Bob Tunnicliff was LHS's first athletic director
• The following is part of an ongoing series of articles in celebration of Libertyville High School's 100th anniversary.
Bob Tunnicliff is known by many Libertyville High School alums as the 14-year head football coach and 32-year athletic director (1954-86).
Tunnicliff was born in Nebraska, the fourth of five very athletic boys. His family moved to Kewanee, Illinois, when Tunnicliff was a high school sophomore. Kewanee got quite the steal, as Tunnicliff was a three sport star: football, basketball and track, where he placed sixth in the state in the 440.
Upon his 1942 graduation from Kewanee High School, Tunnicliff enlisted in the Navy, where he spent the rest of World War II. He was a gunner's mate on the USS Lansdowne. The Lansdowne spent World War II in the South Pacific and had the honor of transporting the Japanese emissaries to the USS Missouri to sign the Peace Treaty ending World War II.
Tunnicliff was able to witness the signing of the treaty, then returned the emissaries back to Japan. Being the first ship in Japan, they were the first ship to take the U.S. prisoners of war back home.
After his time in the Navy was done, Tunnicliff spent one year at Western Illinois University. He then transferred to Northwestern to join his younger brother Ed, getting a degree in Physical Education in 1950.
His first teaching job after graduation was in Kewanee, where he was the head football coach for two years at Weathersfield High School, where his teams went 12-2-3. He then took the head football coaching and athletic director position at downstate Havana High School.
After two years at Havana, he took the same position at Libertyville High School in the fall of 1954. He was LHS's first athletic director. Before Tunnicliff came to LHS, Principal Henry Underbrink had athletic directing as part of his duties.
Tunnicliff coached LHS football for the next 14 years, finishing with a record of 85-48-11. His teams won three conference championships. He was inducted into the Illinois Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 1995. Tunnicliff was very proud of his success against perennial conference power Barrington. His teams had beaten Barrington four years in a row in the 1960s when no one else in the conference had beaten them.
Tunnicliff stepped down from football after the fall 1968 season to focus on his athletic director duties. He was at the forefront of introducing girls athletics at LHS. For the start of full time LHS girls athletics in the fall of 1974, the girls dominated the North Suburban Conference.
During his 32 years as athletic director, he took the boys athletics from four teams to 11. He was the head coach for golf and tennis in the sports' first year in 1955.
But perhaps Tunnicliff's greatest legacy was being a man of values. He created a code of conduct for his athletes long before the IHSA required schools to have one.
As Tim Albers, LHS athletic director (1994-2007), said, "Bob was the epitome of a guy who knew right from wrong."
Tunnicliff continued to attend LHS athletics events long after his retirement. He was an especially interested LHS athletics grandparent. He passed away in 2014 at the age of 90.