Longtime Maplewood coach Oscar Grant built legacy of compassion

By JOE SCALZO

scalzo@vindy.com

When Chris Rupe was in high school, he didn’t just know what he wanted to be when he was older.

He knew who he wanted to be.

“Sometimes there are just people you’re around in life that kind of make you want to do what they do, and make you want to be like they are,” said Rupe, McDonald’s boys cross country coach. “That was Mr. [Oscar] Grant.

“We saw he had a job he loved going to every day in teaching and coaching and it made us realize we wanted to enjoy our life the way he did.”

Grant, 89, passed away Wednesday afternoon after battling poor health over the past year. After graduating from Johnston High in 1942, he served in the South Pacific during World War II as an airplane runway engineer.

“The air strips would get bombed by the Japanese and they needed to be ready for planes to take off the next day,” said longtime Maplewood coach Ted Rupe, Chris’ older brother. “He’d design them and repair them.”

He attended Youngstown College after the war, working at Packard Electric to pay for his schooling. He taught at Johnston High after graduation, then Grant started Maplewood’s track and cross country programs when the school opened in 1959. He coached track, cross country, basketball, baseball and softball until retiring in 1986. He then taught for 25 more years at Victory Christian and served as a track and cross country official for 42 years, through the 2013 state meet.

In 1972, Grant led the Rockets to the Class A state cross country title. Then-senior Ted Rupe captured the individual title and, months later, asked Grant what he should do after graduation.

“Vietnam was going on and all that and I didn’t know if I would join the Army or work construction or what,” said Rupe. “So he said, ‘Ted, go to college, go into chemistry and physics and you can take my job when I retire.’ That’s essentially what happened.”

Ted succeeded Grant in 1986, helping the Rockets advance to the state cross country meet 23 times. Maplewood won state titles in 1997, 2002, 2003 and 2005 and finished second in 1990, 1998 and 2001.

“He got the most out of people because he was compassionate,” said Ted, who choked back tears at several points of a phone interview. “He spent endless hours with us and it was always about us. So often I see coaches using their athletes to promote themselves and their own careers, but he was never about himself. He would do anything for any of us.”

When asked where he’d be without Grant, Ted said, “I definitely wouldn’t have gone to college. It would have been a completely different life. I definitely owe him a lot.”

Chris Rupe feels the same way. During his 17-year tenure as McDonald’s head boys cross country coach, his teams have won five state titles and finished second six times.

Chris said Grant was like a great grandfather for area track and field, one whose impact extends well beyond Maplewood.

“You can’t really measure the impact Oscar had,” Chris said. “There are so many schools who are benefiting from something that got passed down from Oscar Grant and they don’t even necessarily know it.

“You think, ‘What are people going to say at someone’s funeral?’ Whew. With a guy like Oscar, no one is going to have to work hard to find something to say. His impact is so profound, it’s almost like you don’t need to say anything. You just step back and say, ‘Wow!’”