Russ McCreven was a true Westie

The city lost one of its true Westies on Oct. 18. Russell McCreven, husband, father, sportsman, photographer, writer, and friend to many succumbed at 86. To say this writer and McCreven were friends and colleagues only touches the surface of the relationship we had spanning more than 55 years.

McCreven was a teacher at West Haven High when my sister, Lynne, and I entered in the fall of 1967. He was the head of the Social Studies Department and looked younger than his age but was notable for his moustache. While facial hair was beginning to get more common as the Age of Aquarius took hold, it was still not something seen of (of all people) teachers, thought to be a more conservative lot.

It was not until my junior year that we really got to know each other. By that time, McCreven had teamed up with friend Bob Tingley, the city’s Park-Rec Director, and his longtime friend. Tingley became the sports editor of the West Haven City News, a reworking of the Town Crier that was sold to Bob Joyce and Rejoice Publications. It was then that the paper went from something filled with (as editor Colby Dreissens called it) “Strawberry festivals and church picnics,” and started being an alternative information source that the New Haven Register and its morning publication, The New Haven Journal-Courier.

Local sports became a staple of the weekly and was a major reason the paper was popular. A feature, the Star of the Week was begun, and McCreven took his shutterbug hobby and turned it into something more. He had a great eye and soon became a familiar sight around the city, taking pictures not only for sports but for other events. One of his and Tingley’s innovations was the sports picture page. Begun about 1970 it has been a popular feature of every paper that has followed.

In those days Bob Dixon and Conroy Taylor were also working as professional photogs and the paper was known for fine artwork as well as good stories. McCreven was the newcomer, but his talent was seen by many people.

In those days high school hockey was played in one major venue, the New Haven Arena, located at the corner of Grove and Orange Streets. In 1967 the Astorino Rink was opened, and two years later the Edward L. Bennett Rink was opened, along with the pool on the other side of the high school. Bennett was closed after the 1969-70 season because of the floor buckling due to underground springs and groundwater. It was two years before it reopened.

After the triple-headers at the Arena, he would go across the street to the New Haven Register and type the “agate” or game summary for the next day’s paper. In those days, you typed it out on old newsprint, edited it, rolled it into a vacuum tube, and sent it to the compositors for processing. That was the system until the mid-70s, when computerized type became the norm, but that is another story.

McCreven was also my teacher as a senior in a Contemporary Issues class. His soft-spoken nature was interesting, because behind it was a very thoughtful, very informed individual. A bit of what I would later call a Wisconsin Liberal; he had a way of discussing those contemporary issues in a manner that drew out more silent individuals. It was a particularly good class and had a cross section of the entire 526 senior class.

Tuesdays and Saturday nights were high school nights at the Arena, and McCreven was the announcer. When I was a senior, I began helping him with penalty box duties and later worked as an announcer as well when Arena nights and WHHS hockey nights clashed. He and I shared those duties for the next 17 years.

As a frosh at SCSU, I was asked by Tingley to become the PR man for the Ray Tellier Midget Football League, which played its games at Bailey Field at the time. It was then I worked for Tingley and worked with McCreven in a more adult capacity.

After working with him as a student, and working with him as a fellow correspondent, our relationship grew when I became a full-time writer for the West Haven Towne Voice, a paper begun by Dreissens when the City News was sold to The Milford Citizen, and revamped. I worked there for two years before it folded and was hired to work on The West Haven News, where Tingley and McCreven were still ensconced.

Tingley passed away suddenly in 1984, and McCreven, who was best friends with him, assumed the role of editor as well as photographer. That was a challenging time for all of us. Tingley was a dynamic individual who commanded a room and was a founding member of the Tellier League. It was a tough transition only because it took a long time before we could get used to the fact Bob was no longer around.

Trying to keep his Westie biases at the margin, there was only one time he let his guard down. West Haven topped Darien in 1984 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum when George Heins shot from the left point (going about 30 miles an hour) eluded everyone including the Darien Blue Wave goalie for a championship the Blue Devils were never supposed to win. The Westies scored on a power play with seconds left, and the Darien people were livid referee Joe Reilly called a penalty so late in the game.

McCreven, who had a wry wit that transferred well on paper, did a column that to this day is one of the best and funniest takedowns of the hue and cry that Darien put up after the loss. It was a master class in irony and taking elitist attitudes down a notch.

When he lost his wife Ann after 44 years of marriage, it was a blow from which he never completely recovered. Theirs was a marriage where it was obvious they were friends as well as spouses. Ann was a good foil for him as well as his biggest supporter.

For the next four decades through high school hockey, assigning him to cover some events and seeing him on his bike riding around town as I was jogging, we worked together and enjoyed talking issues as well as sports. He loved the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and would talk about various players and games with relish.

As he got older and his illness and age progressed, I would see less of him, but we would talk occasionally on the phone. He still had a sharp mind but was confined to the house more.

McCreven made his mark in several ways: teaching thousands of young people and guiding them in understanding that history is not just yesterday – it is every day. He was beloved by thousands of athletes, taking their pictures or announcing their games. He was a friend, a mentor, and a beloved colleague and – he was a true Westie in all the best senses of the term.

Rest in peace, my friend. Yours was a life well lived.