Gordon “Gordy” Hunsberger played football at Creston High, served in battle with the U.S. Navy in World War II, played football at Western Michigan University, and ended up coaching football for 29 years at Grand Rapids Community College.
Hunsberger, also often called “Huns,” graduated from Creston in 1942 and attended GRJC before joining the Navy later the same year. He served as a Navy signalman on the USS Appalachian during four World War II invasions and his ship was stationed in waters near Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, following those fateful invasions.
He continued his education and football at Western Michigan, and then worked on his Master’s in education from the University of Michigan. He started teaching in 1949 and was a football coach at Ottawa Hills High before taking on the football program at GRCC, then known as Grand Rapids Junior College in 1956.
His teams at GRCC won 157 games in his 29 years and he also served 20 years as the school’s athletic director starting in 1965. In the very first year leading the football program the Raiders went 5-1-2 and earned a spot in the National Junior College Athletic Association’s (NJCAA) inaugural championship game in Los Angeles, Calif. The Raiders finished runner-up falling to Coffeeville Kansas Junior College.
His teams went to three bowl games during his tenure and won one – the Wool Bowl in 1968 beating Henderson County Texas Community College 24-0.
His era as athletic director was marked by milestones including the opening of the Gerald R. Ford Fieldhouse and Natatorium, and the enactment of Title IX providing equal opportunities for women in competitive sports. He retired in 1985 with emeritus status and went to Helsinki, Finland, as part of an international effort to spread football knowledge and coached the Helsinki Roosters for a season.
In 1986 he started his retirement job at Cascade Hills Country Club where he was a popular fixture as the club’s starter for 25 years.
He is also a member of the NJCAA Coaches Hall of Fame. A scholarship is named in his honor at GRCC and in 2011 the Ford Fieldhouse’s arena facility was named in honor of the legendary coach.
He died Jan. 1, 2018, at the age of 93.