Former Mead Football Coach Landy James Dies At Age 66

Landy James, a star athlete at Washington State University and later one of the state’s top coaches and educators, died Tuesday in La Conner at age 66.

James coached Mead football for 13 years (1956-1968), winning nine Northeast A League championships with an overall record of 76-34-3. In all, he was 181-89-3 in 30 years of high school coaching. He was inducted into the Washington State High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 1995.

He left Mead to return to La Conner High School, his alma mater, in 1969, and he coached football for another 16 seasons. He coached La Conner basketball for two seasons (1983-84 and 1984-85), taking the Braves to the Class B state tournament both seasons.

James graduated from La Conner in 1948. He went to Washington State on a basketball scholarship but concentrated on football and baseball. He lettered in football from 1949 through 1951. In baseball, his career earned run average of 2.13 ranks sixth all-time at the school. His senior year he was first-team All-Northern Division.

James, a member of the Swinomish Indian Tribe, was a former National Indian Educator of the Year.

“We put on some very successful Indian education conferences here and they were a success in large part because of Landy’s intimate knowledge of the culture,” said Vince Sellen, a history teacher at La Conner and a close friend of James.

James suffered from diabetes and had both legs amputated just below the knee in 1992. A memorial service is being held this morning at La Conner High School gym, which 10 years ago was named the Landy James Activity Center.

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The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Skagit Valley Herald contributed to this report.