Former Ritzville resident now announcer for Gonzaga

Former Bronco Ray Bernard has become a part of the Gonzaga Bulldog family. Last August, Bernard received a job offer from Gonzaga to become the public address voice of the women’s basketball team.

For the last 10 years, Bernard could be heard as the voice of WSU basketball. He spent seven years as the full-time voice of the women’s basketball team and three years as a substitute announcer for both of the men’s and women’s basketball teams.

Bernard graduated from Ritzville High School in 1969 and from there, attended the University of Washington. He graduated from UW in 1973 with a Bachelors degree in Business Administration. He had various banking jobs before finally ending up with a full-time job in Rosalia, where he is still working today.

Bernard had a close friend in Rosalia who worked as a referee and announcer at the high school. After his death in 1983, Bernard took his position as the announcer for the high school teams. Even though Bernard is the voice for a major college team, he still announces games in Rosalia.

During the NCAA Regional tournament last March, Bernard had the opportunity to be the announcer at the tournament. Also during this event, he mentioned to a few staff members at Gonzaga that if they ever needed somebody to announce their games, he would be happy to do it.

“To get the chance to be involved with an elite program that has such great support in the Spokane area is very exciting,” said Bernard. He has already announced one regular season game and an exhibition game this year.

Bernard is now the branch manager/loan officer for the Bank of Fairfield. After a long day at work, he loves going to announce games because it offers him a nice diversion from banking. Plus, he says the kids keep him young.

Even though it has been 42 years since Bernard has graduated from RHS, he still contributes his success to the Ritzville native who helped him get started, John Miller. Bernard comes back to Ritzville for games whenever Rosalia does not have a game on the same day.

Bernard, who lives in Spokane, hopes his time at Gonzaga as the women’s basketball announcer will last him until his retirement.