Editor’s note: This is another column in Bill Boyd’s new series, “The Way It Was,” about growing up in Marysville. Bill continues to work with the Union County Historical Society to obtain information for his stories. With Marysville and Union County celebrating Bicentennial anniversaries in 2019 and 2020, respectively, these articles help depict what life was like in those early years.
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In late summer of 1923, Marysville’s Superintendent of Schools had a problem. His athletic director had just resigned to attend law school, and a replacement would soon be needed because a new school year was about to start. He hired a young man named Gerald L. “GL” Kingsmore, who had just graduated from Heidelberg College.
Now move the calendar forward more than 50 years to the fall of 1975. My wife, Janet, and I attended the MHS homecoming football game. At halftime there was a special program to honor GL for his more than half a century of service to the school and the community.
I lived the lion’s share of my life in Marysville, and I saw a lot of people who gave of themselves for the good of the school and the town, but I never saw anyone to match GL Kingsmore.
He wore so many hats over the years you wouldn’t believe it. He was not only the athletic director, but he also served as the high school football coach, basketball coach and track coach. He was equally active in the classroom, where he taught civics, history and science. Then in 1943 he became the Junior High principal in the West School building.
GL was also active outside the school system. He served four years on the Marysville City Council before he was elected to a six-year term as mayor. A few years later, he served again as mayor, following the death of Mayor Fred Easton.
But he didn’t stop there. He also spent 16 years on the Union County Board of Elections, and he was active in both local and state-wide issues and the Republican Party.
Then there was the golf side of GL. He managed the Marysville Country Club for 40 years. He also was the golf pro on that course. I bought my golf clubs from him, and he gave me a few golf lessons in the early ‘60s. I was a pretty ho-hum golfer, but I really can’t blame that on him. In addition, he was the high school golf coach.
When GL became the Junior High Principal, he also became the disciplinarian for the entire building. Let’s say one of the elementary teachers had a discipline problem with a student. All the elementary teachers had a wooden paddle, but I never could imagine any of those ladies using it. (Except maybe Miss Sweeney in the fourth grade.) Instead, they would send the child to the principal’s office. GL would talk with the kid and give him/her a warming. His deep voice was enough to set the child straight.
It wasn’t that easy, however, with some of the teenage boys in Junior High. They might openly challenge GL’s authority. For example, one of the cardinal school rules was that smoking was not allowed on school property.
Then one day, a boy named John Printz was walking back to school after his lunch break, smoking a cigarette as he walked. When he got to the school, he didn’t get rid of his cigarette. He kept on puffing all the way across the playground. That was a big mistake, because GL was also walking back from lunch in the high school cafeteria and he witnessed the whole thing.
John wasn’t the kind of kid who went around looking for a fight, but he wouldn’t walk away from one either. He would even take on the Palmer twins. Both of them at once.
As soon as afternoon classes started, GL summoned John to his office. I can’t tell you exactly what happened inside that office, because I wasn’t there. But as strong willed as John was, there was no way he was going to apologize or agree to change his ways.
GL was in the same kind of bind. He had to act fast and firmly. Otherwise there would be teenage boys smoking at will on school property. I did talk with a couple boys who said they stood outside the office door and heard John get whacked with GL’s paddle. I think GL was probably the winner, because I don’t remember ever again seeing John smoking on school property.
Later that year, I got to know John pretty well, as I was his substitute for his Marysville Tribune paper route. I asked him one time about the day he got paddled. He just grinned and said, “It didn’t really hurt.” That was hard for me to believe.
Those wishing to contact Bill Boyd can e-mail him at bill@davidwboyd.com