(PADUCAH, Ky.) — Jim Mizell, the iconic baseball coach who spent more than three decades shaping young athletes at Lone Oak High School, passed away Tuesday at the Ray and Kay Eckstein Hospice Care Center at Mercy Health Lourdes. He was 80.
Mizell compiled an extraordinary 594 wins during his 36-year tenure as head baseball coach, a record that ranks him 19th all-time in Kentucky High School Athletic Association history. His teams reached seven First Region championship games, capturing the title in 1987. In recognition of his contributions to the program, Lone Oak renamed its baseball facility Mizell Field in 1996.
“You knew he truly cared if you were lucky enough to hear him yell your name in the hall between classes,” his family recalled, noting that his booming voice was a hallmark of his 37-year teaching career in the history department.
Born January 29, 1945, in Metropolis, Illinois, Mizell played football at Metropolis Community High School before attending Paducah Junior College and Murray State University. His education was interrupted by three years of Army service, including 13 months in South Korea, before he returned to Murray State to complete his degree in education and later earn advanced degrees.
Beyond baseball, Mizell assisted with Lone Oak’s football program for years—once breaking his ankle on a blocking sled—and refereed basketball during the winter months. He was inducted into the Kentucky Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1999 and wore his hall of fame ring proudly for the rest of his life.
After retiring from education, Mizell drove charter buses for Anchor Transportation, with his favorite routes being trips with Murray State athletic teams.
He is survived by his wife, Pamela Sue McClanahan Mizell; daughter Deanna Coovert Harper; sons Scott Coovert, James “Bucky” Mizell, and Jon Mizell; four grandchildren; and his sister, Judy Mizell Nickles.
Visitation will be held Sunday, November 23, from 4–7 p.m. at Milner and Orr Funeral Home in Paducah. Funeral services are scheduled for Monday, November 24, at 11 a.m. at Lone Oak Church of Christ, with burial at Woodlawn Memorial Gardens.
Memorial contributions may be made to New Pathways for Children in Melber, Kentucky.
