John Lunger, 69

John (Jack/Lunk) Phillip Lunger, age 69, passed away March 23, 2024, in Spokane, Wash., after waging a heroic battle against Parkinson’s disease.

Jack was born June 15, 1954, to Charles and Thelma Lunger, in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. After Jack graduated from Wallace High School Class of 1973 (Go Miners!) He began attending college at the University of Idaho in 1974. Jack’s college experience was unique as he started his college education when he graduated high school, left to work off and on at the Star Mine for 12 years, going back to school when he had saved enough money to attend classes. The Star Mine shut down in 1983 and Jack knew it was time to complete his degree. 

After graduating from the U of I in 1989 with his degree in special education and social science, he found his forever career spot at St. Maries High School, where he spent the next 33 years working with the kids that he loved. Watching Jack teach at the alternative high school was a thing of beauty. He understood and loved the kids who truly needed him.

Jack played basketball and football at Wallace High School and was a member of the 1973 Inland Empire Conference championship team that beat Coeur d’Alene High School in the last game of the season. Jack was also a founding member of the King Street Hitters and the Schooners softball team. Jack has been a regular participant in the King Street Invitational, a gathering of friends, for the past 55 years. The King Street Hitters were inducted into the Wallace High School Hall of Fame in 1998. The Schooners went on to dominate the Silver Valley Beer League for many years and the infamous Coberly Cup competition against the Mad Dogs. 

Jack was an avid sports fan his entire life, never wavering from his support of his favorite teams. The New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Idaho Vandals were the three teams Jack supported throughout his life. Jack attended his first Vandal football game in the 1960s and his last game in 2023, a span of close to 60 years. Hobo Camp at the Vandal tailgate parties will never be the same. 

2018 brought retirement for him, which meant Vandal football, golfing and spending time in Calder, Idaho, and hanging out with his beloved dogs. There was never an animal that Jack did not love or go out of his way to help.

Jack was predeceased by his mother, Thelma Sink; his father, Charles Lunger; his stepfather, Claude Sink; his half-brothers, Randy Sink and Jerry Nichols; his sister, Margie Lunger, and step brothers and sisters, George Sink, Ray Sink, Laura Herzog, Kathy Flood, and Carolyn Islington. He is survived by Don Sink, Twin Lakes Village, Idaho; Beth Corcionne in Brady, Texas; Mary White in Salt Lake City, Utah; Caity Merriman, Rathdrum, Idaho; Dori Peck, Spokane, Wash., and many dear friends, The Lynn family, Rusty Price, Jake and Kate Dwyer, and countless others that filled his heart with joy and friendship.

A special thanks to Dori Peck, who provided Jack with loving care and kept him safe for the last two years of his life. 

A memorial will be held at The Elks Lodge, 419 Cedar St., Wallace, ID 83873, on Friday, June 14, 2 to 5 p.m. 

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to SpokAnimal, 710 N. Napa St., Spokane, WA 99202. www.spokanimal.org.