Arnie Herber: From Velp Avenue and back

With her husband now gone, Louisa “Sophia” Duchateau Herber was left to raise her three boys, which now included Harry, who was just an infant.

After Peter’s death, the family remained in Green Bay for a time, renting a home at 714 North Broadway.

A 1920 census lists Arnold C. (Arnie), 10; Peter J., 6; and Harry, 3, all living with their mother.

They later moved to the Sturgeon Bay area for a while before returning to Green Bay and back to Velp Avenue.

Upon his return in 1925, Arnie enrolled as a freshman at Green Bay’s West High School, where he found a passion for both basketball and football.

“Northern Wisconsin was already a hotbed of enthusiasm for the evolving game of football,” Norman L. Macht wrote in “Arnie Herber: The Man Who Invented the NFL Passing Game.”

“In 1919, the Indian Packing Company in Green Bay sponsored a semipro team that became a charter member of the first professional football league in 1921, a year later renamed the National Football League.

“Arnie was bitten by the bug. As a youngster, he practiced throwing a ball over their two-story house. He hung a tire from a tree and threw the ball through the hole for hours. He developed powerful wrists and forearms.

“He was small and thin, later filling out to 165 pounds, but nimble and well-coordinated. He was ready to play football for the Purple of West High.”

By June of 1925, Arnie was already receiving honors for his prowess on the basketball court.

While the school district was battling two back-to-back German measles epidemics at the end of the school year, West athletes were recognized for their success in football, basketball and track.

“The basketball “W” was bestowed upon Gordon Hansen, Joseph Rondou, Harold Boucher, Francis Brunette, Arnold Herber and Jerome Quinn,” reported the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

Just weeks later, the teen was cranking a Ford engine to get it started when the motor “kicked” and fractured his right arm.

“The break was sustained just above the wrist, it was said, and is a serious one. After receiving the injury, the boy did not know that the bone had been broken, it was said, and drove to town for several hours until the pain became unbearable,” the Press-Gazette stated.

Arnie returned home, the arm was examined and the family learned that he had been running around with a broken arm.

To be continued