|
Freddie Garver - Class of 1964  
(June 4, 1946 - September 22, 2004) Remembering Freddie by Mary Garver Newspaper clippings - Pictures from HHS - Memorial Back to "Kewpie of the Month" Page - Back to Kewpie Classmates
Remembering Freddie by Mary Garver A big thanks must go to that superest of Kewpies, Charley, for encouraging me to write this. My last four years with my husband of 35 years were not easy. His small stature and huge thirst finally caught up with him. A larger man could have probably maintained his beer drinking ways, but nobody that small was ever meant to consume that much beer. As always, the gods smiled on him because his mind was the first thing to go. Fortunately, we kept a sense of humor and the girls learned, “Don't pay any attention to Grandpa. He never knows what he's talking about.” Sound cruel? Not if you have a man with an obsession about flies yelling at little girls to, “Close that @#$%% door!” We've got a thousand of them, but that's not what this is about. Charley visited “Garverland,” the mini-farm I bought about 2 months after his death. His reminisces about happier times let me to go back in time to remember what had made me, a self-avowed sports nut, to be so attracted. I finally dug out the old album that his mother had made. I'm going to let Charley scan any articles he wants into this page. (Betcha he picks the picture of the Columbia Merchants winning the junior division championship with one “Charles” Blackmore on the team.) I had trouble following the articles because his mother didn't include datelines. Basically, there were three divisions. The first one I chuckled at because of Freddie's stature or lack thereof. This was Jeff Jr. Cyclone freshman basketball. Apparently, Norman Maze was the star and Freddie Garver popped in a lot of outside jumpers. If there were any losses, Mom didn't memorialize them. The next group were of Khoury league baseball. I had originally thought these occurred first until I scanned an article that said Freddie and Kenny Ash dueled several times in close games and were teammates for the first time at Hickman. My favorite headlines were: “Garver Cinches Fourth Victory on Grand Slam,” “KFRU Pitcher Racks Up His 2nd No-Hitter in Khoury Play,” and “Garver Takes Ninth Win As KFRU Ties for Lead.” We'll skip the one where Kenny Ash beat him 1-0 with a no-hitter. The last section is Kewpie baseball when Garver and Ash finally got to be teammates. The headline writer tended to get a little hyperbolic with headlines beginning: “Kewpies Slam....”, “Kewpies Sweep” with the top line Ash, Garver Winners.” Of course my favorite is, “Garver Hurls No-Hitter As Kewpies Win.” These all happened before I met Freddie and anyone who knew him knew that he was death on bragging. Our boys would get lambasted if they ever boasted. The only way I knew of these things was through this album. He never mentioned them. Although Freddie did a lot of things wrong in his life, his belief that, “If you're good enough, you don't have to brag on yourself. Others will.” is one that would help a whole lot of young athletes coming up. Thanks to the class of '64 for including me in your group. Mary
1963 Kewpie Baseball Team (10-2) 
The HHS Sophomore Basketball Team (Year of the 1962 State Champs)  
Freddie's memory is preserved at the new "Busch Stadium" On behalf of all of the members of the West Boulevard gang who spent their "lazy hazy crazy days of summer" playing Indian Ball at West Boulevard and just playing baseball most everyday. Freddie was part of that gang that we will never forget. Freddie, my old friend, rest in peace in your new "Field of Dreams." Save me a bat! cb Back to "Kewpie of the Month" Page Back to Kewpie Classmates Back to Top of Page |
