Rice University Athletics
Rice mourns the passing of J. Fred Duckett
6/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | General
The entire Rice University family mourns the passing of J Fred Duckett, whose voice provided the soundtrack for Rice Athletics for over 50 years and whose encyclopedic knowledge of Rice sports history and devotion to this university were unmatched.
A visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday evening at the George H Lewis & Sons Funeral Home, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston. The Memorial Service will be at 1 pm on Friday at Autry Court on the Rice University campus. The family is also formulating plans for donations in lieu of flowers and those details will also be announced shortly.
Duckett, 74, passed away on Monday night in Houston. His final assignment behind the microphone at Rice was in his familiar trackside seat during the Conference USA Track and Field Championships in early May where he was able to announce one final Rice championship as the women's team took the C-USA title and head coach Jim Bevan was honored as Coach of the Year.
Duckett competed in both track and football at Rice prior to his graduation in 1955. He did not earn a letter as an undergraduate, but the R Association presented him with its Honorary R Person award in 1991 for his countless hours of service to his school. He served on the association's board of directors up until the time of his death.
As an undergraduate, he served as sport editor of both the student newspaper, The Thresher and the yearbook, The Campanile, while also assisting SID Bill Whitmore as a student aide. He was also a Fullbright Scholar and spent a year studying in the Netherlands.
His voice became synonymous with Rice football, basketball and track events for most of his life and his familiar announcement of "It's a beautiful day for outdoor football" signaled that kickoff time was near for another football game at Rice Stadium.
His booming voice also introduced major league baseball players for 23 years as the PA announcer for the Houston Astros, and his most famous contribution to the Houston sporting fabric may well have been his energetic introductions of outfielder Jose Cruz during his long career with the club.
Nationally, Duckett was perhaps best known for his work in track and field, where he artfully wove countless facts about competitors into a narration that always kept fans appraised of the action. He worked track meets at every level of competition, from local high school meets to college meets at Rice as well as the Texas Relays. He also announced the Houston Marathon and in 1984 was selected to be part of the press operations staff at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
In 1991, Duckett was inducted into the National Junior College Athletic Association Trackand Field Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport.
Away from athletics, Duckett and his wife Baudine, who passed away in January, provided a home away from home for countless Rice students as part of the Host Family Program for Foreign Graduate Students. They were honored by the Mayor of Houston in 1997, along with Rice University, for their work in this program.
In addition to his degree from Rice, Duckett earned a master's degree in history from the University of Texas and taught at St. John's and at Awty International in addition to working as an insurance salesman.
He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Petra and Sean Cochran, and granddaughter. Anna.
