The Newport News High School graduate has been the catalyst behind keeping professional baseball on the Peninsula since the early 1940's. He started the Grass-Roots Movement in 1947 to keep the Newport News Baby Dodgers' Baseball Team from moving elsewhere, assisting in a fund-raising drive which resulted in a new stadium. He was the Peninsula Sports Club's first president. The PSC selected him as its "Man of the Year" in 1955. He also coached the famed Hurricane Club, boys ages 10-14, for 13 years. He has also been active with the civic community, working since 1948 with the Boy's Club of the Virginia Peninsula.