Jarvis Strong Jr., was Lorain County’s first half-mile/800-meter state champ back in 1936 and a member of the Indians’ 1936 Class B state championship team.
Strong qualified for state in the 880-yard run as a junior, but didn’t make the podium. He left nothing for chance his senior year as he won it all in taking the 880. Strong also was a member the Indians’ state runner-up mile relay that included Bill Macarthy, Herman Hudnell and Bill Close. Macarthy and Hudnell are both 2015 inductees of the Lorain County Track and Cross Country Hall of Fame.
Strong ran track in college for Oberlin College where he attended from 1937 to 1940 and was training for the Olympics when World War II broke out. From there he joined the US Army Air Corps. Strong flew foreign combat in Italy and finished WWII in Europe as a squadron commander of a heavy bombardment squadron (B-24 bombers). He participated in the Berlin Airlift. Strong retired from his position at the Pentagon as lieutenant colonel in 1964. He then worked for Westinghouse until 1982.
“The track team drove down to Columbus the day before the (1936 state) meet,” said Strong in a 2013 interview at age 85. “We stopped off in Delaware (just north of Columbus) for lunch and stayed the night in the large hotel across the street from the state capitol building in downtown Columbus. It was nice day for the track meet (at the state championships) but I don’t remember whether it was sunny or just cloudy.
“Warren Ott got the credit but he was not my coach. We had some trouble between us during the previous football season and the school principal, Mr. Wigton, stepped in so that Ott stepped away from me and I stepped away from him as much as possible. Ott was a good football line coach but a rotten backfield coach. That was the problem.
“Dan Kinsey (1924 Olympic gold medalist and 2009 inductee of the Lorain County Track and Cross Country Hall of Fame) was my track coach. Dan was the great track coach for Oberlin College. He was my scoutmaster for 3-4 years. We knew each other quite well and he knew all my family. Since the high school used the same college track for practice and meets, Dan was always there and I’d sit next to him and chat while he was coaching his college team. He always told me that he was not my coach but he always found ways to guide me to be the best.”
Strong passed away at age 95 on July 30, 2013 at his home at Vinson Hall, McLean, Virginia.
Jarvis Strong, Jr.
Born: 1917 in Oberlin, Ohio
Died: July 30, 2013 in McLean, Virginia
Family: Wife: Carolyn (died, 1980). Wife: Molly (died, 2016). Children: Jarvis III, John, Thomas, Susan, Richard and Judy. Six grandchildren: Jason, Joshua, Jessica, Marian, Daniel and Jennifer.
Education
1937: Oberlin High School
Oberlin College (attended 1937 to 1940)
1961: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Athletic highlights
Oberlin High School (1932-36)
Track and field
1936: Lorain County’s first-ever 880-yard/800-meter state champion as he clocked 2:03.1 to defeat Thompson from Worthington High. He was also a member of the Indians’ state runner-up mile relay that included Bill Macarthy, Herman Hudnell and Bill Close
1936: Led Oberlin to the Class B state track title as it held off Upper Arlington, 24-21.5
1935: Class B 880-yard state qualifier
Football
A member of the 1936 Oberlin Indians varsity team that finished 5-2 overall, 4-0 in the conference. Played right end on offense, left end on defense and punted.
Oberlin College (1937-40)
Ran track for the Yeomen and planned to train for the Olympics in 1940 when World War II intervened.
Work highlights
1940-1964: US Army Air Corps/USAF
World War II: Strong flew combat missions in Italy and finished World War II in Europe as a squadron commander of a heavy bombardment squadron (B-24 bombers). He also was stationed with his family in Germany where he participated in the Berlin Airlift (1948-49), piloting C-47 and C-54 cargo aircraft. Strong was later stationed without his family in Japan for a year and a half in 1954 and in South Korea for a year in 1962.
Served as a communications/electronics officer for 14 years
Retired in 1964 from US Pentagon. He closed out his military career as a director of production, lieutenant colonel and a command pilot (he flew aircraft ranging from Cubs to B-52s).
1965-83: Westinghouse Electric Corp., Baltimore, Maryland. Held middle management positions in low frequency radio systems, ground radar systems and electronic countermeasures systems.
After his retirement from Westinghouse, he pursued his interest in genealogy. He founded the Strong Family Association of America in 1976, of which he was president for more than 25 years and then president emeritus.