Ray Archambault
Graduating class: 1939
Inducted into Hall of Fame: 2015
Hall of Fame Category: Athlete
Away from the athletic arenas Ray Archambault was a gentle giant. On the football field and basketball court the 6-4 giant was anything but gentle.
Ray played four varsity sports during his four years at Fairhaven High School but the gridiron and hardwood sports were his specialties. In football he was a pass-catching, hard-blocking end who also served as the team’s place-kicker. And he was good enough at all three to be named the team’s Most Valuable Player as a junior and earn enough respect from his coaches and returning teammates to be named co-captain in his senior season.
Among the highlights of that senior year was the role he played in a stunning 7-0 victory over a highly-regarded Attleboro team when his strong blocking and key receptions helped set up the game’s only touchdown and his successful point-after kick capped the upset win.
In basketball Ray played the forward position and was the team’s “go-to” guy on offense in both his junior and senior seasons. He led the Bristol County League in scoring as a junior, pouring in 79 field goals and 27 free throws for a total of 185 points over the 19-game regular season. His nearest competitor was Leo Quegan of Coyle who finished 49 points behind. In an era where teams averaged between 20 and 30 points a game, Archambault scored just under 10 points a game all by himself.
Ray led the Blues in scoring for the second straight year as a senior and was the leading rebounder as Fairhaven upset Stoughton in the opening game of the South Shore Tournament. But when a leg infection forced him to miss the quarterfinal round game, the Blues were eliminated by Abington and Ray’s high school basketball career was over. The infection was serious enough to force him to miss most of final seasons of baseball and track as well.
The popular Archambault topped the school’s List of Superlatives when he was named Most Popular and Tallest member of the senior class and after graduating from Fairhaven he served his country as a member of the 8th Air Force Division. Following his discharge, Ray returned to Fairhaven and was employed by the Acushnet Company Rubber Division as an inspection foreman for 17 years before leaving to work as a supplies purchasing agent for the New Bedford Five Cents Savings Bank. He retired in 1980.
Ray was a member of the Fairhaven School Committee, a member and past president of the Fairhaven Varsity Club and the husband of Marion S. (Sylvia) Archambault. In June of 1982, Ray died unexpectedly at the age of 61, leaving his wife, two nephews and a niece behind.