Bridgewater College

VIDEO: BOB HOUFF HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY

Bob Houff was a 1940's star on the basketball court for the Eagles. In the 1944-45 season he paced Bridgewater with 341 points in 16 games to become the Virginia college basketball scoring champion. He averaged 21.3 points per contest finishing as high as the fifth highest scorer in the nation. He led the team to a 9-7 record that season, sharing the scoring load with teammate Bob Richards. Houff was named first team All-Mason-Dixon Conference and Virginia All-State. As captain of the Eagles, he was voted the MVP of the Mason Dixon basketball tournament in Baltimore. Bob was a three sport letterman at Bridgewater in basketball, baseball and cross country. He was also the leading scorer for the undefeated Bridgewater Pirates in the Shenandoah Valley Basketball League in 1949-50, scoring 67 points in one game.

Houff graduated from Bridgewater College in 1945 with Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Education and Social Studies. A standout on and off the court, he was President of the College Athletic Association and May Day King his senior year. Bob enrolled in Bethany Theological Seminary in 1946 receiving his Master of Divinity degree in 1949. In 1947-48, he was the leading scorer for Bethany when they won the Chicago Seminary League Championship.

Bob chose the pastoral ministry in the church of the Brethren as his life's work. In 1945-46, he was a part-time pastor at Barren Ridge Church while simultaneously serving as teacher of physical education and basketball and baseball coach at New Hope High School. For 50 years, Bob served as pastor in nine churches. In 1947, he represented Virginia youth at the Oslo World Youth Conference, touring 10 European and Scandinavian countries for Brethren Service from 1976-96, Bob served on the Board of A Christian Ministry in the National Parks, was the Harrisonburg representative on the Shenandoah Valley Regional Juvenile Detention Commission from 1967-70, and the Bridgewater College Trustee from 1983-87. Bob Houff's leadership on and off the court has been superior and his achievements shall reign long in the annals of Bridgewater College.