WHEELING — Sports can have the magical power of healing one’s soul through troubled times.

In the case of OVAC Hall of Fame baseball coach and veteran referee and umpire Bob Montgomery, he says sports have simply saved his life.

Montgomery — now 74 years old — and his father, Les, were as close as a father and son could be, spending their cherished time together coaching, officiating and umpiring.

When Montgomery turned 16, however, his father was diagnosed with cancer. Two years later, his father and best friend passed away at the age of 40 on Jan. 10, 1965.

“Monty” — as he’s come to be known — was devastated. Looking for some sort of comfort in the midst of his agony and grief, he found salvation in sports.

“My father started me as a referee and an umpire and he coached, so that started me into coaching, too,” Montgomery said.

“We refereed and umpired for two years together before he passed away.

“When my dad died, that rocked my world. We were close. I really poured myself into sports to occupy my time and that pretty much saved my life and it helps a lot of us get through trials and tribulations. Going into coaching, umpiring and officiating — I delved into it all year round and now, it’s been a great ride.”

That great ride has lasted 60 years and is still going strong. Montgomery has refereed Division II basketball for 22 years, he’s worked 34 state tournaments in West Virginia, six in Ohio and over 3,000 games total.

“Those were tremendous events,” Montgomery said. “The regional tournaments in Ohio for the most part were at the major university sights like Akron, Kent, Toledo, Ohio University, Bowling Green and the Canton Field House next to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The regional games were always exciting and there have been some neat regular season games, too, of course.”

In 1989, Montgomery was the Official of the Year honoree by the National Federation of Interscholastic Officials Association and in 2008, he became the first West Virginia resident inducted into the OHSAA Hall of Fame due to his outstanding officiating and umpiring resume.

“I call him a savant,” fellow official Don Cash said. “We’ll be doing a game and he’ll say ‘Feb. 17, 1988, we worked a game together.’ He’ll tell me the score of the game and everything right off the cuff. He’s been a big influencer on officials over the years. He has a real passion for doing this.

“I know when I do a game with Bob, I tell my wife I’m going to be awhile. He likes to decompress and talk about the game when it’s over. I know one time at Bridgeport, they didn’t know he was still there and he got locked in the high school,” Cash said with a chuckle. “He’s a good man.”

After 60 years of officiating, Montgomery is still moving up and down the court with vigor and bounce in his step, in large part thanks to his wife, Sabrina.

“My wife coached with me at John Marshall,” he said. “She’s a big sports person and she has helped me with conditioning and working hard to stay in shape.

“To stay loose, the three big things for me are — one — Walking. I do a lot of that and most of that is with our two dogs. Two — Water — drinking a ton of water has kept me going and three — the big change this year is my basketball officiating shoes. They are called HOKA. Ted Valentine of Moundsville, who has done 10 Final Fours, told me they were switching to this shoe and there is tremendous cushion in them. That’s helped me greatly.

“I always kid Ted that we could have refereed together on National TV but I don’t fly so that has kept me in DII and DIII.”

Even after 60 years of officiating and umpiring, Montgomery still feels the passion and excitement of taking the court or the ball field before a game.

“Each time we walk out onto that floor or field to begin a contest, it’s a thrill each time,” Montgomery said. “The perception is that we are blistered and yelled at the whole game but we aren’t. The players are terrific to us and the fans, for the most part, are great. They’ll harass you every so often but it’s really been a tremendous vocation and an interesting profession.”

Montgomery’s Hall of Fame career is strongly built on his success as the baseball coach at John Marshall for 42 years, reaching five state tournaments, capturing the 1985 state title and winning 869 games — third in West Virginia prep history and second in OVAC history behind his good friend, Magnolia baseball coach Dave Cisar.

“Bob Montgomery and I were the best of friends growing up,” Cisar said. “I was from Benwood and he was from Moundsville. We played Little League, Pony and Babe Ruth ball against each other and finally we got to play together for the Wheeling Legion where we won a few legion state championships. Then we were roommates at West Liberty and we just enjoyed each other very much. We talked constantly about sports. We’ve spent a lot of time going to watch the Pirates play together, too.

“Every time we would play against each other as coaches it was at an intense level but there was still friendship at the same time.

“His passion besides baseball was officiating and he became a magnificent ref. He’s an outstanding coach, outstanding official but most of all an outstanding person. He’s as good as there is in every facet.”

Montgomery also enjoys informing others about how beneficial and impactful sports can be in life.

“I get to speak to training classes every so often,” Montgomery said. “I tell all of them I’m a pretty good example of the sports world, whether it be coaching, officiating or umpiring, being real good to someone. It’s given me a tremendous opportunity after I lost my father. From everyday life, hardships, the loss of loved ones, through this last year with the pandemic — there is always something going on in sports. There is always something to look forward to.”

He’s right.

Today, with many people struggling through the mental challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, perhaps — much like “Monty” — we all need sports now more than ever.