Clair Francis BEE
1896 - 1983 (87 years)
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Name Clair Francis BEE Born 2 Mar 1896 Pennsboro, Ritchie Co, WV 
[1, 2, 3] Gender Male Census 1900 Parkersburg, Wood Co, WV Military From 23 May 1917 to 31 Jul 1919 [4, 5] U.S. Army, World War I Census 1910, 1920 Grafton, Taylor Co, WV Census 1930 Trenton, Mercer Co, NJ Education Grafton H.S. (1920), Waynesburg (Pa.) College (1925) [6] Occupation basketball coach Occupation 1930 [7] instructor at business college Residence Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co, OH [8, 9] Died 20 May 1983 Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co, OH [2, 10] Buried Cooks Falls Cemetery, Delaware Co, NY [11] Notes - Clair Bee was a renowned basketball coach who led the team at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York to two undefeated seasons in 1936 and 1939 as well as two National Invitation Tournament titles (1939, 1941). Bee's teams won 95 percent of their games from 1931 to 1951, including 43 in a row from 1935 to 1937. He also coached the football team at LIU until it was disbanded in 1940. His career college coaching record of 412-87 gave him the highest winning percentage (.826) of any basketball coach in Division I history. At the professional level, he coached the National Basketball Association's Baltimore Bullets from 1952 to 1954.
Clair Bee's contributions to the game of basketball include the 1-3-1 zone defense, the three-second rule, and the 24-second shot clock in the NBA. He also authored a series of sports manuals and the fictional Chip Hilton series of books for children. In 1968, he co-founded the Kutscher's Sports Academy. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1968. The Clair Bee Coach of the Year Award, created in 1996 by Coach Bobby Knight and Bee's daughter and husband, is awarded every year to a coach who makes an outstanding contribution to the game of college basketball, and the Chip Hilton Player of the Year Award is awarded to a men's basketball player. [5, 12]
Person ID I52617 Doddridge County Roots Last Modified 27 Oct 2015
Father James Edward BEE, b. 3 Feb 1871, Doddridge Co, WV , d. 4 Jan 1933, Parkersburg, Wood Co, WV (Age 61 years) Mother Grace Louise SKINNER, b. 23 Nov 1871, Pennsylvania , d. 3 May 1906 (Age 34 years) Family ID F21706 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family 1 Marjorie M. ___, b. CA 1910, Ohio Married CA 1929 [7] Family ID F21707 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family 2 Mary Margaret MILLER, b. 1923, d. 1980 (Age 57 years) Children + 1. Clair Francis BEE, Jr., b. 9 Oct 1948, Brooklyn, Kings Co, NY , d. 4 Oct 2016, Albany, Albany Co, NY (Age 67 years)2. Living Family ID F42413 Group Sheet | Family Chart
- Clair Bee was a renowned basketball coach who led the team at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York to two undefeated seasons in 1936 and 1939 as well as two National Invitation Tournament titles (1939, 1941). Bee's teams won 95 percent of their games from 1931 to 1951, including 43 in a row from 1935 to 1937. He also coached the football team at LIU until it was disbanded in 1940. His career college coaching record of 412-87 gave him the highest winning percentage (.826) of any basketball coach in Division I history. At the professional level, he coached the National Basketball Association's Baltimore Bullets from 1952 to 1954.
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Photos 
52617_ClairFrancisBee.jpg 52617_ClairBee_BookCover_HoopCrazy_ChipHiltonSeries.jpg 52617_BEE_ClairF_1896-1983_MaryM_1923-1980_CooksFallsCem_DelawareCoNY.jpg
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Sources - [S1883] Goldenseal Magazine, (West Virginia Cultural Center, www.wvlc.wvnet.edu/culture/goldensl.html), Winter 1991, pp. 40-45.
"His birth is recorded in the Wood County Courthouse, although a note accompanying the record states that he was actually born at Pennsboro in Ritchie County." (Note: Obituary incorrectly states his birthplace as Grafton (Taylor County), where he resided in his youth.) - [S15] Social Security Death Index.
- [S2000] 1900 Census, Wood County, WV.
- [S2580] U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 [database on-line], (Ancestry.com).
- [S1883] Goldenseal Magazine, (West Virginia Cultural Center, www.wvlc.wvnet.edu/culture/goldensl.html), Winter 1991, pp. 40-45.
- [S1883] Goldenseal Magazine, (West Virginia Cultural Center, www.wvlc.wvnet.edu/culture/goldensl.html), Winter 1991, pp. 40-45.
"Bee left high school to enter military service during World War I. He returned to Grafton High for his senior year, graduating in 1920. Age and experience gave him an added advantage that year. He served as captain of the football and basketball teams and wrote sports for the high school newspaper." - [S1898] 1930 Census.
- [S1926] Social Security Death Index.
- [S1639] Death Record - Online.
- [S2395] Ohio Death Records 1908-1932, 1938-2018 (database online), (Ancestry.com and Ohio Department of Health).
- [S934] Findagrave.com.
- [S1910] Wikipedia.org, (http://www.wikipedia.org).
- [S1883] Goldenseal Magazine, (West Virginia Cultural Center, www.wvlc.wvnet.edu/culture/goldensl.html), Winter 1991, pp. 40-45.
