FORKS — Pete Haubrick, the voice of West End sports and a Quillayute Valley School District paraeducator, has died of suspected heat-related causes, Forks Police Chief Mike Rowley said Tuesday.
Rowley said Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney-Coroner Mark Nichols has put a hold on the remains of the Forks resident and Sequim High School graduate pending an autopsy.
Nichols said Tuesday in an email that the examination, performed later this week, will determine the cause of death.
“There will be a delay following the examination before we receive the results,” Nichols said.
Haubrick’s body was discovered Monday at his 631 Ackerly St. home during a school district wellness check, according to the school district and a 12:07 p.m. call to the Peninsula Communications dispatch center.
“Foooooooooorks Spartans!” was Haubrick’s signature introduction to live sporting events across the spectrum of school district athletic activities, schools Superintendent Diana Reaume said Tuesday afternoon.
“There’s a pretty huge impact,” she said.
“He had the biggest heart for kids and Forks and for our athletic programs.”
Haubrick was 51, Rowley said.
Word of his passing made its way quickly around this close-knit town of 4,000.
Here the largest public gatherings coalesce around school district sporting events for nine months of every year, and those in attendance share the pain of defeat and elixir of victory with the person behind the microphone.
Reaume ran into a former student, now in his 20s, at the Thriftway market Monday afternoon.
“He had tears in his eyes,” she recalled.
“He said, is it true? He said, how does sports go on without him? That was the heart of Pete Haubrick.”
Reaume said Haubrick began working as a substitute teacher in Clallam County, including Forks, in 1997 and became a para-educator around 2012, when he began announcing athletic events.
“He was here for dances; he volunteered for everything,” she said.
“He was just always here.”
Rowley said temperatures hit 108 degrees in Forks on Monday.
It appeared that Haubrick had attempted to cool off the residence with a fan that cooled air with ice blocks placed in front of it, Rowley said.
He urged people to reach out to others in extreme situations like those dealt with on the North Olympic Peninsula on Monday.
“When you get heat stroke, you get pretty confused and stop processing 100 percent and can’t do normal behavior,” Rowley said.
Reaume said Haubrick has siblings who live in Washington state, including a brother in Montesano.
Services are pending, she said.
Haubrick, a ham radio hobbyist, was part of the district’s summer school program, helping students with credit recovery so they can redo coursework to pass classes.
“He is always the first to be here and the last to leave, making sure the kids are taken care of,” Reaume said.
When Haubrick did not show up for work Monday, a staff member checked on him at his home.
“We’ve been in shock,” Reaume said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
