Coach Jack Loutensock (1926-2009)

Coach Jack Loutensock, 1926-2009

A couple of years ago, we received notice of the death of Coach Jack Loutensock, but of course, I didn’t have him for Physical Education or Varsity Basketball, but I did have him for “Health and Safety.”  I still remember him saying that if we ever got a cut, we were to apply pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding. That advice has been used my whole life! Health and Safety was one of those required classes that turned out to be way more interesting than you’d expect. According to the Ceralbus, he also taught Driver Training, and I think I took that class from him, too. Remember all those horrible movies of car crashes we had to watch?

I just now re-read the news of his passing on the Class of 1967 blog, so to refresh your memory, here are the details:  Coach John “Jack” Loutensock passed away suddenly this morning, July 31, at about 9:00 AM at his home in Orem, Utah, at age 83. On July 14, two weeks ago, biopsies were taken from his lungs, which gave the diagnosis of mesothelioma in both lungs. On July 22 he went home from the hospital. Being a lifelong non-smoker, it was later definitely determined that the mesothelioma was due to asbestos exposure. This next Tuesday, August 4, Coach Loutensock had an appointment in Salt Lake City at the Huntsman Cancer Hospital for evaluation and discussion of what treatment would be done. This morning Coach Loutensock was up, and dressed with the help of his wife, Barbara, and son, Brett. His wife suggested he rest on his bed, and as soon as he got onto the bed Barbara and Brett heard him take two deep breaths, and he passed away that quickly.

Mr. Loutensock was a graduate of Brigham Young University, Provo, UT and was also an Air Force veteran. He taught in the Burbank schools for over 30 years, 3 of those years were at Luther Burbank Junior High, and the remaining  years were at Burbank High. He and his wife, Barbara, retired to Orem, Utah before his sudden passing in 2009. All three of his children were Burbank High grads: Blyden (BHS’70), Brett (BHS’78) and Wendy (BHS’79).

In the next post I will talk more about his son, Blyden, and his unselfish gift of a kidney to a fellow classmate.

Burbank High's Varsity Basketball team, 1968

Back row, standing  (L-R): John Price, Tom Kelly, Craig Weber, Craig White, Steve Young, Tim Tolnay, Jay Kelley, Pat Sullivan, Gene Allred. Standing (left): Coach Jack Loutensock. Front row, seated (L-R): Steve Segal, Tim DuBois, Paul Phinney, Kent Nebeker, Greg Clark, Pete Cohen, Dave DeHart and Mgr. Mike.

Almost all of Burbank’s losses this season were by close margins, and the Bulldogs were inches away from having a winning team. The high point man on this year’s team was senior John Price, Foothill League’s fifth-leading scorer.