Bob Lusky, a former athletic director at Palomar College, died Jan. 2 at the age of 77 due to longtime heart problems.
Lusky, who also served as an assistant football coach and head golf coach, left behind a legacy of accolades to go along with his career as a coach and a teacher. He coached with, as well as mentored some of the current Palomar sports staff, including Head Football Coach Joe Early, and one-time softball coach and current women’s golf head coach Mark Eldridge.
Lusky was born on June 24, 1937 in Cleveland, Ohio, as an only child to Frank and Dorothy Lusky. After moving to Chula Vista at the age of 11, he served as a bat boy for the Pacific Coast League Padres. While attending Chula Vista High School, he excelled as a dual sport player, playing baseball as well as football, where he was an all-Metro League selection.
As a member of the San Diego State Aztecs baseball team, he won three consecutive conference championships in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, in 1957, 1958 and 1959.
In 1958, he lead the team in strikeouts as the Aztecs went on to win the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Championship over Southwest Oklahoma University. Presently, the 1958 team is the only Aztecs baseball team to win a national championship in baseball. The team was inducted into the Aztec Hall of Fame in 2011. After earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from SDSU, he became their head freshman baseball coach for one season, in 1961.
From San Diego State, he moved onto Antelope Valley High School, where he began his teaching career. From there, he went on to coach baseball and football at Mar Vista High School in Vista, and also coached football and swimming at Hilltop High School in Chula Vista.
Lusky started his long run in Palomar in 1974, as a teacher in the Department of Health and Physical Education (currently the Kinesiology Department). At Palomar, he not only taught, but coached the school’s football and golf teams.
As head golf coach, he won 10 conference championships, had 10 second place finishes, and won two Southern California team titles before retiring on 2002. He also developed two state community college individual champions in Mark Wiebe and Scott Oxandaboure.
Wiebe, who currently plays on the PGA Champions Tour, and Oxandaboure, who went on to lead the University of Southern California to the 2004 Pac-10 Conference team title, are both in the Palomar Sports Hall of Fame.
Lusky is survived by his wife and high school sweetheart Betty; sons Brad (a former Palomar basketball player) and Bryan; their spouses Darla and Ceci; and by grandchildren Jillian, Allison, Blake, Hunter, Brock and Katrina.
