The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Former teacher to be honored
After more than 40 years of teaching at Admiral King High School and an ex- tensive career as a radio announcer on WEOL and WOBL/WDLW, Jim Popiel will receive an honor for his dedication to student-athletes at an inaugural scholarship fund banquet.
The banquet will take place Sept. 29 at German’s Villa, 3330 Liberty Ave. in Vermilion.
“There’s not an individual in Lorain County, or anywhere else, that has done more for studentathletes than Jim Popiel,” said Lorain High Athletic Booster Club president Dennis Shawver. “Nobody. Not a soul.”
The event will include a silent auction, raffles and a brief program. Tickets are $50 a person.
The banquet is a fundraising effort for the Jim Popiel Scholarship Fund, founded by Lorain High Athletic Booster Club, Shawver said.
Shawver and the club’s vice president Paul Biber came up with the idea to name a scholarship after Popiel during a basketball game last November.
The two originally had planned the banquet for January of this year, but decided to push the date to September to allow for more planning time.
The scholarship fund will benefit a male and female student as of this year.
Shawver said the amount given to each student has yet to be determined.
Thus far, the fund has raised around $20,000 over the past year just by sending out letters to Lorain County locals, he said.
Shawver hopes the banquet can raise an additional $50,000.
Shawver said when the booster club informed Popiel of the scholarship, he was “floored.”
“I’ve never seen the man speechless,” he said. “Anything that involved studentathletes, he’s down.”
Whether an NFL star, college player or little leaguer, Shawver said that Popiel always knows the stats and names for nearly every player in the county.
“He doesn’t forget anybody,” Shawver said. “If you’ve come across him in life, he doesn’t forget you. He will always remember your name.” Shawver said that Pop- iel’s diligence and attention to student-athletes made him excited to listen to Popiel’s radio show in the morning.
“I remember getting up as a kid, because I played sports, and waiting for my name or whatever our team did on WLRO,” said Shawver. “At 7:20 in the morning, I was up waiting for it.
“I remember my kid when he was playing ball as a little leaguer also; he’d get up to wait for his name.”
Popiel was the victim of a brutal attack during a home invasion in October.
Lorain police made two arrests in connection to the case.
Donations to the scholarship fund can be made by checks payable to Community Foundation of Lorain County and mailed to LHS Athletic Boosters, c/o Janet Garcia, 520 Broadway, Lorain, OH 44052.
“There’s not an individual in Lorain County, or anywhere else, that has done more for student-athletes than Jim Popiel. Nobody. Not a soul.”
— Lorain High Athletic Booster Club president Dennis Shawver