By Harry Minium
Claude Stafford grew up in South Norfolk, a blue collar area of Chesapeake that when he was a kid, was as segregated as any in America. White South Norfolkians had their own schools and parks, as did African Americans.
Yet Claude didn't see race. All he saw was people, regardless of skin tone or ethnicity. He also had an amazing knack for sizing up people. If you were a good person, he was good to you, to a fault.
He befriended Kenny Easley when he was just eight. Easley would go on to a storied NFL career with the Seattle Seahawks. When Easley was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2017, Claude was at his side.
In a sense, Claude was on the side of another guy named Kenny for nearly a lifetime. Kenny Gattison met Claude on a recruiting trip to Old Dominion University in 1981 and the two instantly hit it off.
Gattison is an African American. Claude was a white guy. And yet Gattison cried like a baby when Claude passed away suddenly on Thursday night.
Claude was attending a football game played by his beloved Oscar Smith High School when he had a medical emergency and was rushed to a local hospital.
Gattison and I spoke for a few minutes about Claude Friday afternoon before the tears began flowing. He apologized and hung up, saying he just couldn't talk any more. He called back 20 minutes later and talked about Claude for the better part of an hour.
Gattison played at ODU for head coach Paul Webb and assistant coaches Oliver Purnell and Eddie Webb. Gattison said those three coaches and Claude Stafford have been the most important people in his life.
"I don't know the correct way to say this, he never left my side or I never left his side," said Gattison, who had a long NBA career as a player, assistant coach and later head of the senior players federation for the NBA, WNBA and Harlem Globetrotters.
"But we've been close ever since I met him in 1981," Gattison added. "Every place I ever lived or played, Claude came to see me. He's the most trustworthy human being I've ever known. I can't say who impacted my life more during my time at ODU, Paul Webb, Oliver Purnell, Claude Stafford or Eddie Webb."
Paul Webb coached at ODU for 10 seasons, and when he retired, was the winningest coach in Virginia. He said he never saw a more loyal fan than Claude.
"Our team traveled to a lot of places during my ten seasons," Paul Webb said. "And during those ten seasons, Claude missed only three games. Just three.
"He was one of the most loyal and most kind and caring human beings I ever knew."
Claude Stafford
A long-time employee of the Chesapeake Sheriff's Office, Claude ended up having a major impact on ODU's program. Claude befriended coach Sonny Allen in the early 1970s when Sonny was building a Division II powerhouse.
Claude was there when ODU won the 1975 NCAA Division II national championship in Evansville, Indiana. That's where he met Carol Hudson, then a student manager. Carol ended up doing an internship with the Chesapeake's Sheriff's office, thanks to Claude. As ODU's long-time sports information director, their relationship drew only closer.
Claude continued his affiliation with ODU through the Tom Young, Oliver Purnell, Jeff Capel and Blaine Taylor head coaching regimes. He founded the Big Blue Barbecue, an event usually held in the spring to celebrate the ODU men's basketball team's season just ended.
When he retired about 15 years ago, he handed off the Big Blue Barbecue to the Norfolk Sheriff's office, but was always there to help.
"Claude was Mr. ODU Basketball forever," said Mike O'Toole, an ODU graduate and a colonel in the Norfolk Sheriff's office, where he is the right-hand man for Sheriff Joe Baron.
"He really cared about Old Dominion basketball and he was a hell of a nice guy. You always saw him on the road with the team. And when we needed anything from Chesapeake, to help with the Big Blue Barbecue or anything else, Claude was always there to help us."
Carol Hudson was as close to Claude Stafford as was Gattison. He said he spoke with Claude at least once a week.
"He was a brother to me," Carol said. "This hit me like a ton of bricks. When you talk to someone a few days ago and then he dies" and then his voice trailed off.
"Claude was the most loyal friend in the world," he added. "Once you were his friend, he would do anything for you."
Gattison and Purnell spoke at length on Friday about Claude, who was so close to Purnell that he attended games almost every season at every coaching stop he had after he left ODU, from Dayton to Clemson to DePaul.
Kenny Gattison
"We were both just buckets of tears," Gattison said. "I'm a pretty ornery guy and I've been crying for 12 hours.
"Claude had some health issues. You could see it coming. Life is life. You know you're going to die. You know your friends and family are doing to die. I've lost a whole lot of people in my life. I haven't cried over many of them.
"But Claude was one of them. I cried like a baby.
"He was such a dear friend. He was there when my kids were born. He knows my entire family and I know his. My life was better because Claude Stafford was in it.
"We've been through some ups and downs in life. It is those times when you appreciate and cherish your core group of friends. Claude has always been among that core group."
Claude is survived by his wife, Brenda, and daughters, Carrie Causey and Jennifer Bruce.
Gattison said Brenda was Claude's soul mate, the person who made him complete.
"We've always called her the Boss Lady," Gattison said.
I asked him if that was because she was in charge in the Stafford household and he laughed when he responded.
"She's always been in charge. That's why we call her Boss Lady. Claude is that guy that's going to give you the shirt off his back. Boss Lady would say 'put that shirt back on, nobody wants to see all that.'
"Brenda has been that rock in our lives, right along with Claude. She's always been there. She was the woman behind the man. She's always been our den mother so to speak. She let us borrow Claude and act a fool and cut up. When things got out of hand, she would rein us all back in."
Ronnie Wade, who also played for Webb, had a lifetime friend in Claude Stafford. So did his wife, Linda, who met Ronnie while they were both attending ODU.
Ronnie doesn't play golf, but at every ODU basketball golf outing, Claude made sure there was a golf cart with his name on it.
"He would ride around with me and we'd have a great time," Wade said.
Claude hasn't been engaged with ODU's program in recent years, but when Ronnie asked him to go to a game, Claude went with him 2019. Ronnie's son, Jason Wade, plays for ODU and Claude knew Jason well and loved to watch him play.
"I talked to Claude once or twice a month," Ronnie Wade said. "He was that guy. If he told you he was going to do something, you didn't have to check on him.
"His word was his bond. He was old school when it came to his word and his loyalty to his friends.
"His wife, Brenda, is a really great person. If you were a friend of Claude's, she just invited you into their family."
Gattison said Claude didn't know a ton about basketball, yet he loved ODU basketball.
"He was a football guy," he said. "He didn't know a drop step from a front hook. He loved Oscar Smith football. But he had an immense impact on the Old Dominion basketball program."
Claude is in the Oscar Smith High School Hall of Fame.
"Aside from his career in law enforcement and all of the responsibility that comes with that, Claude Stafford made every other decision with his heart," Gattison added. "That's the reason why he was such a wonderful person. He didn't see race. Claude Stafford loved human beings, regardless of their skin color.
"Now, you had to be the right kind of human being, you had to be a genuine person. He would know a bull (bleeper) a mile away.
"He just meant so much to Old Dominion's program and to peoples' lives. He didn't stop being your friend when you left ODU.
"When he put his arm around you and called you a friend, he meant a friend for life."
Contact Minium: hminium@odu.edu