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Bob Hoonan
Class of 1938Although a football and baseball standout at Aberdeen, Bob Hoonan's greatest fame came after graduation.
A successful businessman, he broadcast Grays Harbor football and basketball games as a hobby for 40 years. Retiring from broadcasting in 1980, Hoonan is generally regarded as the fnest sportscaster in Harbor history. During his broadcasting career, he received awards from the Washington State Secondary School Athletic Administrations Association, The Southwest Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, and the Aberdeen and Hoquiam booster clubs. He was selected as the Ocean Breeze Sportsman of the Year in 1978.
As an athlete, Hoonan received Grays Harbor College's Neil Eddy Memorial Award for baseball and basketball in 1940. He was a member of the University of Washington football and and baseball teams for a season in 1942 and later played baseball in the U.S. Marine Corps. Hoonan served during both World War II and the Korean War. He was also general manager of the Grays Harbor Shamrocks and Merchants semi-pro baseball teams in the late 1940's.
Hoonan operated Bay City Fuel for many years, while raising six children (Bobcats all). Hoonan's passionate radio broadcasts of Aberdeen games are still remembered fondly. Hoonan passed away in 2002. His name is affixed to an annual scholarship presented through the Grays Harbor Community Foundation.