By KLINT SPILLER

kspiller@dailynews.net

Howard Peters looked at the bright side of life -- even while lying on his death bed.

Peters, who taught at Fort Hays State University off and on for nearly two decades and coached youth football for more than 30 years, died Saturday at the University of Kansas Medical Center. He was 65.

Peters' grandson, Jordan Niernberger, said his grandfather's last words were, "Don't be sad. Just eat more popsicles."

Niernberger said the message wasn't so much about popsicles, which Peters was eating while in the hospital since he couldn't eat normal food, but more so about the way Peters lived his life.

No matter what hardships a person suffers, Niernberger said Peters always preached the importance of learning from mistakes and moving forward in the game of life.

"A lot of times he used his past experiences, so I wouldn't make the same mistakes he did," Niernberger said.

It wasn't that Peters was a morally bankrupt man who made many mistakes. He just was honest about life and thought it was important for people to keep fighting, said Amanda Fairbanks, a former student and colleague of Peters at FHSU.

"He had a lot of ups and downs," Fairbanks said. "He was very open about sharing that with his students, because he wanted them to see that one day you can be up, and the next day it can all be gone.

"But that doesn't mean you should stop working towards what you want to do in life."

Fairbanks said Peters, who taught organizational communication from 1997 to 2010, was one of the main reasons she became a communications professor at FHSU.

Fairbanks said Peters convinced her to become a communication studies major and later to join the department's graduate program.

"I am so grateful that I was able to have him as a mentor," Fairbanks said. "He definitely had an impact on me."

Steph Niernberger, Jordan's mother and Peters' daughter, said her father's true love was teaching and coaching, and often, the two were the same.

Peters coached youth football for many years and was director of the Kids Federated Football League from 1988 to 1999, which is known now as Western Kansas Football League.

The league is made up of divisions from third to seventh grade. During that time, often one coach guides a team all the way through the five grade levels.

Steph Niernberger said Peters' last team might have been his most special, since he coached his grandson, Jordan.

"He used football as a way to teach you life lessons," Jordan Niernberger said. "You have to earn the things you want."

When Peters became director of the league, longtime coach and friend Keith Dechant said the league was in shambles.

"It was totally run down," Dechant said. "We took it over that year and bought some more equipment. We made it a lot better than what it was. Now, it is across the state of Kansas."

As a teacher, communication studies chairman Scott Robson said Peters was somewhat unique, because he brought so many life experiences in business and human resources to the classroom.

"He also would take additional time out of his life and outside of university hours to help students," Robson said. "He would make his home phone number available for students."

Despite being in the hospital and unable to teach in the classroom or on the football field, Steph Niernberger said Peters continued teaching.

In his last conversation with doctors at the teaching hospital, he was telling the doctors, aides and nurses what they were doing well.

"He was constantly trying to help people out," Steph Niernberger said. "He was doing that until his final hours. As his daughter, it makes me really proud that I could call him my dad."