Robert H. Walthour III

Coach Bob Walthour, age 86, passed away peacefully at his Carmel home on

September 20, 2014, just 5 days before his 87th birthday. Bob was a loving father, beloved

coach, teacher, friend and honorary dad to many.

Bob was born in New York City, and his family made their home in New Jersey.

According to his birth certificate, his mother, Margaret, was a homemaker and his father, Robert

Walthour, Jr., was a bicycle rider. This record is quite the understatement as his father was a

champion racer in both the United States and Europe. During the Depression, as interest in

bicycle racing declined, Bob’s family lost their income source and their home. Living in their car,

they set out for California and eventually settled in Santa Monica. Though he was young at the

time, this upheaval made a lasting impression on Bob. When he built his home in Carmel fifty

years ago, he built it with the intention to stay.

Although his family legacy of athletes originated in professional cycling, Bob was a

waterman at heart. His athletic career began on the beaches of Santa Monica where he served

as a lifeguard and as an instructor for the very first Junior Lifeguard program. He attended St.

Monica High School and then St. Mary’s College where he played football, was on the swim

team and graduated with a B.A. in Art. Bob loved to sketch cartoons and paint, but he loved

the water even more. So, following his graduation, Bob returned to lifeguarding in Santa Monica

where he met the love of his life, Joan. The couple met on the beach and tandem surfed on

their first date. Joan could be persuasive. She encouraged Bob to return to school to earn a

teaching degree. As most of our community knows, the rest is history!

Bob and Joan married in 1956. After a short stint in Sacramento, they relocated to the

Monterey Peninsula. They secured jobs at Junipero Serra High School where Bob focused on

coaching football. There he discovered his talent for motivating kids to push past the possible.

He would say, “If it ain’t broke, fix it!” which meant you can always do a little better than you

think you can.

In 1962, Bob moved on to Carmel High School where he taught Physical Education. Just

like a master musician can pick up and play any instrument, Bob could pick up and coach any

sport. At CHS, he coached winning teams in cross country, football, track, wrestling, swimming,

diving and basketball. He also created novel programs unheard of at most schools such as

sailing, snorkeling, surfing and even waterskiing in the pool! As a teacher, Bob was driven to

make sure every student would learn to swim before graduation. This became a requirement

for graduation that is still in place at CHS. He started the Barracuda Swim Club and finished his

coaching career with the Carmel Master’s Swim Club. His tenure as a coach lasted 50 years!

During his coaching years, all of Bob’s teams were extraordinarily successful and won

an abundance of championships. In his first thirty-two years of coaching, his teams won thirtyfour

varsity league championships. The fledgling cross country team he started in 1963 won the

league championship in their first year. In 1968, Bob received his Masters in Physical Education

from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. All the while, his coaching legacy continued to grow. In 1983,

headlines in the papers were covered with photos of his girls’ swim team winning their 100th

straight dual meet. This streak continued, adding up to 140 straight wins by 1987.

Somehow Bob always managed to incorporate a true sense of fun while his athletes

suffered through his workouts. He encouraged discipline, integrity, and old fashioned hard work.

His cross country runners will remember the “gut breaker.” His swimmers will remember trying

to squeeze 3,000 yards into an hour of practice. Most notably, Bob never cut an athlete from

his team. He often woke in the middle of the night to strategize where to place his athletes to

include everyone and to get the best out of each.

Bob had a humble pride when he was commemorated for his excellence in teaching

and coaching. He was the recipient of the Allen S. Griffin Award for Excellence in Teaching and

was voted Coach of the Century for Monterey County. He was also recognized when the new

Olympic-size pool was named after him at Carmel High.

The traditions and practices of Bob’s Catholic faith kept him grounded and provided a

strong foundation for his philosophy of teaching and life. This strength was evident throughout

his life. From his childhood, Bob battled several medical issues including polio, guillain-barre

syndrome, rickets, and a heart murmur that led to surgery at the age of 48. Doctors had told

Bob’s parents their son would probably not live past the age of seven! Yet he lived his life to the

fullest. He was a competitive, strong athlete and coach. He volunteered with the Red Cross for

50 years and continued to swim at 5:00 a.m. three days a week until he was 86 years old.

Bob was funny. He carried his sense of humor with him at all times, even near the end

of his life. The serious doctor leans in and says, “Bob, I don’t know how long you have to live.”

Bob replies, “Well doctor, I don’t know how long you have either!” He kept us laughing.

Friendship was important to Bob. His relationship with his best friend, Art Verge,

spanned more than 70 years. They made a commitment to each other to really live and follow

through with their “bucket list”... and they did. There was never a cruise too short nor too

long for them. Travelling to Florida, to visit his brother Dicky’s family, was another popular

destination.

Every trip, every meal, was --- “Wonderful!”

Bob will be remembered by his children and grandchildren as loving the simple things

life has to offer--watering his plants, eating a snickers bar, building a sand fortress, feeding the

birds, surfing, and sailing. Bob and Joan were their kids’ biggest cheerleaders. In fact, they were

everybody’s cheerleaders. Wasn’t our community lucky?

Bob definitely left us his legacy, but not just in awards and wins. He left a legacy of

lessons in encouragement, persistence, faithfulness, humor, acceptance, spirituality, and how

to be a father, husband and friend. Bob started out as a lifeguard to save lives. Many of his

athletes feel he literally saved theirs. If you were lucky enough to be his student or athlete you

were witness to someone truly gifted in the art of teaching. He made a difference in your life.