To many people, Frank Baxter was a teacher, coach and administrator.

To others, he was like a father figure or second father.

To me, he was a friend I met four years ago when I moved to the Kirkwood neighborhood in Bridgeport, more specifically the 200 block of Bennett Street.

Confined to a walker for the last 5-6 years to get around, Mr. Baxter, as I always referred to him, would walk daily along the sidewalk on the north side of Bennett Street. He knew where every crack and bump was.

Ironically, it was on that very section of sidewalk – which stretched from the corner of Bennett and Lee streets to South Lincoln Avenue by the Kirkwood Presbyterian Church – that he fell on May 22. After being taken to the hospital, he had a heart attack that he never recovered from.

Sadly, Mr. Baxter, who was 85, went to the big gymnasium in the sky on Monday.

His legacy touched so many people in eastern Ohio, especially in the village of Bridgeport. He was involved in the Bridgeport Exempted Village School District for nearly six decades. Think about that for a minute. Sixty years in one school district!

For 47 of those years, he was the school’s athletic director, a job that he took seriously and was well-respected for. That tenure is the longest in the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference history. It is also the longest tenure at one’s alma mater in the Ohio High School Athletic Association.

Gordie Longshaw was one of Mr. Baxter’s long-time friends. The Bridgeport businessman was very emotional Monday afternoon as we talked about our friend.

“Frank was like a family member to me,” Longshaw said. “He was my teacher, my coach and my mentor. I also taught with him and he became my best friend. I looked to him for advice and he would give it to me.

“Bridgeport lost a great Bulldog,” he added. “He loved Bridgeport and was proud to be part of it.”

Longshaw said Mr. Baxter was a veteran who took his time in the service very seriously.

“He loved to walk,” Longshaw continued. “There was a time that he would walk to Wheeling and back. He took time out to walk on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. That’s why he lived so long. God bless him.

“There was one time that he was walking to Wheeling and a couple of young kids tried to rob him of his wallet,” Longshaw recalled. “Frank was strong. Back then he was a really big guy. He grabbed both of the kids and shook them before letting them go.”

Bob Weaver was the manager of the Bridgeport basketball team when Mr. Baxter came to Bridgeport after a year at Barnesville.

“I had seniority on him,” Weaver, a Brookside barber, said. “I had to show him where everything was. Over the years we became really good friends. My senior year he gave me a lettermen’s jacket. I don’t know if everyone got a free one, but I did.

“He also took me to the OVAC Basketball banquet with the principal and superintendent. No players. Just us.”

In 1988, the basketball scoreboard operator quit and Mr. Baxter asked Weaver if he would take the job.

“I’ve been doing it ever since, mainly for him,” Weaver noted.

Weaver said he took Mr. Baxter to various sectional and district tournaments over the years, and has cut his hair for the last 30 years or better.

“He was a really good friend.”

Robbie Munn played basketball for Mr. Baxter for four years. He was saddened to her of his death.

“I had tremendous respect for him,” Munn said via telephone from his home in Chillicothe. “He touched so many people’s lives, even wayward people. He was fair to everyone and his coaching record speaks for itself.”

John Visser, who was the Bulldogs’ head basketball coach for multiple seasons toward the end of Baxter’s career as athletic director, emailed these comments.

“Just wanted to say a few words about Frank. He was always a teacher. I got to know him at end of his career, 2000-03, but he gave me some of the best advice and knowledge a young coach could ask for, and I still, hear his words occasionallyJ. “Go get em! ” He became more than a mentor, a friend for sure.”

Thanks for the memories, Mr. Baxter!

North can be reached at knorth@timesleaderonline.com