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Show The Lehi Free April 30, Press-Thursda- y, 1981-Pag- e A-1- 2 Jay Lambert: Lehi's Olympian J V Mi r Vi ( p i By JOHN EIGENAUER More than 30 years ago, Jay Lambert rearranged rib cages for a living; now he puts them back together. The reason for the change is that Jay Lambert, former Olympic and professional boxer from Lehi, is now Dr. Lambert, general surgeon. to Dr. Lambert's According secretary, he is one of the best surgeons in all of Utah, but, she warns, "don't ask him about it because he won't tell you anything. He's too modest." After spending the afternoon with Dr. Lambert and his lovely wife, the former Ila Lamoreaux of Cedar City, I found that "modest" is only one of the many fine compliments that can be paid him. n prospered West-Jorda- the despite Depression. The family also owned a farm on which Jay's father raised pigs. Between the farm and the cafe, Jay learned the value of good, hard work. Lambert had two older brothers who were involved in boxing and when he got old enough, Jay began boxing also. To him, boxing was just JAY LAMBERT returns from 1948 Olympics with Grant H v? Butcher (right) to be greeted by Trainer Marv another seasonal sport that fit right in with football, basketball and track. At Lehi High School, Jay played basketball for three years and was elected to second team as a sophomore and first team as a senior when he also served as the team captain for the In 1944, Jay's graduating year from Lehi High, the big basketball matchup came against Provo at the end of the year. Provo had a much larger tean, but Lehi was coming off an undefeated season. The game was a played in Provo and Lehi won very satisfying victory. Despite his prowess in basketball, Dr. Lambert admits to football being his favorite sport. Lambert played Jensen (left). y4 All-Sta- All-Star- s. 35-1- 6, on your carpeting and drapery needs at Coventry House sophomore year,fullback his junior year and tailback bis senior year. He almost wandered into the past when he said, "I really loved football." In track, Jay also did well, going to state in the 100 and 200 yard dash and also participated in the long jump and broad jump. Jay was a very fine athlete who participated in sports year round, with boxing growing to be the sport he succeeded in the most. At a young age, Jay became involved with boxing on a more trained scale when Marv Jensen of the Boxing Club took him under his wing. Under Marv's tuteledge, Jay traveled to various army camps and boxed. In a short while he joined the service and didn't box much. Lambert was born in Helper, Utah, but moved to Point of the Mountain around age six, where he lived most of his life. There, his father borrowed money from an uncle to set up a cafe that his quarterback . In 1948, Jay entered the Olympic trials held in Salt Lake City. There he won two bouts and moved on to San Francisco and quickly defeated two more opponents. From there he went to Boston and fought three more bouts, winning all three and earning a berth on the Olympic squad along with 13 other boxers of six different categories. Being a heavyweight, Jay fought the best competition in the nation, but said fellow Utahn Rex Layne was the toughest he had fought up until that point. The Olympics of 1948 were a crucial point in world history. Because of the war, they had been postponed since 1936. This was to be the first common ground that the world as a whole had known since Jesse Owens stole the medals from the Germans and the hearts of all the world. In the Olympics, Jay won two bouts quickly and moved on to a difficult bout with a young man from Brazil. Even though Lambert suffered a broken rib during the bout, he defeated the Brazilian and moved on to the quarter finals against Johnny Arthur of South Africa. Arthur defeated Lambert and later went on to be the heavyweight champion of the British Empire. Somewhere along the line, Jay's mother had said to him, "Jay, why don't you become a doctor?" Jay took her advice and applied for Medical School at the University of Utah. While he was awaiting the response from Utah, Jay decided to turn pro as a boxer. Lambert fought his first pro bout against Tommy Byron at the Coliseum on November 22, 1948. It was billed as the largest boxing crowd ever in that stadium. In a ten round match, Lambert won his first pro fight. Although he fought only seven more (winning five) before retiring and moving on to medical school, Lambert was touted as a great heavyweight prospect, comparisons being made between him and Jack Dempsey. In an article that appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune on April 18, 1948, sportswriter Jimmy Hodgson ran pictures of Lambert and Dempsey side by side in similar poses. The article made boxing comparisons, but Lambert himself claimed "They were really comparing us because we were both from Utah." Once again, the modesty shows through. The greatest honor ever bestowed Dr. Lambert came on November 16, 1977 when he was inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame. The same night, other greats such as Stan Watts and Kent Peterson were also inducted. On the occasion, Lambert arose and said, "I was fortunate to become acquainted with such boxing men as Marv Jensen, Rex Layne and Gene Fullmer. My family and friends supported me and I had a good career and got out without being injured. I am thankful for the part athletics played in my life. I am very thrilled tonight and I owe many people a great deal. I thank them." The priviledge of meeting such a man as Jay Lambert has been enormous. He deserves the honor of being one of the greatest Utah boxers ever and one of Utah's finest surgeons. But most of all, his family deserves having such a wonderful father. FREE ESTIMATES on 0 0FF0N 5 COLLECTIONS From suggested retail price Your entire house can have a new look when you make your wallcovering selections from over 600 patterns in Wall-Te- x Sampler, Satine-squ- e, Satinesque Designers' Supplement, Textures, Weaves and Stripes, Bed & Bath Collections. contemporary, Wall-Te- 6-Mo- 30-Mon- th nth $10,000 Min. Deposit $1,000 Min. Deposit 14.292 Week of Apr. 28 offers traditional, x -- May 11.75 4 Compounding ol Interest Allowed colonial, metallic and textured wallcovering styles. Simply beautiful! 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R A Deposits can be converted to this . .... 2 Heads49 |