fort Wayne one night in a snowstorm," his son Neal recalled on Thursday. "There were no cabs and no buses. They didn't coddle the players back then like they do now. You had a game the next night hundreds of miles away and it was your job to be at the gym on time. One of the players' brothers ended up piling all the players in his car and taking them to the arena."
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Courtesy the Spoelstra family An Art Spoelstra basketball card from when he was with the Minnesota Lakers.
Irene, his fourth wife, met the 6-foot-9 professional basketball player at a bar in New York City.
"I had brothers who were tall and I always wanted a tall man," she said. "We started talking and I liked what he had to say. I asked him to marry me that first night. I was 35. He was 40. Why waste time?"
Art Spoelstra died Wednesday after bouts with heart trouble, ulcers and peritonitis. The Evansville man was 75.
The native of Grand Rapids, Mich., played at Western Kentucky University and was drafted in the fourth round by the Royals. Usually a bench player, his best season was the 1955-56 campaign when he averaged 8.5 points.
"After Art quit playing, he got in the insurance business," Irene Spoelstra said, "but the white-collar world wasn't for him. He became a stagehand in New York, joined the union and worked a number of Broadway plays. He was good at it and got to know actors like Art Carney and Kevin Kline."
The 70-year-old woman, a New York native, said her late husband was "a hard-headed Dutchman who had a temper. He could definitely tell you to stuff it in your hat, but he was also very gregarious. If he was your friend, he would do anything in the world for you. He loved dogs. If one died, he was inconsolable."
She laughed.
"That man could party. He loved to have a good time. Art was also very competitive at anything he did. Especially golf. He played a mean game."
Neal Spoelstra, 53, of Owensboro, Ky., never met his father until 25 years ago.
"I was a child of his first marriage," said Neal. "Mom had custody and didn't want him involved. One thing led to another and I asked some relatives if they had his address. I found out later that Dad was trying to locate me. It was like fate was trying to bring us together.
"I saw him for the first time at the Evansville airport. We hit it off great and became very close."
Art and Irene Spoelstra moved to Evansville in the mid-1990s to be closer to Neal. He worked at McDonald Golf Course until his health worsened.
"You had to be really tough to play basketball back when Dad did," Neal Spoelstra said. "There wasn't any sitting out for a nagging injury. They'd just shoot you full of pain killers and you'd get in the car for the long haul to the next city. With his knees and everything, he paid mightily for his NBA career."
The younger Spoelstra enjoyed watching games on television with his father.
"Dad didn't like the three-point shot and he didn't like the dunk. He said he could throw the ball down when he was in the seventh grade, so what's the big deal?
"It was like you shouldn't take that kind of shot because it was too easy."
Irene Spoelstra said it bothered her husband that the younger NBA players had such little regard for the pioneers of the game.
"They have all the TV contracts and all the cash, but they've forgotten who got it all started," she said.
No pension money came until last year.
"Art got a $30,000 lump-sum check and he was in line to get $1,000 a month," Irene Spoelstra said. "He looked at the piece of paper and kinda grunted and said, 'About (expletive) time.' He knew players from his era who were on welfare and living out of cabs. He couldn't understand why it took so long for them to get a little money thrown their way."
Neal Spoelstra said his father came over "a little gruff, but he was really just a big lug. Kids were afraid of him because he was so tall, but he enjoyed giving them his old bubblegum basketball cards."
Art Spoelstra will be cremated today.
"I'm going to keep the ashes with me until the next time I go to New York City," his wife said. "Then I'll put them in the Atlantic Ocean. I think Art would like that."
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School flag, worn to all football games in the 1940's. (Source: Lee Neugent, class of 1948. ) |
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1927 basketball tickets. ( Material provided by Lewis Lull, class of 1940, scanned and sent by Craig Lull, class of 1970.) |
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School flag about half the size of a wall mounted version. ( Provided for
scanning by Clarice (Wicks) Cox, class of 1953.
The image above is from about 1956. Clearly the distinction between a wolf and a wolverine had been lost - what is shown is a wolf. Maybe the influence of Frank Rackett's collection. See section "W" to see what a wolverine looks like.
Godwin High School, My dear old Godwin,
Godwin High School we're all for you!
We will fight for your name and glory,
For the fame of the gold and blue
Ever daunted, we cannot falter
In the battle we're tried and true
Godwin High School, our dear old Godwin,
Godwin High School, We're all for you
The Indiana University Marching Hundred song "Indiana Fight," by Leroy Hinkle, was apparently "borrowed" from the Godwin Marching Band. It can be found on the Internet on an IU web page and/or can be ordered on a CD of IU songs from the IU bookstore. If you are set up to play AU, MPEG, or WAV files, check out Indiana Fight! in the "Recordings" area to hear this piece.
( Source: Lee Neugent, class of 1948. )
Daniel F. Douglass (Joe) played football at GHS, graduated in 1948 and enlisted in the Air Force where he had basic training in Texas and technical training in Illinois and was assigned to a Radio Security Detachment at McClellan AFB in Sacramento, CA. While in the AF, he attended Grant Technical College nights and was asked to join the football team. The AF was happy to have him do this (good public relations). He played a season there and was spotted by a scout (John Baker, the coach) from the University of Denver and offered a scholarship to the U of D for the fall of l952 (his 4 year enlistment was up in July). He played for DU as a center for two seasons and after that, he concentrated solely on obtaining a Bachelor Degree and also a Master's Degree from DU in 1956. In the late 1950s DU discontinued their football program. ( Text provided by Jane Hubbard Douglass, class of 1948. Photograph supplied by Lee Neugent, class of 1948.)
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( Material provided by Lee Neugent, class of 1948. )
1948 - First Grand Valley Conference.
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( Material provided by Lee Neugent, class of 1948. )
1948 Godwin -vs- Rockford
Material provided by Lee (Tanner) Collins, class of 1941.
Material provided by a 1966 effort to write a history of Godwin book. The effort was apparently abandoned.
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Material provided by a 1966 effort to write a history of Godwin book. The effort was apparently abandoned.
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Material provided by LeRoy Rockwell, class of 1959
An enlargement of the football field refreshment stand in 1953. What became of it, and when, is not clear at present.
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Photograph provided for scanning by Delores Esakson, class of 1962.
Based on those identified in the photograph, it is believed that the event is a basketball game in the physical education building in about 1960 or 1961. Hopefully someone will one day come forward wit hmore information, but there is not much to go on.
Some of the people identified in the photo are teacher Hilda MacGregor, bottom, near the left. Above her is Mick Fitzgerald, class of 1962. Above left of her is Emily Hylkema, class of 1961, and possibly Marian Bolthouse. Also spotted are Marsha Welch, Laurie Kalkovan, Donna Schultz, Sue or Sandi DeCouix, Mr. Ripmaster, Jan Vonk, Roy Chamberlain. Tom Noble and Jerry Bainbridge are in the lower right corner.
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Material provided for scanning by Polly Goeman, class of 1959.
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Material provide by LeRoy Rockwell, class of 1959.
Aquae Puellae - May 4, 1962
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Material supplied by Gary G. Foster.
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1957 Godwin Wings:
Front Row: Wayne Nichols '66, ?, Larry Sawyer '64 or '65, Larry Horan '66, Jim Wiltjer '66
Back Row: Lonnie Potter '65, Jim Benchich '64, Jim Lowe '65, Ray Toppen '64, Tom Drougel '64 and Bob Foster '64
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1957 Robert Smith Mercury
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1958 Godwin Hornets:
Front Row:Johnny Ames '67, Wendell Bartram '67, ?, ?, Jim Wiltjer '66, Dave Parker '67, ?, ?
Back Row: Dave Howe '67, ?, Jerry Jones '66, Ray Perkins '67, ?, ?, Larry Horan '66, ?, Steve Bird '66
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1960 Godwin Wolverines:
Front Row: Wendell Bartram '67, the bat boy, Jerry Jones '66
2nd Row: Larry Horan '66, Jim Wiltjer '66, Dave Minnear '67, Steve Bird '66, Mike Magnan '67
Back Row: Doug Potter '66, Lonnie Potter '65, Tom Schouten '66, Tom Walcott '67 Roger Klunder '65
