Members
Inductee
STEARNES, ROBERT
STEARNES, ROBERT
Born on September 11, 1932
Gary, IN
March 28, 2020.
Inducted On
May 7, 2017
Location Inducted
Merrillville, IN
Region Number
1
Gary Roosevelt
Player
Gary Roosevelt
1951
Earned 12 varsity letters - 4 each in football, basketball, and track; named #1 Quarterback for the 1950 All-Indiana Prep Gridiron Team; had several collegiate scholarship offers and selected Iowa.
University of Iowa; Indiana State University MS
1955
4-year letterman as quarterback or halfback; known for his ability to run, throw, and catch on the offensive side of the ball.
After college career, began teaching and coaching in Gary, but was drafted into service by the Army in 1956; played football in the Army at Fort Ord in California and Fort Sill in Oklahoma; returned to teaching and coaching in Gary, then moved to DeKalb, IL; held an administrative position at Northern Illinois University and served as a recruiter of athletic talent from the northwest Indiana area to NIU; opened a restaurant in DeKalb in 1980's; retired in 1990; he and his wife founded the Robert D. Stearnes Memorial Foundation which gives two $1,000 scholarships annually in memory of their son, Bobby, a DeKalb graduate, who passed away in 1998.
Wife, Bennetta; children, Mark, Robin, and Robert D. "Bobby" (deceased); granddaughter, Khalilah.
