Bravin

Bill Bravin made a tremendously positive impact on the Hollidaysburg Area High School academic and athletic communities in his 30-plus year career there as a special education teacher and a cross country and track and field coach.

Those who knew Bravin well also remember his honesty, integrity, kindness and selflessness.

Bravin died at the age of 83 at his Altoona home this past Sunday following an extended illness, leaving those who were fortunate enough to cross his life path with very fond memories.

Travis Singer, who has been the head cross country coach at Hollidaysburg for the past 12 seasons, said that Bravin — who was also a PIAA track and field official –generously gave of his time even after he had retired from teaching and coaching to help train young people to become better runners and, in some cases, to properly indoctrinate them into the sports of track and cross country.

“Bill was selfless — what was always on his mind was what was best for the kids, and what was going to help them to develop the same kind of love for running that he had,” said Singer, who said that Bravin served as a volunteer assistant coach during Singer’s first years as the Hollidaysburg cross country coach. “Bill was always eager to help. Even before I (became the high school cross country coach), I had been the head junior high girls track coach for six years, and at the beginning of every single season, Bill would call the coaches multiple times to try set up times where he could share the knowledge that he had gained in his background as a coach and as an official.

“Bill would teach the new kids — the seventh-graders on the junior high team who had never been to a meet — what to expect, and how to do things like setting up starting blocks, so that when the season began, they would feel more comfortable.”

A tangible monument of tribute that reflects Bravin’s love and commitment for the sport of cross country and his devotion to young athletes has been set up each fall on the Hollidaysburg High School cross country course by the Hollidaysburg Area School District and the Hollidaysburg Cross Country Booster Club.

It includes a frame, timing system, and an honorary finish line with a sign bearing Bravin’s name.

“There was a community race held here at the high school (in May of 2022) to raise funds to build everything related to the Bill Bravin finish line on our course,” Singer said, pointing out that it is located on the grassy area on school grounds between the high school auditorium and the Hollidaysburg Free Public Library.

Singer also pointed out that Bravin — a former military veteran — would lead the Hollidaysburg cross country runners on regular runs from the high school to the Hollidaysburg Veterans Home to keep company with those who had served this country.

“He called them camo or camouflage runs,” Singer said. “He truly enjoyed bringing the kids in to see (the veterans), in order to prepare the kids for acts of service, and to respect those who had done so.”

Both Singer and former veteran Altoona Area High School cross country and track and field coach Lee Baranik said that Bravin’s passion for those sports was readily discernible.

“I think that when you see a man who has been devoted to the sport of running, whether it’s cross country or track, for as long as Bill was, you can see his passion in that and how devoted that he was to it,” Singer said.

Baranik said that Bravin was a likeable person who possessed excellent people skills.

“Bill was a true people person who was great with the kids, and he worked with some great, great athletes at Hollidaysburg,” Baranik said. “Bill had a passion for the sport, and he did his best to help bring out the best in the runners who he coached.

“He was such a good friend, and one of the things that I remember most about Bill is that he was so truthful and honest,” Baranik added. “For example, if a runner expressed a desire to qualify for the state meet, Bill was always nice about it, but he also didn’t sugarcoat anything — he would tell the runner exactly what performance and time that he or she would need to achieve in order to accomplish that, and that if they weren’t doing that, they probably wouldn’t make it to the state meet.”

Above all, Bravin left a legacy for the Hollidaysburg and Blair County communities through his promotion of the sport of running.

“Because he was a person who was so kind and selfless in giving to the athletes and to the community, he really did inspire our current coaching staff to follow on in that same kind of path,” Singer said.

Bravin – a graduate of Altoona High School and Saint Vincent College, who earned a masters degree in education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania — is survived by his wife, Alberta (“Bert”), their grown daughters Kathleen and Julie, and their granddaughter, Angeline.

Visitation will be held Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Myers-Somers Funeral Home in Altoona, with a funeral Mass scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church.

Memorial donations can be made to either the Hollidaysburg Cross Country Boosters, 1510 N. Montgomery Street, Hollidaysburg, Pa. 16648, or to Saint Vincent College Cross Country, 3rd Fraser Purchase Road, Latrobe, Pa. 15650.