Boxing legend honored in Newton

Rocky Marciano was more than a boxing champion; he was an icon of his era. Fifty years ago, the undefeated heavyweight died tragically in a plane crash in Newton, one day shy of his 46th birthday. To honor his memory and legacy as one of the best professional boxers of all time, Iowa author Mike Chapman and the City of Newton unveiled a ceremonial rock and informational sign to the public Friday morning along the city’s hike and bike trail near the Jasper County Historical Museum.

“This is a dream that started when I was a young lad in Waterloo,” Chapman said Friday, noting that when all the other kids were admiring sports greats like Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays, his No. 1 hero was Rocky Marciano.

Chapman had been planning some kind of tribute to Marciano for the past few years. In November 2018, the wrestling enthusiast and former Newton Daily News publisher proposed his idea to the Newton City Council of erecting a memorial for Marciano on the 50th anniversary of his death. Eventually, Chapman’s vision was made possible by a $10,000 grant from the Governor Branstad Iowa History Fund, which was accepted by the city council in July.

The result of Chapman’s work was a rock engraved with an image of Marciano wearing boxing gloves, his birth date and the date in which he died. To coincide with the rock ceremony, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds produced a proclamation declaring Aug. 30, 2019, as Rocky Marciano Remembrance Day. The document names all three victims of the crash: Marciano, Dowling High School graduate Francis “Frankie” Farrell and Carpenter High School graduate Glenn Belz.

The proclamation states “history will forever link these three men as being victims of a single-plane crash near Newton, Iowa, shortly before sunset on Sunday, August 31, 1969” and that the town citizens “wish to mark this fiftieth anniversary of the tragedy by paying homage to Rocky Marciano and the other two men whose young lives ended in their community.”

Willie Farrell, an Iowa comedian and brother to Frankie Farrell, was one of many special guests at the ceremony last week. He was joined by his family, who visited the Jasper County Historical Museum prior to the rock unveiling to see the exhibit dedicated to Rocky Marciano and the plane crash. They had never seen it before. Willie Farrell said it was a “surreal” experience.

“Every time I’ve seen the picture of the plane crash I always kind of glance at it, and that’s about it,” he added. “I never really look at it because then it becomes too real ‘cause now I’m trying figure out who sat where — I don’t want to know that. But that was the first time I ever looked at it for more than a second.”

It was difficult to get through, Willie Farrell told the Newton Daily News. Even when he was speaking to the crowd and said the monument was not only Rocky’s Rock but Frankie’s Rock, too, the pain and grief that he thought had passed was coming back. Before the ceremony, whenever Willie Farrell would drive underneath the bridge near exit 164 of Interstate 80 he would make the sign of the cross for his departed brother.

To memorialize the No. 1 athlete of Massachusetts, Chapman said it was only fitting to have the No. 1 Iowa athlete, Dan Gable, attend the ceremony and speak a few words. Gable remarked that both of his cauliflower ears were not a result of wrestling — only one was. The other, his left ear, was formed from a roundhouse hit.

"People always think it's wrestling, but it is a boxing ear," Gable said with a smile.

The National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago sent Chapman a letter to read aloud at the ceremony, acknowledging the undefeated boxer’s “determination and power in the ring was second to none.” The NIASHF inducted Marciano at its first ceremony in 1977, eight years after his death.

“Rocky embodied our values of family, faith, friends and community and is forever enshrined in our hall of fame with over 270 Italian American greats such as Vince Lombardi, Joe DiMaggio, Mario Andretti and more,” the letter said. “We are proud of Rocky’s accomplishments and our shared Italian heritage and we commend the town of Newton in memorializing this legend.”

Chapman also read a letter from Rocky Marciano Jr. recognizing Newton’s gesture and recalling the days following the death of his father. In the letter, Marciano Jr. said the “world was mourning a great loss.” Shortly before the crash, his family was preparing a birthday celebration but was left “devastated by the loss of a husband and father.”

The letter continued, “And in Newton, Iowa, the people of Newton were dealing with the aftermath of a plane crash and death of three souls. On that day, the days that followed, Newton honored my father by the way they cared for his remains and making sure his remains were carefully handled and returned to his family.”

Now, five decades later, Newton is honoring Marciano Jr.’s father.

He added, “Newton, Iowa will always be a part of Rocky Marciano’s history. For all these years it has been because of his death. Of course, that cannot be changed. But hopefully from today moving forward the focus can be on this day in Newton, memorializing and celebrating my father, Rocky Marciano. May today be further testament of the enduring loving and impact my father continues to have on generations.”

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com