It's the end of an era, and time to mourn Mr. Hix

His booming voice could silence a packed gymnasium, and sometimes did.

You never -- and I mean never -- wondered where you stood with him.

He could enchant you for hours, whether it was talking basketball, old cars, or whatever.

If you knew him well, you liked him. If you knew him very well, you not only liked him but you had great respect for him as well.

He was the guy who now, some 30-plus years later, I still put right at the top of the list when people ask me who influenced me the most as a kid.

Ralph Hix was that guy. He died at age 71 in Arizona on Christmas Eve. Tonight and Friday his life will be celebrated at Laird Funeral Home in Elgin, meaning it's time to say goodbye to a friend.

Hix, who taught and coached at Burlington Central from 1967 to 1984, was one of the many teachers/coaches I've had who later turned into not just a professional associate but a great friend as well.

But Hix was different. He was my first football coach in high school, and he is mainly responsible for my chosen career path. It was a hot August afternoon and the second of those dreaded two-a-days. I learned that day from Mr. Hix I should don a pen and pad instead of football pads. And by the way, you will see me call him Hix or Mr. Hix but never Ralph, because, well, that's just the way it is and those former students and athletes of his reading this understand that more than anyone.

Every kid who is not going to be an athlete but still loves sports should have a Mr. Hix in their life. I didn't like him a lot that day, when he told me I'd never be a football player. And I wasn't so sure when he suggested I grab the microphone and announce a basketball game. But I did and became the "Voice of the Rockets" for the next four years, while also developing a love for keeping stats at games and then writing stories for the school paper about all my buddies.

That was 1971. Thirty-seven years later I still thank Mr. Hix every day for pointing me in the right direction.

Hix's coaching style was not one that would be very accepted by today's athletes or parents -- but then there are many coaches of the past who had that same style. It was, simply, to the point. Here's our plan, here's how we expect you to perform, we will practice you hard to make you better, then you go out and perform. And if you don't perform? Well, then, sit your butt on the bench and work harder next week.

Period. Don't have mommy or daddy call me to complain, don't whine that I make you work too hard. Get better, dang it! I can still hear him like it was yesterday.

To those of us who had Hix as a coach and spent our high school years around him, the respect is as rich as the memories.

"Mr. Hix had a great influence on my life," wrote Tom Swanson, a 1979 graduate, via e-mail. "He was the one coach who encouraged me to reach my potential and forced me to work harder than I ever wanted to."

And this from Tom's brother Jeff, an early 70s graduate: "(Hix) was a huge influence on my athletic abilities at Central. He was intense but intense only to get you to perform your best. In 1971 he coached our track team to an undefeated season; we never lost a meet."

Hix had the same passion for teaching as he did for coaching. Through the e-mail tree since his passing, many have written about his love for teaching Spanish and how they still today use the Spanish they were taught by Mr. Hix in the 70s.

After coaching the Rockets' girls basketball program to the Sweet Sixteen in 1984, and giving my then-freshman sister Dawn an opportunity to experience the run as a reserve, Hix left Central and took his talents to Marengo, where in 10 years as the Indians' girls coach he turned the program into a perennial regional champion. In 1997, he got his due when Marengo made it downstate for the first time. He won 331 games in his coaching career and lost only 126 and that doesn't count all those Saturday JV wins he had when he was Lloyd Wineburner's assistant with the boys program.

Speaking of those Saturday morning JV games, that's where I really got to know Mr. Hix. He had just one arm. He lost his right arm somewhere in life, the story of exactly how I'm not sure was ever really told (several have told me it was a hunting accident but I never once asked him about it).

He also loved cars -- fast cars. He lived close to the farm I grew up on and would pick me up on Saturday mornings my freshman and sophomore years to go run the clock or whatever for those JV games. I can't remember if it was a Porsche, a Triumph or just what, but I do recall it was gold. And small. And fast. And stick shift. But he drove that car with the authority of a NASCAR regular. I wish I had just one video of that drive up Burlington Road we took so many times.

Later in life, as my career developed, we remained strong friends. In 1980, Mr. Hix married my third cousin, Sharon Krog. They made a retirement home in Scottsdale, where he stayed close to longtime friend Ron Ellett, and where he lived upon his death.

Some years ago, before Mr. Hix got sick and was still able to travel back to Illinois now and then, my dad and I would meet him at Trefon's on occasion. The restaurant owners had to order more coffee beans by the time we left. Those conversations are ones I'll long treasure.

Hix was easily one of the most colorful and outspoken coaches I've covered. As he was when I was in high school, the local sports writers always knew where they stood with him. And he'd always take time for a meal with an underpaid scribe (he would never let you pay the bill), and sometimes it wasn't always basketball talk.

"My greatest memory was the time we had dinner at the Country Junction," recalled former Daily Herald staffer and current correspondent Mike Miazga. "This is where I learned of his interest in the Kennedy assassination. I was able to proofread the second one and the way he wrote that book was fascinating. Ralph was a great conversationalist and could really tell a vivid story."

I can attest to that as I was honored to proofread the first version of his Kennedy book for him.

Tonight and Friday, the friends of Ralph Hix will have a chance to celebrate his life while telling some stories of their own.

And say goodbye to a friend.