THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: They call him JP ... Joe Partington has touched many, many lives over a career spanning more than five decades as a teacher, coach, father figure, friend and mentor

An excerpt from a sports column in The Press on May 25, 2004, containing memories from the previous weekend’s state track meets in Boise:

OUR LAST memory is of Joe Partington, a Lake City High teacher and coach. Down on the infield at Bronco Stadium to congratulate Lake City’s girls track team on their state title, he noticed nearby a runner from Jerome, on his knees on the infield, head in his hands and buried in a pile of clothes on the blue field turf.

His team had just been disqualified in the 4x400 relay. Partington lifted up the rope that separates the parents and coaches from the athletes, walked over to the boy, took a knee, put his arm around him and offered some words of encouragement to a youngster he no doubt had never met.

“That’s Joe,” said someone nearby. “Always trying to help out.”

THAT’S JOE.

A teacher since the mid-1960s, a coach for more than 50 years, first at Kennedy Catholic High in Burien, Wash., then at Kellogg High, then at Coeur d’Alene High, and now, for more than two decades, at Lake City High.

Joe has been at Lake City since 1997, still teaches Latin part-time at the school, and has been a three-sport coach (football, basketball, track and field) over the years with the Timberwolves.

Not to mention being the PA announcer at Lake City home football and basketball games, and volleyball matches. And before that, doing PA work at Coeur d’Alene High games.

Not to mention being a friend and mentor to so many.

Not to mention helping out with any number of things around the school, not because it was in his job description, but because it needed to be done.

Not to mention ...

Well, you get the drift.

“I don’t think there’s been a more dedicated servant to Lake City High School than Joe,” Lake City basketball coach and athletic director Jim Winger said. “I just don’t think you’re going to see something like that again ... a coach that’s coaching three sports. He’s your announcer, your MC (at awards banquets, and other school functions) ... he was on the faculty senate ... just a servant to Lake City that we’ll probably never have again.”

“When you have somebody who has committed that many years, to that many generations of kids, and has that kind of love and passion for young athletes ... it’s just pretty dog-gone unique,” former principal John Brumley said. “In my 40 years total in education, you’d be hard-pressed to find another example of a guy, for 50 years, that’s done something like that.”

“I just think of him as being a very loyal Viking, and then when the opportunity came, he became an extremely loyal T-Wolf,” former Coeur d’Alene High coach and administrator Larry Schwenke said. “He’s just a fixture in our community.”

“He’s that person you can always count on,” Joe’s wife Andrea said. “He was always very encouraging. He would correct, but then he would send you right back out. You were never in the dog house with Joe.”

“He’s a colleague, but it goes way beyond that,” longtime Lake City coach Kelly Reed said. “He’s one of my dearest friends, and I still look to him as a mentor. And he’s given me so much great advice over the years. He has something to offer in every situation because he’s seen just about everything.”

“I don’t think so much about the things that would have made me a better player, or more competitive,” said Dr. Bill Sims, a Coeur d’Alene High grad. “But as I look back at my life, and I see those people who influenced me and hopefully helped me become a better human being, those are the ones I remember.”

CONTACTED ABOUT doing an interview about the experiences he’s had throughout his coaching and teaching career, Joe respectfully declined.

“Thanks for thinking of me,” he replied.

But ...

“Like my boyhood hero, the Lone Ranger, when I’m done I’d just like to ride off with someone loyal,” he added.

That’s Joe.

Only he knows if this coronavirus-interrupted school year turned out to be his last at Lake City High. Or if he’ll be back for another year ... or two ... or five ... or 10 ... before he calls it a career in education.

Until that time, whenever it is, here’s the story of Joe Partington, as told by those who’ve been around him over the years.

Joe Partington was born in Seattle, graduated from St. Martin’s High School in Lacey, Wash., in 1961, attended St. Martin’s College (now University) in Lacey, and did graduate work at the University of Washington and University of Idaho.

He began his teaching career in 1966 at Kennedy Catholic, where he coached football and basketball.

He took a job at Kellogg High in 1976, where he taught English, and was an assistant coach in football, boys basketball and track, and was head girls basketball coach. He moved to Coeur d’Alene High in 1985, where he taught English, speech and debate, and coached football, boys and girls basketball, golf and track. In 1997 it was over to Lake City, where he taught English and eventually Latin, and has coached football, girls basketball and track.

Joe and Andrea Partington moved to Coeur d’Alene when they got married in 1977. They both commuted to Kellogg when they taught there. Andrea eventually got a job in Coeur d’Alene, and a few years later, Joe took a job at CHS.

•••

Steve Bourgard, who played on Kellogg’s varsity basketball team in 1977 and ’78, when Joe was JV coach and varsity assistant: My first impressions were that he was just a fiery-type coach, and you could see that he had a lot of passion for the game. I’ve always said different people throughout my schooling had different impacts, and he had a big impact on me becoming a coach, because I saw the passion that he had for coaching, and I think I emulated that. We became a really good defensive team, and he really stressed defense, and as I became a coach, that was one of the things that stuck with me, was how important defense was.

Jim Winger, longtime Lake City boys basketball coach and athletic director, and before that played and coached at Coeur d’Alene High: This fall, 33 years ago, I student-taught for Joe at Coeur d’Alene High School. So he’d already been involved in activities for 17, 18 years before I even was involved with him, and I think I’ve been around a long time. Now I’m his administrative supervisor, so I supervise his as a teacher, and he’s my mentor — “What am I doing in here?”

Andrea Partington, Joe’s wife of 43 years; together they raised five boys: He was going to be a Benedictine monk. He had taken that fairly seriously (in high school and college). Then he decided that was not the path he wanted.

•••

Other than when he was head girls basketball coach at Kellogg, most of Joe’s coaching duties were as an assistant, or with the freshman team or the sophomore team. Not exactly glamorous stuff, but equally important in the development of young athletes.

John Brumley, principal at Coeur d’Alene High from 1989-93, co-principal for one year while Lake City High was being built, then principal at Lake City when it opened, and later principal at Lakeside High in Plummer: I think Joe always looked out for the little guy, the kid that maybe needed a little extra support, or maybe needed a little more coaching. He just has a big heart, a monster heart.

Kelly Reed, longtime Lake City track and field coach and assistant football coach, who played on the sophomore boys basketball team coached by Partington at Coeur d’Alene in 1985-86: He was definitely a players’ coach. He was fun to play for. Of course, we ran a sideline break and I got to shoot a lot, maybe that’s why I liked playing for him (laughs).

Joe, he’s just good with the kids that don’t have the most talent, or maybe have some interesting home issues. Any kid that’s struggling a little bit, Joe is always taking that kid under his wing ... he looks out for the underdog.

John Brumley: I can remember (former Lake City football coach Van) Troxel saying on many occasions, the development of the athletes is the key here. The win/loss record is kinda moot. You’re not coaching ninth-grade football to make a name for yourself. You’re trying to get as many kids as you can out there, you’re trying to develop them. With some of those kids, it’s just those one or two exchanges with a coach that makes a difference whether that kid’s going to pick up that sport for a second year, and maybe physically develop and become a really good athlete in that sport.

Dr. Bill Sims, an orthopedic surgeon and 1988 Coeur d’Alene High grad, who played on a sophomore basketball team coached by Joe: The guy always had a smile on his face. He was smart in a way that always kept you on your toes, and so he knew how to motivate people by challenging them in a positive way. He gave us the impression that he was there coaching us because he liked us. He was the kind of coach that you want to have help shape and influence your kids. He’s the kind of guy that leaves a mark on you in a good way.

•••

Joe’s friends rave about his thoughtfulness. If someone was in the hospital; he would visit; if someone lost a loved one, he would send a card. He might call someone he used to coach with, just to check in, or show up at a game to support a former player.

Andrea Partington: He is the one who will offer old ladies a ride home from church. He is the one that will take flowers and go visit our daughter-in-law’s 95-year-old grandmother. That’s just who he is.

Steve Bourgard, who was later an assistant boys coach at Kellogg for 11 seasons, then was head girls basketball coach at Kellogg: When I was coaching the girls program at Kellogg, the second year I was coaching in the district championship at NIC, and I looked behind my bench, and I saw him a few rows up in the bleachers, right behind my bench. It’s choking me up right now (to talk about it). What a nice feeling to see that he was there to support me. It still means something [choking back tears]. He was just a guy that was always there for you. To see him up in the stands gave me a sense of pride, just the love that guy has.

Jim Winger: If something great happens in the building, he makes sure to write something to be read out in the announcements. He always wants to be the perfect host. When Ty Jones (executive director of the Idaho High School Activities Association) came up for state volleyball his first year, he said, “Who’s your announcer? He’s classy. I like him. He’s what we would like announcers to be like.”

If I’m not around or (another administrator) isn’t around, he’ll be the first one to greet (visiting teams). If we’re on the road, and he gets treated real well by the other coach or administrators, he comes in and tells me, or writes it down and gives it to me ... ‘these guys are classy. We would like to play them again.’

I don’t think he’s ever turned Lake City down, on anything we’ve asked him to do. Ever. That just doesn’t happen. It’s not like the old days ... nowadays, it’s like pulling teeth to get people to help.

•••

Before moving over to Lake City, Partington made a similar impression on coaches and athletes while at Coeur d’Alene High.

Larry Schwenke, former football coach and athletic director at Coeur d’Alene High: There would be meetings that we’d have. I was kind of a young athletic director and just wanted to make sure we had all our Is dotted and Ts crossed, and would call coaches meetings, and Joe would be there ... One day he said, “You just wear me out, Schwenk. We could all help in doing these things.” That just goes to show he was ready to do whatever. I had a lot of things on my plate. We had a lot of things that we wanted to accomplish for ‘Viking Pride,’ and I think he just felt like we needed to delegate a little more, and have everybody be involved. That was great advice from him, and I’ll always remember that.

Jon Adams, who played for Joe on the sophomore basketball team at Coeur d’Alene High, and was recently named head boys basketball coach at his alma mater: Joe gave you some edge. Joe was very competitive; he definitely coached you to have a little bit of an edge, and I would say, of anything, he brought that out in me.

Jim Kravik, head boys basketball coach at Coeur d’Alene for four seasons (1984-88), and a football and basketball official for decades. At CHS, he hired Partington as his sophomore coach: I kinda knew him from before, through officiating, and I knew he had coached up in Kellogg under Larry Alexander, so he knew how to handle that level of JVs and freshmen. I always found him as a person you could talk to and bounce things off of. The kids really enjoyed playing for Joe. He was pretty close to them. He was a good motivator.

Kravik organizes a yearly end-of-the-school-year golf outing for Coeur d’Alene coaches and teachers. In the some three decades of the trip, which usually involves some courses in Montana, only two holes in one have been made by the group.

One was by Joe Partington, in 2006. It was his first ace in some 50 years of golfing.

Steve Bourgard, who has owned a roofing contracting business for 35 years: At Kellogg back then, the teachers would scrimmage the boys basketball players after school in the fall, before the season started. Joe had the most beautiful left-handed hook shot. Unblockable. He could shoot it over a 6-5 guy no problem. He talked me into shooting a jump hook, and that turned out being one of my best shots in high school, and he told me to practice the left hand twice as much as the right. And in the end, whenever I went to the basket, invariably I’d use the left hand because I was stronger with it, because he taught me to practice more with that hand.

•••

When the Coeur d’Alene School District built a second high school in 1994, teachers and coaches at Coeur d’Alene High were asked if they preferred to stay at Coeur d’Alene or go to Lake City.

Joe’s answer — no preference.

Andrea Partington: They (Coeur d’Alene High) needed him because the debate coach was coming to Lake City. When he first came to Coeur d’Alene he coached debate, then he handed it off to Terri Peters, and then when she went to Lake City, he took it on from ’94 to ’97. Then there was an opening at Lake City (teaching honors English), and he did want to come to Lake City. It was hard, our kids were at Lake City (and Andrea was teaching at Lake City) ... it was hard to be at two schools.

Kelly Reed, who coached track and field with Joe for most of the last two decades, and also coached a few years with him at the freshman football level: My favorite thing about Joe was sitting with him on the bus, on bus rides home from track meets down in Lewiston. He’s fascinating to talk to, with his life experiences, and he’s so well-read, and has such an incredible perspective on teaching and coaching. I’ve cherished his friendship. I hope people appreciate how educated and how well-read and how intelligent he is. He’s just fascinating to talk to.

•••

You would think, after a long day of games in two gyms where he might have coached in one game, announced several others and maybe kept stats during still another game, Joe would just get up and go home when the final buzzer sounded.

Nope.

Jim Winger: At the end of basketball games, he’ll go up and start picking up the garbage, start helping the custodians.

Kelly Reed: People have no idea the extra hours he puts in. He takes care of all the uniforms. He’s always at the school fixing something, or working on something, or replacing something. He’ll go through every single hurdle, and make sure they raise and lower. Guys like him are invaluable; they do so much that nobody knows about.

•••

For years in the 1980s and ’90s and even into the 2000s, Joe drove a station wagon dubbed the “Shwagon.” Raising five boys was one reason; being a coach with many more “kids” was another.

John Brumley: I can remember seeing that thing roll by hundreds of times around the school.

Andrea Partington: We actually had two. The first one I think we got in the early ’80s, second one in the early ’90s. The second one lasted until 2009, and we turned it in to “Cash For Clunkers.”

Kelly Reed: It was like the one in “Vacation.” If you ever needed any equipment, all you had to do is go to the back of JP’s wagon, because he’d have 42 footballs, a few baseball bats, helmets, tennis rackets ... it was in the back of that car.

And JP’s a great hoarder of equipment as well. If the varsity football team is missing footballs, just go down to the freshman (team) and they’ll have like 60. And the varsity’s got like four.

•••

At the annual Fight for the Fish spirit basketball games between Coeur d’Alene and Lake City, in January and played at Lake City, Joe was one of two longtime educators honored at halftime of the boys game, before a standing-room-only crowd. For once, he was in the limelight, whether he wanted to be or not, posing for pictures and giving a short speech to thunderous applause from the standing-room only crowd of nearly 3,000.

Andrea Partington: I don’t think he had an ability to talk them out of it ... I’m sure there was a part of him that was pleased to be recognized, but there was another part of him that was, “Are they trying to send me a message? Is it time to go?” (laughs) ... I kind of knew something was going to happen, then about a week before he says, “They’re going to do something at Fight for the Fish, so I’d really like it if you guys would come out. I really want you to be there for me.” But he didn’t tell me about it way in advance.

Kelly Reed: I don’t know if he really had a choice (whether he was honored or not). He is an unbelievable generous person who truly doesn’t want any credit, or anybody to know. He holds a super special place in my heart.

•••

And when the day comes that Joe Partington finally calls it a career?

Kelly Reed: We’ll miss his overall energy. He says “attababy,” and he high-fives all the kids in the hallway. He’s got a smile on his face, and he looks on the bright side. Just his energy and positive attitude, we’ll miss a whole bunch.

John Brumley: I congratulate Joe for a pretty incredible run, and thank him for the impact he’s had on hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of young athletes, both girls and boys.

Andrea Partington: Regardless of when he goes, he will slip out under the radar. He will decline to have a breakfast or a lunch, or whatever. He’ll just quietly let people know that he’s just not going to be there.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.