Eastern Washington University Athletics

"To serve, not to be served," is the motto of American Association of Retired Persons founder Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus. John Lothspeichpersonified that motto in all that he contributed to the Pacific Northwest region, including Eastern Washington University.

As a result, Lothspeich was honored as the first recipient of the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame Service and Contribution Award. Lothspeich, who played basketball at Eastern in the 40's, and spent nearly 20 years as an administrator on the campus in Cheney, Wash., was honored on Sept. 29, 2007. He passed away on Jan. 17, 2008, at the age of 84.

"John is an outstanding individual to be the first recipient of this award," said his former Eastern teammate Pat Whitehill. "I had the good fortune to play with John at EWU and he was truly a leader. I remember at one point in the 1947-48 season we were not playing well and John brought us together at our hotel in Ellensburg and gave us a pep talk that turned our season around. Since that time he has impressed me in all the varied areas he has been associated with -- be it hunting turkeys or working with the AARP." 

A 1948 Eastern Washington graduate and former basketball player under the legendary W.B "Red" Reese, Lothspeich spent his lifetime as an advocate of education and, in his later years, fellow retired persons. He was a leader for civic engagement and public policy advocacy in Eastern Washington, and was justly honored for his efforts.

In 2005, he received the Washington State AARP Andrus Award for Community Service. It is the most prestigious award given to volunteers, and symbolizes that individuals have the power and ability to make a difference in the lives of others.

"John makes a total commitment to his beliefs, and he believes he can make a difference through his volunteerism," said John Barnett, who nominated Lothspeich for the Andrus Award. "His impressive list of volunteer accomplishments is a real inspiration for community involvement."

Fourth of seven generations of his family to live on the Palouse . . .

Lothspeich's roots began in the small, farming community of Colfax, Wash. He was the fourth of what is now seven generations of his family to live on the Palouse.

After graduating in 1941 from Colfax High School, Lothspeich attended Eastern (then known as Eastern Washington College of Education) where his mother graduated from in 1918 (then known as the State Normal School at Cheney). He was at Eastern two years before spending three years in the Army during World War II. He was assigned to a field artillery platoon, and was stationed in the Pacific near Japan when the United States bombed Japan and ended the war.

He returned to Eastern and earned his bachelor's degree in 1948, then started his career in education at Cashmere (Wash.) High School. Reese helped him land the job, and then Lothspeich proceeded to lead Cashmere to its first state tournament berth since Reese had done it 10 years earlier.

Lothspeich then moved to Moses Lake (Wash.) High School where he taught and served as principal. However, he was an Army reservist and was called into active duty in Korea. He returned to Moses Lake, and eventually was selected by the Jaycees at that city's "Boss of the Year."

After he received his master's degree from Eastern in 1952, he did further graduate work at Washington State University. He received a Kellogg Fellowship to study higher education at the University of California at Berkeley.

Eventually, as part of that fellowship, he came to Eastern in 1960 and served in a variety of capacities. Among his positions were as director of the Eastern Alumni Association and as an assistant to the president. He eventually became Director of College Relations and retired from that position in 1978.

When he retired, he was given a distinguished service award by Eastern President Dr. H. George Frederickson and the Board of Trustees. The certificate he received read, in part: "Your energy seems to be unlimited. Your enthusiasm and love for Eastern, its past, present and future, is boundless. We are all in your debt and no one knows how you will be replaced. Our only consolation is the certain knowledge that as you retire from this career you will remain active and above all will continue to serve your alma mater with love and distinction."

While at Eastern, he helped bring the Seattle Seahawks training camp to EWU when the National Football League franchise began competition in 1976. The organization made Cheney its home from 1976-85 and again from 1997-2006.

During negotiations with the Seahawks, he remembers that the organization was also considering training at the University of Oregon, the alma mater of head coach Jack Patera. But his sales pitch for Eastern included the pleas for the Seahawks to prove that they were "Washington's Team" by bringing training camp to the highly-populated Spokane area.

But even when they came, it was a challenge. Turning Eastern's clay-hardened fields into a more desirable playing surface in two months time was the first of many issues that came up. Obtaining larger beds, installing air conditioning in every dorm room and negotiating a cost for meals on campus followed.

Lothspeich also remembered having to gather an emergency meeting with key members of the Spokane media to promote a pre-season game at Spokane's 34,000-seat Albi Stadium. With a little over a week before the game was scheduled to take place, he recalled that ticket sales were at about 6,000. But he estimated a crowd of about 25,000 was on hand after his pleas were heard and the media heavily promoted the event.

His original meetings with the new NFL squad came while on side-trips when he was in Olympia garnering legislative support for Eastern. The Special Events Pavilion -- also known as Reese Court -- was one of the dozen building projects on campus that were paid for with funds he helped secure.

He recalls a particularly tense two-hour period in Olympia when the $13 million appropriation Eastern requested for the facility was reduced to about $8 million. He frantically called architects to find out if the project could proceed at that price. After some quick cost-cutting measures -- including reducing capacity -- the funding was secured and the project moved forward. The facility was opened in the 1975-76 school year.

While at Eastern, he was also a founding member of the W.B. "Red" Reese Memorial Scholarship Fund, which started in the 1980-81 school year in the memory of the former Eastern coach and athletic director. Lothspeich served on that committee, as well as the committee for the dedication of Reese Court and the Reese Room in 1980 at the Eastern Special Events Pavilion.

He was also a founding member of the Eagle Athletic Association and is an on-going contributor to that scholarship fund-raising organization, which started in 1983. He has served on the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame Selection Committee since the Hall of Fame began in 1996.

He is also a past president of the EWU Alumni Association. In recognition for his efforts, he received Eastern's Alumnus Service Award at commencement ceremonies in 1991.

Contributions Even Grander Outside of Eastern . . .

His job at Eastern enabled him to be active in many civic endeavors in the Spokane community. He was president for the Spokane Kiwanis and was also active in such organizations as United Way, American Red Cross, Spokane County Zoological Society, the Greater Spokane Sports Association and the Spokane Chamber of Commerce. In 1984, he was the President of the GSSA, an organization he was associated with for more than 10 years.

He also served on various committees for Expo '74 in Spokane and from 1979-87 he was the national director of the People to People High School Student Ambassador Programs. In 1984, he was one of a select group of civilians selected to attend the U.S. Army War College National Security Seminar in Pennsylvania.

After he retired, he was extremely active in various retiree organizations, including the Washington State School Retirees Association (WSSRA) and AARP. His experience in working with the legislature proved to be invaluable experience for the two organizations he represented.

In June 2007 he started a one-year term as president of the WSSRA. He was also an executive council member for Washington State AARP. His activities with WSSRA also included serving as chair of the Spokane Area Retired Educators Association Legislative Committee for seven years. That led to his tenure on the WSSRA State Legislative Committee, and he served as chair of the WSSRA Committee on Pension Governance and PAC Committee.

But perhaps his greatest source of pride as a retiree came in the late 1990's when he helped raise money for the Southside Senior Activity Center in Spokane. He helped raise $1.2 million, then organized a crew of volunteers to landscape the grounds.

Lothspeich pointed with pride the center's association with education through a teacher's aide program. Retirees from the center served 34 elementary schools in the Spokane area, which begin for the volunteers with observations at Reid Elementary in Cheney. Reid has had a long history as a laboratory school for education students at Eastern.

 

Playing Career at Eastern Interrupted by World War II . . .

Lothspeich played basketball at Eastern in the 1941-42 and 1942-43 seasons, and then again in 1946-47 and 1947-48. Eastern was a collective 83-33 in his four seasons, including the school's first-ever National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Tournament berth in 1942, and subsequent berths in 1943 and 1947 when Eastern advanced to the quarterfinals.

In 1948, he was given the team's Scarlet Arrow Award, and, as a sophomore, he was a second team All-Winco Conference selection.

Because of World War II, Lothspeich was not able to play on the 1945-46 squad that finished 31-4, including a 27-game winning streak versus collegiate competition. That team advanced to the quarterfinals of the NAIA Tournament and was inducted into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.

The 1942-43 Eastern team was also very impressive, finishing with a 27-5 record under coach Bob Brumblay. Brumblay coached three seasons in place of Reese, who left Eastern to serve in World War II.

The `42-43 squad advanced to the NAIA Tournament, and Lothspeich scored a team-high 18 points in a 54-42 first-round win over one of the tourney favorites, Valparaiso. Eastern used its running attack to negate Valpo's height advantage, including one player 6-foot-10. Lothspeich was Eastern's tallest player at a generous 6-5. "I was shorter than their team average of 6-6 per man," he laughed, more than 60 years later.

Eastern won its next game 54-41 over St. Cloud to advance to the quarterfinals. However, a pair of foot injuries slowed two of Eastern's players and the season came to a halt with a 57-51 loss in overtime.

John's older brother, Bill Lothspeich, also played on the 1942-43 team alongside his brother. Bill graduated from Eastern in 1943 and earned the basketball team's Scarlet Arrow Award that year. John and Bill also competed in track and at Eastern, and Bill was a three-year letter winner in football.

He met his wife, Pauline, at Eastern and she received her bachelor's degree in 1948 and her master's in 1963. She retired as an elementary education teacher and joined her husband as a volunteer on behalf of retirees ever since.

They were married 60 years and had a daughter, Marti Joe Fulfs, and a son, Randy, who both graduated from Ferris High School in Spokane. Randy, who also received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Eastern, retired after teaching and coaching at Shadle Park.

Bill's grandson, Randy Meade, became a third generation member of his family to play football at Eastern when he lettered four years from 2002-05. Randy's father, Dennis Meade, lettered at Eastern from 1969-70.

John passed away Jan. 18, 2008, and preceded the death of Bill on Feb. 1, 2011.