Henry Fortin
Graduating class: 1939
Inducted into Hall of Fame: 2001
Hall of Fame Category: Athlete
Henry Fortin was a four-letter athlete who excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track. He was co-captain of the football team, named to the A11-Bristol County team in 1937 and selected by the Boston Herald for the All-State Interscholastic Team. The Herald stated the he was "one of the finest kickers in this section, usually averaging better that forty yards a boot a game.
His running, passing and pass receiving were also outstanding features in the Blue's 1938 season."
As a runner, Fortin captured the only first place for Fairhaven at the Annual Needham Interscholastic Track Meet where he ran the 100-yard dash in: 10.7 seconds. He later set the school record in the 100 with a time of: 10.2, a record that stood for twenty-three years. All this was accomplished in the same season that he starred on the diamond for the Fairhaven baseball squad.
Alternating track meets on one day and baseball games on the other, Henry was known to attend practices for both teams in the same day. Henry was named as an outfielder on the All-Bristol County Baseball Team and was one of the county's finest batters with a .321 average. He was honored with the George C. Dickey Trophy for excellence in baseball.
A Sparrow Cup winner at Fairhaven High School, Henry went on to star for the Fairhaven Varsity Club. World War II led him from the playing fields to the battle fields.
In later years he was active in his children's sports activities, never discussing his own successes.