More Than a Name: Why I Founded This Foundation in Honor of My Grandparents

The name of the Eugene and Beverly Stradwick Heritage Foundation is deeply personal to me. It honors my grandparents, but it also represents the values, sacrifices, and quiet strength of generations of African Americans whose lives helped shape Wheeling and the Upper Ohio Valley.

My grandparents, Eugene and Beverly (Pervall) Stradwick, were both born in Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1931. They became high school sweethearts while attending Lincoln High School, Wheeling’s segregated school for Black students, and married in 1951.

Their story is a love story, but it is also a story of service, perseverance, family, and community.

After high school, my grandfather joined the United States Navy and served his country during the Korean War. He later worked at Ohio Valley Medical Center, retiring after 41 years as a pharmacy technician. His commitment to service extended well beyond his career. He was active in the American Legion, serving as commander of Post 89 and, for four years, as District 1 commander. He also devoted many years to volunteering with Wheeling Park High School’s track and field program and received statewide recognition for his contributions to the state track and field championships.

My grandmother raised six children and served her community as a member of American Legion Auxiliary Unit 89. Her strength, devotion, and care helped hold together a family whose story continues through its children, grandchildren, and generations yet to come.

Together, my grandparents spent their entire lives in Wheeling. They believed strongly in education and community service. They were known for their generosity, kindness, and love of dancing. The way they lived demonstrated that a meaningful legacy is not built through recognition alone. It is built through the people we encourage, the families we nurture, the institutions we support, and the communities we leave stronger than we found them.

That is why I chose their names for this Foundation.

I wanted the Foundation to honor who they were while carrying their values forward. Their lives provide a deeply personal connection to the larger history we are working to preserve—the history of African American education, family life, achievement, service, culture, and community in Wheeling and throughout the Upper Ohio Valley.

Too much of that history has gone undocumented, has been scattered across family collections, or has survived only in the memories of elders. Important photographs remain unidentified. Documents are stored in boxes and attics.

Stories are passed from one generation to another, but each passing year places some of them at risk of being lost.

When a community loses its history, it loses more than names and dates. It loses the stories that explain how people persevered, how families built meaningful lives, how neighborhoods supported one another, and how ordinary people made extraordinary contributions.

The Eugene and Beverly Stradwick Heritage Foundation was created to help ensure that those stories are found, preserved, interpreted, and shared. We want future generations to know about Lincoln School and the students who walked through its doors.

We want them to learn about the educators, veterans, laborers, professionals, parents, artists, athletes, church members, business owners, and community leaders who helped build this region. We want young people to see themselves within the history of their community and understand that they, too, are part of an unfolding legacy.

Naming the Foundation after my grandparents is one of the proudest decisions I have ever made. Their names keep this work grounded. They remind me that history is not an abstract collection of facts—it is the record of real people who loved, struggled, served, celebrated, and created opportunities for those who came after them.

This Foundation is my tribute to Eugene and Beverly Stradwick. It is also a tribute to the many families whose stories deserve to be remembered with the same dignity, care, and pride.

Their names appear on the Foundation, but its purpose reaches far beyond our family. It belongs to a community, a history, and a future that we are proud to help preserve.

I invite you to learn more about Eugene and Beverly Stradwick, share your family’s stories with us, support our work, and join us in building a lasting home for African American history in Wheeling and the Upper Ohio Valley.

My grandparents gave our family a legacy of love, education, service, and community. Through this Foundation, we will do everything we can to ensure that their legacy—and the history of so many others—continues to educate, inspire, and bring people together for generations to come.

-T