The Orville McPherson Story - Part 1

Did you ever stop to think about the name of this award?  Who exactly was Orville McPherson and what bar did he have to clear to be memorialized in this way?  In fact, he was a most amazing person and a leader in Tucson for many years.  I am sure some of our Senior Actives (an old term for a Rotarian with more than 15 years of service) remember Orville who died while living near his daughter in Los Angeles on August 31, 1982 at age 89.  Here is his story.

Orville Scharff (Speedy) McPherson was born in Pittsburgh in 1893.  His family moved to Yuma in 1911, where he went to high school in the old Territorial Prison building.  He was in the second high school class to graduate in Yuma County in 1913 and had 5 classmates.  The new state of Arizona gave one scholarship to college in each county and Orville received it.  He earned money working as a timekeeper and concession operator on the Yuma canal project to cover his portion of his University of Arizona education.

Speedy was well known in University of Arizona Athletics.  He was the first 4 year letterman in football.  He became President of the A Club (Letterman's Club).  His coach was Pop McKale (for whom McKale Center is named) - he played on Pop's first football team.  Pop was also a member of the Rotary Club of Tucson for many years.  Speedy's team was the one that lost to Occidental 0-14 but newspaper reporter Bill Henry said, "they fought like Fighting Wildcats", and the U of A's Wildcat team name was born.  In 1981, shortly before he died, he was named to the University of Arizona Sports Hall of Fame.  Speedy was one of two players to make a presentation to the U of A President, suggesting that football should have a stadium.  The result a few years later was Arizona Stadium.  He was also one of the student leaders responsible for the big white-washed "A" on A Mountain (Sentinel Peak) which was constructed by popular demand of the students at a cost $397.00 in 1915 after beating coast champion Pamona.  He was also one of the founders of the U of A Senior Honorary, "Bobcats".  McPherson was also the Director of the Memorial Fund Campaign that eventually resulted in the big fountain west of Old Main.

Mack, as he was known then, was in the Arizona Class of 1917.  He was so fast on the football field that he forever became known by his nickname, Speedy.  Mack was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon (ƩAE), the largest Greek Letter social college fraternity in North America today.  He was active in campus politics and served as Class Secretary in 1915-1916 and Acting Class President in 1916-1917.  In his "spare" time, he was the business manager of the Arizona Wildcat Weekly which he helped start.

Next week, we will review how Speedy continued his lifelong passion for journalism and how he was instrumental in starting up The Rotary Club of Tucson.