John Carlton

1949 - 2017

John Keith Carlton
1949 - 2017
John Keith Carlton, 67, passed away peacefully on January 2, 2017 following a brief illness. Keith to his family, John to his many friends and colleagues, and Coach to several generations of Boise High School Braves – but Carlton to all -- he insisted on completing the fall semester of classes rather than focus on treatment. Unfortunately, cancer was not something that Carlton could out argue or out reason or send to sit in the hall although he certainly tried.
Born in Los Angeles on May 15, 1949, Carlton developed his strong personality at an early age and perfected his abilities to argue with passion, to dismiss reason with a simple look of indignation, and to bring something out of the ordinary into everyday life with the help of – and at times in spite of – his three sisters. Carlton developed a love for athletics and went to Boise Junior College on a track scholarship. His track career was cut short by a motorcycle accident but his passion for sports never waned. (It is entirely possible that he didn't miss a single Boise High athletic event during his 40 years teaching there.) After graduating from Boise State College in 1972, Carlton began teaching in Nampa primarily because teaching jobs were difficult to get in the Boise School District. After receiving an MS from the College of Idaho in 1975, Carlton accepted a teaching job in 1976 at Boise High where he found his home.
Carton's style of teaching is difficult to describe. He saw his job as engaging the students in thought and discussion and not simply teaching them historical facts. His classroom had stacks of VHS tapes of legal shows that he used in his government and practical law classes. His classroom door was always open to any student regardless of whether the student was in one of his classes. He worked as a trainer and coach in a variety of sports – including as an assistant trainer for the Los Angeles Rams NFL team for a brief time in the 1970's – but ironically he found his passion in coaching golf, a game he didn't play well and whose rules he pretended not to know. For those who knew Carlton, rules were barriers that could be overcome by passion, loyalty, and generosity. Boise High won the girls' state championship in 1998 and the boys' state championship in 1991 while he was coaching. For family and his close friends, the question was not whether we would support the Boise High golf team; rather it was how many hams, boxes of oranges, or turkeys it would take to be considered a supporter of the team.
Carlton also took an interest in students outside of the classroom, high school pep rallies, and athletics. For years he took a group of former students to Alaska to work an entire summer on a fishing boat or later to McCall to work on whatever project he and his business partners were working on at that time. The work was always hard but the pay was good and the lessons learned invaluable.
Yet for all of his public persona, Carlton was a very private person who lived life his way. He was seldom, if ever, home and only on very rare occasions would he join the family for holiday dinners. He was the uncle who would show up unexpectedly to take his nieces and nephews out for a "surprise me" ice cream and then not be seen for months. He loved traveling, his family, his many dear friends and colleagues. Most of all, he loved Boise High School. A true Brave to the grave.
He is survived by his sisters Kathy Cutshaw and her husband Larry of Honolulu, Hawaii (and their children Tom and Rob Leedom); Kerry Kelley and her husband Joe of Santa Barbara, California (and their children Bill and Melissa Kelley); and Susan Sahlberg and her husband John of Boise, Idaho (and their children Katrina and Jacqueline Sahlberg). Those nephews and nieces are devastated to have lost their favorite, crazy uncle.
At Carlton's request, no services will be held. He also requested that no flowers be sent. Rather, he asked you to consider contributing to the John Keith Carlton Scholarship Fund at the Boise Public Schools Education Foundation, 8169 West Victory Road, Boise Idaho 83709. The family intends to hold its version of an Irish wake in the not-too-distant future and will provide a general notice for those interested in attending.