Logo

Wes Leonard, Remembered and Honored

February 12, 2012

Nearly a year after his unexpected and tragic death, Wes Leonard's memory lives on as his story continues to touch many on a national level. 

Fennville High School added to his legacy Friday, inducting the former all-state basketball standout into its athletic Hall of Fame in a ceremony one Michigan sportswriter described as both somber and proud. 

Check out his report and links to additional coverage of Friday's induction by clicking the links below, and also one for the Wes Leonard Heart Team and its efforts in preventing sudden cardiac arrest:

Wes Leonard's Fennville Hall of Fame induction one of 'deep sadness' and 'deep pride' (Kalamazoo Gazette)

Wes Leonard inducted into Fennville Hall of Fame (Holland Sentinel)

Wes Leonard inducted into Fennville Hall of Fame (The Associated Press, via Detroit Free Press)

Wes Leonard Heart Team (blog most recently updated Jan. 31)

Our MHSAA Network cameras were there for the ceremony and a feature with thoughts from his mom, coach and teammates.

 

Also, check out this ESPN video from May.

PHOTOS courtesy of Al LaShell Photography. 

Erik O. Furseth

In Memoriam: Erik O. Furseth (1930-2022)

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

March 1, 2022

For 50 years, Erik O. Furseth’s voice chimed throughout MHSAA and Michigan State University athletic events. That voice surely will continue to live in the memories of the many who cherished listening to him, as he died Monday evening at the age of 91.

Furseth began as the public-address voice of MHSAA Boys Basketball Finals in 1968 and continued well into his 80s as those games moved from Jenison Field House to other locations across the Lower Peninsula and eventually settled into Breslin Center. He also was the longtime MHSAA football championship game voice going back to their days at the Pontiac Silverdome and provided the narration for MHSAA Baseball Finals for a decade. He announced his last MHSAA event in 2018.

An MSU basketball player during the early 1950s, the Cleveland Heights, Ohio, native played in the Spartans’ first Big Ten game in 1951. A forestry student initially, Furseth switched to communications. He later became a legendary rock-n-roll radio DJ in Lansing, and for a decade hosted Saturday night dances at the Lansing Civic Center that drew 1,000 teenagers a night – and a surprise performance by a young Stevie Wonder.

Furseth’s voice continued to be known particularly by Spartan fans as the homecourt voice for MSU basketball from 1968-2002 and MSU football from 1971-98. For more, see this feature from the MHSAA Basketball Finals programs written in 2013.

Furseth moved from East Lansing to Traverse City about 25 years ago. Click for his obituary and funeral arrangements.