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"Championships Came Nearly Every Year To Coach Oscar Lubke"
      From the family of the late Oscar J. Lubke comes the brief note Monday they would like to establish an Oscar Lubke award fund for a Farmington senior each year.
       The family is establishing the fund "in lieu of flowers" at the funeral, according to the brief announcement.
       Alan Lubke, son of Oscar, said they would like to perpetuate his memory through the award each year to a graduating senior, and that anyone could contribute toward it.
       Who was Oscar Lubke?
       To the old timers at Farmington school he was simply "the coach".
       He perhaps commanded more respect and taught more football and basketball than any other coach Farmington has ever had. It was done in the days when coaches got nothing extra for their services -- perhaps not even "thank you."
       He served also when "the coach" was for every sport in school in addition to a teaching load. An assistant was either unheard of, or was quite rare. In later years, an assistant was the guy who took care of the second string.
       "O.J." is the only coach who ever took a Farmington team to a state high school tournament. He is the only Farmington coach who every won a regional basketball championship. The regional title and the state entry were in 1937.
      That's the year when John Barger and Tom Feely won all-state honors. Feely went on to become -- and still is today -- a famous coach at St. Thomas College.
       Members of the famous state tournament team were: Eddie Siebold, John Barger, Dan Sullivan, John Carlson, John Bohm, Captain Irv Danielson, Tom Feely and Harold (Jug) Reisinger.
       The pages of a scrapbook at the Lubke home have long ago yellowed with age, but the headlines are still sparkling:  March 1, 1935, the headline reads: "Tigers Win 6th Consecutive Minn. Valley League Championship."
       Another big headline screams: "Tigers At State Meet."
       On an opposite page in the scrapbook, a lesser, but equally important line reads: "Local Goal Line Is Uncrossed During Entire 1936 Season."
       The sub-head: "Hastings Is Last Foe To Be Mowed Down 24 to 0, 4th Consecutive (football) Championship for Oscar Lubke Eleven."
       Old timers recall that no one came with Lubke's 20-yard line all year. The point total was fabulous -- Farmington made 199 to the opponents 0.
       The footballers in the final Hastings game lineup were:   Danielson LE, Sypal LT, Smith LG, Lundgren C, Ulvi RG, Teachout RT, Sullivan RE, Feely QB, Rich LH, Carlson RH, and Barger FB.
       Subs were Peterson, Kulstad, Loesch, Harris and Hall. An interesting sidelight is that the Umpire, Jerry Flathman, is still active, as a referee in these modern days.
       Typical caption under a Lubke photo: "Above is Oscar Lubke, athletic coach at the Farmington High School, whose winning teams have placed Farmington near the top on the athletic map of the state."
       Few of the oldsters will forget Oscar's black Ford which had the odd-sized trunk. That trunk carried football gear to and from a good many Farmington "away" games. There were no school bus rides in the early days.
       "The coach" thought so much of his teams at Farmington he spent summers checking on his boys at night, making certain they got to bed at a decent hour. He also rounded up jobs for those who needed the extra money to stay in school. He had the respect of every individual from the team captain to the water boy.
       After Lubke left Farmington, he went to Montevideo which it is said lost all but one game. After Lubke came, they claimed four football championships, in five years.
       He then coached at Hastings before retiring from active coaching, confining his activities to his insurance business and baseball programs, and in addition he was a perpetual helper for the Farmington Lions Club.
       He appeared as a comic ice skater this year in the usual humor spot of the Lions Club show, only a few short months ago. The act took considerable stress, "ice skating" on wax with his shoes. Back stage "the coach" commented he didn't have the same old energy any more, as large beads of perspiration dotted his brow.
       Death Sunday came suddenly on the Hastings golf course as he participated in a favorite sports activity.
       "The coach" influenced and inspired the lives of a great many Farmington and Montevideo residents. He was one of the few coaches who knew the genuine meaning of determination and could transmit it to the players.
       Those who he contacted in his life will not forget him soon . . . . . . . . .
Dakota County Tribune, July 4, 1968, Farmington Area, Section B, Page B1
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