Frank Secory
Year Inducted: 1977
Frank Secory was born in Mason City, Iowa on August 24, 1912. He was raised in Grand Haven, Michigan and was graduated from Western Michigan University in 1936.
His sports activity covers a period of over 40 years and his combined talent, intellect and physical courage made him a success in a remarkable variety of categories. At Western Michigan University he earned 3 letters in Baseball and 3 letters in Football and received 4 distinguished awards from that University.
- The first Alumni Baseball Award in 1962.
- The Bronco W Club Award in 1968.
- The Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1975.
- Inducted into WMU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1976.
In baseball he played in the outfield and had a career batting mark of .319 and hit seven home runs which at that time was a school record. His football skills merited a tryout offer from the Chicago Bears. He played professional baseball in the Detroit and Cincinnati organizations and eventually moved to the Chicago Cubs where he played in the 1945 World Series. He was in professional baseball for 23 years. For 19 of those years he umpired in the National League and worked in six All-Star games and four World Series.
In 1969 Frank received the Jimmy Archer Award in Chicago presented for Excellence, Character and Integrity as an umpire by the Old Timer’s Association of Chicago. In that year he also received the Bell Klem Award as “Umpire of the Year” from the Houston Chapter of the Baseball Writer’s Association.
Frank Secory was on the football coaching staff here in Port Huron in 1942 and 1943.
Frank is a gentleman and as fine a companion as you will ever know. He is a respected citizen of our community.
