Faris, Ralph W. “Bep”

 

Ralph W. “Bep” Faris – (1994)

 

It was the game-winning basket made 71 years ago, but for the late Ralph W. “Bep” Faris and the 1922-23 Lorain High School basketball team, it was a history-maker.

That two-pointer on a midcourt effort by Faris in 1923 resulted in a 15-14 Steeler title game victory (hardly a one quarter score by today’s jump shot and slam dunk standard) over Bellevue in the first-ever Ohio High School Athletic Association state championship basketball tournament.

But for Faris, a distinguished lawman as a 20-year veteran of the Lorain Police Department and later as the very first deputy sheriff hired by former Lorain County Sheriff Vernon Smith, it was merely one of his multitude of athletic achievements.

Regarded as one of Lorain’s all-time finest all-around athletes, “Bep” excelled not only on the basketball hardwoods, but also on the tennis courts and football gridiron, including a stint in professional basketball.

In most local memories, however, it was his role on the fabled 1922-23 LHS basketball team, coached by the late A. W. “Pop” Collins, that posted a 22-2 season record that sticks out. “Bep” played forward, was team captain and the team’s leading scorer. He was named to the first team All-Little Big Seven and All-NEO (Northeast Ohio) League all-star squads.

His state champion LHS teammates included: Al Grendow (also an All-Ohio selection), Howard “Chalky” Ross, co-captain Clark “Skinny” King, George Van Arnam, Calvin McNutt, Hiram Gove and Roland Horn. Teammates who were mid-term graduates were Malcolm McPhee and John Alexander.

Following his stellar high school career, Faris joined the Cleveland Lions, a professional basketball team in a league that is considered the forerunner of today’s National Basketball Association. The league included the Rosenblums and some guys from Boston called the Celtics.

He played just four seasons professionally (1924 through 1927), but “Bep” more than made his mark as the Lions’ team captain and leading scorer.

Faris earned three varsity basketball letters playing for Collins and the Steelers between 1921 and 1924 prior to “turning pro.” However, while best known for his cage exploits, “Bep” could more than handle himself with tennis racket in hand. He was also named tennis captain and No. 1 singles player three years at LHS while earning All-Little Big Seven and All-Ohio tennis honors.

His tennis skills carried over to the city courts where Faris captured the Lorain singles crown in 1924 to go with numerous other championship titles in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. “Bep” also enjoyed great success in doubles competition when he and cage teammate Rollie Horn paired up to win the city doubles championship.

With his athletic career behind him (more or less), Faris became a member of the LPD and a fixture along the Broadway police beat which he often patrolled as a motorcycle officer. When he retired from the police department after 20 years (plus five days) on Jan. 6, 1957, it didn’t take “Bep” long to get back to his crime fighting profession.

He continued his lawman’s lifestyle when newly-elected Sheriff Smith, who took office Jan. 7, 1957, formally made Faris his first appointee as deputy sheriff.

Faris married the former Dorothy McGue, who still resides in Lorain, in 1926. They had three children, daughters Sherry Huston (of Hudson, O.) and Sally Widder (of Marysville, O.) and son Kelly, who is superintendent and principal of Put-In-Bay’s only school. There are 12 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

When “Bep” first met Dorothy in the hallowed halls of LHS, she admits she “knew he played basketball, but I didn’t know his first name or that he was captain. We just sort of met in the hall, then started dating.”

While son Kelly was not into sports like his dad and is a musician, she said he’s extremely proud of his Put-In-Bay boys’ basketball team. “They’re undefeated and this is only their second year,” she says. “Bep” would be proud, too.”