Son: Tark’s toughness came from his mother
Jerry Tarkanian inherited tenacity from his mother, who witnessed the beheadings of her father and brother during the Armenian genocide, Danny Tarkanian told funeral attendees Monday.
About 100 former players and 25 coaches attended the funeral at Our Lady of Las Vegas Catholic Church. The UNLV coaching legend died Feb. 11 at the age of 84.
“I honestly believe that my father never quit when faced with insurmountable odds because of the perserverance, tenacity and determination his mother had demonstrated,” Danny Tarkanian said during his eulogy.
Rose Tarkanian was a survivor. She narrowly survived the Armenian genocide, which began in 1915, her grandson said, after the rest of her family and friends were herded into a church and burned alive.
After migrating to the United States in her early years, she overcame more hardship: the Great Depression and the loss of her husband.
“Dad idolized his mother and could never speak about her without breaking into tears,” Tarkanian said.
His father’s family grew up in poverty, he said.
He told the story from his father’s lean years while attending college in Fresno, Calif. Jerry Tarkanian and friend Harry Gaykian “would go to a coffee shop and order hot water, pour some ketchup in the cup, add some crackers and call it tomato soup.”
Before his parents got married, his father only owned a pair of tennis shoes.
“His mother bought him his first dress shoes for his wedding, which he kept in his closet to the day he passed,” Tarkanian said.
“Dad didn’t play for a great coach nor play at a powerful basketball school. He really didn’t have a mentor.
“In fact, his stepfather even told him to forget sports and be a barber. And for those of you who remember my sixth-grade crew cut, you know Dad made the right decision being a coach.”
Jerry Tarkanian’s wife, Lois, also delivered a eulogy.
Attendees included most of the 1990 NCAA championship team, with the exceptions of Greg Anthony and David Butler.
Others at the funeral: former basketball coaches Billy Tubbs, Ben Howland and Jerry Pimm, longtime Tarkanian assistant Tim Grgurich and former UNLV head football coach Harvey Hyde.
A LIGHTS-OUT IDEA
The High Roller observatory wheel had an inspirational role in tonight’s dimming of the lights on the Strip to honor Jerry Tarkanian.
Tony Cordasco, who teamed up with fellow UNLV alumni Scott Gulbransen on the lights-dimming campaign, said the idea came to him when he saw the High Roller was illuminated in red the night of Feb. 11, the day Tarkanian died.
“The whole town was grieving. We had to do something,” said Cordasco, who moved here from New Jersey in his late teens to pursue a broadcasting career.
“I was down by the Strip,” he said, “and saw High Roller’s light turned red to honor his memory, and I started thinking about dimming the lights.”
He and Gulbransen, an online marketing expert, turned to Twitter and Facebook to ignite the idea.
“Social media is so powerful,” Cordasco said, “and we had a lot of help from the county and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
“The Stratosphere was first. They said, ‘Count us in.’ ”
The lights will dim for three minutes at 10:30 tonight, shortly after the UNLV-Boise State game at the Thomas & Mack Center.
POKER PARTY
Happy 100th birthday today to Todd Durlacher, one of the oldest high-stakes players in the world and a World Series of Poker regular.
A former owner of the Dunes, Durlacher will be celebrating the century milestone with poker friends at, appropriately, the Bellagio, which was built on the Dunes site.
He has been playing high-stakes poker since moving to Las Vegas in 1949.
THE SCENE AND HEARD
Overheard at Piero’s Italian Cuisine on Monday night:
“He went to heaven,” Piero’s owner Freddie Glusman said. “He got no violations because the NCAA went to hell.”
El Cortez co-owner Kenny Epstein: “He’s not going to find many players there (in heaven).”
SIGHTINGS
Retired Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver and current NBC studio analyst Hines Ward, on the High Roller on Sunday. He dined at Giada on Saturday. … Actor Elijah Wood, taking in “Absinthe” at Caesars Palace on Saturday. He is in town filming “The Trust” with Nicolas Cage. … Chris McKenna of NBC’s “State of Affairs,” co-hosting The D’s Date-a-Thon on Saturday at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center with KXTE-FM’s Daena “DK” Kramer.
THE PUNCH LINE
“I like cold weather, but it was so cold over the weekend I turned 50 shades of blue.” — David Letterman
Norm Clarke’s column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 702-383-0244 or email him at norm@reviewjournal.com. Find more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow Norm on Twitter @Norm_Clarke.
