Columnist Dean Juipe: Tark, wife both battling health issues

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, June 4, 2002 | 9:41 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

He didn't want to disrupt his wife's plan of running for an elective office, and he told her as much when they got the doctor's report.

Can't you just hear Jerry Tarkanian?

"Ah, Lois," he is apt to have said. "Don't worry about me."

But as a compassionate wife and mother, Lois was beset with concern when the Tarkanians were told late last week that Jerry needs what is apt to be several weeks of radiation treatment to combat a diagnosis of prostate cancer. As such, her candidacy for a local Board of Regents post was pushed aside as she deals with her husband's health issues -- as well as one of her own.

Reluctant to publicly discuss their situation but wise enough to realize it wouldn't stay private forever, the Tarkanians are in something of an awkward position. Everyone who knows them -- and that's most everyone who has been active in sports, social or political circles in Las Vegas for the past 20 or 30 years -- might feel the need to commiserate with them, if given the chance.

They're trying to keep the phone from ringing, at least for a while.

Jerry retired earlier this year from his coaching duties at Fresno State, and he's 71 years old. There were rumors during his final season that he had an unspecified health problem, yet he never formally addressed the subject despite the whispers and innuendo.

He's in store for a rough couple of months, as radiation treatments drain even the youngest and most fit of sufferers. It's drudgery, no two ways about it.

But when confronted with the facts and his limited options, Tark told his wife not to worry about it and to continue on with her Board of Regents bid. She, however, felt a need to stay closer to home and withdrew as a candidate for the District 2 seat last Thursday.

Jerry will undergo the treatments at an as yet undetermined site, but probably in Southern California. It will certainly occupy his summer.

Lois, too, has a health issue that will require her attention and we'll leave it to her if she cares to elaborate.

The Tarkanians are beloved people who have achieved a great deal and have reciprocated their good fortune within the community many times over. Lois is a former School Board member and a past candidate for a Clark County Commission seat, while Jerry coached basketball at UNLV for 19 years and became a revered, fatherly figure in the eyes of many.

He is, as I wrote upon his retirement, perhaps my favorite person in a lifetime of covering sports. He was also a coach who went 509-105 with the Rebels between 1973 and '92 and the man who guided them to this city's single greatest sports achievement to date, the 1990 NCAA national championship.

It's disheartening to have old friends battling physical problems, but in each case what ails Jerry and Lois is treatable and subject to remission. A friend of a similar age to Tark who went through this ordeal a year ago is a step slower than he once was, but he's still active and every bit as feisty.

There's no need for despair but, if you're inclined, keep the Tarkanians in your thoughts. We all age and get older and have our maladies, but sometimes the road is easier if those around us can maintain their composure and show a little understanding.