Phil Lopez- Silver Streak Legend & Proud Family

Phil Lopez- GHS Class of 1943

One of the past times of sports fans is to debate who is the G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All-Time) in different categories. So basketball fans debate whether Michael Jordan or LeBron James was the G.O.A.T. Sometimes these debates fail to recognize the greatness of earlier players such as Oscar Roberston or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 

When it comes to basketball, Galesburg fans often debate whether Bumpy Nixon, Dale Kelley, or Joey Range was the G.O.A.T. Again, such debates fail to consider earlier greats like Herbert Pihl, who was the best player on a State Championship team, or Mike Owens, who in today’s NCAA would probably have started on three Final Four teams. 

If you want to debate who the all-time best Silver Streak basketball player, or the all-time best multi-sport athlete, Phil Lopez from the GHS Class of 1943 needs to be included in the debate. It is easy for us to discount the ability of athletes from before 1960, and that is a mistake. The story of Phil Lopez is one Streaks fans need to know. 

The story of Phil Lopez and his family is an inspiring story of proud immigrants to America.

Phil’s father, Felix Lopez came to the United States to work on the railroad. His mother, Maria Garcia Lopez came later to join Felix in Galesburg. Phil Lopez was born on July 20, 1924. Phil was fourth of five children in the family.

The family initially lived in the Santa Fe Camp (near what is now Taco Hideout). Felix worked initially for the railroad and then became a mason, building homes primarily in the southwest part of Galesburg. The area between Academy St and Henderson St (south of Knox St.), became referred to as the “Lopez Division” because of the construction work of Felix Lopez. 

From the 1920’s thru the 1940’s, not all Mexicans living in the Sante Fe or Davis Camps were given the opportunity to attend Galesburg schools. The Principal of Mary Allen West, Rose Hoben Welch is credited with opening the door to young Mexican students. 

Juana Lopez- GHS Class of 1934

Phil’s older sister, Juana was the first Mexican-American female to graduate from Galesburg High School when she graduated in 1936. 

When Phil entered GHS for the 1940-1 school year, it was as a sophomore since GHS was a three-year high school. As a sophomore, he played football and basketball on the “Ponies” (sophomore team), but was the starting catcher on the Streaks varsity. 

As a junior, Phil was a regular on the GHS varsity basketball team and continued to be the starting catcher for the baseball team. 

As a senior, Phil started on the basketball team as a “guard.” In this era the designation of “guard” was different than today. If you were a “guard” in this era, you were seldom involved in the offense but hung back to prevent the other team from getting a fastbreak. The “forwards” were the players who were expected to be the scorers. They were closer to the basket to shoot and to drive the basket. 

Presumably because of his quickness, Phil Lopez was a guard for Coach Gerald Phillips team as a junior and then to start his senior year.  Early in the season Coach Phillips realized he could better use Lopez’s talent by moving him to a forward position. Coach Phillip’s strategy certainly worked out well. 

The Silver Streaks had started the season 2-4 but following adjustments, they went on a 13-5 run and won the IHSA Regional Championship. 

Phil Demonstrating One-Hand Shot

In an era when teams usually only scored 20 to 30 points, Phil Lopez was regularly scoring over 20-30 points per game himself. In the Regional Championship game vs. Knoxville, he had 30 points. He was scoring over 50% of Galesburg’s points in most games. Imagine what that would have meant today, with teams scoring 70 and 80 points per game, it is easy to imagine he might have been averaging 30-40 points per game. 

According to an article written by Tom Wilson, Phil Lopez scored over 20 points per game his senior year, a total that was unheard of at the time. Coach Gerald Phillips credited Lopez’s tremendous offensive abilities to his development of a “one-handed shot.” 

Up until this time, players shot a two-handed set shot. Players shot the two-handed set shot from close to their waist so they needed both space and time to get the shot off. 

Phillips credited Phil Lopez with inventing the one-hand shot in this area of Illinois. It was not something the coach taught him, and it was not something he learned by imitating another player.  Lopez learned the one-handed shot in his driveway. The one-handed shot allowed him to get his shot off easier.

His technique didn’t just help him score, the shot had an impact on Galesburg basketball going forward. Just two years later in 1945 Galesburg went to State with one of the highest scoring teams in Illinois up to this point. Galesburg and Decatur played at State and the two teams set a State Record for most points at State by two teams. This offensive explosion started with the development of the one-handed shot. 

In 1953 the Galesburg Post did a survey of Galesburg basketball fans, asking them who were the all-time greatest Silver Streaks players. The fans identified Phil Lopez as being one of the five greatest Streaks to ever play basketball- “First Team All-Time.” 

Phil wasn’t just a star in basketball, in baseball Phil’s performance was so strong that the Chicago Cubs and St.Louis Cardinals were both recruiting him as a junior. He hoped to play professional baseball. 

An article written by Tom Loewy in the 1990’s looked back at Galesburg as the “Cradle of Catchers.” The article mentioned great catchers in Galesburg history, including Larry Blixt, Larry Pickrel, Jesse Ponce Jr, and Jim Sundberg. The first name mentioned in the article was Phil Lopez, who “anchored the position position in the ‘40’s.”

In 1954, the Galesburg Post wrote that Phil Lopez was “one of the all-time best athletes at GHS up to this date.”

Unfortunately his senior year Phil took ill and missed a large part of the season. 

Phil had pneumonia in the Spring of 1943. Complications arose, and he caught tuberculosis. He was sent to a sanitarium in Ottawa. Because of the contagiousness of the disease, visits were limited or not allowed. He died on January 29, 1944. Just a year earlier he had been active and a star on the GHS basketball team, but passed away at 19 years old. 

In 2004, thru efforts of Tom Wilson and Phil’s family, Phil Lopez was inducted into the GHS Athletic HOF. 

I had an incredible experience of visiting with three of Phil Lopez’s nieces and nephews-Phil Lopez, Mary Lopez, and Margo Davila. I appreciated them taking the time to share the story of their uncle. Their pride in Phil, and in their family is truly inspiring. 

Poem Written About Phil Lopez

The following is part of a conversation with nephew, Phil Lopez.

Massey- There have to be so many emotions when you and your family reflect on uncle’s life.

Phil- I think I know where you're going with that, but I think I would call it less inspiration and just pride. 
There was a lot of pride in terms of what we knew about our uncle and his accomplishments, and it was certainly a family kind of pride, but then it became a pride related to our Hispanic heritage, at least for me. 

Massey- It is a story that people in Galesburg need to know.

Phil- There was so much going on then with the war. It's almost as if his death could get lost in the in the news. 
His story is certainly very tragic. When you look at it on its face, but he had a very successful life.

Massey- Indeed, looking at his life, there is so much for your family to be proud of. 

Phil- One of the things that we were proud of was not just the career, but his opportunities. People had mentioned that he was being scouted in baseball, to perhaps play in the minor leagues. That never came to fruition because he got sick and that's the tragic nature of everything. 


Margo Davila, Mary Lopez, Phil Lopez 

Massey- It was a tragic time for the community. 

Phil- The people that he had played GHS sports with, they were gone off to war. So they weren't even available for the funeral. We got a few letters from people that really were apologetic because they weren't able to be back to visit him while he was in the sanitarium in Ottawa, or to attend the services.  


Massey- As you look back, your family in so many ways were pioneers as immigrants coming to America and succeeding in the face of discrimination.

Phil- I certainly think that's true. And you know, back then, Hispanics typically didn't graduate. My dad (Phil’s brother) dropped out in, eighth grade. Aunt Juana was the first female Hispanic to graduate in 1936. 
That was something that our family could be proud of. 

Most Hispanics didn't graduate from high school. They went to work, because that was the ethic, you go to work. 

Massey- Growing up, were you as kids aware of Phil’s story?

Phil- We saw the picture of Uncle Phil, and we saw the poem written about him, and then I can remember down in the basement of my grandfather's house and Uncle Phil’s catching stuff was there. His chest protector and his chin guards were there, I didn't see the glove or the mask, but they had those things. 

So those things were there to see, but like we were talking about, they didn't do much talking about Uncle Phil. We knew he was good, but we didn't know how good until we started looking into it.