OGDEN — It's been a very sad, difficult week for the Wildcat athletic family.
First came the shocking news that former Weber State University basketball player Brad Barton was found dead in his apartment on Tuesday in Price, Utah, where he'd been preparing for his first official season as head basketball coach at USU Eastern (formerly the College of Eastern Utah). Barton, who had battled Type 1 diabetes since his early teens, was just 31 years old.
The next day, we learned that Pauline Larsen, the adorable wife of longtime Weber State sports information director Brad Larsen, had lost her valiant battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 58. Like Barton, she was an inspirational person who fought through adversity with such determination and dignity. And she's someone who, sadly, is gone much too soon.
Her death came a week after the passing of William Lucero, a loyal and dedicated Weber State fan who'd proudly had Wildcat season tickets in football and basketball for more than 40 years. He was a man who, according to his obituary, "truly bled purple." Lucero, 75, died from by kidney failure.
They always say that bad things come in threes. Well, for Weber State, it was a tragic trifecta in which three terrific members of the Wildcat family, each of them from a different generation but all of them sharing one great thing in common — their devotion for WSU athletics — were taken from us within a week's time.
Brad Barton was an absolute joy to watch on the basketball court. No, he was never the biggest, strongest, fastest or most gifted player on the floor. But if hustle, heart, desire and determination were all that counted, this young man would've been a first team All-American.
Barton spent two seasons at Weber State and served as team captain during his senior season in 2002-03, when he earned All-Big Sky honorable mention with his tenacious, tail-busting play that helped the Wildcats post a perfect 14-0 conference record and earn an NCAA Tournament berth, finishing 26-5 overall.
Sure, Big Sky MVP Jermaine Boyette was undeniably the star of that terrific team, but Barton was surely its heart and soul. He expended so much energy and emotion on the court that he could often be seen giving himself insulin injections on the Wildcats' bench during games.
"Brad was one of my all-time favorite players," broadcaster Carl Arky, the longtime "Voice of the Wildcats," said in a WSU news release. "No one ever hustled more and gave more of himself than Brad. And he did it despite the fact he was diabetic.
"He was one of the most inspirational players I've ever been around. Battled diabetes, battled on the court, and always had a great attitude about the game, and life."
Barton's death came just a few months after he had been named the head coach at USU Eastern, which he guided to a 23-7 record as interim head coach last season, with three of the team's losses coming against eventual national J.C. champion College of Southern Idaho. He had also served as an assistant coach at USU Eastern, Snow College, Viewmont High and Weber State.
Barton played his prep basketball at Davis High and played two seasons at BYU-Hawaii before transferring to Weber State, where his inspiring passion for the game and spunky personality transformed him from unheralded walk-on into an inspirational leader on a championship team.
Pauline Larsen was one of those truly wonderful people who worked behind the scenes, helping her husband Brad with the thankless job of "game management" for many years at Weber State home games. That usually meant running stats, refreshments, scoring updates and whatever else to media members like myself.
Mostly, though, Pauline just dispensed plenty of joy and good will, and we probably didn't appreciate her efforts nearly as much as we should have.
She was better known as that sweet, cheerful lady who worked at See's Candies, where she had an uncanny ability to remember each regular customer's favorite form of chocolate or other guilty pleasure.
And even though she spent more than a decade battling first breast cancer and later pancreatic cancer, it was amazing to see someone with such a positive disposition and sunny outlook on life. Through all of her difficult trials, she was still able to give great comfort to so many while she was dealing with such terrible discomfort of her own.
I never got a chance to know Bill Lucero, but I wish I had. At a time when many schools are trying to build or hold onto their fan base, Weber State could certainly use about 10,000 more fans just like him.
Perhaps the only teams he enjoyed watching more than the Wildcats or the Ogden Raptors were those of his grandchildren. Indeed, every team — and every child — should have a loyal, loving fan like Lucero who's with them through good times, and bad times, every step of the way.
The Wildcat family will definitely miss them all deeply.
email: rhollis@desnews.com