McVey, D-20 administrator 'lived for baseball'

Jim McVey (left) knew no boundaries for his passion to help Little League Baseball programs. He's shown here in a 2006 picture with assistant Max Lauritzen packing baseball equipment to deliver to Little Leagues hit by Hurricane Katrina. (BCR file photo/Kevin Hieronymus)

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PERU — The District 20 Little League Baseball took a hard hit Thursday evening with the loss of longtime district administrator Jim McVey, who passed away at Illinois Valley Community Hospital after a year-long battle with cancer of the esophagus.

McVey, 55, has been the District 20 Administrator in his hometown of Peru since 1993 and was an assistant administrator before that. He also served as president of the Peru Little League the past 17 years.

Max Lauritzen, former Princeton Youth Baseball League director, worked along side McVey for years as a district assistant administrator. He said McVey’s loss will create a void for the district and the many people around the district who knew him.

“It’s a big loss for baseball. It’s a big loss for me,” Lauritzen said Friday morning.

Even through his illness, McVey continued to be involved in the district, current Princeton Youth Baseball League director Randy Lafferty said, “because that’s what he lived for, Little League Baseball.

“He put a lot of time into it. That was his love and passion,” Lafferty said. “District 20 had the Central States for years and that was mainly because of him.”

McVey was instrumental in keeping the Central Regional Senior League Baseball Tournament in Peru, which the district elected to give up this year, in part due to McVey’s illness and poor health of others, including Lauritzen.

His love for youth baseball extended beyond the District 20 borders. Together with Lauritzen, he coordinated a district relief fund to Little Leagues in Louisiana in 2006, sending much needed equipment in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Burgess Funeral Home, 860 Bucklin St. in LaSalle. There will be a 10 a.m. mass Monday at the St. HJyacinth’s Catholic Church, located at 927 10th St., LaSalle, with visitation an hour before the service at the church.

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