Aune called Beavers games for 29 seasons from 1970 to 1999, becoming a familiar presence for generations of fans in an era when televised college sports were far less common. For 20 of those years he also served as sports director at Portland’s KEX radio, and he was named Oregon Sportscaster of the Year 12 times.
Oregon State Athletics announced his death Friday, calling him “the Voice of the Beavers for 29 years” and offering condolences to his family. His successor, Mike Parker, described him as “a master of the craft” and said that for a generation and beyond, Aune remains “the true Voice of the Beavers.”
Aune was best known for the exuberant catchphrase “Holy jumping up and down, Martha!” One of his most remembered calls came on the final play of the 1998 Civil War, when Ken Simonton scored the overtime walk-off touchdown that gave Oregon State a 44-41 victory over Oregon. He also helped popularize the “Orange Express” nickname for the Beavers during a 1980s resurgence. After leaving Oregon State following the 1999 season, Aune continued broadcasting.
He called University of Portland men’s basketball, then football and basketball at Linfield College, and later home football and men’s and women’s basketball games for Western Oregon University. He was a two-time past president of the Oregon Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. A native of the Colfax, Washington, area, Aune graduated from Washington State University in 1966 with a degree in speech-communications.
He began his career at KWSU in Pullman before working at KKAM in Pueblo, Colorado, and joining KEX in Portland. Even while calling Oregon State games, he remained a Washington State fan except when the Cougars played the Beavers. Aune is survived by his wife, Catherine, sons David and Brian, and daughter Marilou.