Last month, Modesto city officials announced a new partnership with Main Street Baseball LLC, the owners of Modesto’s new Pioneer Baseball League team. The team will play its home games at John Thurman Field. Following the final game played by the Modesto Nuts at the stadium, the city council unanimously approved a lease with Main Street Baseball. CEO and President Dave Heller stated he is seeking public input on naming the team and plans to sell naming rights for the stadium.
John Thurman Field has carried its current name since 1983. Despite its familiarity in Modesto, many residents may not know much about John Thurman himself. According to archived articles from The Bee, John Thurman was described as “a champion of California agriculture” and was recognized for his advocacy for seniors, those living in poverty, and people with special needs. He was also known for his enthusiasm for baseball.
“One of the last vacations he took before he passed away was to Arizona for spring training,” said his daughter, Susan Thurman.
Thurman’s love for baseball contributed to his association with the field. After being elected to the State Assembly in 1972, he began buying hundreds of tickets each year to distribute to people who could not afford them. This tradition continued annually until his death and became known as John and Julie Thurman Night, attracting large crowds to what was then called Del Webb Field. When he died in 1983, that year’s event served as a memorial.
Born in Richmond on May 6, 1919, Thurman moved with his family to Stanislaus County in 1926 and graduated from Ceres High School. He served in the U.S. Military during World War II before returning to Modesto to manage his family’s dairy farm after marrying Julia Forni.
His public service career began with a decade-long tenure on the Hart-Ransom School District Board of Education starting in 1960. In 1970, he was elected to the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors and later won election to represent California’s 27th District in the State Assembly.
As an assembly member, Thurman developed a reputation for bipartisan cooperation and played a key role in agricultural policy by creating what became known as the Thurman Master Plan for Agriculture. “Agriculture isn’t Republican or Democrat. You have to balance environmental concerns, health, and worker safety,” he said according to The Bee archives. His efforts earned him recognition as Freshman Legislator of the Year.
He also chaired the Joint Committee on Aging and championed free or low-cost flu shots for seniors—first funding them himself locally before helping pass statewide legislation called the John Thurman Act in 1974. Susan Thurman explained that this initiative honored both her father’s father and father-in-law who had died from influenza.
During his ten years as an assembly member, Thurman contributed to 180 pieces of legislation that became law. In 1982, he retired from politics to focus on family life and other community work such as supporting children with special needs; he served as grand marshal for Special Olympics events every year beginning in 1974. He died of heart failure on July 27, 1983.
A week after his death, Councilmember Richard Patterson proposed renaming Del Webb Field after Thurman. On September 13, 1983, Modesto City Council unanimously approved renaming it John Thurman Field.
“When they re-named it from Del Webb to John Thurman stadium, it was a real honor for him,” said Susan Thurman. “It was a reflection of how the community felt about my father and his love for the area, his love for Modesto and Stanislaus County, and his love for baseball.”
Susan Thurman now lives out of state but recently returned home following her mother Julia’s passing last October and her brother Robert’s death earlier this year. She noted that she is close to selling their family dairy farm—which has been owned by her family for a century—and acknowledged that with these changes alongside potential renaming of John Thurman Stadium it feels like “a grand goodbye” to Modesto.
“They were the last Thurmans living in Modesto. I am about two weeks from selling the Thurman Dairy that has been in my family for 100 years, and now the likely renaming of John Thurman Stadium. So I feel like this is a grand goodbye to a community that has meant a lot to us. So we decided to have their celebration of life at John Thurman Stadium,” she said.
In her eulogy at that celebration she recalled: “He had his two big loves of life, being a farmer and being a politician. And I think that’s what made him, that and being a family man. Those three things made him happy.”
