Longtime Thomas Jefferson coach and teacher Jim Gard passed away Sept. 26 at the age of 91 in Mesa, Ariz.
In 1968 he moved his family to Auburn to teach math and serve as the head baseball coach and as an assistant football coach at the newly built school in the Federal Way School District.
Gard took over as the head football coach in 1971 and kept at it through the Raiders' South Puget Sound League title-tying season in 1980.
He spent 30 seasons as a baseball coach.
In 1971, he was named as the Washington State Baseball Coach of the Year. He led the effort to start the state baseball playoffs that began in 1973.
Gard is a member of the Washington State Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame and the Federal Way Public Schools Athletic Hall of Fame.
He became a snowbird with his wife Donna upon retirement, spending 27 winters in Mesa and staying for baseball spring training.
The Gards were married for 71 years.
His final resting place will be at the Tahoma National Military Cemetery in the Kent and Maple Valley area. No services will be held.
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