Friars Success Stories

Ronald F. Walker:  
No one handed Ron Walker an easy trip through life, a life cut short by his untimely death in 1997.  Ron was born in 1938 in Cincinnati.  When he was a young boy he started playing basketball at Friars Club.  Through the steady guidance of coaches and the skills he learned competing, winning and losing, and working as part of a team, Ron grew into a man of substance in his community.

He graduated from the University of Cincinnati, joined the United States Army, and began a steady career rising to become the Vice Chairman of Great American Insurance Company.  While rising in the corporate ranks, he served on many corporate board and developed several small businesses, including Coney Island, Americana and others.  Outside of the corporate boardroom, Ron used skills developed at Friars to lead the Bethesda Hospital Board of Trustees.  He served variously as an officer and trustee for Tri-Health, National Phi Delta Theta Educational Board, the University of Cincinnati Foundation and the University of Cincinnati College of Business Administration Advisory Board.

It is not the resume…it is the way he handled himself that makes Friars most proud.  That is why the Youth Sports Program was rededicated as the Ron Walker Youth Sports Program in his honor in the fall of 1999.  Today and tomorrow’s youth will come to know this man who received so much from Friars Club, and who returned even more than he got, and they will be inspired to live up to the standards he set.

Judge Thomas C. Nurre: 
If anyone had told young Tom Nurre in the 6^th grade when he was walking to play basketball at Friars Club that he would someday sit on the bench of the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, he might not have believed them.  However, he probably did know that in some way or another Friars would always be a part of his life.  Judge Nurre and his family personify the generations of Cincinnatians dedicated to Friars Club.

Judge Nurre’s father was a friend to the Friars, helping them move into their current location in 1931.  Judge Nurre has been involved at Friars his entire life, including service for 20 years on the Board, serving at times as its President and winning the Friars Award in 1991.  He shared his Friars Club experience with his children as they participated in the same basketball leagues he had been a part of years before.

“Friars Club taught me more than how to play basketball and swim.  They taught me discipline, how to stay out of trouble, how to work hard and how important it is to be a man of character,” said Judge Nurre.  “My Friars Club coaches taught me values, competition and good sportsmanship, all skills I took to my experience on St. X’s team and into my career.”

Jerry Campbell: 
Grew up in a family on public assistance after his father abandoned a young wife with three small children. An extremely dedicated mother and the Friars Club youth program provided Jerry the tools to become a success instead of a statistic. Jerry reported on almost a daily basis to the Friars Club to participate in recreation and sport activities. His younger brother and sister followed in his footsteps and also took advantage of the opportunities afforded by Friars Club.

The Campbell kids all became college graduates and are success stories.
Jerry in particular graduated from the University of Cincinnati and now
is employed as the Assistant Chief Probation Officer in Hamilton County.
Many years ago Jerry returned to his roots and became a volunteer coach
in the sports program. He is starting his 18th year volunteering at Friars. His son Chris has been involved in the basketball program for six years. Living in Wyoming, Jerry states that his son has ample opportunity to participate in activities in their community but he really wanted Chris to have the "Friars experience".

Robert Conway, Sr.: 
Those who know Bob Conway Sr. are not surprised to learn that this man, who has been at the helm of several successful businesses, could have once been found driving a bus full of Friars’ kids to camp in Michigan.  Having spent many hours as a teenager and young adult running around the athletic club, playing basketball and teaching swimming, Bob Conway knows the value of Friars’ influence on young people’s lives, and has supported Friars throughout his career.

Mr. Conway went from driving the Friars’ bus to running several major corporations, including Jung Products, Jung Corporation, Conway Industries and the Bistro Group, during his career.  During that time, he and his wife raised their eight children.  In addition, Mr. Conway acted as a community leader on many area boards, in particular those dedicated to education and health.  He lent his many talents to the Friars Club Board for 15 years, earning the Friars Award in thanks for his service to Friars Club and the community.

If you ask Mr. Conway what he is most proud of regarding his association with Friars, he quickly states it is the pivotal role he played in shepherding the club from serving only men and boys to being a co-educational facility.  He says, “It became apparent that Friars needed to serve the entire community.  If Friars wanted to remain the community asset that it had been, we needed to expand our base – and serving girls and women was the right place to do that.”  Mr. Conway’s vision proved true, as Friars Club now embraces boys and girls, men and women as participants in the Ron Walker Youth Sports Program and as members of the Athletic Club.

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