Carl Richard -
Carl “Cowboy” Richard was a phenomenal bowler that earned two American Bowling Congress titles. He was a three-time Missouri state champion in team, singles, and doubles and was a charter member of the Professional Bowlers Association.
He was a member of the Chicago and St. Louis Falstaffs pro teams from 1955 to 1959. Richard bowled with and against some of the brightest stars including Dick Weber, Don Carter, Ray Bluth, Buzz Fazio, Steve Nagy, Billy Welu, Don Ellis and Stan Gifford.
In 1985 Richard was elected into the Missouri State Bowling Association Hall of Fame and in 1996 was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
He purchased Fourth Street Bowl in 1959. Richard aided and promoted bowling for the city of Joplin by offering the community’s first junior bowling program.
For 35 years Carl Richard averaged a 200-plus, bowled 14 sanctioned 300 games and had an 826 series.
Ferrell “Andy” Anderson -
Although he was a native of Maple City, Kansas, Ferrell (Andy) Anderson called Joplin home.
Anderson was an All-Big Seven offensive guard at the University of Kansas and an honorable mention All-American. He turned to professional baseball after leaving KU. His professional career in baseball started as a catcher with the Joplin Miners. Anderson would be affiliated with professional baseball for 17 years which included playing stints with the Brooklyn Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals.
He caught six no-hit games during his career, including one with the 1946 Brooklyn Dodgers. In a story in the Joplin News-Herald, Anderson rated the 1946 no-hitter as one of his biggest thrills as an athlete.
Jim Frazier -
Jim Frazier made national history by leading Missouri Southern College football to a perfect season and its first National Championship. Frazier became the head football coach of Missouri Southern College in 1971. One year later he coached the Lions to the NAIA Division-II National Championship and received the NAIA National Coach of the Year.
During his coaching career at Southern, Frazier posted a 97-52-5 record (.646). His overall record at the collegiate level was 121-73-5 and ranked him among the NAIA’s most successful.
While coaching the Lions, Frazier saw the construction of Fred G. Hughes stadium which opened in 1975. Frazier’s Lions christened the new stadium in style, defeating Emporia State 20-13.
Frazier assumed the full-time duties as the athletic director at Southern in 1985. Toward the end of his thirty-year career at Southern, he helped fulfill a lifetime dream with the construction of the Leggett and Platt Athletic Center.
Patty Vavra -
Patty Vavra was an outstanding athlete and college coach. Vavra excelled as a sprinter, hurdler, and basketball player at Memorial High School. She ran track and played basketball at Missouri Southern from 1976-1980. Blessed with a good vertical jump, Vavra was Southern’s leading rebounder during her career and is listed in the women’s basketball record book for single-season and career rebounding.
A highlight of her coaching career at Missouri Southern was watching her athletes win the MIAA cross-country championship in 1998. Vavra was named MIAA Cross-Country Coach of the Year. During her career, she coached two cross-country All-Americans and in track she coached one national champion.
She was inducted into the Missouri Southern Hall of Fame in 1993. Vavra is also a member of the Missouri Southern American Softball Association Hall of Fame.
Sunny Jim Walters -
“Sunny Jim” Walters is considered to be the father of Little League baseball in Joplin. His influence and love for the game greatly impacted almost everyone associated with youth baseball during the 1940s and 1950s.
A native of Parker, Kansas, Sunny Jim moved to Joplin in 1933.
In 1950, with the assistance of friends Ferrell and Blanche Anderson, Walters and his wife, Edna, purchased land on East 20th Street as the site of the city’s first Little League baseball park. He initially organized two four-team leagues, which began play in 1951.
Later, he would become Little League director for the area and organized a pee-wee baseball school for boys six, seven and eight years of age so that they could learn the fundamentals of the game.