Bob Berry

Robert Eugene Berry, a former Newport Harbor High School football star, Korean

War veteran and long-time Costa Mesa resident, has died at the age of 79 after a

lengthy battle with cancer.

Born Oct. 27, 1930, in Texola, Okla., Bob died Feb. 11 in Costa Mesa. He is survived

by a brother, Charles Berry of Oahu, HI; children Susan Denise Wagner of Maui, HI;

Michael Eugene Berry, and Charles Alan Berry, both of Costa Mesa. He also leaves

eight grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Bob was a star fullback for the Newport Harbor varsity football team as well as a

member of the track team where he held the record for high hurdles for many years.

As team captain of the Tars, he was named the most valuable player of Newport

Harbor’s 1948 football team and earned the same honors in 1949 as captain of the

school’s Sunset League track team. The Los Angeles Examiner named Bob the most

outstanding football player of 1949.

Bob also played football for Orange Coast College before joining the Marines where

he saw action during the Korean conflict. He left the service in 1953 as a corporal and

earned a Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, and several other medals.

For much of the last half century, he operated Bob’s Refrigeration in the Harbor area.

An informal gathering will be held at noon on Saturday, Feb. 20, at 2206 Raleigh

Ave. in Costa Mesa.