A4 • Friday, July 23, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
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Lyons remembered at memorial
SEEN FROM SEASIDE
R.J. MARX
It was appropriate that the crowd for
Raphael “Stubby” Lyons’ memorial assem-
bled at Broadway Field, the playing fi elds the
late coach helped to create.
“He had a key role in the renovation of
this fi eld,” Mayor Jay Barber said on Satur-
day morning. “Stubby and his wife, Sharee,
have impacted so many lives over their years
of teaching and community service, and espe-
cially supporting and caring for the children
and youth of our community.”
Barber was among the many speakers to
recall the career of a man who made a diff er-
ence to thousands of Seaside High School stu-
dents. Lyons died on Dec. 25 at 86.
Former coach Jim Auld
called the day a celebration.
“Just a reminder, the sorrow
and sadness and the mourn-
ing, that was six and seven
months ago,” he said. “This
is a celebration.”
Lyons’ family moved
Stubby Lyons
to the Pacifi c Northwest in
1942, when Stubby was 7.
As a 20-year-old Marine, Lyons spent 14
months in Korea as a military offi cer in the
demilitarized zone.
His teaching and coaching career began at
35, fi rst in Nevada, then Washington state.
Arriving in Seaside in 1980, he served as
assistant for Auld before taking the football
head coach role.
In 1994, the Gulls won their second cham-
pionship, defeating Brookings-Harbor High
27-14 in Eugene — a score posted on the
Broadway Field scoreboard for the memorial
on Saturday.
“Now we all have memories of coach
Lyons, for that is his gift to us,” said Casey
Jackson, who was a running back with the
Gulls’ 1994 team.
“Coach Lyons now lives within each and
every one of us,” Jackson said. “He lives
in our hearts and in our souls. So I encour-
age you all to keep his spirit alive by reliving
those memories and sharing them to others.”
Lyons’ words provided inspiration to his
athletes.
“If I ever felt defeated and wanted to quit,
he simply just said, ‘Tape an aspirin to it,’”
Jackson said. “Those locker room speeches
taught me to never give up. I learned how to
be somebody and get fi red up. In 1994, we
were the champions from the coast — let us
never forget who loves you most. I love you,
Photos by Jeff TerHar
ABOVE: Crowd at Broadway Field remembers
coach Stubby Lyons. RIGHT: Ben Archibald
and Adam Israel share a moment. Both were
on the 1994 Gulls’ state championship team.
At right, Kristi Israel.
coach. Rest in peace.”
Former Gulls’ football star Kyle Camberg
said he did not come to the memorial because
of Lyons’ wins and losses. “I’m here because
of how much he cared about all of us,” he
said. “He really had a special gift for getting
kids to turn out and feel like they’re a part of
something bigger than themselves and that
they had a family.”
If you could play a little bit, he certainly
recruited you, Camberg said. “And if you
didn’t have a single solitary athletic bone
in your body, he found a spot for you doing
something else. It didn’t matter if you were
the star, or somebody that didn’t get in the
game or the manager, you were part of the
family,” he said. “And that’s a huge thing:
really being part of the family.”
Along with coaching, Lyons taught “every-
thing” at Seaside High School, Camberg said,
English, U.S. history, personal fi nance, a law
class.
Connie Benson, a lawyer, said Lyons
taught her “fi rst-ever law course.” “And he
taught that class with as much passion as he
brought to the football fi eld,” she said. “And
he helped me to see that the law was exciting
and fun.”
Benson, whose passion was dance, said not
only athletes found motivation from Lyons.
“Coach worked to remind them that they
had gifts, and were truly wonderful, even
if they weren’t making the game-winning
touchdown,” she said. “Where he found the
time, I have no idea. But it’s a driving force
that I will carry with me for the rest of my
life.”
Lyons retired from teaching in 1999 and
entered a period of community service and
civic involvement.
A lifetime member of the Marine Corps
League, Elks, American Legion and Veterans
of Foreign Wars, he won election to the City
Council in 2000.
“He was a strong advocate for civility and
decorum,” Barber said. “He served as coun-
cil president for several of his 14 years on the
council. And he, by the way, was recognized
for his leadership not just here in Seaside but
statewide by the League of Oregon Cities. In
2003, he was presented their education and
community service award during their annual
meeting — a really high recognition of his
service. He was a prime mover in many areas
of improvement in the city.”
After the remembrances, the hundreds of
family members, former students and visitors
heard taps played by Dain Cowan.
“This is certainly a case of the world being
a lesser place without you in it,” Lance Lyons,
Stubby’s son, said in his remarks. “But today
we fi nally get to hopefully take a small step
forward in that and honoring you and your
amazing life as you so well deserve. Today,
you come back home, to Broadway Field, a
place where it all began, a place where your
legacy started. This place right here was your
sanctuary.”
HONORING RAPHAEL “STUBBY” LYONS
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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Lance Lyons remembers his dad
Seaside Signal
Lance Lyons delivered
these words in honor of his
father, Raphael “Stubby”
Lyons, at Broadway Field last
Saturday.
First off , my family and
I would like to thank every-
one for their time and eff orts
to make this happen today.
Coach Auld, Coach Hamer
and Skyler Archibald, thank
you! We will always be grate-
ful and appreciate you all.
I’ve always wondered
especially as the years went
on, how I’m going to get
through today. In my life,
today was the day I feared
the most. But, there are a few
things I would like to say and
I wrote it down, because I
don’t want to miss anything.
The last seven months
without you Dad has been
challenging to say the least.
Processing your loss has been
hard. I feel numb, like it’s
not even real. I guess maybe,
I just don’t want to accept it
and I don’t know if I ever will.
You were that one person that
this world and me person-
ally needed and wanted to
live forever. This is certainly
a case of the world being a
lesser place without you in it,
Dad.
But today we fi nally
(hopefully) take a small step
forward with that in honor-
ing you and your amazing
life, as you so well deserve.
You always taught Lacy and I
and others that its bigger then
Jeff TerHar
Lacy Pannebaker, Vanessa Underhill, Karen Lyons and Lance Lyons.
one person. You taught about
brotherhood and sisterhood,
about the team, about giv-
ing a damn about one another
and about giving back. But,
today it’s about you and it’s
your day. Today you come
back home to Broadway
fi eld. A place where it all
began, a place where your
legacy started. This place
right here….this was your
sanctuary.
We have a group of
speakers who I’m sure will
talk about your legacy as a
coach, teacher, leader, men-
tor, and friend. We will for-
ever be thankful for that and
for them. We are truly thank-
ful to have so many people
who truly loved our Dad. It
warms our hearts. Sometimes
when I fi nd myself deep in
thought about you, which is
often. I become emotional
when I think about the respect
so many people have for you.
People just didn’t like you
Dad, they loved you.
You positively impacted
CIRCULATION
MANAGER
Shannon Arlint
ADVERTISING
SALES MANAGER
Sarah Silver-
Tecza
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
Kari Borgen
R.J. Marx
countless lives from all walks
of life during your time and
your legacy will live on for
generations to come. You had
a great ability to reach people
and make people feel seen,
important, loved and made
them feel that they were apart
of something. You gave peo-
ple the greatest gift you can
give someone, you believed
in them. You gave them a
chance when not many other
teachers, coaches or even
their own parents did. When
they at times didn’t even
believe in themselves or their
own futures, you believed in
them. You brought the best
out of people. Something this
community and world for that
matter so desperately needs
again.
As a father you were on
another level. I feel like some-
one would of been hiding for
the past 30 to 40 years not to
know the love and relation-
ships you had with Lacy and
I. We had a private bond that a
father and children could only
PRODUCTION
MANAGER
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
John D. Bruijn
Skyler Archibald
Joshua Heineman
Katherine Lacaze
Esther Moberg
SYSTEMS
MANAGER
Carl Earl
dream or hope of having.
Dad, in many ways you
were a perfect father. I know
you loved us and we deeply
loved and respected you.
You were always proud of
us and we were damn proud
to have a father like you. You
had a busy and demanding
schedule, as so many others
wanted and needed your time
and attention. But, yet, you
always made us your number
one priority ... always. You
were deeply involved in our
lives from the day we were
born, all through our adult
lives. You were always there
for us right by our side and
we were always there for you,
right by your side. We always
loved to walk by your side,
but always learned the most
when we walked behind you.
Even though you aren’t
with us physically, I can close
my eyes and I can feel your
presence. Your hugs, your
humor, hear your voice and
words of reassurance that
everything is going to be OK.
MONDAY, JULY 26
They always had a higher
power and meaning to them
and I can hear one of your
many lines, “now damnit lis-
ten to me.”
We know we will see you
again. Our love for you is as
strong in death as it is in life.
While physically we have to
let go, we never will emotion-
ally. You were an amazing
father. We love you deeply
and will never forget what
you did for us and taught us.
You were all these things Dad
and in many ways, still are
and always will be.
Death leaves us a heart-
ache no one can heal, love
leaves a memory no one can
steal. Time is simply how you
live your life and the diff er-
ence you make In this world.
It’s about the baton being
passed to the next generation.
That it takes a team and you
can’t go at it alone. The future
will never remember what
was in your bank account
or what car you drove. The
future will remember that
wild ride of life, where you
believed in others and left
a gift behind. That gift was
your amazing life, Dad. Your
fi ngerprints, impact and leg-
acy in this world will live on
forever. You left know doubt,
that I know for sure. You were
a blessing from God and my
hero!
Thank you for being our
father and the GOAT:
The Greatest Of All Time!
Rest in paradise, Dad!
We love you always and
forever
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m.,
989 Broadway.
TUESDAY, JULY 27
Seaside Airport Advisory
Committee, 6 p.m., 989
Broadway.
Gearhart City Council and
Small Business Committee
work session, 6:30 p.m.,
www.cityofgearhart.com.
TUESDAY, AUG. 3
Seaside Community Center
Commission, 10 a.m., 1225
Avenue A.
Seaside Library Board of
Directors, 4:30 p.m., 1131
Broadway St.
Seaside Planning Commis-
sion, 6 p.m., 989 Broadway.
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 4
Seaside Improvement
Commission, 6 p.m., 989
Broadway.
THURSDAY, AUG. 5
Seaside Parks Advisory
Committee, 6 p.m., 989
Broadway.
MONDAY, AUG. 9
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m.,
cityofseaside.us.
THURSDAY, AUG. 12
Seaside Civic and Conven-
tion Center Commission,
5 p.m., 415 First Ave.
Gearhart Planning Com-
mission, 6 p.m., cityofgear-
hart.us.
TUESDAY, AUG. 17
Gearhart Small Business
Committee, 6 p.m., cityof-
gearhart.com.
Seaside Planning Commis-
sion, 6 p.m., work session,
989 Broadway.
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