By Roy Hess, Staff Writer
Barely 20 years old, a young Hank Hollingsworth arrived at radio station KBOR 1600 AM in 1960 as a new employee.
He soon became “The Voice of Brownsville.”
Hollingsworth’s familiar, distinctive voice carried across the airwaves of the local radio station on Central Boulevard for four decades. It was a voice KBOR’s loyal listeners came to count upon and eagerly anticipate.
Hollingsworth arrived in South Texas at a time long before social media even existed, and back then, personal music streaming devices were better known as transistor radios.
In those days, listening to the radio was a popular pastime, and hearing Hollingsworth was like having an old friend drop by for a visit. He became a trusted companion through the airwaves as he gave daily news reports and provided football coverage for the city’s residents on Friday nights.
Along the way, the now-retired broadcaster/teacher, 77, made an indelible contribution to the coming of age of football in Brownsville.
Hollingsworth covered football games both before and after Brownsville High split into Porter, Pace and Hanna in the mid-1970s. As football in Brownsville evolved, so did KBOR and its “Voice of Brownsville” broadcaster.
“I would say broadcasting has defined my life,” said Hollingsworth, a 1958 graduate of Fort Worth Trimble Tech who began broadcasting football games for KBOR in the mid-1960s, mainly at Sams Memorial Stadium, and continued for approximately 35 years. “It was a great preparation for the classroom (as I became a teacher at Porter in 1984).
“You’re exposed to everything under the sun (in broadcasting),” he added. “It’s a world unto its own. It did so many good things for me.”
Along with broadcasting, Hollingsworth taught a variety of subjects, including history and economics, at Porter for 31 years before retiring in 2014.
During his radio career, Hollingsworth interviewed a number of well-known personalities who came to the Valley. They included Tom Landry and Roger Staubach of Dallas Cowboys fame, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Richard Nixon and several Texas politicians, including former Gov. Bill Clements.
He was the one at the mic to break the news to local listeners of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963.
Hollingsworth’s football broadcasting career at KBOR lasted until about 2000 and the station closed down for good just a few years later. Located at 1934 Central Blvd., KBOR opened in 1948 and the vacant building at that address was just demolished a month or so ago to make way for another structure.
With every play-by-play description during football games, Hollingsworth dutifully kept the station’s many listeners well-informed.
After he had become a teacher at Porter in 1984, Hollingsworth remembers the time a fellow instructor approached him a few days after a game he called the previous Friday. The teacher said his son had been listening to Hollingsworth over the radio.
‘You were so excited about this (one particular) play and you kept going on and on about it,” the fellow instructor told Hollingsworth. ‘And after it was all over, the play had gained only one yard!”
“Yeah, I guess that was me,” Hollingsworth remembers saying in response.
The KBOR broadcast team gradually evolved to include at various times Ronnie Zamora, David Dierlam, Benny Bellamy and occasionally others.
“Hank gave me the opportunity to do my first sports broadcast work in 1985,” said Zamora, who became sports editor of The Brownsville Herald one month after his graduation from Brownsville High in 1972. “I was honored to work with such an icon in Brownsville sports history. I learned a lot from him and we had a lot of fun together for 15 years. It didn’t seem like work. It was more fun than anything else.”
The close relationship that developed between the two sports enthusiasts was something they came to embrace and cherish.
“I was color commentator for high school games with Hank on KBOR starting in 1985 and lasting 15 years,” said Zamora, who now is the communications and marketing coordinator for Los Fresnos CISD. “For the first 10 years or so, we would cover the best Brownsville game of the week, home or away. Then we started covering the best game in Cameron County. We saw some great games together with our sidekick David Dierlam, including (games with standout running back) Tony Ellis of Hanna from 1993-95. (After the games ended,) I would do live interviews on the field with the winning coach, while Hank would be in the press box.
“I know Hank was there to broadcast some memorable games, including the great Brownsville High teams of the (mid to late) 1960s, the Pace vs. Gregory-Portland shocker in 1980 (won by the Vikings 7-6), the Billy Garza Era at Porter (2002-03) and many other Brownsville playoff games.”
Added Hollingsworth, “Ronnie and I spent more time together (broadcasting games) than anyone. It was a very enjoyable experience.”
Dierlam remembers his time as part of the broadcast team as quite an enjoyable experience as well.
“Even though we were paid, I know Hank would have done it for free in a heartbeat,” said Dierlam, a 1975 Hanna graduate who continues to reside in Brownsville. “I did it for free for many years. I know he would love to see Brownsville teams in the playoffs, especially Porter.
“He has a great memory for the players he’s seen in the past,” Dierlam added. “Ronnie and I fed off that enthusiasm.”
Hollingsworth remembers the players and they remember him. Roman Reed, the Pace kicker who booted the extra point to lift his team to its milestone, one-point playoff victory over powerhouse G-P in 1980, recalls Hollingsworth coming out to the Vikings’ practice earlier that season and giving him some encouragement regarding his kicking.
“He’s a kind man who is very well remembered,” said Reed, who now lives in Bellaire, just outside of Houston.
Also on hand for games, although not part of the broadcast team, were Nancy Hollingsworth, Hank’s wife, along with Debbie, their daughter, whose name is now Debbie Hollingsworth-Robertson.
The Hollingsworths have been married 54 years.
“Oh yes, I was there at the games, too,” said Nancy Hollingsworth, a 1963 Brownsville High graduate. “I was engaged to Hank my junior and senior years in high school. It’s been great.
“We would be at the grocery store or somewhere around town back in those days when someone would hear Hank say something and then they’d say, ‘I know that voice,’” she added.
The couple’s daughter recalls a special time as a young girl most likely in the late 1970s when her father interviewed the legendary Dallas Cowboys coach.
“My favorite (memory) was Tom Landry,” Debbie said. “He picked me up in his arms.”
A pinnacle achievement for the longtime broadcaster/teacher came in 2004 when he was inducted into the Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame.
“It was overwhelming (to be inducted),” said Hollingsworth, who these days must stay connected to an oxygen canister to assist his breathing. “I’m a little guy who was born in East Texas and you don’t really expect things like that — not ever and not for any reason. It was unfathomable and I’m (still) humbled by it.
“God knew what He was doing when He sent me here 57 years ago,” Hollingsworth added. “The people I’ve met here are wonderful.
“I’ve actually become a real couch potato. I’d probably enjoy retirement more if my health (situation) wasn’t what it is right now, but let’s not complain. God is good and everything is OK.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess