M Club names and dedicates Wall of Legacy 

The M Club, the association of former Marshall athletes, dedicated and named the Wall of Legacy. The Wall was dedicated to all former Marshall coaches, players, cheerleaders, managers and trainers. It was named for Jimmy and Ralph May, and thus became the Jimmy and Ralph May M Club Wall of Legacy.

Jimmy and Ralph are brothers, both of whom were athletes at Marshall in the early 1960s. Jimmy was a wrestler, cross-country runner and football manager. Near the scheduled time of his graduation, he had an accident that left him a quadriplegic for the remaining 39 years of his life. He inspired and encouraged many injured people and many with no physical injuries with his courage and the grace with which he lived his life

Ralph was a wrestler and quarterback on the football team. He coached and later became a successful insurance executive. Upon retirement, he moved back to the Huntington area to help his friend, Bob Pruett, and Marshall in anyway he could. For five years he served as Coach Pruett’s unpaid administrative assistant, assisting in many ways including working with players to help them adjust to being college athletes and responsible adults. He has been instrumental in the work of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Marshall. He, along with Coach Pruett, were founders of the current M Club and Ralph was the first president of the Club, serving five years and providing a jump start for the organization.

Marshall President Kopp and M Club members Allen Meadows, Bob Pruett and George Lambros spoke at the ceremony. Ralph May responded for himself and his family showing both appreciation and sadness. Jimmy died last month of a stroke, but was aware that the Wall would carry his name.

The Wall is located on M Club Drive adjacent to the M Club Pavilion, just outside the south-west corner of the Joan C. Edwards Stadium. The Wall honors those who died in the 1970 plane crash. It also has accommodations for other former athletes, cheerleaders, coaches, managers and trainers to buy a bricks to be affixed to the Wall with their names, sports and years of participation. There are approximately 250 bricks on the Wall currently with space for hundreds more. Proceeds derived from the sale of bricks are directed to the M Club Athletic Scholarship Endowment.

Visitors to the Wall are treated to art work, showing caricatures of athletes representing all of the various sports at Marshall, painted by Judy Williams, assisted by her husband Bob. 

For more information about the M Club, go here.