Bernard "Bernie" Voorheis (May 23, 1922 – January 14, 2010) played professional basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 for the Rochester Royals

Rochester Royals

The franchise that would become the Sacramento Kings initially started in the city of Rochester, New York, as the Rochester Royals of the National Basketball League....

, appearing in eight games in 1946, a year in which the team won the National Basketball League

National Basketball League (United States)

Founded in 1937, the National Basketball League, often abbreviated to NBL, was a professional men's basketball league in the United States. The league would later merge with the Basketball Association of America  to form the National Basketball Association  in 1949.- League history :The...

 championship.

He grew up in the outlying Rochester suburb of Spencerport, New York

Spencerport, New York

Spencerport is a village in Monroe County, New York, United States, and a suburb of Rochester, New York. The population count was 3,559 at the 2000 census.The Village of Spencerport is within the Town of Ogden and is a village on the Erie Canal....

, learning to play basketball in his father's barn. In 1938, he graduated from Churchville-Chili High School.

In 1946, he was playing semi-pro basketball for the Atlas Wreckers. Basketball Hall of Famer Les Harrison, the Royals coach at the time, saw Voorheis play and, noting his speed and ball-handling skills, signed him to a contract.

After his brief professional playing career, Voorheis went to work for Eastman Kodak

Eastman Kodak

Eastman Kodak Company is a multinational imaging and photographic equipment, materials and services company headquarted in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded by George Eastman in 1892....

for 35 years; he retired in 1983.