VANCE McSPADDEN

CLASS OF 2004
 

Joining brothers, Tom and Ray, Vance McSpadden was a four-year tennis standout and basketball player at Northeastern State University in the late 1930s.  He captained the Redmen tennis squads his junior and senior seasons.  He was President of the 1939 Senior Class at NSU and was Student Council Vice-President. 

A product of Tahlequah, he won numerous tournaments in his college days including the 1936 Kansas Open and Ada Open Singles and Doubles, the 1937 Kansas Open Doubles, and the 1938 Muskogee Indian Capital Tournament Singles and Doubles.

After serving as a Navy Lieutenant in the Pacific during World War II, Vance coached Tahlequah High School to the team State Tennis Championship in 1948.  The Tennis Center in Muskogee dedicated in 1986 is named for the McSpadden brothers:  Ray, Tom, and Vance.