Friends,

I am writing with the sad news of the passing on Nov. 25 of John Meroney ’61, who was Guilford College’s first All-American student-athlete as a record-setting football player for Coach Herb Appenzeller.

A memorial service for John will be held Tuesday, Nov. 29, at 2 pm at Hayworth-Miller Funeral Home in Kernersville, N.C., followed by burial at Oaklawn Memorial Gardens in Winston-Salem. His obituary contains many details of his storied life.

Recently, Coach Brad Davis ’08 and members of the football team visited John and presented him with a signed Quaker football helmet. What the students may not have realized was the significance of his accomplishments in a prior competitive era.

A standout halfback, John set a football record that still stands with a 97-yard touchdown run and he played defense, too, earning the team’s best tackler award four straight years. He was named First Team All-America in 1959. Also, he was an outstanding sprinter on the track team. In 1974, John was inducted into Guilford’s Athletics Hall of Fame.

Herb, who wrote about the 5-foot-10, 185 pound athlete in two books — Pride in the Past and Legends from the Locker Room — said, “I felt later in life that John Meroney was the football player that had the greatest influence on me in all my years of coaching.” Herb was a professor, Dean of Students, coach and, for 31 years, Athletics Director.

Following his Guilford playing career, John had the remarkable opportunity to try out with the Green Bay Packers, who were then coached by the legendary Vince Lombardi. Beyond athletics, he became a successful insurance and brokerage executive for decades. 

Please join me in holding John’s family in the Light as we mourn his passing and celebrate his life. 

Warmly,
Kyle Farmbry
President