Friendship in Fairmont: Tommy Thompson's fondest memories of the late Ted Echols

FAIRMONT — It’s easy for young children to make friends. Often, on the first day of school, it’s not uncommon for kids to walk up to a fellow classmate, introduce themselves, and mutually decide from that day forward the pair will be best friends forever.

As adults, making friends is more of a challenge. You lose touch with former classmates you thought would be in your life forever, colleagues come and go due to the ever-changing job market, and unfortunately, life itself sometimes even plays a role in cutting a friendship short before it even had the chance to properly begin.

Sometimes, though, the best friendships come from unexpected places. They can even formulate years later after knowing someone your entire life, but never finding the time and place to say hello. Enter the late Fairmont State dual-sport legend Ted Echols and his close friend Tommy Thompson, and you’ll find that close friends are hard to find, but worth the wait.

With the passing of Echols last week, those who knew him best during his illustrious athletic career and even in his later years are now reflecting fondly on some of their best memories and moments. Thompson, a longtime resident of Fairmont, offered his thoughts on his late friend, and the years they spent together as supporters of Fairmont State University.

“I knew Ted [Echols] from afar for a long time, because he was 74 when he passed and I’m currently 69,” Thompson said. “So, when I was in the eighth grade, he was already doing his thing at Fairmont State for the basketball and baseball teams. When we became older, I spoke with him at a baseball game once, and for 15 years we rarely ever missed a game together, either at home or on the road.”

During his playing days as a member of the great Joe Retton’s Falcons’ squad, a group that went 81-13 in three seasons, Thompson recalls watching Echols on the court as something extraordinary. One of his favorite stories, though, comes from former Fairmont State Athletic Director Dave Cooper. Cooper, also a former teammate of Echols, has told many people about his battles with “Superman” on the court. Some of them even took place off the court as well, according to Thompson.

“Dave Cooper told me once about the times when Coach Retton would give players specific guarding assignments before practices,” Thompson said. “One time, Retton told Ted, 'you’re going to guard Coop.' For Ted, that didn’t just mean on the court during drills. He took the game seriously at all times.”

“So, Cooper told me that Ted would follow him around before practice even started, not allowing him two feet. He’d even follow him to the bench and sit down with him, never moving away from him. That’s just the kind of player Ted was. We all laugh about that one now.”

While basketball and baseball were his true loves, Thompson also recollected a time when Echols took to the gridiron, another memory that his friends still laugh about.

“When Ted was on the field, he was aiming for Kerry Marbury on a kickoff,” Thompson said. “His thing was, Marbury had hurt him before, so it was his turn to lay him out. He took off down the field, nailed somebody he thought was [Kerry] and heard the crowd cheering. When he got up off the ground, his helmet was turned sideways, and Marbury was almost into the end zone on the opposite end of the field!”

“Basketball was definitely more his thing, but baseball was his first love. He was never that big, but he had the size for both sports, and that came in handy.”

Thompson also noted Echols’ brief stint as a member of the Chicago Cubs after being selected late in the 1972 Major League Baseball Draft. Although his major league career was cut short due to injury, Thompson believes it played out well in Echols’ favor.

“He got hurt when he was playing with Chicago, and their belief was that if he was going to stay on the roster, he had to get better on his own,” Thompson said. “They weren’t going to help him because he was such a late pick, they didn’t want to waste resources on that. He just never really went through the process, and ended up working in the mines back in Grant Town.”

“After he worked in the mines, he became a school teacher at North Marion, and later coached basketball at Hundred High School. He was a bit out of place there during that time, but he did such a great job.”

Although they no longer will be able to travel together to support Fairmont State athletics, Thompson will always hold his friendship with Echols close to his heart. To him, there was nothing more special than being able to have those 15 years together.

“He was just such a great guy,” Thompson said. “A wonderful person, a great husband, and really just a wonderful friend. I can’t say enough good things about him.”