2003 USSSA Hall Of Fame

Class of 2003 (L to R) Ken Paulson, Roy Brockmeyer, Jim Fox, Jerry Henry, Paul Brown, Brian Schultz and Marc Palmer

Rockford: The ninth annual Illinois USSSA Hall Of Fame Induction banquette was held at The Cliffbreakers Suites Hotel in Rockford on November 8th, 2003 with eight individuals and one team being inducted. The evening for more than two hundred and thirty in attendance opened with a benediction given by Co-Master of Ceremonies, Jeff Brown. and was followed by a sit down dinner.
Chuck Fisher, Co-Master of Ceremonies opened the evening’s festivities with a short
welcoming speech followed by the introduction of the twenty previously inducted Illinois
USSSA Hall Of fame individuals who were on hand to honor this years class eight new
inductees.
Umpire Jerry Henry was inducted first. Henry a twenty-four year umpire has logged
twenty-three State Tournaments, eight Divisional Tournaments, nineteen National
Invitational Tournaments, and four World Tournaments including the 1995 USSSA Men’s Major World Series in Daytona, Florida. Henry also is an instructor at umpire clinics. Jerry Henry was introduce by Irv Porter who said, “The standards that Jerry Henry set will have raised the bar for all future USSSA umpire must meet in order to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, because Jerry Henry was that good.”

Jerry Henry (L) and Jim Fox (R)

In his acceptance speech Henry said, “When I started out, I just wanted to do a job, I needed the money...I love the game of softball.” Henry took the time to mention his mentor, Bob Parvin and thanked for all the help that he gave to him as an umpire. He concluded by saying, “I never claimed to be a good umpire, I always claimed to just know the rules and to be in position to make the call.”
Sponsor, Jim Fox was inducted next. He was responsible for forming the first USSSA
masters team, Fox Sports from Illinois. His teams won four state championships. He has
sponsored twelve teams that have participated at USSSA World Tournaments including
the 1990 15 & Under Boys World Champions. Jim Fox was introduced by his good friend Myron Schroeder who said, “Because of Jim’s sponsorship I was able to dodge bullets from a Memphis, TN housing project, experience a little whirl-wind called Hugo in South Carolina, I got to stay at the beautiful roach motel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with a bunch of twelve to fifteen year olds, I enjoyed the Hutchinson Kansas 110 degree heat before returning there two months later to experience frost bite. But most of all it was the
continuos laughter of all those old guys just happy to still be able to play the game.”

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