Richard Holt
Graduating class: 1959
Inducted into Hall of Fame: 2026
Hall of Fame Category: Athlete
Big, strong and versatile were probably the best words to describe this three-sport athlete over his four years at Fairhaven High School. Standing a click over six feet tall and weighing a couple of clicks less than 190 pounds, Richie Holt spent most of his fall Saturdays in virtual obscurity in his role as an offensive lineman for Coach Mel Entin’s 1957 football team.
A year later, however, he was moved to the backfield to take over the duties of starting quarterback and was the only Fairhaven player named to The Standard-Times All-Bristol County Football Team. Coach Entin moved Richie for his senior season to his new position as quarterback to take advantage of his athletic ability even though the veteran head coach would have preferred to play Holt elsewhere. “If I had another quarterback I would use him (Holt) where I’d like to…….at either halfback or fullback,” Entin was quoted as saying after the new quarterback had led the Blue to their first win of the 1958 season, evening their record at 1-1.
Holt ran for one touchdown and threw for two more to spark a 28-12 rout of New Bedford Vocational and was named the Player of the Week by The Standard-Times. By mid-season Holt was clearly the “bread and butter” guy on the Fairhaven offense and on his way to individual and team honors. In earning a spot on the newspaper’s 11-member All Bristol County Team, Richie was called “a good ball-handler who gained ground for the Blue on running plays from the single-wing formation on draw plays as well as quarterback sneaks. He was a polished passer and opponents regarded him as a crisp blocker and one of the top punters in the area.”
In addition to playing three years of varsity football, Holt played two seasons of varsity basketball (he missed his senior season because of an injury) and earned a varsity letter with the track team. He was offered a handful of scholarships to play college football but chose to enroll at the New Bedford Institute of Technology (now UMass-Dartmouth) and play semi-professional football with the Fairhaven Varsity Club. He was on the roster from 1959 through 1963 helping the ’59 team win the Southeastern Massachusetts League Championship.
Following his schooling, Richie worked for several prominent electronic companies, including Cornell Dubilier, Epic Industries and Augut, Inc. to name a few. His senior management positions ranged from Supervisor of High Reliability Lab at Cornell Dubilier to Director of Key Accounts from Computer Solutions in 2005. Richie raised his family at their home in Fairhaven where they lived for fifty years. Richie passed away on September 15, 2025 at the age of 84.