John Presley, Former Sports Official, Dies At 71

Services are scheduled this weekend for John Presley, formerly a nationally prominent sports official, died suddenly Monday in his Spokane home at the age of 71.

Presley, who had a history of heart problems, officiated in two Rose Bowl football games and ranked for many years as a top football and basketball official in the Pacific Coast Conference and its successors.

The rosary will be said Friday at 7 p.m. in the Hennessey/Smith Funeral Home, 2203 N. Division. A memorial has been scheduled for St. Aloysius Church on Saturday at 11 a.m.

A Spokane native, Presley was a multisport standout at Gonzaga Preparatory School and later starred as a first baseman for the Gonzaga University baseball team.

After turning down a contract offer from the Boston Red Sox, he began teaching and coaching at Gonzaga Prep in the fall of 1949. He assisted in several sports and served as head coach for the boys basketball team.

According to his son, Greg, Presley’s first two teams did not win a game. However, the Bullpups won the Spokane City League championships in 1955 and 1956. The 1955 team finished third at state. The 1956 team also brought home a trophy.

He left teaching and coaching in 1959 and drove a local delivery truck until he retired in the 1980s.

He took up officiating in the 1950s and became a regular in football and basketball in the Big Sky and Pacific conferences.

His football career included the 1978 Rose Bowl. He retired following the 1983 Rose Bowl. He officiated a pair of East-West Shrine Games.

In addition to his son, Presley is survived by brothers Jim of Port Ludlow, Wash., and Bill of Milpitas, Calif. His wife Alice died in May 1983.

, DataTimes