Lorin Thomas Carlon

It’s with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of this wonderful man at the age of 78. After his long battle with cancer, his body finally gave out and he is now in Heaven with his Lord and Savior. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Lorin was raised in Malden and Pine City by QA and Helen Carlon and later in life, stepmom Fern Carlon. He attended Pine City Grade School and graduated from St. John High School in 1964. After high school, Lorie continued his education at Central Washington University earning a degree in Criminal Psychology in 1971. In the fall of 1965, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and proudly served his country for a year's tour in Vietnam and was later awarded 2 Purple Hearts. Lorin married the love of his life, Peggy Cronk, on March 16th, 1968 and they made their home in Yakima while Peggy taught at Washington Junior High and he finished up his college degree. He and Peggy then moved back to Whitman County where Lorie worked as a police officer for the Sheriff's Department in Colfax. In 1980, they moved back to Pine City when they took over the Carlon family farm and this is where they would raise their family and live for the next 38 years. With a twist of fate, in the fall of 1988, Lorie was asked to fill in for a year as the head girls' basketball coach at St. John/Endicott High School. He accepted the offer but later commented to his wife “How in the world will I ever coach girls basketball?” Little did he know that his coaching career would continue for more than 30 years. Lorin would coach the girls in St. John for 9 years, winning the State B Championship in 1996 with an undefeated record. He then moved on to coach girls basketball at West Valley High School in Spokane for the next 15 years making multiple trips to the district and state tournaments. Even though this was more than a 2-hour round trip drive daily, he loved being involved with all the girl's activities. In 2016 he retired from West Valley, but was still a permanent fixture at the gym for many more years as an avid Eagle supporter and even volunteering his time during team practices. You couldn’t possibly miss that beautiful smile on his face and that black and orange scarf around his neck. West Valley High School was his most happy place in the world, surrounded by the girls he loved with all his heart. Lorin became very ill in the summer of 2018. We were devastated to learn he had stage 4 colorectal cancer. He underwent many rounds of chemo and radiation and a very lengthy abdominal surgery. With all of this, he never once gave up hope. Even through his rounds of treatment, Lorie still supported his girls at West Valley and could be seen sitting in the stands with his chemo bag strapped around his shoulder, telling stories and giving the girls advice. Unfortunately, a couple of years later the cancer came back, this time in his lungs. Again he was put through rounds of treatment and another surgery to remove part of his cancerous lung. In the fall of 2023, his health took another turn for the worse but it didn’t keep him away from sitting at the scoreboard table at the State Basketball Tournament at West Valley, which would sadly turn out to be his last. Lorin leaves behind his wife of 56 years Peggy and his two beloved children Tonya Carlon Malaby and her husband Adam, and Travis Carlon and his wife Nikki. He was blessed with 5 grandchildren who were the light of his life, Benjamin and Brian Malaby, Paisha and Troy Carlon, and Dylan Hanson. Lorin was joined in Heaven by his father, mother, and stepmother, his brother Craig Carlon, and his precious daughter Tori. Lorie built a legacy at West Valley High School that we know will live on forever in the hearts of all his players and the many, many people that he knew and loved. The Carlon family will be holding a Celebration of Life at West Valley Auditorium on Saturday, June 1st at 1:00 pm. Lori’s wishes were that donations be made in his name to the West Valley Girls Basketball program.

Lorin Thomas Carlon

February 5, 1946 - May 2, 2024