Woodie Dunphy to be inducted into Maine Sports Legends Hall of Fame

Woodrow “Woodie” Dunphy
    The Maine Sports Legends Hall of Honors will add four members representing Aroostook County during a banquet taking place Oct. 7 at the Alfond Boys and Girls Club in Waterville.
    These individuals are being recognized for their extraordinary commitment and work behind the scenes in helping students both academically and athletically. The 2012 class includes Woodrow “Woodie” Dunphy of Linneus, Charles “Charlie” Lockhart of Fort Fairfield, David Maxcy of Mapleton and Ralph Sweetser of Presque Isle. Both Lockhart and Sweetser will be inducted posthumously.
    Dunphy graduated from Houlton High School in 1956. He then attended Ricker College for two years before transferring to the University of Maine at Orono.
    Dunphy excelled in baseball, playing in high school and at both stops in college, and was called by Dick Redmond, his coach at Ricker and a member of the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame, “the best shortstop I ever coached.” Dunphy himself was inducted into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.
    Dunphy also played semi-professional baseball with the Woodstock (New Brunswick) Capitals and the Presque Isle Indians. He later served as a player-coach for the Houlton Collegians.
    After graduating from UMaine, he served in the U.S. Army for two years before returning as the baseball coach at Ricker from 1965-1972 and also as a high school basketball coach at Ricker Classical Institute for two years. His baseball team won conference titles in 1965 and 1967.
    “Woodie brought energy and enthusiasm to every game he played and his approach set a standard for all his teammates,” said Gene Kilpatrick, a former semi-pro baseball teammate of Dunphy’s. “I know during these games that Woodie developed skills, style, leadership and compassion to prepare him for coaching.”
    Dunphy went on to become principal at Hodgdon High School from 1978-94 and at Central Aroostook in Mars Hill from 1996-2000. He served as a member of the Maine Principals’ Association basketball committee, the classification committee and the interscholastic executive committee.
    He has served on many committees and boards over the years and currently is on the Ricker College board of trustees scholarship committee and is a member of the Houlton Elks Lodge.
    Dunphy and his wife, JoAnn, have four daughters and six grandchildren.