Obituaries

Legendary Newcastle Football Coach, August Mack Deets, age 70, passed away unexpectedly Friday, June 19, 2020. He was born July 25, 1949 in Oil City, Pennsylvania, the 3rd of 4 children born to Mack William Deets Jr. and Eleanor Lucille (Saboska) Deets. Still a young boy, August and his family moved to Fort Worth, Texas as his father followed work. They eventually settled in Mineral Wells where he attended school, graduating with the Ram Class of 1968. Later that same year, on August 30th, August married his best friend and high school sweetheart, Elizabeth Ellen Kirkpatrick. They began their life together in Mineral Wells, working, taking classes and starting a family. At this time, August was at Tarleton State University finishing up his Bachelor’s Degree. The young couple welcomed their first child, a son, Chris in 1971. It wasn’t long before August landed his first job in Crowell, TX. After a brief stint there, he and his young family moved to Oklahoma, with stops in Antlers and Commerce, TX. While in Commerce Beth was able to acquire a degree in Home Ec. His first head coaching job led the family to Apache in 1978. In 1981, their son had passed and two years later he and Beth welcomed three more children, son David and daughters, Tracie and Janet through adoption. He then coached in Elgin, turning a relatively new program into a proven winner, before moving to Newcastle. From 1988 to 2005, August led the Racer Football program to unprecedented heights. He coached the 1992 State Championship Team, the 1997 Runner Up and led two teams to the Semi Finals, his 1993 and 2005 teams. Coach Deets loved his football family, both his players and his coaches. He was humble when discussing achievements, and believed the credit belonged to the group. He notched more than 200 wins in a 28-year career, coached in the Oil Bowl and an All State game, was named Little All City Coach of the Year and is a member of both the Oklahoma Coaches Hall of Fame and the Mineral Wells Hall of Fame honoring the 1967 football team. He won multiple district titles and coached numerous all district and all state players. He was fiercely competitive, and yet understood that there was more to life than football, and he helped shape many young boys into men. He was a devoted family man; he cherished Beth and he leaves his family and friends with so much more than just the championship rings or a plaque on the wall. He will be dearly missed!