William T. Halloran was the former Assistant Postmaster of Providence Post Office and for many years one of the nation top football officials, both in professional and collegiate circles. His part-time refereeing and umpiring avocation were paralleled by full-time work for the Providence Post Office. He was assistant postmaster when he retired in 1963 after precisely fifty years on the job.

He joined the Post Office in 1913 and earned $9.16 each week for working 16-hour days. Employed by the U.S. Postal Service from 1913 to 1963, Halloran took time out for a brief stint in the United States Navy during the First World War. He was able to rise through the ranks and was named assistant postmaster in 1953 under 1978 Hall of Fame inductee Harry Kizirian who followed Halloran into the Hall of Fame.

In addition to his devotion to the postal service, Mr. Halloran was also known as a dedicated sports official. He worked such classic football games as Army-Navy and Harvard-Yale and began refereeing semi-professional contests. In 1925, he broke into collegiate ranks by officiating at a Brown-Boston University matchup. He once estimated that he refereed 700 football and 600 hockey games and umpired 850 baseball contests.

Mr. Halloran took pride in the fact that his career in athletics, with its time-consuming demands, never took precedence over his work for the federal government. He would recount the exhausting travel needed to ensure that he was back in time for post office duty on Monday.

Born in Providence, RI, July 5, 1893 and a Cranston resident most of his life, he was a son of the late William and Mary (Dowling) Halloran. He was a graduate of La Salle Academy, and held an honorary degree from Providence College. A former member of St. Paul Council, the Knights of Columbus, he was laid to rest at St. Ann Cemetery in Cranston in November 1983. Mr. Halloran was survived by a daughter, Marie H. Ryan of East Greenwich, RI, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

For his devotion to the United States government and his dedication to team sports, he was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 1975.

Pat Odess