OROVILLE — A consummate athlete who went on to have a distinguished career at Texaco Oil Company, Robert “Bobby” Dugger, Oroville High School class of 1957, is being inducted into the Oroville Union High School District 2024 Hall of Fame.
Dugger played JV baseball for two years and varsity for two, lettering all four years, and he was captain of the varsity team as a senior. He also played basketball and football, earning six letters in his four years. As a junior, he served as Block O president, and in the spring semester of his senior year, he was elected student body president.
Robert “Bobby” Dugger. (Contributed by Oroville Union High School District)
The hometown athlete continued playing baseball while attending Yuba College and earning his associate degree in business. Dugger played on the varsity baseball team for two years and was voted captain and most outstanding player as a senior. While at Yuba, he also found time to play for the Oroville Olives, Placerville Lumberjacks and Marysville Giants before graduating in 1959.
Dugger continued his education at Sacramento State where he made his mark on the baseball diamond as the Hornet’s No. 3 pitcher. In 1961, the Hornets won the Far Western Conference and finished second in the NAIA College World Series in Sioux City, Iowa. Dugger pitched his team into the championship game, beating the No. 1 seed Sam Houston State, allowing just four singles in a 13-1 victory. Dean Andoe, a 1957 OHS alumni and a 2011 OUHSD Hall of Fame inductee, was Dugger’s catcher and hit a grand slam home run to aid in the victory. Before he graduated with his bachelor’s degree in 1963, Dugger was scouted by the Minnesota Twins, but a knee injury ended his baseball career.
Following his college graduation, Dugger was hired by Texaco Oil Company in Sacramento as a marketing representative. Shortly thereafter he was promoted to supervisor of retail service stations and assistant district manager. In 1977, he was promoted to division manager of retail in Southern California and relocated to Mission Viejo.
In 1981, Dugger was promoted to assistant regional manager of the Pacific Northwest and oversaw Texaco marketing in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Alaska and Hawaii, relocating to Seattle, Washington. After seven years, he was tasked with increasing the company’s market share in Hawaii. Dugger went to work and under his leadership the company’s market share in the tropical state increased from 6% to 19%.
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He returned to Seattle in 1992 and was promoted to regional manager of the Pacific Northwest, a position he held until his retirement in 1998. During his 35-year career with Texaco, Dugger was honored six times by the company with the Texaco Super Star Award.
Following his retirement, Dugger served both on the board and as president of the ChevronTexaco Retirees Association. Under his leadership, the association conducted food drives and contributed annually to the military Sea-Tac USP Center.
Dugger also served his church, Crossroads Bible Church in Bellevue, Washington, where he makes his home with his wife of 58 years, Judy. They have three children, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
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