Former Orangefield Coach Bill Tennison

[Cat22]

Former longtime Orangefield girls basketball coach Bill Tennison lost his battle with cancer early this morning.  He was a great asset to the Orangefield community and had a great influence on many of the young people he coached.  After his retirement he continued to attend most Orangefield sporting events and almost never missed an Orangefield girls basketball game or Lamar womens home game.  You will be missed coach!!!!

[Cat22]

[url=http://orangeleader.com/local/x994339060/Long-time-coach-friend-Tennison-passes-away]http://orangeleader.com/local/x994339060/Long-time-coach-friend-Tennison-passes-away[/url]

[Gabe]

The news of his death tears at me. What a great human being. Words cannot express how much I thought of Coach Tennison.

[Guest bleed orange]

Coach Tennison and his family were god sent. He was a remarkable man and so is his family. The funeral was held in the old gym. Coach T wanted it that way. A very deserving send off. Very touching service.

[CoachK]

Since I have retired and moved to Austin to be wth my kids and newborn grandson I didn't know about Bill's bout with cancer or his passing away. But in all my many years of coaching girls basketball in SE Texas, Bill Tennison was one of the best coaches and best persons that I have had the privilege to know or coach against. His teams were always fundamentally sound and well prepared. They played the game with a passion that trickled down from Bill himself. But his success as a coach was not only determined by wins and losses, one can also see his fingerprint in the number of his players who went on to play in college and also become coaches themselves. Even after Bill retired, he supported the Lady Cat basketball team religiously. It was always good to visit with him before our games. He was a "old school" coach that will always be missed. If his funeral was in the old gym, that is a fitting truibute to one of SE Texas' basketball legends. My prayers are for his family and for those many people whose lives he touched in a very positive way.

Coach Bob Killam

[skyhcky]

I was honored and blessed to have played for Coach Tennison.  Every thing in life I achieve is a direct result of what I learned from him.  He was a great man.