Family, friends, colleagues and admirers attended the Alaska School Activities Association High School Hall of Fame ceremony in Anchorage on Sunday, April 26, for the induction of the late Fred Angerman Jr. of Wrangell and 13 other honorees into the 2026 class.

“This is such an honor knowing that Fred is being acknowledged for all his decades of volunteering and refereeing,” his widow, Sumi Angerman, said.

“For me, I miss being in the stands, cheering my sons on, trying to protect Fred when he was refereeing. But this means a lot to us, our whole family and all these friends that came.”

Fred Angerman Jr. was inducted posthumously in the lifetime achievement category. Along with a hall of fame plaque, inductees were presented with a citation from the Alaska Legislature.

He died March 9, 2025.

Angerman’s oldest son, Aaron Angerman, joined Sumi Angerman on stage for the acceptance.

“It is pretty cool to see everyone show up for him,” Aaron Angerman said. “You really see how many people he impacted. Not just in basketball but in all other aspects and across the state. Wish he could be here because I think he would be squirming in his seat to get honored like this, because that is not his thing. But he definitely deserves to be talked about, how great he was and the impact he had.”

Angerman family members filled two tables and friends filled many for the ceremony at the Special Olympics Alaska building.

“It is a big deal to us,” said Fred’s son, Cody Angerman. “More or less it is a bit of a family reunion, too. It is a good way of getting us all together and kind of seeing the plaque up there and reading dad’s bio. It is kind of putting it all into perspective for me.”

Fred Angerman Jr.’s induction biography stated that he was the gold standard of Alaska high school basketball — as a player, an official and a lifelong ambassador for the game in Wrangell and across Southeast Alaska.

His legacy spanned five decades and touched nearly every level of the sport. A four-year varsity starter who led Wrangell to a Southeast basketball title in 1975 and earned all-tournament honors, Angerman later became a pillar of Southeast basketball as an official for three decades.

He also dedicated more than 40 years to the Elks Hoop Shoot and coached youth basketball.

“It is an honor, obviously,” Fred’s son, Brad Angerman, said. “Like Cody said, bringing all the family and friends together to be here for this and honor my dad as well is a big deal for us. But also, we were looking through the book (class inductions) and seeing other Wrangell people that were honored, and looking back and seeing people we had played against. It is pretty good going down memory lane.”

Fred’s sister Mercedes Angerman Jr. was in fifth grade when Fred graduated from Wrangell High School.

“I watched him play many times,” she said. “Nobody could have a better brother than Freddy. He was always very pragmatic and focused and honorable. … As the youngest and the only girl, he was the only brother that didn’t thrash on me, he was always very kind to me even as an adult,” she added.

“He shaped our lives in so many ways. Even tonight we had the conversation, ‘What would Freddy do and what would Freddy say?’ No matter what group of people he was around, even in politics, he always thought it through and never disrespected anybody,” his sister said.

“He just exemplified that his whole life in everything that he did. He did the right thing and he did it with purpose and passed that down to his children and grandchildren. To lift people up and never tear people down.”