A more detailed article on Coach Lotter.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2019/5/25/general-lotter-remembered-as-positive-and-enthusiastic.aspx

I first met Will shortly after I graduated in 1975 and had taken a job with the City of Davis Recreation Department. He taught a class in community recreation and one of his class requirements was for his students to create a community recreation event. The class decided to put on a New Games Day and they approached me to help them with the planning and advertising and with reserving an area of Community Park for the event. It was during that time that I struck up a fond friendship with Will.

Will was a very conscientious and joyful man who was always positive and empathic with everyone he met. He was the kind of person that you just felt comfortable with as soon as you met him. We had a lot in common even though he was 22 years my senior: we were both veterans, we loved athletic activity and we both cared deeply about humanitarian issues and social justice. He felt like a mentor to me during a time in my life where my life's path had a lot of uncertainty. Our conversations were reassuring to me and he helped me feel more grounded in who I was and where I was going.

Shortly after the successful New Games Day event I was at a recreation conference where I heard Dr. Leo Buscaglia give the keynote address. He was a professor of special education at USC and a noted author who taught a wildly popular class entitled "Love." I found his speech inspiring and full of wisdom and I decided to see if I could arrange to bring him to UCD for a presentation. I talked to Will about him and he was excited about the idea. Together we were able to bring Dr. Buscaglia to speak in Young Hall and afterwards Will and his wife, Jane, hosted a reception at their home.

I stayed in contact with Will over the next decade while I still worked for the City of Davis. He helped me with my tennis game and we would occasionally cross paths while out running and would chat while jogging along. I had become very involved in rock climbing and Will, being so adventurous, was curious to try it. So one day my climbing partner and I took Will and his son, Rick, up a couple of great, beginner climbs at Lovers Leap at Strawberry near South Lake Tahoe. I remember the twinkle in his eyes as he looked up at the route with a mix of anxiety and excitement. They both did great and it was a fun and memorable day in the mountains.

After I left the City of Davis to go back to grad school I saw less of Will over the years but I would bump into him occasionally when I was in Davis and we would catch up with each other. I would also see Will and his wife in Sacramento at American River College when they would be there for a Capitol Jazz Project concert. Their son, Rick, is a professional drummer and he plays with CJP and Mumbo Gumbo. It was always great to see them again and they were always so warm and welcoming.

Will was indeed a great man who led a meaningful life that made a positive difference in the lives of so many people from his college students to the poor and underprivileged in third world countries. His was a life truly well lived and he left the world a little bit of a better place. Rest in peace old friend...

From this morning's Sacramento Bee:

Will Lotter, UCD Hall of Fame coach, U.S. Navy aviation veteran, inspiring professor, humanitarian leader, died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Davis, California on May 20, 2019, at age 94. Will grew up in Alameda and played football and baseball for Cal Berkeley playing in the 1949 Rose Bowl and winning the 1947 College Baseball World Series. Will had a long career at UCD, coaching football, baseball, soccer, and tennis, in addition to teaching.In 1965 Will joined the Peace Corps and took the family to Malawi Africa for 2 years where he was country director. Will and his wife Jane devoted much of their last 50 years working on social justice issues, especially for victims of Central American violence. They were co-founders of the Davis Religious Community for Sanctuary. Will's awards include induction to Cal Aggie Athletic Hall of Fame, UCD King Law School Martin Luther King Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award, the City of Davis Peace and Justice Award, City of Davis Humanitarian of the Year Award, and UC Davis Educational Opportunity Program Service Award. Will was preceded in death by his wife of 70 years, Jane Baker Lotter. He is survived by four sons, Don (Pendo Malomele), Mike (Beth Ullrich), Scott (Tracy). and Rick (Tracy Walton), three grandchildren, Chelsea Black and her husband Kyle, Dustin, and Emma, and one great-grandson, Cooper Black. More at: www.facebook.com/willlotterucdavis A memorial service will be held September 15 at the UC Davis ARC Ballroom at 2pm.
Published in The Sacramento Bee on June 23, 2019
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sacbee/obituary.aspx?n=will-lotter&pid=193218122