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Dr. Bob Gravett Sr. remembered as beloved coach, mentor

August 06, 2026 - Chase Hartsell

Dr. Bob Gravett Sr., professor emeritus of physical education and longtime head coach of the track & field and cross country teams at Ouachita Baptist University, died Aug. 1, 2026. He was 93.

A native of Humnoke, Arkansas, Gravett arrived on campus in 1965 to serve as a physical education instructor, assistant football coach and head track & field coach. By the time of his retirement in 1994, he had coached the Tigers to 10 Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference championships (nine as head coach) across three different sports and served as the chair of Ouachita’s Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.

Taking over a program that had won just one outright conference championship since 1935, Gravett led the track & field Tigers to eight AIC titles. He was a staple on Buddy Benson’s football coaching staff throughout the late 1960s, contributing to an AIC championship in 1966. Around this time, Gravett also inherited the Ouachita cross country team in its formative years. In 1992, he helped that team bring home its first conference title.

“Coach Gravett was a true champion,” said David Sharp, Ouachita’s director of athletics. “He was a great colleague and a joy to be around. He made such a lasting positive impact on so many people’s lives.”

Gravett mentored more than 70 NAIA All-Americans, including Olympian Lennox Adams (pictured left).

Pat Ponder, Ouachita’s assistant track & field and cross country coach, was a distance runner for Gravett in the 1980s.

“It was an honor to run for Coach Gravett,” Ponder said. “He was a man of integrity and a straight-shooter, telling you exactly what he expected out of you. You did what he told you to do because you respected him.”

For Ponder, a physical education major who was raised by his grandparents, Gravett was more than a coach and professor. He was a father figure.

“Coach was like my dad,” Ponder said. “He and his wife, Marie, were like my kids’ grandparents.”

Across his 29-year career, Gravett mentored 12 national champions and more than 70 NAIA All-Americans, including Olympian Lennox Adams and NAIA Hall of Famer Gerald Masterson. But his mentorship wasn’t limited to athletes on his teams or students in his classes.

“When I walked on to play football, I had to dress in the track dressing room before I finally made the team,” said Todd Knight, Ouachita’s head football coach. “Coach Gravett was gracious and encouraged me every day. He was a great man, a great coach and a true gentleman.”

Beyond Ouachita, Gravett was on coaching staffs for the 1979 World University Games and 1986 U.S. Olympic Festival. A former president of the Arkansas Track Coaches Association and NAIA Track & Field Coaches Association, he is also recognized as the leading founder of the Arkansas Track & Field Hall of Fame. Outside of athletics, Gravett was a U.S. Army veteran, Arkadelphia Lions Club president and longtime member of First Baptist Church Arkadelphia.

Peers’ respect for Gravett resulted in numerous accolades, including multiple AIC and NAIA District Coach of the Year awards and inductions into the NAIA (1986), Arkansas Track & Field (1996), Ouachita Athletics (2004) and University of Central Arkansas Sports (2007) halls of fame. He is also the namesake of Ouachita’s Outstanding Kinesiology Teaching Award and the university’s annual cross country invitational, which welcomes high school and college runners from across the region.

Bob and Marie Gravett pose for a photo on a December 2024 visit to campus. Ouachita will dedicate the Bob and Marie Gravett Plaza in their honor later this fall.

Later this fall, Ouachita will again honor Gravett and his wife with the dedication of Bob and Marie Gravett Plaza. The plaza serves as the hub of the cross country course, which will host this year’s Bob Gravett Invitational on September 12. In addition to celebrating athletic achievement, the space serves as a reminder of the Gravett family’s investment in Ouachita and its people.

“Coach Gravett is one of the best all-time coaches in the state of Arkansas,” said Steve Guymon, Ouachita’s current track & field and cross country head coach. “He and Marie welcomed me with open arms seven years ago when I was hired at Ouachita. We were so honored to have him as a supporter of our program, and we will feel a void going forward without him.”

“He was a loving coach,” Ponder said of Gravett. “He loved every guy that ran for him, and he remembered all of them.”

Gravett is survived by his son, Bobby Lee Gravett Jr.; brother Johnny Gravett; granddaughter Stephanie Vassaur; great-grandchildren Laken Edwards and Braxton Gravett; great-great-grandchildren Naomi, Ryder and Tobi Gravett; step-grandsons William Vassaur and Derek Thornton; step-granddaughter Brandi Lalli; and granddaughter-in-law Kris Bishop. He was predeceased by his wife, Marie Gravett; parents Albert Lee and Laura Marie Mason Gravett; brothers Larry and Caroll Gravett; and grandson Stephen Lee Gravett.

Visitation will be held from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Friday, August 7, at Welch Funeral Home in Arkadelphia. A graveside service will follow at 11 a.m. at Rest Haven Memorial Gardens. Jimmy Darby, senior pastor at First Baptist Church Arkadelphia, will officiate alongside Ponder. Members of the Ouachita track & Field team will serve as pallbearers. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to First Baptist Church Arkadelphia or the Humane Society of Clark County.