Robert “Bob” Leroy Timmons

Robert Leroy Timmons, legendary track and swimming coach, who was affectionately known as “Timmie”, passed away on Tuesday, August 4, 2015 at age 91, in Lawrence, Kansas. A visitation will be held on Monday, August 10, 2015 from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at the Mustard Seed Church in Lawrence. A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, August 11, 2015, at 2:00 p.m. at Mustard Seed. A public memorial service is being planned for a later date.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be sent in his name to the Williams Education Fund -Track and Field, Mustard Seed Church or the American Red Cross and may be sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary.

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August 5, 2015

Former KU Track Coach Bob Timmons Passes Away

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Legendary Kansas track & field and cross country coach Bob Timmons, who led his Jayhawk teams to four NCAA titles and 31 conference championships, passed away Tuesday evening at the age of 91. He is survived by his wife, Pat; Susan (Tammie), Rebecca, Priscilla and Dan, as well as two grandchildren.

Timmons served as the head coach of the Kansas track & field and cross country squad for 22 seasons from 1966-88. “Timmie’s” teams captured 13 Big Eight indoor titles, 14 outdoor titles and four cross country league titles. He led the Jayhawks to three NCAA indoor championships in 1966, 1969 and 1970. Timmons’ 1970 outdoor team tied for the national championship with Oregon, Brigham Young and Drake to give him four titles in five years. To this day, Timmons’ four NCAA Championships are the most among any head coach in Kansas Athletics’ history.

“The Kansas Track & Field family has lost a legendary figure in our history,” said current KU track & field head coach Stanley Redwine. “Coach Timmons led KU to unprecedented success during his time here and should be remembered, not only as a great coach, but as a great mentor as well. He continuously strived to set a standard of excellence that we fully recognize to this day. His contributions of our home cross country course of Rim Rock Farm also shows what a truly dedicated Jayhawk he was. Our thoughts are with Pat, their children and the rest of the Timmons family during this difficult time.”

“KU has lost a true treasure,” said Kansas Athletics Director Sheahon Zenger. “Coach Timmons was one of the all-time greats. His legacy, though, does not end with championships and medals. His real legacy is how much he cared about his student-athletes and the University of Kansas.”

Born in Joplin, Missouri, Timmons grew up in Pittsburg, Kansas, where he attended Pittsburg High School. He joined the Marines in 1943 and spent time deployed in the South Pacific during WWII before being discharge in 1946. Upon returning to the states Timmons turned his attention to coaching.

He began his career in track & field with the Jayhawks as a student manager and assistant coach starting in 1946 until he graduated in 1950. He worked and learned under another Kansas track & field coaching legend, Bill Easton, during his time as an undergrad, which ignited his love for coaching and mentoring young athletes.

He spent eight years as a high school track, swimming and football coach, beginning his career at Caldwell High School in 1950 and also spending time at Emporia High School, Wichita West High School and Wichita East High School before returning to his alma mater in 1965. Timmons helped the Wichita East swimming program to prominence, enjoying eight-straight undefeated years in all competitions and boasting 52 individual state champions and seven state swimming titles. His high school teams also ran to four cross country crowns and six state track championships.

Timmons took over the Kansas program for the future Hall of Famer, Easton, in 1966 and continued to take the Jayhawk program to new heights over the next 22 years. In addition to all the team’s success, he oversaw the coaching and development of seven Olympians, 16 world record holders, 77 NCAA All-Americans and 24 NCAA Champions. Included on his highly impressive résumé, was being named the U.S. Track & Field Coach Association (USTFA) Coach of the Year in 1975 as well as being tabbed as the District V Coach of the Year in 11 of his 22 seasons at KU.

Timmons’ coaching career also included teaching one of the world’s best track athletes in Jim Ryun. Recruited to Kansas by Timmons, his former high school coach, Ryun emerged as one of the most iconic track athletes in American history. In 1964, at the age of 17, Ryun became the first high schooler to run a sub-four-minute mile. In fact, his high school mile mark of 3:55.3 stood for 31 years. With Timmons leading the way in Lawrence, Ryun put together a spectacular stint at KU from 1965 to 1969, he owned world records in the 880 yards, 1,500 meters and mile run and added an additional four American records during his time under Timmons. Ryun was a five-time NCAA champion and, to this day, still holds 13 Jayhawk school records.

He was also the main force behind the creation of one of the top cross country courses in the nation, the home of Kansas Cross Country, Rim Rock Farm. Timmons acquired the land to the north of Lawrence in the early 1970s and quickly turned it into the main home for his cross country squads by 1974. Even after his time at KU came to an end, Timmons remained the caretaker at Rim Rock Farm until he gifted it to the University in 2004. Rim Rock has been the host site for some of the top meets in the nation and the region as it hosted the 1998 NCAA DI and DII Cross Country Championships, 2006 and 2014 Big Championships, numerous Kansas State High School Championships, as well as the upcoming NCAA Midwest Regional Championships in November.

Timmons handed off the reins of the KU track program in 1988, but continued to maintain his close ties to the team. He remained a loyal supporter at Jayhawk home meets and continued to make appearances at the Kansas Relays for many years after his retirement.

In 2011, Timmons became the 11^th Jayhawk to be inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame. Along with the National Track & Field Hall of Fame, Timmons is also a member of the Kansas Athletics Hall of Fame, the Kansas Relays Hall of Fame, the Drake Relays Hall of Fame, the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, the Kansas High School Activities Association Hall of Fame and the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches of America (USTFCCCA) Hall of Fame.

Services for Bob Timmons are pending.

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PAT

By Bob Timmons

 

Patricia Ann Perkins is your name

Caused the world to never be the same.

Born on March 16, 1929

Patsy Ann, you were one of a kind.

 

Your parents were George and Nancy

Your home was warm, but not fancy.

You lived at 444 South Cherry

A little white house, mostly merry.

 

You had two sisters and a brother

Eleanor, Nancy, Neil, no other.

Early on you went through Central School

Spent summers at the local pool.

 

Often sent to the closet to serve time

In the dark, the porcelain dog did shine.

The darkness was always very scary

And the yardstick was hard to parry.

 

An incident long remembered

When you were almost dismembered.

While tied upside-down in the barn

Eleanor scrambled for a place to go.

 

When you played the family piano

Snowball scrambled for a place to go.

From the porch Mumps kept them in place

Your many friends just came to see your face.

 

To Eureka Springs the family went

On a vacation not often spent.

In a motel with a dirt floor

Now warm memories forever more.

 

In high school a dandy cheerleader

With lots of pep you were a leader.

Your steady guy back then was Bill Young

With him it was exciting fun.

 

During your senior year you became

Mary of Nativity fame.

Winters you went to the KCAC

Your fancy diving a site to see.

In college you were an Alpha Chi

You the apple of many an eye.

Head cheerleader you were to become

Enthusiasm plus and then some.

 

Dated Don Stickrod and Dick O’Neill

And Doug Wall too gave you a thrill.

Then came Timmie onto the scene

A tall and handsome ex-Marine.

 

I parked my car on a dirt road

Our kisses stopped when the rain flowed.

That big red wrecker finally did come

We got stuck, I felt really dumb.

 

That summer you delivered mail

That rural route you did not fail.

Wasps, deep mud, or flat tire

To get Dad’s car on time your desire.

 

Perkie you were ready to flip

When Jerry, Darb and I went on a trip

Down White River we did canoe

I decided what to do about you.

 

On returning I asked for your hand

You seemed to think it would be grand.

And the next summer we go married

At Danforth Chapel we never tarried.

 

Our first jobs were in Caldwell

How exciting I remember it well.

You taught PE and had Pep Club

My basketball team was to flub.

 

You got sore about my suggestions

Tammie’s birth brought many corrections.

And there was the new softball bat

It caused both of us many a spat.

 

Then came Emporia and a new duplex

Three in a room was a little complex.

I coached track and Jerry basketball

With Ada we four had a ball.

 

 

 

Then came big ole’ sprawling Wichita

So warm it didn’t seem large at all.

Our first home was on North Glendale

Tammie, Beckie, Perkie and Dan to trail.

 

East and West those years the best

Wichita Swim Club and all the rest.

So many friends for each to see

A glorious place for you and me.

 

Remember the red hot milk bottle

When it blew everything did rattle.

An awful explosion with blood and glass

A scary time, it would finally pass.

 

We built a nice home on Cresthill Court

Two years later we were to report

To KU and the athletic department

New job and a different environment.

 

 

After many a happy and lovely year

Each of us left many friends so dear

To become Kansas Jayhawks and to coach

In a school for me beyond reproach.

 

All four of our children grew up here

Wakarusa School and others near.

Seems like yesterday when we first came

Town grew so much it doesn’t seem the same.

 

High above Fort Collins, Colorado

Snuggled up next to Horse Tooth’s shadow

Tammie lives up on a rocky mountain

So beautiful you feel like shoutin’.

 

Beckie is now happily married to Bob

In Fort Collins she has a great job.

She teaches many little boys and girls

Her lessons of intellectual Worlds.

 

Perkie lives in the Lone Star State

For her it never seemed like fate.

God called her there to live and teach

For her students she sure does reach.

 

And Dan is still living in our town

Works every day without a frown.

Becky and Sarah are home for him

When light on the golf course grows dim.

 

Pat, I look back and remember you

For the many things you somehow do.

Always helping others with their day

To make things easier where they stay.

 

The way you took care of Nan & George

Their love for you a just reward.

For so many a loving task

For which neither parent had to ask.

 

Thirty-five years have now gone by

All four children from the coop did fly.

The teams were yours as much as mine

Looking back several were to shine.

 

Now that retirement is almost here

We can now look forward with no fear.

We live today and plan tomorrow

For us there will be no sorrow.

 

Summer, 1985