Robert C. Tvrdik lived his whole life in Cedar Rapids. When he died in 1991, he left behind a legacy of outstanding service to the youth of his hometown, as well as golden sports memories for friends and sports fans in the community.
Bob attended Wilson High School, where he was a standout in both basketball and football. He enrolled at the University of low and then served in the Army Air Corps during World War II.
He returned to Cedar Rapids and Coe where he played football, basketball and tennis at a time when sports were being revitalized by the return of veterans to the campus as World War II began to wind down. In 1945, Tvrdik was the passer on a team that went 2-2 in an abbreviated season. In basketball in 1945-46 the Kohawks topped the Midwest Conference with a
7-2 record and Bob Tvrdik set a new Coe scoring record with 221 points.
He was the Coe Athlete of the Year in 1946.
After graduation, Bob joined the staff of CedarRapids, Inc. and was credit manager for 40 years. He kept playing basketball in the Allied Industrial League and the YMCA League and one night, playing one game in each league, he scored 39 free throws using the old two-handed shot.
But, the most lasting memories and contributions of Bob Tvrdik to the local sports scene came through a career of 35 years of officiating football and basketball at both the high school and college levels. He worked college games in the Iowa and Midwest Conferences and gained a reputation as a competent official who occasionally lightened the assignment with a practical joke. Friends remember the Kingston Stadium game where Bob tossed his flag in the air and to everyone's surprise it floated to the turf with a small parachute.
His skill as an official was recognized by selection to work the first football playoff game in Iowa in 1972. He worked seven additional playoffs before he retired. In basketball he was invited to work seven State Boys' Basketball Tournaments.
In recognition of his lifelong involvement with sports and athletes, Coe proudly adds his name, posthumously, to the Kohawk Athletic Hall of Fame.
