Former Wolf great Marc Aparicio with children Andrew and Katelyn.
The glory days, with the stache-sportin’ Aparicio brothers front and center.
The ‘stache is comin’ back! Maybe.
Marc and Mitch Aparicio rocked the mustaches back in the day, when both were standout athletes at Coupeville High School.
Now, as he brings a decorated career in the United States Coast Guard to a close with a retirement ceremony in June, the clean-shaven Marc occasionally daydreams of bringing back the glory that once resided on his upper lip.
“I miss the ‘stache. Not every 15-year-old boy can look as good as I did with my ‘stache – but my son is getting there,” Aparicio said with a smile. “My senior year I even shaved my head, but left the ‘stache – brilliant! I never missed a dance…
“Now that I’m retired from the military, I’m thinking of putting the ‘stache back to work,” he added. “Maybe start a local brewery and grow a gorgeous handle bar ‘stache like they had in the old days – watch out ladies!”
He once told his mom “I want to see the world!” and 27 years later, he has lived that dream.
Now back in Seattle and the father of two (11-year-old Andrew and nine-year-old Katelyn), he’s becoming a more frequent visitor back to The Rock, and may one day soon come home for good.
For now, the 1988 CHS grad gets to hang out with his big brother more (“We enjoy golf together, an occasional one-on-one basketball game and tennis. I’d say we’re about even on wins…”), which is huge.
Mitch was a year ahead in school and set the standard Marc tried to reach.
“The best part of playing sports in Coupeville was having an older brother playing with me, and pushing me to be the best I could,” Marc said. “High school sports were the foundation of who I became in life; I look at my brother as the foreman that helped build that foundation.
“Even though he was tough on me, sometimes very tough – I always looked up to him.”
The duo ended up on the football field together, with Marc at slot back and receiver, often leading the charge down the field blocking for his older brother, who was the team’s star runner.
“He use to get mad at me when I was blocking down field during one of his runs when he would run right into my back,” Aparicio said with a laugh. “Even though he was mad, I learned to block better down field.”
When Mitch headed off to college, Marc picked up some of Coupeville’s rushing load, but eventually settled in as a blocker for running backs Aaron Hall and Brad Brown.
While he enjoyed his senior season, it wasn’t the same without his sibling and Marc spent many weekends up in Bellingham hanging out with Mitch (“When he would let me”).
The older brother often came back to town, as well, and his visits inspired Marc to play extra hard.
“I was nervous, so I would always try my best when he was around.”
The brothers always had each others back, which was very evident during a baseball game during Marc’s senior year.
Aparicio stole home and blew up the catcher on the play.
As he headed back to the dugout, the opposing third baseman tackled him in retribution, only to suddenly have Mitch explode from the stands to back up his brother.
“It was pretty cool to have a big brother growing up. I can tell you many stories about when we were living in Seattle where he did the same,” Marc said. “So, I guess it’s hard to explain sometimes, but most of my sports at Coupeville remind me of my brother.
“I never tried to be as good as him; just having him see me try was good enough.”
While he doesn’t remember any specific awards (“My football helmet did accumulate some Wolf paws, but honestly I can’t remember what they were for”) Marc had a very successful run at CHS.
He lettered three years in football and twice each in baseball, basketball and track, going to state five times.
“I was very fortunate to be in the middle of a three-year period with great high school athletes,” Aparicio said. “Mitch’s class had guys like Rick Alexander, Jay Roberts, Dave Ford and Steve Konek, my class with Dan Nieder, Brad Brown, Chad Gale and the class below with Tony Ford, etc., we had a lot of talent.
Even more now, he appreciates the men who taught him the games, as well.
“We had a lot of great coaches — Ron Bagby, Cec Stuurmans and Brian O’Hara made the most impact to my life,” Aparicio said. “All great coaches in my eyes. Didn’t matter the sport, they would push us, teach us and care about us throughout the season.”
And while wins and losses mattered, the lessons learned turned out to have the biggest impact.
“Although I was competitive, I think what sports gave me mostly was a sense of teamwork, commitment, honor, integrity and responsibility,” Aparicio said. “I looked at sports as a way to contribute the best I could for the betterment of the entire team.
“My goal was to do my part, not necessarily to stand out. It didn’t matter much to me that I was the star, it just mattered that we all worked together as a team,” he added. “We won as a team and lost as team. I know that I didn’t come up with this alone, it was the coaches and teachers at Coupeville that taught me – I guess I was the guy that took their motivational speeches literally.
“I didn’t know it then, but those simple lessons I learned in high school stayed with me and benefited me throughout my career.”
Aparicio remembers his time in Coupeville fondly (“I absolutely loved going to school at CHS”) and it was about more than sports.
He played in the band, took part in numerous clubs and was a volunteer fire fighter, often getting called out of practice with teammates to go fight fires.
“I was given the opportunity to play every sport, and improve as an athlete. I also had the ability to do many other things while playing sports,” Aparicio said. “The small school really gave us a lot of opportunities other schools may not have.”
With strong fan support (“My mom and step dad were dedicated members of the booster club. Every game they were there, rain or shine, with their friends”), Aparicio had several games that remain with him decades later.
Playing against Chimacum on the gridiron, he led Coupeville in penalties (“Late hits, I believe”) but redeemed himself by intercepting a pass and returning it for a touchdown (“So I guess it evened out”).
As a senior, facing off with La Conner, he had “the run of my career,” taking a pitch 80 yards. However, he was 85 yards from the end zone when he started, going down on the five-yard line when his body gave out.
Having played both sides of the line all game, he was dehydrated and fainted, providing his coach, Ron Bagby, with “the scariest day of his coaching career.”
Moments like that, or when he was picked off third in a baseball state playoff game by a right-handed pitcher (“devastating”) helped keep him from developing a huge ego.
“I feel like I was more of a team player – I contributed and did my part, but really never stood out – and I’m good with that.”
While he jokes that he’ll always be referenced as “Mitch’s Brother,” he has no issues with that and enjoyed the ride.
“I’m proud to be his brother,” Aparicio said. “I hope they remember me as one of the athletes that went through Coupeville at a very impressive time – maybe I’m not one who won all the awards, or single handily took us to state, but one that was a contributor, a team player, an important part of the outcome.”
After leaving high school, Aparicio took the lessons learned and implemented them in his life as he pursued a career of excellence off of Whidbey.
“Learning to become a team player in an organized sport at a high school level is extremely important for all young athletes. Team sports teach us so many life lessons,” he said. “Sometimes young players do not realize the lessons they are learning while they are young, and do not quite understand the impact of learning them, or NOT taking advantage of learning them – unfortunately some great athletes in high school grow up without seeing the bigger picture.
“Fortunately for me, I had great coaches and a great mentor as a brother. Some values I learned playing sports were commitment, teamwork, dedication and integrity,” Aparicio added. “Having these personality traits already embedded in my head from high school sports made me better at what I became in the military.”
After stints in the Air National Guard (electrician) and Army National Guard (heavy equipment operator), he joined the US Coast Guard and was accepted into flight school.
He eventually became an aeronautical engineer, putting in six months of ice patrol and search and rescue flight duties around the Bering Sea.
From there the accomplishments are staggering and carried him around the world — chief engineer for the H-65 helicopter fleet, maintenance test pilot, project manager on two of the biggest USCG acquisition programs in history, member of a helicopter operational unit, senior flight instructor and much, much more.
While attending graduate school in California Aparicio was an Associate Professor of system engineering, defense acquisitions and logistics.
“Mitch calls me “Professor” now as a nick name,” he said. “I think it’s pretty funny – because I would never have thought I would have enjoyed school so much.”
As he prepares to retire from the Coast Guard, Aparicio — who has put in 3,000+ flight hours on missions from the Arctic to Puerto Rico — is currently working as a consultant for Boeing.
“I’m very pleased of my career and of what I have been able to accomplish and extremely honored to have had the opportunity to serve my country,” he said. “However, it all started with building the foundation of who I am, before and while in high school.
“Coupeville, my friends, coaches and mentors and my amazing family prepared me well, but not without hard work.”
Words of wisdom from two mentors have stayed with him.
“Outside of sports, I would say Ozell Jackson had the biggest impact on my life,” Aparicio said. “In an area where your athletic ability would not shine, Mr. Jackson taught me to use my mind and to attempt things in life of which I was afraid – I don’t remember exactly what he said, but I remember something like “try things that are difficult so you can learn more about them.”
“Also my father (Jorge Aparicio) would say something similar. Don’t keep doing the easy things, try the things you don’t know anything about, so you can learn,” he added. “But he would also say “but don’t be a hero guy.”
“I took that as, don’t go crazy, and be careful. My coaches, teachers and parents taught me to enjoy learning and to continue improving myself – I guess that’s what I got the most out of high school.”
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