Tom Bonekemper, a renowned doctor and longtime Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League (ACBL) president who loved Quakertown Blazers, died on June 28 at 79, writes Keith Groller for The Morning Call.

Bonekemper was on the staffs of Quakertown and Grand View hospitals from 1972 to 1976 while serving the Upper Perkiomen Valley in private practice.

He then was the Chief Medical Officer of the VA Outpatient Clinic in Allentown due to his desire to help veterans, and he remained there for two decades.

He became the ACBL president in 1994 and continued to serve in that position for an astounding 26 years. Over that time, he was recognized with numerous regional and national awards for his contributions to baseball.

His love for the sport made him well-respected by baseball people on all levels. He loved talking about baseball and providing anecdotes about past stars and those he believed were on the rise.

With his passing, “Quakertown Memorial Park, the Blazers, the ACBL, and local baseball lost once of its most staunch advocates,” wrote Groller. “He will be missed.”

Read more about Tom Bonekemper in The Morning Call.