James Atherton

James T. Atherton, 80, of Wilkes-Barre died Friday at his home.

Born November 10, 1930 in Kingston he was a son of the late James and Edna Miller Atherton.

A 1948 graduate of James M. Coughlin High School, Jim earned his bachelor degree from Wilkes University in 1954 and master degree in education from the University of Scranton.

He served in the United States Army from 1954 to 1956.

His long and distinguished career as an educator and coach started at Perry Joint High School in New Bloomfield, where he led his team to a conference championship during his two years coaching from 1956 to 1958. Jim then took the helm at West Pittston guiding the team to a championship in his second year and again in his final year there. From 1965 to 1968 he coached Coughlin High School, turning the program around to achieve three straight winning seasons. He also coached two seasons at Wilkes University from 1981 to 1983, where he was selected twice for the Schoenfeld Award for exemplifying integrity and sportsmanship.

At Luzerne County Community College, Jim was Director of Student Activities and Athletics until his retirement in 1997. During his twenty-nine years with the school, his teams won nine regular season and six postseason titles, competed in ten holiday tournaments and had a fifty-five game home winning streak.

He recorded 651 career wins, 459 at LCCC, and only 304 losses. Through the years he was selected as coach of the year thirteen times by various organizations; served two terms as president of Eastern Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference; four terms as chairman of Standards and Ethics Committee; received a Brazilian National Service Medal for his work with basketball clinics there. He was proud of his work as director of basketball camps at Camp St. Andrew and the JCC and CYC in Wilkes-Barre.

In recognition of his accomplishments, Jim was inducted into the Luzerne County and Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. In 2007, Luzerne County Community College honored him with naming of the gym. He was made an Ancestral Colonel, as outstanding alumnus of Wilkes University in 2009.

Jim was a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Kingston.

An infant son, Michael preceded him in death.

Surviving are his wife, the former Patricia Rosenbaum; children, Debbie and her husband Tim Mras of Kingston, Lynn and her husband Leo Boutanos of Kingston, James and his wife Nancy Atherton of Mountain Top, Patricia and her husband Richard Kozick of Danville, and Mark and his wife Sandy Atherton of Wilkes-Barre; grandchildren, Lindsey and Chelsea, Michael and Nicole, Bryn and Jamie, Justin, Zachary, Shane and Connor, and Aleia and Mark.

Celebration of Jim’s Life will be held Wednesday at 9:30 AM from McLaughlin's Family Funeral Service, 142 South Washington Street in Wilkes-Barre with Funeral Liturgy at 10 AM in Church of Saint Therese on Old River Road where his son, Jim, is a deacon. Interment will be in Memorial Shrine Park in Wyoming.

Visitation will be held at McLaughlin’s on Tuesday from 4 to 8 PM.

Memorial donations are preferred and may be made to Wyoming Valley Athletic Association, PO Box 210, 512 Northampton Street, Edwardsville, 18704

To see Jim’s Life Story, get directions, leave a message, share memories, photos and more go to www.celebratehislife.com