By Pat Farabaugh
April 6, 2020, marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Maurice Stokes. Saint Francis University's revered alumnus was laid to rest on April 9, 1970, in the school's Franciscan Community Cemetery.
"He loved that school," Maurice's brother, Terro Stokes Jr., told me in an interview in July of 2011. "He cared a lot about the people there. They really made an impression on him."
The feeling is mutual. To be sure, Stokes made a lasting impression on the people of Saint Francis during his undergraduate studies in Loretto from 1951 to 1955. But it is the impression that the All-American basketball player and economics major made during the last twelve years of his life that resonate most vividly at his alma mater a half century after he died.
In 2014, I published "An Unbreakable Bond: The Brotherhood of Maurice Stokes and Jack Twyman." The book chronicles the relationship between Stokes and his fellow Pittsburgh native, professional teammate and Naismith Hall-of-Famer.
Here is a condensed version of this story:
College hoops standouts at Saint Francis and the University of Cincinnati, Stokes and Twyman were both drafted by the National Basketball Association's Rochester Royals in April of 1955 and played together for three years for that franchise (now the Sacramento Kings) before Stokes fell and hit his head in a game in March of 1958. The ill-fated injury left Stokes paralyzed and forced him to spend the rest of his life as a resident at three different Cincinnati hospitals, before his death in April of 1970 at age 36.
Twyman continued his outstanding NBA career following Stokes' accident, while also becoming Maurice's benefactor and legal guardian. He worked tirelessly and creatively to raise money for Stokes' medical bills, treated Maurice like a member of his family, and demonstrated true selflessness to his friend.
We should all be blessed to have someone in our lives who is half the friend that Jack Twyman was to Maurice Stokes. Our University's branding message, "Become That Someone," is based on all that Twyman did for Stokes. It encourages members of the Saint Francis community to follow Twyman's example and selflessly serve others.
We would also be well-served to follow the example set by Stokes, especially during this period of heightened anxiety and uncertainty around the world.
The trajectory of Stokes' life changed in a matter of hours on March 15, 1958. He scored twelve points and grabbed fifteen rebounds in an NBA playoff game against the Detroit Pistons that day at the Memorial Building in downtown Detroit. Before the day was over, he was battling for his life at Saint Elizabeth's Hospital outside of Cincinnati.
After emerging from a coma that lasted three weeks, the 24-year-old Stokes awoke to a different world than the one that he had known. The three-time NBA all-star who had dominated his sport was now paralyzed and forced to live out the next dozen years of his life under hospital care.
"He's one of the premier athletes in the United States on Wednesday," Twyman recalled in an interview with me in June of 2011. "And, by Sunday, he's paralyzed."
Despite this paralysis, as well as severely limited speaking abilities, Stokes embraced his new life following the accident. At first, he thought he would make a full recovery. Then, as time passed with little improvement, he came the realization that this was not going to happen. He became depressed for a period. Then he made the commitment to pursue other opportunities, ones made available to him in this new and unanticipated chapter of his life.
Maurice Stokes overcame his fear of his new reality, and he persevered, becoming an example for all of us.
"He looked forward to the new day, every day," said Twyman. "His mental approach to things was strong and that rubbed off on the people around him. He uplifted everybody he came in contact with."
Stokes approached his rehabilitation each morning following his accident with the same type of intensity that made him the best player in Saint Francis history, the NBA's Rookie-of-the-Year in 1956, and the league's leading rebounder in 1957.
His rehab progress was slow and incremental because of the severity of his injury, but he remained undeterred in his effort to improve his physical abilities, at least as much as his body would allow. He took that same determination into his speech therapy.
"Maurice knew he would never be cured," said his speech therapist Sylvia Meek, "but he used every muscle he could and never gave up trying to improve. His most outstanding qualities were his ability to realign his priorities in life, develop interests in many areas, and to be a sensitive listener, which gave him a profound ability to relate to others."
Fifty years ago, the Rev. Vincent Negherbon, then president of Saint Francis, celebrated Stokes' funeral mass at the school's Immaculate Conception Chapel.
"We are saddened because we have lost an example," said Father Vince, who was joined by twenty-one other Franciscan priests and brothers at Stokes' funeral service. "We have lost, as it were, a crutch that we have leaned on, because anyone that knew this man took something from him.
"He was sick, he was in bed, but you couldn't give to him. He gave to you. It is impossible to relate the tremendous effect that he had with people who came to know him and love him this past decade. If I could say anything about him, I would like to draw a parallel between Maurice and Saint Francis of Assisi himself.
"And when you talk about a mortal human being and a saint, you are treading on dangerous ground. But I know of no more striking parallel than these two men."
Stokes' courageous example continues to shine at his Alma Mater Among the Pines and throughout our entire Saint Francis community, as well as within the NBA. May we continue to be encouraged by his example.
Pat Farabaugh is an Associate Professor of Communications at Saint Francis and the play-by-play announcer for Red Flash men's basketball and football.
