Apr 25, 2025
PHOTO PROVIDED Former Lock Haven High School coach Mike Packer, center, passed away recently and left a legacy during his time as a coach.
Sadness hit the Clinton County community hard last week with news of the passing of three beloved and respected coaches: Tom Shafer, Mike Packer and Bob Weller each passed within about a 24-hour period.
It is true that death stings. The loss of those we care for and who have impacted many of us in countless ways sting especially hard.
Personally, I knew Weller and respect what he brought to the Clinton County sports world as a coach and athletic director at Lock Haven University as well as his many years of officiating. Unfortunately, I did not know Weller well.
As for Shafer, I not only knew of him and his years of coaching and teaching but was also personally impacted by him. I first met him when I was assigned to be a student teacher in his American history classroom at Bald Eagle Nittany High School in the fall of 1991.
In my time spent with Shafer and he was very supportive and encouraging and he helped me to learn the ropes in the classroom. Several years later as a full-time teacher I had the privilege to work with Shafer when he served as a behavior facilitator at Central Mountain.
PHOTO PROVIDED Former Lock Haven High School coach Mike Packer, second from left, is shown.
His commitment to our youth was demonstrated daily as he worked tirelessly to help kids overcome obstacles to become successful. While I never had the opportunity to play for or coach with Shafer, I developed a deep respect for him through not only the stories that I heard about him but also the things that I witnessed in my associations with him. He was tough but he cared deeply for his students and his players. I viewed him not only as a mentor but also as a friend.
His presence in the community will surely be missed.
The third individual of the group to pass last week is the one with whom I had the longest relationship was Coach Packer.
To many in this community, Coach Packer was an icon. Most in the community witnessed the football championships that he led his teams to in the 1990s. Many knew him as their coach as they were players on one of his many track and field or football teams. A few knew him as a fellow coach as they were fortunate enough to have coached with him over the years.
I had the opportunity to have him as a teacher for ninth grade health. Second, I had the opportunity to play for him as a member of his first three varsity teams as football coach of the Lock Haven Bobcats. After graduation from high school, I had the privilege to work under him as an assistant coach in the Lock Haven High School football program.
PHOTO PROVIDED Members of the Keystone Central School Board applaud retiring member Tom Shafer, third from left, during his final meet with the board on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017.
A few years later, I was chosen as the boys basketball coach at Central Mountain by a selection committee headed by Packer, who was at that time the athletic director. I would then work under him in the athletic department until his retirement.
I could write a book about my experiences under Packer’s guidance, but to put it simply regardless of the situation that I was in, I viewed him as larger than life. Yes, he was a big man but I mean figuratively. My playing days for him were during his first three seasons as head coach at Lock Haven High School which were perhaps his most challenging. During that span of time, his teams went 1-31-1.
By today’s standards, the coach is gone. Fortunately, Packer wasn’t gone. I can tell you that as players we did not blame him, but rather trusted and respected him immensely. We knew he was working his tail off to help us become better people and football players.
Did some criticize him? Perhaps, but they were the ones on the outside, not those of us on the inside. Perhaps he earned my greatest respect when he made a decision that impacted me directly in a way that some would see as negative. However, to this day, I view the experience as one of the single biggest experiences in helping me to become a coach myself.
You see I was the quarterback on a losing team. It was midway through my senior year in 1986, and Packer opted for a change to hopefully spark the team.
Yes, I got benched. I would only be punting for a few weeks. Would I hate Packer for what he did to me? Nope. Not then, and not now. I decided during the next few weeks that I would do what I could to help the team win. So, I hopped onto the scout team and played different positions.
I remember having a blast doing that. The pressure was off for a while.
Fast forward to the last week of the season and coach gave me some reps again at QB with the first-team offense in practice. I had a decent week of practice and he told me prior to the game on Friday that I was getting the start. That night, we went out and won our first game in three seasons. Was it because of me? Not a chance.
We played for each other that night and we played for coach.
I can still see the smiles on everyone’s faces as the clock hit zero and it showed the Bobcats won, 13-9. The biggest smile perhaps though was on Packer’s face. Why shouldn’t it have been because after all, no one had worked harder than he had for that night to come.
It was the first win of his coaching career.
The next few seasons saw the Bobcats win a few more games each season until the decade of the 1990s hit, and that was the decade the Bobcats made five championship runs. All of those under the leadership of Packer.
During those years, I had the privilege to serve under him as a coach in the junior high program, do some scouting for the varsity team and spend considerable time with Packer and his outstanding assistants, each of which I maintain the utmost respect for to this day.
What I most remember about those years is how supportive coach was of me and a couple of other young coaches in the junior high program as well as how he treated us with the respect that he treated any of his other coaches.
We were part of his program and he treated us as part of his team. His family. The Bobcat family.
That is one of the biggest things aside from a lot of talented football players that I would say accounted for Lock Haven’s success during those championship season was the consistency of the coaching staff. We were close and that can be attributed to Packer. He was a great leader and we all respected that.
As so often happens after retirement, we lose regular contact with those we were used to seeing daily. Last fall I learned that Packer had been diagnosed with an illness. When I last saw him, he did as he would so often do any time I’d see him. With a big smile, he gave my wife a hug, gave me a hand shake and hug and we talked briefly and went on our way. However I must admit that brief meeting hit me hard because his illness was becoming apparent.
When I learned of his passing last week, my heart was heavy. Clinton County had lost a sports icon. His family had lost a great father and grandfather. I had lost a man that had been for me a great teacher, coach, mentor and friend.
However, as the days pass, it becomes an exercise in memories. By remembering the person for who they were instead of what they were can help the sting of loss fade.
As time passes, those of us who knew Packer well as either a teacher, coach, mentor or friend, should rest and find peace and comfort in the things that we learned from him and the great times that we were able to share with him.
Surely many of us have countless stories that we could tell of our teacher, coach, mentor and or friend and it is those stories that should bring us the comfort in knowing that we are all better people because Packer lived and impacted us in so many ways.
Please look in tomorrow’s edition of The Express for a collection of tributes to Packer from former players and assistant coaches.
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