This is the next in a series of profiles of members of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2022, which will be inducted Nov. 9. For more information, visit gbsohf.com.
When Julie Bukaty got the phone call that her late husband, Gordie Bukaty, was being inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame, her first reaction was wishing he were there to see it.
“He should be here to enjoy it,” Julie said. “It’s just, really something special.”
(This is the sixth of 12 stories on the top high school athletic classes of the past 50 years in Western New York. Today’s installment highlights Lackawanna’s 1967-68 teams.) Dave May laughs when the subject comes up now. He’s spent the last 30 years as the answer to a sports trivia question. He is used to it by now.
Julie spent most of her relationship with Gordie watching her husband play football, from Lackawanna High School to the University at Buffalo, and eventually coaching and serving as a high school athletic director for his alma mater.
Gordie is one of the four deceased members of the 2022 class that will be inducted Nov. 9, joining longtime Porter Cup tournament director William “Doc” McMahon, professional wrestling pioneer Cora Livingston and Bob Kauffman, a forward with the Buffalo Braves.
People are also reading…
Gordie died from brain cancer in 1987 at age 48.
WHEN DON MAJKOWSKI, the $1.7 million man, came home to Depew after his first season as Green Bay’s quarterback, one of the things he did was transfer films of the 1982 Western New York All-Star Football Classic to a video casette. Then he called a bunch of his buddies over to watch his MVP performance. Majkowski had been injured
His first achievement in football came with the Steelers, who won a championship in 1955. Gordie’s attachment to the Niagara Frontier League was strong, Julie said, and she knew he’d eventually want to return if given the opportunity.
A quarterback, he played all four years in high school, becoming the school's MVP in 1955 and 1956, and earning the team MVP twice in basketball.
Gordie and Julie met in their junior year of high school, and she would watch every game he played in.
“He absolutely loved it, and he was very dedicated,” Julie said. “He never missed practices. In college, it was the same thing. I did go with his mother and father to all the games, out of town games and everything.”
Gordie went on to play at UB, where he broke two program records, career touchdowns (25) and touchdowns in a season (nine) and led the Bulls to the 1958 Lambert Cup.
It was about a year ago when Matt McKenna became the athletic director at Lackawanna. He knew about the championship history of the Steelers. He knew about the great names of Steeler past. But he didn’t see any of them up on a wall. Lackawanna, one of the top athletic programs in Western New York, astonishingly has not had
After winning the Lambert Cup, Gordie and his team were invited to the Tangerine Bowl, but declined to play in protest of the segregation regulations in place.
He was inducted in the school’s hall of fame in 1969.
“He never would brag about his past,” Julie said. “He never talked about anything, even to our kids, later on.”
Once Gordie returned to the Niagara Frontier League, he was the first coach to lead his team to a perfect season in 1967.
He kept in contact with his former players for years after coaching them, and Julie said the players would tell their children stories about Gordie’s coaching style and his impact on them.
“To this day, when my kids meet any former students, they come up to the kids and they tell stories of how he impacted their lives,” Julie said. “(Gordie) loved seeing his athletes succeed on and off the field.”
He went on to become an athletic director for Lackawanna City Schools until his passing.
Gordie was also inducted into the school’s hall of fame in 2011 with one of his former players, NFL quarterback Ron Jaworski.
Julie said one of the best parts about honoring her husband’s legacy is that it keeps his name alive.
She will represent her husband at the induction ceremony, and said her children and grandchildren are joining her. She said her grandchildren never got to meet Gordie, and the Hall of Fame induction would provide an opportunity to help share his accomplishments with them.
Julie’s hope is that Gordie’s memory, along with the other deceased inductees, impacts her family’s life just as much as her husband’s life impacted the players he coached.
“I think this was one of his biggest accomplishments,” Julie said. “We would tell stories, and my kids would show their kids films, but they never really got the true impact of how he impacted so many lives, so this is very important to them.”
William 'Doc' McMahon
McMahon was an Air Force flight surgeon for five years, but is mainly known in Buffalo for his work with the Porter Cup golf tournament.
He was the Niagara Falls Country Club director and tournament director for 17 years, and chaired the Porter Cup from 1962-64 and in 1974.
He was responsible for patrolling holes 3, 4, 6 and 7, now known as “Doc’s Corner.” McMahon was also a member and president of the Buffalo Golf District Association, and has an award named after him for the low amateur score presented at the Porter Cup.
He died in 1995 at age 74.
Cora Livingston
Livingston is a women’s professional wrestling pioneer who earned the first recognized title in 1910, and held the title until 1923. She regained the title in 1925 and held it until her retirement in 1935.
She began her career in 1906 at the Lafayette Theater, after deciding to pursue wrestling instead of track and field.
Born in Buffalo in 1887, she grew up in an orphanage after her parents died. She ran away as a 16-year-old and joined the circus, beginning to train as a wrestler.
She died in 1957 at age 70.
Bob Kauffman
Kauffman was a member of the Buffalo Braves from 1970-1973, and was a three-time all-star. The best of his seven pro seasons was 1970-71, when he averaged 20.4 points and 10.7 rebounds.
A 6-foot-8 forward, he averaged 15.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists in 306 games, before being selected by the New Orleans Jazz in the 1974 expansion draft.
After the draft, he was traded to the Atlanta Hawks and played his final season in 1974-75, hampered by groin and hip problems.
He was general manager of the Detroit Pistons and served as coach briefly (29-29 in 1977-78).
He left the team after a disagreement with owner Bob Davidson over the selection of a coach. Davidson would hire Dick Vitale.
Kauffman died in 2015 at age 69.
