Pete Thierry was as frequent a sight at local sporting events as handshakes, popcorn, and the American flag.
The longtime Galesburg resident, former athlete, and unwavering booster of local sports passed away on Saturday at the age of 87.
Thierry had tested positive for COVID-19 according to reporting from The Register-Mail.
Legendary Knox College coach and athletic director Harley Knosher once said of Theirry, “ that for all the time I have known him (he) has been one of the most sincere supporters of Galesburg athletics in general.”
Thierry graduated from Galesburg High School in 1953, excelling as a basketball and baseball player. He also was a halfback for the Fighting Scots at Monmouth College for a year.
Longtime GHS girls basketball coach Evan Massey wrote in a 2011 blog about Galesburg’s history with racism, that in a time when there few black athletes in the area for Thierry to look up to- he was decidedly talented. Massey writes that the best basketball players in town played in a YMCA league, where Thierry set a scoring record with a 53 point game.
Thierry by his own account was the third African-American to start on the Silver Streaks basketball team. Thierry remembers coach John Thiel as a man who would play the best players, and it didn’t matter who liked it and who didn’t like it.
But Knox College was never far from his heart. Pete told the Register-Mail in 2010 that his house used to sit right where the third base now is on the Knox baseball field.
Thierry would attend countless games over the years for Knox, Monmouth, Carl Sandburg College, GHS, Lombard and Churchill Middle Schools, as well as Legion baseball and JFL. Often by his side was his longtime friend, Ray Pickrel.
GHS Coaches past and present have been paying tribute to him, like Evan Massey, Mike Reynolds, Craig Hillier, Marla Clay, Jeremy Pickrel, as well as former Streak athletes like Joey Range and Ryan McElmurry.
He was also a member of the Streaks’ Dads program, where adults would interact and mentor GHS students during lunch hours.
Arrangements are pending for Thierry with Watson-Thomas Funeral Home.
