R.I.P. Bob

 
Bob Barry Sr., the longtime voice of Oklahoma football and basketball and a Norman resident, has pass away, OU officials confirmed today.

No details were available and neither the University of Oklahoma nor his family have released a statement.

 

Jack Ogle and Bob Barry Sr.

at KNOR

Bob, 80, began his career in broadcasting in 1956 at Norman radio station KNOR as a salesman, disc jockey and sportscaster calling Norman High games. In 1961, OU football coach Bud Wilkinson selected Barry to call football and basketball games.

Bob left Oklahoma in 1973 when he went to work at Tulsa University and Oklahoma State calling games. He was also a sports anchor and sports director at KFOR until 1997.

Bob returned to OU in 1991 doing play-by-play for the Sooners. He held onto the position until he retired after last year’s basketball season.

Bob has been awarded Oklahoma's Sportscaster of the Year by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, and was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, and the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was recognized as a distinguished alumni by the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma.

OU recognized him as a distinguished alumni in 2010.

Bob graduated Classen High School in 1946, and studied journalism at the University of Oklahoma before joining the U.S. Air Force in 1951. He and his late wife, Joan, had two sons. Frank Barry is a teacher in the Norman public school system and Bob Barry Jr. is sports director at KFOR TV in Oklahoma City.