If you have lived in the Aurora area for most of your life, there is a good chance that you know or have met Stan McGraw.
If you have been involved with the Protestant Church Softball or Bowling leagues, there is almost no chance that you don’t know him.
Almost five years ago, The Beacon-News featured a story about McGraw’s having served 50-plus years as the bowling league’s secretary/treasurer. But his life story of dedication to Christian service goes far beyond being a bowling league secretary. His positive influence has been felt in our community just by his being the person that he is. He has been a role model for many.
McGraw was born in 1940 and progressed through the East Side school system until his 1959 high school graduation. He participated in music and athletic extracurriculars and, beginning in early childhood, was a member of Fourth Street Methodist Church.
He participated in Aurora’s Little League and Pony League baseball, and also began playing in the junior Protestant Church Softball League as a teenager and progressed to the adult league as a skilled pitcher.
The softball league was populated with many teams, and included two senior leagues and one junior league.
“When I graduated from high school, I was elected president of the league,” McGraw said. “Some people thought I was too young, but I had plenty of the older guys to help me along. We tried to keep the league with a Christian orientation.”
McGraw’s tenure as league president also meant his serving as part-time groundskeeper at Pierce Field on Montgomery Road, the league’s home for many decades.
“I would rake the diamond, get rid of wet spots after it had rained, drag the field with my car and help to cut the grass,” he said.
In 1958, he started bowling in the Church Senior League, his dad Jay having been its secretary/treasurer for 25 years beginning in 1932. The league had many homes over the years, but wound up at the Parkside Lanes near Phillips Park. It had as many as 16 teams over the years, and continues today with fewer participating churches. The softball league ceased operations a few years ago, and Pierce Field is now owned by the Aurora Fastpitch Association.
McGraw’s civilian life was put on hold in 1963 when he enlisted in the Army. He was deployed to the central highlands of Vietnam during that time, and left the service in 1966.
“There was a hospital camp there, and you could hear the bullets flying overhead,” he said.
To the present day, he suffers some of the effects of Agent Orange defoliant used by the United States during the war.
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After returning to the USA, he began working again and married his wife Bonnie in 1967. He also returned to his Fourth Street Methodist Church congregation and to the softball and bowling activities, becoming secretary/treasurer of the bowling league. He continues in that role now 56 years later.
This league also keeps a Christian orientation. It has an unwritten “no drinking” rule, and on occasion, a prayer is offered by the groups. The secretary’s job involves a lot of record-keeping for individuals and teams. McGraw did it by hand for several decades, but in more recent years has done it on a computer program.
He has also excelled as an individual, rolling a 300 game in 1992 and being named to the Aurora Bowling Association Hall of Fame in 1995.
In his lifelong involvement in his church, McGraw offered that he especially enjoyed the people.
“Many of them had an influence on my life,” he said. “Don Lindstrom, Lew Whitt, Rev. Clyde Galow, and Rev. Wes McKelvey influenced me to follow the Lord. I have so many other friends who still teach me things, and my wife Bonnie is the best person I have in my life right now.
“All of my experiences have taught me to try to be a good person. I love the Lord and hope everybody can love the Lord. That’s where life is.”
One of McGraw’s good friends had thoughts about his life in our town.
“Stan is pretty much his father’s son, active in the community and a steadfast volunteer,” she said. “He sings in his church choir and is an outstanding bass. He was born and raised on the southeast side, and has never left except to serve his country in Vietnam. He is a devoted husband, father and grandfather. Stan McGraw is someone you should know.”
Tom Strong is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.