Having skipped a year and being reconstituted as a biennial event, the San Pedro High School Athletic Hall of Fame returns November 2 at the Dalmatian-American Club with another star-studded class of inductees.

The 11 honorees in the individual athlete category are: Rocky Hill (1973), All-City first baseball; Vince Teora (1976), All-City football; Joe Fiamengo (1977), All-City baseball, league Co-Player of the Year; Regina Gray (1984), All-City softball, league POY; David Samperio (1988), All-City football; Melissa Elgin (1992), All-State softball, City POY, all-league soccer; Petrina Martinez (1993), City POY softball; Allen Kordich (1998), City 3A POY basketball; Julia Gray (1999), All-City cross country; Ana Maricic (2008), All-City volleyball; Alyssa Mullenhour (2008), league Offensive MVP soccer.

The four inductees for lifetime achievement are Lew Morales (1951), All-City football, member of the Southern California Handball HOF; Gerald Zar (1957), golf; Eddie Denike (1962), baseball player, contributor; and Xavier Hermosillo (1968), contributor.

Being inducted as siblings are the four Adamses: Tony (2001), all-league surfer; Logan (2005), soccer; twins Megan and Kristen (2006), All-City cross country; sisters Korin (2008) and Kailee (2010) Cuico, All-City softball; and Anthony (1987) and Jstone (1990) Vines, with Anthony baseball and basketball and his sister All-City softball.

Two families are being honored: Jose Duarte (1992), All-City baseball, and his children, Michelle (2013), softball, JJ (2016), All-City baseball, and Josh (2020), all-league baseball; Art Paulsen (1937), HOF contributor, son Rick (1961), baseball and basketball, and Rick’s son Rocky (1973), all-league baseball.

The posthumous inductees are the Rafalovich brothers, Ted (1933) and Dan (1936), basketball; the Lovrich brothers, Tom (1948) and Jack (1951), baseball and basketball; Louie Campos (1975), All-City football; Debbie Figlewicz (1977), softball; and Bob Bosnich (1950), all-league football.

Finally, four City championship softball teams will be honored. The Pirate girls won back-to-back softball titles in 1976-77, first under Harriet Fried and then under Tim Ursich; and the 1992-93 softball teams repeated championships under Tony Dobra.

The HOF committee has been unable to reach every inductee or family member and is asking for help in completing notifications. Contact info is needed for Morales, Martinez, and team members Margie Barich, Adele Durmancich, Delores and Linda Franco, Tami Hale, Sylvia Padilla, Jane Kelly, Lyn Kiger, Michael Ahumada, and Tami Anderson.

Tickets are not yet available, so stay tuned. Another sellout is expected.

IN MEMORIAM
Two of San Pedro’s best-known old salts died within a few weeks of each other this winter.

John Gilhuly.

John Gilhuly was 94 when he died on December 11, and Bill Campbell was 93 when he died on January 24. Both joined the Navy after graduating from high school, and each served 20-plus years, encompassing the Korean and Vietnam wars. Upon retirement, they both entered public service.

Gilhuly, who retired from the Navy in 1973 as a lieutenant commander, remained on the ocean in his second career. He went to work for the Port of Los Angeles and was captain of the public relations vessel The Angelina for more than 20 years, regaling visitors from around the world with stories about San Pedro and the harbor.

Like Gilhuly, Campbell traveled the world, but when he took off his chief petty officer’s uniform for the last time in 1971, he went to work for the Los Angeles and Orange County correctional institutes. He retired for good in 1995.

Bill Campbell.

Only relatively recently did Campbell become a beloved raconteur on the popular San Pedro Born and Raised Facebook page. His long but entertaining all-caps yarns recalled growing up in San Pedro, his adventures along notorious Beacon Street as a kid, and, later, incredible encounters with well-known figures while in the Navy. His life was so interesting that I asked him once if I could write a column about him, but he demurred.

I’ve mentioned Gilhuly a few times here because, from his own interest in local history, he was able to help me in my research into the men from San Pedro who died in WWI.

I can think of no better epitaph for these two great mariners than that in Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s classic “Crossing the Bar”:

Twilight and evening bell,

And after that the dark!

And may there be no sadness of farewell,

When I embark. spt

Steve Marconi

San Pedro native Steve Marconi began writing about his hometown after graduating from high school in 1969. After a career as a sportswriter, he was a copy editor and columnist for the News-Pilot and Daily Breeze for 20 years before joining the L.A. Times. He has been writing monthly for San Pedro magazines since 2005, and in 2018 became a registered longshoreman. Marconi can be reached at spmarconi@yahoo.com.