Terry McCann (Olympic Athlete, 1934-2006)
Terry McCann won a gold metal in wrestling at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. His 1952 Illinois State Championship record, in which he pinned his high school opponent in 57 seconds, remains the record today. After his Olympic victory, earning a gold metal despite a knee injury and a virus, he retired from competition and turned to a very successful coaching career. Along with Myron Roderick, Terry McCann founded the United States Wrestling Federation (now known as USA Wrestling), the governing body for U.S. wrestlers in Regional, National and International competition, including the World Games and Olympics. Terry McCann became a member of the US Wrestling Hall of Fame, the International Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame and the United States Olympics Hall of Fame.
His interests and contributions ranged well beyond wrestling, however. He was executive director of Toastmasters International for 26 years; chief financial officer and executive assistant administrator for Lions International, the world’s largest service organization; and director of education and communications director for the Super Market Institute.
About 1980, Terry McCann took up surfing and brought the same drive and leadership to this sport as he had always brought to wrestling. He served as director of the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association from 2001 to 2003. Before he became sick, he surfed every day near his California home and planned to keep surfing until his 80th birthday.
Terry McCann was exposed to asbestos when he worked for a short time in the late 1950s at an oil refinery in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This job provided the funding for Terry McCann to follow his Olympic dream while supporting his growing family. It also exposed him to the asbestos fibers that would eventually kill him. Terry McCann was diagnosed with mesothelioma in June 2005 and died a year later. Surfing, travel, even leaving the house became impossible because of the shortness of breath, nausea and pain of his disease. But he did not withdraw: Terry McCann became a national spokesman against the “asbestos bailout” proposal through which Congress considered imposing limits on litigation against asbestos manufacturers. The bill was defeated through the efforts of citizens like Terry McCann. When Terry McCann died, he left behind his wife, seven grown children and eighteen grandchildren.