GLHS Athletic Hall of Fame - Class of 2024 

Roger “Moose” Love has Grand Ledge running through his bones. He was born here, he spent his youth and adolescence here, and he currently lives here with his wife, Sandy, with whom he's been married to for nearly 50 years, and they raised their daughter Kelley here.

        For many years, Roger Love has served as one of the greatest ambassadors for youth sports in the Lansing area. From 1958-1962, Roger played Baseball, Basketball, Football and ran Track for Grand Ledge High School, graduating in 1962. In 1963, with Coach Gorman & Coach Dukes, Roger started the Grand Ledge Youth Football League using his own money to purchase uniforms. Since that time, he has been constantly involved with youth sports at varying levels including coaching football, basketball, and baseball at the high school level.

        Coach Love coached both Grand Ledge Football and Baseball at different high school levels from 1963-1987. He played Basketball for the Army during his service (1965-1967). Following his tour of duty, he took over the Grand Ledge Youth Football League and worked with PONY Baseball (1967). In 1968, he ran 5th-8th Grand Ledge Football and Scouted all Grand Ledge Varsity Football opponents.

         From 1979-2011, Coach Love owned and operated First Place Sports and supplied many uniforms for teams in Grand Ledge. In 1987 he became the Grand Ledge JV Football Coach as well as the Assistant Athletic Director and currently serves in that capacity while also helping to manage and maintain all athletic facilities.

          For 25 years, Coach Love donated all the trophies for the Diamond Classic Baseball tournament, and was / is active with First Place Sports when it comes to awards to young people in the entire Mid-Michigan area.

          In 1998, the Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame began honoring Lansing Area citizens whose efforts, and dedication have improved the quality of life for the greater Lansing area. Citizens who have given to young people through sports, and other recreational activities an opportunity to grow into contributors of the community. The Richard “Dick” Letts Community Service Award reflects the spirit of his namesake.  A humanitarian, public servant, and civic leader, Letts symbolized the Lansing area’s allegiance to worthy causes.  His work with the City of Lansing spanned 44 years and his work with volunteer organizations was endless. In 2019, State Representative Angela Witwer presented Coach Love with the award for his endless work as one of the greatest ambassadors for youth sports and sports in general in Grand Ledge and the Greater Lansing Area.

First Photo: Coach Love pictured for the GLHS Yearbook in 2019.

Second Photo: Coach Love’s senior picture in the 1961-1962 GLHS yearbook.

Third Photo: Coach Love observing during Football practice in August 2018 at the Grand Ledge Football Stadium.

Mike Rademacher completed his 45th season coaching High School in 2021, and his 41st season at Grand Ledge. Anyone involved at any capacity with Grand Ledge sports, or simply a follower of Grand Ledge Baseball or Football over the last 50 years, knows Coach Rad. 

Coach Mike “Rad” Rademacher needs no introduction, and his impact on Grand Ledge Football, Baseball, the Grand Ledge community, and the endless players and students of Grand Ledge from the past 5 decades, is nearly impossible to reduce to a few paragraphs. 

Coach Rademacher began coaching in 1977 after graduating from Grand Ledge High School in 1973, where he played for legendary coaches John Krupa, Pat O’Keefe, and Park Baker. While playing football for Grand Ledge, alongside fellow teammate and future Comet Coach Tony Sweet, Coach Rademacher was a member of 4 straight conference championship teams for the Comet Varsity Football team (‘69-’72), a streak that would extend to 6 straight after he graduated. 

Coach Rademacher would begin his coaching career in 1977 under Head Coach Valdy Gailitis as an assistant for the Varsity football team at Beal City High School while he was still a senior at Central Michigan University. He would then follow Coach Valdy Gailitis to Mason, Michigan, and he coached the next 3 seasons 1978-1980 at Mason High School as a Freshman Head Coach, JV Assistant, and Varsity Assistant. 

In 1981, Coach Rademacher would return home to Grand Ledge to coach as a Varsity Assistant from 1981 to 1984 with his former high school coaches John Krupa, Pat O’Keefe, and Park Baker. In 1985 Garth Barrett would become the Head Varsity Coach, asking Rademacher to become the Head JV Coach. He would remain the JV Head Coach through 1992. Pat O’Keefe would take over as Varsity Head Coach in 1993, and Coach Rademacher would coach as a Varsity Assistant for the 1993 season and again for five more seasons from 2001-2005.  During O’Keefe’s tenure, Coach Rademacher would also return to be the JV Head Coach again from 1994-2000. Coach Matt Bird would take over the Varsity Head Coach position in 2006. During Coach Bird’s tenure, Coach Rademacher would take over as the JV Head Coach again from 2006-2011, the Freshman Head coach position in 2012, 2017, and 2018, and he was a Varsity Assistant from 2013-2016. Coach Rademacher would then coach JV under Coach Brya in 2019-2021. 

Prior to retiring from coaching football at the end of the 2021 season, Coach Rademacher would earn the distinction of being the only coach on staff to have coached with the previous 5 Varsity Head Coaches, spanning 4 decades: Coach Barrett, Coach Krupa, Coach O’Keefe, Coach Bird, and Coach Brya. A feat which anyone would be hard pressed to find replicated before, during, or after Coach Rademacher’s time coaching. The Grand Ledge Junior Varsity Football team went 190-18-3 from 1989-2012 under variations of Coach Rademacher, Coach Jim Price, Coach Roger “Moose” Love, and Coach Tony Sweet. From 1996-2000 the JVs won 39 straight games, including four straight undefeated seasons. The entire decade of the 90s the JV team only lost 3 total games. 

Coach Rademacher was awarded Michigan Assistant Coach of the Year in 2013 by the MHSFCA. It would be possible to write a further page or two committed to Coach Rademacher’s additional wins, achievements, success, impact, and longevity as a coach with Grand Ledge Baseball. Notable individual accomplishments as a Baseball Coach: Michigan Baseball Assistant Coach of the Year in 1992 & Bob Gross Award in 2010 for outstanding baseball contributions and achievement.

Coach Rademacher was also a teacher nearly as long as he has been a coach. He was a substitute teacher in 1978-79. He then taught at Mason High School from 1979-1981. He would become a substitute in GL from 1981-1987, while working for Vandervoorts and Adidas. He then taught in Grand Ledge from 1987-2016 at Hayes Middle School. He retired from teaching after the 2015-2016 school year after teaching for nearly 40 years.

Arvilee “Arv” Wayne Pettit, born September 2, 1950, of Grand Ledge, passed away peacefully on November 29, 2017, at his cottage on Douglas Lake. He is remembered by all those who love him for his jovial smile, big hugs, and sense of humor that kept us all laughing. 

Arv was a longtime fixture of Grand Ledge athletics, he was a graduate of Michigan State University, retiree of General Motors, photographer and seasoned driver's education instructor. Many remember Arv from his witty sports' articles in the Grand Ledge Independent and The Lansing State Journal, and his uncanny ability to catch a photo at the perfect moment.  Family, friends and former Grand Ledge High School students say Pettit devoted his life to the community's youth. He retired from coaching in 2005, but continued highlighting the achievements of local high school sports teams as a sports writer and photographer for the Grand Ledge Independent.     

           Quoted in the LSJ, saying: "I love Grand Ledge," Pettit said in December of 2015. "Grand Ledge has great people. We've still got enough of small-town America here". Friends, family and former Grand Ledge High School athletes all described him as a "passionate" advocate for Grand Ledge youth sports, and a true community volunteer.

           As the freshman football coach from 1989 to 2005, “Pettit had a proven track record for helping athletes excel in the sport”, said Bill Moore. He coached the sport with Pettit, running defense to Pettit's offense for 16 years.  Arv highlighted the achievements of the high school sports teams as a sports writer and photographer for the Grand Ledge Independent for nearly 30 years. He also taught many area kids as a driver education instructor for seven years.

Pettit developed a love for coaching at Michigan State University. For five years, while he pursued a degree, he served as a student volunteer with the football team, helping with gear and delivering game film to rival schools.

          He came to the Grand Ledge football program in 1984 and said student athletes there already had a desire to win. "Fundamentally, the kids had a pretty good idea what was happening when they came on to the field. I didn't spend two weeks trying to teach them how to tie their shoes. We got right into football the first day and we were in it until the last game."

He started writing for the Grand Ledge Independent in 1990. It kept his mind sharp, "I loved the writing," he said, and he kept at it until 2014, when his health got in the way.

          During the more than two decades he coached freshman football at Grand Ledge High School, Arv Pettit tried to impart a few life lessons: be polite, to each other and the officials, and work hard. Words of wisdom that he lived by and imparted on all the young men who played for him.

First Photo: Coach Pettit pictured coaching on the sidelines in the 1990s.

Second Photo: Coach Pettit photographed in his home for the LSJ in 2015.