Former World War II fighter pilot helped Aggies with 1946 national championship

A farewell to people with Oklahoma ties who enjoyed the gameday experience:

•Frank Bogert Jr., 94, of Tulsa. Bogert was an All-State basketball player at Emerson High School. He went on to play for coach

Henry Iba at Oklahoma A&M, though Bogert’s career was interrupted while serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II. After earning four Bronze Stars for flying P-38 fighter planes in the Pacific, he returned to A&M and helped the Aggies win the 1946 national championship. He became a teacher and coach, and then went into the petroleum industry as a buyer.

•Bill Champion, 69, of Shelby, N.C., played professional baseball. The right-handed pitcher spent most of his career with the Philadelphia Phillies organization. His final year of ball was in 1977, with the Phillies’ Triple-A farm in Oklahoma City. Champion was 2-5 with a 7.20 ERA for that 89ers team. After his playing days, Champion was a scout for the Chicago Cubs and worked for Major League Baseball’s international development program in China.

•Jackie Brown, 73, of Holdenville. He pitched seven seasons in the major leagues, five of those with the Texas Rangers. Brown’s best summer was in 1974, when he was 13-12 with a 3.57 ERA for a Rangers team managed by Billy Martin. Brown had nine complete games that season. He was once traded — along with $100,000 — for All-Star pitcher Gaylord Perry. Brown, a Moss High graduate, later became a coach for the Rangers, Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays.

“He is a guy a lot of people felt was their best friend,” Rangers broadcaster and former teammate and roommate Tom Grieve told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “He was always in a good mood, the perfect teammate, one of those guys that everybody thought the world of.”

•Gale Van Hoy, 83, of Dickenson, Texas. The Blackwell native was a Golden Gloves boxer as a youth, and then became a licensed judge. Van Hoy scored more than 60 world championship fights.

•Bob Sadowsky, 79, of Ballwin, Mo., was a pro baseball player who spent 13 years in the minors, mostly as a St. Louis Cardinals farm hand. In 1968, near the end of his career, the infielder played for a powerful Tulsa Oilers team that finished with a 95-53 record under manager Warren Spahn. Sadowsky batted .235 with three homers that season. He worked for ChryslerPlymouth after retiring from baseball.

•Bob Joels, 95, of Tulsa. He played football and was a state champion swimmer while in high school in Clarinda, Iowa. Joels lettered in swimming at OU, and then went into the retail business after earning his degree.

•Jimmy Kent, 40, of Dallas played college baseball at Oklahoma Christian. Kent was an infielder and designated hitter who batted .426 with six homers and 43 RBI for the Eagles in 1999. He was Oklahoma Christian’s only selection on the All-Sooner Athletic Conference first team that season. The Tulsa native was a land developer and had married last November.

“He was always looking for laughs in college,” said former teammate

Clint Vaughn. “Back then, he always joked around and was a fun-loving guy, a lifeof-the-party type. He was a good, solid player for us.”

•Jim Litsch, 82, of Weatherford was an All-State basketball player at old Fay High School in 1952. Litsch went on to star for Southwestern State, helping the Bulldogs qualify for the NAIA Tournament for the first time. He holds the school record for the best field goal percentage in a season (64 percent, 1956).

Litsch went into coaching and administration at Fay and Thomas high schools. He was the father of two basketball-playing girls,

Kelli and Staci Litsch. Kelli led Thomas to a pair of state championships and Southwestern to three NAIA titles. She is considered by coaches and media as one of the best high school players in state history. Staci also led Thomas to a state title.

Jim Litsch was inducted into the Southwestern State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999.

•Gary Smith, 70, of Lewisville, Texas, played baseball and tennis at Ponca City High School. He was one of the first male cheerleaders in school history. Smith had an extensive military career, including a tour in Vietnam.