Vern Petrick Obituary

Vern Petrick attended Klamath Union High School in Klamath Falls, OR. View the obituary, post a memory, or share a photo about Vern Petrick.

Graduation Year	Class of 1964
Date of Passing	Jan 16, 2019
About	Vern Petrick, the longtime coach and athletic director at Glencoe High School, died this week at the age of 73. Petrick died Jan. 16, 2019 from Parkinson's disease and complications of pneumonia. A staple at Glencoe for decades, Petrick worked as a teacher, coach and athletic director at the school from its opening in 1982 to 2006. Born the second oldest of 15 children, Petrick was raised in Northern California and Klamath Falls and first became involved in sports during middle school. In an obituary posted to the school's website, Petrick's family wrote that sports gave the young boy "a positive school connection, structure, care and ultimately more self-esteem and purpose in his life." While attending Southern Oregon College, now known as Southern Oregon University, Petrick played football and met his future wife, Marcia Snyder. He obtained his teaching license and taught and coached at Medford and Aloha high schools in the 1970s. He coached football at Willamette University and Southern Oregon College, where he also taught health and science classes. Vern moved to Hillsboro in 1982, where he became the first athletic director at the then-newly built Glencoe High School. "To him, his job at Glencoe was not a job, it was his joy, his passion, his family, his life," Petrick's family wrote. "He felt blessed working with so many wonderful people and had enormous pride in both his work and service to the Glencoe community." Petrick left a lasting legacy in the Hillsboro area. At Glencoe, Petrick established the school's youth sports programs, and was awarded the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce's Distinguished Achievement Award in 1992. He was named athletic director of the year in 1995 and received the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association's Award of Merit in 1996. He served on numerous committees with the Oregon School Activities Association and served as president of the Oregon Athletic Directors Association. After symptoms from Parkinson's disease led to his retirement from Glencoe in 2006, the Hillsboro School Board named Glencoe High School's gymnasium after him. He was inducted into the Oregon Athletic Director's Hall of Fame four years later, in 2010. Petrick's three children went on to play sports either collegiately or professionally. His son Ben Petrick played with the Colorado Rockies and the Detroit Tigers. Ben Petrick retired from baseball in 2004 after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He currently works as a consultant with the Hillsboro Hops baseball team. His eldest son Rian Petrick is a former principal in the Hillsboro School District and currently works as the district's director of extracurricular services and community outreach. "Vern was an exemplary father, always putting his children's interests above his own," the family wrote. "He spent countless hours coaching and mentoring them and their friends." Petrick's family said his favorite pastime was attending his children's sporting events. "It's quite likely that Vern never missed any of his children's games."