Heidelberg Athletics Hall of Fame
It did not take long for the Heidelberg coaching staff to realize what an asset that Fred McGarvey provided not just on one side of the ball, but both. McGarvey affectionately became known as "McGarv" and was coined as the unsung hero on the team and by time his senior year came, he was a player that the Berg did not want to miss a down.
McGarvey joined the team as a member of the junior varsity in 1952, but was moved up to varsity at midseason. The move put him at center linebacker and on special defensive teams for every play for the remainder of the season and assisted in Heidelberg winning an Ohio Athletic Conference Championship.
In his inaugural campaign, McGarvey did not earn a letter, but he went on to earn his Heidelberg "H" in his final three seasons. As a sophomore and junior, he was a starting offensive guard and a defensive lineman. As a junior he landed a spot on the All-OAC team and the Berg won the league title again.
McGarvey's most memorable season was his final. Once again he was a two-way starter and he played nearly every minute of every game to guide Heidelberg to an undefeated campaign. In 1955 he was voted by his teammates as the Most Valuable Player and landed a spot on the All-Ohio Dream Team's Honorable Mention list.
As a senior he was president of the Heidelberg Literary Society and he was elected Snow King for the Christmas dance by the student body.
McGarvey graduated from Heidelberg in 1956 as a double major in math and physics. He went on to attend Ohio University, where he received a BSEE in 1957. His postgraduate work continued at the University of Rochester.
His professional career began with General Dynamics and was part of the early stages of pocket pages. The job with General Dynamics took him to New Jersey after the product was sold to Lear Siegler and he progressed to Chief Engineer and obtained a patent for the first solid state decoder for pocket pagers. The patent led to a job transfer to California where he currently resides. The move to California is where he began his family of three boys and one girl. His career finally guided him to the Kokusai Electric Company before starting a car telephone and consulting business followed by working with Electrocom Communications before his retirement in 1994.
(This profile appeared in the 2010 Hall of Fame program.)
