Bonners Ferry Badger Athletic Hall of Fame announces class of 2025

Introduction 

This year, five individuals and the 1990 and 1991 cross country teams have been inducted into the second class of the Badger Athletic Hall of Fame.

Bonners Ferry community members hall of fame last year, inducting four individuals and 1975 BFHS football in its inaugural class. 

This year's banquet will be held Saturday, Nov. 15, at the Boundary County Fairgrounds Exhibit Hall at 5:00 p.m. 

Gladys Richardson 

Nicknamed “Gramma Badger” Gladys was born in North Dakota and attended school in Potlatch, Idaho, before moving to Porthill in 1949. She later settled on the South Hill in Bonners Ferry, where she worked as a jury commissioner and bailiff for Boundary County for more than 20 years before retiring.  

Gladys was much more than her job. Her unwavering support of grade school and high school athletics earned her the nickname “Gramma Badger.” Everyone knew to keep her seat behind the home bench open in the gym, and she spent countless days at the fairgrounds watching summer baseball and youth county sporting events.  

In recognition of her dedication, the award for the Outstanding Female Underclassman is named in her honor, and alumni basketball tournaments carry her name as well. Gladys, who passed away in 2017, will always be remembered as Bonners Ferry’s first true super fan 

Roland Hall  

Roland grew up in Paradise Valley, Idaho, where life on the farm helped shape him into a champion. Milking his cow, T-Bone, every day gave him legendary grip strength — a skill that became his secret weapon on the wrestling mat.  

Roland was a two-sport athlete at Bonners Ferry High School, playing football on the 1970 District Championship team and excelling in wrestling. In 1971, competing at 171 pounds, he became BFHS’s very first state wrestling champion, back when Idaho had only one division.  

He went on to wrestle at Grays Harbor College before transferring to Washington State University, where he graduated magna cum laude in Veterinary Medicine and met the love of his life, Linda. After college and military service, Roland returned to Bonners Ferry and, in 1982, opened the Bonners Ferry Veterinary Clinic. For more than four decades, the clinic has served animals and families across the community and has proudly supported Badger athletics — a practice that remains strong today.  

Roland and his wife Linda raised two sons, Aaron (BFHS ’03) and Adam (BFHS ’06), and are blessed with daughters-in-law, Desiree and Christine. They love being “Grandpa and Grandma” to their grandchildren, Theo, Natasha, Charley, and Maximus. Roland enjoys hunting, fishing, spending time with his horses and mules, and traveling with Linda to visit their grandchildren. 

    Roland Hall
Tom Wofford  

Tom grew up in Mullan, Idaho, where he was a three-sport athlete and later competed in football and track at New Mexico Highlands University. He came to Bonners Ferry in 1975 with his wife, Eva, and began teaching math while coaching football, basketball, wrestling, and eventually leading the boys’ track program.  

Coach Wofford guided the Badgers to back-to-back state track championships in 1990 and 1991, earning recognition as Idaho’s Track Coach of the Year. For several years, Tom juggled many roles as BFHS assistant principal, athletic director, and head coach for both football and track — a true testament to his dedication to students and athletics.  

After 22 years in Bonners Ferry, Tom continued his career in Salmon and then Lewiston, where he served as assistant principal at Lewiston High School for eight years. Even then, he remained closely connected to student-athletes, volunteering in both the football and track programs. Tom and his wife, Eva, raised two children — Kris, a proud BFHS graduate, and Kale, a Salmon High graduate — and today he especially treasures time with his two grandchildren, Maddie and Sam, which often means visiting them in Florida. These days, Tom still cheers on local athletes, enjoys golf and time outdoors, and loves being “Grandpa.” 

    Tom Wofford
  

Judy grew up in Genesee, Idaho, where she loved playing basketball, riding horses, and spending time with family and friends. She went on to play basketball and field hockey in college at the University of Idaho and Western Michigan University, graduating in 1972 with a degree in physical education and a minor in mathematics.  

In the fall of 1972, Judy began her career with the Boundary County School District, teaching girls’ physical education, serving as cheerleader advisor, and coaching girls’ track — the only girls’ sport at Bonners Ferry High at the time. With the passage of Title IX that same year and the support of school administration, Judy, along with other women coaches in North Idaho, began working to organize more athletic opportunities for girls. By the fall of 1973, volleyball became a reality, and the following year, girls’ basketball was implemented — opening the door for countless young women to compete in athletics.  

After a period devoted to raising her family, Judy returned to BFHS in 1991 as a seventh-grade math teacher, a role she held for 20 years before retiring in 2012. Over her more than 35 years with the district, she coached volleyball, basketball, and track at both the junior high and high school levels. 

Judy and her husband, Art, have three children — Jeff, Jessica (Neil), and Jacob (April) — and four grandchildren. She considers herself blessed to have worked with amazing colleagues, administrators, and generations of Badger athletes, including some children of students she taught in the 1970s. 

    Judith “Judy” Linehan High
Kathy (Tucker) Zech  

Kathy was born and raised in Bonners Ferry, graduating from BFHS in 1978. She was a standout multi-sport athlete, participating in band, volleyball, basketball, and track, with track as her true passion. Kathy was state champion in the 220-yard dash, setting the Idaho state record with a time of 25.55 seconds, and also state champion in the 440, in addition to anchoring state championship relays. Her name was all over the Badger track record board, with two relay records broken as recently as two years ago, yet she still holds the 100, 200, and 400-meter records at Bonners Ferry High School. She was named Track Athlete of the Year four years in a row.  

These achievements earned her a track scholarship to the University of Montana, where she continued running while earning a Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy with a minor in Accounting. After graduation, she worked at a hospital in Missoula, where she met her husband, Richard. The couple married and moved to Sandpoint, Idaho, where Kathy continued her career in private practice physical therapy and pursued competitive and recreational sled dog racing.  

In 1995, Kathy and Richard took a remarkable sabbatical and bought a sailboat, traveling from Hawaii to Vancouver Island, along the Washington and B.C. coasts, up to Sitka, Alaska, and exploring many waterways in between. In 2003, the couple moved to Wellington, Kansas, to care for Richard’s parents. In 2015, Kathy and Richard returned home to Bonners Ferry to be near family and friends.  

They have two children, Gretchen and Spencer, and four grandchildren. Kathy enjoys fishing, boating, swimming, camping, traveling, reading, playing with her dogs, and living life to the fullest. 

    Kathy (Tucker) Zech
  1990 BFHS Boys Track State Champions  

The 1990 Bonners Ferry Boys Track team captured the school’s first state title in 15 years, since the football and track championships of 1975. That season, out of 146 possible points in a dual meet, the Badgers scored at least 117 points in every meet, outscoring league opponents Lakeland, Kellogg, Priest River, Wallace, and St. Maries by a combined 489 to 97 points. They then dominated districts by more than 100 points.  

Ed Cowin led the Badgers by winning the 3200-meter at the state meet in a time of 9:55.8, helping drive a balanced Badger attack that secured the 2A state championship. The championship team was coached by Tom Wofford.  

    1990 BFHS Boys Track State Champions
  1991 BFHS Boys Track State Champions  

The 1991 Bonners Ferry Boys Track team successfully defended their state championship, capturing back-to-back 2A state titles.  

Leading the way were state champions Dan Rice, Lee Klarich, and Pat Alt. Dan Rice won the triple jump with a school-record leap of 45 feet, 4.75 inches. Pat Alt claimed the 2A state championship in the discus with a throw of 138 feet, 4 inches, and Lee Klarich won the 3200-meter in a time of 9:55.27    1991 BFHS Boys Track State Champions