BATON ROUGE — Funeral services are set for Friday afternoon in Slidell for former LSU men’s basketball assistant coach Art Tolis, who passed away on Jan. 22, at the age of 79.
Tolis, who served as LSU assistant for Coach Dale Brown between 1974 and 1980, will have a 1 p.m. funeral service in his honor at Honaker Funeral Home, 1751 Gause Blvd. W. (in Forest Lawn Cemetery) in Slidell. Visitation will be at the funeral home on Friday beginning at 11 a.m. Interment will be in Forest Lawn Cemetery.
Tolis, who was born and raised in New Britain, Conn., was an all-state player in high school and went on to play center at George Washington University. He was named to the All-Southern Conference Team before joining the U.S. Army and serving his country in the Korean War. After service, he played another two years for Central Connecticut.
Tolis coached 13 seasons on the high school, junior college and collegiate level before coming to LSU in April 1974. He was named the national director of the LSU recruiting program and in 1976 and 1977 helped bring top 10 recruiting classes to LSU that would eventually lead to two SEC Championships and an NCAA Final Four in 1981.
He would go on to serve head coaching stints at both Tennessee-Martin and UNO, as well as serving as an assistant also in the SEC at Alabama. He was a teacher in Jefferson Parish for 12 years and retired in 2008.
He is survived by his beloved wife Julie Brennan Tolis; four children, Alexis Stone, her husband Bob Stone, Todd Tolis, his wife Karen Dixon Tolis, Patricia Tolis Snider, her husband Dustin Snider , Joseph Tolis and his wife Jenny Farley Tolis; a sister-in-law: Demetra Tolis, and five grandchildren: Adeline Tolis, Kadin and Kalyssa Tolis, Lauren and Tyler Snider.