Ron Brown

Ron Brown is another member of that Astoria High School class of 1952, which is still arguably the finest group of athletes ever assembled at the old Jerome Avenue Education Center. Individually, Brown just might have been the best of that heralded bunch.

On the football field, Brown was one of the top receivers in AHS annals. On the maple of the Astoria Armory, he paced the Fishermen in scoring as a senior and on the usual oval at Gyro Field, helped the track team gain respect all over Northwest Oregon.

Brown picked up three letters on Ray Segale coached football teams. The 1949 and 1950 squads were 7-2, while the 1951 Fishermen (11-1) grid edition was inducted into the AHS Hall of Fame in 1997.

In the Hall of Fame campaign, Brown and Jerry Gustafson, who later took his quarterbacking abilities to Stanford University, became one of the most potent passing combinations in Northwest Oregon prep history.

During the 9-0 regular season, Brown would only latch on to 16 passes, but an astonishing 12 receptions wound up in the endzone.

In a 47-14 victory over Portland’s Central Catholic High School at Gyro Field, Brown hauled in four aerials for scores. A week later at Gresham High School, he added another three touchdown catches to his ever growing total.

At the end of the 1951 grid season, Brown was named first team All-League and the United Press selected Brown and teammate, Dick Pavlat, to its first team All-State unit. Those honors were followed by a spot in the Shrine All-Star game. Although he was brought to the varsity basketball program as a sophomore, Brown did not see much court time until his final season.

Brown must have been taking good notes those first two years on the bench next to coach Ward Paldanius, because when he finally earned his chance, he had all the answers.

Brown led the 1951-52 Fishermen with scoring with 329 points in 27 outings. He scored a career high 24 points in a 61-53 win over the Scappoose Indians at the Armory.