ALBION HIGH SCHOOL 1944 FOOTBALL TEAM

Here’s another Albion High School football team photograph from many years ago, courtesy of Joseph Romanchuk for our Historical Notebook this week. Featured here is the fall 1944 team, which played during the height of World War II. The 1945 Breeze Annual yearbook stated, “The football team of 1944-45 did not enjoy a very profitable season. Many who would have been out were in the service or working. Some were injured during practice or games. In the Lakeview game, the boys tried hard but their opponent’s speed was again too great. In this game, Dominic Paniccia received a broken arm which kept him out of the Marshall game.”

Front row, left to right: Guy English, Don Sibal, John Swanson, Pat McIntee, Don Murray, Larry Bohm, Kenneth Kaiser, Robin Lahman, Dominic Paniccia with broken arm, Robert Schultz, Cliff Gant, Dick Letts, Joseph Romanchuk.

Center row: Assistant Coach Ernest Gray, Richard Safreed, Francis Bearman, Dave Lundeen, Jerome Bussing, Pete Skinner, Bobby Parker, Mike Romanowski, Richard Allman, Buddy Hubbell, Rolland Kissinger, George Egnatuk, Fred Kaiser, Benny Davis, Rocco Paniccia, Coach Floyd Dorland.

Top row: John Cleveland, William Rieger, Gayle Rosenau, Ed Pearson, Harold Brainard, James Marshall, Victor Coulson, Dick Crandall, Russell Geralds, George Strain, Dave McKinney, Richard Anderson.

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
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