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BOB “PAPPY” WATSON - INDUCTEE #85

hall of fame fast fact:

At age 11, Bob Watson's first job was playing a mechanical organ at a silent movie house in Temple.

Bob "Pappy" Watson

Bob “Pappy” Watson moved to Amarillo in 1935 at age 23 with a bit of show business background. With his deep baritone voice and folksy manner, Watson got in on the ground floor as an announcer for the new radio station: KGNC.

After three years in the Navy during World War II, Watson returned to KGNC in 1953 and managed the television and radio entities until he retired in 1969.

Watson was a mentor to many on-air personalities including Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame’s Dick Risenhoover.

When Watson left the radio and TV business, he was one of 300 people nationally who recorded books for the Library of Congress Talking Books Program. He took local blind friends to Amarillo Gold Sox minor league baseball games and described the action they could not see.

In 1978, Amarillo Globe News named Watson Man of the Year because he was involved in and led many organizations in Amarillo during his 60 years in the area.

Watson died in May 1995 at age 81.