Harry Agganis.
BY STEVE KRAUSE
LYNN — By all accounts, Harry Agganis was a combination of Frank Merriwell and Jack Armstrong, All-American Boy.
He was a star athlete who could have gone to any college, but chose Boston University to be close to his family.
He could have played football for the Cleveland Browns, but chose baseball and the Boston Red Sox to be near his widowed mother.
But for all Aristotle George Agganis, nicknamed “The Golden Greek,” had going for him, he was, in the end, a supernova. His star burned out on June 27, 1955, at the age of 26, at Sancta Maria Hospital in Cambridge, where he died of a pulmonary embolism as a result of a viral infection.
His death sent shock waves throughout Lynn and beyond, where he was a hero to the city’s athletes, and to his Greek community in particular. His funeral is still the largest ever in the city’s history. The route from St. George Greek Orthodox Church on South Common Street to Pine Grove Cemetery was lined several rows deep with mourners.
Attorney Charles Demakis was a contemporary and an admirer of Agganis. It was at his behest that The Daily Evening Item, as it was called back then, and the Red Sox, established a foundation to honor Agganis’ legacy and to help advance the cause of the many young men and women like him who saw sports as a means to a higher education.
In 1955, the Agganis Foundation was born, with the first football all-star game played in 1956. The proceeds went to the foundation.
Today, there are nine boys and girls games involving graduating high school seniors. The games, which begin Sunday and run through Thursday, will include 370 athletes. In all, more than 5,000 have participated.
For most of the 61 years since the foundation was established, the football game was the principal fundraiser. While it is still the driving force, it took on some help 22 years ago when the Agganis baseball game was added. A year later, it was boys and girls soccer, and 19 years ago softball joined the mix.
Basketball was the third of Agganis’ three-sport portfolio in his youth. Each April, St. George holds its annual basketball tournament. Twelve years ago, basketball became the fifth sport added to the Agganis roster, with boys and girls games. Finally, five years ago, boys and girls lacrosse were brought on board.
The purposes for playing these games are many. First, they celebrate Agganis’ athletic legacy. They give high school seniors one more moment to celebrate their high school exploits before scattering off to their various colleges and other endeavors. Lastly, the proceeds go toward the foundation’s scholarship endowment.
Each year, the Agganis Foundation awards $61,000 in new scholarships, which come in the form of four $1,000 annual grants. This year, there are 16 new recipients, 15 of them receiving the full grants and one with a one-time Chairman’s Scholarship bestowed upon him. Since the foundation was established, there has been nearly $1.75 million in scholarships awarded to 927 scholar-athletes.
The week’s worth of activities commences Sunday morning at 10 a.m. at Manning Field with the awards ceremony, which includes the induction of five new members into the Agganis Hall of Fame. Their awards are named for five men who were either pioneers of the foundation or whose work helped advance its cause: Harold O. Zimman, Dr. Elmo F. Benedetto, Paul F. Cavanagh, David C. Weidner and Attorney Charles Demakis.
The softball game follows at noon and baseball begins at 2 p.m., both at Fraser Field.
Monday the games move to Lynn Classical for girls (6) and boys (7:15) basketball.
Manning Field in Lynn will be the site for the remainder of the week’s games. Boys (5:30) and girls (7) soccer are Tuesday; girls (5:30) and boys (7) lacrosse are Wednesday; and, finally, football is Thursday at 7.
Steve Krause can be reached at [email protected].