DISTINGUISHED SERVICE

Induction Year: 2008 | Graduation Year: 1970

Jim Leathley is a 1970 graduate of Tecumseh High School. As a student at Tecumseh, Jim was involved in music - both instrumental (Pep, Marching,Stage, and Symphonic Band) and vocal. As a member of the choir, he had lead parts in three musical productions, including Oliver, My Fair Lady, and The Music Man. In addition, he was active in Vocational Agriculture and the FFA, where he served as Vice President and President, and earned several local, county, district, and state awards. It was through the extracurricular activities of the FFA that Jim began to hone his skills in public speaking, winning several local county and district contests over his 4 years of participation.

After graduating from high school, Jim attended The Ohio State University. Between his sophomore and junior year, he married his high school sweetheart - Sharon Compliment. In June 1974, Jim graduated from OSU with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture, and moved to Covington,Ohio, where he took a position as Vocational Agriculture teacher, at Covington High School. Over the next 3 years, Jim and Sharon welcomed the births of their sons - Brian (74) and Kyle ('77), and moved back to the Tecumseh School district, to work in the public sector. Shortly thereafter, Jim became involved with a relatively new youth sports organization - TAYSA (Tecumseh Area Youth Soccer Association), as they enrolled Brian in the sport. Being short on coaches, Jim agreed to help coach, even though his only real knowledge of the game was, you couldn't touch the ball with your hands. Over the next several years, he became more involved in youth sports, accepting the position of Vice President of TAYSA and Vice President of TABB (Tecumseh Area Basket Ball), and coaching both sons in both sports. Also at this time, Jim got introduced to the Tecumseh Athletic Boosters by his father-in-law, Joe Compliment. In addition to helping with repair work on the stands and concessions building for fall sports, Jim joined Joe, Bob Rinker, Bob Baker, and RV Lyons on the Chain Gang, and began his journey with the Athletic Boosters.

In 1982, Jim began announcing Boy's Basketball games and found his niche. Over the next couple of years, he was coaching youth soccer and basketball, announcing boy's and girl's soccer and boy's basketball, helping run the chains on the Chain Gang, and served as Vice President of the Athletic Boosters. In 1988, he volunteered to announce girl's basketball, and was from that point on labeled "The Voice Of The Arrows".

In 1994, Jim was honored to move from the field to the press box during football season, when he was asked by Joe Quinn to fill in for him from time-to-time. And though he may have taken over his spot in the booth, Jim knew he could never replace Joe, who, for many years, graced the field with his golden voice. Over the years, Jim has coached, announced, and cheered many an Arrow, and has gotten to be part of many special moments at Tecumseh: announcing during the development of Tecumseh's first few Varsity soccer seasons; being part of undefeated football seasons; announcing Tecumseh's first ever Regional tournament game; announcing record breaking basketball games; announcing CBC Championship seasons in basketball and football; and now - announcing 2nd generation Arrows. But he would be the first to tell you that the most special years were those when he got to announce his sons, Brian and Kyle's games, as well as those of "his girls" - Jenny and Mandy Rinker.

Jim is most proud that he and Sharon have been married for 36-½ years, and that they have 4 beautiful grandchildren. Jim is employed by Security National Bank, as a Vice President of Business Loans. In 1995, Jim was the 1st person to be inducted into the Tecumseh Education Association's Hall Of Honor. He has served as chairman or co-chairman of theTecumseh School's Levy Committee for more than 25 years, is a member of the Tecumseh Local Schools CIP Cabinet, and is on the finance committee for the Olive Branch School Preservation Society. Jim is the Campaign Chairman for Western Clark County for the United Way, a member of the New Carlisle Rotary Club, and serves on the board of theNew Carlisle Senior Citizen's Association. At one of the sports awards banquets, a coach once made the comment: "When you are born, you grow up learning to recognize your momma's voice, and your daddy's voice. If you're born around here, you grow up learning to recognize your momma's voice, your daddy's voice, and The Voice Of The Arrows..."