When certain people or organizations make a difference in your life and the life of your family — you’re not quickly going to forget.
On March 23, 1983, former long-time Friendswood residents Larry and Kathy McClaugherty, welcomed into the world a son, Neal McClaugherty.
Neal was born with Cerebral Palsy, but this made no difference to Larry and Kathy as they would find themselves on a journey for 27 years that would, not only be a life-changing experience for them, but they would find that God had given them a gem that would touch and change many lives far beyond the Friendswood community.
Neal passed away May 9, 2010. He was a non-verbal quadriplegic and although the diagnosis may sound daunting to some, if you ask his parents, they will tell you that Neal is their “treasure.”
At the age of 10, the McClaugherty’s began looking for possible summer camps for Neal, but due to his extensive physical impairments and medical needs, there were no camps able to accept him.
That’s when, through a meeting that can only be attributed to a “Divine Appointment” with a family in Blessing, Texas, that they discovered Camp C.A.M.P. – “Children’s Association for Maximum Potential.”
It was a big leap of faith for Larry and Kathy, but a choice that led to decades-long friendships for all of the McClaugherty family. Neal would go on to attend camp 10 consecutive years after that first visit, but Larry and Kathy always remained close, in case he needed them.
The McClaugherty’s will always be grateful for the time that Neal was able to spend at Camp C.A.M.P, just being a young boy and teenager.
“Camp C.A.M.P. is a gem in this community,” Kathy said. “It is a safe place for your child. It is a wonderful place for our disabled children learn independence …independence from you and other support systems in their every day environment. It’s a place to have fun.”
Larry said Camp C.A.M.P offers parents like he and Kathy something that others do not.
One day in 2019 they received an invitation to attend a big event at Camp, and that’s when the McClaugherty’s had an idea of how to honor their son, as well as pay tribute to the loving staff at Camp.
“We went to the grand opening of the Health Center there at Camp and when we drove up the entrance, we saw the old sign out front,” Larry said. “They have a really nice gate, but it is always open and we felt like they needed something different.”
Larry said he first visited with Camp C.A.M.P Chief Executive Officer Susan Osborne about possibly replacing the entrance sign with a “boulder sign” that would be professionally produced.
Larry said he worked with Osborne and camp officials for several months, but once the design was complete and they were able to see the boulder, they were excited.
While Larry and Kathy donated the sign, Larry said staff at camp created the perfect placement, poured a foundation and ran electricity to the sign, so that it could be lit.
“It came out really nice. It is really pretty and it will be there forever,” Larry said. “The old sign had been there since 1979, so it was time.”
Osborne said she is thrilled with both new sign and the sentiment behind it.
“The old sign had definitely seen better days,” Osborne said “Our new one is just a statement piece. It’s a very welcoming sign as you come through our gate.”
And while she is grateful for the donation, Osborne said she truly cherishes her relationship with the McClaugherty’s.
“Kathy and Larry, and of course Neal when he came to camp for 10 years, were like family to us,” Osborne said. “They just exude love for our mission, for the kids that we serve and they are just a real inspiration to me personally.”
While Neal enjoyed his time at the camp, he also put his stamp on Friendswood High School that included being the No. 1 fan of the Friendswood Lady Mustangs basketball team.
Neal’s memory lives on in many ways and in the many lives he touched. Neal graduated from FHS in 2005.
Describing him clinically as a non-verbal quadriplegic, does not do justice for the incredibly full life he lived.
Neal and Larry never missed the Lady Mustangs basketball games. Neal was considered the team’s public relations director and was featured on multiple television broadcasts for his support of the team, as he sat on the sidelines with them and coached them with the help if his Dynavox 23100 augmentative communication device.
His love of basketball and the team’s love of him prompted some of the FHS students to create equipment that would allow Neal to launch a basketball from half court.
“We shot the ball during practice and never made it,” former FHS Coach Angela Spurlock said. “But the night of the game, history was made as the boys loaded up the ball on the launch pad. The ball was fired. Nothing but net! The entire gymnasium was packed and the crowd cheered, home and visitors alike, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the building as all had witnessed the greatest shot ever made in that place.”
The event was featured in the Friendswood Reporter News with a story and an award-winning headline “A swish come true.”
Neal is memorialized in a beautiful display at the Friendswood ISD Museum where a 200-page, 26 chapter book sharing personal memories and interactions with him entitled “NEAL:CHAMPION; The Journey: Morning to Afternoon” is also featured.
Larry and Kathy lived in Friendswood for 44 years where Kathy served as a nurse and Larry was a pharmacist. After they retired, they built a home in Kerrville where they now reside.
On November 13, 2011, Larry and Kathy saw the completion and dedication of the Neal McClaugherty Memorial Playground located at the Friendswood First United Methodist Church which is equipped for physically challenged children. They wanted to make sure that Neal’s legacy continued in Friendswood.
