Schools
Longtime Football Coach Jim Ingram Dies
Under his leadership, Washington High School won 230 games and 12 MVAL titles. He was 80, according to media reports.
Jim Ingram, a longtime former Washington High School football coach, passed away Tuesday, according to media reports.
Ingram, who was 80 years old, was in intensive care at the Fremont Kaiser for three weeks before his death, according to the Fremont Argus. A grandson told the newspaper that Ingram scratched his leg while working out a gym, which caused complications.
Ingram, known as “Coach I,” served as the head coach of the Huskies from 1960 to 2002 where he led more than 1,000 players. Under his leadership, the Huskies won 230 games and 12 MVAL titles, according to the Argus.
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A bronze bust of Ingram was recently erected at Washington High School’s Tak Fudenna Stadium to honor the coach’s contributions.
Ingram is survived by his wife, three children and five grandchildren.
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His family is planning to hold a memorial service and tribute at the stadium soon, the Argus reports.
Many in the community were saddened by news of Ingram’s passing.
Pete Michaletos, a retired Kennedy High School coach, told the Argus that “Jim Ingram was the MVAL.”
“If you analyze and look at any program in the MVAL and even in the greater Bay Area, you'll see a touch of Ingram there someplace,” Michaletos said.
Lyle West, a 1995 Washington High graduate who went on to play for the New York Giants and Kansas City Chiefs, and former Huskies star Jason Adams visited Ingram while he was in the hospital.
"When someone passes, it does make you feel better when you know they did it the right way,” West told the Argus. “That's what I shared with coach … We just got in his ear, and I just continued to tell him that, 'You did it the right way, coach. You did it the right way.' I started to name players that either I played with or my brothers have played with, and just told him how much he meant to those people and myself."
Ingram’s passing follows the death of longtime Newark Memorial coach Rich Swift, a fellow sports icon the Tri-Cities who passed away at 60 years old on Feb. 13
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