The date of June 17 now carries a special meaning in the hearts of Windham residents. Mayor Lawrence “Mac” Cunningham honored longtime Bombers boys’ basketball Coach Marty Hill by naming a part of Bauer Avenue Marty Hill Drive in a private ceremony last Monday at Windham High School.
“It was special,” Mayor Cunningham told The Weekly Villager on June 21. “The closest thing I could compare it to is like honoring your father or grandfather with something like this. Somebody who meant a lot to you and taught you a lot of stuff. It was a very cool day and I am just proud to know him and be able to be around him.”
According to Cunningham, whenever he took his daughters to play travel basketball, softball or volleyball, he noticed that the streets in front of the buildings were named in honor of iconic people. He said he never believed in honoring someone after their passing, and he could think of no one better to have a street named after than the seventh all-time winningest boys’ basketball coach in the State of Ohio.
He was a big inspiration,” he added. “I just made a joke with someone the other day that Mr. Hill has taught or coached people’s parents, some people’s grandparents. You would think he is 120-years-old because as long as he has been around and just seeing someone have longevity of greatness, you have no choice but to be inspired by something like that.”
In order to achieve this resolution, former mayor Scott Garrett petitioned the residents of Bauer Avenue, requesting their signature to approve the motion to name a part of the street in Hill’s honor, and it carried almost unanimously.
Cunningham said that although Windham’s gymnasium has already been named after Hill, it was important to name something else in Hill’s honor that had a little more longevity.
“I just want something that is lasting so when people ask about it is they at least get the story behind the person because althought he has the gym named after him, 50, 60, or 70 years down the line, that gym may no longer exist and neither will Marty Hill’s name for the most part,” Mayor Cunningham noted.
In attendance for the ceremony was Hill’s family, including his wife Jane, his son, Matt, Windham Council Members Marilyn Gage, David and Cheryl Belknap, Garrett and Zoning Inspector Chris Stier.
Mayor Cunningham emphasized that as much as the naming ceremony was in honor of Hill, it also commemorated Jane Hill as well.
“Without her there would probably be no him because she is definitely a strong backbone and a strong force,” he said. “I don’t know if you have ever had the pleasure of meeting her. but she is a great woman and she holds things together a lot for a lot of people.”
Hill served as the Bombers boys’ basketball coach for 47 years, collecting 694 victories, 13 league championships and three state tournament appearances. As much as he was a devoted coach and teacher to his students, Mayor Cunningham said that Hill always carried a selfless virtue.
“He is one of those people that never likes to celebrate things for his himself,” he said. “If you did the work, you got the praise for it. He is not one of those coaches or adults to where you go out there and win a game and he is in the newspaper talking about himself. He has never been that way and that is what separates him from a lot of people.”
Mayor Cunningham also noted that Hill’s influence extended beyond the classroom and basketball court, and knew how to bring people together.
“It is crazy and it is hard to fathom that one person literally changed thousands of people’s lives in a positive way,” he said. “Whether you wanted to like him or did not want to like him, he had an impact on everybody. He is just a great person. It is hard to explain. If you were not a part of it then it was just one those things you do not understand how great he is when it comes to that. I am just grateful that he is around to accept this stuff now.”
Having played for and been taught by Hill when he attended Windham High School, Mayor Cunningham had firsthand knowledge of how much the most successful basketball coach in school history could impact someone’s life.
“We just had an alumni picnic for the golf outing and we all stood around and joked about all of the times we had to run and do stuff like that but it built character in us,” he acknowledged. “The inspiring part is that he brought together so many people. When I get around other alumni, he is the probably a high percentage reason why a lot of us know each other.”
