Former longtime Salpointe and Sahuaro head cross country and track and field coach Ron Whiteman, who could have challenged anyone in Tucson for doing the most in a lifetime, passed away from cardiac arrest at 79 years old on Friday.
He coached 37 years in Tucson at Salpointe, Amphi and Sahuaro.
Two of his profound sayings on his Facebook page:
— “We only have so much time on this earth, spend it wisely.”
— “Tomorrow is guaranteed to no one, so while you are here, give people pause to regret your passing.”
His life’s journey started on May 17, 1945 when he was born at Agana Heights, Guam, at the U.S. Naval Hospital.
Here is an incredible timeline of Whiteman’s life:
— A military brat, he grew up in northern California after moving from Guam in 1948
— Attended Central Union High School in El Centro, Calif., from September 1958 to June 1959.
— Went to Jesuit High School in Tampa, Fla., from September 1959 to December 1959
— Returned to California and attended Washington High School in Fremont, Calif., where he graduated in 1962.
— From 1962 to 1966, he studied at California State University Maritime Academy, San Jose State, San Jose City College and Southwestern Community College in Chula Vista, Calif.
— In between, he started a music career as a singer and songwriter in 1964 at Fantasy Records in San Francisco. He later sang in studios in Hollywood and Tucson.
— He married the former Judith Suzanne Rogers on June 5, 1965. They were married for 51 years before Judith passed away in 2016.
— He joined the Marines and served in the Vietnam War in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
— He earned a bachelor of arts at New Mexico Highlands University in History/Political Science in 1972.
— He was a teacher at George Washington High School in Mangilao, Guam from 1972 to 1974. Taught world and American history and was the head varsity basketball coach, assistant varsity football coach and assistant varsity track and field coach.
— He earned a masters degree in History at New Mexico Highlands in 1975.
— Earned another masters in Mass Communications in Secondary Education at Arizona State in 1979.
— While working toward his second masters, he taught American history and world history and coached at Grants (N.M.) High School from 1977 to 1980. He was the varsity track and field coach, varsity volleyball coach, and assistant football and basketball coach
— Later studied economics at Arizona and international relations at North Carolina State through the early 1980s.
— When he moved to Tucson in 1980, he became a varsity football assistant coach at Salpointe under the legendary Ed Doherty. He served in that capacity through the 1984 season, coaching in 1983 and 1984 under Steve Sorce.
— He became Salpointe’s head cross country and track and field coach in the spring of 1981 and held that role for 17 years through 1997. He was an eight-time Southern Region Coach of the Year and was named National Coach of the Year by Sports for Understanding in 1989. He led a team of teenage athletes to Europe in 1996 for a four-week sport and cultural learning program under the auspices of the Sport for Understanding International Exchange.
— After a brief break from coaching he returned in 2000 to coach at Amphi as the associate head boys and girls track and field coach. He stayed there through the 2001 season.
— He became Sahuaro’s head boys cross country and track and field coach from 2003 to May 2014. He was the Arizona Daily Star Track & Field Coach of the Year in 2006. He earned the same honor from the Tucson Citizen the following year.
— He stepped down as head coach but remained at Sahuaro from 2014 to 2016 as an assistant coach with the track and field program.
— His Linked-In profile shows that he was president of “Down Under/Pacific Rim Sports,” linked to his time in Guam, starting in 1991 while at Salpointe.
Some of Whiteman’s other favorite sayings on his Facebook page included:
— “If one man is not equal, then all men are unequal.”
— “Life’s not easy, it requires hard work to find peace and happiness. Never give up!”
— “Hate can wear you down until you can no longer stand tall and proud.”
Jake Roberts, Ron’s grandson, posted on Facebook that Whiteman took his 1968 Ford Torino for a drive before his passing.
One of Whiteman’s former track and field athletes at Salpointe, Kristin McNeice Luebke, shared this story about him on a Facebook page created by the family for people who knew him to honor him.
“My days running track at Salpointe are still some of my most treasured memories,” she wrote. “From invitationals to winning southern section (regionals), Coach was always there to help us improve on the track and in life. When I was a freshman, I skipped practice to try out for cheerleading. I can still vividly remember Coach storming into the gym and grabbing the microphone away from one of the senior cheerleaders and saying for all to hear, ‘McNeice!!! Get your butt out on the track RIGHT now!!!’
“Even though I wanted to crawl into a hole, knowing that he was always there to support me meant the world. Coach, you never missed an opportunity to wish us all a happy birthday, cheer on my kids and their athletic ventures in FB posts, and just continue to spread love. You will be so missed, Coach!”
Funeral arrangements, including military honors at the Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery in Marana, are pending.
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