Jack Acus

From the classroom to the football field and the track at Sycamore High School, Jack Acus spent his life teaching students and athletes about responsibility and respect.

It also rubbed off on his colleagues.

"Just by the way he was - you respected what he was saying. He never gave you a bunch of doubletalk," said long-time friend and retired Sycamore coach and teacher Jim Becker. "He wasn't necessarily a jokester, but he was sincere with everybody he talked to and with the kids when he did his coaching."

Mr. Acus died Monday at Brookwood Retirement Community after a lengthy battle with heart disease. He was 77.

His brother's name might be on the stadium at Sycamore High School. But Mr. Acus was an important part of the school's football program at Sycamore.

Mr. Acus was head football coach at Harrison High School when he was hired at Sycamore as an assistant to his brother George "Bud" Acus, who headed the east-side school's football program for 15 years in the 1950s and 1960s.

It was a natural partnership for the two siblings who were the sons of former Lockland football coach George Acus.

The brothers played football at Lockland and both went on to the same sport at Miami University. Mr. Acus, a halfback, played for the late John Pont and the late Bo Schembechler, who went on to coach at Michigan for many years. Bud Acus played for Woody Hayes.

The only time the brothers were on opposing sides was when Harrison played and lost to Sycamore before Mr. Acus made the job switch to Sycamore in 1961.

"He did an excellent job," Bud Acus remembered of the days coaching with his brother. "That's why I wanted him on my staff. He knew kids and he got along with kids. That's the name of the game. That's what Jack was."

The brothers coached together for about eight years and are both in the school's Athletic Hall of Fame.

Mr. Acus taught industrial arts at Sycamore while he was coaching. He also was head track coach for the boy's and girl's teams, said his wife, Lois.

"He was a really good coach. He really liked being around the boys," Mrs. Acus said about her husband's involvement with the football team.

But he also had the respect of coaches from around the area, she said. Mrs. Acus said she had received many calls since her husband's death attesting to that.

"All the coaches that called me said he was my mentor, he was my hero," she said.

Becker recalled that his best friend always seemed to get the attention of "the ladies."

"No matter whether it was at school, the hospital or whether it was at home, he seemed to attract the ladies. They all wanted to talk to Jack and they all thought that Jack was sweet. He had a personality that wouldn't quit," Mr. Becker said.

Following his retirement in 1991 after nearly 30 years at Sycamore, Mr. Acus still attended football games with his coaching buddies, even in a wheelchair in his final years.

He would be surrounded by old colleagues and the kids, Becker said.

"Jack just ate it up...and the kids got a kick out of him," he said.

Mr. Acus was a 1957 graduate of Miami University and earned a master's degree at Xavier University in 1967.

Others survivors include sons, Dennis Acus of Sharonville; Gregory Acus of West Chester Township; and Jonathan Acus of Leesburg, Va.; five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Services have been held. Mihovk-Rosenacker Funeral Home in Blue Ash handled arrangements.

Memorials may be made to the American Heart Association, 2936 Vernon Place, Cincinnati, OH 45219; or Sharonville United Methodist Church, 3751 Creek Rd., Sharonville, OH 45241.

Sheila McLaughlin; smclaughlin@enquirer.com