City Life Member Stan Jacks passed away recently, after nearly seventy years in the club.
Ian Scott remembers a Surf Life Saving stalwart:
March Past Coach "Extraordinaire"
Stan was the youngest of the three Jacks brothers, all City members through and through.
I first met Stan in 1953 when he was responsible for mentoring our group of 14 year olds at City, and at Carnivals. I remember him at an early Trigg Carnival, pointing out the rips and dangers to us all, which was most reassuring!
Stan's passion for looking after the swimmers again came to the fore when one Sunday in the late 1950s at City Beach he had a altercation with Alan White at the water's edge, after Whitey caught a wave in the boat and surfed straight through the club swim and up the beach over the top of the swimmers as they came out of the water. How no one was seriously injured remains a mystery, but Stan was not impressed!!
In the 50s Stan was club Registrar for three years, and Chief Instructor for two.
But it was in competition that he made his mark.
Stan won his first State Championship as a member of the Sub-Junior (Cadet) R&R in 1939-40, with his last championship medal in 1998, some 59 years later.
Stan's reputation as a successful coach was well known up and down the coast with demands from numerous clubs to coach their March Past teams to state championship gold. In fifty years he has won a total of 25 gold, 11 silver and 1 bronze medal in March Past at the State and Interstate Championships including 18 Senior State Titles at both City of Perth and Scarboro. In 1951 he coached City to an Australian Bronze, and then in 1958 had to settle for Australian silver by just .20.
Stan was a member of the WA Coaching Panel for many years, acting as an educator and mentor, training numerous other march past coaches and judges. In recent years Stan has been recognised as Patron of the March Past Panel in WA.
Elected as a club Life Member in 1977, he was further recognised through induction into the Surf Life Saving Western Australia Sporting Hall of Fame in 2002.
Despite his loss of mobility in recent years, Stan continued to follow City's March Past activities, and continued his mentoring to the last. A most recent letter to the club indicated his plans for the coming season, and naturally it focussed around March Past.
Stan will be missed by his friends, fellow coaches, and competitors.
