Former BUSD coach dies

Educator Ham Lloyd, mentor to students and fellow teachers, was 89.

January 03, 2014|By Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com

Benjamin Hamilton Lloyd, known most often by Ham Lloyd,… (Photo by Harvey…)

Former Burbank Unified educator, administrator and coach Benjamin Hamilton Lloyd, known as “Ham” to generations of Burbank students and locals, passed away Dec. 30 from congestive heart failure, his family said. He was 89.

Lloyd was born on March 10, 1924, in Ohio. Beginning in 1942, Lloyd spent three years fighting in the Army during World War II. He fought in North Africa, Italy, Southern France, and helped liberate prisoners in concentration camps in Belgium, Austria and Germany, his daughter, Sharon Cox said.

His efforts and involvement in battles during WW II earned him a Bronze Star for heroism.

Upon returning from the war, he enrolled at the University of Redlands, where he met his wife, Jane Lloyd, on a blind date.

“That blind date turned out to be a miracle.” Jane Lloyd recalled this week. “He just kept staring at me. He had these most gorgeous blue eyes,” she added.

Their date was also the beginning of what would become their 63-year marriage.

“He was always fun,” Jane Lloyd said. “A real true love.”

The Lloyds had two children, Sharon and Steven, and Ham Lloyd loved to dedicate his time to his family, his daughter said. He once packed up the family in a Volkswagen Pop-Top van for a six-week cross-country road trip.

While working for Burbank Unified, Ham Lloyd coached football at Burbank High for eight years, from 1955 through 1963.

Burbank Unified School Board President Dave Kemp, who once coached football at Burbank High, remembered Ham Lloyd as being “a really good” man.

“I’m really glad that I had the opportunity to know him and spend a lot of time with him,” he added. “Ham was a good mentor to all of us.”

Kemp also recalled one night in the fall of 1956 when he was coaching football for Glendale’s Hoover High and his team lost to Ham Lloyd’s Burbank Bulldogs, 45-0.

“They beat the daylights out of us,” Kemp said.

Ham Lloyd later became assistant principal at Burbank High, a post he would hold for 17 years, largely managing students’ extracurricular activities. Before retiring in 1985, Ham Lloyd served as principal of Monterey High, Burbank Unified’s continuation school.

“There’s so many people that he influenced and mentored,” Cox recalled. “He really had a servant’s heart.”

For 50 years, Ham Lloyd was active in Burbank Noon Kiwanis. He was also involved with the Burbank First United Methodist Church, where he enjoyed singing in the choir.

Ham Lloyd is survived by his two children, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. His three siblings — Kathleen Freeland and James and John Lloyd — also survive him.

A service for Ham Lloyd will be held at 11 a.m. next Saturday at Burbank First United Methodist Church, 700 N. Glenoaks Blvd. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Burbank First United Methodist Church.

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Follow Kelly Corrigan on Twitter: @kellymcorrigan.

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