PORTLAND — Joseph Woodhead, 76, longtime and well-known Lisbon High School teacher and coach and Bates College coach, of East Grand Avenue in Old Orchard, passed away unexpectedly Monday, Oct. 18, upon arrival at Maine Medical Center.

He was born in Lewiston, May 1,1934, to Joseph A. and Mary F. (Joy) Woodhead. Joe was educated in Lewiston schools and graduated from Lewiston High School in 1953, where he was an outstanding athlete. A three-time letterman in both football and baseball, he was captain of the football team his senior year and was also chosen as an All-American lineman by the National High School Coaches Association.

Following high school, Mr. Woodhead enlisted in the military and served his country in the U.S. Army, stationed in Germany for two years, until his honorable discharge. After his service in the Army, he continued his education at Springfield College for three years, leaving his mark on both the football and track and field programs. He was an All-New England Honorable Mention in football and set the freshman college record for the Track and Field Hammer Throw in 1957.

He then transferred to the University of Maine at Orono, where he met his future wife, Mary Ellen Tripp, whom he married on Aug. 11, 1962. They brought up their two boys in Lisbon Falls and enjoyed their summers at their camp at Woodbury Pond in Litchfield. In 1979, he moved his family to Lewiston, where he was proud of his country home on 13 acres. When he moved to Old Orchard in his later years, he built a screened-in porch on the back of his house facing the marsh. One of his favorite pastimes was feeding and watching the birds with his “Kitty” beside him.

In the fall of 1961, he was hired as a teacher by the Lisbon School System and for the next 33 years he taught at Lisbon High School and served as the varsity football coach, until 1986, where he won state championships in 1961, 1968, 1971 and 1978. He amassed a record of 146 wins, 67 losses and two ties and suffered only two losing seasons in those 26 years, placing him among Maine’s top-10 winningest high school football coaches.

In 1986, he continued teaching four more years at Lisbon High School and took his coaching talents to Bates College and served as an assistant football coach for four years. That same year, in 1986, after nearly 30 years, at age 52, he began his long and successful tenure as the Bates College hammer and weight throwing events coach for the men’s’ track and field team.

In 1998, he was hired as the women’s throwing events coach as well and was still currently both the men’s’ and women’s’ coach, due to start another season next month. In his 26 year coaching career at Bates, he coached 44 athletes who went on to become Division III All-Americans and six athletes who won Division III National Championships. Among many other awards, he was inducted into the Auburn, Lewiston Hall of Fame in April 2000.

He was a loving, devoted and hard-working husband, father and grandfather as well as a well-known, well-respected and successful athlete and coach who will be dearly missed by family and many longtime friends, colleagues and fellow athletes.

He leaves his wife of 48 years, Mary Ellen of Old Orchard Beach; two sons, Michael and wife, Elisabeth and their daughters, Emma and Grace of Shenzhen-Shekou, China, and Andrew and wife, Angela and their daughters, Kelsey and Brittany of Sidney; two sisters, Irene Parks of New Port Richey, Fla., and Beverly Schwab of Anacortes, Wash.; a sister-in-law, Julie Boothby of Old Orchard Beach; and several nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased by two brothers, Harry and Robert.

You are invited to share your thoughts, condolences and fond memories with Coach Woodhead’s family by visiting their guestbook at www.thefortingroupauburn.com.