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UNK Nick Lutz

Name
Nick Lutz
Position
Guard
Class
Sophomore
Hometown (Last School)
Chicago, IL (Russell KY High)
Ht
6'1"
Wt
175
Seasons
1935-36
Birthday
June 14, 1913

Obituary – Nick Lutz, (February 5, 2013) by Jon Scott & Lutz Family

Nicholas (Nick) Henry Lutz was born June 14, 1913 in Chicago Illinois to Henry Lutz of Milwaukee WI and Suzanna Britz of Joliet IL. At a young age, Nick moved to Ashland Kentucky to live with his aunt and uncle, Margaret and Lucian (Luke) Hatfield and their three children.

Lutz was a well regarded athlete in Russell Kentucky. He later attended the University of Kentucky where he graduated in 1938 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education. While at the university he was a multi-sport athlete participating in varsity football, basketball, track and boxing. He played briefly on the Wildcat basketball squad as a sophomore, before being kicked off the team after he was caught imitating the nasal voice of coach Adolph Rupp.

Lutz met Farrell Hoesel of Winamac Indiana while they were students at UK. They were introduced on a blind date, arranged by Lutz’s roommate and fellow football player Joseph Huddleston (Huddleston later married Farrell’s sister, Dorothy). Nick and Farrell were married in 1938.

After college, Lutz learned to fly airplanes. He instructed pilots for the Army Air Corps in Stanford and Brady TX before taking a job as a pilot with Pan American World Airways in 1943. Aircraft he piloted included the DC3, Lockheed Constellation, DC4, DC6B, DC8 and Boeing 707. He flew with Pan Am until he retired in 1973 at the age of 60.

Nicholas Lutz died September 24, 1994 in Austin Texas. Survivors include his wife Farrell, one son and three grandchildren.

(Note: to hear an audio interview Claude Sullivan conducted with Lutz while he was piloting an overseas flight, check the following link: http://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt754746qt9q_19_29)

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