Obituary -- Legendary Logger Coach Heinrick Is Dead At 90

TACOMA - John P. Heinrick, who influenced the lives of countless high-school and college athletes in a legendary career as a coach, official and administrator, is dead at the age of 90.

Heinrick, who died of natural causes Monday in a Puyallup health-care center, coached prep football in Tacoma for 20 years, first at Bellarmine Prep and then at Stadium High, his alma mater. But he was best known for his service at the University of Puget Sound.

As basketball coach from 1947-59 at UPS, then the College of Puget Sound, he won 187 games and led the Loggers to two national tournaments.

As UPS football coach from 1948-64, he built an 89-44-11 record. He served as athletic director and head of the physical-education department until 1967. He was longtime director of state high-school basketball tournaments at UPS.

Heinrick coached baseball not only at UPS but in 1937 coached the Johnson Painters semipro team, including pitcher Fred Hutchinson, to third place in the National Baseball Congress tournament.

A 1926 graduate of the University of Washington, he was a member of four halls of fame - UPS, Tacoma-Pierce County, Washington state and the Helms National Collegiate Coaching Hall of Fame.

"He was a great coach. The kids thought an awful lot of him," said Frank Londos, a retired high-school coach who played football for Heinrick at Stadium in the 1940s.

Heinrick was preceded in death by two wives, Irene and Nell. He is survived by a sister, Sybil Thornton of Mercer Island, and five children.

Heinrick had "tremendous influence on the youth of Tacoma," said Doug McArthur, who played baseball for Heinrick at UPS and later became UPS athletic director.

"Just about everyone who grew up in Tacoma, including myself, had only one name for him - `Coach.' "

Funeral services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Tacoma.