Roll Call Tribute

Published in (Fort Worth) Star-Telegram on May 14, 2017

Robert Yale Lary Sr.(1930 - 2017)
Yale Lary, 86, ascended to be with our Lord Thursday, May 11, 2017, while in his home in Fort Worth, surrounded by his loving wife, son and daughter. Funeral: 1 p.m. Wednesday at First United Methodist Church of Fort Worth, 800 W. 5th St., 76102. Interment: Greenwood Memorial Park. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Greenwood. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Shriners Hospitals for Children, c/o Mosiah Shriners, P.O. Box 1320, Fort Worth, Texas 76101. Yale was born in Fort Worth on Nov. 24, 1930, the only child of Buster and Kathryn Lary. Yale was a graduate of North Side High School where he was an outstanding athlete, student and senior class president. Yale was offered football and baseball scholarships to colleges, including the University of Texas, Texas Christian University, Texas A&M College, and the Naval Academy. Yale chose Texas A&M where he studied military science and physical education while representing the all boy college as a star football and baseball player. As a football player he had good hands, game-breaking speed and quickness - scoring touchdowns from the halfback position running and catching passes. Lary once scored four touchdowns in a single game against Arkansas and ran 68 yards for a touchdown and caught a 37-yard touchdown pass, both in the third quarter, to lead Texas A&M to a 22-21 upset victory over Texas. He was also a leading Southwest Conference punter. In baseball, Lary was a clutch power hitter who played outfield and first base. His first at bat as a varsity letterman was a pinch hit, two out grand slam against Ohio State. Lary went on to set SWC records for runs batted in and doubles. In his junior year playing with Wally Moon, he helped the Aggies get to the 1951 College World Series where he hit another game winning home run against Ohio State. When Yale was a sophomore he met his one and only wife, Mary Jane Boothe of San Antonio, Texas, on a blind date in Austin where she was an art student at The University of Texas. Lary courted Mary Jane "Janie" for three years traveling back and forth from College Station to Austin on weekends until the two married at the end of his senior year after Lary signed a contract to play professional football for the Detroit Lions. He joined other Texans in Detroit, including Doak Walker, Bobby Lane, Cloyce Box, Keith Flowers, Bob Smith and Dan Rogas. After his rookie year, Yale and Janie returned to College Station where he completed his coursework and graduated from A&M with a Bachelor of Science Degree. Yale had a stellar career at Detroit playing 11 seasons from 1952-1953 and from 1956 -1964, missing the 1954 and 1955 seasons due to military service as a commissioned second lieutenant in the Army during the Korean War. He played at the safety, punter, and return specialist positions, appeared in nine Pro Bowl games, and was a first-team All-NFL player five times. He led the NFL in punting three times. In 1958 during his football career, Yale was elected to the Texas State House of Representatives for Tarrant County. He served two terms from 1958-1962 primarily during the off season traveling back and forth between Pro Bowl games. One of his accomplishments was to pass a bill to start Tarrant County College. Yale valued education and was so proud of his two children, Nancy Jane who graduated from TCU and Robert Yale Jr. who graduated from Texas A&M. Lary retired from professional football to start a Ford dealership with Northside boyhood friend, Bobby Helm in Hurst, Texas. Helm/Lary Ford employed 100 plus associates for 14 years. Lary, a Scottish Rite Mason, was active in the Moslah Shrine Temple of Fort Worth where he led philanthropic efforts to support the Shriners Hospitals for Children, with numerous fundraising efforts, including the annual Shrine Circus at Will Rogers Coliseum. Yale was a member of the Jesters, served on the Divan and was Potentate in 1971. After the Ford dealership was sold in 1980, Yale diversified his business dealings partnering with longtime friend, Sonny Page of Fort Worth, in the oil and gas business and helped charter Mid Cities National Bank in Hurst where he served on the board of directors and as vice president until the merger when he retired. After retirement Yale enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren, playing golf in NFL celebrity golf scrambles, attending the annual Hall of Fame Enshrinements, relaxing at home with his wife Janie watching baseball and football on TV, fishing with his son and spending time with the Northside Good Ol' Boys. Yale was a true Christian, a devoted, loving and caring husband, father, grandfather, and friend. He had a genuine servant's heart. Yale Lary was loved and admired by his family and is greatly missed. Yale was preceded in death by his parents, Buster Lary and Kathryn Lary; his granddaughter, Amber Dawn Lary; aunts; cousins; many teammates, business partners and friends. Survivors: Wife of 65 years, Janie Boothe Lary; son, Robert Yale Lary Jr., and wife, Suzan Page Lary; daughter, Nancy Jane Lary-Mathews and husband, Darin Jon Mathews; grandchildren, Robert Yale Lary III, Erin Nicole Lary, Tara Jane Mathews, Tori Anne Mathews; great-granddaughter, Ariyaha Clark Lary; cousins, Amelia Lary Haltom, Suzanne Coleman, Mary Viola Land; and extended family members, Melinda Lary-Smith, Lee Ann Lary O'Loughlin, Liz Lary, Robert Lance Lary, Kirby Haltom, Larry Land, Mike Land, Robert Land, and Roger Land.
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http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/05/12/lions-hall-of-famer-yale-lary-dies-at-86/

Lions Hall of Famer Yale Lary dies at 86

Posted by Michael David Smith on May 12, 2017, 8:41 AM EDT

Yale Lary, a Lions defensive back, punter and return man who was one of the best football players of the 1950s, has died at the age of 86 [May 12, 2017].

A nine-time Pro Bowler, Lary was an important member of the Lions’ last three championship teams, in 1952, 1953 and 1957.

Born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1930, Lary went to Texas A&M and first gained acclaim as one of the country’s best punters. “Lary, four-sport letterman at North Side, Fort Worth, kicked the hides off numerous pigskins while he was in junior high. He practiced kicking at school and then took a friend home to chase punts for him,” a 1950 newspaper account said.

Lary became a great two-sport athlete, starring in both football and baseball. His college football career is best remembered for leading A&M to a 22-21 victory over Texas in his senior year, 1951, the first time in 12 years A&M had beaten its biggest rival. A two-way player who was the team’s best defensive back, Lary starred on offense in that game, running for a 68-yard touchdown and catching a 37-yard touchdown pass. That same year, Lary led the baseball team to the College World Series and set a Southwest Conference record for doubles.

The Lions drafted Lary in 1952 and he had four interceptions as a rookie and also punted and returned kicks, and he helped the Lions win the NFL Championship Game. In his second season the Lions again won the NFL Championship with Lary intercepting five passes and again punting and returning kicks.

In 1954, Lary left the Lions to serve two years in the Army. He returned to the Lions in 1956 and was chosen a first-team All-Pro each of the next four seasons, again helping the Lions win the NFL Championship in 1957. Lary played minor league baseball during the NFL offseasons, and while still an active player he was elected to the Texas Legislature in 1958 and re-elected in 1960.

In later years Lary described the 1950s Lions as a tight-knit family.

“What I remember best of those times were not the games we played — the only one that sticks in my mind was the ’53 championship game when the pass to Jim Doran beat Cleveland in the last few minutes — but the closeness of everybody on the team,” Lary said in 1979. “I was talking to Torgy [former lineman Laverne Torgeson] just last night and we agreed there never was a team like the Lions of the 1950s. It was just one big happy family — our family against the rest of the football world.”