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September 12, 2012

Former Pittsburg State football coach dies

Associated Press

PITTSBURG, Kan. — Thomas Lester, a former head football coach at Pittsburg State University, has died. He was 85.

The university says in a release that Lester died Sept. 2 in Overland Park, where he had been recovering from a stroke.

Lester also played football for Pittsburg State and was an All-America player in 1951. He joined the university's coaching staff in 1961 as an assistant coach and was promoted to head coach in 1967.

Lester coached the Gorillas until 1975, compiling a 48-38-5 record, including the 1970 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title. He continued to teach at Pittsburg State until his retirement in 1989.

Services are scheduled for Friday morning at the First United Methodist Church in Grove where Lester had been living.

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