Southern Nevada baseball pioneer dies at 84

John Tartan, a member of the Southern Nevada Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame who coached Basic High School to Nevada’s first state baseball championship in 1955, died Thursday of natural causes at his Clark County home. He was 84.

“Baseball was his love,” said Judy Tartan, his wife of 45 years. “He just loved it. … They were just his kids, and he loved them all.”

Tartan was a coach, official, teacher, administrator and counselor for more than two decades in Clark County. John Tartan Elementary School in North Las Vegas, which opened in 2005, is named in his honor.

“He was so emotional and happy,” Judy Tartan said of John’s reaction to the school being named after him. “He told me that next to us getting married, that was the second-best thing that happened to him in his life.”

John Tartan also was on Rancho’s coaching staff when the Rams won Class 3A state baseball titles in 1959, 1960 and 1961.

Tex Anthony, a retired teacher in the school district who played for Tartan at Rancho, called him a “pioneer for high school baseball” in Nevada. Anthony later coached Rancho to 3A state titles in 1974 and 1976.

“I got a lot of my coaching philosophies from him,” Anthony said. “He was very helpful, especially with young coaches. He really took us under his wing. It’s sad that he’s going to be gone.”

Norman Craft, who played for Tartan at Basic in the 1950s, said he emphasized playing hard.

“He knew every position and he taught you every position,” Craft said. “You hustled for him. There was no walking. That was the way he coached — hustle all the time.”

Craft said his first conversation with Tartan, who also coached football and basketball, revealed his love of baseball.

“The first time he said anything to me was at football practice,” Craft said. “The first thing he said to me was, ‘Can’t you just wait until you hear the crack of the bat?’ It was one of those hot, miserable days of football practice.”

Among Tartan’s baseball players at Basic was Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Tartan, a 1943 graduate of White Pine High School in Ely, lettered in basketball and football for the Bobcats, who did not have a baseball program at the time. He was nicknamed “Buck” for his speed and athleticism.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army after high school, and served as a pilot during World War II.

Tartan later received a bachelor’s degree from Utah State and a master’s degree in administration from Arizona State.

He taught physical education, driver’s education, math and other subjects during his career, Judy Tartan said.

Judy Tartan described her late husband as outgoing. He was an avid music enthusiast who enjoyed singing and playing the guitar.

“He never met a stranger,” she said. “He would talk to anybody, anytime. He would always ask kids, ‘What school did you go to?’ He always enjoyed doing that.”

A viewing will be held at Palm Mortuary and Cemetery Green Valley at 7600 South Eastern Ave., from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday. Funeral services are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Friday.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked donations to be made to: John Tartan Elementary School, 3030 East Tropical Parkway, North Las Vegas, NV 89081.

John Tartan is survived by his wife Judy and his children Charles, Karen and John Jr.