2021 Pete Moffitt Courage Award Recipient, Larry McCreary: EVERYDAY COURAGE

Larry McCreary gave one last hug to his mom, dad and one of his favorite uncles. Together, they had made the six-hour trip on North Carolina side roads from their home in Caldwell County to Raleigh to drop the young McCreary off at school. The family had unpacked Larry's suitcase and got him settled at his new school – all the while fighting back tears that threatened at the thought of leaving their son. Then, they got in the car and retraced the long route back home. Larry, alone and on his own, was 6 years old.

It was the fall of 1949. In those days, there were not overwhelming options for a child who did not have full sight. Public schools were not equipped to educate students without vision. The best opportunity for Larry to learn was to send him to the State School for the Blind to receive an education, develop his skills and figure out how to find his way in a sighted world.

Larry, blessed with a loving family and good friends, has an insatiable curiosity, indomitable willpower, a daring spirit, a mind for innovation, a heart to help others and a sense of humor that understands no limit. Pair all of that with a determination to live each day to the fullest and you have the 2021 recipient of the Pete Moffitt Courage Award, an annual honor named for the 1984 alumnus who displayed tremendous courage in his battle against ALS. To know Larry is to know a man of true courage.

***

Larry is the third of the four McCreary brothers who hail from Caldwell County. Until he was sent to school at 6, Larry grew up in a home without running water, but with loving parents and adventuresome brothers. The boys played sock ball – basically baseball but with a rolled-up sock – in their front yard. Danny, the youngest of the brothers, would pitch the ball to Larry and tell him when to swing. After making contact with the sock, Larry would take off like a shot toward first base.

"We never thought of Larry as being handicapped," said Bob McCreary ('61) about the brothers. "He did everything we did. He walked to the store by himself, got himself something to drink and walked back home."

Larry's longtime friend, Dorman Craig, also never treated him any differently. On vacations home from school and during the summer months, Dorman introduced Larry to friends and took him on adventures – like the 6-mile walk to a local bridge barefoot at night.

"He had a lot to do with showing me what life was like. He taught me how to meet girls, and he let me drive his truck," Larry said. "I hit a bank."

Being on his own so young was difficult. Larry wrote letters back and forth with his family, but they couldn't talk on the telephone; the McCrearys didn't get a party line until Larry was in high school. He was able to visit home on some weekends, holidays and school breaks; but without interstates at that time, it was a six- to eight-hour bus ride one way. ("But my friend had a 16-hour trip home and could only go home at Christmas," said Larry of his friend and classmate, Ronnie Milsap, the Grammy-winning country music star.)

Bob, only four years older than Larry, remembers the family taking his brother to the bus stop and sending him back to Raleigh several times. "We would cry. I look back on it and know how painful it was. Our mom really suffered."

And one time, so sad to have to tell his brother goodbye, Danny said, "If I put my eyes out, can I go with you?"

It wasn't easy on anyone in the family to send Larry to Raleigh – to separate him from the people he loved and who loved him most – but it was the best way to equip him to live a somewhat independent and deeply purposeful life.

***

From early on, Larry was curious.

"I would hold books and wonder what was in them," he described. "I would ask anyone to read something for me so I could know what I was holding in my hand."

Danny, often with Larry, read to him and revealed the mysteries that lay between the covers of those books. But going to school meant learning Braille and that made it possible for Larry to never have to wonder again.

Though learning was helping Larry, admittedly his daring side often landed him in some scrapes. There was the time he hotwired a bulldozer. And once, he rallied some other brave elementary schoolers to break out of school, but they didn't get too far before the teachers rounded them up.

"The institution demanded you conform or had a lot of trouble," explained Larry. "I spent a lot of time communicating with the principal – not voluntarily."

But there was one teacher who forever changed the course of Larry's life.

"I'll never forget her name," said Larry. "Lucy Gilmore."

Ms. Gilmore realized how much Larry loved history and civics. She could see his curiosity blooming and his quick mind ready to run with the next challenge in front of him.

"One day, she walked by my desk and said, 'You could be something if you wanted to. You should think about trying to improve what you're doing,'" remembers Larry. "Just one word from somebody who cared. It turned me around."

***

After graduating from the state school, Larry spent a year at a junior college before he enrolled at Appalachian State University. Once there, Larry traversed all over the campus, spent time exploring downtown Boone and enjoyed having his own apartment.

"At Appalachian, it really caught fire," said Larry. He excelled in the classroom, developed great relationships with his professors and met his wife, Judy. They were introduced to each other in October, and on January 6, Dorman Craig drove them to South Carolina to get married.

As Larry was approaching graduation, he was also facing the reality that staggeringly few individuals with visual impairments were employed. Understanding the challenge, Larry made it his life's work to change that statistic.

After graduating magna cum laude from Appalachian, Larry entered graduate school at Virginia Commonwealth University and enrolled in the department of rehabilitation counseling. He thrived there, obtaining an internship and job offer before he graduated, and carried that success into the workplace. After earning his master's, he began working for the state of North Carolina as a vocational rehabilitation counselor whose purpose is to find employment for blind and visually impaired individuals. He spent more than 30 years helping people find jobs, and as of 2017, the employment rate is 44%.

Never allowing his knowledge to outrun his curiosity, Larry earned a second master's degree from Wake Forest, also his brother Bob's alma mater. Since the days when his brother donned a Wake Forest football uniform, Larry has been a devoted Demon Deacon fan. His loyalty started by listening to radio broadcasts of football games from his room in Raleigh, and now, you can often find him sitting courtside at the Joel experiencing a basketball game.

After retiring from the state, Larry and Judy worked together for Humanware, a company in California recognized as the global leader in assistive technology for people who are blind or have low vision. Then, Larry was sent to Holland to help advance their development of Braille technology. "That was very rewarding," he said. "I really enjoyed that."

For more than 53 years, Larry and Judy, who has full sight, have been a team. "She has given me her whole life," he said. "If I needed to go somewhere for work, all I had to do was pick up the phone and she took me. She has devoted her whole life to me. She's an exceptional woman."

"It is amazing what Larry has been able to overcome," said Bob. "I don't know which is more impressive – surviving and getting through those 13 years away from home, which were very traumatic for him and the family, or all of his accomplishments since then, which required incredible willpower. There are no two people I have greater respect for than Larry and Judy. I love what they've been able to do together."

***

Sometimes courage isn't one act of great bravery. Sometimes it is consistently showing up to your life – no matter how hard, how daunting or how overwhelming it may seem. Courage is the willingness and steady perseverance to overcome the challenges in front of you. Every single day.

For 78 years, more than 28,500 times, Larry McCreary has chosen to face the day – shoulders squared, resolution firm and humor at the ready – to create and live an amazing and courageous life.

Wake Forest Athletics

2021 Pete Moffitt Courage Award Recipient, Larry McCreary: EVERYDAY COURAGE

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