In a quick interview last week during halftime of a basketball game with the newest member of Philomath High’s Legend Club, a simple question took Chuck Stueve to a place that changed the feel of the conversation.
Moments earlier, he had been laughing as he shared recollections of the “Zoo Crew” and wore a wide smile while he spoke with pride about his school’s accomplishments.
The question — “What’s been your favorite activity over the years?”
“Oh wow … probably organizing the softball tournaments, basketball tournaments. It’s nice to do stuff like that,” he said.
Then June 1981 entered his mind. His eyes watered, his voice became shaky.
The boy’s name was Matt Van Geest, a 3-year-old Blodgett child who was undergoing treatment for a rare bone disease. Stueve stepped in that summer to organize a softball tournament to help reduce the family’s substantial medical and travel costs. He died a little more than four years later in November 1985 at age 7.
During the Legend Club induction event at the PHS gym floor, Steve Bennett mentioned those charity softball tournaments in the 1980s that were held on the local ballfields. And he expanded on Stueve’s contributions with various other fundraisers that he organized — cutting firewood, cleaning up brush, repairing decks and fences — whatever he could set up to bring in money to help those who needed some financial relief to help whatever battle they were facing.
“Our Legend Club is a way we recognize people in our community that have stood out with their support and service towards Philomath student athletes over the years,” Bennett told the crowd.
Stueve became the Legend Club’s 30th member. Bennett established the honor in 2011 and several of past inductees were on hand for Thursday night’s event.
Stueve, 74, said the honor means a lot with his strong ties to Philomath.
“I’m just proud with everything that’s happened in Philomath and what I could do to help out ,” Stueve said. “I wish I could’ve done more.”
Stueve graduated with Philomath High’s Class of 1967. Asked what Warrior athletics was like back then, he laughed, “Not as good as it is today.”
“But we did our best and we were pretty good at basketball,” he said. “Back in those days, you didn’t have the three-point shot and they took one team to state (out of the conference), not three or four like they do nowadays.”
Stueve was a basketball standout for the Warriors and averaged 15.9 points and 11.3 rebounds per game during his senior season. And the team wasn’t all that bad — a 13-11 overall record, 9-7 in the Yawama League.
Stueve grew up in a house right across the street from the high school and married sweetheart Christy Cleveland. Through the years, while he and his wife raised their family — daughter Heather and son Shane — he felt the need to stay involved in PHS athletics.
“It keeps you younger when you’re out here working with all these young kids,” he said. “It just gives you a good feeling.”
Beyond those fundraiser tournaments, he was involved with coaching and sponsoring youth basketball and baseball.
In the 1980s when the PHS boys and girls basketball teams were competing for state titles, Stueve had an idea.
“I worked for a company and we supplied T-shirts that said ‘Zoo Crew’ on them,” he said. “The kids wore them to the games and acted crazy.”
As it turned out, perhaps a little too crazy.
“They got too loud,” Stueve said laughing, then added, “Administration.”
Stueve has also stayed involved by working the football sidelines as part of the chain gang at all levels. His construction background helped lead to improvements at the PHS baseball field and he’s mentored several students for their senior projects.
Nowadays, Stueve focuses his energy on caring for his wife, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He’s one of the primary caregivers involved with the Dementia Warriors support group and has coordinated various activities, outings and fundraisers.
As part of the event, the Legend Club presented Stueve with a special jacket and lifetime pass to PHS athletic events.
