When Gus Birtsas retired in 1987 from more than 30 years working within the Clarkston School District, the people of Clarkston lost a great leader.
When Birtsas passed away on July 20, the Clarkston community lost a great friend.
Birtsas came to Clarkston in the fall of 1952. Dr. Leslie S. Green, from Comstock, brought Birtsas with him when he became the new superintendent of schools.
During his first years in Clarkston, Birtsas taught English and physical education; and coached the sport he loved, baseball. He won many titles in the Wayne- Oakland League.
‘We were physical education teachers and worked together,? said Mel Vaara, retired Clarkston superintendent.
In 1969, Vaara became principle of the new Sashabaw Junior High School. Vaara brought Birtsas on board as assistant principle.
Vaara said there were 1,105 students, no heat, no floor tiles and the first teacher strike ever in Michigan.
The teachers were on strike for three weeks and by the time the students came back, construction on the new school was complete.
‘Gus was very loyal to me. He was well respected by the students. The staff loved working with him, and he was very good at dealing with the parents. He had very good people skills,? said Vaara. ‘Part of his job was dealing with bus discipline and he worked very well with the bus drivers. Everyday he would visit with the bus drivers and talk about any problems.?
Before Labor Day in 1969, a key fiasco created confusion for the opening of the new school’nobody knew which key went to which door. The whole Birtsas family helped sort each key, said Vaara.
In the fall of 1972, Birtsas became principal of S.J.H. and remained there until his retirement in 1987.
In a Clarkston News article when he retired, Birtsas said, ‘Working with kids keeps you young, mentally young and physically young. It does.
‘I don’t know where these years went. They’ve gone by so fast. I think part of it is because you’re working with young kids and no two days are the same.?
Birtsas was a mentor to many assistant principals throughout the years including John Kirchsessner, who became principal of Clarkston High School and George White, who became principal of North Sashabaw Elementary.
‘He gave a strong commitment to the staff and the staff was his family,? said White.
After Birtsas retired, now Deputy Superintendent, David Reschke, became principal of S.J.H.
‘He had a talent for finding good teachers. He had a clear vision for student achievement,? said Reschke. ‘He never micro-managed his staff. He gave them a job and they did it.?
Physical education teacher Sue Koslosky remembers, ‘He always let us know when we did a good job.?
‘He was always supportive of me as a drafting teacher,? said industrial arts and drafting teacher Neil Granlund.
Birtsas was also instrumental in initiating SCAMP. He hosted first years of SCAMP right in the halls of S.J.H. SCAMP celebrated it’s 30th anniversary on July 14.
Gus Birtsas married Clarkston resident Carolyn Yoder in November 1955. They were married in the old Methodist Church now home to The Union.
Carolyn graduated from nursing school in 1955 and worked as a registered nurse until Birtsas retired in 1987. She said his number one priority in life was his family.
‘Family was very important to him. He was very involved in everything we did,? said daughter Ann Pytel, a nuclear medicine technologist in Bingham Farms.
Both Britsas children live within a mile of where they grew up.
Pytel, 47, is married to Thomas Pytel, a veterinarian in Goodrich. They have two daughters’Rachel, 11, and Samantha, 7.
Tim Birtsas, 44, owns R.B.I. Incorporated and is a real estate developer. He is also a retired major league left handed pitcher.

Britsas coached many years of baseball until Tim went into high school. At one point when Tim’s career hit a steak of bad luck, Gus flew to Las Vegas, received special permission to go onto the ball field and at 61-years-old squatted down behind the plate to help coach his son.
‘There was no limitation to the sacrifices he would make for us,? said Tim. ‘I became a professional baseball player because of him. He put as much work into it as I did,? said Tim.
‘He was a teacher that taught his students to be a student of the game.?
‘We played a lot of basketball together. He loved playing basketball. His problem was he couldn’t score. So we let him concentrate on defense. We let him pass the ball,? remembered Vaara.
‘He had a good life.?
Britsas attended both the Greek Orthodox Church in Flint and Clarkston United Methodist Church.
He was preceded in death by his brother William (Beatrice) Birtsas and Anne Schultze, of Grand Blanc.
A funeral service was held at the Clarkston United Methodist Church on July 23. Memorials may be made to the Lourdes Clausen Manor or Clarkston Athletics Boosters Club. www.legacy.com.