By FRED KRONER
Good news came in small doses for Dick Duval during much of the past 76 days.
The month of May, however, has seen a significant upswing for the former St. Joseph-Ogden High School teacher and coach.
He was surprised by a drive-by parade at his home in Royal on May 6. On Tuesday night (May 28), the St. Joseph-Ogden Board of Education voted unanimously to name the football field after Duval, the person who coached the sport for 28 years at SJ-O and directed teams into state championship games in four different decades.
Five years after his retirement from coaching, Duval is still among the top 20 in state history for career wins in football with 251, all at SJ-O.
The recent highlights, both deserving and memorable, represent only a small portion of Duval’s life since mid-March.
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For the past year-and-a-half, Duval has filled in as a mathematics instructor at Monticello.
It was an enjoyable position, Duval said, “they’re on block scheduling, so I only had to go every other day.”
By Spring Break 2020, Duval was more than ready for a break, but not because of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, which was starting to become prevalent and eventually shuttered all classrooms throughout the state.
“I had a lot of indigestion and wasn’t able to eat as much as I had been,” Duval said. “After about two weeks, I had it checked out.”
Following an ultrasound and a CAT-scan, Duval said, “they found a mass in my pancreas that was blocking my bile duct and limiting the ability of my stomach to empty out.”
He was referred to Barnes-Jewish Hospital, in St. Louis, and an appointment was scheduled for the end of April.
He wasn’t sure he could wait.
“I was getting worse,” Duval said.
Before the family had a chance to think about their next step, a call came in from the St. Louis hospital.
“They said, ‘We’ve reviewed your records,’ and asked, ‘How soon can you be here,’” Duval said. “I said, ‘Our car has been packed’ and we took off immediately.”
Duval, his wife Lynda, and son-in-law Ryan Barnes made the journey to St. Louis.
It didn’t take long after their 6 p.m. arrival on April 21 for the former coach to realize what his life would be like in the short term.
“Three nurses and three security guards met us at the front door and said, ‘You’d better say good bye,’ and that was the last time I saw my wife for 15 days,” Duval said.
Thanks to a cell phone, he was able to keep in touch, and Lynda Duval was able to stay apprised of developments.
“Each day when the doctor made his rounds, I got on my phone and Face-timed my wife so she could keep up with the developments,” Duval said. “That was the only contact I had with my wife.”
For generations, coaches have said it’s not the wins and the losses they remember and savor as much as the relationships that are built with the squad members.
Duval received first-hand confirmation during his stay at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
“I was by myself the whole time, and it was so lonely,” he said.
Soon, a familiar person became an almost-daily visitor.
“One of my former football players is a doctor at Barnes,” Duval said, “and he came to visit and gave me a face I knew and was aware of.
“That really helped me out.”
Brian Kidd, was a four-year football player while at SJ-O. He is now a doctor in the intensive care unit at Barnes.
“He came in and was so reassuring,” Duval said. “He’d tell me why the doctors were doing what they were doing and that the things going on were normal.”
The mass on Duval’s pancreas was malignant, but doctors were satisfied with the results of the operation.
“They said I was lucky it was all in one area, and hadn’t spread,” Duval said.
He learned how fortunate he was.
“In the 15 days I was there, I had five different roommates,” Duval said. “One was going in for the same procedure.
“They opened him up, and then closed him back up because of how much it had spread.”
Thirteen days after the surgery, Duval was released from the hospital on May 6.
“It was a matter of recovering and being able to get fluids down,” Duval said. “They said they had plumbed my whole insides.”
Since returning home, he has had a different eating schedule.
“I do six small meals,” Duval said, “and my wife has done a great job making sure I get the right amount.”
Besides seeing Brian Kidd on a regular basis while at Barnes, Duval found other connections to Central Illinois.
“I basically interviewed every nurse that came in,” he said. “I had one from Warrensburg-Latham, one from Mount Zion and a couple from Decatur.”
Next week, Duval will start the first round of six months of chemotherapy. Each of the twice-a-month sessions will last five hours.
“They like to hit it hard,” he said, “because pancreatic cancer is one that can come back.”
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Six days after Duval returned from St. Louis to his home in Royal, daughters Bobbi Busboom and Toni Barnes and son Kiel stopped by, bringing spouses and grandchildren.
The date was Tuesday, May 12.
They spent some time outside before Dick Duval said he needed to go inside.
“I was having a miserable day,” he said, “and not feeling very good.”
Everyone at the residence – except for Dick Duval – knew that a parade of cars and trucks was about to pass by the house, a welcome-home event organized by Duval’s former coaching colleague at SJ-O, current superintendent Brian Brooks, with help from Duval’s son-in-law, Ryan Barnes.
“They had to figure a way to get me outside again,” Duval said. “They had me come back out to look at something my granddaughter had drawn in the driveway.”
What he observed instead was a fire truck coming down the street, followed by a steady stream of vehicles.
“It was really overwhelming,” Duval said.
The passersby included many folks from the St. Joseph-Ogden community as well as many other locations.
“Scott Hamilton drove over (from Tolono Unity) and Monticello brought a small bus with administrators,” said Duval, who estimated that somewhere between 150 and 200 people drove by.
“We wanted to get as many people as we could,” Brooks said, “and not let him know about it.”
The secrecy was essential, Brooks said. “If he knew about it, he probably would have told us not to do it.”
What made the event more memorable is that there was no rush. The vehicles were traveling slow enough that verbal exchanges could easily be made.
“He was in his driveway,” Brooks said, “and people said a few things.”
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The successful parade preceded by two weeks the SJ-O school board meeting where it was decided that a second school athletic facility would be named after a former coach.
In 2016, the softball field was named for Randy Wolken, who retired as the winningest softball coach in state history.
The irony is that before Duval retired, he sat in on meetings about naming fields or facilities in the district after someone.
“Brian and I talked about those things a few years ago,” Duval said, “and that you have to be careful when you do those types of things.
“You could name a basketball court after a guy and then 10 years later, someone could come along and win 100 more games.”
Duval, in fact, had a nomination he thought should be considered, but not for a specific site.
“We had a janitor who took care of the fields, and I wanted the sports complex to be named after Glenn Fisher,” Duval said. “Him and I used to go to breakfast every Friday and we’re still close friends.
“He’s a cancer survivor, too.”
Fisher was eventually recognized for his decades of contributions.
“He’s in the (SJ-O) Hall of Fame,” Duval said. “We thought he was that important.”
Even with the discussions he’d sat in on about naming facilities at SJ-O, and his career record (251 wins, 75 losses) that included 26 playoff appearances in his 28-year career as head coach (including 25 in succession), Duval said he didn’t have an inkling that the football field was about to gain a name.
“It never crossed my mind that they’d do that for me on the football field,” said Duval, who was inducted into the Illinois Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2008.
His family gathered again this week in his home, on Tuesday evening, but that didn’t make him think something was up.
It wasn’t until the door bell rang and Lynda Duval answered and said to her husband, “I think it’s for you,” that all the pieces started to fit in place.
Brooks, SJ-O principal Gary Page and three school board members dropped by to share the news.
“I was totally taken aback,” Dick Duval said. “I had no clue. I said, ‘What’s going on?’”
They gave Duval an envelope with a picture of the scoreboard inside. Underneath it were the words, “Dick Duval Field.”
“I didn’t know what to say,” Duval admitted. “I said, ‘Are you sure?’ This was totally unexpected.
“For them to think enough of me to do that is very flattering. I’m still speechless.”
The events of the previous 75 days had something to do with his mind not being on football or the high school field.
“I’ve had other things on my mind to worry about,” he said. “I was really surprised.”
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In the first 24 hours after the decision was announced, Duval has heard from countless well-wishers.
He appreciated the sentiments that everyone shared.
“People have sent notes through email, Facebook and Twitter,” he said. “It’s amazing the outpouring I’ve gotten.”
Word traveled fast.
Among those who reached out is a former player, Pat Gegg, who is in the Navy and stationed in Japan.
“That’s what coaching is all about,” Duval said, “the relationships you build over the years.
“That’s the icing on top of the cake.”
The date for the formal dedication of Dick Duval Field is uncertain. The status of the fall football season is still up in the air, making it unrealistic to even set a target date for now.
Even if Duval was caught off-guard, Brooks is confident that others had an idea of what would eventually transpire.
“It has been talked about informally since he stepped away,” Brooks said. “Everyone knew in the back of their minds that it would probably happen at some time.”
A former SJ-O player who was also a former Spartan assistant coach under Duval, Steve Fiscus, also urged the naming to take place.
“The school board president (Jim Rein) formed a committee and three members and myself discussed it in depth,” Brooks said.
It was easy to give the recommendation a green light and submit it to the entire board for approval.
“If you name something for someone, you want the full package,” Brooks said. “Dick did so many things for SJ-O in general.
“He was a great teacher, a great educator and a great person. It’s a great tribute to him and his family.”
The naming of fields at SJ-O is not likely to change, but the committee amended its bylaws so that future recognition could still be granted if another deserving coach also makes a significant impact.
“It will be in place for at least 20 years,” Brooks said.
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Randy Wolken said that Duval’s continued success for decades illustrates his impact.
“It tells you about his preparation and ability to motivate,” Wolken said. “Because of his success and character and how he affected young men, I’m surprised it took this long.
“He is very deserving.”
Wolken, who coached Spartan softball for 39 years, said anything of permanence is significant for coaches, who operate on one-year contracts.
“Sometimes you will go through the parking lot and look at the field, or the grandkids will look and it’s a good feeling knowing the time you put in at that field,” Wolken said.
“It’s an honor and there’s a lot of pride involved.”
For Dick Duval, the timing for the start of chemotherapy means that he may be able to return to what has become one of his favorite retirement activities.
In the two years that his son Kiel has served as the SJ-O boys’ basketball head coach, Dick Duval has been at the scorer’s table keeping the book.
“I’ve got that (surgery) behind me. We’ll get the chemo behind me and lead a normal life,” he said. “I want to be at every game.”
And when Dick Duval attends future home football games at SJ-O, he will feel right at home. That has been guaranteed.
