The Windham Bomber Athletic Hall of Fame honors former athletes who achieved excellence through competition, coaches who have made a difference
in the lives of their athletes and supporters of the athletic program.
(Special thanks to George Belden for supplying the information on this page)
(Note: The information written on these athletes were written at the time they were inducted into the hall of fame. Some of the information might be outdated. If you are in the hall of fame and want your information updated please contact Robin Martin through the "Contact" page.
William Ryan was an outstanding athlete of the Windham High School Class of 1960. Bill earned 9 letters in 4 different sports, football, basketball, baseball and track. Bill played for Windham during the era of the Tomahawk Conference, the small league to which the Bombers belonged from 1958-1961. He was an outstanding lineman for Windham's two championships teams, first as a guard, and in his senior year as a tight end. He was a rugged defensive player, and the Akron Beacon Journal named him as one of their linemen of the year in 1959, quite an honor for someone from one of the smallest schools in the area. Bill also received first team All-Conference honors that year. In basketball, Bill, at 6 foot 5 inches, towered over his teammates at the center position. By halfway through his junior year, he had established himself as a formidable rebounder and one of the leading scorers in Portage County in both 1959 and 1960. Bill himself was most proud of his accomplishments in track and field, where he was twice the shot put and discus champion of both the Tomahawk Conference and the entire Portage County track meet. In the 1960 County meet, he established a county record of 46 feet, 8 inches in the shot, and earned a trip to the State track championships in Columbus. A member of National Honor Society and a class officer, Bill was drafted after graduation and served bravely in Vietnam. He returned to play college ball at the Ashtabula branch of Kent State University, then began a management career at Packard. Unfortunately, Bill became ill from residual effects of Agent Orange in Vietnam, and passed away in 1996. Bill joins his Tomahawk era teammate Dave Flower as an honored member of the Windham High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
Fred Stanley, a member of the Windham High School Class of 1941, earned 3 letters apiece in 6- Man Football, Basketball, and Baseball. Fred was the team leader, captain, and a prolific scorer on Windham's two greatest 6-Man Football teams, in 1939 and 1940. Those two teams were undefeated, outscored their opponents by over 500 points in just 14 games, and were County and consensus State Champions both years. The 1940 team defeated Stamford Ontario in the first-ever international 6-Man football game, and was subsequently declared National Champion by various publications. On Thanksgiving Day, 1939, Fred was chosen to play in the only Portage County post-season All-Star game ever staged, despite never having played in an 11-Man Football game in his life. Fred was also one of the greatest high school basketball players of his time, perfecting a hook shot from the foul line that was unstoppable in the day of two-hand set shots. In his senior year, he averaged more points than all but two of the teams in the Portage County League! A two-time All Conference selection, he set a single game scoring record that was unbroken for over 40 years, and was selected to the All-State team. Fred went on serve 2 ½ years in Europe during World War II, and eventually became the Postmaster in Newton Falls until his retirement. He joins his brother Harold, his coach Dean Eberwine, and his nephew Jeff as a well-deserving member of the Windham High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
Jeff Stanley is a 1976 graduate of Windham High School. While in high school, Jeff was a member of Marty Hill’s first basketball team. This team provided Coach Hill with his first trip to Columbus. Jeff also played four years of Bomber baseball under the helm of Coach Keith Rainey. Jeff’s pride in his small town and his love of sports took him down a path that has continued his entire adult life. Jeff’s decades-long mentoring journey in Windham’s storied athletic programs began his first year after graduating from high school when he became an assistant to Frances Davis, the girls’ varsity basketball coach. He then joined Marty Hill’s coaching team at the Junior High School level. It was obvious then and it is even more obvious now – some 30 years later – that Jeff’s Bomber Pride began at a very early age and its roots run deep. On the basketball floor as a player or a youth referee, on the bench teaching youngsters about sports and life, in the stands proudly cheering for those who wear “Windham Bombers” across their chests, or on the countless dusty ball fields in our small town that stand as monuments to the very best of what we offer, Jeff is the epitome of what it means to be a Windham Bomber. Windham School District – Coach/Volunteer 7 th Grade Boys’ Basketball (1 year and 2 years as Volunteer Assistant) 7 th Grade Girls’ Basketball (3 years) 8 th Grade Boys’ Basketball (1 year and 2 years as Volunteer Assistant) 8 th Grade Girls’ Basketball (1 year) JV Girls’ Basketball Assistant Coach (4 years and 1 year as Volunteer Assistant) JV Boys’ Baseball Assistant Coach (1 year and 2 years as Volunteer Assistant) Referee for Windham’s Lil’ Dribblers Basketball Tournament (4 years) For two years, Jeff coached girls’ and boys’ basketball seasons back-to-back, usually meaning four hours of practice a night. Whether because he was visiting with friends and former players after the game, congratulating a player on a job well done, consoling a player who struggled through a difficult game or a tough day at school, or simply waiting to provide a ride home, Jeff was usually one the last people to leave the gym.