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MEW GYMNASIUM■ ^ IS pEOtCATED..c“Fighting Parson” Lacy Pays Glow-1 intf Tribute to Prank MartinThompson as Man, Athlete arttP SriMtor in Address ftt State College. |Raleigh, June 12. — Tributes toj Prank Martin Thompson. of Raleigh,- a nvn, :»«i auiitio and a soio *’f iwere paid yesterday by the Rev. Ben R. Lacy, Jr., pastor of the Centralj Presbyterian church of Atlanta, dc-,livering the principal address at the j dedication by the North Carolina; State College of Agriculture and E11-] ginecring of a gymnasium bearing! his mime. Mr.. Lacy, a son of State! Treasurer B. R. Uacy, of Raleigh., spoke on, . Prupk Thompson, ap he;1% • I • • 4 I•new hum ,The new memorial gymnasium was, erected at n.cosf. ,of $24.0,000, and is] acid to no one of the finest college j gymnasiums..in America. ..The dcdi-jtatory' exercises yesterday .wore pre-. /reded by the annual luncheon of the Elate College Alumni Association.Speaking first as a class mate of: the famous athlete, who was both a baseball and a, football star on theinstitution teams, and also as chap-!lain of the division in .which Thompson made the supreme sacrftce at Rcgenville, France, in the World War, the “Fighting Parson,’ as he was referred to by members , of the Vifth division, revealed the traits of Thompson in the sporting world and his heroism on the field of battle. He declared it was fitting hat the college should have built a gymnasium os a memorial to him.“I doubt,” said Mr. Racy, referring to Frank Thompson, “if any living person can ever recall a conscious or unconscious effort that our hero evci made to be a hero.”Speaking of Thompson as an athlete. Mr. Lacy declared: ‘ •“He was the athlete sans pareil of his day in Raleigh. He was the val-[ innt tackle and the catcher at David-1 son College the same year. His coach# ing placed many a team of a sister! college in the forefront, It is a . fit-j ting thing that a gymnasium in the4 United States of America should I bear his name. • Ifis country called and he early heard her voice. For her he became as valiant a soldier as he had ever been an athlete and as efficient an officer as he had ever been a captain or coach. He gave his life for her.“It is hard for nie to make this address,” continued the minister. Ij shall cither speak under too great self - control and you will not gel the real idea of Frank Thompson, of I shall give way to my love and you | will think I am exaggerating. Per-* haps you have come to hear from me
Newspaper Details
Statesville Landmark
Statesville, North Carolina, US
Mon, Jun 15, 1925
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Library O.
NC, USA 10 Sep 2018
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