By TOM WILLIAMS

Earl Tarves, one of the principal members of one of the most prominent sports families in Ocean City history, died last week. He was an outstanding football player, a successful swimmer and, in the spring, ran and jumped on the track team while frequently being used as a pinch runner in baseball.

One of his happiest moments was when his older brother, Don, who also competed successfully in four sports, was inducted into the OCHS Sports Hall of Fame in 2019. The brothers were part of a family that has contributed successfully to Raider sports teams over six decades.

Here are some thoughts and memories about Tarves from some people you might know.

DAVE BEYEL (successful OCHS athlete in three sports, predominantly basketball): “The word quit was never in Earl’s vocabulary. He always wanted to meet the challenge and exceed. When he was younger, running down on kickoffs to make sure he got the tackle. He was a stellar athlete like his older brother, Don, who is in Ocean City’s Hall of Fame for sports. In the fall, Earl played both ways on the football team. In the winter he swam. In the spring, high- jumping and running on the track and field team. He was as tough as there was and carried on the Tarves tradition. He was always a gentleman, well respected and loved. I always looked up to Earl. He will be sorely missed by the community, his friends and, especially, his loving family.”

JOHN LAUDENSLAGER (state champion basketball player and track champion): “It is always sad when you hear someone passed away. When that person is someone you grew up with, it is especially sad. Earl was a classmate, friend and competitor. I can remember our very first competition – during grade school at the old Central Avenue School. At recess one day in the concrete schoolyard we were trying to see who could jump the highest by touching a metal pipe that came out of the brick wall about seven feet high. When the competition started, most kids just jumped straight up to try to touch the pipe. When it came to Earl, he took a running start to the wall, placed his foot about about 10-12 inches up the wall and pushed up from there to touch the pipe. I followed suit but he out-jumped me.

“That competition followed us through high school, especially the three years on the track team. We competed in the high jump and broad jump. Earl was really good. In our junior year, he was named co-captain. Earl was a very good running back in football. I can remember when we played at Pleasantville one season and the weather was awful. It was very muddy. Earl hadn’t been on the field at the start but, when he was sent in, once again he demonstrated his original thinking. He found the biggest mud puddle and jumped into it and rolled around. With a wet and muddy uniform, he would not stand out and would be more difficult to tackle. After we graduated, we went our separate ways. Earl joined the Marines and I enlisted in the Air Force. The last time I saw him was at our class reunion. I can remember shaking his hand, giving him a brief bump and noticing that infectious smile. What a guy.”

RON BEAVER (all star football and baseball player): “We go back to our Little League days. My high school memories are mostly about playing sports. Pick up games in Convention Hall. No pads tackle football. Some touch football. Morning League in the Summer. Weekend nights at the Youth Center. As a teammate. I can remember Joe Kish calling the play 122 – Full house backfield. Earl getting the handoff. Ran through right guard and tackle. Remember spending one of his last nights before he left to be deployed. We rented a room at the old Cliff’s Motel on the Black Horse Pike. It was good fun, a drinking night send off.

“I wrote a number of letters to Earl when he was in Viet Nam. Would be surprised when he would take time to write back. When reading the letters, could see how much Earl had grown. In the mid 80’s we played softball together. Our team was comprised of a bunch of OCHS has-beens. Myself, my brother Bruce, John Kiphorn, Earl and Don Tarves, David Andrews, Lynn Baker, Mike Gill.

“The Tarves company built my house. Earl was the foreman on the job. I still live there. Earl was loyal and always had your back. He was a proud Marine.”

BOB PRICE (Ocean City youth athlete who finished has sports career successfully at Mainland): “Sorry to hear of his passing. Earl and I were best of friends growing up. Our paths separated when I moved to Linwood in 1961. After that, we each went our own way. During our early years, we walked the railroad tracks to school and ran the streets from 12th Street all the way to 18th Street. Fishing, swimming and boating occupied most of our days. That coupled with Little League baseball, basketball and football kept us very busy. He was a good friend and a top caliber athlete. He never saw a challenge too big. His legacy from our friendship days reflected honesty and reliability. He will be truly missed.”

JOHN CRANSTON (state champion basketball player): “I was very sad to hear that Earl Tarves passed away.  I remember him as a good friend and a great athlete.  Earl was one of the best football players ever at Ocean City High School and also excelled in track, swimming and baseball.  He was very supportive of his teammates and those of us who played other sports.

“He was a year behind me in school and his class included many fine athletes like Barry Banks, Randy Fox, Craig French, and Bud Swan.  What set him apart in my mind was his intensity and his fierceness.  Earl was one of the most competitive people I have ever known and his will to win and to do his very best every time out set a high bar for his teammates.  As a result, Earl was always one of the primary leaders on his teams.

“I will miss his cheerful greetings when we ran into each other at the shore.  On those occasions we could talk for hours about the old days and how lucky we were to grow up in Ocean City during that period.

I will miss Earl very much and so will all who knew him.”

GLENN DARBY (all star basketball player and track champion): “I have known Earl Tarves and the others in the Tarves families for as long as I can remember. Earl was a great athlete who excelled in most sports, mainly football. He was known as a tough guy on and off field. He was very well liked and looked up to by many. He is a Marine, who was proud to have served his country. Many of his friends also joined him. After the military, he became a carpenter working with his brother, Don, for their father Don and uncle Fred for Tarves Builders. I was a carpenter’s apprentice and worked with Earl and Don building houses. I learned a lot from them. I will miss seeing Earl. We saw each other six months ago and spoke of the good old days. He was still looking fit and happy. RIP my friend!

FRANZ ADLER (successful basketball player): “Earl was the uncrowned king of our neighborhood. Everyone looked up to him as a bigger than life figure. I was a few houses down the street from his house and whenever I could get out, I always went over there. His sister, Barbara, is my age and his parents welcomed me always . Earl became my hero as a very young boy – handsome, athletic, “very cool” (as kids would say), best dressed and perceptive at a young age. I believe he knew being like a big brother was very important to a young kid like me. Teaching, talking, spending time – he did that for me. You see I had no brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews or cousins and my parents were much older.

“I went to all his games in every sport at OCHS . But the best games were on the streets of Arkansas Avenue and Bay Shore Drive in our neighborhood with all the kids – and there were many. We played every sport in season and of course Earl was the best always. He invented a game of “Walking Tackle Football“ so we could all play and not kill ourselves. I could go on with my personal side of the Earl Tarves Story. When you say someone will never be forgotten, you are talking about Earl James Tarves. My personal quote for remembering Earl was “No man ever stood so tall as when he stooped to help a child.“ I am proud to have been one of those children.”

BARRY BANKS (state championship basketball player): “We lost a good man in my brother Earl. He always had your back covered. He will be missed.”

JOHN KIPHORN (successful athlete for the Red & White who, in his later years, wore some Green & White when his son became a star athlete at Mainland): “Earl James Tarves and I were more than best friends. Our friendship began in first grade at Wesley Avenue School in Ocean City, continued through our OCHS graduation in 1965 and until his last day this past Wednesday. He was my best man at our wedding in 1976. I was godfather to one of his children. He was known only as Uncle Earl to my daughter and my son. Until our children all grew up and had their own families, every year meant Christmas Eve at the Kiphorns.

“Earl’s dominance on the OCHS football field, swim team and track & field team is well documented. But much more than the exceptional athlete, if he was your friend he would always be there for you regardless of the situation. Throughout our friendship, even before his
decorated service and immense pride in being a United States Marine and Viet Nam veteran, he would always be the person you wanted in your foxhole.

“Many who knew Earl only as an acquaintance, may have only thought of him as being very gruff in manner, a little temperamental and very opinionated. You knew exactly where you stood with Earl Tarves. But if you knew him as well as I did, you knew him as a loving, sentimental, family-oriented, trustworthy and loyal person. You realized how lucky you were to have him call you his friend. (until he tried to tell a joke and would always deliver the punchline prematurely – it usually got more laughs than the original).
I will miss my best friend terribly but will forever treasure the memories of our times together.”

His service in Viet Nam gave Earl a sense of pride but, like many others, it also affected him emotionally. Not too long ago, Ocean City’s Red & White Weekend included a parade and a luncheon in the high school. This particular year, there was an air show over Ocean City the following day. Earl was at a table outside the school cafeteria and some helicopters were above, preparing for the next day’s show. After 15 or 20 minutes, Earl had to go inside. The sounds of those copters brought back Viet Nam to him.

As you have read in the words of a number of people, many of whom knew him in different ways, he was a complex man with great talents and great loyalty. He enhanced the reputation of his talented family and his personality was so strong his absence will leave a gap in every one of his relationships.

Earl Tarves was 78.