Saturday, March 23, 2019, 1 PM at the First United Methodist Church in Lindsay, Oklahoma:
I sat in a pew with several Leopard Legends. On my right were brothers Wayne and Hodie Estes - two NFL caliber Leopard football players of the 1950's and 1960's; Barry Foster - Leopard quarterback in 1980 who took the Leopards to the Class 2A championship game; and arguably, the greatest Leopard of all time - Coach Joe Tunnell. On my left was Johnny Beckham, another Leopard football legend, and Dan Chapman, the current school superintendent, who was to share his memories of Mark Loman - one of the greatest Leopards to ever darken the halls of LHS.
As an eighth grader in Lindsay Junior High, I only frequented the south hallway at Lindsay High School where all my classes were. I only saw the sports legends of the north hall under Friday night lights during football season, or Tuesdays and Fridays during basketball. I went to as many games as possible in order to see my sports heroes in action. Lindsay Leopard football was played at a very high level during the 1970's, as was both girls and boys basketball. The Leopard football team reached the Class 2A finals in 1970 and its boys basketball team reached the Class 2A state semi-finals in 1971.
As I walked through the lobby into the Church, I noticed a picture of Charlie Heatly (the boys basketball coach in 1971) standing between Lindsay's version of the "twin towers" - 6'8" Mark Loman and 6'8" Curtis Sanford. Sanford would go on to be named all-state basketball in 1972, while Mark Loman was one of only two Lindsay athletes ever who all-stated in two sports - football and basketball.
Mark Loman left this world last Wednesday while working in his yard at Shay, Oklahoma. He was one of my sports heroes, but I rarely saw him when not in a football or basketball uniform, or in a letterman jacket. Like several of my Leopard sports heroes, Mark was matched with a Leopardette basketball legend, his girlfriend Tonya Hopkins. Tonya was an all-state guard during her senior year at LHS, and the two married after high school. I believe it's true that you've got to be a football hero to get along with the beautiful girls, and Mark was certainly proof of that. Rest in peace Mark Loman, you deserve it.
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