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Don Vandergrift

(1939-2010)

 The Voice of North Allegheny

A Broadcaster, a Webmaster, a Friend

On Monday, October 11, 2010, Don Vandergrift passed away.  Don was a part of the North Allegheny School District since his graduation from the University of Pittsburgh in 1960. He was inducted into the North Allegheny Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002.  Below is the biography of Don as contained within the 2002 North Allegheny Athletic Hall of Fame Program book:

            Don graduated from Oliver High School in 1956 and from the University of Pittsburgh in 1960; he played varsity baseball for three years.  He taught social studies at the senior high school for 37 years, was the Student Council Advisor for 31 years, directed the Talent Show for 30 years, and coached junior high basketball for six years.

         He has been a North Allegheny sports announcer since 1963, the year he began doing public address announcing for football, basketball, and some wrestling.  This continued until 1982, at which time he became play-by-play announcer for NATV, the student-operated television production station.  His voice enhanced the action on video until 2001.  In 1999 he became the Tiger Sports Network play-by-play announcer for football, field hockey, ice hockey, baseball, softball, boys’ and girls’ soccer, volleyball, basketball, swimming, and track and field.  NA sports fans unable to get to a sporting event have had the pleasure of Vandy’s upbeat and enthusiastic sports reporting anywhere they could get on the internet.

         Don has contributed greatly to the community, starting with the coaching of baseball in Brighton Heights and Bellevue-Avalon in the sixties; a seven-year stint as basketball coach at St. Francis Xavier on the North Side, where he also coached football for one year; President of NARA (the predecessor of today’s NABA) for three years and Vice-President of the Ingomar Athletic Association for three years.  He coached NARA basketball for five years, youth soccer for three years, as well as baseball in the Ingomar Athletic Association for five years and in the McCandless Athletic Association for two years.

Following his induction in 2002, Don remained a constantly-active member of the North Allegheny Athletics family.  His work in developing and maintaining the North Allegheny Athletic Website made it without question the finest high school athletic website in Pennsylvania, a site which has been compared favorably with many college athletic websites by coaches and fans alike.  As a broadcaster, Don continued to blend his distinctive style and athletic expertise to bring to his listeners the spirit of North Allegheny in virtually every Varsity sport in which North Allegheny competes.

Despite his allegiance to North Allegheny, which was mighty, for Don his family came first.  His wife, Rosemary, was also his best friend.  His daughter, Lauren (John), and his son, Mark (Dana), were constant sources of pride.  His grandchildren, Alyssa, Mara, Elena, Anthony, Matthew, Lindsay, and Zeke, were treasured by Don, as were the annual family outings to the shore, outings which were followed by Don’s publishing of a pictorial book of their time together.  The showing of those books to his friends brought a special gleam to Don’s eyes.

North Allegheny has lost an irreplaceable part of its athletic family, someone who served as spokesperson, mentor, and true friend. 

By all who knew and cared for him, he will truly be missed.

STEVE HECKMANN, RICK MEISTER, DON VANDERGRIFT

JORDAN DEE AND DON VANDERGRIFT

GEORGE GUILEY AND DON VANDERGRIFT

Any questions or comments should be directed to Athletic Director
Bob Bozzuto at:  bbozzuto@northallegheny.org