Dayton ISD Sports Hall of Fame 2021 Inductees

Ray Stevens

Football

The Dayton Sports Hall of Fame inducted former Dayton Bronco standout athlete Ray Stevens on June 12 at the Dayton ISD Performing Arts Center. The following is from the induction speech by Larry Wadzeck.

There has been a saying at DHS for the last few years that “it’s a great day to be a Bronco.” Even though our next inductee graduated in 1939, he would whole-heartedly endorse saying that every day. He was described as friendly and dependableyou could count on him. In the high school yearbooks, he was called “the little guy” which might be misleading because Ray was an outstanding Bronco athlete.

He was a two-time letterman on the Bronco basketball team. But football was where he excelled and he was not only a two-time letterman, but also a two-time Team All District center and Captain of the 1893 Bronco team.

Within two years after graduation, war broke out and Ray, like thousands of other young men, enlisted. Ray chose the Navy. He was assigned to the USS Boise, a light cruiser. On October 12, 1942, it engaged with other U.S. ships in what was called the Battle of Cape Esperance intercepting Japanese ships trying to reinforce Guadalcanal.

Ray was an ammunition handler in the number 3 turret when, during the battle, an 8” shell hit just below his station killing Ray and most of his mates. The next morning during services, Ray was buried at sea- the first Dayton serviceman to lose his life in the way. There are a couple of monuments in Dayton listing Ray and the other who died during WWII. Stevens Street is named in his honor.

It’s an honor to induct a true American hero-a young man who gave up all his tomorrows so we could have all our tomorrow’s - Mr. Ray Stevens.

Lehman Rahn

Football

The Dayton Sports Hall of Fame inducted former Dayton Bronco standout athlete Lehman Rahn on June 12 at the Dayton ISD Performing Arts Center. The following is from the induction speech by Larry Wadzeck.

If you were here at the induction ceremony in 2019, this is inductee’s history and story are going to sound familiaror as Yogi Bera would say “It’s de ja vu all over again” because we not only inducted Lehman’s brother- it was his twin brother and their stories run parallel to each other.

Lehman was an All-District lineman for the Broncos in 1932 and 1933. He was also a member of the first Bronco District Championship team in 1931. After graduation from DHS in 1934, he went to Lamar Junior College before transferring to Texas A&M. At A&M, Lehman started on the Aggie defensive line.

Lehman graduated from A&M in 1941 in time to be drafted into the Army Air Corp where he served until the end of the war. He was called back to the Air Force in 1948 where he remained until retirement in 1965. He served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam during his military career.

It’s an honor to have Lehman join his brother Leon in the Dayton ISD Sports Hall of Fame.