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Former coach was kind, active

Robert W. Sparks was focused on family, coaching and mentoring.

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12:07 AM Monday, February 6, 2012

By Chelsey Levingston

Staff Writer

HAMILTON — U.S. Army veteran, big sports fan and family man Robert W. Sparks passed away Friday.

Sparks, 70, was described by his wife, Sue, and sister, Norma Jean Turner, as kind and never saying a bad word about anyone. Robert and Sue would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in June.

He suffered a brain aneurism.

“I can’t tell you how great a man he was in words. He never raised his voice, he never cursed,” Sue Sparks said. “You always speak well of the dead, but it’s really true of him.”

Robert Sparks, a native of London, Ky., was very athletic growing up. He served in the U.S. Army in 1965. An arthritis diagnosis at a young age led him to turn his passion into coaching and mentoring children, his wife said.

“He was very, very active in the community with sports,” she said.

He taught history and coached football and basketball in Kentucky. Robert and Sue moved to Hamilton in 1973, and he worked for more than 30 years at Allied Chemical in Cincinnati, now Barrett Paving Materials, Sue said.

Their son, Marty, played sports for Hamilton High School. Robert, a Hamilton High Booster, coached Little League and other sports in Hamilton involving his son.

Robert and Sue have two grandchildren, Olivia and Braeden Robert. Robert mentored Olivia, 9, so she got straight A’s in school, Sue said.

A visitation will be held at noon Tuesday at Brown-Dawson-Flick Funeral Home, 1350 Millville Ave. The funeral will follow.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2551 or clevingston@coxohio.com.

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