Harry Glickman (z"l), passed away on June 10, 2020, at age 96. He was the beloved husband of Joanne Glickman; father of Marshall Glickman (Lisa), Jennifer Glickman-Hett (Mark Hett), and Lynn Rice (Bob Rice); and grandfather of Laz, Sydney and Joel.
A private service will be held at Beth Israel Cemetery
Harry was the founder and president emeritus of the Portland Trail Blazers, and has been called the “father of professional sports in Oregon.”

Glickman grew up in Portland playing basketball at the JCC and Lincoln High School. He graduated from Lincoln High School in 1941. He served  three years in the Seventh Army’s 12th Armored Division that went through Belgium, France and Germany in World War II. Returning to Oregon after the war he resumed his studies and earned a degree in journalism from the University of Oregon in 1948.

In The Jewish Oregon Story 1950-2010, Ellen Eisenberg writes: “Carving out a career in sporting promotions, Glickman began with boxing, and then brought preseason National Football League games, the Harlem Globetrotters and the National Basketball association all-star games to Portland beginning in the mid 1950s. … as early as 1954, he aspired to bring a professional basketball team to the Rose City. … In 1970, Glickman raised funds for a new NBA expansion team, founding the Portland Trail Blazers and serving as general manager until his retirement in 1987.”

He also founded the Portland Buckaroos minor league hockey team in 1960. He served as the club’s co-owner and president over 12 seasons as the Buckaroos during which the team won three titles.

In memory of trailblazing Harry Glickman, the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education posted this 2005 interview:ojmche.org/oral-history-people/harry-glickman/

OJMCHE featured Glickman in its 2012 exhibition “In the Game,” where he was inducted as an inaugural member in the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. A quote from sports journalist Ken Wheeler, collected during the research for the exhibition, aptly describes this great sports icon: “When Glickman speaks, it seems the earth should shake and pictures should sway or fall from the wall. That voice, that deep, rumbling voice with the timbre of rolling thunder, stands as a personal signature.”

In Glickman’s memory, the Blazers ask that people consider making a donation to the Oregon Jewish Museum & Center for Holocaust Education, Congregation Beth Israel or the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland.