Jerry Lucas on his lifetime friend: ‘The Middies were his life’

“If he felt it would benefit the school, he never said no,” said Mark Kerns, a retired MHS teacher and coach. “He was always willing to do what it took.”

Withrow died Dec. 6. He was 88.

Middletown legend Jerry Lucas, 83, and Withrow met while Lucas was playing pick-up basketball games at Sunset Park. Their “very good, deep relationship” grew over the years, and whenever Lucas was in town, he visited Withrow and they watched cowboy movies, he said.

“He was a Middie as much as I was or any athlete,” said Lucas, who starred at MHS, Ohio State University and in the NBA. “The Middies were his life.”

Lucas, who plans to speak at Withrow’s memorial service next week, said he called him every day for decades.

“True friends are hard to find,” Lucas said. “Woody was that to me.”

He was that to a lot of people, said his son, Craig. When his father moved into Craig’s basement, in the same home Withrow built in the early 1970s, his phone started ringing at 7 a.m. and never stopped. People just wanted to talk to his father, he said.

Withrow had a challenging childhood. He never knew his father, so his uncles and grandfather filled that role. His mother, Lyndell Withrow, died when he was 10, so he was raised by his grandparents, Fletcher and Lottie Withrow.

“That’s why he was such a good dad to us,” Craig said of his father’s upbringing.

While Withrow made countless contributions to the Middletown community, he never sought attention. He was a quiet man.

“His actions spoke louder than his words,” his son said.

He was asked what he will miss the most about his father.

“Just being around him,” he said. “He had more friends than anybody I know.”

He worked as a mason and tinsmith at Armco Steel for 38 years, retiring in 1994. He earned the Armco Ironman Award for the highest rungs of workplace safety.

His hard work and dedication were recognized as he was the inaugural class inducted into the Gold Medal Club of the Pigskin Roundball Spectacular and recipient of the Middie Spirit Award. He was also inducted into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame and the Middletown High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

He’s survived by his children Vickie Withrow, Craig (Stephanie) Withrow and Kristi (James) Hahn and his grandchildren, Ava and Audrey Withrow.

A celebration of life will be held at 3 p.m. Dec. 20 with Chaplain Barry Shafer officiating at Breitenbach Anderson Funeral Home, 517 S. Sutphin St., Middletown. Visitation will be from 1-3 p.m. at the funeral home.