By DOUG DONNELLY

OTTAWA LAKE – Jack Luettke, who spent the better part of 50 years connected to Whiteford schools and athletics, died Saturday.

Luettke, 75, was a three-sport athlete as a student at Whiteford in the 1960s and went on to coach varsity football for 29 seasons and varsity baseball for 23 years. He remains the winningest coach in either sport at Whiteford. 

“He pretty much dedicated his life to Whiteford,” said Bobcat baseball coach Terry Pant. “He loved the school and community.”

Luettke grew up in Whiteford Township and was a student at Whiteford Agricultural Schools when the school opened. In high school he played football, basketball and baseball. He was as an All-River Raisin Conference football player and captain his senior season and helped the Bobcats to back-to-back undefeated seasons. 

Following high school, he attended Eastern Michigan University then landed a teaching job at Whiteford High School right out of college. He began coaching immediately, serving as the JV boys basketball coach and assistant football coach. He was named varsity baseball coach at Whiteford in 1972 and held that position until 1978. He returned to the varsity baseball coaching job from 1986 to 2001. 

Luettke coached the Whiteford football team from 1981 to 2009, going 157-119, winning the Tri-County Conference in 1994.

Dean Lennard was the quarterback on the first team that Luettke was head coach on and later coached alongside him in both football and baseball.

“It was all about the kids with him,” Lennard said. “He loved coaching. In football, he was more of an emotional coach, a ‘rah-rah’ kind of guy but he was more reserved in baseball.”

Lennard said Luettke allowed other coaches to coach the way they saw fit.

“He was a great guy to coach with,” Lennard said. “He will be missed, that’s for sure.”

Luettke was elected to the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame and is in the Whiteford Athletics Hall of Fame. He was known for wearing shorts on the sidelines in the coldest of temperatures at football games and getting the student body fired up at pep assemblies.

“He was very enthusiastic,” Lennard said. “He would get so worked up at the pep assemblies I thought he was going to black out. He loved getting kids fired up.”

As a baseball coach, Luettke won six TCC championships, nine district titles and four regional championships.

Following his long coaching stint at Whiteford, he served as an assistant coach at Bedford High School and spent several years as an usher at Toledo Mud Hens games. He’s been active in recent years with the National Football Foundation, helping student athletes from throughout southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio earn scholarships.

“Such an amazing guy,” said current Whiteford football coach Todd Thieken. “Whiteford was blessed for his guidance and commitment to the community.”

Matt VanBrandt, the current Whiteford softball coach, played both sports for Luettke and succeeded him as the Whiteford baseball coach in 2002.

“Coach Luettke truly cared about his students and athletes,” he said. “He was a passionate coach, a man of high character, and had a good sense of humor too. If you played for him or coached with him, you surely have some great, vivid memories.”

A visitation in honor of Jack Luettke will be held on October 12, 2024, from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Newcomer Funeral Home, Northwest Toledo, located at 4150 W Laskey Rd, Toledo, Ohio.