Editor's note: I've combed Bluffton University's Memory digital archive, but only found written, not photographic, records of Ralph Stearns' time at Bluffton College.
By Bill Herr
I'm writing several columns on the most unforgettable characters I have ever met. The first is on the Stearns brothers, Telsa (Tubby) and Ralph.
When I came to Mennonite Memorial Home as chaplain, these brothers were getting older (Ralph was in his late 90s) but they were of good mind and spirit and participated in all the activities at the nursing home. This included spending time at the pool table with fellow residents. Tubby was much younger and kind of looked after Ralph.
How Tubby got his nickname, I never found out. He was big and athletic-looking, not at all overweight. He had played football and basketball at Bluffton High School. After he graduated, he played on a local semi-professional football team. He told me that, unbelievably, his team had scheduled a game to be played at Bluffton against Jim Thorpe and his semi-professional team. Jim Thorpe was a legend in American athletics. He was a Native American who was ranked by an ABC Sports poll as the greatest American athlete of the 20th century.
