By Bella Levavi

The Somerville Memorialization Committee voted unanimously to memorialize Phil Reavis Sr. by naming the new Somerville High School field in his honor Tuesday, May 25.

Reavis is the first African American person to be memorialized in Somerville marking this historic decision.

Will Mbah, a member of the Memorialization Committee said, “I want to express my thank you to this committee for honoring this person especially on a day like this, that falls on the anniversary of the national uprising of Black and brown people.” May 25, 2020 exactly a year earlier was the day that George Floyd was killed by police that sparked protests across the country.

During Reavis’s time in Somerville High School, he became a track star, getting recruited by Villanova and later competing in the 1956 Summer Olympics. Reavis later returned to Somerville working as a teacher and mentoring scores of children in the community.

During the meeting there was much debate about what location should bear his name. The committee was given a list from the high school architect of locations to be named. Many on the committee advocated for the indoor track, a location not on the list, to be named after him because he was a track athlete while attending high school.

Ultimately the committee decided the new field should be the location of his memorial because more people in the community have access to this field.

“This may be a more valuable asset to the lives of Somerville residents in general than just student athletes,” Kerri Connoll, Memorialization Committee member, said.

The group came to the conclusion of their debate when Reavis’s son Phil Reavis Jr. advocated for the field to be the location. “From my perspective, I like honoring dad with the field,” Reavis Jr. said at the meeting. “Because when he had been teaching, he was with U-10 type students.” The field is the size of a U-10 soccer field and is designed to be used by students as well as by people outside of the high school.

Later in the meeting the group unanimously voted to name the Somerville High School Library after the couple Margaret Jay Jones and David Wendell Jones. After debate of whether to name two separate spaces after the Jones to respectfully honor their legacy of being separate community figures or dedicate a single space for both of them, the decision was made to designate one space for both their names to limit confusion. Ellenor Barish, Memorialization Committee member, noted that Jones will be the first African American woman to be memorialized in Somerville.

Finally, the group unanimously voted to name the Somerville High School CTE wing after Leo De Simon. Counselor Mary Jo Rossetti gave an emotional speech about Simon’s impact on the school community. “Leo was the rock behind this renovation project at Somerville High. He was such a class act, such an advocate for so many kids.” Rossetti said. “The wing will make the staff feel happy to see something about him every day.”