Distinguished Alumni · Inducted 2005
Howard Robertson
Physics
Class of 1917
1917 graduate; physicist pictured working with a group that included Albert Einstein (program cover caption).
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The Hall of Fame honors Bulldogs who went on to remarkable things — on the field and far beyond it: athletes and ambassadors, doctors and teachers, champions and the coaches who built them.
Grouped by graduating class — each decade gathers the Bulldogs who were students at Monte then. Coaches, staff, and championship teams appear under “Through the years.”
1917 graduate; physicist pictured working with a group that included Albert Einstein (program cover caption).
Basketball and track athlete; longtime auto dealer/owner of Whitney's; Chamber of Commerce president; created the Kelsey Foundation for student scholarships; died 2002.
Top all-around athlete of the 1920s; four-year football letterman; football and track captain; won the Eldridge Wheeler Trophy; played football at Central Washington and Whitman. Deceased.
Known as Bob Moch. By his own account he 'just barely' lettered in basketball at Montesano, but he had one of the most notable college careers of any Harborite: he was the coxswain of the University of Washington crew that won the gold medal in eight-oared rowing at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He was later inducted into the University of Washington and U.S. Olympic Rowing halls of fame, coached crew for a time, and enjoyed a long career as an attorney.
Col. Nuttall served as an Army nurse through WWII, Korea and Vietnam; assistant chief of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps; the Army Reserve Center in Tumwater is named for her (first Army facility named for a servicewoman). Deceased.
Former Montesano teacher and librarian; charter member of the Chehalis Valley Historical Society; received a 'key to the city' in 2011; longtime community activist.
A teammate of Fran Polsfoot in high school and college, he was co-captain of Bulldog football teams that won league titles in his final two prep years and earned all-league honors as a guard (he also played basketball, baseball and track). He started for 2.5 years on the line at Washington State College, then became a teacher and coach in Washington (Sedro-Woolley, East Bremerton) after an assistant stint at Humboldt State, and served on the Bremerton City Council.
One of the greatest football players in Grays Harbor history and also a standout in basketball (his 31 points in a 1944 rout of Shelton was then a Southwest Washington Conference record), baseball and track. He starred as an end at Washington State College (1947-49), played four NFL seasons with the Chicago Cardinals and Washington Redskins, then had a long career as an NFL assistant coach (Cardinals, Houston Oilers, Denver Broncos). He died of brain cancer in 1985.
Dr. Rose Papac spent 43 years at Yale in medical oncology; a pioneering cancer researcher and among the first women admitted to St. Louis University Medical School; died 2008.
Standout lineman; J.C. All-American at Grays Harbor College; lettered three years in football at Stanford (1952 Rose Bowl team).
Three-sport letterman and class valedictorian; right halfback at Washington alongside Hugh McElhenny; lawyer (Boeing, assistant WA attorney general); died 1997.
Known as 'Clem'; all-league guard and Central League scoring champ; student body president; longtime educator, coach and high school principal.
Owned Rottle's Department Store; mayor of Montesano 1980-1983; PA announcer; helped found the Montesano Booster Club. The football field is named in his honor.
Leading rusher; standout at Grays Harbor College and Univ. of Puget Sound; longtime teacher/coach and Beacon Elementary vice principal; died August 2015.
Regarded as one of the greatest basketball players Grays Harbor County has produced. The leading scorer and an all-conference performer on the 1954 Bulldogs, the first Montesano basketball team to qualify for state and an eighth-place finisher at the state Class A tournament (then the highest classification); he received second-team all-tournament recognition. After junior-college All-American status at Grays Harbor College, he started for the Seattle University team, led by Elgin Baylor, that finished second in the 1958 NCAA Tournament, and was later inducted into the Seattle University Hall of Fame. Drafted by the NBA's St. Louis Hawks, he instead played in the National Industrial and Eastern Professional leagues and was a member of Seattle's Buchan Bakers, a national AAU champion.
Boeing designer for 37 years; worked on supersonic jets, ICBMs, the lunar rover, the B-1 bomber and the space shuttle; the company's spacecraft configuration designer.
A football, basketball and baseball standout who shared the school's Athlete of the Year award in 1957 and co-captained the 1957 basketball team, the second Montesano squad to reach the state tournament. At Western Washington State College he set school records for rebounds in a season and career, won the inspirational award (1961), was a two-time all-conference and all-district performer and team captain (1962-63), and received Western's Athlete of the Year award in 1963 along with NAIA All-American honorable mention; he is in the WWU Athletic Hall of Fame and on its All-Century Basketball Team. He coached high school basketball for 31 years (27 as head coach) and was named state Coach of the Year in both Oregon (1975) and Washington (1987).
A leading health-care architect (projects for UW Medical School, Virginia Mason, Seattle Children's, Mayo Clinic); degrees from UW and Columbia.
Running back and football MVP on a league-title team; four-year baseball letterman; longtime community volunteer and retired Montesano Fire Dept. volunteer.
Known as 'Mr. Lip.' PA announcer for MHS basketball (30 yrs) and football (25 yrs); began football stats in 1970; lettered in football and track.
Aberdeen HS graduate; Montesano basketball coach in the early 1960s (20-5 record and state berth in 1961); far more successful later at Mission San Jose HS in California; died 1992.
Played on the HOF 1963 basketball team; 21-year teaching career from 1983; XC coach 1984-1996 (six league, two district titles).
Montesano's first state wrestling champion (Class A 157 lb, 1968) and first individual champ in any sport at MHS; student body president; wrestled and played football at Whitman College.
Coach 1969-1976; led XC to the school's first state title (1974); 1975 Washington State XC Coach of the Year; later won state basketball titles at Longview; multiple coaching halls of fame.
U.S. Ambassador to Turkmenistan; senior USDA Foreign Service officer; five Presidential Rank Awards; degrees from UW and the Univ. of Illinois; class salutatorian.
Starting QB (1,000+ passing yards as a senior); basketball forward on the 1973 eighth-at-state team; state doubles qualifier in tennis; pediatric dentist.
State wrestling champion as a senior; standout distance runner; NCAA All-American wrestler in 1977 (Seattle Pacific / San Francisco State).
Three-year letterman; set a three-year school scoring record and led the 1972-73 basketball team that placed eighth at state; football MVP; owns the Crow's Nest Restaurant.
Member of one of Montesano's first modern girls basketball teams; school records in the 80-yard low hurdles and long jump; played basketball at Western Washington.
Neonatologist with Northwest Newborn Specialists since 1995; UW School of Medicine; former Seattle Children's chief resident; three-time 'Portland Top Doctor.'
Tim Nelson directed band for 27 years (wife Virginia assisted in the classroom); award-winning Bulldog bands; Tim named Montesano Teacher of the Year and Citizen of the Year in 1991.
A three-year starter in basketball and the leading scorer for a 1977 Montesano team that won the Far West League championship and finished second in district; he earned all-league and all-state recognition that senior year. He went on to start at the University of Puget Sound (graduating in 1982) and later played professionally in Australia, appearing in the NBL All-Star Game as captain of his All-Star team.
Four-year wrestling letterman; state placer; 27-1 record at 108 lb as a sophomore; served four years in the 82nd Airborne.
The most successful in a long line of Montesano distance runners of the 1970s-80s. As a sophomore she won the state Class A individual cross country title; the next year she was a member of the state girls cross country championship team (the boys also won state that year), though she could not finish the state meet because of a pulled hamstring; as a senior she won her third straight district cross country title. In track she twice placed second in the state 1,600 meters and was once runner-up in the 3,200.
Two-time all-Far West League basketball; held the single-season scoring record for 30 years; two national-championship softball teams at Central Arizona College; later Univ. of Oregon.
11 varsity letters; member of a state-champion girls 4x400 relay; nationally ranked triathlete; certified physician's assistant.
Three-sport letterman; all-league football and two-time all-league basketball MVP; linebacker at Washington State (four letters); tryout with the Washington Redskins.
State Class A shot put champion (1987) and discus champion (1988); two-time all-league football lineman; football at Washington (1991 national co-champion Huskies).
Won 12 state track medals incl. three titles; swept the 100 and 300 hurdles in 1990; holds the school 100 hurdles record; AAU heptathlon All-American in 1989.
Two-year starting QB; led 1991 unbeaten regular season; league MVP; Montesano Male Athlete of the Year 1992; QB at Central Washington (1995 NAIA Div. II champions).
12 varsity letters; state Class A 300m low hurdles champion as a senior; Grays Harbor County Track Athlete of the Year; standout at Central Washington.
Co-captain of the 1994 state football champions; All-State defensive back and wide receiver; four-year baseball letterman; later a Special Forces commander (two Bronze Stars).
Three consecutive state Class A girls javelin titles (1993-95); school records in javelin, shot, triple jump and sprint relay; 1,089 career basketball points.
Career basketball scoring records (1,146 points); three-time First Team All-League; later worked for the Department of Justice.
Two-time all-state running back/linebacker and state 1A Defensive Player of the Year; all-state in soccer; CWU football; BC Lions (CFL); signed by the New Orleans Saints in 2017.
Won the state Class A 4x400 relay (4:10.0); a 4:09.5 earlier in the season remained a school record. Members: Shelly Pascoe, Tammy Bell, Shannon Holliday, Kim Cokeley.
Teacher/coach 1976-1984; led both boys and girls cross country to state Class A titles in 1980; Daily World co-Coach of the Year 1980.
Coached by Art Acuff; swept its final eight games for the league title; lost an overtime district thriller to Hoquiam.
The school's first-ever state berth. After an 18-2 regular season the Bulldogs won three district games, including a 53-43 winner-to-state win over Hoquiam, then earned a state trophy by beating South Kitsap (47-35) and Aberdeen (58-40), finishing eighth after a loss to Walla Walla. Head coach Art Acuff was assisted by Bob Scott.
20-4 record; league and district titles; finished fifth at state; coached by Aldo Anderson; captain Bruce Hooper.
Came to Montesano in 1978 as HS principal (1978-1986), then superintendent; later elementary principal; retired 2000 after 22.5 yrs. Whitworth College degrees; superintendent credentials from WSU.
5-0 league record and Central League champions; coached by Rollie Robbins; closed the season beating Elma and Shelton.
Inducted as a coaching trio with Joe Ortolf and Les Bennett. Ortolf (head coach), assisted by Bennett and Cook, led Montesano football for eight years, going 61-15 with seven playoff appearances, including the 13-0 1983 state A championship (35-27 over Riverside in the Kingdome) and a 1981 team that started 12-0 before losing the title game 6-0 to Colfax.
Coach Alan Heyntsen's boys and girls both won state Class 1A on the same day in Burien.
Coached by Dave Denny; school's first-ever cross-country state championship.
33+ years teaching elementary school in Montesano (Simpson and Beacon); later a Title I reading and math interventionist at Beacon.
An Iowa native who came to Grays Harbor in 1891. He led the Montesano School from 1896 until his retirement in 1935 and also served as Grays Harbor County Superintendent (1907-1909). He helped organize what is now Grays Harbor College and sat on the county Board of Education. From 1913 he oversaw construction of the new Montesano High School building, which was named in his honor. He died in 1936.
Coached by Hunter Mock; 7-0 record, outscored opponents 220-26; regarded by many as the top team in its class statewide that year.
28-year science teacher from 1946; state pioneer in driver's education; assistant principal from 1969; longtime PA announcer; died 1974.
Inducted as a coaching trio with Les Bennett and Chuck Cook. Ortolf (head coach), assisted by Bennett and Cook, led Montesano football for eight years, going 61-15 with seven playoff appearances. Their 1983 team went 13-0 and won the state A title 35-27 over Riverside in the Kingdome; the 1981 team won its first 12 games before losing the title game 6-0 to Colfax. Ortolf later became a successful head coach at West Valley of Yakima.
Inducted as a coaching trio with Joe Ortolf and Chuck Cook. Ortolf (head coach), assisted by Bennett and Cook, led Montesano football for eight years, going 61-15 with seven playoff appearances, including the 13-0 1983 state A championship (35-27 over Riverside in the Kingdome) and a 1981 team that started 12-0 before losing the title game 6-0 to Colfax.
Reuben Fleet's sister; married E.K. 'Ned' Bishop in 1913. Recognizing WWI demand for spruce used in aircraft, the Bishops founded a mill devoted to spruce timber and became involved in Consolidated Aircraft with Reuben Fleet. The mill made a fortune, and the couple became well-known Grays Harbor philanthropists who created The Bishop Foundation to benefit young people, particularly in Grays Harbor County.
Born in Montesano on March 6, 1887. After Culver Military Academy (1906) he ran a real estate business and served as a state legislator. Called to active duty in 1917, he earned his wings as military aviator No. 74 and helped establish the first U.S. Air Mail route (Washington to New York). He founded Consolidated Aircraft in 1923 and built it into a leading manufacturer before retiring in 1941 as it was acquired. In his postwar years he devoted his fortune to philanthropy, including Culver Military Academy, scholarship programs, and the Fleet Space Theatre.
31 years as a Montesano science teacher (from 1976); named Teacher of the Year in 2000; retired 2008, then substituted for five years.
Came to Montesano in 1978 as VP/athletic director; junior-senior HS principal from 1986; retired 1999 after 21.5 yrs.
13-0 record; first-ever state football championship; beat Riverside 35-27 at the Kingdome on a goal-line stand. Head coach Joe Ortolf; assistants Les Bennett, Chuck Cook, Bo Griffith, Tom Mueller.
Coached by Pat Pace; the school's first of nine state softball titles; beat Kalama 3-2 in the title game at Selah.
Montesano school superintendent 1945-1963; Washington Education Association president 1948-49; later county school superintendent; died 1986.