“Saddened to hear last night of the passing of Jim VanDeGrift,” Fornshell posted on Facebook. “There is no Mt. Rushmore of Lebanon Athletics — There’s just Jim, and then everyone else.”
VanDeGrift was inducted into the Miami Valley and statewide football coaches halls of fame, plus the hall of fame at Lebanon High, where he coached from 1967-81 and had the football stadium named in his honor.
As football coach, he won 75 percent of his games and guided the team to a state runner-up finish in 1980. VanDeGrift also coached track and field for 15 years and cross country for 8 years, according to the school.
But he was more than a coach. VanDeGrift served as a biology teacher, guidance counselor, high school athletic director, driver’s education instructor, and attendance officer, according to the school district. Outside of the schools, he officiated high school and college basketball games for 34 years, and officiated high school track for more than 30 years. He was also a Sunday School teacher.
The Lebanon school district called him “a lifelong Warrior and community pillar.”
“Jim has left a lasting legacy on Lebanon, in every aspect of our community life,” a school district statement reads. “As a district we are mourning the loss of a friend, coach, teacher, colleague, counselor, mentor, and Lebanon legend. Many said Coach V bled maroon and white and he loved the old traditions of Lebanon, but he also bridged the gap between the past and present for so many Lebanon Warriors. We will miss his presence.”
VanDeGrift proved to be a popular public servant. Starting in 1991, he was elected to nine, four-year terms as a township trustee, according to the Warren County Board of Elections.
He ran unopposed six times, won the most votes in another election and gained 65% of the ballots cast last year in a two-person race, election records show.
“After retirement, he continued to support our community and its youth. The countless ways that he touched so many lives in our community will be remembered for years,” the township said, noting VanDeGrift’s “humor, his judicious nature, and his leadership.”
Fornshell said “my last conversation with Jim was last Wednesday night during a meeting to discuss the upcoming LHS Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
“Once the meeting ended, and in typical Jim fashion, he asked how my kids were doing, and who their next game/match was against. My relationship with Jim was not unique,” he added. “There are thousands of other people in our community who could describe similar or even closer relationships with Jim.”
VanDeGrift was inducted into the Lebanon High School hall of fame in 2011. A year later, he was inducted into the Miami Valley Football Coaches Association hall along with Jim Place, Bob Gregg, Mike Schneider and Al Hetrick.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss,” Lebanon Athletic Director Keith Pantling said in an email.
More than 20 years ago, VanDeGrift was badly burned in a farming accident in 1997. The gas cap of the tractor he was driving “popped off, gasoline sprayed out and soaked Mr. VanDeGrift from his head to the tops of his legs, and a spark turned him into a ball of fire,” according to a New York Times article about medical innovations that featured VanDeGrift.
Motorists stopped to help, and VanDeGrift was flown to Miami Valley Hospital, “where a group of engineers, doctors and physical therapists was experimenting with movie-industry technology to produce a facial mask that they hoped would help him heal faster and reduce the need for surgery.”
“The only time he takes it off is for a haircut, to eat or to announce high school football games for the local radio station,” The Times reported.
VanDeGrift’s saga inspired the 2019 book, “Faith Through Flames: The Jim VanDeGrift Story,” by Joe Henderson.
Amazon called the book, “The true and miraculous story of a beloved high school football coach and a fiery accident.”
VanDeGrift is survived by his wife Rosie and their children, among others.
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