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| Principal Rollin T. Gridley Dies TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) Aug 10, 2000 Longtime football coach Rollin T. Gridley whose players included Frank Borman of the U.S. space program, died Tuesday. He was 96. |
Borman, who circled the moon as commander of the 1968 Apollo 8 mission, praised Gridley
in his autobiography as having been a pivotal person in his life.
Gridley served as football and basketball coach variously at Tucson High from 1927 through
1947. He played football at the University of Arizona for J. F. "Pop" McKale. He coached the
Tucson High basketball team, winning the state championship in the 1933-34 season. His
football teams at Tucson High were undefeated through three seasons beginning in 1943.
He later held administrative positions with a number of Tucson schools.
"He just stood for all the right things,'' Borman, the former president of Eastern Airlines who
now resides in Las Cruces, N.M., said in an interview this summer. ``Discipline was a
hallmark.''
Gridley is a member of the Arizona Basketball Hall of Fame and the Arizona Coaches
Association Hall of Fame.
In June, the Tucson Unified School District governing board voted to name the football
stadium at Tucson High Magnet School after Gridley. The vote made the former coach the
first person to have two district facilities - the stadium and Gridley Middle School - bear his
name.
That he stayed in Arizona was almost happenstance. He had been en route to University of
California at Berkeley in 1924 but became caught up in University of Arizona coach J.F.
``Pop'' McKale football program and stayed.
Gridley is survived by daughters Anderson and Jeanette Johnson, both of Tucson, and five
grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were pending Wednesday.
in his autobiography as having been a pivotal person in his life.
Gridley served as football and basketball coach variously at Tucson High from 1927 through
1947. He played football at the University of Arizona for J. F. "Pop" McKale. He coached the
Tucson High basketball team, winning the state championship in the 1933-34 season. His
football teams at Tucson High were undefeated through three seasons beginning in 1943.
He later held administrative positions with a number of Tucson schools.
"He just stood for all the right things,'' Borman, the former president of Eastern Airlines who
now resides in Las Cruces, N.M., said in an interview this summer. ``Discipline was a
hallmark.''
Gridley is a member of the Arizona Basketball Hall of Fame and the Arizona Coaches
Association Hall of Fame.
In June, the Tucson Unified School District governing board voted to name the football
stadium at Tucson High Magnet School after Gridley. The vote made the former coach the
first person to have two district facilities - the stadium and Gridley Middle School - bear his
name.
That he stayed in Arizona was almost happenstance. He had been en route to University of
California at Berkeley in 1924 but became caught up in University of Arizona coach J.F.
``Pop'' McKale football program and stayed.
Gridley is survived by daughters Anderson and Jeanette Johnson, both of Tucson, and five
grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were pending Wednesday.
