Longtime WSU statistician Ed Lomax dies

Ed Lomax witnessed Wichita State men’s basketball rise and fall and rise again and again over a span of almost 60 years as statistician for home games.

Lomax died on Thursday at his home. He was 83.

He attended the University of Wichita, where he played baseball and graduated in 1955, and joined the stats crew the next fall. He was also a statistician for the football team.

His wife, Sara, worked as secretary for coach Ralph Miller, who asked if he wanted to help out with basketball. Lomax teamed with Joe Fox, Dale Greenlee and Jim Strathe as the men who recorded shots, rebounds, fouls and the rest for more than 50 years before age and the move to computerized scoring systems ended their tenures. Fox joined the crew in 1948 and the rest soon after.

Lomax ended his tenure on the stats crew around 2010. Fox, now deceased, retired first. Greenlee and Strathe continued on for a few years after Lomax quit.

Lomax is survived by his wife, Sara (Goeller); daughters, Melinda Speer and Lesa Lomax; two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Visitation will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday and a memorial service will follow at 2, both at Lakeview Funeral Home, 12100 E. 13th. In lieu of flowers, a memorial has been established with the Kansas Humane Society.

This story was originally published January 9, 2015 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Longtime WSU statistician Ed Lomax dies."