June 29, 1924 – August 4, 2015
Coach at Wichita East High School, 1956-1964
“Bid me run, and I will strive with all things impossible” – Shakespeare
His Life: We all knew him as a coach, but he was so much more: a husband, father, WWII marine, poet, painter, and sculptor. He sculpted more than raw materials; he sculpted every person he coached into something more than each person could imagine. He authored the NCAA Bill of Rights for Student Athletes, organized Wichita Swim and Track Clubs, and coached many NCAA championships at the University of Kansas and state championships at East. He established th
is pattern of achievement as a 13 year-old at Camp Kanakuk, a Christian camp in southwest Missouri, when he received the Loving Cup All-Around Camper award.
His Attributes, Advice, and Philosophies: Be all that you can be. Never stop learning. Strive to improve. Put family first. You don’t have to do it; you get to do it. Make every student or acquaintance feel like family. Make others feel good about themselves. God’s plan for you may be to accomplish simple things; not everyone will accomplish great things. Goals should be attainable, lest they collide with knowing when one is happy.
“Failure doesn’t bother me. If failure bothered me, then I wouldn’t try some of these new things because I’d be afraid I’d look bad or look stupid.”
His Poetry: Coach Timmons was a prolific poet with a 50+ page collection of poems written from 1984-1991 in his late sixties. Topics ranged from his mission trip to China to a tribute to Al Oerter, a world-record discus thrower. Most of his poems were a page long.
His Retirement: Fearing this part of his life, he asked God for a neon sign across the heavens telling him what to do. God didn’t disappoint: mission trips to the South Pacific, smuggling Bibles into China, designing and building tracks in ghettos in South Africa, building the elite Rim Rock Cross Country Course at his farm, coaching volleyball at several small Kansas high schools, sculpting and painting.
An Anecdote of His Retirement: As with so many, the years of productivity and contributing come to an end, and what time is left is spent in a retirement home, often sleeping away many hours of the day. And so it was with Coach. But one thing always awakened him with a big smile and catching his attention. When Dick Zinn, class of ’59, would find him sound asleep, he would tap Coach on the shoulder and with enthusiasm say, “Coach, Wake up! It’s time for the coyote drill!” Coach would jump up and respond with vigor, “It’s Dick!” and immediately be in the present. (To explain, Timmons used the coyote drill when he coached the East football team when Dick was a sophomore.) What a small delight in Coach’s final days as he lived apart from his wife Pat and tried hard, sometimes without succeeding, to accept the rules now imposed upon him by the staff that determined the course of his day.
What East High Meant to Him: “Wichita East was very special in my life. Its size and enormous enrollment were frightening for me. Teachers with such a wide range of experience and broad span of intelligence were far beyond my understanding. I always felt East personified all aspects of educational excellence. It seemed to call for great achievement. I kept up with fellow teachers and so many students who seemed to be headed to the top level in many fields of endeavor. Their high pursuits and potential caused me to realize the unbelievable possibilities of what 3,000 students could achieve if they somehow could find the right key to fan the flame of youthful potential.” (Excerpt from a letter to Dick & Diane Zinn.)
TRIBUTES and COMMENTS
Bob Gates, commenting after his attending his Class of ’61 reunion at East in 2011: “Half a century later, as Secretary of Defense of the United States, I carry Bob Timmons’ life lessons in leadership, integrity, discipline, motivating people, and treating all of them respectfully, to work with me every single day. Coach, thanks.”
Calvin Ross, Track and Field, 1958-60: Coach Timmons brought high moral character, accurate encouragement, and an intense work ethic to his coaching. I can easily believe his 
workday began before dawn and lasted far into the night. He expected similar qualities of his athletes. His expectations served as a covenant he offered to members of his teams and asked them to accept – authority, performance, discipline, and mutual respect. Athletes responding to it worked hard to fulfill their potential – which for some meant winning events; or setting school, conference, state or even US and world records; or simply improving a personal record. Whatever our individual achievements, though, we all had the opportunity to attain higher personal levels of confidence and growth. I see further this covenant with Coach as an enduring testimony to his wisdom. It survives in our lives. Wherever we journey, however we struggle, that covenant with that Kansan can still inspire and guide us.
Dave Kroenlein, Manager, Cross Country, Track, Swimming, 1958-1960: I learned more from Coach that has been useful in my life than from any academic teacher. He insisted on setting goals and achieving one’s personal best, both in athletics and academics. His benchmarks, self-discipline that is required for success and his insistence on maintaining high ethical standards, are qualities I have tried to pass along to my children.
Larry Statham, Cross Country, Track, and 
Wichita Swim Club: Meeting Coach for the first time between 8th and 9th grade at the Joyland swimming pool to try out for Wichita Swim Club, I immediately sensed his commanding presence. As my only coach, he expected us to set personal goals and never dissipate our bodies. Was he tough? YES! And he got results. His influence went far beyond sports. He was a life coach. He never judged anyone; his -stopwatch did that without prejudice.
Charles Briscoe, Cross Country 1957-59: True commitment is the cornerstone of every successful venture. The success of all who played for Coach was due to his commitment to us and our response to his coaching. I was an athlete with limited skill, but Coach gave me every opportunity to be the best I could be by challenging me to a commitment. I remember those Saturday morning runs and the matching T-shirts we wore so that we were all a part of the team. He never wavered from his standard, and all who were privileged to run for him were challenged to rise above the norm.
John Van Slyke, Swimming and Wichita Swim Club: Everything Coach did was in plain view. But, like the facets of a diamond, what one sees depends on the facet being viewed. The fact there are now so many facets through which to view Coach’s life and his impact is an indication of how energetic and positive the man was. Not to mention active. As late as the last time I spoke with him, sometime before he went to assisted living, he wanted my opinion on yet another worthwhile project he had in mind.
Runners’ World, 2009: “Bob Timmons was probably the most demanding track coach of all time, pushing his runners to the brink – propelling some to greatness and others to the scrap heap. To succeed in his program, you had to trust that the upbeat drill sergeant knew your body better than you did.”
Editor’s Note: This is a re-posting of the tribute to Coach Timmons that was included in “The Messenger” in 2015. Additional comments have been added from the Timmons archive collected by Dick Zinn, Class of 1959.
I have had numerous coaches in my lackluster athletic endeavors, but without a doubt, coach Timmons was the best coach of all of them. He definitely had a way of getting the best out of each athlete. One of the many things I remember about him was wind sprints after a grueling football practice. He would propose a push-up challenge. If I won he would do 20 push-ups. If I didn’t win, I would do 20 push-ups. Needless to say, I did many more push-ups than he did. He made every exercise a pleasure to achieve and would always provide positive encouragement. Greatest Coach of all Time!