Former UW-Oshkosh Three-Sport Athlete Passes Away

John D. Thome, who earned a total of 10 letters while playing baseball, basketball and football at UW-Oshkosh, died Nov. 4 in Wauwatosa.

Thome, 69, attended UW-Oshkosh from 1960-64. He was a four-year lettermen in football, earning All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) honors in 1963 and 1964. The 1988 UW-Oshkosh Hall of Fame inductee also played baseball and basketball for the Titans in 1961, 1963 and 1964. He was a member of the school's 1963 baseball team that captured the WIAC title and the 1963 basketball squad that advanced to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Tournament in Kansas City, Mo.

Thome was born on Jan. 8, 1942, to Rosalia and Wilfred Thome of Port Washington. He attended St. Mary's Catholic Elementary School and graduated from Port Washington High School. Thome earned many athletic awards in high school, including all-conference in football, baseball and basketball. He was an all-state selection as a quarterback in football and won Port Washington High School's Athlete of the Year Award in 1960.

Thome's teaching and coaching career began at Chilton High School, where he coached and taught English. Under his leadership, Chilton High School's football team won three consecutive conference championships and amassed a 24-2-1 record. During his time at Chilton High School, Thome met his wife, the former Darlene Freimund. The couple married July 27, 1968.

In 1967, Thome was hired as an associate professor, assistant director of athletics and head football coach at Lakeland College. His accomplishments at Lakeland College included winning nine football conference championships and compiling a record of 78-53-2. While at Lakeland College, Thome also helped coach baseball, basketball and track and field. Thome, a six-time conference football coach of the year, is a member of Lakeland College's Hall of Fame.

In 1983, Thome became a physical education professor and defensive coordinator at Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill. Eventually, he retired to Wisconsin and to high school athletics. He continued to be involved in high school football in the Sheboygan area as a member of the coaching staffs at Elkhart Lake, Kiel, Oostburg, Plymouth, and Howards Grove. Thome even assisted for a few years at both Lakeland College and UW-Oshkosh. In 2001, he was inducted into the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. In 2006, John retired from teaching and coaching golf at Howards Grove High School.

In addition to his wife, Darlene, Thome is survived by two sons, John and Drew, and a daughter, Paige, and their families.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday (Nov. 10) at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church (94 N. Lincoln • Elkhart Lake) at 2 p.m. Friends may call on Wednesday (Nov. 9) at Zimmer's Westview Funeral and Cremation Care Center (Hwy 42 & JJ • Howards Grove) from 4-7 p.m. Visitation will continue on Thursday at the church from 1 p.m. until the time of the Mass. Entombment in Holy Cross Mausoleum. A memorial fund has been established in the name of John D. Thome.