Raise a glass and say 'Scholes,'
for an unsung All-American

Before Clarke Currie Scholes died, he made arrangements for his friends to get together and have a party at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial.

You may remember him over the past four decades as a tall, rugged-looking, white-haired man who took part in Grosse Pointe Theatre productions. In many ways they were his family. 

The man whose name sounds like a Swedish drinking toast died of heart failure at Henry Ford Hospital Feb. 5 with little media note.

The passing of the five-time All-American and three time NCAA swimming champion, who is enshrined in three Halls of Fame, was reported by Tim Staudt, a sports anchor for WILX Television in Lansing. 

“Clarke Scholes, a 1952 Olympic gold medalist, an MSU athletics Hall of Famer, died Friday in Detroit. Scholes, who had heart problems, was 78. (He was 79.)  He won the 100-meter freestyle in Helsinki in a then-Olympic-record time of 57.4 seconds.  He won five NCAA swim titles for Michigan State from 1950-52 and two years ago was enshrined in the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.  He went on to become a manufacturer’s rep after his college days.”

Someone took the time to update Scholes’ biography on Wikipedia Feb. 12 and record his death, but otherwise Scholes, a Grosse Pointe Park resident, went unnoted.

Scholes, also a fixture at the Detroit Athletic Club pool for years, had huge shoulders and chest. He was enshrined in the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1980—three decades ago.

As I wrote three years ago, it took a lobbying campaign by his friends at the Grosse Pointe Theatre to get him into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

Tim Reinmen, Mike Trudel and Dan Follis, all Grosse Pointers, pushed to put Scholes — probably Michigan’s all-time greatest swimmer — where he properly belonged, with the likes of Steve Yzerman, Joe Louis, Ty Cobb, Joe Dumars and Ernie Harwell.  Scholes graciously thanked all three men when he accepted induction into the Hall.

Reinmen described the induction program at the Max Fisher theater in Detroit as “a fabulous night." The loudest cheers of the night — except those for Steve Yzerman — were for Clarke.  It was because of the loyal fans that were there.”

“A special moment was when Frank Beckmann (a fellow inductee as a sports broadcaster) asked for Clarke’s autograph. I was surprised at how many autographs he was signing.  Fans were still coming up to him when we walked out. It choked us all up.”

Scholes told the Grosse Pointe Senior Men’s Club that his Olympic victory was “the greatest thrill I ever had in my life.  For one day, I was the best person in the world at what I did.”

That night he told the senior men that he had a date with a beautiful Finnish woman. He was basking in his glory as they left a restaurant and he heard a group say:  “Skoal.”  He turned to accept his recognition and found the group toasting each other, not him.

So this week if you are tipping a drink or a brew or two — say "Scholes" as a tribute to a great man from Grosse Pointe Park. 

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