All,
It is with great sadness that I inform you of the passing of one of the most devoted Reedley Tigers of them all – Paul Mitchell.
Mr. Mitchell passed away Saturday at the age of 87. For 61 years, he was the Public Address Announcer for the Reedley College football and men’s basketball teams.
Paul moved to Reedley in 1946 when he was 16 years old. Thankfully for us, he never left.
In 1953, Mr. Mitchell began his 61 year journey as “the voice of Tiger football and men’s basketball.” He retired in 2014.
“Mr. Mitchell was an icon on our campus. We are forever indebted to him for his years of service to Reedley College Athletics. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Madeleine and his family at this very delicate time.” –Dr. Sandra Caldwell, Reedley College President
“The great thing about Paul was that he loved stats and numbers. He would do the announcing for our games as well. He was a great Reedley Tiger – no-one was happier when we won. He always traveled to our road games. Paul was a father figure to me, and I’ll never miss his signature ‘threeeeeee’ call. He was the Mr. Reedley of sports.” –Brian Fonseca, RC Men’s Basketball Coach, 1998-2014
“To me, Paul Mitchell was the most loyal Reedley College fan I ever met. It was a pleasure to be with him in the press box or at courtside, win or lose. He will be missed.” –Woody Wilk, Former Fresno City College Sports Publicist
“I’ll never forget Paul’s phone calls to give me the scores from all the Reedley College football and men’s basketball games. His love for the Tigers can never be duplicated. He was one in a trillion.” –George Takata, Former CBS 47 Sports Director/Current RC Director of Marketing and Communications
“Paul definitely had a recognizable voice, and an enthusiasm in his voice that made you pay attention. That was reflective in his enthusiasm for life, sports and Reedley College. He could get just as excited about a Reedley College Women’s basketball game as he would the Super Bowl. That’s exactly the kind of person an institution like that needs. He embodied the institution he worked for, and couldn’t have been a better representative for Reedley College.” –Paul Loeffler, Former CBS 47 Sports Anchor/Current Play-by-Play Voice of Fresno State Football, Baseball and Basketball
