I never met him, but he impacted my life.

Lehighton lost a community leader earlier this month. Nobody loved his hometown more than legendary football coach James Wentz.

He started as an assistant in 1956 before eventually spending 10 years as head coach of the Indians’ varsity football program. During his time at the Indians’ helm, Wentz did not record a single losing season. Officially, he spent about three decades as a full-time coach with the program, but he added many more years as a volunteer.

More than a legendary coach, he was a hall-of-fame person.

He was involved with the Lehighton community in every way imaginable.

Wentz spent countless hours volunteering, logging over 11,000 hours of service at Gnaden Huetten’s Lehighton Campus. Wentz was an active member of his church, a lifetime member of the Lehighton American Legion Post 314 and chaplain of AMVETS and the Lehighton Area UVO.

“As much as he was involved with sports, when we had our discussions, his first focus when talking about the kids was always education,” said his son, Scott Wentz, a 1980 LHS graduate, who played football for his dad while he was an assistant on the staff.

Wentz, a 1948 Lehighton Area High School graduate who earned his masters at Kutztown University, as employed by the Lehighton Area School District for 32 years.

“It was family and then sports,” Scott said. “That was his outlook. The kids always came first.”

Wentz seemed to know everyone in the town.

“He would see people he knew - and he remembered them,” said Scott. “He might not remember your name, but he remembered where he knew you from. His mind was like a steel trap.”

As a 2008 Lehighton graduate, almost every one of my friends played varsity football. The legacy of the varsity football program was almost a tangible thing because of history, structure and expectation created by Mr. Wentz. Hundreds of LHS graduates consider those four varsity years one of the best experiences of their lives.

Without the dedication of Mr. Wentz, things would not be the same on the field or in the hallways of the Lehighton School District.

“He was one of the most genuine and nicest people out there,” said grandson Ren Wentz. “He would always greet you or anyone with a smile. No matter what the situation was he always asked how you and your family are doing. He was the ultimate family man.”

Ren, also a 2008 LHS grad, was a former varsity football player.

“During a rough time recently, one person said something to me that really stuck with me. They said no matter where they were when they would see my pop pop, everyone always greeted him as Mr. Wentz. … It was never James or Jim. Everybody really respected him - even if they never met him. They at least knew of him and what he brought to the area.”

“He was so smart,” said daughter Sherry Armbruster, who has been a principals’ secretary at LHS for 33 years.

“He would know something about everything it seemed,” Sherry said. “He made me want to be a better person. He always turned everything around to other people, and it was about what he could do for them, and not what they could do for him.”

Wentz, who also coached Lehighton track for 28 years, helped turn many local kids into community leaders and successful people. Everyone has a different definition of what it means to be successful. But it’s evident that Mr. Wentz just wanted everyone to succeed and never hesitated in helping them do so.

“I went to games as a kid and he was a recognizable figure from the time I could first remember Lehighton football,” said current Lehighton assistant football coach Mike Lusch. “He represented our town and our program the way that you hoped. As a staff now, we just want to try the best we can to uphold everything that he and everyone else has built all of these years. We were very fortunate to have a man around like him for as long as we did.”

Lusch played for the Tribe from 1988 through 1991 and has now taught for 22 years within the district. He joined the Lehighton football staff in 2003.

“He was always present,” Lusch said. “During camp, for me as a player, I can remember him being there.”

Lusch also has special memories of Wentz from his time as a coach.

“A little known thing is that during camp, he and his wife Shirley would have the coaching staff to their house on a Thursday for lasagna,” recalled Lusch. “They would make us dinner every year. We would all sit down and talk, it was a really neat thing they did for years.”

In recent years, Wentz attended any Indians’ related athletic event that he could. He had his own “spot” on the bleachers at football games and enjoyed keeping the clock at home wrestling matches and basketball games. Mr. Wentz was a lot of things. A family man. A leader. An educator.

But most importantly, he was an inspiration. He lived life the right way; selflessly and ambitiously. He has affected thousands of people across the globe. And if anyone of them can live by the same values and principles as Wentz did, the world will be in good hands.

“Through all of this it’s just amazing the people who have contacted us and who we’ve heard from with stories about how he impacted their lives,” Sherry said. “He was 89, so he had a long time to do all of that, but the impact he had on people that we didn’t even realize is overwhelming. I was always proud to have him as my dad because people thought so much of him.”