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ON THE
SHOULDERS OF
GIANTS
Westminster’s titans helped
steer George ‘Tookie’ James
toward his date with history
ABOVE: One of Tookie’s most
cherished photos: James, Burry
and Ridl along the Titan
sideline.
By Patrick S. Broadwater
Beware, Louis James had told his son George back in 1955. If
for any reason his football scholarship at Westminster should
fall through, the family could not afford to keep him in school.
❖ It wasn’t an idle warning. It was a fact. George “Tookie” James
was one of 12 children. His mother, Lillian, passed away when he
was just eight years old and he and the other younger siblings were
raised by their three oldest sisters. From the age of five Tookie had
taken to performing odd jobs around the Beaver Falls neighborhood
– feeding chickens, hauling cans, cleaning basements – whatever he
could do to rustle up a little extra money.
“My family made do with what little we had,” James said. “Sometimes it was a struggle to see
who would get the last biscuit at the dinner table, but we managed to work things out. Sometimes
we really didn’t have the meat to go with the gravy, but we could sop biscuits in the gravy and
get a full stomach and be able to go on with the day’s activities.”
Frequently, the day’s activities for Tookie included sports. But with no money to spare for
equipment, the neighborhood kids had to get by with whatever items they could dig up. They
might play football with a tightly rolled newspaper wrapped in string, or play baseball with sticks
and a sock stuffed with rags.
OPPOSITE PAGE: The Potter’s
Wheel: Things began to take
shape for George “Tookie”
James while a student at
Westminster. He believes he was
steered by God to Westminster
where he could be mentored by
such “titans” as (clockwise from
top right): President Will W.
Orr, Bible professor Wayne
Christy, political science
professor Charles Edwards,
German professor Walter
Biberich, history professor
Delber McKee, and coaches
Buzz Ridl, and Harold Burry.
Winter 2005 • Westminster College Magazine
17