A recent headline in the Brookings Register reported that a 61-year old man was killed in an auto accident near Sinai. There were no other passengers. That man was later identified as Jon Colburn (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/jon-colburnr), the youngest brother of our classmate Lee Colburn. Jon's passing hit me rather hard, as I have known Jon since our sophomore year in high school.
That winter of 1966-67 was quite memorable. It was our last year in the "old" high school. Our introduction to high school athletics affected the lives of many of us boys. Title IX, giving girls the same chance to participate in sanctioned activities that had previously been limited to boys, was a few years away. There were some sports offered for girls, but they were not yet sponsored by the South Dakota High School Activities Association.
Lee was not only a fine basketball player that winter, but he also was an avid outdoorsman. I was fortunate enough to go ice-fishing with him, his father, and younger brother Jon a few times. Jon was about 10 years younger than we were, having graduated in 1979. My most vivid memory of Jon on those trips occurred whenever the song "I'm A Believer" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_a_Believer) was playing on the radio. Whenever the chorus (Then I saw her face, etc) was about to be sung, Jon would shout out "Hey."
During college, Mr. Dolan (Franny to many of us) helped Tom Bozied and me to run the intramural program for the elementary schools. We had flag football in the fall, basketball in the winter, and track and field in the spring. We did have a short wrestling program one year. Jon was in elementary school at that time, so we became aware of his athletic ability even then.
My first year of teaching was in 1973-4, when Jon was in 7th grade. Just about every day after school started, Jon would stop by my room before classes began and inform me of Lee's progress with the Houston Rockets, the pro basketball team that drafted Lee. Jon was optimistic about Lee's chances. However, Lee would be that last man cut from the team. Houston had drafted Ed Ratleff (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Ratleff) from Long Beach State, and had given him a guaranteed contract. As Jon noted, the team had to pay Mr. Ratleff whether they kept him or cut him. Financially, it was to their benefit to keep him instead of to cut him, as they would save money that way. Lee was actually a better player, but money and politics prevented him from playing professionally in the United States. Lee did play professionally in Europe for a few years.
At Lee's funeral,Tom Yseth, a close friend of Lee's, noted that Lee was frequently asked if he played basketball. Lee's response was "A little bit," indicative of his humility
My basketball relationship with Jon continued, as assistant 7th grade basketball coach was one of my extra-duties. The head coach was Don Mohlenhoff,who had coached the BHS varsity team a few years earlier. As fate would have it, next year I was promoted to head 8th grade basketball coach. Even more astounding was that the next year (1975-6), the 9th grade basketball coach retired, so I was given that position. In a sense, then, Jon and his classmates had to put up with me for five years. Jon was a smart player. While he may not have had Lee's athletic skills, he knew how to play and outwit the opposition. Those traits helped him make the varsity team in his sophomore year. In his senior year, the Bobcats were consolation champs (5th place) in the state tournament. Coincidentally, they beat a highly favored Lincoln team in that game (shades of 1968).
Our condolences go out to Lorre on the tragic passing of his younger brother Jon.
