Friends of Al Nealan remember his time and commitment made to the community and to Bakersfield College.

Nealan was a long-time Renegade public address announcer and radio host who passed away on Feb. 15 at the age of 76. Several friends and fellow announcers had much to say about Nealan and what he has meant to BC and the community as a whole.

“Al was a very genuine and caring guy, always giving back to the community. He did numerous things for cancer survivor patients throughout Kern County. His generosity, care, concern and passion for others was a role model for a bunch of people around here,” said John Pavletic, BC’s football announcer and good friend of Nealan.

According to friends, Nealan did color commentary for the Renegades football program for over 19 years, but before that, he was the statistician for the team for several years. Nealan originally came to Bakersfield doing radio for KBIS back in 1965 then started working for the U.S. Postal Service and did commentary and play by play as volunteer work.

BC baseball head coach Tim Painton talked about the difference Nealan brought to the baseball games.

“He added some class to a junior college baseball game. We go around the state, and there aren’t many teams that have a public address announcer. I think he added a lot,” said Painton.

Painton went on to talk about how Nealan knew the specifics of teams and how that changes the dynamic of what he was doing for BC.

“Al was a great fan of Bakersfield College and sports in general. He was somebody who was very knowledgeable about the game; always seem to follow our players because our roster is made up predominantly of local players. So he knew most of our players prior to them coming to Bakersfield College,” said Painton. “I think more than anything else, he was always prepared, he always knew our players and what high schools they came from, and he’s just somebody that’s going to be missed.

In the first game after his death, Mike Huston did the announcing. On the following Saturday, BC redshirt catcher Ryan Anderson called game one of a doubleheader, and former BC football and baseball coach George Culver called the second game.

Culver spoke about helping out with announcing the game, saying, “I was just glad to be helping out.”

Pavletic provided more thoughts on what type of person Nealan was.

“He had not be feeling well for about nine months, but he never complained. He wasn’t one to whine about anything, he just took each day, day-to-day,” said Pavletic.

The moment that Pavletic most remembers of Nealan was in 1989 when BC won the state football championship against Fullerton College.

“Al was doing the color commentary alongside my dad, who died in 1993.My dad was the play by play announcer for the Renegades, and I kept the statistics. The Renegades won that game with 14 seconds to go on the clock, and Memorial Stadium was packed with 19,750 people, a record crowd,” said Pavletic. “The sheer emotion of the victory, coming from behind to beat Fullerton, the place just went nuts, and it was just meaning so much that we just sat there in the booth and just cried, because we’re Renegades fans, and always have been.”