Man inducted into Mid-Ohio Valley Sports Hall of Fame passes away

On Dec 14, 2022

MARIETTA, Ohio (WTAP) – A man who was inducted into the Mid-Ohio Valley Sports Hall of Fame passed away.

William Lee Bonar, 93, of Marietta, OH passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, December 10, 2022 at Marietta Memorial Hospital. He was born on March 27, 1929 in Bellaire, OH to the late Harry and Bertha Eberhard Bonar.

Bill graduated from Bellaire High School where he was an outstanding high school athlete. He competed in football, basketball and track, earning All-Eastern Ohio, All-Ohio Valley and Honorable Mention All-Ohio in all three sports.After high school, Bill attended Tulane University. He was a three-year letter winner in both football and baseball.

A college highlight for Bill was completing a 76 yard touchdown pass versus Notre Dame that stood as a Tulane record for more than 25 years. Upon graduation, he signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization for their minor league team in Salisbury, NC.

A year later, he entered the Navy and was named Athlete of the Year at Bainbridge Naval Base in Maryland, where he played football and baseball. Before leaving the Navy, he signed with the Baltimore Colts, but a knee injury prompted him to turn to coaching.

After three years of teaching and coaching at his alma mater in Bellaire, Bill accepted a teaching and assistant coaching job at Marietta in 1959 for football. He advanced to the head coaching position of the Tigers in 1962 where he remained for 11 years, posting enough victories to be the 2nd winningest coach in school history.

Bill also served as Marietta’s Athletic Director for 12 years before retiring in 1984.

After his retirement, Bill worked as a courier for People’s Bank for 25 years, retiring again in 2010. Bill was inducted into the Mid-Ohio Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 2009, the Bellaire High School Hall and Wall of Fame, the Marietta High School Hall of Fame in 2017 and the Marietta College Hall of Fame in 2018.